charge of having assisted, with some other youths, at a festival during which verses by Sokolovsky, of a nature uncomplimentary to the emperor, were sung. The special commission appointed to try the youthful culprits found him guilty, and in 1835 he was banished to Viatka. There he remained till the visit to that city of the hereditary grand-duke (afterwards Alexander II.), accompanied by the poet Joukofsky, led to his being allowed to quit Viatka for Vladimir, where he was appointed editor of the official gazette of that city. In 1840 he obtained a post in the ministry of the interior at St Petersburg; but in consequence of having spoken too frankly about a death due to a police officer’s violence, he was sent to Novgorod, where he led an official life, with the title of “state councillor,” till 1842. In 1846 his father died, leaving him by his will a very large property. Early in 1847 he left Russia, never to return. From Italy, on hearing of the revolution of 1848, he hastened to Paris, whence he afterwards went to Switzerland. In 1852 he quitted Geneva for London, where he settled for some years. In 1864 he returned to Geneva, and after some time went to Paris, where he died on the 21st of January 1870.
His literary career began in 1842 with the publication of an essay, in Russian, on Dilettantism in Science, under the pseudonym of “Iskander,” the Turkish form of his Christian name—convicts, even when pardoned, not being allowed in those days to publish under their own names. His second work, also in Russian, was his Letters on the Study of Nature (1845–1846). In 1847 appeared, his novel Kto Vinovat? (Whose Fault?), and about the same time were published in Russian periodicals the stories which were afterwards collected and printed in London in 1854, under the title of Prervannuie Razskazui (Interrupted Tales). In 1850 two works appeared, translated from the Russian manuscript, Vom anderen Ufer (From another Shore) and Lettres de France et d’Italie. In French appeared also his essay Du Développement des idées révolutionnaires en Russie, and his Memoirs, which, after being printed in Russian, were translated under the title of Le Monde russe et la Révolution (3 vols., 1860–1862), and were in part translated into English as My Exile to Siberia (2 vols., 1855). From a literary point of view his most important work is Kto Vinovat? a story describing how the domestic happiness of a young tutor, who marries the unacknowledged daughter of a Russian sensualist of the old type, dull, ignorant and genial, is troubled by a Russian sensualist of the new school, intelligent, accomplished and callous, without there being any possibility of saying who is most to be blamed for the tragic termination. But it was as a political writer that Hertzen gained the vast reputation which he at one time enjoyed. Having founded in London his “Free Russian Press,” of the fortunes of which, during ten years, he gave an interesting account in a book published (in Russian) in 1863, he issued from it a great number of Russian works, all levelled against the system of government prevailing in Russia. Some of these were essays, such as his Baptized Property, an attack on serfdom; others were periodical publications, the Polyarnaya Zvyezda (or Polar Star), the Kolokol (or Bell), and the Golosa iz Rossii (or Voices from Russia). The Kolokol soon obtained an immense circulation, and exercised an extraordinary influence. For three years, it is true, the founders of the “Free Press” went on printing, “not only without selling a single copy, but scarcely being able to get a single copy introduced into Russia”; so that when at last a bookseller bought ten shillings’ worth of Baptized Property, the half-sovereign was set aside by the surprised editors in a special place of honour. But the death of the emperor Nicholas in 1855 produced an entire change. Hertzen’s writings, and the journals he edited, were smuggled wholesale into Russia, and their words resounded throughout that country, as well as all over Europe. Their influence became overwhelming. Evil deeds long hidden, evil-doers who had long prospered, were suddenly dragged into light and disgrace. His bold and vigorous language aptly expressed the thoughts which had long been secretly stirring Russian minds, and were now beginning to find a timid utterance at home. For some years his influence in Russia was a living force, the circulation of his writings was a vocation zealously pursued. Stories tell how on one occasion a merchant, who had bought several cases of sardines at Nijni-Novgorod, found that they contained forbidden print instead of fish, and at another time a supposititious copy of the Kolokol was printed for the emperor’s special use, in which a telling attack upon a leading statesman, which had appeared in the genuine number, was omitted. At length the sweeping changes introduced by Alexander II. greatly diminished the need for and appreciation of Hertzen’s assistance in the work of reform. The freedom he had demanded for the serfs was granted, the law-courts he had so long denounced were remodelled, trial by jury was established, liberty was to a great extent conceded to the press. It became clear that Hertzen’s occupation was gone. When the Polish insurrection of 1863 broke out, and he pleaded the insurgents’ cause, his reputation in Russia received its death-blow. From that time it was only with the revolutionary party that he was in full accord.
