Together with Dostoevsky and nineteen others he was condemned to be shot, but all the prisoners were pardoned by the Emperor (the charge was high treason) at the last moment, and after spending nine months in the fortress, Pleshtcheeff was sent to serve as a common soldier in the troops of the line, in the Orenburg government, with the loss of all his civil rights.

There he remained nine years, taking part in several border campaigns, and rising to the rank of ensign, after which he entered the civil service.

In 1859 he was allowed to return to Moscow, whence he removed to St.Petersburg in 1872.[30] The principal writers of satirical verse during this period were: Alexyei Mikhailovitch Zhemtchuzhnikoff (1822), V.S.Kurotchkin (1831-1875), who founded the extremely popular journal "The Spark," in 1859, and D.D.Minaeff (1835-1889).
QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW 1.

What had been the progress of the drama in Russia up to the time of Ostrovsky?
2.

How did "It Is All in the Family" make its appearance, and with what result?
3.