The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1900-03-15
NESToR OF NIHILISM.
A WeII-Knoyvn Figure Among Paris
Refugees.

From New York, Commercial Advertiser.
Two hundred RUSS an-speaking men and
women assembled in one of the meeting
rooms at 2O9 East Broadway the other
evenfng. The chairman was a broad
shOuldered man of IS, with a thick blonde
beard and typical Slavonic face. His
name is Vladimir Afexandrovitch Stalech-
nkoff AT HIS home, which is near 81
Petersburg, he belonged 10 the oldest no.
hiMty and was the owner of large estate,
but he was actively interested in the nj
hi1ist movement, and was about TO be ar
rested when he fled to Switzerland. He
then went to Itaay and France. and finally
settled in this country, where he has lived
for more than twelve years.
There were other nfhilists in the room,
some of them oldtmers, like the chair
I man, who participated in the under
ground circles of the seventies and
eighties, when the movement was AT it's
hight and when members of the highest
arialocracy in Russia were Scheandng
against the monarchy Peter Lavrovitch
Lavrof was one of the nestors of nihgLsm
and the speakers at the East Broadway
meeting dwelt on his career and his per-
sonadty with peculiar tenderness and af-
lection, as if the deceased had been their
beloved grandfather.
lima CINE a tall, Stalwau man of rs.
military of aspect and bearing" said Mr.
Stalechnikoff "a nobl enan, every inch of
HIM. Kindly and gentle like a dove. po-
lite and gallant like a knight, a walking
cyclopedia, a dreamer who lived and suf-
fered for the good of humanity in the sim
CereSt sense of the phTase-imagine such
man and surround him in your mind by
thousands of admirers; place him IN
suite of tiny rooms at Rue st. Jacques,
Paris, with a sanlovar on his table, with
almost every inch of every wan covered
wi h books; picture him writing during the
day and talking to a small circle of Wis
itors in the evening-writing and taking
of the woes of Russia and the rest of the
civilized world. and OF the time when they
would all be happy; picture all this and
you win have the picture of a man like
Peter LavTovftch Lavroff.
He was a professor of philosophy at
the military academy of st. Petersburg
and a contributor to the best magazines
Of the capital. In the seventies, when
the revolutionary movement was spread
ing among the educated classes, ne was
found in the front ranks of the movement.
He wanted to see his country free-free
to develop its resources and the facul ties
of its children. He was arrested and
sent north to one of the coolest provinces
in Russia. But the young revolutionists
could not spare him. There were hum
.
prisoned so that the great teacher might
regain his liberty and his work of enlight-
4 eminent.
Several young men went to the place
where Lavroff lived in exile, and, at the
peril OF their own liberty. they brought
about his escape. He wanted to return to
ST. Petersburg to live under ground"
| But the nhilists would not let him take
| chances You are too valuable to the
| cause to run the risk Of an arrest they
/ seid to him. Go to Switzerland. to France
anywhere where you will be safe. Go
and teach us while we are facing the
danger of the work here. We shall read
| your articles your pamphlets; we shall
| hear your voice from affair." and 1t will in
| spire us to sacrifice our lives for the
good of our country
'qHe settled in Paris and his residence
began to attract pilgrims from every part
of his country. There were thousands of
men and women who were willing to die
for the cause, and to oil of these the
name of Peter Lavroff was a name to
eonjure with.
Counts and princes visiting the
| French capital would call at his place in
| cognito and leave contributions to the
movement. There were many such per-
sons in those days. They were good at
heart, but too weak to sacrifice their So
cial position and luxuries to their conVic-
lions. They were glad to help the revolu-
ton without DemS known as nlninSfS
| Turgeneff the great Russian writer was
one of Lavroffs admirers, and he. too
kept this secret. although for different
| reasons The novelist's influence was so
great that II would have been a pity il
his books had been prescribed on account
of his friendship for the great revolution
ist.
There Is a considerable Russian colony
In the Latin quarter. Most OF these are
nihists including some runaways from
Siberia or candidates for the gallows
Lavroff's at home was on THURSDAYS
and you should have seen the old man IN
the company of his guests on those even
ugs! There were sure to be several stu
dent girls in the gathering and Lavroff's
gallant attentions to them would shock
d the nihilsdc sensibilites Of the very re-
cpients of these attention. Why should
we he petted as If we were babies they
would protest We are emancipated wo-
men, good as men But gallantrv was
Lavron's second nature. He could not
help it,
"He was one OF the greatest Russians
that ever lived" concluded the speaker
yet the very mention OF HIS naro
would get "A subject Of the Car into
| trouble ~