In 1873 a collection of his works in French was commenced in Paris. A volume of posthumous works, in Russian, was published at Geneva in 1870. His Memoirs supply the principal information about his life, a sketch of which appears also in A. von Wurzbach’s Zeitgenossen, pt. 7 (Vienna, 1871). See also the Revue des deux mondes for July 15 and Sept. 1, 1854. Kto Vinovat? has been translated into German under the title of Wer ist schuld? in Wolffsohn’s Russlands Novellendichter, vol. iii. The title of My Exile in Siberia is misleading; he was never in that country. (W. R. S.-R.)
HERULI, a Teutonic tribe which figures prominently in the
history of the migration period. The name does not occur in
writings of the first two centuries A.D. Where the original home
of the Heruli was situated is never clearly stated. Jordanes says
that they had been expelled from their territories by the Danes,
from which it may be inferred that they belonged either to what
is now the kingdom of Denmark, or the southern portion of the
Jutish peninsula. They are mentioned first in the reign of
Gallienus (260–268), when we find them together with the Goths
ravaging the coasts of the Black Sea and the Aegean. Shortly
afterwards, in A.D. 289, they appear in the region about the mouth
of the Rhine. During the 4th century they frequently served
together with the Batavi in the Roman armies. In the 5th
century we again hear of piratical incursions by the Heruli in the
western seas. At the same time they had a kingdom in central
Europe, apparently in or round the basin of the Elbe. Together
with the Thuringi and Warni they were called upon by Theodoric
the Ostrogoth about the beginning of the 6th century to form
an alliance with him against the Frankish king Clovis, but very
shortly afterwards they were completely overthrown in war by
the Langobardi. A portion of them migrated to Sweden, where
they settled among the Götar, while others crossed the Danube
and entered the Roman service, where they are frequently
mentioned later in connexion with the Gothic wars. After the
middle of the 6th century, however, their name completely
disappears. It is curious that in English, Frankish and Scandinavian
works they are never mentioned, and there can be little
doubt that they were known, especially among the western
Teutonic peoples, by some other name. Probably they are
identical either with the North Suabi or with the Iuti. The
name Heruli itself is identified by many with the A.S. eorlas
(nobles), O.S. erlos (men), the singular of which (erilaz) frequently
occurs in the earliest Northern inscriptions, apparently as a title
of honour. The Heruli remained heathen until the overthrow
of their kingdom, and retained many striking primitive customs.
When threatened with death by disease or old age, they were
required to call in an executioner, who stabbed them on the pyre.
Suttee was also customary. They were entirely devoted to warfare
and served not only in the Roman armies, but also in
those of all the surrounding nations. They disdained the use of
helmets and coats of mail, and protected themselves only with
shields.
See Georgius Syncellus; Mamertinus Paneg. Maximi; Ammianus Marcellinus; Zosimus i. 39; Idatius, Chronica; Jordanes, De origine Getarum; Procopius, esp. Bellum Goticum, ii. 14 f.; Bellum Persicum, ii. 25; Paulus Diaconus, Hist. Langobardorum, i. 20; K. Zeuss, Die Deutschen und die Nachbarstämme, pp. 476 ff. (Munich, 1837). (F. G. M. B.)
