The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1892-09-24
SEEN BY TALMAGE.
Pleasing Description Of a Happy
Monarch.
THE PRESENT RUSSIAN EMPEROR.
Some of HIS Psculiarities and GenerositieG
xplalned-Beloved by His
Subjects

porter or the World or more extended In
teryiew which would embody his views on
foreign ecclesiastics, as well as potentates,
replied that he had seen, both during his
| recent continental tour, under the most in
teresting circumstances, 1.-THE lord and
lady mayoress of London give their annual
banquet to the bishops of Great Britain.
and as one OF the guests and responders to
one Of the toasts, l had the opportunity of
seeing as splendid group of men as l ever
met 1t was the fret time that clergymen
outside of the Church Of England were in
vited, and Newman Hall and myself were
the exceptions"
"What of the emperor and empress of
Russiaan
"If l have been retlciept with regard to
hof it is through the prejudice l have
always mad about making private converse
tions public. All that are in public life
have been chagrined ct finding some day in
print that which we Intended only for one
auditor, SO l am always very cautious
about repeating that which was said to me,
unless the party speaking understood it
was going into print. Still, there can
be no objections to saying some
things about Russia which | have not said.
All admit there are great evils in that
country to be corrected. And all intelli-
gent Russians recognize that fact. But my
opinion is that the present emperor is q
N an great enough under God to correct
those evils. Let the nations of the earth
give him a chance. He is yet young man.
and from his appearance is destined to
/ longevity. What he eau do for the better
ment of Rusaa is beyond estimate.
! Having received an invitation to the pal
ace st Peterhof, the summer residence of
the emperor, about fifteen or twenty miles
from ST. Petersburg, [ went to the railroad
station at the hour appointed. a messen-
ger the day before called upon me at the
| hotel and gave me the information as to
what train to take. He met me at the
train. After ride through beautiful
region of country | arrived at tbs station
near the imperial grounds. The royal car
riage Was waiting, and the two decorated
representatives of the place took me to a
building where suite of three rooms was
appointed me, where l rested and iunched
and examined flowers and walked under
| trees.
After an hour and half I was told the
carriage was waiting, and after ride
among the fountains and statuary, and
roads winding through the parks of trees
from all lands, and flower beds, circular
|
| age of color, dismounted at the palace, OF
the emperor. having entered, | was taken
| to- the waiting room, where | had long
conversation with an aged prince, who has
! for many years waited upon the imperial
| family. He asked me many questions
about America and especially about COM
ing to Chicago to the Worlds fair, which
he regretted not being able to visit After
a while after the word came that the
4 Tn
led up by somewhat labyrinthine way,
among long line Of servants and to what
| seemed to be the third story of the palace
where l was again halted, an official
entered the emperor's room ana returned
leaving the door open and requested me te
enter. l found the emperor standing in
mid floor, and beside desk on which he
| had been writing, a desk loaded with
papers.
The emperor crested me with so much
heartiness that / forgot to say ''youl
majesty" and at the first glance, seeing
him to be a splendid gentleman, with nc
airs of pretension and as artless as any
man l ever saw, it seemed to me that we
were old friends ct the start. s'Sit down
he said, ''sit down." pointing to chair or
one side of the table, while he took a chain
on the other.
| Forge Gting the customary rule that one
must not ask questions of the emperor,
| asked him as many as he asked me- and he
answered mine as promptly and cheerfuily
as answered his. He is the picture Of
good health, and everything in his looks in
dicating good habits. The car seemed
happy The photographs of the car do no,
| give half the kindness of his countenance
If | ever saw happy man he seemed to be
one. The report that he is prisoner il
| his winter palace, and that he is in con-
! slant peril of losing his life is only
| one of the inuumerable falsehoods con
| stantly told about the emperor and about
Russia In the first place, he has never
| lived in his Winter palace since he has
been emperor. The Winter palace is eiver
up as q royal museum and for great ban
quets and receptions. l do not know why
| the emperor does not live there, but
imagine it is because the place is painfully
associated with the death of his father
who was carried from the street where be
| was wounded by dynamite into the palace
and there died. The bed on which he ex
PRED on 10 still red with the blood OF his shat
tered leg, as we saw it, and the rooms are
| exactly as they were on the natal Eornins
when he left them.
| The present emperor is not prisoner in
| the Winter palace, Or indeed anywhere
| else. When he rides out he goes unattend-
! ed, the empress by his side and only Q
driver on the box. The Russians well mig /
worship him, and l think no president OF
governor In America at any time feels him.
sell in less danger of assault. The czal
! has been eleven years on the throne, anC
his management of such al empire for
what would make nearly three presidential
| terms in America, has not put upon his
| face single mark of care or anxiety
do not believe there is happier ruler or
either hemisphere than Alexander Ill.
BY the way, when we call him the car,
we make q mistake, since the time OF
Peter the Great. the rulers of Russia have
not been cars, but emperors.
In our conversation we touched on po-
liticeI subjects. Much interesting talk
/ grew out of my remark to the emperor thai
there was a mighty struggle aoout what tt
do about education and PREPARATION for citi
zenship of newly emancipated people.
said abraham Lincoln freed 1000, 00t
slaves and your father freed 10000, 00t
Russian serfs, and the questions arising
| out of those two emancipations must in
volve American and Russian politics fol
the next half century" The emperor
thought SO too. but | will not repeat wha'
he said. But it is known by all intelli-
gent people of Russia that the emperor j.
| doing all he can for the mental and mora
betterment of the emancipated serfs. Five
times four are twenty and the greater
number of people suddenly freed in Rus
sia, as compared with those suddenly freed
| IN America, makes the task five times
harder.
"Do you regard the car as man Of
warp
81 am often asked whether conclude
| from this interview whether the emperor
is a man of war or man of peace. Mosi
emphatically the latter. If in our time
there is war in Europe Alexande- II
will not be its instigator. | think il 9th I
monarchs mind their own business alex
ander will mind his. But it is never safe
| to attempt to impose on q mild and genia