The Jew Part 37

"At Mann's. We can do nothing without him."

"When?"

"To-morrow morning."

Kruder threw himself in a chair. "_Alea jacta est_," said he. "Unhappy Poland!"

The tragedy occurred on the street, at a time when the n.o.bles had arrived from all parts of the kingdom, for a general reunion of the Agricultural Society. No one had foreseen the sinister event, no one wished for it; but an invisible hand seemed to precipitate it.

After he left Bartold's, Jacob could not resist the temptation to visit the scene of the catastrophe. A lugubrious silence reigned there.

Noiseless pedestrians hurriedly regained their homes, gliding silently through the misty shadows. Here and there a sentinel was stationed. On the grave faces of the soldiers he believed that he could read the struggle between military honour and human duty.

Near the Hotel Europe Jacob met a group of n.o.bles who came out of the governmental palace; they were excited, and conversed in low voices. As he pa.s.sed on, by the door of the hotel, some one seized his hand, and he recognized Gromof, the companion of Lucie Coloni. Taking his arm, Gromof drew him into the house, and made him mount several pairs of stairs without saying a word.

They entered the apartment of the Italian lady, and found her seated on a couch. She looked at Gromof and left the room; alone with Jacob, the Russian said:--

"You are young, monsieur, and you cannot be altogether indifferent to that which is happening; you ought to know everything about it."

"Of what?"

"Of the intended revolution."

"I know absolutely nothing, I a.s.sure you."

"Do you take me for a spy, an informer?" asked Gromof.

"Be cool and wise, my friend. I have scarcely returned to my home. I am a Jew, and, if you will recall it, in the depths of my soul an enemy to all revolution."

"And why are you opposed to revolutions?"

"Because they lead to nothing, they are convulsive maladies, they r.e.t.a.r.d the normal march of progress, and their cruel repressions push the people to despair. I think that there are means more efficacious than rebellions; but this discussion will lead us too far. I am not a revolutionist, I repeat to you; but if this country, which is the land of my choice, needs my blood and my life, I will give them willingly. I will go with the others."

"You are a man of good faith. It is enough to see you and to hear you to be convinced of it. I will then be as frank with you as I can, without betraying the secrets of others. I am a revolutionist myself by principle, for I am a Russian. My neck bears the mark of an iron collar; on my arms are imprints made by chains; the stigma of slavery is engraved on my thoughts, on my conscience, and on my words. I am ready to sacrifice myself to overthrow the world, to shed torrents of blood, at any cost to deliver my country from intellectual servitude, from moral degradation, from a maternal slavery which makes me blush to call myself a Russian in the eyes of the world. With us a revolution is a necessity. Otherwise we shall never gain the rights of men; but in this uprising we must be united. Wait until we give the signal; then march united; if you engage in this combat against despotism alone, you will compromise both your future and ours. Use, I entreat you, all your influence to stop this absurd, tempestuous, and premature outbreak.

Russia will remain chained for a century yet, if your foolish precipitation is not abated. If you rebel now, you will only be playing into their hands; it is the very thing they want you to do; as in 1812, they will appeal to the patriotism of the ma.s.ses, and set them upon you like wild beasts after their prey. An infamous bureaucracy will wallow in the blood of vanquished Poland; oppressed and down-trodden, she will find it difficult to rise again. There will be persecutions, murders, and exile of hundreds at a time to Siberia. That is what awaits you if you do not take my warning."

"Have you talked with any of our young men?"

"Yes; with some of the military; but scarcely had I opened my mouth when they took me for an agent of the third section, and would not listen to me. And yet, if these madmen would only remain quiet two or three years, we Russian revolutionists would have time to work through the army and to instil in all hearts a desire for freedom, to turn the emanc.i.p.ation of the serfs made for the profit of the government against this same government, and to spread from the sh.o.r.es of the Neva the cry of freedom for Russia as well as for Poland. It is certain to come some day; but your headstrong Poles will r.e.t.a.r.d it if they do not listen to reason. Could you not arrange for me to meet some of the leaders of the agitation?"

"Truly, I do not know them. A youth who has more enthusiasm than good sense appears to be the leader in this movement."

"This youth is only an instrument, I think," said the Russian. "Where are the serious men, the earnest ones?"

"I do not believe there are any."

"Young men are active in war, but need old men in counsel. How came the country to be abandoned to such authority? You are mocking me, no doubt. You do not trust me. You will not speak."

"If I had had suspicions, they might have been justified, for I hardly know you; but I give you my word of honour that I do not belong to any such conspiracy, nor to any secret society. I am ready, however, to give my life when the hour of the supreme holocaust arrives."

"I believe you; but your heroism is inconceivable. To be willing to die with those who do not confide in you is strange."

"It is not so strange, and it is not heroism. It will only be the accomplishment of my duty, and a proof that there are some Jews who deserve a country, and that some of us love Poland."

"Will you save her by your devotion?"

"No. And we ourselves will perish; but we shall have contracted an alliance of blood with this country."

