CAPITAL CITY COURIER, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 1892
TAUTH ABOUT RUSSIA
THE SITUATION AS VIEWED BY THE
REV. T. DE WITT TALMAQE.
Ite Eloquently llrTuIr tlitt Slnrlrn Told
Regarding Cruelty, llm Cinr's Morel
leiniirM, liie Horror of Siberia anil the
Offlolal Via of the Knout.
Brooklyn. Nov. SO. Hov. I)r. Talmnge
todny fulfilled IiIh promise that ho would
again speak of his visit to Russia mid cor
rect ninny wrong Impressions concerning
thnt empire and Its ruler. After nn exposi
tion of Scripture and congregational sing
ing ho took for his text II I'eter II, 10,
"Presumptuous nre they, self willed; they
arc not nfrnld to speak evil of dignities:"
Amid a most reprehensible crew l'etor
hero paints by one stroko tho portrait of
thoso who delight to slash nt people lu au
thority. Now we nil have n right to criti
cise ovll behavior, whether in high places
or low, but the fact that one is high up is
no proof thnt ho ought to tw brought down.
It is a bad strenk of human naturo now, as
It was lu tho time of tho text ft bad streak
of human nature, that success of any kind
excites tho Jealous antipathy of those w ho
cannot climb tho sntno steep. There never
, wns a David on tho throne, that there "lis
not Homo Absalom who wanted to get it.
There never was a Christ but tho world
had saw and hnmmer ready to fashion a
crass on which to assassinate him.
Out of this ovll spirit grow not only in
dividual but national and International
defamation. To no country has more In
justice been done than to our own in days
that aro past. Long before. "Martin Chins
zlcwlt" was printed the literature of tho
world scoffed nt everything American.
Victor Hugo, as honest ns ho was un
equal ed in literary power, was so misin
formed concerning America that ho wrote:
"Tho most singular thing Is tho need of
whittling, with which all Americans are
possessed. It is such thnt on Sunday they
glvo the sailors little bits of wood, because
if they did not they would whittle thoshlp.
In court, nt tho most critical moment, the
judge, whittling, says, 'Prisoner, are you
guilty?' nnd the accused tranquilly re
sponds, whittling, 'I mn not guilty. "
Lord John Russell called us "a bubble
bursting nationality." Hut our country
has nt last recovered from such caricature,
and there is not a street in any city of Eu
ropo or Asia where the word "America"
will not win deference, nut there is n sis
ter nation on the other side of the sea now
going through the process of International
defamation. There is no country on earth
so misunderstood as Russia, mid no mon
arch more misrepresented than its em
peror. Will it not bo in the cause! of justice
if I try to set right the. minds of thoso who
compose, this august assemblage and tho
minds of those to whomt on both sides of
tho ocean, these words shall come? If the
slander of one person Is wicked, then the
slander of one hundred and twelve million
peoplo Is ono hundred nnd twelve million
times more wicked.
In tho name of righteousness, and in he
half of civilization, and for the encourage
ment of all those good people who havo
been disheartened by tho scnudnllzntinu of
Russia, I now speak. Rut Russia is so
vast n subject that to treat it in one dis
course is like attempting to run Niagara
falls over ono mill wheel. Do not think
that the very marked courtesies extended
mo last summer by the emperor nnd em
press nnd crown prince of Russia havo
complimented me into tho advocacy of that
empire, for I shall present you authenti
cated facts that will reverse your opinions,
if they have been antagonistic, ns mine
were reversed,
I went last summer to Russia with as
many baleful prejudices ns would make nu
avalanche from the mountain of fabrica
tion which has for years been heaped up
against that empire. You ask how Is it
possible that such appalling misrepresen
tations of Russia could stand? I account
for it by tho fact that the Russian lan
guage is to most an impassable wall, Ma
lign tho United States or malign Great
Britain or Germany or France, and by the
next cablegram the falsehood is exposed,
for wo all understand English, and many
of tfur people nre familiar witli German
nnd French. But the Russian language,
beautiful nnd easy to those Irani to speak
it, Is to most vocal organs an unpronoiinc--ablo
tongue, nnd If nt St. Petersburg or
Moscow nny nntl-Russian calumny were
denied the most of the world outside of
Russia would never see or henr the denial,
DI8CCJ8SIJJCI MISItKl'IIKSKXTATIOK.
What'are tho motives for misrepresenta
tion? Commercial interests and Interna
tional jealousy. Russia is ns large as all
tho rest of Europe put together. Remem
ber that a nation is only a man or a woman
on a big scale. Go into any neighborhood
of America and ask the physician who lias
a small practice what he thinks of the
physician who has a largo practice. Ask
a lawyer who has no briefs what ho thinks
of the lawyer who has three rooms filled
with clef ks trying in vain to transact tho
superabundannt business that comes to
him. Ask tho minister who has a very
limited audience what ho thinks of tho
minister who has overllowlng audiences.
