The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1892-11-22

ever crowned.
Then came Alexander the Second, the
father of the present emperor. Amid the
mightiest opposition and innumerable
protests he, with one stroke of his pen
emancipated twenty million serfs, prac.
tically saying: go free. Be your OWE
masters, and this is for you and your
children forever" On the day ne was
basely assassinated (and L will paren
thetically say that I saw his carriage il
splinters as it looked when he stepped
from it, not to save himself, but to look
after some poor people III the street who
had been hurt, and 1 saw the bed or
which he died. the mattrass yet crimson
with his life's blood Jon the day he was
assassinated he had on his table, found
afterward, a free constitution that pro
posed to give the right of suffrage t.
the people of Russia. If it had not beer
for the assassination he would have
soon signed that constitution, but that
horrible violence put things back as
violence always does. What Il marvel
Gus character Of kindness was Alexan.
der the Second. the father of the present
emperor, SO that the present emperor
Alexander the Third, inherits his be
nightly. Alexander the Second, hearing
that a nobleman had formed a collspir.
acy against his life, had him arrested
Then the eyes of the criminal We're band
aged, and he was put i'll carriage anG
for some time travelled on. only stopping
for food. After awhile the bandage was
removed, and supposing that he must
by that time have been almost in Siberia
hot H., = l.
own home. But this punishment was
sufficient.
The same emperor, having heard that
d poet had written poem defamatory
of his empress, ordered the poet into his
presence. Expecting great severity, the
poet entered the palace and found the
emperor and empress and dukes and
duchesses gathered together. Good
morning" said the emperor to the of
fender II hear you have written a
most beautiful poem, and 1 have sent
for you that YOU may read it TO us and
we may have the pleasure of hearing It,"
The man cried out, Send me to Siberia
or do anything with me, but do not
make me read this poem III your pres
ence.' He was compelled to read the
defamatory poem, and then the empress,
against whom it was aimed. said: Il do
not think he will write any more verses
about us again. Let him 60" And SO
he was freed. And now comes in Alex
ander the Third, doing the best things
possible for the nation which he loves
and which as ardently loves him. But
what an undertaking to rule one hun
dred and twelve million people, made
up of one hundred tribes and races and
speaking forty different languages. But,
notwithstanding all this. things there
move on marvelOuSly well. and i do not
believe that out of five hundred thou
sand Russians you would find more than
one person who dislikes the emperor,
and SO that calumny of dread of assas-
sinatiOn drops so fiat it can fall no hatter.
Calumny the Second-lf you go to Rus
STA you are under severest espionage
stopped here and questioned there and
in danger of arrest. But my opinion is
that If man is disturbed i'll Russia it is
because he ought to be disturbed. Rus
STA Is the only country III Europe i'll which
my baggage was not examined. I car
ried in my hand. tied together with a
cord, SO that their titles could be seen, a
pile of eight or ten books-all of them
from lid to lid cursiDg Russia-but l had
no trouble ia taking with me the books.
There Is ten times more difficulty IN get
ting your baggage through the Ameri-
sian. speak not of myself. for friends
intercede for me on American wharves,
and / am not detained. l was several
days in Russia before was asked if l
had any passport at all. Depend upon
it, ii hereafter man believes he Is I'M
comfortably watched by the police of
ST. Petersburg or Moscow, ii is because
there is something suspicious about him,
and you yourself had better, when he is
around, look after your silver spoons.
promise you. an EOucst man or al honest
woman. that when Won go there, as
many of YOU VIII. for European travel
is destined to change its course from
southern Europe TO those northern re-
gions you will have 10 more mOlesta-
ton or supervisal than in Brooklyn or IN
New York or the QuietcSt Long Island
village.
Calumny the Third-RUssia and its
ruler are so opposed to any other religion
except the Greek religion that they will
not allow any other religion; that moth
ing but persecution and imprisonment
and outrage intOlerable await the dis
ciples of any other religion. But what
are the facts? l had Il long ride in St.
Petersburg and it, suburbs with the pre-
feet a brilliant, efficient and lovely man,
who is the highest official III the city of
st. Petersburg, and whose chief business
is to attend the emperor. said to him,
Il suppose your religion is that of the
Greek church, No" said lie, Il am
a Lutheran" What is your religionY'
said to one of the highest and most in
huentiaI officials at st. Petersburg. He
said, Il am of the Church of England"
Myself, an American. of still another
denomination of Christians, and never
having been inside Greek church in
my life until went to Russia, could not
have received more consideration had 1
been baptized i'll the Greek church and
all my life worshiped at her affairs.
had it demonstrated to me very plainly
that mans religion in Russia has moth
ing to do with his preferment for either
office or social position. The only ques-
lions taken into such consideration are
honesty, fidelity, morality and adapta-
ton. l had not been in st. Petersburg
an hour before 1 received an invitation
TO preach the Gospel of Christ as | be-
lieved it. Besides ali this, have you for
rrnffap thar th.a Erimp1n war which