New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1881-04-17
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
11rr IN A RUSSIAN PRISON.

TIE Russian novelist whose name appears upon
tho title mage of this work wrote only the
fion 10 the book, if we can take HIS WIZ 'o' VI.
abatement In the introduction nc 'eiis VI hi' ~
onaintance in a Siberian village Win IN eee""'0'
,norose ex convict who after having serNc" @i"
of ten wears in prison for the murder Oh HIS WIZ
= q, 90 ,eo,ous rage. was living in retirement ana
earning q livelihood by giving lessons 10 'nc o"'
,,rcn of n few cultivated families This man "aa -
noble family His name was Alexander Petrov'V'H
CorvaptcbiLof He died after the novelist iei' 'io
n,ace and the people with whom he liad i've" syn
En- his friend baskctfu Of his manuscripts. h'''"s
them was found history of his ten years VI t'"
scryitude. jotted down apparently at N",' =. -;
,v;tbont ouy attempt at order or ciIohoioe9' ~ "
this manuscript that Fedor DostoyehsKy Pi'''.'
under the title of Buried Alive" lie name !"
somewhat misleading. for it naturally 'akes wv
roo,.r in imagination to one Of those terrible
Siberian subterranean mine prisons whcio 'i'' 0oD
y;cts toll until death releases them, never once
.oo;no Tho ,;cbt Of day The prison of Alexander
potroy;tcb was above ground and was not greatly
n,;tc ono Of the rude stockade penitcntiares 10 DC
s,n5 /, our Southern States, so the title 10 tile
hook must be taken in q metaphorcal sense Inc
book itself although rambling and unmc'hooica'
!. s,ro,c and realistic A nobcman OF eXceiieil'
education. fine tastes and considerable hor" sc''s-
h;litv WAS thrown into the midst OF 21o conNio'S'
most of them criminals of the worst dcscliP.''"
lilo could not do otherwise than study 'n'ii '",''
,eters and ways-hc had nothing else 10 oco"P! NO
tboupbts Brutality, cowardicc ana pes'iai''S 'o"
percd with little coarse VIII seem " nav
their leading traits. Among them, ho"oI''' N
fouud few companionable natures WIN "''''
ICED lasting friendships. The discipline OF the
prison was n mixture OF corrupt iaAily anu i"'''''
sevcritv. Everybody connected with ITS manage
a
,Lo crucl and drunken Major who commanded
,rhoro were no rules that were not broken. Inc
,;o,ors managed TO have a good deal oi dINeiSioh
noc;ollv in the long winter evenings, when thlr'!
of them were locked IN single cell. On one oce"
.;on they improVised a theatre ana pell"ii"cu
nu,,hcr of broad farccs. regular trade was car
,;cd nm in intoxicating drinks, snlnggIed III WIN
the conniyance of the guards III Inc Ht'S'i''VS '"
o,;,ro,s yound around the bodies OF convlcts VINO
lid ont of the stockadc in the brckyaids and
.lahastcr kns. Many of the prisoners c'i'''u
money by surrcptitiously making variety Oh sii"'
articles which the guards sold III the town. III WAS
an offence To have money and searches were co"'-
mo, lint the convicts had banker III the person ."
nm honest jew who received deposits Tor col'i''N
Sion and had hiding place for the common hoard
which no one ever discovered. lie wfi''I mus
describes his first impressions of the prison:
lur uri>on situated hn w NN'i'''' ~
4 - onJ almost Immediately above the rampant
! ned often To look through the hunks IN TIE itco
and FRY and catch glimpse Oh 'I' Ni'V VIII T.
md 'Rut all could src was a ittl" p''F 81. INC
!pno. ,h, Iid ,r1.,y rampant where the s'ujliclS
walked To- and fro day ana nlght A'i tt'u "I,u
10 wonder how often during th' ioV AvaiN ,,,' I
icfrre me | should creep tn the fence anu peer
,hrnugl the holes and sre the sane >ri'iiri' ana
the SAM rampart and the sumo lii' on oil hir shy
,,L;.h strange 10 say, did not seem 10 hrl"h& 10
that Sky which We Conld see from our pI''''' "ut
r"tbcr ~ some other sky that vas lar away hoh
,s. and under which free people h'rd' ,,..1t...
