The Sun.
London, England, 1855-03-03 00:00:00

DEATH OF THE EMPEROR OF RUSSIA.
( From the Times of this day.)
Scarcely had the intelligence of the serious illness of the
Emperor of Russia arrived in this country in the course of
yesterday morning, when authentic despatches reached the
Government announcing that his life was already at an end,
and that soon after midnight on the 2d of -March Nicholas I.
had expired; His death is attributed to pulmonic apoplexy,
or congestiou of the lungs. Nosingle event could have hap-
pened in Europe of such momentous importance at the pre-
sent time to the whole family of civilised nations ; no event
could have occurred more startling from the contrast' between
the pride and power of a ruler who sent forth but yesterday
his myriads to battle, and seemed to hold the issues of life and
death in hig own hmds, but who is now less than the least of
his serfs, and lower than the dust of that empire which was
lately his own. In the long array of history, and among those
figures dimly seen along the ages of the past which bear im-
perishable traces of their guilt and their doom, none stands a
more visible mark of retributive justice than he who has thus
abruptly passed from the scene of human affairs. The sum-
mons of Belshazzar upon the fiery wall wasnot more appalling
—the destruction of Seuacherib not more terrible. This blow
has fallen not only on the armies which Russia has equipped
for the defence of her territory—not only on her policy and
her alliances, but more especially on the one great author of
the war, who has expiated with the loss of reputation, the
lops of power, and the loss of life itself, the outrage he com-
mitted ou the rights of other States and on the peace of
Europe. We shall not press against the bier of the pub-
lic enemy the charges to which in his lifetime the
Emperor Nicholas was exposed; we 6hall not give
vent to feelings of hostility and resentment against one who
is.beyond the reach of human censure. The touch of an Omni-
potent will reduces the fabric of all earthly power to dust
and ashes, and vindicates the course of eternal justice by
means infinitely above our knowledge. Such an event silences
the discord of the world, as it were by the stroke of Heaven,
and must suggest oven to tha most indifferent minds thoughts
which cannot find theie place among the petty interests of
daily life.
The Emperor Nicholas was born on the 6th of July, 1796,
from the marriage of his father, the Emperor Paul, with a
Princess of Wurtemberg. He was therefore in the 59th year
of his age, and he had filled the throne °LAO the Russias for
very nearly 30 years._ It has been observed that no Prince
of the house of Romanoff has ever reached old age, and that
the close of their lives has been sometimes violent, always
sudden ,_ Nicholas has lived beyond the customary age of his
race, and probably the cause of his death is to be
traced to the long and uncontrolled exercise of absolute
power, to the natural violence of his passions, and to the
effect ou such a character of the bitter lessons of the last few
months, He ascended the' throne in the prime of life, and
ho won his crown by his, own daring and composure in the
face of great dangers. The revolt of the 26th of De-
cember, 1825, which broke out among the Guards and
the populace of St. Petersburg, upon the abdication of
Constantino and the accession of Nicholas was one of
the greatest perils ever braved by a sovereign ;
but the Czar displayed so unflinching a resolution,
and so lofty a spirit of command, that he subdued the mal-
contents by his authority, and instantly acquired that domi-
nation over the people of Russia which has remained unshaken
through all ranks of the Muscovite population to the day of
his death. From that hour, too, the Emperor has played no
inconsiderable part in the affairs of Europe, and the first
years of his reign were agitated by events inferior only iu
importance to those of the present time. War soon broke
out between Russia and Persia, and another province was
added to the colossal empire of the north. The Greek insur-
rection, to which the policy of Alexander secretly contributed,
served to extend the interest of Russia in the East, and in
IS2B war was declared between the young Emperor and the
Sublime Porte. In the course of the ensuing operations the
Emperor found, however, that he had not the talent of mili-
tary command, and he never again appeared at the head of
his armies in the field, though he devoted a great part of his
life to the cares'ef military administration, and undoubtedly
extended and improved the forces of the empire. But, what-
ever may have been his designs against the empires of the
East in the earlier period of his reign, they were suspended,
and a different character was given to the policy of his reign for
2 I years by the French Revolution of 18.i0. Frem that mo-
ment it was against the free Governments of the West that
the Emperor Nicholas reserved his strength. He drew closer
his ties of alliance with Austria and Prussia, insomuch that
those States continued for many years to act as the tributa-
ries of his empire and the vassals of his policy. He heaped
contumely on the constitutional monarchy of France.
With England he endeavoured to remain on terms
of goodwill, though not of clo4e amity ; and he
is known . to have professed through life the belief
that a rupture with this country, especially if it were allied
with France, would be an event of the most fatal import to
Russia and to the prosperity of his reign. He had lived long
enough to verify the prediction, without having the prudence
to avert its consequences. During this period, from 183 J to
1840, his influence on the affairs of Europe was neither very
energetic nor very direct. He had in 1831 crushed with con-
siderable difficulty, but with unsparing rigour, the great
Polish insurrection, which might have wrested from him the
western provinces afterwards incorporated in the empire. He
succeeded in 1832 in establishing a Russian army on the
Bosphorus, and extorted the Treaty of Unkiar 'Skellessi from
the failing hands of Sultan Mahmoud. Throughout his reign
the under-current of Russian intervention in the affairs of
Turkey may constantly be traced until it reached, in 1853,
that catastrophe which has for the last twe years convulsed
Europe. In 1840 the insidious propositions of Russia, being
adopted by the British Government and by that of Austria,
led us to thehrink,of war with France, and engaged us in
military operations in Syria; but with this exception the
peace of the world remained undisturbed until 1848. Upon
the occurrence of that earthquake, which overthrew half the
thrones of continental Europe, the Emperor Nicholas alone
seemed completely prepared to meet the shock, and completely
unmoved by its violence. His forbearance was equal to his
strength. He sought no pretext for interference int he affairs of
other States, although he did not refuse his succour when it
was required; he took no unfair advantage of the weakness
and confusion of other countries, and the advice ho tendered
-was invariably favourable to the cause of order and of peace.
The conduct of the Emperor Nicholas during those event-
ful and perilous years from 1848 to 1851, raised him
higher than he had ever stood before ; he was
regarded as one of the wisest, as well as one of the most
powerful Sovereigns of Europe, and those even who detested
his despotic government could not deny that he had shown
moderation, temper, and a strong desire for peace.
Nor had his internal government of the Russian empire been
less successful. Although he continued to oppress the finances
and the population by an enormous military establishment,
he had undoubtedly laboured with success to develope the re-
sources of the country. The means of communication were
improved, foreign merchants were protected, the numerous
departments of public service were placed under severe con-
trol, and the condition of the rural population on the vast
demesnes of the Crown was notably improved. No Sovereign
ever succeeded in inspiring his own subjects of the Muscovite
race with a more fanatical attachment to his person, and it is
perfectly true that wherever the lofty stature and imperial
port of the Czar were seen throughout his dominions ho was
hailed as a demigod rather than as a man. His pride rose with
his station and his power, and at times he seemed possessed
with hallucinations acting upon a mystical and excitable
name as if ho, indeed, transcended the appointed limits of
all human greatness. -
By what marvellous fatality, by what infatuation, or by
what perversity could it then happen, that a ruler of men
already past the illusions of youth, versed in the affairs of
Europe, and professedly solicitous to maint tin the constituted
order of things, suddenly descended from this exalted position,
committed acts of astonishing imprudence and injustice,
destroyed his own influence throughout the world, and died
at last without a friend ? Two short years have barely elapsed
them steady
saiundceeaPehrinsueecceMsseinvseemhileonotTs
ldieespabretueirie
moanrichedis fbaytal
progress of the Emperor of Russia down this declivity of bad
faand itha,tolfasatgof death,gression which
bib,thlotoedsrmheinda,tesof
tdhoefeaatp,poLindgeshoilasttoioryn:
Yet at every step his own act hes brought about his chastise-
ment, and the other Powers of Europe have been accused of
too much forbearance in their eagerness to avert some of the
deplorable consequences of this struggle. He was warned
early, frequently, and emphatically, that if he persisted in
this course, and if he fatted to control that indomitable pride
which gave a pernicious import to his smallest actions, he
would fall under the ban of Europe ; and it is impossible to
doubt that the agonising sense of humiliation and remorse at
the loss of all he bad reason to prize has terminated his life.
It is one of the most solemn and forcible examples of the tie
which links human greatness to human frailty ; and through-
out all future time the reign of Nicholas of Russia will be re-
membered as au instance of the miserable ending of a career
which has been sacrificed to bad and destructive passions,
when it might have been prolonged in peace, good Same, mid

