clear-sighted political thinkers of his time. However surprising such
a versatility may appear, it is proved to demonstration by a
comparison of his views, his attitude, and his forecasts, some of
which have been verified only lately, with those of the acknowledged
leaders and spokesmen of the various political parties of his day,
including Alexander Hertzen himself. Turgenev's are always the
soundest, the most correct and far-sighted judgments, as latter-day
history has proved.

A man with so ardent a love of liberty, and such radical views, could
not possibly banish them from his literary works, no matter how great
his devotion to pure art. He would have been a poor artist had he
inflicted upon himself such a mutilation, because freedom from all
restraints, the frank, sincere expression of the artist's
individuality, is the life and soul of all true art.

Turgenev gave to his country the whole of himself, the best of his
mind and of his creative fancy. He appeared at the same time as a
teacher, a prophet of new ideas, and as a poet and artist. But his own
countrymen hailed him in the first capacity, remaining for a long time
obtuse to the latter and greater.

Thus, during one of the most important and interesting periods of our
national history, Turgenev was the standard-bearer and inspirer of
the Liberal, the thinking Russia. Although the two men stand at
diametrically opposite poles, Turgenev's position can be compared to
that of Count Tolstoi nowadays, with a difference, this time in favour
of the author of _Dmitri Rudin_. With Turgenev the thinker and the
artist are not at war, spoiling and sometimes contradicting each
other's efforts. They go hand in hand, because he never preaches any