The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1876-02-10

before it was put INTO press.
i Imagine the press of place like Nj.
P'easantswith 5000 inhabitants, (one-fourih
tie number of my native city, to be confined
only to tne publishing of auction papers
or other advertisements, and it will give
you an indistinct idea Of The extent To which
this limitation is carried out in Russia.
The following will perhaps illustrate what l
have mentioned:
j Some lime before our departure from Berd-
jahsk, my brother brought the advertisement
OF our auction to the press. He had mer-
toned in it, on account of our leaving
Berdjansk for America, we were going to
sell orr property; after which followed the
inventory, etc. The mayor (his Office being
to examine and testify TO the ADVERTISEMENT
said, hat he "could not testify toll, unless
the word "Amerca" was lief out.
The consequence of such want Of liberty
is the Unlimited arbitrarness of the officers
and different authorities from she lowest
to the highest, and the suppression of every
denunciation in publishing the vlleness
which is practiced among them in public
and in private life.
To illustrate the latter, allow me to men
tion an incident connected with our family
circle:
One month before we left our home We
celebrated the silver wedding CT my dear
| parents. For this occasion we children
wanted TO get several copies of a hymn
printed to be distributed as a remembrance
! OF that Gay among our friends. To our
disappointment. it was said that no more
than fifteen of these copies could be pub
lished. as they were Christian hymns, which
are not allowed to be pressed in greater
number.
Respecting the arbitrariness not only in
press. b ut also In other things it may not
DO inappropriate to mention another short
instance.
70 my parents silver wedding. our rela-
tives In Germany sent among other things
for them, silver spec'scles in cases Of silver
They arrived in time, But when nv brother
went to get them from the custom honse,
he was refused, because 1t was supposed that
the silver might not be pure, as in the Rus
sian empire it ought to be. For examina-
ton they were sent to Simphropol, the
Government city.
This is the usual way for them to do; after
they have involved the obtaining of such
things into so many difficulties, the owner
rather let's them go than bear the great
expense that is connected with the ma ter;
this being the aim of the officers. But my
father did not wish to leave these things
10 the officers hands, ar therefore he traced
from the beginning all the steps that were
made concerning them; from Simpnro )ol
they were sent to the Governor Generate
Office at Odessa, and from thence to ST..
Petersburg; at last after my father, in te'-
egram, related the whole affair to the minis.
ter OF the finance (since letter would have
never come into his hands, and after paying
expenses more than twice as much as the
whole thing was worth, we received them
|just few days before the appointed time
in which we were obliged to leave.
have now told you something in my
own experiences and could mention huE-
dreds of instances more, which only became
known by being reported from one to the
other, as there are no papers to publish
them. If the publishing of political 30 so
limited, that of religious papers is far more
so.
In The year 1857 religious visit was paid
to our colonies, by two English Friends,
Thomas Harvey and Isaac Robson, with
whom we agree in not accepting war;
These felt the necessity of addressing our
people with an encouraging tract, which
was to be printed in our language at Odessa.
It was soon sent back, (some sentences be-
ling entirely crossed and blotted) with the
notice that they could not be printed in our
country. The following paragraph was one
of those especially prohibited in which our
dear friend Isaac Robson says:
at is not His (Ged's) purpose that you
should not only be blessed yourselves, but
also that you should be a blessing OF hers
that your light should SO shine before men,
that others, seeing your good works, should
also be brought to glorify your Father who
| is in heaven? Is it not His purpose that you
should be instrumental in spreading TIE
knowledge of the truth of the Gospel OF
Christ to those who are now sitting in dark
ness-sunk ia ignorance and superstitton?
Are you prepared, dear friends, to give al
i good account Of this your stewardship
"I do not forget the difficulties of your
position, nor the danger which might result
from attempts to enlighten your mole igno-
rant nelghbors; but feel it right to eEdeavor
a little to stir you up by putting you in
remembrance ofthese things"
If add in conclusion, that to this day. in
our country, the whole Bible is not allowed
to be printed, in the Russian language; that
within seven years, through the great per- !
severance and expense of the British Bible
Society, only the New Testament can be sent