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RE?. TALME’S SERMON.
The Brooklyn Divine Tales Sides With
Tie Czar,
AND SAYS THERE 18 NO COUNTRY SO
MISUNDERSTOOD AS RUSSIA.
Text: II. peter 2:10; Presumtious
are they, self-wilied, they are not afraid
to speak evil of dignities.
Amid a most reprehensible crew, Peter
here paints by one stroke the portrait of
those who deiight to slash at ptople in
authority, Now, we all have a right to
criticise evil behavior, whether ir high
places or low, but the fact that one is
high up is no proof that he ought to be
brought drown. It is a bad streak of
human nature now, as it was in the time
of the text a bad streak of human nature
that success of any kind excites the jealous
antipathy of those who cannot climb the
same steep. There was never a David on a
throne, that there was not some Absalom
who wanted to get it. There never was
a Christ but the world had saw and ham¬
mer ready to fashion a cross on which to
assassinate him. Out of this evil spirit
grow nc.t only individual but national
and international defamation. To no
country has more injustice been done
than to our own in days that are past.
Long before Martin Chuzzlewit was
printed, the literature of the world scof¬
fed at everything American. Victor Hugo,
as honest as he was{unequalled in literary
power, was so misinformed concerning
America that he wrote: “The must
singular thing is tbe need of whittling,
with which all Americans are possessed.
It is sucli that on Sundays they give tbe
sailors little bits of wood because if they
did not they would whittle the ship. In
court, at the most critical moment, tbe
judge, whittling, says: 'Prisoner, are
you guilty?” and the accused tranquilly
responds, Lord whittling: Russell ‘I am not guilty.’ ”
John called us “A bubble
bursting nationality.” But our country
has at last recovered from such carica¬
ture, and there is not a street on any
city of Europe or Asia where the word
“America” will not win deference. But,
there is a sister 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, and no monarch more misrepre¬
sented than its emperor. Will it not be
in the cause of justice if I try to set right
the minds of these who compose this au¬
gust assemblage and the minds of those
to whom, on both sides of the ocean,
these words shall come? If the slander of
one person is wicked, then the slander
of one hundred and twentyjmillion people
is one hundred and twenty million times
more wicked. In the name of righteous¬
ness and in behalf of civilization, and
for the encouragement of all those good
people who have been disheartened by
the scandalizatinn of Russia, I now
speak. But, Russia is so vast a subject
that to treat it in one discourse is like at¬
tempting to run Niagra falls over ono
mill wheel. Do not think that the very
marked courtesies extended me last sum¬
mer by the emperor and empress and
crown prince of Russia have compliment¬
ed me into the advocacy of that empire,
for I shall present you authenticated
facts that will reverse your opin¬
ions, if they have been antagonis¬
tic, as mine were reversed. I went last
summer to Russia with as many baleful
prejudices as would make an avalanche
from tho mountain of fabrication which
has for years been heaped up against
that empire. You ask how is it possible
that such appalling misrepresentations
of Russia could stand? I account for it
by the fact that tho Russian language is
to most an impassable wall. Malign the
United States or malign Great Britain or
Germany or France, and by the next ca¬
blegram the falsehood is exposed for we
all understand English, and many of our
people are familiar with German and
French. But the Russian language, beau¬
tiful and easy to those born to speak it,
is to most vocal organs an unpronounca
ble tongue, and if at St. Petersburg or
Moscow any anti-Russian calumny were
denied, most of the world outside of
Russia would never see or hear the de¬
nial.
What are the motives for misrepresen¬
tation? Commercial interest and inter¬
national jealousy, Russia is as large as
all the rest of Europe put together. Re¬
member 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 has a small practice what
he thinks of a physician who has a large
practice. Ask the lawyer who has no
briefs whnt he thinks of the lawyer who
lias three ror ms filled with clerks trying
in vain to transact the him. superabundant the
business that comes to Ask
minister who has a very limited audience
what he thinks of the minister who has
overflowing audiences. Why does not
Europe like Russia? Because she has
enough acreage to swallow oil Europe
and feel she had only half a meal. Rus¬
sia is as long as North and South Ameri¬
ca put togother. “But,” says some one.
“do you mean to charge t-he authors and
lecturers who have written or spoken
against Russia with falsehood?” By no
means. You can find in any city or na¬
tion evils innumerable if you wish to
discourse about them.
I said at 8t. Petersburg to the most
eminent lady of Russia out-ide of the im¬
perial family: “Are those stories of cru¬
elty and outrage that I have heard and
read about true?” She replied: “No
doubt some of them are true, but do you
not in America even have officers of the
law cruel and outrageous in their treat¬
ment of offenders? Do you not have in¬
stances where the police have clubbed in¬
nocent persons? Have you no instances
where people in brief authority act ar¬
rogantly?” I replied: “Yes, we do.”