Why does not Europe like Russia? Be
cause she has enough acreage to swallow
nil Europe nnd feel she had only half a
meal. Russia is as long as North mid
South America put together. "But, "says
some one, "do you mean to charge the
'.'.ors nnd the lecturers who havo written
. spoken against Russia with falsehood?"
ly no means. You can find in any city or
jatlon evils innumerable if you wish to
discourse about them,
I said at St. Petersburg to tho most emi
nent lady of Russia outside of tho imperial
family, "Aro thoso stories of cruelty and
outrage that I havo heard and read about
true?" Sho replied: "No doubt some of
them arc, true, but do you not in America
ever have officers of tho law cruel.nnd out
rageous In their treatment of offenders?
Do you not hnvo Instances where tho police
havo clubbed innocent pcrons? Have you
no Instances where people in brief author
ity net nrrogantly?" I replied, "Yes, wo
do." Then site said! "Why does tho world
hold our government responsible for ex
ceptional outrages? As soon us nn official
is found to bo cruel he immediately loses
his place."
Then I bethought myself, Do the peoplo
in America hold the government nt Wash
ington responsible for tho Homestead
riots or for railroad Insurrections, or for
tho torch of tho villain that consumes
n block of holmes, or for the rufUans
who arrest a rnll train, making tho passen
gers hold up their arms until the pockets
nre picked? Why, then, hold the. emperor
of Russia, who is as impressive mid genial
a man as 1 have ever looked at or talked
with, responsible for tho wrongs enacted
in a nation with a population twice as
largo in numbers us I ho millions of Amer
ica? Suppose one monarch in Kurcpo ruled
over England, Scotland, Ireland, France,
Germany, Spain, Italy, Austria, Norway
and Sweden.
Would It be fair to held the mouarcu re
sponsible for all that occurred lu tl :i
mighty dominion? Now you must retiiui
ber thnt Alexander the Third reigns oe
wider dominion than all those empties put
together. As a nation Is only a loan or n
woman on n big scale, let me ask, uouhi
you Individually prefer to be judged b)
your faults or your virtues? All people
except ourselves hnvo faults.
The pessimist attempting to write your
biography would take you In your weaker
moods, nnd tho picture of you on the His!
pngo of your blogrnphy would bo as you
looked after some meanness had been prnc
tlced on you nnd you were tearing mad
Now, iLi I am nn optimist, I give juu fall
warning that It I ever write your biogra
phy I will tnko you ns you looked the day
your dividends came lu twenty per cent
larger than you ever anticipated, or the
morning on your way to business after
your llrst child was born, or the morning
nfter your conversion, when heaven had
rolled in on your soul. The most accursed
hnmuncull of nil the cnrtli aro tire pess.
mists, who, whether they judge Individual
or national character, and whether they
wield tongue or pen, nre filled with anathe
matization, and who have more to snj
nbout the freckles on tho cheek of beauty
than of the sunrises and sunsets that
flush it.
AMKIIICA'S iikst r-'sm
It Is most Important tout this country
have right Ideas concernlnr Russia, for
among all the nations this side of heaven
Russia Is America's best friend. There
has not been an hour lu tho last seventy
five years that tho shipwreck of free Insti
tutions in America would not have called
forth from all the despotisms of Europe
nnd Asia a shout of gladness wide as earth
nnd deep ns perdition. But whoever ele
fnlled us, Russia never did, and whoever
else was doubtful, Russia never was. Rus
sia, then an old government, smiled on the
eradlo of our government while yet in Its
earliest Infancy, Empress Cntherlne of
Russia lu 1770or thereabouts offered kindly
interference that our thirteen colonies
might not go down under tho cruelties of
wnr.
Again, in 1813, Russia stretched fortli to
ward us a merciful hnud. When our
dreadful civil wnr was raging and the two
thunder clouds of northern and southern
vnlor clashed, Russia prnctlcnlly snld to
tho nntlonsof Europe, "Keep your hands
off nnd let the brave men of the north and
tho south settle their own troubles," I re
hearsed some of those scenes totheemperor
Inst July, snylng, "You were probably too
young to remember the position your fa
ther took at that time," but with radiant
smile, ho responded, "Oh, yes, I remember,
I remember," nnd there wns nu accent na
tion of the words which demonstrated to
me that these occurrences had often been
talked of in tho Imperial household.
I stood on New Yoik Battery during the
wnr, us I suppose many of you did, looking
o(T through a magnifying glass upon a
fleet of Russian ships. "What aro they
doing there?" I asked, anil so every one
asked. "What business have tho Russian
warships in our New York harbor?"
Word came thnt another licet of Russian
ships was in San Francisco harbor. "What,
does this mean?" our rulers asked, but did
not get immedlato answer. In these two
American harbors tho Russian lleets
seemei sound nsleep. Their great mouths
of Iron spoke not a word, and tho Russian
flag, whether Moating in the air or droop
ing by the flagstaff, made no answer to
our iuqulslttvcncss.
