In 1852 he was invited to teach the children of the Russian monarch's family and in 1860-1862 was a personal history tutor for tsesarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich.

[1]: 60 Stasyulevich wanted to create a political space for moderate liberals - somewhere that could host criticism of the state as far as possible within the bounds of official censorship.

[1]: 75–76  Away from the eyes of government censors, Stasyulevich and his wife hosted a weekly salon for progressive intellectuals to debate the concerns of the day more openly than was allowed in print.

[1]: 83–84 Although Herald was intended as a historical journal, Stasyulevich fought hard to attract literary talent, in order to drive subscription rates.

[1]: 88–90 He was also the author of numerous articles on contemporary Russian literature, and later literary memoirs (on Ivan Goncharov and Aleksey K. Tolstoy, among others).