Then, she said: “Why does the world
hold our government responsible for offi¬ ex¬
ceptional outrages? As soon he immediately as an
cial is found to be cruel, myself:
loses his place, ’’Then I bethought
Do the people in America hold the govern¬
ment at Washington responsible for the
Homestead riots at Pittsburg, or for rail¬
road insurrections, orfoi the torch of the
vil’ ian that consumes a block of houses, or
for the ruffians who arrest a rail train,
making the passengers hold np their
arms until the pockets are picked ? Why
then hold the emperor of Rusaia, who is
an impressive and genial man as I have
ever looked at or talked with, respoMi-
bie.for the wrongs enacted in a nation
witb a population twice ns large in num
bers as the millions of America? Sup
Lgtol, ivae one monarch in Europe Tuled oveT
Scottaod. Ireland. France,
Gertn.iny, Spain. Italy. Austria, Norwav
ed Sweden, Would it be fair to hold
the monarch responsible for all that oc
curred in that mighty dominion? Now,
you must remember that Alexander III.
ieigns over wider dominion As than nation all
those empires nut together. a
is only a man or a woman on a big scale.
let me ask, would you individually
prefer to be judged by your faults or
your virtues? All people, except our
selves, have faults. write
The pessimist attempting to
your biography would take you in your
weaker moods, and the picture of you
on the first page of your biography
would be as you looked after some
meanness had been practiced on you and
you were tearing mad. Now, as 1 am an
optimist, I give you fair warning that if
lever write your biography, I will take
vou ns ,ou looked .h. d., M.**
dends came in 20 per cent larger than
you ever anticipatea, or the morning on
vour way to business after your first
child was born, or the morning after
your conversion when heaven had rolled
in on your soul. The most accurtea
homoculi of all the earth are the pessi
mists who whether they judge individ
ual or national i character «go r „«f P - ond and whether whetner
they wield tongue or pen, are
filled with anathematization and who
havo more to sav about the freckles
nn on the cheeks of Wntvthanof beauty than ot the th sun
rises and sunsets that flush it.
It is most important that this country
hive riaht ideas concerning Russia, for,
among “n airthenatronithis ev,o ibis sidp side of of heaven heaven
Russia is America s best menu. incic
has not been an hour in the last seventy
five vears that the shipwreck of free in
... „"d VomT would not have If
called forth f ,1, from all the he despotisms despotisms or
Europe and Asia a shout of perdition, gladness
wide as earth and deep as Russia
Ttnf who ever else failed us. nev
er did,and rd oed whoever whoever else else wasldoubtful wasiaouDHuqrvus Rus
sia never was. Russia, then an old gov
evnment smiled on the cradle of our
eovermnent while yet in its earliest in
? fhemToSf p_ nm , Catherine of Russia in
17 1 G, nr or thereabouts, offer^d oneTea kind uinuiy v in- m
tcrference that our thirteen colonies
tniobt not go down under the cruelties
of var A vain in 1813 a’merciful Russia stretch
ed forth toward towaid ns us a n hand .
AVhen our dreadful civil war was raging
and the'two thunder clouds of northern
and southern valor clashed, Russia'practi
„,llv -Keep'yifur cold to hand! the nations of bMX Eurone
men of the north and the south settle
their own troubles.” I rehearsed some of
those scenes f to the emperor last July,
“Ton w«,a position probably too young father
to remember the your
took at that time,” but with radiant
smile he responded: “Ob, yes, I re
member, I remember,” and there was an
accentuation of the words which demon
strated to me that these occurrences had
often been talked of in the imperial
household. I stood on New York bat
tery, during the war as I suppose many
of you did, looking off through a magni
fying glass upon a fleet of Russian ships,
“What are they doing there?” I asked,
and so every one asked: “What busi
ness have the Russian war ships in that our
New York harbor?” Word came
another fleet of Russian ships was in San
Francisco harbor. “What does this
mean?” our rulers asked, but did not get
immediate answer. In these two Amer
ican harbors, the Russian fleets seemed
sound asleep and the Russian flag, wheth
er floatmg in the air or drooping by the
flagstaff, made no answer to our inquisi
tiveness. 'asked William H. Seward, secretary
of state the Russian minister at
’ ,.f ilu.uo Una
Washington, , • , the meaum ot u . c it
sian ships in American waters, and ^*ot
no satisfactory response. Admiral Far
raout said to a Russian officer after dining
1 re . a. the borne at of the the eminent eminent nolitieian po itmian
Thurlow Reed, that maker ana unmakei
of presidents : “What are you doing
herewith those Russian vessels of war?”
