In June the Russian Government addressed a communication to several foreign Governments, proposing the prohibition by treaty of the use of explosive projectiles in war, or the limitation of such projectiles to submarine torpedoes. On the 17th of July Prince Gortschakoff notified the Russian representatives abroad, by a circular, that, Russia having assented to the proposal of the Berlin Cabinet, that commissioners and experts from the different Governments should meet at St. Petersburg to draw up a protocol excluding the use of explosive missiles in future warfare, these commissioners would be able to assemble on the 13th of October. The meeting took place at the appointed time, and agreed upon the following treaty, which was signed by the representatives of Bavaria, Belgium, Denmark, England, France, Greece, Holland, Italy, Persia, Portugal, Austria, Prussia, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, and Wurtemberg:

Considering that the progress of civilization ought to result in diminishing as much as possible the sufferings inseparable from war; that the only legitimate object pursued in war is to weaken the force of the enemy; that to attain this it suffices to place as many men as possible hors de combat; that to make use of expedients which shall unnecessarily enlarge the wounds of the men placed hors de combat, or entail inevitable death, is incompatible with the beforementioned object; that to make use of such expedients would, moreover, be contrary to the teachings of humanity:

The undersigned, in virtue of the instructions given them by their Governments, are authorized to declare as follows:

1. The contracting parties engage, in the event of war between any of them, to abstain from the use of missiles of any description possessing explosive power, or filled with explosive or inflammable material, weighing less than 400 grammes. This restriction to apply to the army and navy alike.

2. They likewise invite all those states not represented at the deliberations of the military commission assembled at St. Petersburg, to subscribe to this mutual engagement.

3. In the event of war this engagement is to be observed only toward the contracting parties, and those that may subsequently subscribe to it. It need not be observed toward any who have not signified their assent to the above stipulations.

4. The above engagement likewise ceases to be valid, if a state that has not signed it takes part in a war between parties that have signed it.

5. Whenever the progress of science results in any new definite proposals being made for improving the equipment of the troops, the contracting parties, as well as those who have subsequently joined this engagement, will assemble to maintain the principles laid down to reconcile the requirements of war with the demands of humanity.

It has already been stated in the ANNUAL AMERICAN CYCLOPEDIA, for 1867, that the Russian Government, to consolidate its new possession in Central Asia, reorganized, in 1867, the new province of Turkestan. The following is the text of the imperial ukase (dated July 23, 1867), concerning this subject:

Deeming it expedient to modify the civil and military organization of the territories bordering on China and the Khanates of Central Asia which form part of the Governments General of Orenburg and Western Siberia, we hereby ordain as follows:

1. There shall immediately be organized a Gov ernment General of Turkestan, to be composed of the

province of Turkestan, of the District of Tashketi of the territories beyond the Syr-Daria occupied in 1866, and of that portion of the province of Se palatinsk which is situated to the south of the Tartagatai chain of mountains.

bounded: (A.) On the side of the Government Geral of Western Siberia by the Tarbagatai chain and its branches as far as the actual frontier which se arates the province of Semi-palatinsk from that the Khirghizes of Siberia; by that frontier as far as the Balkasch Lake, farther on by a bend at the eentre of this lake; and from its shores by a strictt line as far as the Tchou River, and finally by course of that river as far as its confluence with the Syr-Daria. (B.) On the side of the Government Ga eral of Orenburg, by a line going from the centre bes Mountain, thence to the place called Ter the Perovsky Gulf on the Aral Sea to the Terme thereafter to the Kalmas Mountain, to the pa called Mozchille, to the Akhoun and Tehoubar Tala sands, and to the place called Syine Boulak as far Mountains to the southern point of the Myine-komm the confluence of the Sary-Sou and Tchou Rivers.

2. The Government General of Turkestan shall be

3. The new Government General shall be divided into two provinces, those of Syr-Daria and Shop chensk, whose line of separation will be formed proximately by the Kourogoty River.

