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gQ0 THE LEADE R. [No. 290, Saturday,
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Exile In Siberia. Jfy Exile In Siberia. ...
the first free Kussian printtng-press . Thence have emanated many striking works , some of which-have been introduced to English readers by ourselves , some by the Aihenmim . TJnti the outbreak of war , indeed , they were only permitted to circulate within the British frontier , though , when the Elect of France desired to wave a warlike plume in the popular breath , Herzon ' s works once more appeared in the Parisian windows . Encouraged by the notice bestowed on hjun by our contemporary , by ourselves , and by th & Revue des Denx Alondes , JVl . Herzen Las published tin English version of his Memoirs , relating chiefly to his political persecutions , including a protracted exile in Siberia . In these -Memoirs--he presents a highly characteristic view of Russian official society , interspersed with sketches of rural lifef episodes of picturesque adventures , and fragments of serious , and logical speculation . Moderate , frank , and conscientious , he uses no dramatic artifices to enhance the effect of his well-written and manly narration . The volumes , as presenting the experiences of a patriotic and intellectual Russian in conflict * with his Government , contain all the sources of popularity ; they sparkle from end to end with clear thoughts and keen allusions ; they are severe ; they are ironical ; they abound in illustrations and incidents , free portraits of imperial dignitaries , and satire upon institutions ; but M . Alexander Herzen writes his personal history , and writes it with well-bred reserve . In the spring of 1884 a friend , whom he dares not name , was arrested , upon an unspecified charge . Alexander Herzen , belonging to a rich and noble family , then knew that danger had been incurred by him , not only through his bold democratic conversations , but through the expression of his political faith in essays and sketches , of which the manuscripts would witness against him . He felt that when his friend was seized , some connexion existed between that circumstance and his own position , —the more so since the officials maintained a signi & cant silence when questioned upon the matter . Some weeks passed , and the cloud still overshadowed the house . At length , at two o ' clock in the morning of the 28 th of July , he was awakened by bis valet , and summoned to meet an officer who had entered the salons below . There were soldiers in the street , and the cap of a Cossack was recognised behind a group of men with white plumes . The Director of the Police met him as he went down , with orders to give up his papers , and to accompany him to the bureau . A wretched scene of terror and grief ensued : — My mother waa nearly- senseless . All the household servants accompanied me < lown-stairs , surrounded me , kissed my hands . It was as if I , while still alive , were present at my own burial . The Director of Police frowned , and hurried our departure . When we stepped out of the door , he assembled his army . With him were four Cossacks , two commissioners , and two policemen . " Will you not allow me to go home ? " asked a man with a beard , who sat before the door . " Go ! " answered MliUer . " Who is that man ? " I asked , as I stepped into the carriage . * ' That is the juryman ; you know that unless he is present , the police cannot enter a house . " " And on that account you left him outside the door ?" "A mere formality ; the poor man has lost his sleep for no purpose , " observed Miiller . We drove off , accompanied by two Cossacks on horseback . Upwards of half a year elapsed , while Herzen was transferred from one place of detention to another , before he learned bis sentence . Sometimes , secluded in an . ancient cell converted from monastic to pcual uses , be was allowed to converse only with his gaolers ; sometimes the authorities relented from this rigour , and permitted him to have books and paper , and even to receiverthe visits of his friends . At irregular intervals he was brought up before the Imperial commissioners , first exhorted by a priest to confess his political sins , and then plied with leading questions as to secret associations , their places of meeting , their numbers , objects , and methods of action . His invariable reply , that he belonged to no secret associations , was ¦ characterised as a perverse endeavour to elude the Imperial justice . The Imperial clemency , however , was proposed to him on condition of his becoming an informer . To refuse was to aggravate his offence , and to excite additional suspicions , punished by additional severities . In Russia , howevcx * , there is a prison aristocracy . M . Herzen contrasts his own treatment —somewhat considerate and respectful—with that of the peasants , menial servants , workmen , or citizens accused or condemned . The practice of torture , though thrice abolished—by Peter the Third , by Catherine the Second , and by Alexander the First—prevails from liehring's Straits to Tnuroggen , and men and women are flogged , chained , forced to walk with bare feet on frozen iron floors , to eat excessively salt food , to endure the temperature of ovens , and to vary between the extremes of thirst and famine * that they may corroborate by their confessions the perjuries of the police . Only an escaped captive can testify to