From the Other Shore

XII

were written at the end of the nineties—by N. M. Karamzin.

The introduction to the Russian manuscript consisted of a few words addressed to friends in Russia. I did not consider it necessary to repeat them in the German edition—here they are:

FAREWELL!

Our separation will continue for a long time—perhaps forever. Now I do not wish to return, and later I do not know if it will be possible. You expected me, you expect me now, and it is necessary to explain what is the matter. If I owe anyone an account of my absence, of my actions, it is certainly you, my friends.

An insurmountable aversion and a strong inner voice, predicting something, do not allow me to cross the border of Russia, especially now, when the autocracy, embittered and frightened by everything happening in Europe, stifles every intellectual movement with doubled ferocity and crudely cuts off sixty