192 (In the Land of Tolstoi)

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As for his comrade in exile, he made several attempts at
escape, but was recaptured and cruelly punished. Finally he
disappeared, leaving no trace. None of his relatives and
friends know of his whereabouts; his mother died several
years back from grief at the unhappy lot of her son. It may
be he succeeded at last in escaping from his tormentors, and
found refuge in a more hospitable land, but it is equally
probable that he is no longer to be numbered among the living.

Whatever his fate, this much is certain, that both these
gifted young men are lost to the cause of human progress and
liberty, through the brutal folly of a savage despotism, that is
yet allowed the alliance and friendship of nations—or at least,
their Governments and royal houses—that boast their own
freedom of thought and action. It is not merely the material
wealth of the empire that is criminally wasted by the stupidity
and greed of the Russian Government and its horde of officials
and secret police. The moral and spiritual resources that
might uplift the nation in true well-being and prosperity are
ruthlessly destroyed, and the most sacred things of human life
trampled down in cynical savagery. Thousands of homes are
desolated by the destruction of their most loved and gifted
members; tens of thousands of lives are blasted in their
dearest hopes. The Russian Government, that plants its
steelshod feet on human hearts, must answer to the damning
indictment—

Have ye founded your thrones and altars, then,
On the bodies and souls of living men?

So far, we have given the facts concerning Alexander as
supplied by the sister referred to above. We now turn to the
other members of the family. When the eldest son had thus
been successfully removed, the kulacks, with their allies the
tchinovniks (officials), could proceed to their congenial task of
getting the estate into their own clutches, under pretence
of administering it as trustees, &c., and plunder to their hearts’
content. This they did so effectually, that the helpless widow
soon had to leave her home, with all its sacred associations with
the lives of those who had been taken from her.

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		In the Land of Tolstoi / 192 (1897) Author: Jonas Jonsson Stadling Translator: Will Reason With: Gerda Tirén, Johan Tirén - Tema: Russia Table of Contents / Innehåll \| << Previous \| Next >>
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