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Polokhof was now recalled , to make room for Ioolof , the chief of the Strelitz . The ' corps d ' armee at Soumskoie , reduced by the miseries of the preceding campaigns , was reinforced by a new division of ten thousand men ; but Ioolof was more incapable than his predecessor , and was beaten several times . The insurgents made no progress ; but also , their enemies could not advance .
Time passed away , and with it , money ; the Czar became alarmed , and had recourse to manifestoes , to promises of pardon , of oblivion of the past , even of a restoration of the lost franchises . Istomene , a lawyer , accompanied by a priest , by tears and prayers obtained an entrance to the monastery . The preliminaries of peace were discussed point by point ; "the priest , in the mean time , scattered money
lavishly , and worked upon the fears of-the poor inhabitants of the borough . His intrigues were discovered ; and the insurrectionary government committed the unpardonable fault of merely sending him and Istomene from the island , at the same time decreeing sentence of death against whoever should , in future , attempt any negotiation whatsoever with the Czar . This last again endeavoured to renew the discussion , but he was scornfully repulsed .
The Czar now brought immense masses of troops against the rebels . Thirteen thousand men w ^ ere placed under the command of Ivan Metscherinof , who set to work vigorously , and without loss of time ; but after a brilliant demonstration he suddenly drew up . Before risking an engagement , he once more endeavoured to essay the arguments of bribery , feeling that it was of less importance to
vanquish than to morally depreciate the opposition . He succeeded at last in corrupting seventeen monks and four laymen ; but among these were Gheronhi , one of the triumvirate , and Manassia , their treasurer . This treason was a fatal blow to the insurrection , because it introduced doubt , fear , and suspicion among them . It is true that Gheronhi and Manassia , when in the enemy ' s camp , refused to
acknowledge the Czarat , and only signed the deed of abdication of their powers . The insurgents had received a moral check , which would have instantly dispersed them , had not Esaie Yoronine and Samuel de Berne sw orn to die sword in hand , but free . Their
firmness raised the spirits of the others . Metscherinof was for two years beaten over and over again ; and , notwithstanding the immense disparity of forces , could neither land on the island nor bombard the monastery . The insurrection had a fleet of fishing-boats , which incessantly harassed the czarien fleet . Metscherinof lost countless
soldiers ; the Czar threatened to make an example of him , —he was determined to have done with the insurrection , no matter at what price . The opposition was now at the end of its resources ; it had struggled
victoriously during eight years and a half ; but confined by an iron circle to one spot , it was doomed to see tho slow consumption of all its means . The provisions and ammunition were exhausted , and they had no power to procure more ; their intercourse with the main land was at length intercepted , and they could no longer communicate
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Untitled Article
Polokhof was now recalled , to make room for Ioolof , the chief of the Strelitz . The ' corps d ' armee at Soumskoie , reduced by the miseries of the preceding campaigns , was reinforced by a new division of ten thousand men ; but Ioolof was more incapable than his predecessor , and was beaten several times . The insurgents made no progress ; but also , their enemies could not advance .
Time passed away , and with it , money ; the Czar became alarmed , and had recourse to manifestoes , to promises of pardon , of oblivion of the past , even of a restoration of the lost franchises . Istomene , a lawyer , accompanied by a priest , by tears and prayers obtained an entrance to the monastery . The preliminaries of peace were discussed point by point ; "the priest , in the mean time , scattered money
lavishly , and worked upon the fears of-the poor inhabitants of the borough . His intrigues were discovered ; and the insurrectionary government committed the unpardonable fault of merely sending him and Istomene from the island , at the same time decreeing sentence of death against whoever should , in future , attempt any negotiation whatsoever with the Czar . This last again endeavoured to renew the discussion , but he was scornfully repulsed .
The Czar now brought immense masses of troops against the rebels . Thirteen thousand men w ^ ere placed under the command of Ivan Metscherinof , who set to work vigorously , and without loss of time ; but after a brilliant demonstration he suddenly drew up . Before risking an engagement , he once more endeavoured to essay the arguments of bribery , feeling that it was of less importance to
vanquish than to morally depreciate the opposition . He succeeded at last in corrupting seventeen monks and four laymen ; but among these were Gheronhi , one of the triumvirate , and Manassia , their treasurer . This treason was a fatal blow to the insurrection , because it introduced doubt , fear , and suspicion among them . It is true that Gheronhi and Manassia , when in the enemy ' s camp , refused to
acknowledge the Czarat , and only signed the deed of abdication of their powers . The insurgents had received a moral check , which would have instantly dispersed them , had not Esaie Yoronine and Samuel de Berne sw orn to die sword in hand , but free . Their
firmness raised the spirits of the others . Metscherinof was for two years beaten over and over again ; and , notwithstanding the immense disparity of forces , could neither land on the island nor bombard the monastery . The insurrection had a fleet of fishing-boats , which incessantly harassed the czarien fleet . Metscherinof lost countless
soldiers ; the Czar threatened to make an example of him , —he was determined to have done with the insurrection , no matter at what price . The opposition was now at the end of its resources ; it had struggled
victoriously during eight years and a half ; but confined by an iron circle to one spot , it was doomed to see tho slow consumption of all its means . The provisions and ammunition were exhausted , and they had no power to procure more ; their intercourse with the main land was at length intercepted , and they could no longer communicate