The Beaufort tribune and Port Royal commercial. [volume] (Beaufort, S.C.) 1877-1879, 1877-06-21

had q ruler been more beloved, and
never was one more lamented. As at the
death of William of Orange, "the little
children cried in the streets" At his
death Nicholas, his brother, succeeded
to the throne, his elder brother, having
married a Polish countess from love, who
was Roman Catholic, and also knowing
that he was unfit to rule, abdicating III
his favor. Nicholas was not liked, and
all the suppressed discomfort broke out
in rebellion. He put it down with terri
BILE cruelty. There had not been an ex-
ecution in Russia for eighty years when
he sent many of the :bravest and best
men in the empire to the scaffold. Mich
olas never forgot an injury nor forgave
an enemy. He was terrible autocrat,
but man of narrow views. every
thing for the people and nothing by the
people was his motto. Not g mouse
can stir in Russia without permission
from the czar," wrote traveller in that
country. His activity was feverish, his
industry unceasing. But he miscalcu-
lated his strength when he undertook to
carry out the splendid dream of Alexan-
der T., who, pointing to Constantinople
and the Bosphorus, said to Napoleon:
"I must have the key that unlocks the
door of my house." The terrible morti-
fcation of the Crimean defeat was too
much for the old monarch, and disap-
pointed, almost heart-broken, he lay
down to die. The handsomest man in
Europe, he was in his prime; and it was
said that "the royal family of Russia is
the handsomest that ever lived, by one
who saw the four sons and three daugh-
ters in their blossoming season. He was
succeeded by the present czar, Alexander
IL. in 1856. He had been brought up
under rule of iron, and his health had
been impaired by military service. A
secret melancholy preyed on his heart.
His father sent him to visit the different
courts of Europe, with permission to
choose wife for himself. All the prin-
cesses set their caps for him. At Hesse-
Darmstadt the Grand Duke Louis had
several handsome daughters, who decked
themselves out in gorgeous array to win
his heart. The younger, however, had
no such ambiti N, and modestly minded
her studies and her mother. Alexander
saw and sought her, and surprised the
family by asking for her hand. She went
to Russia, studied the language, was
baptized into the Greek church, and
they were married in 1S41; and their do
mestic life has been unusually happy.
The loss of their eldest son in 1854 cast
a deep sorrow over the royal household,
as he was young man of great promise
and was betrothed to the Princess Dag
mar, of Denmark, who has since mar
ried his oldest brother, Alexander. The
present car has five sons and one daugh-
ter, the wife of the Duke of Edinburgh,
Victorias second son. The events of
his reign are too well known to need
mention. lie emancipated some 25, 900,
600 serfs by impesial -nkass in 1861 has
carried out number of important re-
forms, and probably has done more than
any previous ruler to develop the re.
sources of the empire. He has extended
its boundaries in the East till it is more
of an Asiatic than European nation, and
has given it q place among the first ma
tons of Europe.