Not until the war was over was it found
out that in case of foreion n intervention
all the guns and - the , . last gun of f ,1 these two ,
fleets m New York and San Francisco
harbors were to open in full diapason
unon upou anv any foreign ‘“‘“'g 1 * ship = ” that should dare
to interfere with the right . of Americans,
north and south, to settle their own con
troversy. But for those fleets, in oui
presence in American waters, there can
he be no no doubt doubt that tnat two two of 01 tbe ice mightiest m„iii
nations of Europe would have mingled
in our fight. But for those two fleets,
the American government would have
been today only a n.„o 1. hi.tory I l
declare before God and the natior
that I believe tbat Russia saved
the United States of America,
T.ast .Tulv I Good be
fore lore » a great trrent throntr tluong of ot Russians Russians in in the im.
embarrassing position of speaking to an
audience three-fourths'of which could nol
understand my lan«uage auv more than
I could understand theirs: But there
were * two names that thtr they tlinmimliliMin t lorou bly un
derstood as well as you understand them,
and the utterance of those two namei
brou"fat forth an acclamation that made
ike the rite city hall hall of o\ St o . Petersburg ^ ouakt 1
from foundation stone to tower, anc
those two names were “George Washing
ton” and “Abraham Lincoln.” Now. if
•f mi imnorf-irit P L that we should 'l; feel
Mght • toward tnat mighty, tv that h t God trod giv
en friend, of more than one hundred
vear« 2 Yea because it is a nation of
more m ° re nosribilities P than any other except
our own cg/tuld should wp we cultivate cultivate its its friend- ne
ship. There is a vast realm of liussia Rf
vet unoccupied. If the population of,
the ine rest res. of oi Europe nu F were poured By iDto Rus
sia, would be only part» ly omipiec^ ; d
it
After a while, America will be so well
populated that the tides of emigration
wi l eo the other way, and by
railroads -I „ J. from Ruaaia Russia ut . t Behrins Behnng
Straits—where Asia comes within thir-y
six miles of joining America—millions ol
Deoole will pour down through Russia
ana and Siberia aioeria, and nuu on vu down uo through all
for the civilization . ... o
the region* waiting
the next oentury to come and culture
great harvests and build mighty cities.
What the United States now sre on the
Western Wcatern Hemisnhere Hemisphere, Russia Russia will will be De on o
the Eastern Hemisphere. Not only be
cause of what Russia has been to ouj
republic but because of what she will be,
let let us us cease cease tneaeiamauon the defamation of or all ® that
pertains to that great empire. If Russia cat
afford to be the friend of America, Amer-,
ica can afford to be tbe friend of Russia,
iSsrJKSr J siisza
family at tbe palace of Peterhof I would
do if I ever got back to America, and
tbat is to answer some of the calumnies
which ’nave been announced and reitera
,ed ,„d ..creo.eped .-.in,. R.a.la,
Ca.timny the First. The emperor ana
all the imperial family are in perpetual
dread of assassination. They are practi
cally prisoners in the winter palace and
trenches with dynamite have been louuo
dug around ihe winter palace. They
dare not venture fourth, except preceded
and 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
emperor's face. The winter said palace,
.round which the tranche, are to
have been charged with dynamite and in
which the imperial family are said to be
prisoners, has never been the residence o)
the imperial family ono moment since
the present emperor lias been on the
throne. That wmter palace has been
changed into a museum and a picture
r/allery and a place of great levees. He
spends li is summer in ibe palace ,1 P
terhof, fifteen or twenty nules from bt.
Petersburg; his autumns at Gatschina,
an( p his winters in a palace at St. Peters
burg, but in quite a different part of the
city to that occupied bythe winter palace.
jje rl des through the streets unattended,
except by the empress at his side and the
driver on the box. There is not a person
in this audience more free from fear of
harm , than , , he is • ... ills sub subjects Sects not not onlv only
admire him but almost worship him.
'I here arc cranks m Ru-sia, but have we
not had our Charles Guiteau and John
Wilkes Booth’ “Rut” some one i
did ... not ... the Russians kill the fathet . of
the present emperor? Yes, but in the
time that Russia has had one assnssina
^ pf America has had two
presidents , assassinated. up„t But i, l „ n n t tli»
emperor an autocrat? By which yon
mean, has he not power without restric
tion? Yes, but it all depends upon what
I * _ ^ ou
' “
autocrat factory, . auto
an in your or an
crat in your store, or an autocrat in your
style j of business 2 It all depends whelh- upon
what use you make of your power.whet
er to bless or to oppress, and Horn the
time of Peter the Great—that Russian
who was the wonder of all time, the em
peror p who became incognito a ship car
penter that he might , help ship bar] e_
ters, and a mechanic that he might help
mechanics, and put on poor men’s garb and
tbat he hislrnd might sympathize with men,
who ^ in : his last words words said said ■ . “Mv My lord lorn, 1 i
dying. Oh, help unbelief. _
am my
say from that time the throne of Russia
has for the most part been occupied by
sS™ and .yn.p.
thetic as they were powe ful. g
further back than Nicholas, the grand
father of the dlin.nt present emperor. id!. Nicholas
had In, ,bo „i hi. admin
isfration the emancipation of the sorts.