their miseries , since every grade of officials composes a fleparate fraternity deaf among the victims , dumb among those who have the power to redress . Such are the disorders and brutalities of these courte of secret justice , that the poor criminal awu-its with impatience the end of hia trial and the beginning of his punishment , for Siberian banishment , monotonously wretched , is preferred to the gratuitous and malignant caprices of the petty tribunals . Not even the fear of theses Powers , however , could silence the political prisoners , who argued with the commissioners * denied their inferences , and occasionally threw out suggestions . of the moat refined but audacious irony . The following ia admirable ; it refers to a free ballad against the altar and the throne : — The auditor of the'commission , a . pedant and pietist , who had grown grey and lean through envy and covetouaness , aakod Sokolofaky , apparently through reaped for tho throne and altar , and aa if not understanding the grammatical- »« nuo of tho lu « t two verses : " To whom do you apply the detestable words at tho end of youx poum ?" " Be assured , " answered Sokolofoky , " that they do not apply to the Emperor , but to God . I direct your attention particularly to this extenuating circum » tanco . " Tho auditor ehrugged hia shoulders , looked up to the coiling , tlmn regarded Sokolofaky for a long while silently , and finally took a pinch of unuflf , tyltunatejy M « Moreen was banished to Perm , on tho desolate Siberian
frontier . To this place he was taken in a carriage , guarded by soldiers , and , on his arrival , was at once introduced to the governor . That functionary was neither harsh nor insolent , and M . Herzen discovered that the first day of exile was the first day of liberty since the night-arrest . However , from Perm he was deported to Wiatka , and hidden in the remoter desert beyond the country of the Woteks , the Mordwines , and Tscheremissos . Here his superior , with nil the instincts of a wolf , hud all the habits of a monkey—coarse , dissolute , brutal , enjoying only the humour of antics , gibes , and sneers . He placed M . Herzen at an ofliciol desk to scribble with the clerks— -a company of pooi ^ -minded , dirty , spiritless creatures , whose society forced him to regret his former prison , with its solitude , its vermin , its moisture and darkness , its sentinels pacing by the door . Nevertheless , he had time and inclination to observe — Apropos of the exiles ! IuNyjnei we find exile Poles ; in Kasan , tho number increases considerably . In Perm there were at that time forty ; iu Wiatka not less ; besides which , iu every small district town there are several .
They live quite separate from tho Russians , and shun every intercourse with the inhabitants . The greatest union prevails among- them , but no Russian is admitted into their society . On the part of the inhabitants , I saw neither hatred , nor particular inclination towards them . They looked upon them as strangers ; and the wore so aa not one of the Poles understood the Russian language . An old ami thorough-bred Sarmatian . who had been an officer in the time of Ponintowsky , and had shared a part of Napoleon ' s campaigns , received , in the year 1837 , the permission to return to his possessions in Lithuania . The day before his departure , the old man invited me and some Poles to dinner . After dinner , when my host was a little elevatetl . bo approached me with a drinking-cup , embraced me
tenderly with soldier-like cordiality , and whispered in my ear : "Why are you a Russian ? " I made no reply ; but this observation fell heavily on my heart . I understood that this generation of Poles will not liberate Poland . Since the time of Konarsky , however , the Poles look differently upon the Russians . The exiled Poles have never been ill-treated ; but the position of those who huve no means is dreadful . From Government they receive but fifteen roubles banco a month , and with this money they must provide lodgings , board , fire , and clothing . Iu the larger towns , such as Kasan and Tobolsk , thuy can live by giving lessons and concerts , establishing draw ing-classes , and playing at balls . Hut in Perm and Wiatka even these resources are wanting . Notwithstanding , they never ask the Russians for anything . adds
Siberia , subjected to a series of vicious or incompetent governors , little to the resources of the Russian Empire . It is oliicially regarded a . » a region which , abounding in Juts and other valuable commodities , may he drawn upon to replenish the Imperial treasury ; but which is cold , dismal , scanty in its produce of food , destitute of good roads and rivers , and inhabited by a meagre and unenterprising population . Yet to this country , M . Herzen affirms , a nation like the American might give an impulse that would place it among the richest in the world . The opening of the Amoor . which will tend to introduce Siberia to America on the confines of China , may stimulate its commercial and industrial development : — I said long ago that the Pacific Ocean will be the Mediterranenn of the future . In this future , the part of Siberia is most important , in consequence of its position between the Pacific , Southern Asia , and Russia . It is understood , of course , that Siberia must extend to the Chinese frontier . Why should we be obliged to tremble with cold in Beresof and Irkutsk , when there is a Krasnoyarsk ?
