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

_
-

THE STOURBRIDGE OBSERVER.

telegram, and also immediately after the receipt of the
last one stating that the Emperor was dead. The Duke and
Duchess of Edinburgh and the Grand Duke Alexis were to
have dined in the evening with his Excellency Prince
Labonoff at the Russian Embassy, Chesham-place, when a
distinguished company were invited to meet their Royal and
Imperial Highnesses, but on the receipt of the first telegram
from St. Petersburg the entertainment was instantlycounter•
manded., His Royal .Highness the Duke of Cambridge and
the Duke of Teck were among those who called personally at
the Russian Embassy late in the afternoon to obtain the latest
information. Among other calls at the Embassy were Earl
Granville, the Marquis of Hamilton, his Excellency
Count Karolyi, his Excellency General Menabrea, his Excel-
lency the Netherlands Minister, his Excelleacy the Swedish
Minister, his Excellency the Portuguese Minister, his Ex-
cellency the Greek Minister, the Danish Secretary, Mr.
Selim Bustros, and others. Soon after the melancholy
news of the death of the Emperor reached Clarence House
the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh determined to accom-
pany the Grand Duke Alexis to St. Petersburg, and measures
were immediately taken by the Duke of Edinburgh per-
sonally to procure a special train to Dover and a special
steamboat to Calais, so as to reach the Russian capital as
soon as possible The special train was in readiness at the
Charing-cross station between seven and eight o'clock, and
arrangements had been made for it to precede the Continental
mail train. Sir Edward Watkin, Bart., M.P., chairman of
the South-Eastern Railway Company, and other officials,
were in attendance to receive their Royal and Imperial
Highnesses, The Royal carriages on entering the station
drove at once to the Royal saloon carriage, which the
Duchess of Edinburgh and her brother immediately entered,
looking very pale and distressed. The Duke of Edinburgh,
after hastily shaking hands with Sir Edward Watkin and Sir
Henry Tuf ton, entered the saloon, and the train left for its
destination precisely at 8.15. The train arrived at Dover at
945, by which hour the special steamer was ready to convey
the Royal party across the Channel.

'Another account says :—'The first telegraphic intimation
of the painful occurrence forwarded to Clarence House, St.
*Janies'a, the residence of the Duke and Duchess of Edin-
burgh, was received shortly after three o'clock. On receipt I
of tjie intelligence, which stated that an attempt had been
,me on the Emperor's life, find that he was seriously
'wounded, her Royal Highness the Duchess of Edinburgh was
deeply affected. When the effects of the shock had some-
what passed over the Duke of Edinburgh drove to Marl-
borough House, and was the earliest to communicate what
had happened, to tile Princess.of Wales. Thence the Duke
proceeded to the residence of Earl Granville, Carlton
Rouse-terrace, on a like mission. The Prince, of Wales
being nearly due at Charing-cross Terminus, from Paris, he
next drove in that direction. The Prince, who arrived at
five minutes to four, must have been driving out of the
station as the Duke entered it. In the meantime telegra-
phic messages reached Clarence House in quick succession,
and shortly before four o'clock the Emperor's death was
made known. The later messages received were taken away
by the Duchess on leaving for St. Petersburg last night.
Many sympathising inquiries were made at Clarence House.
Among the tarlicst calls were Mr. and MN. Gladstone,
Sir Stafford Northcote, Lord and Lady Sydney, the
Marquis and Marchioness of Hamilton, the Duke of Teck,
the Duke of Cambridge, E irl of Dalhousie, the Marquis and
Marchioness of Bath, Earl and Countess Stanhope, Sir
Charles Du Cane, the Dean of Westminster, Lieutenant-
Colonel Carrington, Lord Carrington, Mr. W. H. Smith,
Captain E. M Shaw, CB., etc. In addition to the above the
names of the various foreign Ministers were recorded. The
Duke of Edinburgh having communicated with the officials
of the South-Eastern Railway for a special train to be in
readiness, the train by which the Prince of Wales had
, travelled from Dover was set aside, and the departure was
fixed for a quarter-past eight. The Duchess, who was accom-
panied by the Duke, the Grand Duke Alexis, and his suite,
was punctual in arriving at the Charing-cross terminus,
where Sir Edward Watkin, MP., chairman of the company,
Mr. Miles Fenton, general manager, and Mr. Harris, super-
intendent of the line, were in attnidance to receive the
party. On the platform were also the Prince and Princess of
Wales, and Prince Labonoff, the Russian Ambassador. An
affecting parting took place between the Princess of Wales
and the Duchess of Edinburgh just before the departure of
the train."

flicted on him by his persecutors were even more intense
than the bodily suffering which for a few hours he had to
bear on .unday during the interval which elapsed between
the time when he was struck down and when he expired.

The Daily Chronicle remarks that for the present Europe
can only bow its head in shame and sorrow at the ap-
palling regicide which has just been so thoroughly accom-
plished.