When it was found that he received premeditated the
the freedom of the serfs, he
following letter of threat from a deputa
tion of noblemen : “Your Imperial Mbj
esty: We learn that the council and sen
ate of the empire have before them fnr
deliberation,with your sanction, the plan
to abolish serfdom throughout the Rus
sian empire. We nro perfectly willing to
abide by vour majesty’s decision in this
matter and to loyally support your will,
but there are in Russia a large number of
small owners of serfs, who are dependent of
for actual subsistence on the labor
those serfs and who consequently will be
left whoUy penniless and without an|y
resources bv the operation of emanci
pation. They will then un
doulitedly resort to desperate despair mcas
ures,and in the extremity of their
will put the life of your majesty in
jeopardy.’ that will The emperor long replied history: in
words last hs as
“Gentlemen, if I should die because of my do
votion to such a cause, I am willing to meet my
f a t e .” When under an atlack of pneumonia service
f rom exposure to severe weather in the
of bis people, that emperor put down his head
on ihe pillow of dust, Russia crowned. lost Then as good a
monarch as was ever came
Alt . xailder n , the father of the present empe
roj . Andd ,j l( . mightiest opposition, and in
numerable protests, he, with one stroke of hi*
pen, emancipated 20 000,000 serfs, practically and
“ay in K • ' own masters,
this is for you and your children forever. On
the day he was basely aHBahBiiiated (^an<l ^ I will
parenthetically say that I saw his carriage in
splinters, as it looked when he stepped from it
not to save himself, hut to look after some poor
people of the street who had been ^
saw the bed on which he died, the mattress yet
c , jmson with his life’s blood)—on the day he
was assassinated he had on his table, found af
forward, a free constitution that proposed to
give the right of s^rage to the of Rug
? la - H 1( - had not been for the assassination,
he would have soon signed that constitution,
but that horrible violence put things back, as
violence always doe*. What a marvelous char
aeter of kindness wa-8 Alexander II, tno rather
“ ClS
n , KnltJ A iei 8n derthe Second, hrarine tha/
nobl , m an had formed a conspiracy against his
life, had him arrested. Then the eyes of the
criminal were bandaged, and ho traveled was put in only i
carriage, and for some time on.
gtoppinK for food- After aw hilo the bandage
was lemcvej, and supposing that he must by
that time have been almost in Siberia, found
that he was at the door of his own home, lint
this punishment was sufficient. The
peror having heard that a poet had written a
poc m defamatory of his empress, ordered the
poet into his presence. Expecting palace, great found sever- the
ity, the poet entered the and
emperor and empress and dukes and duchess
gathered together. “Good morning,” said the
emperor to the offender. I hear you have
wrlt ten a most beautiful poem, and I have sent I
f or you that you may read it to us and we may |
have the pleasure of bearing it.” The man I
cried out, “Send me to Siberia, or do anything :
with me, but do not make me read this poem
in your presence.” He was compelled to read |
the against defamatory whom it poem, was aimed, and then said - the “I empress do not j
:
think he will write any more verses about us
*R a,n Let hlm A “ d t F Ml '
-
An d now come* in Alexander the Third, doing
the Viest things possible for the nation which he j
loves and which as ardently loves him. But ;
what an undertaking to rule one hundred and :
twelve million J, people, ^ made up !, of one hundred
tribfcg and r apeakin forty different
] angua g e s. But notwithstanding all this, :
things there m-ive on marvelously well, and I do
not believe that out of five hundred thousand i
Eussians you would find more than one cafumny person :
whodjslikeg ^ emperOT> and B0 ,hat
(>f dread 0 f assassination drops so flat it can
fail no flatter.
the Second. Ir to Russia, .
Calumny you go stopped here
you are under severest espionage,
and questioned there, and m danger of arrest.
But In vopinion is that if a man is disturbed in
a , it is became he ought to he disturbed
Russia is the only country in Europe in which
my baggage was not examined. X earned m m
lla nd, tied together with a cord so tbat their ti
t!ogcoald u . SW!n) » pile of eight or ten books
a ;[ of them from lid to hd cursing Russia, but I
had no trouble in taking with me the books.
There is ten times more difficulty in getting
your baggage through the American custom
house than through the interceded Russian. I for speak not
f< r myatlf) for f, lends me r n
American wharves, and I em not detained. I
wa- several days in Russia b?fore I was
»^.’sratSwtsiBM
u? lim, beci^n^vfisfsom^hig"^- arid ofci yoars.Df had barter,
cious about
when ha is around, look attek- yoursilversspoons, honest
I promise you. an koaestwan or on wo
^ &XT.
j tg course from southrry Europe (o those north¬
ern regions, yon will halve no more molestation
orsupervisal than in Brooklyn oriu New York
hm nunl ViuaJmand its rulerare
so oppo , cd to any other religion except the
other u ree k religion, religion, tha> that nothing hjiey will but. not persecution allow any
^and
what are the facts? I liarl a long ride in St.
