The accession of Nicholas and the attempted revolt occurred on the 14th December, (O.S.) 1825.  Within six months from that date the most of the conspirators reached Siberia.  They were sent to different districts, some to labor in the mines for specified periods, and others to become colonists.  They included some of the ablest men in Russia, and were nearly all young and enterprising.  Many of them were married, and were followed into exile by their wives, though the latter were only permitted to go to Siberia on condition of never returning.  Each of the exiles was deprived of all civil or political rights, and declared legally dead.  His property was confiscated to the crown, and his wife considered a widow and could marry again if she chose.  To the credit of the Russian women, not one availed herself of this privilege.  I was told that nearly every married exile’s family followed him, and some of the unmarried ones were followed by their sisters and mothers.

I have previously spoken of the effect of the unfortunates of the 14th December upon the society and manners of Siberia.  These men enjoyed good social positions, and their political faults did not prevent their becoming well received.  Their sentence to labor in the mines was not rigorously enforced, and lasted but two or three years at farthest.  They were subsequently employed at indoor work, and, as time wore on and passion subsided, were allowed to select residences in villages.  Very soon they were permitted to go to the larger towns, and once there, those whose wives possessed property in their own right built themselves elegant houses and took the position to which their abilities entitled them.

[Illustration:  HOME OF TWO EXILES.]

General Korsackoff told me that when he first went to serve in Siberia there was a ball one evening at the Governor General’s.  Noticing one man who danced the Mazurka splendidly, he whispered to General Mouravieff and asked his name.  “That,” said Mouravieff, “is a revolutionist of 1825.  He is one of the best men of society in Irkutsk.”

After their first few years of exile, the Decembrists had little to complain of except the prohibition to return to Europe.  To men whose youth was passed in brilliant society and amid the gayeties of the capital, this life in Siberia was no doubt irksome.  Year after year went by, and on the twenty-fifth anniversary of their banishment they looked for pardon.  Little else was talked of among them for some weeks, but they were doomed to disappointment.  Nicholas had no forgiving disposition, and those who plotted his overthrow were little likely to obtain favor, even though a quarter of a century had elapsed since their crime.