William II. Seward, secretary of state,
nsked tho Russian minister at Washing
ton tho meaning of those Russian ships in
American waters and got no satisfactory
response. Admiral Farragut said to a
Russian officer nfter dining in the home
of the eminent politician, Thurlow Weed,
that maker and uumnker of presidents,
"What aro you doing hero with thoso Rus.
slan vessels of war?" Not until the war
was over was it found out that in ease of
foreign intervention all tho guns and the
last gun of theso two fleets in New York
and San Francisco harbors were to open lu
full diapason upon any foreign ship that
should dare to interfere with the, right of
Americans, north and south, to settle their
own controversy.
But for those fleets nnd their presence in
American waters there can bo no doubt
thattwoof tho mightiest nations of Europe
would havo mingled in our light. But for
those two fleets the American government
would hnvo been today only u name lu his
tory. I declare before God ami the nation
that I believe Russia saved the United
States of America. Last July I stood be
fore n great throng of Russians in the em
barrassing position of speaking to an au
dience three-fourths of which could not
understand my language any more than I
could understand theirs. But there were
two names that they thoroughly under
stood as well as you understand them, and
the utterance of those two names brought
forth an acclamation that made the city
hall of St. Petersburg quake from founda
tlon stone to towers, and those, two names
were ''George Washington" and "Abra
ham Lincoln."
Now is it not Important that we should
feel right toward that mighty, that God
given friend of more than ono hundred
years? Yea, because It Is a nntlou of more
possibilities than any other, except our
own, should wo cultivate Its friendship.
There Is a vast realm of Russia as yet un
occupied. If the population of the rest uf
Europe were poured Into Russia it would
bo only partially occupied. After awhile
America will be so well populated that the
tides of emigration will go the other way,
ami by railroads from Russia at Retiring
straits where Asia comes within thirty
six miles of joining America millions of
people will pour down through Russia and
Siberia, and on down through all the re
Igious waiting for the civilization of the
next century to come, and culture great
I harvests and build mighty cities.
What the United States now are on tho
western hemisphere Russia will be on the
eastern hemisphere. Not only because of
what Russia lias beep to our republic, hut
because of what she will be, let us Lease
tho defamation of all that pertains to that
great empire. If Russia can nfTord to be
tho friend of America, America can afford
to be tho friend of Russia, And now I pro
ceed to do what I told tho emperor and the,
empress and all the imperial family at tho
palnee of Petcrhof I would do if I ever got
back to America, and that is to answer
some of the calumnies which hnvo hewn
announced and reiterated and steieotyped
ugalust Russia.
SLANDKItS ANBWEKEI),
Calumny the First The emperor nnd nil
tho imperial family are lu perpetuiil dread
of assassination, They are practically
prisoners in the winter palace, nnd trenches
with dynamite have been found dug around
tho winter palace. They dure not euiure
forth, except preceded mid followed and
surrounded by a most elaborate military
guard.
My answer to this Is that I never saw a
face more free from worriment than the
twper'.r's luce. Thewluter pulwiiiniiud
which the trenches are said to have been
charged with dynamite, and in which the
Imperial family are said to he prisoners,
has never been the residence of the Impe
rial family otin momriit since the present I
emperor has been on the thrum
The winter palace has been changed into
n museum nnd a picture gallery nnd n
place of great levees, lie spends Ids sum
mer lu the palnco at PelWhof, llfteeu or
twenty miles from St. Petersburg; Ids an
tumnsatthc palare nt (Iratschiia, and hh
winters lu n palnrn nt St. Petersburg, hut
In quite n different part of the city to that
occupied by tlie winter palace. He ride
through tho streets unattended, except by
the empress at his side and Hie driver on
thelsix. There Is not a pciii iuthlsuudl
ence mom free from fear of harm than l.'
Is. His subjects not only admire him Inn
almost worship him.
There aro cranks lu Russia, but have w t
not had our Charles Guitenu and doll i
Wilkes Booth? "Bui," says some one
"did not tho Russians kill thu father uftli
present emperor?" Yes, but lu the llm'
that Russia has had ono assasluatloti ol
euiieror America has had two president
assnsnaled. "But Is not the einH-ror nn
autocrat?" By which you mean, has I
not power without restriction? Yes, hi t
It all depends upon what use a man make
of his power.
Aro you an autocrat In jour factory, in
nu autocrat In your store, or an aiiiocmt
lu jour stylo of business? It all depend)
on what use you make of your power,
whether to bless or to oppress, mill fi out
the time of Peter the Great that Russian
who was the wonder of all time, the em
peror who became Incognito a ship car
penter that, he might help ship carpenters.
ami u mechanic unit lie might help median
les, nnd put on poor men's garb that In
might sympathise with poor men, and who
In his hist words said: "My Lord, I am dj
lug. Oh, help my unbelief!" I sayfiom
that time the throne of Russia has, for tin'
most part, been occupied by rulers as belief
iceiit and kind and sympathetic as they
were powerful.
To go no further back than Nicholas,
thu grandfather of the present emperor.