Petersburg and its suburbs with the prefect, a
brilliant, efficient and lovely man, who is the
highest official in the city of St. Petersburg,
rel Pj on !6> that of tho Greek church?" “No,”
8a id he, “I am a Lutheran.” “What is your re
ligion?” I said to ono of Petersburg. the highest and most said:
influential officials at 8t. He
Aniericoi,'“of 1 stil?'another '"‘‘nomination’ of
Christians, and never having been inside of
a Greek church in my life until I went to Rug
sia. could not have received more consideration
*[»•» man’s
domoilRtr ated to me verv nothing plainly that do with a his
religion in Russia has to
proferment of either office or social considera- position,
The only questions taken into such
haTnot Sin SP Peto/sbuTg an hour
before I received an X invitation believed to it. preach Beside the all
gospel of Christ as
this, have you forgotten that the Crimean war,
which shook the earth, grew out of Russia's
interference in behalf of the persecuted Ohnst
ian8 of aU natioo8 in Turkey. “But,” says
BOme one, “have there not been persecutions of
other religions in Russia?” No doubt, just, as
in other times in New England we burned
witches and as we killed Quakers and as the
Jews in America liavo been outrageously treated
ever gince l can remember, and the Chinese in
our 0 wn land have been pelted, and their stores
tom down, and their way from the steamer
wharf to he.r destined quarters tracked with
their own blood, The devil of persecution is m
every i an d and in all ages. Some of us in the
different denominations of Christians in Amer
ca have felt differently the thrust of did persecution, things differently because
we thought would, or if they had tho
from those who power,
put us in a furnace eight times heated, one
more degree of caloric than Nebnchaduezzar'*.
Persecutions in all lands, but the emperor of
Russia sanctions none of them. Ihadamost
satisfactory talk with tho emperor about the re
]jgjoug of tha ^ worldj aud ), 0 thinks and feels as
you and j that religion is something be
tween a man and liis God, and no one lias a
right to interfere with it. You may go right Ep.s- up
to St. Petersburg and Moscow with your
copal liturgy or your Presbyterian catechism or
your Congregationalist liberalism or your Im
mersionist’s Baptistry, or any other religion,
and if you mind your own affairs am) lot others
mind theirs, you will not be molested,
Cfthnnnytlieiourth:Russiaissovei'yj:rasp- the
in g of territory and slm seems to want
wor id. But what are ihe facts? During the
last century and a quarter, the United States
have taken possession of everything between
J. «£» —
has taken possession of Hourly three million
square miles, and by the extent of her domain
has added 250,000,000 population, while Russia
population—England’s “SJTSS’&StSSiSi advanco of
m illion of
domain by 250,000,000 against Uussia’s advanco
of domain by 18,000,000. * P®;’ try Kul *
^ van( ! e of^onmin by'
250 , 000 . 000 ! The United States and England
bad better keep still about extravagant and ex
tortionate enlargement of domain,
' the Fifth, 8i ^ )a T <1 0
tj D i 0 (lr ve n fiko dumb
cat e . no trial te afforded to tlie mines, suspeotedonesi where they
they ar0 pnt lllt0 nll jc:ksilver
are whipped and starved and some days find
themselves going around without any head,
^ ° f ^ e m f ° ^ ^ fc °kes tCtmits,
n .^ a r be n gta in
ftr0 dlH1 bed and w j ljppod t0 death in the pros
,. nce of howling mobs. Offenders bear their
own flesh siss under the hot irons.
^ l onelrtR thSn'ttSf11,^5^,“nd^omo^
t lienit cme Hy is an imgossibility. red I hold in
niy hand a card. Yon see on it that circle,
That is the government’s seal on a card giving
me ptrmissir n to % i«it nil the prisons of St.
, 1 ^”/"'* tlie'n'lesscn^Thande^Vis card the
to me, he told nw Hint a carriage was at
d< or tor my disposal in visi, ing the prisons. It
so happened, however, that I was crowded
with engagements aud I could not mako tho
visitation. But do you suppose such cheerful
permission and a carriage to boot would have
been afforded to me if the prisons of Russia are
such bells on earth ac they have been described
to be? 1 asked an eminent and distinguished
American: “Have you visited the prisons of St.
Petersburg, and how do they differ from Amer
s prisons?” He replied: “I have visited
them and they are as well ventilated and as well
conditioned in every respect as the majority of
the prisons in America.’' Are women whipped
• a otrrf»t«v jluit corneH fr<ini
tho nia „ u faetory af fabrication, a manufactory
, httt runs day and night, bo that the supply may
meet the demand.
But how about Siberia? My answer is, Hibc
. . .. r , riHOn . , « llss j„ a orison more iliau
twice the m/e of the United States. John How
fl|() nho d j d more f or t tic improvement of
’ and the reformation of criminals than
pri[ 0IlerH lived,
any nia n that ever his name a synonym
f or mercy throughout Christendom, declared by
voiec ?^mfnafs alid ^n that the system of tran-portation
0 irom Rusda to Siberia was an ad
mirable plan, advocating open «ir punishment
r& the r than dungeonment and also because it
f e ?titllewina theplan * of deportatioo otcrini
inalg fiQm Rlwaia t 0 giberis, oommemled it to
] and , ff a man commits murder in Rns
iia he not electrocuted as we electrocute
him, or choked to death by a halter as we choke
' Russia is the only country
hitu to d#ath . has been on
fcai t(, from which the death penalty high
dr j veu cxoe pt in the case of treason,
ji ur derer-< and desperate villains are »< nt to
the hardest part of Siberia, but no man is sent
to Bilteria or doomed to any kind of punishment
j gussiauntil he lias a fair trial. Ho far as
t h e jr being hustled off in Ihe night and not
k now ,ng why {, they are exiled or punished have is con
al] t e criminals in Russia an open
trial before a iurv just as we have in America,
cxceP £ t in revolutionary or riotoua times, and
naw j n Am erica at such times the writ of
{, ab eiis corpus is suspended, There are in Ru»
B ; a o; ran a juries and petit juries,and the right to
ohallen((e t h e jurors, and the prisoner other oonfronts
his accuser, and mark this, as in no coun
after a prisoner has been condemned by the
^ and judges, he may appeal to the minis
(j{ (h( . JIltf .rior, and after tbat to the senate,
atld after that to the emperor, who is oonstant
ly pardoning. £, As I said the violent and mur
are nt to the hardest part of Siberia,
but tjl( , more moderste criminals to more pro
V . (oug ” rtH o{ Siberia, and those who have on
& , itt k cri mmality to parts of Siberia po.i
t < , „ fn .i f or climate, for von ought to
is
, ■ and wjde an( j i ong that it reaches from
, 0 t0 mdity, from almost arctic blast
ag mi)d M that of Italy. and Run your will
gXhattlfe - , (h map P of t he world, you
lowest part of Siberia is on the
fort _ fi f t h degree of latitude, and the richest
part' j of Italy is So on that tho Siberia game reaches forty-fifth from degree the
f ^itude.