4. The superior administration of the e thus formed will be committed to a Governe-ter eral, and that of the provinces of Syr-Daria and b miretchense to Military Governors; as regards the administration of the troops and military establistments, these two provinces will form the Mity Circumscription of Turkestan, and the comman the troops cantoned there will devolve on the Ge ernor-General with the title of Commandant of the troops of the Circumscription, and on the M Governors with the title of Commandant of th troops in those provinces.

5. On the opening of the provinces of Syr-Dara and Semiretchensk, the civil administrations L are now there will continue as before, subject to th respective Military Governors, pending the sanct of a general scheme for the government of the wis country. The Senate will make the necessary rangements for giving effect to this order.

(Signed)

ALEXANDER.

General Kaufmann, who, on July 26, 1867, w appointed Governor-General of Turkestan, rived in his province in November. At Ta kend he was received in triumph by the P sian settlers, and he was said to have made s great impression upon the Asiatics. Accor ing to English reports, the general feeling all the Khanates of Independent Tartary mained very hostile to Russia. The Fried India gave the following description of situation at the beginning of the year 1805:

The trade is reviving but slowly under the press of the Russian officials. Many of the Koka are taking refuge with Yakoob Kush Begi, az Khan of Kashgar. Those who have remained sians, that General Kaufmann has been ct. given such demonstrations of hostility to th call in the mediation of Khludoff, who has been structed to assure the Khan of Kokand that ni fication will protect him from the Russian troops = the event of any hostile disturbance. The Ar Bokhara would seem to be playing a double the object of which is apparently to gain time. E envoy has been evidently shuffling with the sians, and it will be his last resource to enter any alliance with the invaders. The Ameer is bigoted a Mussulman, however, to observe

treaty that he may be compelled to make with infidels, and is known to entertain exaggerated views regarding the strength of the Porte and extravagant hopes of assistance from that quarter. In Khiva the hatred against the Russians was still more intense, and the Khan was organizing alliances with the Turcoman chiefs, and constructing forts. The Khwans had also succeeded in levying tribute from the Russian Kirghizes. Sadyk, the Kirghiz chief, had been harassing the Russian outposts at the front, and committing serious depredations.

A new war with the Ameer of Bokhara began in May, 1868. It appears that in the early days of May the Russian troops commenced a march from their frontier near Bokhara in the direction of Western China, weakening their garrisons considerably, but still leaving a sufficient number of men stationed along the great river route of their first advance to enable their commanders to keep well informed as to any movements undertaken by the natives in their absence. On the 20th of May, the Ameer, apparently deceived into an impression of the weakness of the Russians by these military movements, proclaimed a jehad, or holy war. Assuming for himself the position of principal ruler of Turkestan, he formed an alliance with the Khan of Khokand, and with the Ameer of Oorgunge. The united forces of these chiefs gathered on the banks of the Zerafshan and menaced the Russians at Djizak from the neighborhood of Samarcand. This formidable coalition was at once met by the Russians, by the march of enormous forces on Tashkend, while the garrison of that place was pushed forward to the seat of war. The army of the Khan was in comparison a mere rabble, since every male in the Khanate, above the age of twelve, was called upon to serve in its ranks. While the force was gathering, the Ameer of Oorgunge, or Khiva, remembered that Sirdar Yakoob Ali Khan, Governor of Herat, and son of Ameer Shere Ali, was under an obligation to him, and dispatched an emissary to the Sirdar with a view of adding the forces of Afghanistan to the crowds which were being massed against the Russians. The mission failed in consequence of the envoy falling into the hands of Shere Ali during the absence of his son on the Candahar expedition. Ameer Shere Ali detained the Khivan, and declared his intention of sending him on to the Russian camp. The Ameer encamped at a place called Kermineh, between Samarcand and Bokhara. Here he was visited by a deputation of Moollahs, all desirous of preaching up the crescentade, or religious war, gainst the Russians. The Ameer's nephew next set out for Samarcand with a body of Moollahs and Jehadis, and encamped at the shrine of Ahmed Jan, a distance of five hunIred paces from the walls. Here they were attacked by the Russians, and, many of their men being killed, the remainder fled. The eldest son of the Ameer commanded at Samarcand. The Russian general-in-chief, immediately on hearing of the Ameer's proceedings, marched on