Nicholas had for thu dominant Idea of bin
ndmliilstrntlon thu emancipation of the
serfs. When it wns found that ho pre
meditated the freedom of the serfs ho re
ceived tho following letter of threat from
n deputation of noblemen: "Your Impe
rial Majesty Wo learn that the coun
cil nnd senntu of the empire hove
before them for deliberation, with your
sanction, tho plan to abolish serfdom
throughout the Russian empire. We
nre perfectly willing to abide by your
majesty's decision in this matter nnd to
loyally support your will, hut there are lu
Russia a large number of small owners of
serfs who are dependent for actual sub
sistence on the labor of those serfs, and
who consequently will bo left wholly pen
niless and without any resource by the
operation of emancipation. Thcywlli then
undoubtedly resort to desperate measures,
and in the extremity of their despair will
put the llfo of your majesty In jeopardy."
Tho emperor replied In words that will
last as long ns history, "Gentlemen, If I
should dlu because of my devotion to such
a cause, I am willing to meet my fate."
When, under an nttack of pneumonia
from exposure to severe weather lu the
service of his people, that emperor put
down ids head on tlie pillow of dust, Rus
sia lost ns good a monarch us was ever
crowned. Then came Alexander the Second,
father . tho present emperor. Amid the
mightiest opposition anil innumerable
piotests, he, with one stroku of ids pen,
emancipated twenty million serfs, practi
cally saying: "Go free. Bo j-our own mas
ters, and tills is for you mid your children
forever."
On thu day ho was basely assassluatt d I
(and I will parenthetically say that I saw l
Ills carriage lu splinters, as it looked when '
he stepped from It, not to save himself, but
to look after some poor people of the street
who had been hurt, and I saw thu bed on
which he died, the mattress yet crimson
with his life's blood) on tho day he wns
assassinated he hud on his table, found
afterward, a free constitution that pro
posed to give the right of sufTrago to the
peoplo of Russia. If it iiad not been for
tho assassination ho would have soon
signed that constitution, but that horrible
violence put things back, as violence al
ways docs.
What a marvelous cliuracter of kind
ness was Alexander thu Second, the father
of the present emperor, so that tho pres
ent emperor, Alexander tho Third, In
herits his benignity. Alexander the
Second, hearing thnt n nobleman had
formed a conspiracy against his life, Iiad
him arrested. Then tho eyes of tho crimi
nal were bandaged, and he was put Ilia
carriage, and for some time traveled on,
only stopping for food. After awhile the
bandage wns removed, and supposing that
he must by that time have been almost in
Siberia he found that ho was at the door of
his own home. But this punishment was
sufficient.
Thu same emperor, having henrd that a
poet had written a poem defamatory of Ids
empress, ordered thu poet Into his pres
ence. Expecting grent severity, tho jsjet
entered the palace nnd found the emperor
nnd empress nnd dukes and duchesses gath
ered together. "Good morning," said the
emperor to the olTcnder. "I hear you have
written a most beautiful poem, nnd I have
sent for you that you may rend it to iisnud
we may have the pleasure of hearing it."
The man cried out, "Send mo to Siberia or
do anything with me, but do not make me
read tills poem in your presence." Ho was
compelled to read the defamatory poem,
and then tho empress, against whom it was
aimed, said: "I do not think he will write
any more verses about us again. Let him i
go." And so he was freed.
And now comes in Alexander tho Thin, '
doing thu best things possible for the na
tion which he loves ami which as ardently
loves him. But what nn undertaking to
rule one hundred and twelve million peo
ple, made up of ouu hundred tribes and
races nnd speaking forty different lan
guages! But, notwithstanding all this,
things there move on murvcluut-ly well,
and I do not believe that out of live hun
dred thousand Russians you would find
more than one person who dislikes thu em- '
peror, nnd so that calumny of dread of
assassination drops so lint it can fall no
flatter.
KSl'IONACiK AND IIKLIIIION.
Oil limy thu Second If you go to Russia
you aro under severest espionage, stopped
hero and questioned there, nnd in danger
of arrest. But my opinion is that if a man
is disturbed lu Russia it is because he
ought to be disturbed, Russia is tliu only
country lu Km ope in which my baggage
wus not examined. 1 carried in my hnud,
tied together with acord so that their titles
could bo seen, a pile of eight or ten books,
all of them from lid to lid cursing Russia,
hut I had notrouble in taking with me thu
books. Theiols ten times more dlfliculty
In getting your luggage through the Amer
ican custom house than through thu Rus- i
slan. I speak not of myself, for friends
iut creed for mo on American wharves,
and I am not detained, I wasscvctuldajs
in Rum-Is before I was asked if I had any
passport at all.
Depend upon it, if hereafter a man be
lieves ho is uncomfortably watched by tli
police of bt. Petersburg cr Moscmv, it u
because there is something suspicion
nbout him, ami jou yourself had better,
when lie Is around, look after your sliver
spoons. I promise you, au honest man or
nn honest woman, that when you go there,
nsmony of you will for European travel
Is destined to change Itscoursefiom south
ern Europe to those northern reglousyou
will have no more molestation or super
vlsal than In Brooklyn or lu New York or
the quietest Long Island village.
