The daily gazette., 1879-08-04
ALExANDER OF RUSSIA.

ALEXANDER OF RUSN1A.
His Ways Of lie, Character and
Pecuasar1aAes.
(i-ondo,. Truth.
Lord Beaconsteld, who appears to be-
lievs In the transmigration Of souls,
tancied that spirit of Ulysses tenanted
the body OF the late Louis Philippe. If
so, Alexander, son Of Nicholas. Is prob
ably the person VINO was known to the
men of the seventeenth century as
Charles IL. of Spain. Like that most
unhappy of princes he Is devOut, kindly,
well-intentioned and the weakest Of
mortals-affiicted 100 with the melan-
cholia of his prototype. He has = will
of his own, aud on one occasion, when
he emancipated the serfs, made II felt
but, generally speaking, the imperial
will Is extremely elastic. Its force has,
moreover, been impaired by years.
Were nOblemen in large numbers to
throw themselves at his feet In the pub
lie sti eets to beg him to do or not to do
this or that, after the precedent of 1850,
he would scarcely nowadays have the
heart to refuse them their request. He
would lack the nerve to emancipate
ffty millions OF men if five hundred
thousand others disapprOved the mea
sure. He had no wish to go to war In
1877, but could not resist the pressure
of his military entOurdge and the relig-
ious exhortations of some great ladies'.
An opposite text of Scripture which he
one morning found pinned to his dress
table had much effect Oh him and much
satisfaction did 1t give the "Crusaders"
tn notice that the sovereign was visibly
affected that day. y.I
In tact the cnxrac er of the Emperor
has become so emotional of latter years
that his enemies might be tempted to
use some hard words In describing him.
His Majesty has somewhat naively in
formed the world that he almost tainted
with terror after being shot at the other
| day and had to be helped back to his
palace. But it would be a great mistake
TO suppose, therefore, that the Emperor
| is deficient in personal courage; some
unquestionably brave men Cromwell,
| for instance) having also exhibited ex-
| cessive terror of assassination. For the
rest he has shown himself courageous
enough on occasion. Apropos, may
mention that in 1857 Alexander had no
sooner arrived at the French Frontier,
on his way to the Exhibition, then he
| telegraphed to have box secured for
| him at the Varieties, where "La Grande
| Duchesse" was being performed. His
| Majesty greatly enjoyed the play which
| satirizes his august great-grandmothe
| Between the acts he paced up and down
| the Passage des Panoramas almost un.
attended. Napoleon Ill, who heard Of
| these doings, was little uneasy, and
| had a hint conveyed to his guest that 1t
| might be we'll he should not unneces-
sarily expose himself-there were so
many Poles about. The Gar replied
that he was not afraid Of the Poles, and
that he was sure they bore him no per-
sonal grudge. A day or two later he
was fired at by Berezowski, whom, to the
infinite disgust of Alexander, French
jury found guilty, with extenuating cir
cumstances. Every one knows how N.
Floquet distinguished himself on the
occasion of the Cars visit to the Palace
of Justice. But 1t is not so generally
we'll known how well the Gear came out
of the ordeal. At the words "Vive
Pologne," he turned iowa ds the speaker
and Slightly bowed, merely remarking
to friend, 81 could scarcely have be-
lieyed him SO ill-bred," for N. Floquet
wore the gown of barrister and the
Emperor naturally considered q member
of that profession would, e1 cticfo, be y
gentleman.
Another story of the Emperor 3 travels
brings out in relief the princely style he
las Of doing things. He was shown over
Cologne Cathedral by verger who was
ignorant Of his rank, but proved very
well-informed cicerOne. The Gar, well
pleased, presented him with 50O-franc
nnte on quitting the building. 81 can't
take that" said the man, who thought
he was being put off with a small piece
of that villainous paptr which was once
the chief circulating medium OF the
Fatherland. The Emperor looked at him
for half moment In mild wonder when
The words were repeated in a somewhat
saucy tone. The Emperor then quietly
took back the note aud handed the verger
a napoleon, But the veIger is under
stood to have pulled out tufts Of his own
hair that same evening when be learnt
whom he had affrOnted and what he had
lost.
The Czar Is very gener us, especially
to his personal retainers. One day he
found an aide-de-camp who had fallen
asleep in an antechamber. On the table
at which he had been sitting was sched.
ule of debts, which the young officer had
drawn up by way of aiding his memory
' and formidable figure they amounted
b to. "Who on earth is to pay these ~ nc
had written in a despairi"g way at the
foot OF the paper. ,,,
The Emperor took up pen and iigh.
tly wrote the answer, 81, Alexander;
By and by the officer was sent for, good
humoredIy admonished not to sleep OF
duty and given the exact sum required
= IN make him q free man. OF course al
" imperial purse enables Its owner to b
liberal; and whatever the Empero
nleases he can theoretically take from
y The treasury. But practically, and TO
10 every shame's sake, he 10 limited to tn
K sum he allots himself under the .nee'
of "Ministry of the Household" A
10 the same time it must be admitted ths