a t the north to the palm leaf fans at the
th ’ rt has been demonstrated that 90 per
t of the p. UBKlan criminals colonized into
Liberia go roto a climate miiaer than Sew York
_ a j and songful with birds and confound embroidered
witb flora enouK h manifold to the
botan j Ht( . Much of the soil is a rich loam and
f wait for a p i ow ^ liberate them. When
—iminal is tan* to Siberia, in the vast ma
| j ord y 0 f cases it gives under him the au opportunity best possible to
naks . a new gtar t
circnm stance«. The criminal is allowed to take
hjl0rter {alni]y ' al ong. In tbe quicksilver
of sibnda lbe hardest place of expatru
ope-fonrth of tbe miners are crimi
other tbree-fourtb* go there because
-——- - -—
After Being fn Siberia awBiXe, the condemned
go to aerning a livelihood, and they come to
own the.!' own farms, and orchards anc vine¬
yards, many of these people coming to wealth,
and ti,e.'.isu!ids of them under no inducement
would ieave those parts of Siberia which are
paradise* which for salubrity and luxuriance. Now,
do yen think is the best style of a pris¬
on—Siberia or many of our American prisons?
When a roan commits a big crime in our coun¬
try, the judge Looks into the face of the fright¬
ened culprit and says: “Yon have been found
guilty; I sentence t'ou to the penitentiary for
ten years. four ’ He walls. goes to No prison. sunlight. Ho is No shut fresh in
between
air. No both-room. Before he has served his ten
years, be dies of consumption, or is so ener¬
vated that for the rest of his life he sits with
folded hands a wheezing invalid. In prefer¬
ence to the shut-in life of the average Ameri¬
can prisoner, give me Silieria. Besides that
when offenders coma ont of prison in America
what chanoe have they? Ask ihe poorly, sup¬
ported societies, formed to get these people
places to work. Ask me, to whom the newly
liberated ceme from all the prisons, imploring
what they shall do. No one will commend
them. The pallor of incarceration is un their
check. Who wants to employ in in factory or
Htore a man or woman who answer to the
question, “where did you live last?” should
make for reply: “States prison at Auburn ov
Movamensing.” Nowin Siberia they hnvo a
better chance. They are never and spoken they of as
criminals, but as unfortunates, are al¬
lowed every opportunity of retrieving their lost,
reputation and lost fortuues. I talked with
the president of the National Society of Russia
for the e l ncation and moralization of the chil
dean of Siberian oonvicts. The president isalady of
that society, appointed by the emperor,
of great accomplishments and much tearful sympathy her
which illumines her face and makes
eyes and tremulous her voice. The evening I
passed at her house in St. Petersburg was one of
tbe memorable events of my lifetime. I will
not attempt to pronounce the name of that
noble woman appointed by tha emperor as the
president of the National Society of Russia
for the education and moralization of the
children of oonvlots. FJCtee to name an I
such national society in our country, the supported children
by government for taking care of
ot convicts. You know, if yon know anything,
that there is no chanoe in this country for a
man who has been imprisoned, orfor his ohil
dren. God pity lhem and hasten the time
when we shall bv some national institution es¬
tablish by the congress of the United States,
imitate tho mercy of the Russian government
toward tho innocent children cruelty of imprisoned the of¬
fenders. He who charges on impe¬ belies
rial family and the nobility of Russia
men and women as gracious and benignant as
ever breathed oiyReu
The merciful character of tho pvesent em¬
peror was well illustrated ill the following oc¬
currence: The man who supervised the the assassi¬
nation of the fathsr of present emperor,
standing in the snow that awful day, when the
dynamite shattered to pieces the legs of Alex¬
ander the Seoond,— I say the man who super¬
vised all this fled from St. l’etershnrg and quit
Russia. But after awhile the man repented of
his crime awl wrote to the emperor asking for
forgiveness for the murder of his father and
promising to be a good citizen, and asking if
he might come back to Russia. Tho emperor
pardoned the murderer of his father, Russia, aud the
forgiven assassin is now living in unless
recently deceased. Whon I talked to the em¬
press concerning the sympathy dronght-struck felt in Ameriea region*
for the sufferings of tho
of Russia, she evinced an absorbing interest
and a compassion and an emotion of manner
and apeoch such as wo men can hardly realize,
beoause it scorns that God lias reserved for wo*
men as her great adornment, the tear-jeweled
coronet of tenderness and commiseration. If
you say that it was a man, a divine man that
came to save the world, I say yes, but It was a
woman that gave tho men. Witness all the
Madonnas, Italian, Gorman, English and Rus¬
sian, Christendom. that bloom in the pioturo galleries of
Hon of Mary, iiave mercy on us!
