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Russia hardly anything relating to the past is thought
about. Within the Russian intelligentia the historic
sense is even perceptibly weak. Peter the Great, even,
had done his part to saw it off, or rather to pluck it up
by the roots. That the men of revolutionary ideas of
Russia lack it, is in part because the modern founders
of the empire had shaped its tendency in the direction
of the present, — the newest, as the only thing at hand.
To this extent he is to be regarded as the father of the
so-called nihilism; and the Slavophiles have thus one
more reason for regarding him with ill will and horror.
The Russian intelligence, moreover, is less unhappily
situated than the Polish, because it is not hemmed in by
any foreign and hostile nationality. It has connections
in the official circle — nay, quite up in the family of the
Tsar; and it is by no means so denationalized as it was
in the first ten years of the century.
For example, the young Duke George Alexander (of
Mechlenburg), son of the Princess Imperial Katharina
Mikhailovna, grandson of the celebrated Princess
Imperial Helen, and permeated with traditions from the time
of his grandmother, is not infrequently met in liberal
circles. Although he is a prince of the imperial family,
he does not hesitate to make the first call on a foreigner
who does not belong to the nobility, if he thinks that
the acquaintance would be of any advantage to him.
He is a young man of large and sound culture, with
many interests. A more unconventional officer than he
would probably be sought for in vain in the Russian
army. His mother’s palace in St. Petersburg, by its size,
reminds one of Christianborg in Copenhagen. She is
also the owner of large estates in different parts of
Russia, and the young prince impresses one as being
well acquainted with Russia. He is polished, quiet, and
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