Lonour.

(From the Daily News of this day.)
Nicolas Paulovitch is dead; but the Emperor of Russia
lives still. Boundless as was the ambition of the late Em-
peror, and relentless as was his will, he was less formidable
as an individual than as a part of the Muscovite system of
government. Though he has gone to his account, the spirits
of Peter the Great and Catherine 11. continue to animate the
Cabinet of St. Petersburg. The Muscovite party—headed by
3rlenschikoff, Siniavin, and the Patriarch of Moscow—which
overpowered the remonstrances of Nesselrode, and goaded on
the Czar himself to his aggressions on Turkey, survives with
undiminished strength and unaltered principles. The death
of the Sovereign cannot but give a momentary pause to the
operations of the Russian Government. The Muscovite and
German parties may possibly try their strength in a prelimi-
nary struggle to decide who is to be the. Emperor. Constan-
tine, the second son, is the favourite of the former ; Alexan-
der, the eldest, of the latter. From what is known of the
feelings and wishes of Nicholas, it is very unlikely that he will
be found to have nominated, like his predecessor, the younger
brother heir to the Crown, in preference to the older. But
in Russia a preponderating party could not shrink from the
fabrication of spurious documents; and the milder Alexander
may be obliged to make way for the engrained Rassiau Con-
stantine. Until it is known for certain who is Emperor of
Russia, and by what councillors ho is surrounded, it would bo
rash in the Western Powers to assume that there will be any
immediate change in their relations to Russia. Oa the con-
trary, the doubt and hesitation which the death of Nicholas
cannot but instil into the councils of the Russian generals in
the Crimea will present a favourable opportunity for a home
blow at the Muscovite power in that peninsula.
The balance of parties in Russia is understood to be some-
what as follows :--,-There is among its influential statesmen
what is called the German party, of which Count Nesselrode
may be considered the leader and " representative man."
This party inclines to act upon those principles of international
law which are recognised by the other European powers, and
to aim at the assimilation of Russia to the rest of Europe.
Opposed to this is what is called the Russian,,or Sclavonic,
party, of which, as wo have said, Menschikoff,'Siniavin, and
the Patriarch of, Moscow, may be considered as the leaders
and " representative men." This party is animated by a
desire to preserve and strengthen all tho peculiar
characteristics of the Russian people, and to extend
the conquests of the empire and the ascendancy of
the national faith. Except among the nobles of the
Baltic provinces and the merchants of St. Petersburg and
Odessa, the German party has few retainers in the body of
the people. The Russian party possesses tho sympathies of
the Russian race, in so far as they ever trouble their heads
about public matters. Nesselrode, the only man of note or
ability among the Germans, possesses considerable tact and
skill in diplomatic intrigue, but has been always too much of
a courtier to say "no" to any wish of his master. Tho Russ