New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1881-08-14
THE HEROINES OF NIHILISlL.
From The PaH Man Ga.c,,e


The we ght Of a woman's brain in Slavonic races
is greater than that OF mans Among the Ger
mamie peoples the brain weight OF the sexes IS
equa, ana IN the Latin nations the brain Of the
man is heavier than thaC of the woman. Quantity
does not necessarily imply quality. but in tins case
luton" says NJ Anatole Leroy Beaulieu the most
recent and The most fascinating of writer's on Russia
ana the Russians, as well as for education. and
the rank she holds in the family, the Russian NO.
man is already the equal of the man Among the
SaVs man Is often mobile, flexible. ductile and inn
questionable to excess but. as if in compensa-
ton, woman in mind and character possesses so
much strength, energy-in one word vtriIitc-th ~
without losing either her grace or her charm She
exercises often singular and irresistible a cend-
ency" THIS ascendency frequently remarked IN,
diplomacy. Is not less remarkable in the revolu-
uonary movement which at the moment supplies
tute for religion, which well nigh extinguished
IN the Orthodox Church beneath the superincum.
bent load of ritual formaIity and otjcialism NJ
one can have paid even the most cnrsory attention
TO the numerous criminal processes which shed a raw
of such grizzly lurid light upon the ferlneniiag mas
of Russian discomfort without being Impressed by
the prominent part played by women IN the work
Sophie Bardin, of Tamboh, a young lady of noble
olrth, was the FIRST TO famlliarize the public with
the spectacle of a Russian revolution arv heroine
She had not finished her studies and passed her final
examinations when she had decided 10 dedicate her
life to the service of " her brothers." AT eighteen
years of she went TO Zurich TO study the labor
question IN Switzerland and in Germany and 20 sit
at the feet OF Bakunin, the apostle OF universal
destruction and the prophet of anarchy She soon
returned to Russia confirmed in the faith rs 20 the
necessity for remodelhng society. and resolved 10
name of soldiers widow, and began 10 work at
daily wages in factory. the better TO be able to
carry on the work OF proselytism among the disin-
hcrlted of the world. The sef-devouOn and self.
sacrificing enthusiasm which lei a woman reared
IN tine midst of luxury, and educated Russian
women only educated, TO don the coarse gar
ments of the factory and spend her life among the
lilterate vulgar, not from any belief IN divine
command, but solely from love for the Others arc
by no means unfamiliar IN Russia. Sophie Bardin.
or rather the twenty-five year old widoS Zaizen.
was not long permitted TO conduct her propaganda
IN peace. years after her descent among the
workers she arrested The authorities, took
TWO wears TO prepare her indictment, and she was
not tried before the spring of 1877 She conducted
her own defence, ana surprised everyone by the
courage ahd passion with Which she pleaded her
cause. Thousands of copies of her address were
sold IN st PETERSBURG and the fate of the eloquent
speaker E1yc iolce ana emphasis 10 her closing
words; The association viii aVcnge me. ana its
vengeance viii be terrible. Let your hangncn aud
judges massacre and destroy ms now, during the
short time that force is still your side. We set
against you our moral might, and that viii
triumph Progress, Liberty and Equality hight for
US, and through these ideas bayonet can thrustp
Her eloquence ayailed not and Sophie Bardin as
sent 10 labor IN the Siberian mines for nine year-a
dreary eXpiaton for one years propapandlsm az
revolutionary doctrine.
Sophie Bardin is in Siberia; Vera Sassuitch is in
exile; Sophie Peroiski is dead. But although the
three leading actors in the tragic drama are thus
accounted for, there are many Others N hose names
appear and reappear in the blood stained annals of
Russian sediti0n. OF these We catch hut passing
gmpses some of " hich il must be admired - hS
no means calculated TO attract. Olga Rassonski
who sent "A bullet through the head of a police
sergeant; Anna Makharevna. who He'd with
from the punishment due for her share IN tho
viiriollzation of the spy Goronovitch and Achrts-
ION, the seventeen ear-old priests ghtcr who
made love to the detective Lavrohski Ira order to
betray him into the hands of the Nihlists who cut
OF his ears and SLICED of his nose among those
who. ruthless as destroying angels. keep up the He'd
terror IN Russia. OF others. such the daughter
of Major-GeneIal Herzteld who was arrested at
KEEL. of Vera Panyutin, Larssa Sarudnen. aud
Olga Shilinski little more is known than their
names and their fate The of Jude krakoflski
the daughter OF "A university official OF kicn u no
was remotely implicated in the affair of rchigirinski
IN 1871 " as brought TO memory the other day by
the confirmation Of her sentence of Punishment 10
Siberia for the henous offence of having DESTROYED
compromising papers instead of handing them over
TO the police, and of being i'm POSSESSION OF the
forbidden story of Peasant" 10y NM. Erckmann
and Chatrlan. She only twenty years old.
but all keff," says her admirer who predicts that
ere long her statue viii rise upon the Of the
fortress of her native city, (" knew her charming
smile. and the immense treasure of her charity to-
ward the poor" Still more remarkable the case
of Victoria Goukohski, daughter of a medical dis
penser of Odessa, " no. on hearing that the Nhist
kovalsky had been sentenced 10 death. created n
riot in which two persons were killed bv the SOL
diers, led mob of red-bloused men through the
public streets, aud addressed them it'll revolutions
airy eloQuence from "A stand the middle OF the
boulevards She " as arrested; but rescued by
the crowd, and made her escape. only he arrested
again the following month and sentenced 10 Siberia
for life. Thus week however, the news reaches us
that she has terminated her misery by suicide.