But how about the knout, tho oruel Russian
knout that coitu s down ou tho bare back of
agonized criminals? Why, Russia abolished tho
knout before it was abolished from our Ameri¬
can navy. But how about tbe political priso¬ the
ners hustled off to Siberia? According to
testimony of the most oelebrated literary ene¬
my of ltussia, only 443 politieal prisoners How were
sent to Siberia in twenty rears. many
political prisoners did of we civil put war? in prison Well, I pens will
during our four 100,000. years America’s 100,000 polit¬
guess at least
ical prisoners versus Uussia’s 443 political priso¬
ners. Nearly all llune 443 of twenty years
were noblemen emancipation of peoplo desperately eerfs. And opposed of
to tho of the none
the political prisoners aro sent to the lamous
Kara mines. For the most part, you are de¬
pendent for information upon the testimony of
prisoners who are sent to Siberia. They all
Bay they were innocent. Prisoners always are
innocent. Ask ail the prisoners of America to¬
days “Guilty or not guilty,” Rnd nineteen out
of how twenty will plead “Not gnilty.” how Ask they them like
sheriffs they and like how tneir they prison like and the government of
the United States, and yon will find the«e pris¬
oners admire tho authority that arrested them
and punish them just about us mncli as the po¬
litical prisoners of Russia like Silieria.
But you ask, how will this Rnssophobia, with
whioh so many have been bitten and poisoned,
lie cured? By tbe god of justioe blousing such
books and phampletx Arnand, as are of now Washington; coming Mr. out
from Professor de
Horace Cutter, of San IteanciHOo; Mr. Mortill,
of England, and by the ojiening of our Ameri¬
can gates to the writings of some twenty-four
of the Russian authors and authoresses, in
some respect as brilliant as Die three or four
lluiBian authors already known—the transla¬
tion of those twenty-four authors, which I am
authorized from Russia to offer free of charge
to any responsible justioe. American Let publishing these Russians house
that will do them
tell their own story, for they are tho only ones
fully competent to do tho work, as none but
Americans can fully tell tbe story of Ameriea,
and as none hut Geimaus can fully tell the
story of Germany, and none but Englishmen
can fully tell the story of England, and none
but Frenchmen can fully tell international the story of
France. Meanwhile, let the de
fatnaiion come to an end. Ccaao to apeak evil
of dignities merely because they are dianitiea,
and of presidents of merily because they are pres¬
ident*, and cmiicrora merely because they
are emperors. And may tho blessiriK of God
the Father, anil God the Hon, and God the
Holy Ghost, be ut ion all the members of the
imperial household of ltussia from the ilinstri
ous head of that family down to the princess,
seven years of age, who came skipping into my
presence in the palace of Peterhof fast summer.
Glory to Oral in ttic highest and ou earth pence,
good will to men.
IMPORTANT DECISION
Affeoting Southern Railroads by the
Interstate Commerce Commission.
A Washington special of Saturday
says; The interstate commerce commis
sion has, in an opinion by Commissioner
Veazey, announced it* decision in the
eases brought by the Georgia railroad
commission agamit the Cincinnati, New
Orleans and Texas Pacific Railway com¬
pany, the Louisville and Nashville Rail¬
way company and other railroad and
steamship lines, seven cases in all, in¬
volving rates for longer and shorter
hauls from Cincinnati and other Ohio
river points, and from New York and
other North Atlantic port* to points in
southern territory. The long and short
haul clause of the interstate commerce
law is construed by the commission in
tbe light of more than five years’ opera¬
tion of the law and decisions heretofore
rendered by the commission and the
courts.
A Circus Train Wrecked.
A special train carrying McVsse &
Shield’s 10 cent circus from Mount Ver¬
non, Ala., to Mobile, over the Mobile
and Birmingham railroad, was wrecked
four miles from Mobile Monday night
by a car jumping circus from the track. Seven
employe* of the were hurt, three
ierioualy.
TIE o
Notes of Her Progress ai PropffiJ
Briefly Epitomized
v
And Important Happening-s front Dlf
to Day Tersely Told.
A San Antonio special of Saturday
says: Encarnacion Garza, brother of tha>
famous filibuster, Catrino Garza, has been)
released on |2,000 bail. Garza is the 1
Mexican who was captured at Key West,,
Fla., some weeks ago.
