New-York tribune., 1910-11-21
VERA SASSOUL|TCH
husSia,s Charlotte Corday Dying
at st. Petersburu.

N-opS' 'isht- 1910. by the Brentwood Cornpan,y)
charlotte Corday, namely Vera
iiUcn- whose acquaintance I hap
10 make in A rather odd fashion
a. Geneva in 1880. is now dying in one
e most luxurious of the private hos
pi'diS OK st Petersburg. whittier she had
H recently conveyed by her many
tileluS from the institute or home for
-IiU4seht authors which literary peopIe in
/ RUSSIA maintain in their METROPOLIS Vera
oaSsouIltch, it may be recalled. first At
Tacteo the attention Of the outer world
70 the existence of the NfhiIic+ Marty in
ffussla In 1873 by shooting and danger
ousiE wounding the late General TreDoT
WHO was at the time Chief of Police and
| Governor OF St Petersburg She had been
aroused against him by the stories of the
severe hogsing inflicted in prison on one Of
heT leIloW students who had been arrested
uIoer suspicion Of being connected with
ti4e NA"llIsC propaganda and who had con-
-oucted himself in such an irs7,tordjnare
Aasilloh II prison as TO cause him to incur
q hosslhS lot which General Trepoff may
VI may not nave been directly responsible.
Mile Sassoulitch is sister Of the Cen
eTaI Mlchael Sassoulitch who was one of
the principal commanders of the Russian
forces in the war with Janan where he
behaVed with great gallantry. and had 10
be invalided home. dangerously wound
ed he had asked the crown to be per-
mltted TO change his patronvrnic OF Sas-
souhtch- at the time when his sister iden-
tined herself with the NihiIist movement
But Alexander II declared that il was
name that had been borne with honor by
d number OF soldiers and statesmen whose
names inquired in the pages of Russian his
tory, and that since he, the general-at
that time coloneI-had greatly distin-
guished himself by his bravery in the
Turco-Russan War of 1877. he must insist
on his retaining what was after all a most
valued name
vera Sassoultch was placed on trial for
her attempted murder of General Trepoff.
At that time the Muscovite authorities had
not arranged to confide, as nowadays the
trial Of Nihilists 70 courts martial that
alone have the power of inficting the death
penalty, which IS abolished IN Russia as far
as civil and ordinary criminal courts are
concerned She was therefore brought be-
fore an ordinary criminal tribunal at St.
Petersburg, tried publicly, and. to the
amazement of the authorities. acquitted by
the jury She left the court a free woman,
and before the government had recovered
from its astonishment and had given orders
for her rearrest she had made her escape
and found refuge at Geneva, where she was
wont TO meet her compatriots, and espe-
cially those who sympathized with the rev.
oIuti0nary cause. in a little bookshop kept
by former Russian university professor.
who sold few books and an equally small
amount OF stationery, but in whose back
rooms one could always find some of the
revolutionary party.
Vera Sassoulitch. whom I had expected
to find woman of fascinating beauty. but
who I found was entirely deficient thereof,
impressing NE, however, by the gentleness
Of her demeanor, the kindness of her eyes
and by the singular righteousness of her
speech, has had many feminine followers,
including Countess Sophie Perowska. who
gave the signal 20 the assassins of AIexan-
der II on the bank OF the Catherine Canal
at St Petersburg, also Anastasia Mama
jeff, Anna Wenidiktoff and many others,
who. condemned 10 death by court martial,
expiated their participation in Nihilist out
RACES on the gallows.
Mile SassouIitch was more fortunate The
present Emperor some years ago permitted
her 10 return TO Russia. free from any
on the part of his police who,
cUriously enough, were commanded at the
time bv another General Trepoff. son Of the
general whom she had endeavored 10 kill.
Supporting herself for a time by writing
children's stories, free from any political
she eventually found refuge in
the home for INDECENT authors, where she
was treated with the utmost kindness, and
will soon pass away. a victim TO consump-
ton.