The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1881-08-18
BAKUNfN. HE EIHILiST.

10NGIS WHO IdG6u lll6 6SIdUllOuCO
church, old Russians who hated
modern ideas, SlavophilS who de-
tested the German influence, Pan
slavists who dreamed of a still
larger Russia, disconnected mobiles.
romantic poets, freethinking phil
osOphers of ali shades, found there a
cave Of Adullam. Ivan Bakunin,
the son of wealthy noble, had been
educated at the imperial school of
artillery cadets. He graduated hon
Orably, but instead of being placed
in the Guards, he was sent to a
lonely post in the interior. Here
with nothing but trivial details de-
handing his attention, and cut off
from all congenial society, the
young lieutenant became melan--
choly and reflective. He neglected
his duties, was forced to resign, and
at one proceeded to Moscow. Here
he met Herzen, Tourgueneff, Adsa-
koff, and others, all young, all en-
thusiastic, and all devoted students
Of Hegel. Their days were spent in
perusing the ''Logik" and ''-Esthe-
Tx" of their oracle, and their nights
in animated discussions as to his
meaning. Friends who in other re-
spectS had been inseparable fell
out for weeks together over their
various conceptions of the nature of
absolute intelligence, and of DGS an
1t1ld fur sich Sei71. Bakunin declared
that he would make the study of
Hegers Logic the business of his
life. "Hegels views" he wrote, "are
allied to our socialiStic theories. His
philosophy makes men free; it
leaves no stone in Christendom I'M
turned; it liberates the world from
obsolete traditions" Having learned
all that Moscow could impart, he
went to Berlin, and listened to the
Hegelian expOunder, Michelet. But
even Berlin did not satisfy his thirst
for knowledge. He removed to
Halle, and imbibed wisdom from
the lips CT Arnold Roge. In the
Halle JGhT6aGcher for 1912, Bakunin
made his first appearance in print.
"The positive" he writes, exists
only in the contrary CT the negative;
the destruction Of the one is the
completion of the other. Moderation
is impossible, for it implies that
both are equally true or false. The
negative alone terminates the bal
ance, and cOmprehendS the tOtality
of the contrast" Then, leaving
mere discussion of the masters great
principle of the identity of con-
traries," he wakes more impaSSioned:
"Let us cry aloud, Repent, repent,
for the kingdom of heaven is at
handP The spirit Of intelligence, the
ever young, the ever newborn, is not
to be looked for among the ruins of
the past. It destroys and annihil-
ates only because it is the fathCm-
less and ever-creating fountain of
all life" Noble words, which, alas!
like Hassan-Ben-Saba'S search for
truth, ended in strange results.
We need not speak Of Bakunin's
life during the eventful years of
1S4S and 1S49. He was in the thick
of every Instruction. From Paris
he went to Prague, from Prague to
Dresden, He advised the insurgents
to burn Dresden in order to save it
from capture, and when taken
prisoner himself, declared to his cap
tors, In politics the issue alone
determines what is crime and
what is noble action" The Saxon
government handed him over to
Austria, Austria transferred him to
Russia, and after long confinement
in the SchlusSelburg, the most
dreaded of Russian prisons, the hop
less Hegelian was sent to Siberia.
He escaped under circumstances
which involved that violation of his
parole from which men Of honor
shrink. When he returned to
Europe, his welcome was cold one.
He alienated all shades of the revo-
lutionary party by his cynicism and
inconsistency. When, in 1867, the
International Society was formed,
Bakunin joined it, but soon formed
from among its more advanced
members a new body. "L'Alliance
de la Democratic Sociale' The pro-
gramme of this new society was at
entire variance with the programme
of the international. 1t demanded
the abolition of the state, the eXtir-
patton Of all religion, Collectivism
not communism, All organization of
society from below by its own voice,
not from above by authority" Even
within this alliance Bakunin organ
lied smaller and NOR, select body.
The Secret College Of Brethren"
which carried on the organization
after bis death. 1t is these secret
brethren WHO teach that killing is
no murder, but just punishment"
who threaten kings on their thrones
and ministers in the cabinet, who
demand the suppression of God"
and proclaim that their immediate
object is anarchy. The field Of ac-
ton of Bakunin's society is Russia,
because there it finds a people at
once supplemented and fanatic.
there it finds nation honey-cOmbed |
with secret sectS of the widest |
tenets and strangeSt practices, and
because there it can command the |
faith Of disciples as self-sacTificing |
as HaSSan's Devoted Ones" During |
the crusades, Henry, Count of Cham
payne, visited the Syrian chief of |
the aSSaSSinS. The Frank prince |
boosted of the courage Of his fellow
Crusaders; the assassin made signs |