The Opelousas courier., 1889-03-02
NlHILlsrs IN RUSSIA.

. ing Stories About the Tsar.
absurd stories are printed
I hput the Tsar!"
b Nhe speaker was G. V. N. Lothrop,
FL AM1nister to Russia, whore he spent
81 8Sferal years before he resigned his
dSomatic mission, His beautiful
dat Inter accompanied him to St.
Pet asburg and was wooed and won by
an oIIdcer in the imperial guard, Baron
hueR. MI. Lothrop is a hale, active
lookl' g man, over sixty years old, and
studio ! the Russians and their customs
when -ot engrossed with diplomatic
duties, He resides in Detroit and likes
to visit Washington. He was here not
long az and submitted to an inter-
us tlPTsar in constant dread that
an after Twill be made upon his life?"
mo. every thing should be true
that is resstten about the Tsar, he
would cer;sh ply occupy a position that
none could Dry. His bomb-proof bed
room, secret hambers and passages
for escape thasove often described in
the papers are ey De inventions.
81 remember an sic over a yea ago
when the last atty OF was made by
the Nihilists to assass ,ate him, he ap-
peared that very night &aais brothers,
the Grand Duke Vladim.Ims a ball,
and was as calm and uncoh ssoci nd as an
American citizen would be W fes-
tivity here. / did not know the. ~
an attempt had been made upon eeamas
life, and none of the guests knew lit
The Tar did not change his intentions
of attending the ball because he came
near being killed. He is a true repre-
sentative of the Romanoff family, and
| do not believe he knows what fear is.
Educated as a soldier, and knowing
the dangers that surround the ruler of
Russia, he has thus far shown a
bravery and disregard for his secret
enemies that a only be admired.
1.-The idea, too, that he never ven-
lures outside of his palace without a
strong guard is entirely erroneous.
One day / vas walking along the
streets of st. Petersburg with my
daughter when / suddenly heard some
one neal me say, ''There goes the EN-
peror." l turned in time to see and
bow to him. He was in a carriage
with his wife, but there was no guard
and nc retinue of liveried servants.
From what / learned he often drove
about the city almost unattended.
Many wonderful stories have been
written in foreign papers about pre-
cautions taken at his country palace at
Gatschina to prevent attempts to as
sassinate him. Gatschina palace is
not a bristling armory, and the En-
peror enjoys himself when attending
to affairs of state like any Russian
citizen of the higher class"
"Are there not many Nihilists con-
stantly on the alert to kill the Tar.
"'There are Nihilists in Russia and
they are active, too. They are Anar-
chists and Socialists. A better term
for them would be madmen, for they
are nothing more. 1 call them mad
men because what they attempt to do
is impossible. They think that be
killing the ruler of Russia they car, do
away with a despotic form of govern
ment. It is an gorgeous error as
history and common sense will teach
A successor to the Tsar will always
be found, and killing one does not bring
the Nihilists any nearer the liberal
form of government that they seem to
be struggling to establish.
'tThe Nihilists are not uneducated
people, being composed of students,
and frequently recruited from good
families. Many women of an adven-
turous turn, and generally well edu-
Gated, join the ranks of the plotters
and end in Siberia, if not perpetual
exile from Russia. They do not
specially demand a constitutional gov
eminent. Their idea is to oppose the
present a~utocratic form of government.
zone would suppose from reading
accounts of the Nihilists that they dis
turbed the social fabric of Russia to an
alarming degree and gave no time to
the people to think of any thing else
but them and their plots. The con-
trary is the case and Nihilism has as
sumed a magnitude in the eyes OF. the
world abroad much greater than it
really exists in Russia."-Cor. Chicago
Times.