'Ihe natives urc generally well-formed , healthy , and characterised Inhabits of prudence . They have no feudal class , and tho officials who govern them resemble a hostile garrison . Free from the immediate control both ol the army and the CLurcn , the use of hunting implements has communicated to them a bold and almost a martial spirit , which flourishes uuruprcsscd , while the police and their superiors axe absorbed iu a policy of private embezzlement . Recalled from Siberia to the capital , M . Herzen perpetrated a second offence , and incurred a second punishment , the nature of which may b < - gathered from a dialogue with the chief commissary of police : —
Li Ya . . _ . * ...- _^ . ^ . . ! 4 - . . «* - _! _ . . ^ m ¦ 1 ^ hV « . ^ A *» ft ^ m ^ i « # « x ¦ * . « < -. 4 » - _ rffc *»»»» 1 *^ U « S ¦! % f ik 9 "J | 4 II 1 * H tf \ 4 ll 4 ^ 1111 1 kit A I ^ "It seems it is not -very long since you got permission to return to the cupital ? ' " Last year . " The old man . shook his head . 44 You profit badly by the Imperial favour . It poems that you depend upon oucc more going to Wintka ?" I looked nt him with astonishment . 44 Yes , " ho continued , " you show a noble gratitude to Government for your freedom . " 41 Indeed , I do not understand ! " I »<»>
" You cannot underntand what this means V Thut i » very bad t What connexion . " . have you—what occupations V Instead of showing the first time an extraordinary zeal to wash oft" the s | H » t « left behind by youthful error , instead of employing yuur capacities for the public welfare , you continue to occupy yourself with politics , ami to oppose Government , lias experience taught you nothing ? How then urc yon Miru that in the number of those with whom you Hpeuk , then- \ a not every time .- ino rascal , knowing nothing better , than to conic tho same minute hither witli u denum lotion ?" " If you can explain to mo what nil thin Hignifiea , you will greatly obligo me . 1 am torturing mynelf to understand what you are talking about , or to what you iniikc allunionH . "
44 Of what I talk ? Horn ! well toll me , did you hoar that near tho liluo Uridgo , <* policeman murdered a man in the night ?" 44 1 did hoar it , " 1 nuuwurud quito naively . 41 you repeated it V " " It HutiinM ho thut 1 repeated it . " 44 With reasoning about it , I think . " 44 Probably . " 44 And with what rousunings V There is always tins Hamo inclination to blamo Government . I toll you oponly , it . does you honour that you confess ho fraukly ; and it will bo taken into consideration by tho court . "
44 Hut , for Ileavon'a m » ko 1 " I nuid , " what do I confe , ™? The wlioto town tallu » i about thi « etory ; thoy talked of it in th « Chaucerian of tho Miuiwtur of Homo M \ m ** * oh well as in the mu ^ a / incH . Ih it to bo understood thut 1 , likewise , talked of it V " 44 To spread fahtouiul purniciouu rumourn , in a criino prosecuted by luW . " 44 It flooina that you acoutio me of having invented thia tolo <"' " In tho account mad « to the Ifiinporor , it ia only , tsuld , thut you holpod to * prunil this porniciouH rumour , lint thereupon ensued aa Imperial resolution , uboul your returning to Wiutku . "
Gq0 The Leade R. [No. 290, Saturday,
gQ 0 THE LEADE R . [ No . 290 , Saturday ,
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 13, 1855, page 18, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_13101855/page/18/
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