Samarcand, which he annexed to the dominions of the Czar, and Bokhara fell subsequently. Marching on Bokhara, the Russians left no detachments south of Samarcand, and withdrew their troops from Charjoe. After the capture of Samarcand, the Russians sustained several attacks from numerous bodies of enemies, especially at Zelah Bulah, twelve versts from Katy Kurgane, where they were finally beaten and routed. The Ameer's troops were commanded by Hadja (a Turk), and Osman (a renegade and formerly à Siberian Cossack). Meantime the troops of Schlahr-Sialz, of Djura-By, advanced to Samarcand to the number of several thousands. The inhabitants opened the gates and joined those troops to besiege the citadel. General Kaufmann, of the Russian army, went to the assistance of the besieged by forced marches, and on the 20th of June, after a seige of eight days, the citadel was liberated, and the enemy driven from the town. Samarcand was then declared fully and completely annexed to Russia.

In July, the Ameer of Bokhara accepted the terms of peace offered to him by General Kaufmann. They provided for the cession of Samarcand, and authorized the Russians to build cantonments at Karshi, Chasjui, and Kermineh. The first lies on the chief route. from Samarcand to Afghanistan; the second is a long-coveted site a little to the south of the Oxus; and the third a place of considerable consequence on the direct road between Samarcand and Bokhara. Cantonments and fortifications in those three places form a triangle within which the Khanate of Bokhara will be firmly locked. Among the other clauses of the treaty were the following: 1. All Russian subjects, whatever their religion, are entitled to carry on trade in all parts of Bokhara, the Ameer being obliged to protect their persons, goods, and caravans within the frontiers of his dominions. 2. Russian merchants will be entitled to station mercantile agents in all towns of Bokhara. 3. The duty on Russian goods imported is not to exceed 2 per cent. of their value. 4. Russian merchants will be free to cross Bokhara on their way to the neighboring principalities. Similar terms had been agreed upon with Khokand a short time ago. In the last months of the year, the Russian General Abramof, who commanded at Samarcand, aided the Ameer of Bokhara to put down the rebellion of his son and other chiefs who wished to overthrow the Ameer for having concluded a treaty with the Russians.

RUSSIA, THE CRIMINAL COde of. As the Emperor Alexander II., of Russia, by his ukase of November 20, 1864, introduced a number of important reforms in the administration of civil justice, so he decreed by his ukase of March 19, 1867, that a commission of jurists, to be appointed by the Minister of Justice, should prepare a report in regard to the modifications that should be adopted in the criminal code in order to remedy its defects and

harmonize it with the spirit of the age. This report, which was presented to the Minister of Justice in February, 1868, and approved by the Emperor and the Senate in May, was a great disappointment to the more enlightened portion of the people of Russia, who had confidently expected that the laws of their country would in this respect, too, be rendered more like those of Western Europe. For, although the report, as submitted to the minister and approved by the Government, recommended the repeal of quite a number of sections of the criminal code, promulgated by the Emperor Nicholas on the 1st of May, 1846, the changes which it proposed related principally to the mode of criminal procedure, and modified but very slightly the list of crimes, their definitions, and the penalties imposed upon them. Considerations, partly of a political and partly of a religious character (a majority of the so-called Old Russian party, whose influence, for the time being, has become paramount in Russia, being opposed to radical reforms in the domestic laws of the country till the Russification of the border provinces has been fully carried into effect), caused the Government of the Czar to content itself for the present with this half measure; and, unless revolutionary convulsions should supervene, a considerable time will elapse, in all probability, before the criminal laws of Russia will be changed so as to be more in keeping with the spirit of the age and the codes now in force in other civilized countries.

