, 1881-05-14

In late dispatches it vas reported that
at least L, 900 political prisoners we're 10
be imported to Siberia This rciyn Of
terror cannot long be maintained Re-
oeat reports from Russia appear 10 indi-
cate that the execution Of the Nihilpts
convicted Of complicity in the assassins-
,ion of the Car, instead Of ovefaving
their secret associates, has reused them to
more determined action. Il was the
necessity of his position that the new
Car cnuli not shoS NJ, rcy 10 tho Goa.
spirators who had succeeded IN e,mpass-
ing he dsash Of his father. But in send.
ii,s them t. the fate In y had cour.od and
defied. it is clear that he put his own life
in jeopardy. 1t is doubtful whether any
hing shor. Of granting eors'iu utional
form of government viii give him respite
from the nurdcrous assaults of those Who
work against him in the dark, Who have
doomed him to death, and, if the repcrts
from ST. Petersburg be true. have shown
that they we're able to ledge their death
dealing devices even within the precincts
Of the funeral chamber OF the late Czar.
All the accounts that reach ms indicate
that there is veritable reign Of terror in
ST. Petersburg; that even in his palace,
surrounded by his guards, the Car is not
secure from the machina,ions Of the mys-
terious society whose organisation is 80
perfectly broken up into separate and
distinct circles 1t operation that the arrest
of part of the members Of one circle
gives but faint clue to their immediate
associates, and no clue whatever to the
members Of the other circles. The num-
Der of Russians seized by the police of the
third section on the charge 1T being en-
gagged in Nihilistic plots, tried by Io,li-
tary court, and either executed or e1iled
To Siberia, Condemned to perpetual sur
veillance there, or 70 hard labor IN mines,
from which they ars never allowed to
emerge, may be counted by thousands.
Yet the active working force Of the Mill
lists seems not only to know no aha,e-
ment. but to increase in intensity of
action, in spite of the loss of associates
and the efforts made by the government
10 discover and suppress them. Their
field Of operations extends from the Baltic
Sea TO the Black Sea They have their
circles in all the great towas In European
Russia
The association comprises men at all
stations in life, from government officials
TO professors and students Of universities.
civil engineers, discontented landowners,
women of high and low rank. and men
engaged in handicrafts. Only the peasan-
try appear to be free from the taint Of
nihilism. 1t Is claimed hy its JEALOUS ad
vocates to be the intellect of young Rus
sia that Is engaged in struggle against
absoiu,ism, typi6ed in czarism, and will
ing to wade through blood to accomplish
its ends, regardless Of what may follow.
Call them what one w,ll-ansrch,sts, So
ciaiists, or blind, unreasoning fanatics,
without any ether object in view than
the destruction Of czarIsm-It must never
theless be acknowledged that they have
made themselves power whose orders
are carried out implicitly by the agents
selected by the chiefs of the society for
the work IN hand, however horrible the
thing may be they are appointed to do.
Nothing rs more remarkable IN the hiS
tory IF this terrible contest than the
9 eadfastness with which the DEGREES OF
the association have been persisted in.
From the moment it passed sentence OF
condemnation against the late Car it has
pursued him relentlessiy. Wherever he
went he found something to notify him
of the presence Of nihilis.s. Letters OF
warning and denunciation reached him in
the recesses Of his palace at ST. Peters
burg, at Noscoy, and even in his remote
summer retreat at Livadia. Every fail
ure Of one attempt upon his life was fol-
lowed by another. In his palaces, in his
gardens, on the public street or travelling
on railroads, he was never secure. Ar
rests, imprisonment, hanging, exile. did
not stop the fulhliment of tho decree;
and it was finally fulfilled, how horribly
every one knows. The life the late Car
led Of recent years must have been one
of perpetual torture. He knew that he
was dsomed. He did not know At what
hour he was destined to fall by the assas-
sins hand IL the new Ca, devoted al
ready BY the nihilists 10 the same fate, to
be more fortunate in battling themi