"All that is very fine and very poetic, but politics require something else; they do not rely on sentimental pity. By her reiterated heroisms, Poland has weakened herself and perishes. Calculation, opportunity, and stratagem may save her. Why does she not seek to make allies of her own oppressors, when nothing could be easier? Why has she given up her place in the government of Russia to the Germans? Why has she not sought to take up all governmental interests, to endear herself to us, and to communicate to us her liberalism, her brilliant civilization?

Why has she not been more politic? She has furnished us only some n.o.bles with great names but without worth, lackeys in court dress; but men of real importance, not one. They have all kept aloof. In one century, since the first part.i.tion of your country, what has been your influence? The Poles are much more enlightened than the Russians; could you not have been benefactors? In a century so little has been done.

You have dissipated the years in frivolity, and each generation has thrown itself entirely unprepared into a revolution, always cruelly repressed, the result of which was exile and oppression. Wives have left their luxurious homes and accompanied their husbands to Siberia.

You have harangued, written, and revealed to the Russian government your own weakness, so that they know how to strike and how you will take the blow. The Poles have the chivalrous instinct too fully developed; you do not dissemble enough. My word for it, you must meet intrigue with intrigue. If you do not, you will perish utterly, and you will have deserved it by your candour."

"A generation will perish, perhaps," said Jacob, "but not Poland. Under Russian oppression, under the knout and the gallows, she will learn to be more serious, more persevering, and more wise. The cowardly will be terrorized, but they will be the exception."

"Do you know what your spiritual writer, Rzewuski, said to a Russian general?"

"No; I have not heard it."

"'I have a wonderful way of discovering the honesty of a Russian and the good sense of a Pole.'

"'What is the way?' asked the general.

"'It is only to look in the palm of the hand to see if there are any hairs there.'"

"That is true," said Gromof. "The Poles lack good sense and we lack honesty. From the time of Ivan the Terrible we have been taught to lie, to steal, and to kill for the public good. Such teachings for three generations have naturally borne their fruit. As for the Poles, after experiencing such misfortunes by their precipitation, they should have acquired common-sense and judgment; but they have not, I regret to say."

"What do you wish of me, monsieur?" said Jacob.

"I wish you to try and quell the pa.s.sions of your youthful revolutionists. Pray, supplicate, admonish, and entreat them to wait; in the name of Heaven, to wait; and if you think your influence is not great enough, introduce me to a leader, a chief."

"One word, monsieur," said Jacob. "How can I be sure that you are worthy of confidence; you are a Russian; what proofs can you give of being worthy of our confidence?"

"I a.s.sure you I merit your whole confidence," cried Gromof, "and I will give proofs in writing and on my own body. I will show on my back ridges left there by the knout, and on my arms the mark of chains. But, no! no! they do not wish to believe me. Unhappy Poland will fail to secure liberty, for her a forbidden fruit! The throne of the Czar will be strengthened by those who thought to overthrow it. The court will continue to suck the people's blood. Oh, what a satanic laugh does your idiotic revolution provoke in me! I will be among the first to prey on you, to avenge myself for my destroyed hopes. Yes, I will go to see you all hung with pleasure, for you will have ruined our future."

"Be calm," said Jacob; "we have not yet commenced a revolution, and perhaps it may be averted. These youth are only a handful; they may yet be suppressed."

"No; if young men are at the head, neither themselves nor any one else can hold them back. They will go to any length. Youth and the mob are two inflammable elements. The sacrifice will be accomplished. There will be a heap of corpses, and the bureaucracy will make merry with their samovars and their brandy on the battle-field. I see your future: the country ravaged, villages depopulated, cities pillaged, chained galley slaves marching towards Siberia, b.l.o.o.d.y executions, an insatiable vengeance, and everywhere ruins and ashes. That will be your fate for having r.e.t.a.r.ded Russian liberty by your premature revolution."

"Do not be so excited, I pray you."

"Not be excited! That is easy to say. Have you suffered as I have? Do you know what exile is? Do you know anything about penal labour? I was condemned to it for life, but I escaped. Such labour is very hard, but exile is even more intolerable."

After a short silence Gromof continued:--

"Braving all personal danger, I come here to prevent, if possible, a fatal precipitation; but I fear it is too late."

"But," said Jacob, "how can they commence a revolution without arms, without money, without leaders or soldiers?"

"Your crazy youth would go to battle with sticks and staves. The government, to encourage them, or rather to lead them into the snare of their own destruction, have permitted the underhand introduction of a small quant.i.ty of arms; they have been allowed to ama.s.s a little money, and the government has seemed to have its eyes shut to a movement that it has really instigated. Afterward they can repress it when they desire. In the eyes of Europe, the first aggression will be on your side. Your folly will have been heroic, but will only obtain a barren sympathy. Europe will authorize by her silence the horrible cruelties which Poland will again endure, and despotism, by this crafty political stroke, will be reinforced for a long time."