THIRTY YEARS IN PRISON.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXII, Issue 129, 1 June 1901, Page 5 (Supplement)

THIRTY YEARS IN PRISON.

THE PRICK OF RELIGIOUS CONVIC-

TIONS

There lives at the present moment in the town of Nljni-Novgorod a man whose life story is probably one of the saddest ever recorded.

Born of respectable parents of the peasant class, Peter Zolotnizki received his education at the Nijni-Novgorod Ecclesiastical Seminary, and was for 15 years parish priest in the village of Tamognikoff. He wrote on theology, and was greatly respected and esteemed by his parishioners, so, naturally, when he suddenly disappeared it created much uneasiness among his flock. When, however, he was at last discovered it was found that lie had taken up his abode in a neighbouring village, whose inhabitants were known to be inclined to sectarianism, and, therefore, not true members of the Orthodox Church. Upon his being arrested and brought before the Ecclesiastical Court he freely acknowledged his guilt and declared that rather than lead a double life and be a traitor to his true, convictions he had decided to abandon the Orthodox Church and throw in his lot with the Sectarians. For this he was anathematised and sentenced by the court to 30 years of solitary confinement in the monastery of Suzdal. He has actually survived this terrible sentence, and was a short time ago released from a life's incarceration. The cell in which he was confined was situated in the foundations of the monastery, and had but one small window near the ceiling, and as the result of his long confinement he has come out broken in health and spirit, not being able either to read, write, or even think, having lost all power of will, being, in fact, a child, with the sole difference that a child has Its life before it, whereas his is gone for ever.