The Opelousas journal. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1868-1878, 1877-06-30

SASCE6SOIs 1O was OSSCAtAAS LA AA2
mailman in brain and a Finn in feature,
ignorant OF the machinery of the govern
ment and a stranger to the people he was
called to rule. His reign was a failure,
and he was strangled by conspirators in
its fifth year. In 1901 Alexander, his
son, who inherited his mothers beauty
and grace of person, and who had been
carefully educated in Germany, assembled
the throne. He was then. twenty-four,
and Immediately displayed the hand ofa
reformer and the mind of a statesman.
The circumstances Of his reign made it
impossible for him to carry out his plans
for neutrality-suspicious.. With Europe
in arms, he was forced to fight, andHas
defeated in the battle of Austerlitz. But
the conquering genius Of Napoleon daz-
zled him, and, yielding othe %infatuation
he made the famo6s treaty of Tilsit in
1907. One of the most memorable
tableaux in modern history was the
meeting of these two monarchs on the
craft in the river Niemen, where they
coolly proceeded u divide Europe be-
tween them. But the treaty was broken,
the infatuatien cooled, and the meeting
on the Niemen was followed in five years
by the burning of Moscow. Alexander
took a leading part in the coalition which
crushed Napolean, and placed 100000
men in the field; and Napoleon, at
st. Helena, said "the Emperor of
Russia is infinitely superior; he
possesses abilities, grace and information;
he is fascinating MN If ! die here, he
will be my successor. in Europe" He
was one of the first, if not the first
monarch of his time. Never had a ruler
been more beloved, and was one
more lamented. 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 a Roman
Catholic, and also knowing that he was
unfit to rule, abdicating in his favor.
Nicholas was not liked, and all the
suppressed discomfort broke out in re-
bellion. He put it down with terrible
cruelty. There had not been an execu-
ton in Russia for eighty years when he
sent many of the bravest and best men
in the empire to the scaffold. Nicholas
never forgot an injury nor forgave an
enemy. He was a terrible %autocrat, but
a man of narrow views. Everything
for the people nj nothing by the people"
was his motto. "Not a mouse can stir
in Russia without permission from the
czar," wrote a traveller in that country.
His activity was feverish, his industry
.unceasing. But he miscalculated his
strength when he undertook to carry out
the splendid dream Of Alexander l.,
who, pointing to Constantinople and the
Bosphorus, said to Napoleon, must
have the key that unlocks the door of
my house." The terrible modification
of the Crimean defeat was too much for
the oldmonarch, and disappointed, 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 n who saw the
four sons and three daughters in their
poisoning season. He was succeeded
by the present car, Alexander H., in
1866. He had been brought up under a
rule of iron, and his health had been i'm
paired 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 a wife for himself. All the
princesses set their caps for him. At
Hesse-D armstadt the. Grand Duke Louis
mad several handsome daughters, who
licked themselves in gorgeous array to
win his heart. The younger, however,
aad no such ambition, and modesSlv
her studies and her mother.
saw and sought heb and sur
orised the family by sskingqi6r herhand.
She went to Russia, studied the Ian.
suage, was baptized into the Greek
and they were married in 1871
md their domestic life has been unusu.
happy. The loss of their eldest SON
n1S65 cast a deep sorrow wei the royal
household, as he was a young man of
,reat promise and was betrothed to the
orincess Dagmar, of Denmark, who has
ince married his oldest brother, Alex
.nder. The present CA has five Sons
nd n daughter, the wife of the duke
f Edinburgh, Victoria's second SON.
he events OF his reign are too well
.nown to need mention. He emanci-
ated some $4,000, 900 serfs by imperial
.kase in 1861, has carried out a number
f important reforms, and probably has
one o than any previous ruler to
evelop the resources of the empire. He
as extended its boundaries in the east .
it is more of an Asiatic th an Euro
can nation, and has given it a place
nong the first nations of Europe. !.
APPROPRIATIONS by congress to Z
waters: Mississippi, Missouri,
Id Arkansas, a balance of $25, 900; G
uachita. Arkansas q balance NJ Ell 4