Calumny tho Third Russia and Its ruler
are so opposed to nny other religion creep'
tho Greek religion thnt they will not allow
any other religion; that nothing hut perse
cutlon and luipilMiniueut nnd outrage lu
tolerable await the disciples of any otliet
religion. But what aro tho facts? 1 had
a long ride lu St Petersburg and Its suit
urhs with the piefect, a brilliant, cHlcIco'
and lovely man, who is the highest ulllelal
In tho city of St, Petersburg, and wliosi
chief business hi to attend I ho emperor, I
said to him, "I suppose your religion ti
that of tho Greek church?" "No," said lie:
"I am a Lutheran." "What is your lell
glou?" I said to one of the highest, iiud
most Influential olllclals nt St, Potcrsbuig.
lie said, "I am of the Church of England,"
Myself, an American, of still another tie
nomination of Clulstlans, and never hav
lug been Insldo a Greek church In my 1 1 r
until I went to Russia, could not have to
celved more consideration had I been b.ip
llw-d in tho Greek church and nil my llf
worshiped at her altars. I had it demon
strated to me very plainly that a man's le
llglou in Hus.lu has nothing to do with hM
preferment for either ofllce or social posl
tlon. Thu only questions taken Into con
slderatlon aro lumcsly, fidelity, morality
and adaptation. I had not been in St.
Petersbuig uu hour before I received an
Invitation to preach the Gospel of Christ
as 1 Ixillcvcd it. Besides nil this, have you
forgotten that the Crimean war, which
shook the earth, grew out of Russia's In
terference In behalf of thu persecuted
Christians of nil nations lu Turkey?
"But," says some one, "have there not
been persecutions of other religious In Rus
sla?" No doubt, just ns lu oilier times In
New England wo burned witches, and as
wo killed Quakers, and as thu Jews in
America have been outrageously treated
ever since I can remember, and the Chi
nese lu our laud have been pelted, and
their stores torn down, and their way from
tho steamer wharf to their destined quar
ters tracked with their own blood. The
devil of persecution Is In every land and In
all ages. Some of us lu tho different de
nominations of Christians lu America have
felt thu thrust of ,crsccutloii Im'cuuso we
thought differently or did things different
ly from those who would, If tlioy iiad Hie
jwiwer. put us in a furnace eight times
iieated, one more degree of calorie than
Nebuchadnezzar's. Persecutions lu all
lauds, but thu emperor of Russia sanctions
none ot iiiem.
Iliad a most satisfactory talk with the
emperor about tho religious of the world,
and he thinks and feels as you anil I do,
that religion is something between a man
and his God, and no one lias a right to in
terfere with It. You may go right up to
St. Petersburg and Moscow with your
Episcopal liturgy, or your Presbyterian
catechism, or your Coiigrcgatlouullst's lib
eralism, or your Iiumerslonlst's Baptistry,
or nny other iellglon,aud if you mind your
own affairs and let others mind theirs you
will not bo molested.
CITItl'.lt CAI.I'.MN'li:S IIKFIITKI).
Calumny the Fourth Russia Is so cry
grasping of territory, nnd sho seems to
want thu world. But what are the facts?
During the last century and a quarter the
United States have taken possession of
everything between the thirteen colonies
and tho Pacific ocean, u
and England, dur
ing the same length of time, has taken
possession of nearly three million square
miles, and by thu extent of her domain
has added two hundred and fifty million
population, while Russia has added dur
ing that time, only one-half tho number of
square miles and about eighteen million of
population England's advance of domain
by two bundled and fifty million against
Russia's advancu of domain by eighteen
million. What a paltry Russian advance
of domain by eighteen million as compared
with the English advance of domain by
two hundred and fifty million! The United
States and England had better keep still
nlsuit extravagant and extortionate en
largement of domain.
Calumny thu Fifth Siberia Is a den of
horrors, nnd today peoplo aro driven like
dumb cuttle; no trial is afforded to the
suspected ones; they are put Into quick
silver mines, where they aro whipped and
starved, and some day find themselves go
ing around without any head. Somu of
them do not get so fur ns Siberia. Women,
after being tied to stakes In tho streets, am
disrobed mid whipped to death in tho pres
ence of howling mobs. Offenders bear their
own flesh slss under thu hot irons.
But what aro thu facts? Thero arc no
kinder people on earth than the Russians,
and to most of them cruelty is nn Impossi
bility. I hold in my hnud n card. You
see on It thnt red circle. Thnt is tho gov
ernment's seal on a enrd giving me per
mission to visit nil the prisons of St. Pe
tersburg, us I had expressed a wish in that
direction. As thu messenger handed this
card to mo ho told mo that a carriage wns
nt the door for my disposal in visiting thu
prisons. It so happened, however, thnt I
was crowded with engagements anil I could
not make tho visitation. But do you sup
pose such cheerful permission and a car
riage to IxKit would have been afforded me
if the prisons of Russia are such hells on
cartli as they have been described to bo?
