Fisherman & farmer. [volume] (Edenton, N.C.) 1887-19??, 1892-12-02

had not been IN st. Petersburg an hour
| before received an invitation to preach the
| Gospel OF Christ as / believed it Besides all
| this have YOU forgotten that the Crimean
war which shook the earth, grew ous OF
Russia's interference in behalf OF the prose-
| crted Christians OF all nations in Turkey!
| .sRut saws some one, ''have there not
| been prosecutions of other religions il Rus
! siaS' No doubt just as In other times In
| New England we burned witches. and a we
| killed Quakers and as the Jews III America
! have been outrageously treated ever since
| can ramember and the Chinese in our land
| have been pelted, and their stores torn down,
| and their way from the steamer wharf 70
/ their destined quarters tracked with thelr
! own blood The devil OF persecution IS In
every land and in all ages. Some OF US In
| the different denominations OF Christians In
America have felt the thrust Of persecution
| because we thought differently or did things
| differently from those who would, II they
| had the power, put US in q furnace eight
! times heated, one more degree Of caloric than
| Nebuchadnezzar's. Prosecutions in all lands
| but the emperor Of Russia sanctions none Of
| them.
| had a most satisfactory talk with the
! emperor about the religions of the world,
and he thinks and feels as you and [ do that
| religion is something between a man and
| his God, and no one has right to interfere
| with it. You may go right up to st. Peters.
| burg and Moscow with your Episcopal
| v,
your Congregationalists liberalism, or your
| 1mmersionists Baptistry, any other re-
| ligion and if you mind your own affairs an1
| let others mind theirs you will not bs mo
| Tested.
Calumny the Fourth-Russia is so very
| graspng of territory, and she seems to want
| the world But what are the facts? Dur
ing the last century and a quarter the
| United States have taken possession OF
| erything between the thirteen colonies
oT71 + ho Ifo nd
| the same length of time, has taken possession
| of nearly three million square miles, and by
| the extent of her domain has added two
hundred and fifty million population, while
Russia has added during that time only one
| half the number of square miles and about
| eighteen million of population -Englands
| advance Of domain by two hundred and
| fifty million against Russia's advance of do
main by eighteen million. What a paltry
Russian advance of domuin by eighteen mil
| lion as compared with the English advance
| OF domain by two hundred and fifty mil
| llOnl The United States and En- gland had
| better keep still about extravagant and eX-
tortlonate enlargement of domain.
Calumny the Fifth-Siberia is q den Of
horrors, and today people are driven like
dumb cattle; no trial is afforded to the
pected ones; they are put into quicksilver
mines, where they are whipped and starved,
and some day find themselves going around
without any head. Some of them do not
| tied to stakes in the streets, are disrobed
and whipped to death in the presence of
bowling MODS. Offenders hear their own
flesh siss under the hot irons.
But what are the facts? There are no
kinder people on earth than the Russians,
and to most Of them cruelty is an impossi-
bllity. l hold in my hand a card. TOu sea
on it that red circle. That is the govern
ments seal on a card giving permission
to visit all the prisons of st. Petersburg, as
| hoH CaS CHI in h of
the messenger handed this card to me he told
ME that carriage was at the door for my
disposal in visiting the prisons. It SO hap
pened, however, that l was crowded with
engagements and l could not make the visi-
tatlOn But do you suppose such cheerful
permission and a carriage to boot would
have been afforded me if the prisons of Rus
STA are such bells on earth as they have been
described to be?
I asked an eminent and distinguished
American, 'Have you visited the prisons of
st. Petersburg, and how do they differ from
American prisons9' He replied, 81 have
visited them. and they we'll ventilated
and as we'll conditioned in every respect as
the majority of the prisons in America"
Are women whipped IN the street? No; that
statement comes from the mandatory OF
fabrication, mandatory that RUS day
and night, SO that the supply may meet the
demand.
But how about Siberia9 Ny answer is,
than twice the size of the United States.
John Howard, who did more for the i'm
prOvement of prison ers and the reformation
OF criminals than any man that ever lived
his name a synonym for mercy throughout
Christendom, declared by voice and pen that
the system OF transportation of criminals
from Russia to Siberia was an admirable
plan, advocating open air punishment rather
than endungeonment and also because it
was taking all offenders hundreds Of miles
away from their evil companions. John
Howard, after witnessing the plan of de-
portation of criminals from Russia to Sibe-
ria, commended it to England.
If man commits murder in Russia he is
not electrocuted as We electrocute him, or
choked to death by halter as we choke
him to death Russia is the only country on
earth from which the death penalty has
been driven, except in case of high treason.
Murderers and desperate villains are sent TO
the hardest parts of Siberia but no man is
sent to Siberia or ordered to any kind of
punishment in Russia until he has fair
trial. So far as their being hustled off in
the night and not knowing why they are
exiled or punished is concerned, all the
criminals in Russia have an open trial be-
fore jury just as we have in America, ex-
cept in Revolutionary and riotous times, and
you know in America at such times the writ
of habeas corpus is suspan led.
There are in Russia grand juriss and
| petit juries, and the right to challenge the
| Jurors, and the prisoner cOnfronts his &C
c1ser, and, mark this, as in no other couu-
try. after the prisoner has been condemned
| by juries and ju 1ges he may appeal to the
minister Of the interior, and after that to
| the senate, AMI after that to the emperor.
who is constantly pardoniny AS I said.
the violent and murIerous are SENT to thu
hardest part OF Siberia, but thu more moder>