The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1863-02-03

AtiA4A NhAtltaatt y iiAf aAfHa 80 AtH W.
ucaied oompatriois, be was employed
a. a clerk ia lbe disnllery oiHce lie
was, nevertheless, liable 70 corporal
ehastisemenl d the caprice ef tae su-
periniep5cnl though by his diligence,
paiienee and tact, he contnSed 70 es-
cape this indigniiy. 0ae curious and
shocking incident Of S.berian exile is
the destiny which attends the chil-
dreu who may be born to the prison
ers, and who are fated TO remain serfs
Of lie crown. Even when their pa-
rents are amnesiied. and permitted TO
return, this degradation siill attaches
to lie children, unless they are ex-
emp ca BY special decree; yel even
this has not prevented Polish ladies'
from following their husbands, though
under the condition, also, thai once in
Siberia they must henceforth remain
there.
Attempts 70 escape are punished by
Incarceration in the fortress Of Aka
tonia, or by more summary tortares.
The wri CT tells the story Of a certain
Abbe Slofodnski who attempted to
organize a concerted effort for the H.
beration OF himself aud his eompan-
ions, and who was condemned to
seven thousand strokes "sanS merci,
and who received the last three thou
sand on his Hfeless body. Another
Pole, Wysocki, inearecrated at Aka
tonia, formed Tie design Of forcing his
way with his comrades, across the
steppes to Persia or China, so Chin
erical were the hopes entertained BY
these unhappy exiles, and 50 nyaria-
bic, except in the authors case had
been their speedy Illustration. At the
end Of the year 1916 an ordinance Of
the Emperor Nicholas enjoined a
more rigorous treatment Of the Sibe-
rian prisoners, and threatened 10
abr.dge the little liberty which the
autior then enjoyed, wllercupon he
resolved to make for Archahgel.
Having furnished himself with
sham passports and some little money,
on the 9Th Of February, 1916, he
crossed The Iriiche, at night, by
boat, which was left unguarded on its
bank, aud, disguised as Russian
peasant, he commenced his unprece-
dented journey. It's success pro.a-
bly, turned on the single lucky chance
Of his meeting peasant at the outset
who gave him a lift behind two feet
horses as far as Tara. Here he found
oil her horses, and in a few stages he
got quickly ahead of his pursuers, il,
az is likely, he was pursued. II was
rarely that he ventured to claim a re-
fuge at the Isbas on his route, and
though the Winter was one Of unu-
sual rigor he plunged at nightfall
into the forest, aud slept in a hole in
the snow.
lie states that by degrees he ac-
quired great skill in the construction
OF this species of shelter, and that he
contriyed to take repose there, though
the absence OF warm nourishment was
most distressing to him, and the fro
zen bread which at intervals he pro-
cured at the 0stiak cabins was a mis-
cradle support under such extreme
hardships. As a rule the inhabitants
whom he yentured to accost were
compassionate and hospitable, though
in one place he was suspected, from
his possession of four shirts, an unu-
sual number for a Russian peasant
aud at another place he was robbed
Of some Of his little stock of money
and of his passports. Crossing the
crest Of the Ural mountains by noon
light, the grotesque desolation of their
scenery deepened the terrors and de-
preston of his strange situation; yet
after two months Of this savage exis-
ience in the snow and the forests, he
reached the gates Of Veliki 0uatioug
in April, l846.
Up to this point be had aft cted
the character, first Of a traveller to
the fair Of lrbite, then Of a workman
seeking employment, and now be as
sumed that Of a pilgrim going to sa
lutte the sacred images OF the Con.
vent Of Soloyetsk in the White Sea.
In company with number Of other
pilgrims he worked hrs passage down
the Dwina to Archangel, and at length
beheld the bourne OF bis exhausting
journey. Here, however, as he crept
along the quays, desiring to aecost