Letters of Anton Chekhov (Tchekhov) - Penn State University

Letters of Anton Chekhov to His Family and Friends with biographical sketchsteamer conscientiously, continually consulting the chart and thecompass, and if the steamer is shipwrecked all the same, would itnot be more correct to put down the shipwreck not to the captain,but to something else—for instance, to think that the chart is out ofdate or that the bottom of the sea has changed? Yes, there are threepoints the jury have to take into consideration: (1) Apart from thecriminal law, the penal code and legal procedure, there is a morallaw which is always in advance of the established law, and whichdefines our actions precisely when we try to act on our conscience;thus, for instance, the heritage of a daughter is laid down by law asa seventh part. But you, acting on the dictates of purely moral principle,go beyond the law and in opposition to it, and bequeath herthe same share as your sons, for you know that to act otherwisewould be acting against your conscience. In the same way it sometimeshappens to the jury to be put in a position in which they feelthat their conscience is not satisfied by the established law, that inthe case they are judging there are fine shades and subtleties whichcannot be brought under the provisions of the penal code, and thatobviously something else is needed for a just judgment, and that forthe lack of that “something” they will be forced to give a judgmentin which something is lacking. (2) The jury know that acquittal isnot pardon, and that acquittal does not deliver the prisoner fromthe day of judgment in the other world, from the judgment of hisconscience, from the judgment of public opinion; they decide thequestion only so far as it is a judicial question, and leave A——t todecide whether it is good to kill children or bad. (3) The prisonercomes to the court already exhausted by prison and examination,and he is in an agonizing position at his trial, so that even if he isacquitted he does not leave the court unpunished.Well, be that as it may, my letter is almost finished, and I seem tohave written nothing. We have the spring here in Yalta, no news ofinterest ….“Resurrection” is a remarkable novel. I liked it very much, but itought to be read straight off at one sitting. The end is uninterestingand false—false in a technical sense.398