I asked an eminent and distinguished
American, "Have you visited tho prisons
of St. Petersburg, and how do they differ
from American prisons?" He replied, "I
have visited them, and they are as well
ventilated and as well conditioned In every
respect as the nwlorlty of tho prisons in
America," Are women whipped lu the
street? Nn; that statement comes from the
manufactory of fabrication, a manufactory
that runs day nnd night, so that the sup
ply may meet the demand.
HIIIKHIA.
But how about Siberia? My answer Is,
Siberia is the prison of Russia, a prison
more than twice the size of the United
States. John Howard, who il I iMiro for
the improvement of prisoivu wet the ref
ormatiou of criminals titan 'i'iy loan thai
ever lived, his name a syiionjn; (or mercy
thrimghout Christendom, declared by
voice and jh-ii that the system of transpor
tation of criminals from Russia to Siberia
was uu admirnhlu plan, advocating open
air punishment rather than enduiigcou
munt, and also lecause it was taking all
offenders hundreds of miles away from
their evil companions. ' John Unwind,
after witnessing the plan ot deportation of
criminals from Russia to Siberia, com
mended it to England.
If a man commits niunlcr in Russia ho
Is not electrocuted as we electrocute him,
or choked to death by a halter as we choke
him to death. Russia is the only count rj
cu uorth frt.ni whiih the death peualtj has
Ih'cii driven, except in case of high treason.
Murderers and desperate Hiatus ate sent
to the hardest parts of Siberia, but no man
Is huu, Siberia or doomed to nny kind of
punishment In Russia until he has a fait
trial, So far as their being hustled off In
the night, and not knowing why they art
exiled or punished M concerned, all tin
criminals lu Russia have an open trial be
fore a Jury Just as we have In America, ex
rept lu revolutionary or riotous times, and
you know hi America at such times th
writ uf habeas corpus is suspended.
There aro lu Russia grand Juries and
"ctlt Juries, nnd the right to elii'lhingo th'
jurors, and tho nrlsonor confronts his ac
ctiscr, and, mark this, as In uu other conn
try, after a pilsoner has been rotideuilud
by juries and judges hu may appeal to th'
minister of the Interior, and after (hat t(
the senate, and after that to the einpeior.
who Is constantly pardoning. As I said,
tho violent and murderous nro sent to tin
hardest part of Siberia, hut the muro mod
eralo criminals lo mure propitious parts o)
Bllicrla, and those who havo onlyalltlli
criminality to parts of Siberia pnsltlwlj
genial for climate, for you ought lu know
If you do not know, that Siberia Is so bug'
and whin nnd long that It reaches froti
frigidity lo torrldlly, from almost urctii
blast to climate as mild as that, of Italy.
Run your linger along (ho map of lb
world, and you will find (hat thu lowi-t
part of Siberia Is on the forly-flflh degiei
of latitude, and the richest part of Italy i
on tho sntne forty-fifth degree of latitude
so that Siberia reaches from Hie furs til
the north to the palm leaf fans at the south
It lias been demonstrated Hint nllietj
per cent, of tho Rus dun criminals coin
nled Into Siberia go lulu a climate inlldei
than New York- a land songful with blrdt
and embroidered with Hum enough muni
fold to confound (ho botanists. Much ol
the soil Is n rlh loam, anil harvests wail
font plow to liberate (lion.
When u criminal Is sent to Siberia, In tlu
vast majority uf ruses It gives him nu op
iiurtuully to inakun new start under thi
liest possible circumstances. The criminal
is allowed to take his or her family along,
nnd that Is n merey no otlier country giants.
In the quicksilver mines of Siberia- till
hardest place of expatriation only one
fourth of the miners are ei liuliials. Tin1
other three-fourths go there because the)'
choose It as a place to earn their living.
After being in Siberia awhile tho con
demned go to earning n livelihood, and
they come to own their own farms mid
orchards and vineyards, many of thesii
people coining to wealth, nnd thousands ol
them under no Inducement would leavit
those parts of Siberia which are paradise
for salubrity nnd luxuriance. Now which
do you think Is the lsst stylo of a prison
Siberia or many of our American prisons?
When a man commits n big crime lu our
country, the Judge looks lulu the fright
ened face of the culprit, and says, "You
have been found guilty; I sentence you to
the penitentiary for ten years." He goci
to prison, lie Is shut In between four
walls. No sunlight. No fresh air. N.i
bathiooui. Before hu has served ids ten
years he dies of consumption or Is so en
ervated that fur thu lest of ids life he slH
with folded hands a wheezing invalid
In preference lo the shut lu life of tint
average American prisoner, give me SI
berla. Besides that, when offenders ennui
out of prison in America, what chaucii
have they? Ask tho poorly supported so
cieties formed to get theso peoplo placet
for work. Ask me, to whom thu newly
llls'ruted come from all the prisons Im
ploring what they shall do. No one will
commend them. Thu pallor of Incarcera
tion Is on their cheek. Who wants to em.
ploy in factory or storo a man or woman
who, lu answer to tho question, "WIh-m
did you live lost?" should make for reply,
"Slato's prison at Auburn or Moyn incu
sing?" Now in Siberia they havo a better
chance. They nre never spoken of as crim
inal.',, hut as unfortunates, and they are al
lowed every opportunity of retrieving their
lost reputation and lost fortunes.
