I recall, with a certain effect of pathos, how he
assured me, with tears in his eyes, that the dream
of his life was to sell out and end his days in some
country where he could attend lodge meetings
every afternoon. In his long solitude he had so
brooded upon masonic recollections that they had
come to colour all his views of nationality, religion,
business, even existence itself. I shall never
forget how his countenance fell when I confessed
to him that in England one's lodge only met once
a month, and that even then I generally forgot to
attend.
The outbreak of administrative persecution, to
which allusion has been made, with its gloomy
background of constantly increasing rumours of
fresh oppressive laws to come, stirred what re-
mained of liberalism in Russia to protest.
