New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1880-04-18
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
the SOCIAL AND INTELLECTUAL LIFE OF
RIISSTA

f from the German. BY EDWARD FAInFAx TAYLOR
lFrsnkIin square Library, evo' PIP. 81 Harper
Brothers.
The present condition Of the Russian Empire II
regarded by the author of this work with the mos
gloomy forebodngs. II nothing is done to relieve
the pressure Of arbitrary rule, and TO meet thu
wishes for reform entertained by all Russians o.
sense and information, the collapse of the ancient
system in his opinion is inevitable and the present
state of things will be succeeded by the
violence of Revolution. Every day illustrates
moro clearly the ravages Of discomfort ano
internal decomposition, but nowhere can Oe
5disoerned the symptoms of reaction. Even
those who speak Of a reaction have no faith IN Its
possibility. The existing evils of society are re-
garded as more intolerable than those which would
arise from the violent overthrow OF the present
system. This is the reason why the courts OF JUS
tee act with 80 great lenity even toward the most
dangerous political criminals. This explains the
apathy of the party of order. who refuse to rally
round government which they distrust and fear.
The rest of Europe cannot contemplate q prospect
like this without alarm. The dangers of the present
crisis threaten the entire Continent. foreign war
will probably be the result of the domestic coDvu-
sions, and according to the views of the a1thor it
cannot be too forcbly proclaimed thatthe revolution
now imminent in Russia implies o terrible danger
to the peace and civilization of Europe
The purpose of the present work is to explain the
conditions of social and intellectual life In Russia
which have led to the prevailing DISCRIMINATION
and which menace the destruction OF the political
government and civil society of that nation III
common ruin. The writer enters upon his task with
the authority of one familiar with all the elements
of Russian society, and treats the subject from
Russian point of view. Opinions proceeding from
such a source have value of their own, irrespec-
two of the ideas OF foreign critics. and are indis-
pensable to an impartial estimate of the circunl-
stances which have turned the attention of Europe
to a State so unique in it's composition and so ex-
ceptional in its historical development.
The author introduces his narrative by rapid ex-
position of the political history of Russia since the
assassination of the Emperor Paul in the COM
mcneement of the present century. Upon the death
of their grandmother, Catharine H., in 1896, Alex
ander l. was only nineteen ard his brother Constan-
tine only seventeen years Of age Through the
arts Of their grandmother, they were estranged
from their father until his accession to the throne,
man embittered and irrtated by perpetual neglect.
He treated his eldest son from the first with
suspicion that approached hostility, and even his
fayorite Constantine lost the feeling of ter
ror In the presence of his father throughout the
five years of his reign. The smallest oversight of
military duty aroused the rage of the Emperor,
which might be expended on his children severely
as on any of his subjects. The military pr0pensi-
ties of the father corresponded exactly with those
of his son. who often surpassed his sire in the
pedantry Of spatterdash discipline The officers and
soldiers under his command feared the passionate
and reckless young man as much as they
did the Emperor himself, for he sought to
compensate for the i'll treatment he suffered by
rounding his person with double terrors. The malig
nant feeling of Paul toward his continued until
the death Of the former, and helped. no doubt. to
hasten that catastrophe. When ali was over, Alex
ander became Emperor. as Constantine had made a
VOW on the news of his fathers death, never to ac-
cept the Russian crown. Alexander permitted his
brother, to whom he was closely attached by the
days of their common trial. to have his own way,
far as possible. but he could never overcome the
awe of his wild and eaprcious nature, and often
compelled to interfere against his acts of brutality
aud fury. Constantines memory has outlived his
death (1931). as the type of a rough and impetuOns
and undisciplined son of the Gar. His personal
bravery and conduct in arms has made him the
Palndin of an epic cycle, who for years had been
the hero of the nursery and servants hall
of the Imperial palace, The real Arthur
of this Round Table. however, was Alex
ander, who has been described in Russian history
as the sovereign who reflected the most opposite
and contradictory tendencies of his time. But bis
conduct the author remarks. can only be explained
on the superstition that the collective Russian life
ut that day was essentially barbaric, and wholly
unaffected by those influences of European culture
which merely touched the surface. Yet Alexander
L. the typical representative of the period, and in
bis iDmost nature still remaining q barbarian, has
been treated by official historians as a being of
superior order, and looked mp to with admiration as
the model Of lberal-minded pOtentate. The
present Emperor and his brothers have been brought
up from their infancy in the worship of his memory,
and have been accustomed all their lives to venerate
The eldest brother of their father as one of the
greatest men of all times
The author makes strong point In his delineation
Of Russian society of the incapacity Of the higher
Government officials. OF some Of them it might
almost be said that they have become comic char
scters in the literature of their country certain
governor. who might be taken as type of the rest
e described in popular nOvelas chiefly remark
lble for bis skill in embroidery and other feminine
The appointments are made
mostly from military men. who are said to be no.
oriously incompetent for the work of civil admins
tration;-
OF the sixty.four provincial governors now hold
ng Office IN European aud AsiatIc Russia. more |
ban twenty are still military men by profession /; |
md out Of the remainder there are Large number
hc civil service. And as with the post OF Governor.
o with ministerial aud other high offices of State.
fbe late Minister of the Interior, General Tina
chef. was formerly a cavalry officer; Makoif, his /
colleague, and afterward his successor dotted his |
Jhlan uniform only few years ago; Greig, the
Minister of Finance was formerly in the Chevalier-
,arde Possiet. the Minister of Public Works, was
N old sailor Aud besides these military Ministers,
md the sons aud brothers of tho Emperor, who
lkewise belong to the military class, no less than
lincteen generals belong to the Plenum of the
1ouncil of state.
II is o remarkable fact, commented on by the au-
hor. that the intellectual leaders of modern de-
tructiye Radcalism in Russia have sprung in great
MEASURE from the high nobility of the country.
The near relatives Of Bakunin still figure in distin-
uisbed military positions; Prince Michael Krapot"
in, so often mentioned in the Socialist trials of