I talked wit' tho president of the Na
tional Society of Russia for the Education
nnd MorolUntlou of tho Children of .Sibe
rian Convicts. Tho president of that soci
ety, appointed by tho emperor, is a lady of
great accomplishments and much sym
pathy, which illumines her face and makes
tearful her eyes and tremulous her voice.
Thu evening I passed at her house In St.
Petersburg was one of the memorable
events of my lifetime. I will not attempt
to pronounce the name of that noble wom
an appointed by tho emperor as the presi
dent of tho National Society of Russia for
the Education and Morallzatlon of thu Chil
dren of Convicts. Pleasu to name uuy such
national society lu our country, supported
by government, for taking care of thu chil
dren of convicts.
You know, if j-ou know niiythlng, that
thero is no chance in tills country for a
man who has la-en imprisoned, or for his
children. God pity them and hasten thu
time when we shall, by some national in
stitution established by the congress of thu
United States, Imitate tho mercy of the
Russian government toward the Innocent
children of imprisoned offenders. Ho who
charges cruelty on thu imperial family and
the nobility of Russia belles men ami wom
en ns gracious and benignant us ever
breathed oxygen,
TDK CZ All's CI.K.MKNCV.
The merciful character of thu present em
peror was well illustrated In the following
occurrence: Thu man wiio supervised thu
assassination of the father of tho present
emperor, standing in thu snow that awful
day when the dynamite shattered to pieces
thu legs of Alexander tho Second I say
the man who supervised all this lied from
St. Petersburg mid quit Russia. But after
awhile the man repented of his crime, nnd
wrote to tho emperor asking for forgive
ness for the murder of hi father, nnd
promising to bo a good citizen, nnd asking
if ho might come back to Russia. Thu em
peror pardoned the murdererof his father,
and the forgiven assassin is now living lu
Russia unless recently deceased.
When I talked to thu empress concerning
tho sympnthy felt in America for thu suf
ferings of thu drought struck regions of
Russia, she evinced au absorbing interest
and a compassion and au emotion of man
ner nnd speech such as we men can hardly
realize, Is'causo it seems thnt God has re
served for woman as her great adornmint
I the coronet, the tear Jeweled coronet of ttn
I derness and commiseration, If you sny
I that it was a man, a divine man thatcauie
I to save the world, I say yes; hut it was a
woman that gave t lie man, Witnessall the
Madonnas Italian, German, English and
Russian that bloom in thu picture gal
leries of Christendom. Sou ot Mary, havo
mercy on us!
But how nbout the knout, the cruel
Russian knout, that comes down on thu
bare back of agonized criminals? Why,
Russia abolished the knout Is'fore it was
alsillshed from our American nuvj But
how about thu political prisoners hustled
olf to Siberia? According to the testimony
of the most celebrated literary enemy of
Russia, only four bundled and fort three
political prisoners were sent to Siberia In
twenty jears. How many political prison
ers did we lint lu prison pens during our
faur jears of civil war? Well, I vill guess
at least one bundled thousand. America's
one hundred thousand political prisoners
versus Russia's four hundred and forty
three political uruoiers. Nearly all these
'our (inuilrcd and forty-three of twenty
years were noblemen or peopln desperately
opposed to the emancipation of the scirfn.
A nil 'none or tho political prisoners Is send
lo the famous Kara mines,
For tliu mot part you am dependent for
Information upon the testimony of pris
oners who aro sent to Siberia. Tlinyall
say they were Innocent. Prisoners always
nro Innocent. Ask nil the prisoners of
Auibrlcn todnj-, "Guilty or not guilty?"
and nineteen out of twenty will pltml
"Not guilty." Ask (hum how they Ilk
their prison, nnd how they like she riffs,
nnd how they like tho government of th
United Blutes, and you will And these pris
oners admire the authority that arrested
them and punished them just about an
much as tho political prisoners ot Russia
like Siberia.
KTOI' IIKFAMATIOK.
But you ask bow will this Russophohla,
with which so many have been bitten ami
poisoned, lie cured? By thu (flid of Justice
blessing such books slid pamphlets as are
now coming out from Professor do Arnnud,
of Washington; Mr. Horace Culler, of San
Francisco; Mr, Morllll, of England, nnd by
the opening of our American gates loth
writings uf somu twenty-four ot the Rus
sian authors nnd authoresses, In some ro
specls us brilliant as the three or four
Russian authors already known thu trans
lation of those twenty-four aiuhors, which
1 mii authorized from Russia lo ofTor fro
of chat goto any i erpousihlo American pub
lishing house I hal will do them Justice,
Let these Russians tell their own story,
for they are thu only ones fully comKtont
tu do the work, as none hut Americans can
fully tell the story of America, and as none
but Germans can fully lell the story ot
Germany, nnd none tint Englishmen con
fully tell thu story of England, and nonet
but Frenchmen can fully lell tliu story ot
France. Meanwhile let thu International
defamation come to au end. Cease tospoak
evil of dignities merely because they are
dignities, and of presidents merely because,
they are presidents, and uf emperors merely
because they are emperors.
