A Herzen Reader

And it is these informers, pimps, telltales and executioners, who tor­tured friends and family, who were beaten, flogged and spat upon by Biron, embezzlers, bribe takers, monsters toward their peasants, monsters toward their subordinates—these make up the basis of the genuine Russian gentle­men. And their descendants now dare to throw stones at the Polish gentry. The Polish gentry had the terrible vices of their time, they were savage and proud, they oppressed and robbed the people, but for all that they possessed the valor of feudal lords—not one king beat them with a stick, and not a single court favorite ran the gauntlet, like our lackeys with St. Andrew rib­bons, thieves in princely cloaks, and all the highwaymen of the Guards' ter­ror squads, who alternate between serving in the State Council and at hard labor. History has seen nothing like this: the same way that the filth from the London sewers formed a special layer at the mouth of the Thames, with a special population of infusoria,⁵ so from Russian life a layer of genuine Russian gentry—strata petropolitana⁶—has come to the surface and devel­oped, thanks to a false civilization and thorough depravity. It should be covered with earth as soon as possible to be redeemed by a renewed life and a series of human actions, and not summoned from a muddy grave, or summoned—as Pr. P. V. Dolgorukov has done—in a way that exposes it mercilessly to shame and embarrassment.

The sins of the fathers do not fall on their descendants only when the descendants do not pride themselves on their origins. A coat of arms comes with certain obligations and serves as a reminder: whoever holds it dear cannot sever ties with family legend; sometimes the light of past glory burns out. and the stains of past disgrace always show themselves.

We impatiently await the second installment of this great unmasking and exposure of our aristocratic servants and at that time we will make extracts from the extraordinarily interesting Notes of Prince Dolgorukov.

We have seen the great-grandfathers of our Petersburg and Moscow matadors—and we will see their grandfathers. and we sincerely ask the author to acquaint us with the fathers as soon as possible.

Notes

Source: "Novaia 'barkhatnaia kniga' russkikh dvorianskikh rodov," Kolokol, l. 233-34, February 1, 1867; 19:218-20, 441-42.

Memoires du Prince Pierre Dolgoroukow (Geneva, 1867), vol. 1. Herzen ironically compares Dolgorukov's critical work with an official genealogy of the most prominent noble families compiled at the end of the seventeenth century by a specially established office for genealogical affairs. The book issued at that time had a crimson velvet cover.

Barin.

A song or verse that horrifies those who hear it (Lat., from Livy). In Livy, this phrase characterized the punishment announced for a young man who had killed his sister; Herzen previously used it in reference to the investigation of the Decembrists.

Members of the Franciscan and Dominican orders were involved in the courts of the Inquisition.

Minute aquatic creatures.

The Petersburg layer.

Our System of Justice

The Bell, Nos. 233-234, February i, Й67. The first part of this article is based on notes sent by an anonymous correspondent. The title and editorial comments were added by Herzen.

Our System of Justice [1867]

All of the accused in the well-known case of the armed uprising in Kazan¹ have been condemned by the Kazan criminal court to hard labor for the fol­lowing period of time:

Ten years:

Vladimir Polinovsky (arrested at the beginning of May i863) Alexander Sergeev (arrested at the beginning of May i863) Semen Zhemanov (arrested at the end of April i863) Alexey Shcherbakov (arrested September i, i863)² Arkady Biryukov (arrested at the beginning of May i863)

Eight years:

Ivan Krasnopyorov (arrested at the beginning of March i863) Nikolay Orlov (arrested at the beginning of June i863) Vasily Dernov (arrested at the beginning of June i863)

Six years:

Egor Krasnopyorov (arrested at the beginning of June i863) Petr Allev (arrested in the middle of September i863)

Four years:

Rudolf Mitterman (arrested at the beginning of May i863) Viktor Lavrsky (arrested at the beginning of June i863)

The State Senate, despite the petition of the criminal chamber for a lessen­ing of the punishment, INCREASED THE DURATION OF THE PUNISH­MENT in the following manner:

For the first two, sentenced by the chamber to ten years of hard labor, the Senate fixed a period of i4 years.

3²5

For the two who escaped and one who remains (in the same category)—12 years of hard labor.

For those the chamber sentenced to eight and six years—the Senate fixed on i0.

Those who got four years—now get six.³