Chapter 83 Part Two - Twenty One

No sooner had the Privy Councilors sat down around the table than Wolfe was eloquently citing the reasons why the original judgment in the case had to be set aside. Chief Privy Officer Nikitin has always been mean, and today he is in a particularly bad mood.During the trial, he listened to the case report and had an idea.Now he sat there listening to Wolff, but he was thinking about his own business.He was thinking about what he wrote in the memorandum yesterday, that is, a fat job he had coveted for a long time, which was not assigned to him, but was assigned to Vilyanov.Nikitin was convinced that his comments on all kinds of first- and second-class civil servants he had come into contact with during his tenure would become important historical documents.Yesterday he wrote a memorandum in which he lashed out at several civil servants, first and second, for preventing him from saving Russia, while he wanted to save Russia from being destroyed by the rulers of today.In fact, they just prevented him from receiving more salary.Now he is thinking about how to make future generations have a new understanding of these things.

"Yes, of course," he replied to Wolfe, who was not even listening. Bei listened to Wolfe with a somber face while drawing a wreath on a piece of paper in front of him.He's a total liberal.He faithfully defended the tradition of the sixties, even if he sometimes abandoned strict impartiality, it was only in favor of liberals.Therefore, in the current trial of this case, except that the chairman who made the complaint is a despicable person, the theory of vitality is the theory of vitality. The reason why Bay advocated the dismissal of the appeal was also because accusing the staff of the newspaper of defamation was the suppression of freedom of the press.When Wolfe finished his report, Bay put down the unfinished wreath, and looked sullen—he was sullen because such basic common sense would require him to spend more time—in a soft, melodious voice, Briefly and convincingly stated that the appeal is unfounded.Then he lowered his white-haired head and continued to finish the wreath.

-------- ① Refers to the trend of thought and struggle of the bourgeois liberals in Russia in the 1860s. Skovorodnikov sat across from Wolf, and kept chewing on the upper and lower mustaches with his thick fingers.As soon as Bei's words fell, he stopped chewing his beard and said in a sharp and raspy voice, although the chairman is a bad guy.Special forms of motion of matter.If there is a legal basis for the movement of things, he still advocates rescission of the original judgment, but since there is no legal basis, he supports Bei's opinion.He was secretly happy when he finished speaking, because he took the opportunity to sarcasm Wolfe.The Chief Privy Councilor agreed with Skovorodnikov, and the case was thus dismissed.

Wolfe was upset, especially since his undue favoritism seemed to have been unmasked.But he pretended nothing had happened, opened the dossier of the Maslova case that he was to report next, and read it attentively.At this moment the privy councilors rang the bell, called for tea, and began to talk about another event, the duel with Kaminsky, which caused a sensation in Petersburg at the same time. This is a case about a certain bureau chief who violated Article 995 of the Criminal Law and was exposed and prosecuted. "How obscene!" said Bey, disgusted. "What's wrong with that? I can show you an article by a German author in the library. He outright doesn't think it's a crime, and men can marry men," Skovorodney said. Koff said, puffing on a cigarette crumpled between his fingers and laughing loudly.

"That's impossible," Bay said. "I can show you," said Skovorodnikov, giving the full title of the book, and even the year and place of publication. "It is said that he has been transferred to a certain city in Siberia as governor," Nikitin said. "Excellent. The bishop will meet him with a cross. A bishop like him should be found. I can recommend one to them," said Skovorodnikov, throwing the cigarette butt into the saucer, Then he tried his best to stuff the upper and lower beards into his mouth and chew. At this moment the magistrate came in to report that the lawyer and Nekhludoff wanted to testify in the trial against Maslova.

"The case," said Wolff, "is an affair," and he told what he knew about Nekhludoff's relationship with Maslova. The privy councilors talked about the matter for a while, smoked and drank their tea, and then returned to the courtroom, pronounced the verdict in the previous case, and then began the Maslova case. Wolff reported in detail Maslova's appeal for annulment of the original sentence in a shrill voice, and his wording was not very fair, and it could be heard that he hoped to annul the original sentence of the court. "Do you have anything to add?" the Chief Privy Councilor turned to Fanarin.

Fanarin stood up, puffed out his broad chest wearing a white chest, and spoke solemnly and accurately, proving that the court had deviated from the original meaning of the law on six points one by one.In addition, he also briefly mentioned the essence of the case, pointing out that the injustice of the original judgment was outrageous.Fanarin made a short and forceful speech, in a tone that seemed apologetic, for he insisted on reasons which the Privy Councilors must have seen and understood better than he, with their penetrating eyesight and profound legal knowledge, and he The reason for doing so is nothing more than out of responsibility.Fanarin's remarks seemed to suggest that the Privy Council would undoubtedly revoke the original sentence.After Fanarin finished speaking, he smiled triumphantly.Nekhludoff looked at the lawyer, saw this smile, and believed that the case would be won.However, he glanced at the privy officers and saw that only Fanarin was laughing and the other was complacent.Neither the privy officers nor the deputy prosecutors laughed or felt complacent, but showed bored expressions, as if to say: "We have heard too many speeches by people like you, and it is meaningless." They are not satisfied until they are delayed.No sooner had the lawyer finished speaking than the Chief Privy Councilor turned to the Deputy Public Prosecutor.Selenin's speech was short and clear. He believed that the various reasons for requesting the revocation of the original judgment were groundless and advocated maintaining the original judgment.So the privy officials stood up one after another and went to a meeting to discuss.Opinions were divided in the chamber.Wolf advocated the reversal of the original sentence.Bei understood the crux of the case and firmly advocated the revocation of the original judgment. Based on his correct understanding, he vividly described to his colleagues the scene of the trial and the process of the misunderstandings among the jurors.As usual, Nikitin advocated strict conduct, abide by red tape, and opposed the revocation of the original judgment.The case thus hinged on the attitude of Skovorodnikov.He argued for the dismissal of the appeal, mainly on the grounds that Nekhludoff had decided to marry the girl out of moral imperatives, which was abhorrent.

Skovorodnikov was a materialist, a Darwinist, and considered any expression of abstract morality, or, worse, any expression of religion, not only a vile madness, but an insult to himself.The trouble caused by the prostitute, together with the lawyers representing her and the personal appearance of Nekhludoff, seemed to him the most abominable thing.He kept stuffing his beard into his mouth, made a miserable face, pretended naively that he didn't understand the inside story of the case, and only thought that the grounds for rescission of the original judgment were insufficient, so he agreed with the chief privy officer and refused to approve the appeal of the case.

The appeal was thus dismissed.