The Scotsman says :—" No words could be too strong to
express the feeling of horror and detestation with which the
perpetrators of this terrible crime will be regarded all the
world over, but their folly is if possible greater than their
inquity. For the time being no measure of repression
against the conspirators will be too strong for the appetite
of the bulk of the nation, whose attachment to the Czar
is their most deep-seated feeling; and it will be a marvel
if all the steps slowly and timidly made during recent
years towards a modification of the absolutist rdgime are
not retraced at a bound under the impulse of wrath and
grief which the news of yesterday's tragedy will excite
throughout Russia."

The Bermingham Post says :—" What further benefits he
might yet have conferred on his people had life been spared
him, and revolutionary agitation ceased to thwart his policy,
we can only vaguely surmise ; but even if we look only at
what he had accomplished in his prematurely ended reign
of twenty-five years, it must be acknowledged that Alexander
lf. was in the best sense a king of men, the deep sense of
whose loss will assuredly not be confined to his own people."

The Vienna Abendpost (the evening edition of the Official
Gazette) says :—" A generous, high-minded, and humane
monarch has been torn from a loving people. The act alone
whereby he gave to 25,000,000 of his subjects the conscious-
ness of their dignity as men would suffice to place the late
Emperor Alexander in the rank of the noblest benefactors of
mankind. The people of Austria-Hungary look with feelings
of the deepest sympathy towards the capital of the neigh-
bouring friendly empire. May Alexander 111. carry out
what his father has prepared."

The Norddeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung says :—" The whole
civilizet-world has been moved to the deepest and most
heartfelt•sympathy by the news of the sad end of the Czar of
Russia Germany's best friend, and now the immoitalized
bearer bf a crown of thorns. Never before had a monarch
of such over whelmtng benevolence and philanthropy
ascended the Russian throne. Never has the desire to esta-
blish happiness and peace for his people, together with the
most noble self-sacritice and charity, been so embodied in
any Russian autocrat as in Alexander IL No despot has
ever been the object of such suppressed and wicked hatred,
of such unextinguishable and devilish bloodthirstiness, as
this martyr to his high position."

The Dublin Correspondent of The Times writes :—" The
assassination of the Czar has excited feelings of tho
deepest pain and horror among all classes here, the
humblest joining with the highest in expr,ssing detestation
of the cowardly and cruel perpetrators of the crime. Much
sympathy is felt for the Emperor's family and friends,
especially for the Duke. and Duchess of Edinburgh, in the
affliction which has befallen them. The Lord Lieutenant
and Lady Cooper have suspended all the festive arrange-
ments of the Viceregal Court, and the State ball to be held
on St. Patrick's night, for which preparations were in pro-
gress, has been postponed. At a meeting of the Dublin,
Corporation on Monday the Lord Mayor referred to the sub-
ject, and Mr. Gray, M.P., moved, 'That this council takes
the earliest opportunity of recording its abhorrence and
detestation of the horrible crime committed on Sunday by
the assassination, under circumstances of peculiar atrocity,
of the Czar Alexander of Russia, and its respectable sym-
pathy with their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of
Edinburgh in their bereavement, and that a copy of this
resolution la forwarded forthwith to the private secretary
of the Duke of Edinburgh.' Mr. A. O'Neill seconded the
motion, which was supported by Sir John Barrington and
passed unanimously."

Remarking upon the political speculations and con-
jectures which will follow from the assassination of
the Czar, The Times says
It is believed by many that the personal regard existing
between the Emperor of Germany and the murdered Czar
has been an important factor in many European questions,
and that it has served to prevent collisions between the two
countries, even when their aims and interests were appa-
rently opposed. The Crown Prince of Germany is believed
to be somewhat anti-Russian in his sympathies; and the
Czarewitchis in like manner said to be anti-German. He is
less of a courtier or of a diplomatist than his father,
is prone to speak his mind without reserve, and
is accustomed to express strong leanings towards
the so-called patriotic and Slavophil parties in the
country. As a counterbalance to these leanings, he
is also credited with the possession of strong common
sense, a faculty which implies amenability to the logic of
facts. Ills trite to observe that heirs-apparent are usually
addicted to coquetting with a party in opposition, and that,
when they attain to thrones, they are generally committed
to the policy and hampered by the acts of their immediate
predecessors. The late Czar, there can be little doubt, con-
templated reforms much in excess of those which he was able
to accomplish, and had intended the emancipation of the
serfs to be only his first step in the direction of liberalism
and of constitutional freedom. His people were not pre-
pared to use with discretion the boons which he would have
been ready to give, and he was forced by events to change
his domestic policy for one of repression and reaction.
His successor will be fettered in a somewhat similar
manner, and will be compelled to regulate his rule at home,
and his attitude in relation to foreign Powers. in accord-
ance with the pressure of surrounding circumstances
However wise, however just, however beneficent he may be,
the ruler of Russia must be prepared to carry his life in his
hand, to surround himself with harassing and vexatious pre-
cautions, and to set off against the almost idolatrous devo-
tion of millions the bloodthirsty and unscrupulous hatred of
a few. Through this turmoil and darkness it will be his
province to guide the slow advance of his subjects to peace
and light ; but this advance, unless checked by some revo-
lutionary outbreak, appeamat last to be well-nigh assured.
It will be a happy day for Emperor and people when the
latter have at length prepared themselves for the enjoyment
of a temperate and well-ordered freedom, and when the
bureaucracy which has been so fertile a source of crime and
conspiracy has at last been superseded by more legitimate
methods of control.