Tho court yard WAS very lar@r-tW" nundicd ic't
,onr and one hundred and lifty wide. IL formed an
;rrcIij1r hcxangc. and was surrounded ly nlrn
fence made of po>,s pointed al thc Top ,i'S i"u
H., r,1nrnrd deep into lie ground. aud stood -
ptvn Int tbcy nearly touched each other Aero
The posts broad pamks hid been uaiicd I" MAKE me
fence still more solid ms "a ,hr oHi'I ' NV,
d. ,otcs i'm one of the sides of the hcNa;icr. They
,ycr. ycry strong and always kept locked and
watched night and day by IL, Srhlh'I' At "iiiy
~ t.n ill., wer,. unlocked Wa when th' CON
,ict rri,nucrs left the prison 10 Z" /" 'h,f W"IN.
Reyond those gates was The tar iiee W"i'h "ni'
H. neo,,ic might do ~ they iis 81. IN I" Ms WI"
".1 ON Ibis side of the fence that world seemed H.
unreal n. a weird fairy tale l"T we HN'I ~ our
own world which was unlike any iliiis we haA ever
Lc,rJ or seen: We were rrl"d IN oar own Et" %;
wcr,, pcculir g,rb. and bad peculiar g.. ''""> ana
habits Oar dWcl!lDE-plaec va, i"' U';"Nc = ""t ,
grave where liNins PEOPLE hHi .t.n , '''''''' ana
The first thing that meet. y"ur g an entering ih.
cnnrtvard arc several huiidne' Ca either ~"ir oi
IL is ~ Ion. oic-stolicd h"n.c-thc.' are the bar
r,cLs where the prisoner, i've. Inc tuiiA'llno~t
cnd of the ward il occupied 10y similar hui"In-.
Thi, is the kitchen. winch j. oNiH,l among Two
Grtels \ forta cdlhce c.rl&ih' ,h' c,Hat'' s'.r'
ro"n,s wool-.hcds. etc. The central part of Tie
ward form, very lArgc '1rIiG Wh.r" H. r"h'l,i :
assemble when The rou T. called l"rnii@ n"o' ana
"i.ht and occasionally several times III The c"ui>"
of lie dav ii the Nar,l.rs suspect mischief ar are
unable 10 count quickly. Between ne buildings
aud Tie fence i, large empty pace Nhlch "a, the
@,it. rr,ori of ~orr ColNic,s. who liked to come
here i'm their leisure hours who're they were hidden
from all eyes and could ind"Ist ~ th'if own >Ii
thoughts. OFTEN. WHEN hapi"n|i t9 h'c' mem
on tbnSr solitary walks, | would look into those
cloonv (lrrS. marked with the brand of eternal
shame, and wonder what they c"n;h he tlinhing
ohnmt There was one of them. who Srcnt all his
leisure in counting the posts ~ H." fence. There
were fifteen hundtcd posts. aud he knew every one
Of them Each p3It r' KNITTED i, o "S o "u ca ,
lated from the remaining number of posts how many
more days he would iiNc 10 say ~ pil,oh IN ne,
had served his term. iis greatest l'llsht was L" St
In Tho end of one Of the sides OF the hcNange. lie
had many years 10 wait yet, but there Il ~" place
like prison for teaching people To be patient. !
r,nerhrr seeing once 4 prisoner, who had rcgaucd
his liberty after twenty years ol captivity, tax"
leave Of his comrades. some OF ils elIo" prisoner
icbt hearted lad who cared little for the crime he
had committed and still less for his punishment;
lie left the lace cray ,h'!ieu olt mali VIZ ~, In
comrades eood-bv he entered each cell without
speaking and after crossing limsri before the
jkona. he bowed los before his fcNow-prisoncrS'
asking thclu 10 think kindly of him wien hc was
gone. 1 also we'll remember another convict, Who
Ind formerly been wcll-to-do Siberian peasant
One evening he was suddenly summoned TO The
gate 10 see his wife. Six months before ne had
learned that she had married AGAIN; and bad been
much affected by the news. When he came 70 the
gate she gave him Il small sum of money. They
stood talking together for perhaps two minutes
when they both burst into tears and took leave OF
each other forever saw his face as he came bacb
slowly into his cell. We were indeed taught to bt
patient in the convict prison.
As soon as il began To grow dusky we were or
dered into our barracks, where we were locked
up for the night. always thought 1t very hart t'
have To come ont of the fresh air into long low
sitting room, which was dmly lighted by two ol
three tallnw candles and peINa dcd by q slckenlnl