And may thu blessing of God tliu Father,
and God thu Son nnd GimI the Holy Ghost
bo upon nil the members uf tho Imperial
household of Russia, from thu Illustrious
head ot that family down to thu princess,
seven years of uge, who came skipping Into
my presence In the palace ot Petcrhof last
summer! Glory to Gisl lu thu highest, and
on earth peace, giKsl will tu incnl
Ho Ilolh Hi e Hour Miililrn.
"A girl must havo as many sides ns there
nro facets to a diamond tu suit every one's
requirements," said a harassed young;
woman of society thu other day. "Only
consider for a moment what is required nt
Its. Thu world expects us to be highly ed
ticated in nil the solid branches, mid then,
on thu lop of thnt, wo must bo good lin
guists, toleiahlu musicians, must be uhlu
to wrilu fairly good letters and notes, mid,
If possible, paint a Utile and model u llttlo
in shoit, bo 'up' lu nil thu musical nnd
artistic fads of thu day.
"Besides all this our fathers think wo
ought to iindeistand tliu cuisine, to bo good
housekeepers anil manage our allowances
in a businesslike way. Our mothers hnve
also their icquisltions; they nro willing
enough, poor dears, to spare us nil house
hold tasks far too willing, I dare say, for
our gissl; lint, uu the other hand, they ex
act a great deal from us. They wish us to
hu conversational, to bo graceful, to hnve
'form,' that Is Intangible, puzzling and un
teachable, something that we are sup
posed to have by instinct, nnd, In short
(hardest task of idt), to hu a 'success.'
"Our brother expects us to play tennis,
to ridu nnd drive well, to understand tho
(Hiluts of baseball and football, and to be
'awfully JoJIjV Moreover, to hold our
own in society wo must dress well and un
derstand tliu fashions, whllo to please our
male friends wo must tako a keen Interest
in horses and dogs and he able to talk ot
their merits iiiidcrstaiidlngly at tho Isinch
shows and horse shows. Then, to hu pop
ular with our own sex wo must not he
above talking 'chllloiis' or discussing the
affairs ot the dltTereiit members of our
'set.'" New York Advertiser.
Nile 1.1-uiU u limy Ufa,
A young woman who has inadua highly
prosperous marriage thus discourses: "I
never would have gut my husband If I had
not shown myself a good fellow. My hus
band llrst made sure that instead of being
n clog on tils diversions I Could bo his com
panion lu them; in fact I could help them
along. Tliu Nineteenth century woman, to
Imi successful in matrimony, which Is quite
u different tiling from winning fellowships
at Yale, writing prize isles at Harvard
or Wing senior wranglers nt Cambridge,
must 1st able to walk a social tight rope
without fal tei Ing. Sho must lo ablo to
look down abysses without falling in. She
must he the mistress of all situations. She
must be capable of extremes. When ho is
merry she must know how to dance; when
ho Is sad she must be able to sing psalms.
My experience Is that my feet perform
more service than my voice. Especially
she must Is learned and skillful In eating
and drinking, and afterward lie able to
bind up Ids iiead witli her crimps fresh
uud smooth. Thu place, you see, is no sine
cure, but it lias its advantages." New
York Evening Sun.
About Kan.
"Ears la-token character," said Professor
Henry Thleliault. "You never saw a poet
or painter witli large, coarse ears that
stand out from the head liku extended
wings. That kind of an auricular umx-n-
' dagu K'tokens coarseness of mind. A long,
narrow ear, that lies Hat to thu hend, Is a
sign or pugnacity. uver trust a man with
n thin, waferliku ear. He was born a hypo
crite, if notathhf. A very small ear be
tokens a trilling mind, lacking in decision.
Ears set very high on the head indicate liar-
1 rownessof infiid A large, well shaped ear,
that dcH.-s not spread Itself too much to tho
1 breeze, is Indicative of generosity. Most
of tho world coinpellers had large ears, as
well as well developed noses. Although
there are so many millions of K-ople in the
world, no two pairs of ears arealike. 'Each
has a marked individuality." St, Louis
Glolw-Democrat.
How Cluru MorrW Took Due 1'srt.
Clara Morris tells au interesting anec
dote of a sudden stage appearance ot her
ow n.
"I had finished an engagement In San
Francisco," she says, "In tho winter of
lbTU, uud was resting at my hotel for a few
days before the journey home. Rose Ey
tinge wus playing nt the Baldwin, and whs
advertised to appear as Nancy Slkes a
role created by :,, i and lu which she was
said to lie iiiimi i'i-scd, Suddenly she
threw up thu itigageiueut and left the
city. Nancy was to havo been given on
Washington's liiithdiiy. Thu day before
I received au imitated note from the man
ager asking if I could lie induced to taka
the play m self, 1 said I would, li; twenty
four hours 1 had studied thu part, borrow
ectsome appropiiate gowns and added u
new rolu to my orni stock. But It was
nervous w ork."
I