TCHERNYSHÉVSKIY AND “THE CONTEMPORARY” The most prominent among political writers in Russia itself has undoubtedly been TCHERNYSHÉVSKIY (1828-1889), whose name is indissolubly connected with that of the review, _Sovreménnik_ (_The Contemporary_). The influence which this review exercised on public opinion in the years of the abolition of serfdom (1857-62) was equal to that of Hérzen’s _Bell_, and this influence was mainly due to Tchernyshévskiy, and partly to the critic Dobrolúboff. Tchernyshévskiy was born in Southeastern Russia, at Sarátoff--his father being a well educated and respected priest of the cathedral--and his early education he received, first at home, and next in the Sarátoff seminary. He left the seminary, however, in 1844, and two years later entered the philological department of the St. Petersburg University. The quantity of work which Tchernyshévskiy performed during his life, and the immensity of knowledge which he acquired in various branches, was simply stupendous. He began his literary career by works on philology and literary criticism; and he wrote in this last branch three remarkable works, _The Æsthetical Relations between Art and Reality_, _Sketches of the Gógol period_, and _Lessing and his Time_, in which he developed a whole theory of æsthetics and literary criticism. His main work, however, was accomplished during the four years, 1858-62, when he wrote in _The Contemporary_, exclusively on political and economical matters. These were the years of the abolition of serfdom, and opinion, both in the public at large and in the Government spheres, was quite unsettled even as to the leading principles which should be followed in accomplishing it. The two main questions were: should the liberated serfs receive the land which they were cultivating for themselves while they were serfs, and if so--on what conditions? And next--should the village community institutions be maintained and the land held, as of old, in common--the village community becoming in this case the basis for the future self-government institutions? All the best men of Russia were in favour of an answer in the affirmative to both these questions, and even in the higher spheres opinion went the same way; but all the reactionists and “esclavagist” serf-owners of the old school bitterly opposed this view. They wrote memoirs upon memoirs and addressed them to the Emperor and the Emancipation Committees, and it was necessary, of course, to analyse their arguments and to produce weighty historical and economical proofs against them. In this struggle Tchernyshévskiy, who was, of course, as was Hérzen’s _Bell_, with the advanced party, supported it with all the powers of his great intelligence, his wide erudition, and his formidable capacity for work; and if this party carried the day and finally converted Alexander II. and the official leaders of the Emancipation Committees to its views, it was certainly