The criminal code of Russia, as revised in 1868, contains upward of twenty-two hundred paragraphs, or nearly five times as many as the French code pénal, which contains 484 articles, and nearly seven times as many as the Russian criminal code of April 14, 1851, which has only 349 paragraphs. This extraordinary extent of the Russian code is owing partly to the fact that it embraces, besides felonies, the whole series of infractions of the laws regarding police matters, censorship, the construction of buildings, street and road improvements, post-offices, etc.-paragraphs which, in reality, should not have been incorporated with a criminal code, but, at the most, with a police code; and partly to the fact that the low state of culture and morality prevailing among a very large portion of the population as yet stamps many acts as crimes which more enlightened times would no longer regard and punish as such. Another peculiarity of the criminal code of Russia is, the large number and arbitrary classification of penalties, of which there are no fewer than thirty-seven. They are divided into penal and correctional ones; of the former, there are four classes, and of the latter, seven, which are subdivided into a number of "degrees;" namely:

1. Penal penalty of the first class: The criminal is divested of all the privileges of his rank, and suffers death.

2. Penal penalty of the second class, first

degree: Criminals exempted from corporal punishment, after being divested of all the privi leges of their rank, are transported to Siberis, where they are imprisoned for life at hard labor in the mines. Non-exempted criminals receive in addition one hundred lashes, which are inflicted publicly by the executioner, and, with the exception of women, or men over seventy years of age, they are branded on the cheeks and forehead with the letters K. A. T. (Katorshnyi-convict). Second degree: For the exempted criminals, transportation to Sberia, hard labor in the mines for from fifteen to twenty years, and colonization for life; for the non-exempted, from eighty to ninety lashes, and branding in addition. Third degree: For the exempted, transportation to Siberia, har labor in the mines for from twelve to fiftee years, and colonization; the non-exempted receive from seventy to eighty lashes, and are branded, in addition. Fourth degree: For the exempted, transportation to Siberia, hard labor for from ten to twelve years in a fortress, and colonization for life; for the non-exempted sixty to seventy lashes, and branding, in addtion. Fifth degree: For the exempted, transportation to Siberia, hard labor for from t to ten years in a fortress, and colonization for life; for the non-exempted, fifty to sixty lashes, and branding, in addition. Sixth degree: For the exempted, transportation to Siberia, hard labor for from eight to ten years in a factory, and colonization for life; for the non-exempted forty to fifty lashes, and branding, in addition Seventh degree: For the exempted, transporta tion to Siberia, hard labor for from four to si years in a factory, and colonization for life: for the non-exempted, thirty to forty lashes, and branding, in addition.

3. Penal penalties of the third class. First degree: For the exempted, transportation te the Eastern districts of Siberia, and coloniza tion for life; for the non-exempted, twenty to thirty lashes, in addition. Second degree: For the exempted, transportation to the le remote districts of Siberia, and colonizati for life; for the non-exempted, ten to twes? lashes, in addition.

4. Penal penalties of the fourth class: The criminals are transported beyond the Ca casus, and colonized there for life.

The seven classes of the correctional pers ties are subdivided into twenty-five des and the whole classification is so ill and arbitrary that few Russian judges by heart what penalty is to be imposs upon crimes of secondary importance, printed tables of the various penalties s generally consulted before sentence is passe upon a prisoner. Both with the penal s correctional penalties, there is coupled, in cer tain cases, an ecclesiastical penance, the cha acter and duration of which are fixed by the Church authorities; and some correctiona penalties are rendered more severe by publication of the sentence in the Senate Go

zette, and in the newspapers of the two capitals, and of the district seats; and by an order of the court, forbidding the offender to live at the capitals, at certain other places, or on his own estates, which are placed under the management of an official administrator, or to carry on his former trade or profession. Special penalties, besides those enumerated in the code, are imposed upon public functionaries who commit penal offences; in addition to the ordinary penal and correctional penalties, they are punished with permanent exclusion from the civil service, and cannot be elected to an office by any noble corporation or town and village authorities; or they are removed, and lose the right of holding office for three years; they are reduced to a lower rank; sharp reprimands are the mildest additional penalty inflicted upon them.

