eller ' s ▁sketch es ▁and ▁critical ▁ess ays , ▁l ively ▁written ▁and ▁insight ful . ▁ ▁In ▁the ▁ 1 8 4 0 s ▁and ▁ 1 8 5 0 s ▁Mel gun ov ▁adopted ▁the ▁cent rist ' s ▁position ▁as ▁regards ▁the ▁conflict ▁between ▁the ▁S lav oph iles ▁and ▁the ▁Western ers ▁in ▁Russia , ▁seeing ▁both ▁as ▁the ▁two ▁extrem es ▁which ▁could ▁be ▁seen ▁and ▁used ▁as ▁" st airs ▁towards ▁the ▁synth esis ," ▁maintain ing ▁close ▁links ▁with ▁Py otr ▁Cha ad ay ev , ▁Alexander ▁H ert zen ▁and ▁Tim of ey ▁Gran ov sky ▁on ▁the ▁one ▁hand , ▁and ▁Ivan ▁K ire ye v sky ▁and ▁Alex ey ▁K hom y akov ▁on ▁the ▁other . ▁Such ▁a ▁st ance ▁was ▁not ▁taken ▁kindly ▁by ▁both ▁parties ▁and ▁soon ▁led ▁to ▁his ▁departure ▁from ▁both ▁Sov re men nik ▁and ▁Mosk vity an in . ▁ ▁In ▁ 1 8 5 4 – 5 6 ▁М el gun ov ▁became ▁close ▁to ▁Konst antin ▁K avel in ▁and ▁Bor is ▁Ch icher in ▁and ▁took ▁part ▁in ▁dis sem in ating ▁b anned ▁manuscript s ▁of ▁liberal ▁authors . ▁Three ▁of ▁his ▁own ▁ess ays , ▁published ▁by ▁H ert zen ▁in ▁Vo ices ▁from ▁Russia ▁in ▁ 1 8 5 6 – 1 8 5 7 ▁were ▁widely ▁read ▁and ▁much ▁discussed ▁in ▁Russia . ▁In ▁ 1 8 5 6 ▁he ▁moved ▁to ▁Paris ▁started ▁to ▁work ▁more ▁act