, 1881-04-30
THE NEW CZAR.
Prom the SPECTATOR


The noisy, and in some quarters unreal
outburst of horror which has followed the
assassination OF the Emperor Alexander,
must not blind uR to the immense impor-
lance of the event. 1T shakes every throne,
and may profoundly modify the policy not
only of Russia, but of every other country
in Europe. The party of assassination has
not only, for the first time in modern
European history, succeeded in a murder
Gus plot, but has succeeded under circum-
stances which make it's success terribly
Ominous for the future. The spell which
best guarded the Kings, the secret belief
of millions that Providence specially
watched over their lives, has been rudely
broken. The best protected monarch In
Europe, a Sovereign guarded not only by
innumerable soldiery and ubiquitous police,
but by the devotion of the immense Inaj0-
rity of his subjects, who was the object
almost of alteration to millions of emanci.
pated slaves, and who could at any mo.
ment have challenged a plebiscite with the
certainty of a practically unanimous reply
has been blown to pieces by a boy in sight
of bis own palace. His popularity profec-
ted him no moro than his bayonets ms
services shielded him no more than his spies.
Every King in Europe knows to-day that,
as the Emperor of Germany instantly per.
ceived, he is d~efenceless. that though grit
with the love of millions, any group of
men, however small or however insignia
can't, can, if they will but give their lives
for his, terminate his reign. There are
probably not FIVE hundred, possibly not
two hundred, Nihilists of the assassin type
in all Russia, and the war they have alrea.
dy proclaimed against Alexander III. is
greater danger to himself and his dynasty
than a formidable insurrection would have
been. That fact shakes every throne,
deprives all monarchs of their Serenity,
and must affect for evil the relations Of
all kings and all subjects. Nothing hardens
the heart like chronic terror, and nothing
so destroys confidence between the peoples
and their rulers as the sense in the minds
of the latter that services will awaken no
effective gratitude, that the man who has
faced all risks to relieve his subjects may
yet be sentenced by a section of them, o
mere group, a clique among the millions
to a sudden and a horrible death. Every
King will feel himself challenged, and Will
doubt, if only for the moment, whether his
true attitude should not be defiance, whes
Their, if this is the reward of great popular
acts, it might not be better to resist than
to fulfil the aspirations of his people. "A
shock which produces that result Is m
immense evil, and it is but n of the
many which may spring from the Nihilists'
great crime. 1"sail4if .f8a4 g.,sa sye4
Pro taato. their act must strengthen des-
potism in Russia. Not only are all mode.
rate reformers discredited by it, not only
are all reactionaries furnished with q new
weapon, but the monarch himself is COM.
PEELED to doubt whether, as 2 gentleman
and soldier-and every Russian Car must
be soldier, first of all-he can beart0 make
concessions which will be attributed to
fear. There is no doubt, We imagine, in
any reasonable mind OF what Russia at
this moment needs. She wants FIST OF oil
an audible voice, o Representative Oonncil,
with the right of free speech and ne
inquiry, which can openly discuss the sv.is
of the empire, openly censufe omcl.1s,
openly tell the Emperor in Whist diTeetlon
his people ask him to employ his absolute
power. 1t is not so much the autocracy -
the regime of silence which Russia desires
to terminate. Very little is over known
of Grown Princes, whose position in every
country is difficult in the eytrome, 80 DIM