The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1881-03-19 00:00:00

COMMENTS OF THE PRESS.

The Times, commenting upon the assassination of the
Emperor of Russia, whom it describes as "a kind-hearted
and courteous gentleman, desiring the welfare of his
people, and labouring for it to the extent of his powers and
his opportunities," says All Europe will be thrilled with
horror at the intelligence of this tragic termination of a
career which was so full of promise at its commencement,
and which was marked in its earlier stages by great achieve-
ments. The future of Russia, for anything of real grandeur
which it may attain, will date from the emancipation of the
serfs; and this emancipation was almost the sole and per-
sonal work of the ruler whose life has long been embittered,
and at last has been sacrificed, by the restless ingratitude of
a section of conspirators among his subjects."

"You will find the burden a heavy one," were the words
which Nicholas on his death-bed addressed to his eldest
son; and, in truth, Alexander 11. has found the burden of
Empire no light load since he ascended the throne in 1855.
. . . .his is not the time when we care to remember the
faults of him who has been thus suddenly hurled into
eternity, or to recapitulate the errors which have disfigured
his career, both as a man and sovereign. It is enough to
say that, compared with the rule of his father, his reign in
Russia has been one of moderation and reform, and that his
personal character was marked by many amiable traits. But
such as he was, Alexander 11. has gone to his long rest. The
head which never in life rested peacefully, whick hardly
knew' an hour's repose from the fears of assassination, is
now laid low, and the crown he bore so uneasily passes to
another brow. The lesson to be learned from this mournful
event is that so long as Nihilist or Socialist conspiracy works
in the dark, practically unchecked by all the efforts of an
autocratic power, the social and political institutions of
Russia exist on sufferance, and society there lives on the
edge of a volcano, which may at any time burst forth with
such terrible effect as we now witness. All the instincts of
human nature revolt at such a dastardly crime, and Great
Britain sympathises to-day with the Russian people in its
profound grief and consternation at the news which tells
how Alexander 11. was slain by an assassin."—Daily Tele-
graph.

"By the death of the Czar Alexander 11. there passes
away not only the Sovereign of a Great Empire, but a
political figure that has been conspicuous in Europe for a
quarter of a century. The reign of his father and pre-
decessor, if we except an abortive attempt at domestic
revolution, opened under smiling auspices, and closed in
disappointment and gloom. The reign of Alexander U.,
commencing at a moment when the star of Russia was
obscured by the disasters of the Crimean War, has come to
an end when the honour of the Muscovite arms has at
least been vindicated both in. Europe and Asia, and when,
though it may be true that Russia is isolated diplomatically,
she has not been crushed in the field by an alliance of the
European Powers."—Standard.

"The news that the greatest and in many respects the
noblest Sovereign In Europe was assassinated in the streets
of his capital yesterday afternoon has produced a
profound impression throughout the world. There is no
civilized State in either hemisphere which this morning has
not been thrilled with horror at the tidings telegraphed from
St. Petersburg. There is a profound pathos in this
final scene of a long and laborious life, and a cruel tragedy
in this climax of a reign which was begun with such high
hopes of beneficent reform. Since Henry of Navarre fell by
the dagger of Ravaillac, no 2..tropean Sovereign deserved so
well of his subjects and was ...tuited so ill. It is, indeed,
the irony of history that after so many ruthless despots
should have died in peace, none daring to make them
afraid, the one Ruler of modern Europe who has
stamped his name in imperishable characters of light
across the history of civilisation should at last, after being
hunted like. an outlaw from palace to palace, from city to
city, have been blown to pieces by dynamite in the heart of
his own capital. Such a tragic ending to such a career, so
sombre a close to a reign full of contribution to the cause of
progress, anti heroic exertion in the cause of humanity, is
a shock to the moral sense of mankind."—lslonday's Pall
Mall Gazette.

The Morning Post describes the Emperor, ho has thus
been foulls murdered, as the most liberal and enlightened
of those who have filled the throne of Russia. Of all the
'Sovereigns of Europe none has had such frequent attempts
',judo upon- his life, and it is strictly true to nay that his
existence was passed in constant dread of assassination.
This fear clouded his whole life, and the mental agonies in-