Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1892-01-01
A RUSSIAN SACRIFICE.
a FATHER OFFERS UP HIS SON As
DID ABRAHAM OF OLD.

S'O FsC4aNsi IAN VT oEOs
But No Angel of tie Lord Interfered to
| Save the Boy fro,. a Terrible Death
Fanaticai Deed of Pious Hebrew.
Pathetic Daathbed of the Child.
Toward the close of day in late winter
Dmitrl hurtin sat at the door of his log
| izba reading. He WAS man of about fifty
| tall, dark, emaciated, with narrow, high
forehead, piercing small eyes and com
pressed lips-the face of fra redemptor
stern, forbidding, somber. By the fading
afternoon light Kurtin sat with his book
an old Slavonic Bible inherited from his
| grandfather. It was the eve of St. Isaac,
and he was reading the history of the an
Gent patriarch reading and bordering,
reading and praying He had read and re-
| read the terrible story of Abraham's inter
| rupted sacrifice of his son, and the old He
| brew tale seemed somehow to possess
strange fascination for him, filing his
mind with awful thoughts that would
come surging in upon him, he knew not
whence.
He explained afterward that he thought
IF the wckedness OF the world and the ut
| ter hoplessness Of salvation coming to men
| had been for long time weighing him
down with grief. That all men must
| perish because Of their iniquity and dis
tance from God was an idea that for weeks
| had been taking firner hold of him. What
could he do to prevent the inevitable doom
that was to fall on mankind? Filled with
this notion he sat and read the old story of
Abraham and Isaac, and theawful thought
entered his mind that he and his wife and
son would be eternally lost unless they
found some means of satisfying divine jus
tice. Jehovah jireh, Jehovah jireh," he
would mutter to himself. Sin the mountain
of the Lord it shall be provided
He would reason with himself: eff the
Lord asked me to offer up Grisha to prove
me, would be found wanting? o Lord,
don't prove me; he is my only son, little
Grisha. But shouldst thou have it SO, it
will be grand to hear thy voice saying, BE
cause thou hast obeyed my voice, and hast
not withheld thy son, thine only son
Grisha, that in blessing | will bless thee
and make thy faith an example to the ma
tons and accept thy sacrifice to the bless
ing of the nations Of the earth.'"
TIE INSPIRATION.
The correspondent translates a portion
of the statement made by kurtin some
few days after this to the examining mag
istrate Of the town of Vladimir: sWhen
it became too dark to read entered my
izba and went to bed, but during the night
my sorrow so increased upon me that
could not sleep, and several times | rose to
light more and yet more candles before the
holy icon. During the greater part of the
night I prayed on my knees for my own
ard my family's salvation, all the time the
thought growing stronger and stronger
within my breast that little Grisha must
De sacrificed.
He was sprightly, joyful child, and
clever beyond his years-such wise things
be would say sometimes. If | sacrificed
him would thereby save him from the
temptations of life from the temptation.
when he grew up. of forsaking the faith
and making shipwreck of his soul
| concluded to prepare for him sure
path to heaven. Early in the morn
ing, long before daylight broke upon the
world | went out into the dark, to the
garden behind the izba, knelt down and
asked the Redeemer for sign.
81 asked that if it be his will that l offer
I'D my Grisha the desire to do SO should
come from the right side; if not, from the
left. You must know that, according to
our belief, angels give all thoughts from
the right side, and the devils all from the
left. After long praying the thought came
from the right side, and returned with a
oyful heart to the iZba, for | now knew
that my sacrifice would be acceptable"
THE SACRIFICE.
On broad bench in the inner room
Grisha slept with his mother, a gentle
woman, loving her boy passionately and
admiring his precocious wisdom. Kurtin,
fearing opposition from his wife, sent her
on some preteXt to the neighboring village.
Then, turning to his son, he said, cEp...;se,
Grisha, and put on white SKIRT, that
may rejoice over thee" E,,ftin afterward
explained to the exaraining magistrate that
in the society to- =. hich he belonged it was
considered sinful to die in striped or colored
clotbes
When the boy had put on the white shirt
he was told by his father to lie down again
on the bench Kurtin folded up q fur coat
and carefully placed it under his sons
head; then sitting down beside him he
drew knife from his sleeve and stabbed
him several times The child was sinking
| fast as the red dawn grew brighter and
brighter in the eastern heavens, sending
level beams through the little window of
the izba, and luridly Illuminating this ter
ribe fanatic in the execution of his awful
! deed.
! Kurtin noticed the crimson light steal
ing athwart the CHASTITY face of the fault
less sacrifice He was awe stricken, trem-
bled convulsively, and, lettering to the
corner where the icon hung, he fell pros
| trate on his face and implored the Al
| mighty to accept his Offering. Then, re
turning to his still living son, be cried.
| ssForgive me, Grsheuka that have made
thee suffer; it is all for thy good, little
boy''
The dying child, not yet unconscious,
murmured, "Goodby, little father" But
| Kurtin, not yet satisfied, placed the boy in
an easier position, and made him say.
God will pardon thee, little father"
DEATH OF THE FATHER.
| Then he lighted fresh candles before the
| icon and prayed for the soul Of the boy one
of those pathetic Russian prayers for the
dying, asking the child to try to repeat the
words after him. The~poor little fellow
did so as well as his trembling voice would
| allow, and quavering out the last word OF
the prayer his terrible sufferings ended
When Kurtins wife returned home she
saw at a glance what had happened. Hor
| ror stricken, she ran to the village elders.
The neighbors fiocked to the scene of the
fearful tragedy and found the murderer
lying senseless before the icon.
About a fortnight afterward the gov
a.nor of the state Jail Of Vladimir invited
the doctor and the chief warden to con-
sultation on the state Of a prisoner con-
fined in the lunatic ward, who had refused
for days to take any food, ana who passed
his days and nights in agonizng cries for
forgiveness and help. They went to see
the prisoner Opening the door Of the cell
in which he was confined, they saw
through the imperfect light a shapeless
bundle, huddled close up to the wall, mo.