Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1886-01-17
"STEPNIAK +. IN LONDON.
A VISIT TO HIS LODGINGS.


nucr.
In one Of the dingiest squares in the
West Central district Of London lives
=" Stepnisk," the famous Russian writer
and revolutionist. In q dingy dwell
ing next to dingy church, dwelling
which well represents the average lodg-
ing-house Of this region-the first floor
is allotted to the use Of the author Of
Undergo ind Russia" and what was
evidently drawing-room in PALMER
age is set apart as the study Of the lat
ter-dsy apostle Of freedom who has mys-
teriously masqueraded through Europe.
Books, papers, pamphlets, aud maya
zines in half dozen languages COM
prise the chief furniture of the apart
ment, and at corner-desk, toiling over
the manuscript Of his forthcoming VOL
ume, sits the man whom the myrmi-
dons Of the White Gear long to immune
in the subterranean dungeons Of the
Fortress of Peter and Paul. There is
nothing about Stepniak to suggest the
conspirator or political plotter nothing
that smacks Of dynamite or terrorism,
or that reminds you Of the pyra-
midal hats and black cloaks Of the vocal
villains in LA File de Madame An
GOT" Stepniak is an educated gentle
man, and one is not surprised to find
that in appearance he is typical busby-
haired and bearded, broad-faced aud
fat-nosed Russian or that, like all of
his instructed countrymen, be shares
the natural linguistic gift, expressing
himself in English, French, German,
Italian, Latin, Greek, and his own
strange tongue with equal ease. In
deed, be is the last man in the world
whom one would take for an upsetter
Of dynasties.
He is genial, even joyial, in manner.
aud his high voice and near sight COM
pei one to wonder how in a land where
every inhabitant is watched by the po-
lice as the mouse is watched by the cat
this outlawed man has worked with
safety for so many years, has eluded
Identification, and how, even now,
he passes when he chooses un.
harmed through the country, where
price is set upon his head.
The conclusion is natural that if the
Russian police are clever " Stepniak "
is equal to them in this respect,
and that DISCUSSES are no loss potent in
real life than they are in romance or
the drama. But the chief reason why
the American or the average European
would not take Stepnisk" to be a
Nihilist is that outside Of Russia the
general idea regarding Nihilists and
Nihilism is entirely at fault, and that
the members of the order are wrongly
classed in the category Of the O'DOno-
van Rossas and Herr Mosts Of cOtempo-
rary crime.
"Stepniak is an admirable repre-
sentative Of what are peryersely called
the " Nihilists. lie is broad-minded
man, thoroughly in earnest, and wholly
devoted to his cause. Though he looks
older he has not seen more than thirty
four years, and fully half of that period
has been devoted to the cause Of Rus
sian liberty. Who he is and what he
is-that is to say, his real name and
family history-will remain long. per-
haps forever, unknown. To the world
and to his own associates he is Step
MAX" 1t is a common thing for men,
bers Of his society to sink their identity
under some assumed name and to live
and die with it. THE Bird" so called
from his peculiar voice. was compost
tor on the secret press IN St. Peters
burgh. For two years be lived in the
printing.ofiice, never going outside the
! little room in which he lived and work
ed. This selfabnegation was necessary
to the cause. His co-Torkers knew no.
thing Of him save that be came to
them from a distant town with creden.
dials from the local organization. His
faithful but self-imposed confinement
caused his death, and for lack Of any
other name he was buried as he had
lived, under the name Of The Bird. "
Such instances are frequent among the
Nihilists.
Stepniak," like all members Of the
order, refuses to talk Of his own his
tory or Of his own share in the active
work Of the reyolutionists. Absolute
secrecy is the only safeguard. But /
have reason to believe that he is a
member Of the lesser nobility Of " Lit
tie Russia, and that one Of his reasons
for concealiDg his identity is to spare
his family the prosecutions Of the Gar.
But he is anxious to educate American
opinion on the subject Of Russia, and
in a twelyemonth he hopes to visit the
States and lecture, though he shrinks
from the task Of addressing an audi
ence, oratory being unknown in Russia,
where the right Of public speaking is
denied. For the present he is living
in retirement and working upon his
books, and though he is in free England
be thinks it best to keep his address as
much Of a secret as possible.
He works in a study bestrcwn with
every adjunct Of the writing craft, for
"Stepniak " has been a professional
journalist. 1t is chill, drizzly morn
ing, with the fog coming down as it can
come down only in London, and " Step
MAX " sits by bright open fire, which
is doing its best to add to the dismal
pail Of smoke that covers the metropo-
lis in the winter time. As he talks his
eyes glisten, his whole frame becomes
animated, and from time to time ne will
rise from his chair and pace the floor
with a firm, heavy tread and deter
mined mien. He is thoroughly in
earnest, as you can see by his aspect.
Indeed, earnestness is his chief charac-
teristic, as it must be with man who
has sacrificed every worldly prospect in
long struggle with the dynasty Of the
Romanofs.
1t is difficult" he says, " for the
people Of Western Europe, and it is
more difficult still for the people OF
that great West, America, to realize the
condition Of things in Russia, for the
land Of the Gar is like no other coun-
try. Everything in Russia is original,
and everything that is original in Rus
STA is an anomaly. With US freedom is
but the name Of an unknown state,