66

As regards the crimes enumerated in the Russian code, "offences against religion and infractions of the regulations established for the protection of religion" are treated of in the first chapter (§§ 182-263). Blasphemy and disparaging expressions about religious matters are declared to be terrible crimes, and heavy penalties are imposed upon defection from the national faith, heresy, schismatical movements, and disregard of ecclesiastical regulations. § 182 says: "He who purposely and publicly_utters, in a church, a blasphemy against the Triune God, or against the Holy Mother of God, and eternal Virgin Mary, against the cross of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, against the incorporeal heavenly powers, or against the saints of the Lord and their images, shall suffer the penal penalty of the second class, third degree. If this crime is committed outside the church, at a public place, or before a concourse of people, the penal penalty of the second class, sixth degree, will be inflicted on the criminal." Transportation to Siberia will be inflicted on all who make "blasphemous, heretical, or schismatical remarks," as specified in § 182, in the presence of other persons, neither publicly, nor before a concourse of people, but with the intention of reviling the faith of his hearers, or producing a scandal.-§ 188 says: "He who utters irreligious remarks, not with the intention of producing a scandal or giving vent to his contempt of religion, but from stupidity, ignorance, or while in a state of intoxication, will be imprisoned for from three weeks to three months." No less rigorous penalties are imposed upon persons convicted of a defection from the national faith, heresy, and schismatical movements. $192 says: "If a Mohammedan or Jew is married with a woman of the Lutheran or Reformed creed, and, contrary to his written promise, does not allow the children, issuing from such a union, to be brought up in the Christian religion, prevents his wife or children from worshipping God according to the rites of Christianity, or incites them, by dint of threats or seductive arts, to defection from

Christianity, the union will be declared null and void, and the Mohammedan or Jewish husband, after being divested of all the rights and privileges of his rank, will be transported to a more or less remote district of Siberia and colonized there for life." §193: "A Jew who, without special legal permission, keeps at his house a Christian to perform household duties for him, even though he does not incite him to defection from Christianity, shall be fined five rubles for every day which the Christian has passed at his house; and, in case of a repetition of the offence, imprisonment for from three weeks to three months will be added to the fine." Even when Jews are permitted to employ Christian domestics, a fine of from one to two hundred rubles will be imposed upon them for causing female Christian servants to live in the same house with them. §195 says: "He who induces any one to leave the Orthodox national Church and to join any other Christian denomination, will suffer the correctional penalty of the first class, fifth degree;" that is to say, a man who converts somebody in the aforesaid manner will, if exempted, be exiled for life to the districts of Tomsk or Tobolsk; if non-exempted, he will receive fifty to sixty lashes, be put for one or two years into a convict-gang, and finally be placed for one or two years under the surveillance of the police. As for the convict, he is treated as a lunatic who must be cured by the ecclesiastical authorities, or, as the code has it, "be brought to see his errors; for this purpose a "tutelary administration of his whole property," and, above all, of the "estates, on which orthodox peasants live," is to be decreed by the courts. He is even forbidden to live on his estates, "lest the peasants and their servants should be exposed to temptation" (§ 196). On the other hand, "he who prevents any one from voluntarily joining the orthodox Church will be imprisoned for from three to six months" (§ 199). "He who knows that his wife, his children, and other persons intrusted to his care intend to leave the Orthodox Church, and does not employ all means at his command to prevent it, will be imprisoned for from three days to three months, and, in case he belongs himself to the Orthodox Church, will be subjected to a church penance" ($200). Most Draconic are the penalties imposed upon "heresy and schismatical movements." 206 says in regard to them: "He who disseminates the heretical and schismatical teachings of those who have left the Orthodox Church, or founds a new sect injurious to religion, forfeits all the rights and privileges of his rank, and will be transported and colonized for life; if living in European Russia, he will be sent to Transcaucasia; if domiciled in the Caucasian and Caspian provinces, or in the Grusian-Imeretian district, he will be sent to Siberia; and, if a resident of Siberia, he will be sent to the more remote districts of that country. Those, for whom