At the annual meeting of the Confed¬
erate Survivor’s Association of South Car¬
olina at Columbia, officers were elected
and a resolution was adopted requesting
the counties of the state to organize
county associations with the purpose lat¬
er of forming camps of the United States
veterans similar to those existing
throughout the south.
The Philadelphia furnace at Florence,
Ala., was lighted Saturday night. This
furnace is the property of the Florence
Cotton and Iron Company, owned and
controlled by Philadelphians. It is the
largest and best equipped furnace in the
south. The furnace has just completed
extensive repairs. A new era of pros¬
perity has been inaugurated in Florence.
On Saturday eighteen thousand pounds
of dynamite and other high grade explo¬
sives were sent to Fort Sam Houston
target range, two miles east of San An¬
tonio, Texas, where General Dryenforth’s
rain-making experiments are to be made.
It is expected that a train of explosives
three miles long will be laid for the
first test. Tho weather is clear, and the
barometer shows no indication of rain.
A special of Friday to The Los there An¬
geles, Cal., Express states that in is
much excitement and alarm caused
northeastern Arizona by the threats of a
band of Navajoes under Chief Black
Horse of going to war against the whites.
A request has been sent to the troops, but
General McCook thinks that the troops
nro not necessary and believes a little ex¬
ercise of caution will prevent a hostile
outbreak.
Tho census office manufacturing has made a prelimi¬ indus¬
nary report on the
tries of San Antonio, Tex., during the
past decade. In 1890 the number of in¬
dustries reported at San Antonio was 25;
number of establishments reported, 48;
with invested capital of $1,048,362. Num¬
ber of hands employed, 907; receiving
$015,125 in wages, Tho cost of mate¬
rials used was $831,185 and the value of
tho product $2,152, 260.
Tbe steamer Rosa Lee, from Astport,
burned at the wharf at Memphis, Tenn.,
early Monday morning. An officer
awakened the passengers and all above
the dock and thirty below got out safely.
It is thought that four laborers, who
were in a state of intoxication, were
burned to death. The steamer cost $70,
000, and was in the cotton trade. The
loss is complete. Insurance, $27,000.
Her manifest consisted of 397 bales of
cotton and 2,001) sacks of cotton seed.
The outgoing Western and Atlantic
passenger train leaving Atlanta at
ed 11 o’clock short distance Sunday night tho was wreck¬
a from city. The
wreck was a bad one, smashing cars und
tearing up the track. Fortunately no
one was killed. Engineer Squires was
found to be pretty badly hurt, as was al¬
so his fireman. One or two of the pas¬
sengers wero bruised up. The disaster
was due to train wreckers. An iron
band was found fastened about one of
the rails. It was near the spot where a
train was wrecked a year ago in tha
same way.
A Columbia, 8. C., dispatch say*: It
was ascertained Sunday tbat steps are
being taken to abolish the historic South
Carolina college, an institution which is
tho alma mater of a host of distinguised
men that the state has produced. The col¬
lege is dear to thousands of South Caro¬
linians, and this announcment will be re¬
ceived with untold regret, and there
will undoubtedly be a hard struggle to
retain it. The superintendent of educa¬
tion, in his annual report to be submitted
to the general assembly, recommends that
the college be closed and that the build¬
ings bo converted into a normal college
for both sexes. It is also learned tbat a
bill in accordance with this recommen¬
dation has been prepared and will be in¬
troduce in the legislature.
THE MONETARY CONFERENCE.
The Opening of the Meeting in finis
sels—Welcoming Delegates.
A Brussels cablegram says: The pro¬
ceedings of the international monetary
conference, which met at the Palais des
Academies Tuesday were entirely infor¬
mal. Tbe following countries were pres
ent: Austria-Hungary, Belgium, France,
Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Italy,
the Neitherlands, Portugal, Roumania,
Russia, Servia, Spain, Norway and
Sweden and Switzerland. M. Beer
maert, of Belgian finance who prime opened minister and min¬
ister tbe proceed¬
ings, extended, in the name of the Bel¬
gian delegates. government, a cordial welcome to
the After referring to the
monetary crisis that had occurred during
the past century, he said, it was in the
direction of an international understand¬
ing that a solution of the monetary ques¬
tion was now sought.
M. Montefiori, us president of the con¬
ference, followed M. Beermaert. He re¬
ferred to the many attempts mode to
solve the monetary question and said tbe
worat feature of tbe present monetary
situation was its instability. He individual hoped
the conference would sink its
interests and keep in view the higher
interest of the great human family.
Hon. E. Terrell,United States minister
to Belgium, behalf replied the in American a few formal dele¬
word* on of
gates. The conference then adjourned
until Friday.
Tin Plate Mill Burned.
The tin plate mill at Aodersoo, Ind.,
burned to the ground Saturday promi¬ night.
This is tbe factory that became so
nent as a political issue during the late
campaign. The fire was of inoendiary :
origin, the entire factory having been £
saturated with coal oil. It was being s
operated by Clark & Alleton. Loss, St
$22,000; partially insured.