the sage saying of the town-governor in the play, "That's
the way God made the world, and the Voltairean free-thinkers
can talk against it all they like, it won't do any
good." Every subordinate in the town administration,
all the way down the line to the policemen, follow--not
always so scrupulously--the law laid down by the same
authority, "Graft no higher than your rank." As in
city and town, so in village and hamlet. It is the tragedy
of Russian life, which has its roots in that more comprehensive
tragedy, Russian despotism, the despotism that
gives the sharp edge to official corruption. For there is
no possible redress from it except in violent revolutions.

That is the prime reason why the Inspector-General,
a mere comedy, has such a hold on the Russian people
and occupies so important a place in Russian literature.
And that is why a Russian critic says, "Russia possesses
only one comedy, the Inspector-General."

The second reason is the brilliancy and originality
with which this national theme was executed. Gogol
was above all else the artist. He was not a radical, nor
even a liberal. He was strictly conservative. While
hating the bureaucracy, yet he never found fault with
the system itself or with the autocracy. Like most born
artists, he was strongly individualistic in temperament,
and his satire and ridicule were aimed not at causes, but
at effects. Let but the individuals act morally, and the
system, which Gogol never questioned, would work beautifully.
This conception caused Gogol to concentrate