Book contents
- Frontmatter
- INTRODUCTION
- Contents
- PART ONE
- PART TWO
- PART THREE THREE AND EPILOGUE
- 24 The Tsar Visits London, 1874
- 25 Dostoevsky in Bad Ems
- 26 Sophia Perovskaya, Radicalism and the Russian People
- 27 A Mystic in the Desert
- 28 The Tsar at the Front
- 29 The Death of Nekrasov
- 30 A Visit to a Monastery
- 31 Tolstoy Apologizes
- 32 “Prophet, Prophet”: Dostoevsky's Pushkin Speech
- 33 A Death and a Marriage
- 34 Two Conspirators
- 35 Bombs and Blood
- 36 The Trial
- 37 Two Appeals
- 38 A Spectacle on Semenovsky Square
- Epilogue
- Who's Who?
- Chronology
- Endnotes
- A Note on Principal Sources
- Bibliography of Print Materials
- Index
37 - Two Appeals
from PART THREE - THREE AND EPILOGUE
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 March 2012
- Frontmatter
- INTRODUCTION
- Contents
- PART ONE
- PART TWO
- PART THREE THREE AND EPILOGUE
- 24 The Tsar Visits London, 1874
- 25 Dostoevsky in Bad Ems
- 26 Sophia Perovskaya, Radicalism and the Russian People
- 27 A Mystic in the Desert
- 28 The Tsar at the Front
- 29 The Death of Nekrasov
- 30 A Visit to a Monastery
- 31 Tolstoy Apologizes
- 32 “Prophet, Prophet”: Dostoevsky's Pushkin Speech
- 33 A Death and a Marriage
- 34 Two Conspirators
- 35 Bombs and Blood
- 36 The Trial
- 37 Two Appeals
- 38 A Spectacle on Semenovsky Square
- Epilogue
- Who's Who?
- Chronology
- Endnotes
- A Note on Principal Sources
- Bibliography of Print Materials
- Index
Summary
On the same Sunday when many in the capital discovered the court's verdict and sentence, they also heard rumors about a provocative speech given the night before which dared to recommend mercy for the assassins. The speaker was Vladimir Soloviev. In a large hall of the capital's Credit Society, before some eight hundred people, he had given a lecture entitled “A Critique of Contemporary Education and the Crisis in the World Process.” Among the audience were many students and sitting in the front were Sophia Tolstaya and her niece, Sophia Khitrovo, with whom Soloviev was still in love.
Since the previous fall, Soloviev had been lecturing as a private docent at both St Petersburg University and the Higher Courses for Women, established in the capital in 1878 – women were not permitted to enroll in the universities. His reputation among the students seemed to increase with each lecture. He welcomed their questions and objections, and especially enjoyed answering the students who were sympathetic with the revolutionary left. In a lecture at the Higher Courses for Women following the arrest of Sophia Perovskaya, Soloviev had publicly stated that the path of revolutionary violence was the wrong way, that it was impossible to bring about truth and justice by force, that it would only lead to despotism.
On the Thursday when the trial of the assassins began, he gave the first of two speeches at the Credit Society lecture hall. But compared to the one he gave two nights later, the first one did not cause much controversy.
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- Russia in the Age of Alexander II, Tolstoy and Dostoevsky , pp. 245 - 250Publisher: Anthem PressPrint publication year: 2002