The Morristown gazette. [volume] (Morristown, Tenn.) 1867-1920, 1877-06-20

| u tHO iAOot mSHOl hUIe IalGSaQN III
modern history was the meeting OF
these two monarchs on the craft in
he river Niemen, where they coolIy
proceeded to divide Europe between
them. But the treaty was broken,
| the infatuation cooled, and the meet
ing on the Niemen was followed in
five years by the burning of Moscow.
Alexander took leading part in the
coalition which crushed Napoleon,
100000 men in the field; and Napo-
leon, at st. Helena, said s. the En-
peror of Russia is infinitely superior :;
he possesses abilities, grace and in
| formation he is facinating* X
1t l die here. he will be my success
| sor in Europe" He was one of the
first monarchs of his time. Never
had a ruler been more beloved, and
never 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. mis-
elder brother, having married a Pol
lsh 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 rebellion. He put it
down with terrible cruelty. There
had not been an execution 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 terrible auto~
crat. but man of narrow views.
Everything for the people and
nothing by the people" was his
motto. "Not mouse can stir in
Russia without permission from the
czar, wrote traveller in that coun-
try. His activity was feverish. his
industry unceasing. But he miscal-
culated his strength when he under
took to carry out the splendid dream
of Alexander l., who pointing to
Constantinople and the Bosphorus,
said to Napoleon, 8" must have the
key that unlocks the door of my
house" The terrible modification
OF the Crimean defeat was too much
for the old monarch. and disappoint-
ed, almost heart-broken, he lay down
TO die, The handsomest man in Eu-
rope, 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 daughters in their bloom
ing season. He was succeeded by
the present czar, Alexander II, in
1855. He had been brought up uu-
der rule of iron, and his health
had been impaired by military SER
vice. A secret melancholy prayed
on his heart. His father sent him
to visit the different courts of Eu-
rope, with permission to choose q
wife for himself. All the princess
set their caps for him. At Hesse-
Darmstadt the Grand Duke Louis
had several handsome daughters, who
decked themselves in gorgeous array
to win his heart. The younger. how
ever, had no such ambition. and mo-
destly 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 1841; and
their domestic life has been unusu-
ally happy. The loss Of their eldest
son in 1865 cast a deep sorrow over
the royal household, as he was a
young man Of great promise and
was betrothed to the Princess Dag.
mar, of Denmark, who has since
married his oldest brother, Alex
ander. The present czar has FIVE
sons and one daughter. the wife of
the duke of Edinburgh. Victoria's
second son. The event of his reign
are too we'll known to need mention.
He emancipated some 25,000,000
serfs by imperial ukase in 1861, has
carried out a number of important
reforms, and probably has done
more than any previous ruler to de-
'velop the resources 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 place among the first nations Of
Z urope.