New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1879-09-03
Peculiarities Of I've Czars.

S~e~SEsW~S>S ~SNSOOOsovaVAA
and Herculean stature. to which were
added strength and courage Of no
common sort. He once collared an
insurgent peasant in the midst Of his
comrades, and killed him with sin
gle blow of his fist. Orlof's Secreta-
~ was Gen. Dusselt, man of infa-
nous character and brutal manners,
whom Russian society loathed; and
these two men received . commission
to terrorize the Empires task in
which they succeeded thoroughly. All
that they did, however, fell short of
what the brooding, affrighted Car
wished to do. Nicholas proposed that
all the universities should be abol-
ished, and he could only be coaxed
out of his idea by Orloff's assurance
that reduction Of the number of stu
dents to three hundred in each univer-
sity would make these places man-
ageable and answer the same purpose.
There seemed to have come over Mich
olas madness like that of Tiberius.
Alone in his palace, like the Roman
tyrant in his island, he did not, after
the manner Of the latter, consult astrol-
ogers about the future; but he aban-
Oned himself to the practices of 3
mystical religiousness, and grew more
and more rooted in the idea that while
thus brooding solitary he was living in
communion with his God. His hypo-
chondriacal fancies delighted in
those passages from the Old Testa-
ment where the IS Lords anointed'' are
described ~ ruthlessly discriminating
all who opposed them; and he was
hardened against pity because he con-
ceived it would be q derogation from
his semi-divine majesty to show weak
ness. Nwas in keeping with the be-
lief in his heavenly investiture that to
the end Of his life he walked and drove
about unattended through the streets
OF st. Petersburg, having made up his
mind that If an assassin tried to MUIR
der him Providence would interpose in
his favor. Latterly he forbade that
anybody should salute him in his walks;
not because he was tired Of public hon.
age. but because he objected to the
French fashion Of bowling by lifting the
hat as too frivolous. What he liked
was the deeply deferential folding of
the hands across the breast and the
salaam almost to the ground which is
the old Russian and Oriental style.
Sometimes he would come across q
peasant, who, disregarding the police
injunction, would fatten himself out
on all tours with his forehead in the
mud; then ne would say graciously.
''God be with you, my SOM and make
the sign Of the cross with three fingers
as il he were officiating ponti6cally.
There is no doubt that the unfortunate
Prince was crazed. A despot who
could have ladies arrested as they were
leaving ball at his palace and taken
to police station to be whipped for
imprudent words spoken in his hear
ing must have lost all sense of his be-
ing mere human creature. But there
was also in the manner of Nicholas
death whether he persisted by his own
hand or died broken-hearted at the sue
cess of the Anglo French armies in the
Crimear-the evidence of q pride which
had swollen till it became disease. It
is said that in his last moments he re-
peated to his heir, whom he had long
suspected of Liberalism and kept under
close police supervision: Remember
my lessonsr'
In Alexander II. the human fiber has
always been more tender than in his
father. He is not cruel, and, though
mystically inclined, has never got
further than bewilderment in trying to
guess what exact measure of authority
he has derived from Heaven. He NUT
ters sacred words as If they were
learned by heart, and accepts acknowl-
edgments Of his divine right with q
puzzled air, as if trying to read in the
eyes of his courtiers whether they truly
believe what they are saying. He has
visited France, where monarchs are
held Of little account, and England,
where the Queen enjoys popularity
and worship which are not evolved
from terrorism, but from q system Just
the opposite. Then he has been to
Germany, and learned from his uncles
and nephews that the prestige Of an
Emperor must depend on the number
OF his regiments. All this has confused
him; and, to make matters worse, he
has been distracted by the conflicting
counsels Of statesmen, soldiers and Of
Princes. his sons-some urging him in
one direction, some in another, and all
trying to explain in fashions Of their
own the long and dismal wall that has
arisen from . people cruelty misgov-
erned and prosecuted. Perhaps the
Car has really not been able to under
stand what this means. The other
day, after his life had been attempted,
he tainted away; and tits said t64E>h1'
has hardly yet recovered from & state
Of nervous prostration. This alone
would seem to show that he was not
fully aware Of the alarming condi-
ton to which his Empire has
come. Had it been otherwise, Alexan-
der was scarcely the man to court as
sassination BY walking alone in pub
lilo thoroughfare; for, though brave like
Ill his race, he is not f0olhardY. He IL
too much beloved by his family and by
his personal encourage to run any dam
ger 81 foul play within bis own pal.
aces, like Peter III, Paul and 20 many
other Cars Of the past; and, knowing
this. he would have probably chosen to
live in quasi seclusion until the present
agitation had subsidized, had he sus-
pected how serious this agitation was.
Alexander, however, has always been
indebted for his views to secretaries,
who made up for him . daily journal Of
extracts Quilted from different papers,
and there Is no reason to believe that
these extracts were selected 30 a. 20
lay the whole unpleasant truth before.
the Imperial reader. Perhaps, Also,
the Gar was partially instructed BY
private corresp0 ndence from Germany,
but here again it = doubtful whether
he always got the sort Of information
that would open his eyes. His state 81
this moment must be 8 pitiable one, for
9 Sovereign undeceived Is one who
feels that 10 has been duped. Under
such circumstances the fear Is that :
man Of weakened mind like Alexander
may give way to the impulses of nm
reasoning terror. and Try scope il the