this penalty is transformed into military service, will not be furloughed nor dismissed until they have returned into the bosom of the Orthodox Church. The same penalty will be imposed on sectarians who, in fanatical infatuation, venture to revile the Orthodox Church or its ministers." §214: "He who issues old religious books (that is to say, works on orthodox theology), in any other way than through the Moscow Synodal printing-office, sells such books, or disseminates them, or uses schismatical books at church, will be fined, in the first instance, from 100 to 200 rubles; in the second and third instance, twice as much; and, in the third instance, imprisonment for from three to six months will be added to the fine. The books will be confiscated and delivered to the ecclesiastical authorities." §215: "He who establishes convents or retreats for schismatics, erects or repairs a building devoted to schismatic worship, constructs altars in such buildings, or makes a prayer-house of a peasant's house, will be imprisoned for from one to two years. All such buildings will be demolished, and the materials will be delivered to the local committee of general welfare." Finally, 217 says: "If the owner or manager of a private estate or the tenant of a crownestate receives into his house a Jew in a place infected with Jewish heresy, and which he has been ordered to leave, he will be fined, in the first two instances from fifty to one hundred rubles: in the third instance, however, the private estate is placed in the hands of a public administrator during the lifetime of the guilty owner, or the manager is declared incapable of taking charge of any estate. If peasants or commoners aid and abet such a Jew in the aforesaid manner, they will be imprisoned, for the first and second time, for from three weeks to three months; or, if they are not exempt from corporal punishment, they will receive from twenty to thirty lashes; for the third time, however, they will be imprisoned for from six months to one year."

The retention of these Draconic paragraphs in the penal code excited much dissatisfaction on the part of the more enlightened opponents of the Old Russian party, especially the socalled German wing of the Liberals and even a large part of the Conservative nobility, while the extreme wing of the Old Russian or National party was rather delighted with it; the latter, on the other hand, was somewhat disappointed at the reappearance, in the revised penal code, of all the rigorous paragraphs of the code of the Emperor Nicholas in regard to the so-called "state crimes." At the head of this part of the code stand the "crimes against the sacred person of the Emperor and against the members of the imperial house." Capital punishment will be inflicted upon all who attack the lives of the Emperor, the Empress, the Grand-duke hereditary, and the other members of the imperial family, or enter into criminal plots for the purpose of murdering them,

or killing or wounding them in the execution of some unlawful scheme. All attempts and plots to dethrone the Emperor, to deprive him of his liberty, to limit his sovereignty, to do violence to his person, are punished with death. The same penalty will be imposed upon all those who attempt "to commit crimes against the Emperor's honor," and even on "those who know of the intentions of the criminals to make such attempts, and fail to inform the authorities thereof" (§ 285). §267 says: "He who gets up and circulates written or printed compositions or pictures, for the purpose of reviling the Government or the person of the Emperor, will suffer the penal penalty of the second class, fourth degree. The same punishment will be inflicted on those who assist in getting up or circulating writings or pictures of this description." Imprisonment for from seven days to three months will be imposed upon those who possess such writings or pie tures without the permission of the authori ties, and they will, moreover, be placed under the surveillance of the police. 268: "He who dares to utter impertinent and insulting words against the Emperor, even in his absence, or intentionally injures, disfigures, or destroys his statues or pictures in official buildings or on public places, will be sentenced to suffer the penal penalty of the second class sixth degree. He who permits himself sh impudent words or actions, while in a state of intoxication, without premeditation, will be sent to the house of.correction for from six to twelve months." Imprisonment for from thro weeks to three months will be inflicted those who witness these words or actions, an neither hinder them nor bring them to the notice of the authorities. The same penalties will be imposed upon those who violate the majesty of the Empress, the Grand-duke he reditary, or any other member of the imperial house.

No less Draconic are the paragraphs relating to "sedition, riots, and resistance to the s preme power of the Government." 2724 seq. begin with the following words: " who gets up and circulates written or printed proclamations, manifestoes, or pictures, for the purpose of exciting riots, sedition, or resistance to the supreme power of the Government, w be transported to Siberia for from eight to ta years, imprisoned at hard labor in a fortress and colonized for life. The same punishm will be inflicted on him who maliciously er culates such writings and pictures wi having got them up himself, or who assists in the perpetration of this crime in any man whatever, and, likewise, on him who delivers public speeches for the same criminal purpos Even those who do not directly incite oters to sedition and riot, but only deny and ques tion the authority of the Government, or 7 to contest the existing form of Government the order of possession, do not escape trans portation to Siberia, and the same punishment