The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1881-06-09
body, with it's skeleton arm, and ley,,

body, with it's skeleton arms and leg-
sunken abdomen, and prptrudinr ribs
Tie was perfectly naked a woo4el
cross with a small six bag attached I,
1t was suspended round his neck, anc
the iron rings still hung loosely roun,
his emaciated legs. They we're unusual
ly quiet during the last half hour Of hi
life they talked to zach other below
their breath, anl moved nuistles-l,
about the room. Nobody seemed IN
cilned to talk much. Occasionally som,
Que would make ar Indifferent remark,
or cast a glance a: the dying man, IL
whose throat the ominous rafting had
already begun. Suddenly his trembling
hand he seized the amulet, and began
Q pull at it as if he felt oppressed BY
the tiny silk bag. Some one took il of
Tor hun. and he expired ten minute,
later. One Of the men knocked at the
door and told the sentinel what had hap
pened. The warder came III, and, after
gazing stolidly at the corpse, went to
call the teidsheer. The latter, a good
natured young fellow, who was perhaps
a little too vain Of his personal appear
ance (which was by no means unpre
possessing). appeared soon after, walk
ed quickly the bed, and, with a look Of
profound wisdom, felt the dead mans
pulse, waved his hand, aud left the
room to report the case to the officer on
duty, as the prisoner had been in the
Special Department, u certain cere-
monies to be fulfilled before his death
could be officially recognized. While
We were waiting for the officer, one OF
the men remarked in a low one that
perhaps the dead mans eyes had better
be closed, ~whereupen another ven
quietly up to the corpse and closed its
eyes. The little wooden cross was lying
Oh the pillow he took it up, looked "a
it, hung III again on Mikhahailoff ;
neck, and crossed himself. Meanwhile
the dead face had become rigid. Array
of sunshine played on it the mouth
was partly open, showing two rows OF
white teeth which We're hardly covered
by the thin lips. At last the sergeant
alarms Oh duty came IN, III his full
uniform. followed by two wdrders. Ht
approached the bed hesitatingly an
casting doubtful glances at the convicts,
who were watching his moveme III
sullen silence. When he had nearll
reached the bed he stopped suddenly,
as if struck by something the naked.
emaclated body. with the heavy chain,
attach,d to it, as if in grim mockery.
evidently produced on him a deep im
preston, and, moved by a sudden i'm
pulse, he took off his sword and helmit,
and crossed himself. He was a mid lie
aged uIan, with a stern. gray, weather
beaten fac. Tchekounof, also a gray
haired old man, happened to be standing
near him at that moment, He had
been watching every one of his move
,nents, boxing fxedly in his face. Sud
denly their eyes met, and Tchekounotfs
under lip began to culver. He made a
queer grimace, showed his teeth, and
said hurriedly to the sergeant, moving
his head in the direction of the corpse,
He had a mother once' and walked
away.
II felt as if these simple words had
stabbed me to the heart. What made
him say them, and how had they come
into his head? BY this time the ward
ers had taken up the corpse, the straw
rustled under their hands, and suddenly.
in the midst of the general silence, the
chains fell off. One of the warders
picked them up, and the body was car
ried out !.
And this is Russia! At one end ofthe
social scale, an autocrat whore merest
within is law to uncounted mill ms, sur
rounded by unimaginable pomp and
splendor, and lavishing the revenues OF
provinces upon an army of rapacious
tavorites at the other end. a fettered
convict dying in exile a death self iniic-
ted to escape the torture of an inhuman
punishment What but assassination,
regicide, and Nihilism, is the natural
outcome of such a state of things7 An
acute observer has truly remarked that
there is one thing the human race has
in C~hristendom apparently got beyond,
and hat is submission to absolutely
arbitrary power The Nihilists, he
adds, can not be suppressed by simple
brute force: and their success ia killing
the Car will undoubtedly make then
reader than ever to oppose f~erocity tt
cruelty. "-AppLeton's Journal.
Rev Edward w Gillian raoentlv