peror's life, but a minute or two afterwards the heart finally
ceased to beat.

In a few seconds after the Emperor had breathed his last,
all the members of the Imperial family surrounded the bed
of death, and as the arch-priest recited the prayers for
those in extremis, while all present knelt, the spectacle was
heartrending.

The terrible event seems shrouded in a great deal of
mystery, especially in its suddenness and the total absence
of any of the usual revolutionary threats and proclamations
preceding the dastardly deed. It is, however, stated very
persistently now that General Melikoti had some days pre-
viously unearthed another plot, and that he consequently
entreated the Emperor not to expose himself in public. But
the warning was not heeded. The catastrophe was certainly
not dreamt of by the majority of the people, for their fears
and suspicions had been completely lulled to rcst by the
general tranquility—at least in outward aspect—since the
advent of Count Alelikoff to power.

The Correspondent of the Daily News says that only last
week a small box, ostensibly containing pills for asthma, was
received by the Emperor with a letter from abroad. When
these were handed to Doctor Botkin a slight explosion oc-
curred on the box being opened, and the pills were found to
contain a highly explosive substance enough to kill three
persons if all the contents had simultaneously exploded.
- •

All accounts agree that the Czar's life was sacrificed owing
to his solicitude for the wounded by the first explosion.
The scene of the assassination was visited on Monday by
hundreds of people, who stood gazing at the furrows made
in the snow by the explosion. Many, too, dug.in the snow
for relics. One brought out a splinter of wood, another an
icicle formed of frozen blood, others scraps of hair, bits of
cloth, and other articles of the same description. In the
houses opposite 135 panes of glass in all were smashed by
the concussion.

The people look to the new Emperor with the utmost con-
fidence. M. Pobedonossew, the tutor of His Majesty, a man
much revered and of great experience, will probably, in
conjunction with General Loris Melikoff, henceforward play
a prominent part in public affairs.
The last time the deceased Czar visited Vienna was at the
time of the International Exhibition in 1873. At that time
his Russian Majesty was protected by a special body of three
hundred and seventy-six policemen. Nevertheless, such
was the fear of attempts being made on kis life that the
Czar frequently stayed.indoors all day, and constant changes
were madehin the programme of his Majesty's proceedings,
so that no 'One knew when or where the Czar might be seen.

The whole of the blinds at Buckingham Palace have been
drawn since the news of the Emperor's death was con-
firmed.

The King of Holland has sent Vice-Admiral Van Capellen
on an extraordinary Mission to St. Petersburg to attend the
funeral of the Emperor. The Court has gone into mourning
for six weeks.

The remains of the late Emperor will lie in state in the
chapel of the Palace for fifteen days, and prayers will be
said there every evening at nine o'clock.

It is officially stated that eighteen people, besides the Em-
peror, were injured by the explosion. Of these, one, a sol-
dier of the Body Guard, died immediately on reaching the
hospital; and the individual who refused his name, and is
supposed to have thrown the second bomb, died eight hours
alter the accident. Of the remaining cases, seven are pro-
nounced severe, and the others are progressing favourably.
Military surgeons in attendance on the injured state that.
the wounds are much more severe than any produced by
ordinary shells.
A Supplement to Tuesday night's LOnclen Gazette contains
an announcement from the Lord Chamberlain's Office saying
that the Court mourning which would have terminated on
Friday, the Ist of April, will be prolonged to Friday, the 15th
of April, Her Majesty having been pleased to command that
the Court shall be in mourning for one month from to-day
for his late Majesty the Emperor of Russia. The Court will
change the mourning for his late Majesty on Tuesday, the
29th March, and go out of mourning on Friday, the 15th of
April.
The Cologne Gazette on Tuesday publishes a telegram
from St. Petersburg stating that a photograph was taken of
the late Emperor after the body had been embalmed. The
face of the deceased is only slightly injured, but not dis-
figured. There is a bruise on the left eyelid and a dark red
spot on the right cheek. On the left side of the face count-
less small glass splinters penetrated into the flesh and some
slight contusions are visible on the chin and on the forehead
between the eyebrows.