Middletown transcript., 1881-07-22
BAKUNIN, THE NIHILIsT.

During the reign Of the Emperor
Nicholas, Moscow was the head-quar-
ters Of the opposition to his system Of
government. Old Believers who hated
the Established Church, old Russians
who hated modern ideas, Slavophils
who detested the German influence,
Panslavists who dreamed Of still
larger Russia, discontented mobiles, 70
mantle poets, ,freethinking philosophers,
liberals Of all shades, found there a
Cave Of Adullam. Ivan Bakunin, the
son Of a wealthy noble, had been edu-
Gated at the imperial school Of artillery
cadets. He graduated honorably, but
instead Of being placed in the Guards,
he was sent to a lonely post in the in
terror. Here, with nothing but trivial
details demanding his attention, and
cut off from all congenial society, the
young lieutenant became melancholy
and reflective He neglected his du-
ties, was forced to resign, and at once
proceeded to Moscow. Here he met
Herzen, Tourgueneff, Aksakoff, and
others, all young, all enthusiastic, and
all devoted students Of Hegel. Their
dayswere spent in perusing the ''Logik'
and !" Esthetik'' Of their oracle, and
their nights in animated discussions as
to his meaning. Friends who in other
respects had been inseparable fell out
for weeks together over their various
conceptions of the nature of Absolute
Intelligence, and of Dan an and FIR
sich sein. Bakunin declared that he
would make the study Of Hegel's Logic
the business Of his life. Hegel's
views,' he wrote, ARE allied to our
socialistic theories. His philosophy
makes men free 3; it leaves no stone in
Christendom untuIned it liberates the
world from obsolete traditions. Z Hav-
ing learned all that Moscow could i'm
part, 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 Of Arnold Roge. Tn the Halle
Jdtrbucber for 1842, Bakunin made his
first appearance in print. Z The Posi-
tive, I he writes, exists only in the
contrary Of the Negative the destruc-
tion 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 determines
the balance, and comprehends the to-
tality of the contrast. 2 Then, leaving
mere discussion Of the masters great
principle of the = indentity Of contra
ries, ''he wakes more impassioned Let
us cry aloud, Repent, repent, for the
kingdom Of heaven is at hand 7 The
spirit Of Intelligence, the ever young,
the ever newborn, is not to be looked
for among the ruins of the past. 1t
DESTROYS and annihilates only because
it is the fathomless and ever-creating
fountain Of all life.'' Noble words,
which. alas like Hassan-B -Ben-Saba' s
search for truth, ended in strange re-
suits.
We need not speak Of Bakunin's life
during the eyentful wears of 1S48 and
1919. He was in the thick Of every
insurrection. 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
whentaken prisoner himself, declared to
his captors, /" In politics the issue alone
determines what is crime and what is a
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 hapless Hegelian was sent to ST
IBERIA. He escaped under circumstances
which involved that violation of his
parole from which men Of honor shrink.
When he returned to Europe, his well
come was cold one. He alienated all
shades of the revolutionary party by
his cynicism and inconsistency. When,
in 1867. the International Society was