Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1892-11-26

stead iT0lS, or -, TaTiT0ii1 1l1s Tee &c rs
or for the torch of tlru villain thatecon
sumes block of houses, OF for the.ruf
fans who arrest rail train, making the
passengers hold up their arms until th,
pockets are picked? Why then hold the
emperor of Russia, who Is as impressive
and genial i man as have ever looked
i at OF talked with, responsible for the
wrongs enacted il "a nation with q popu
laticn more than twice rs large III mum
bers rs the millions of America?
Suppose one monarch in Europe ruled
over England, Scotland, Ireland, France
Germany, Spain, Italy, Austria, Nor
way and Sweden. Would it DO fair tc
hold the monarch responsible for all thai
occurred in that mighty dominion
Now younust remember that AleSan
der the Third reigns over wider do,ilin
ionsthan all those empires put together
Asa nation is onl y "a manor oman
on q. big scale lotlne ask, Would sJer
Individually prefer ~ he julgelsbg yolii
4 or 3arsy rtues2 al people, ex,
scepto ussel ives, il:lYe "a llt
prssifnist attemp ting
your Bio grap I'D
weaker moods. AMI the picture Of yol
on the first page, Of your biography
would be as you looked after some
meanncss had been practiccd On you aud
you were tearing mad. Now, as Lam AL
optimist, ]. give you fair warning that il
/ ever write your biography will tal:t
you as you looked the day your divi-
dends came in twenty per cent. larger
than yon ever anticipated, or the inoraing
on your way to business after your first
child was born, nr the morning aftei
your conversion, when heaven HAD
rolled in on you. soul The most ac-
cursed honluuculi of all the earth are
the pessimists, who. whether they judge
individual or national character, nn,l
whether they WELL tongue or. pen, are
filed with anathematization, and who
have more to say about the frecEles on
the cheek Of beauty than Of the sunrises
and sunsets that flush it.
1t is most important that this country
have right ideas concerning Russia, for
among all the nations this side of
heaven Russia is Americas best friend.
There has not been an hour in the last
scventy-Gve years that the 9Iipwrec!s of
free institutions in America would not
have called forth from Ill the despotis:ns
Of Europe and Asia q shout Of gladness
wide ~ earth ard deep as rerdition.
But whoever else failed us, Russia never
did. and whoever else was doubtful,
Russia never was. Eussi;. then az old
government, smiled on the cradle of our
government while yet in its earliest in
fancy. Empress Catherine of Russia in
17?G or thereabouts offered kindly inter
ference that our thirteen colonies might
not so down under the cruelties Of war.
Again. in 1918, Russia stretched forth
toward us IL mcrciful hand. When Our
dreadful civil war was raging, and the
two thunder clouds Of northern and
southern valor clashcd, Russia practi-
cally said 10 the nations Of Europe,
keep your hands of and let the brave
men of the north and the sorth settle
their own troubles" Prince Gortscha-
koE, the Russian statesman, diplomalist
and prime minister, dnrillg that war
locked earnestly into the face Of Bayartl
Taylor, our minister plenipoteiltiary to
Russia, and said: Russia alone has
stood By you from the first, and we will
continue to stand by you. You know
the sentiment of Russia. We desire,
above all things, the maintenance Of the
American Union IS one indivisible
Union. We cannot take eny part more
than we have done. We have no hos
tility to the southern people. Russia has
declared her position and will maintain
it. There will be proposals for inter-
vention. We believe that intervention
could do no good at present. Proposals
will be made to Russia to join III some
plan of interference. She will refuse
any invitation of the kind Russia will
occupy the same ground as at the begin
ming of the struggle. You may rely
upon it, she will not change -
l rehearsal some of those scenes to the
emperor last July. saying, You were
too young to remember the po-
sition your father took at that time, but
with radiant smile he responded. oh,
yes; I remember, I remember" and
there was an accentuation of the words
which demonstrated to me that these
occurrences had often been talked of in
the imperial household.
stood on New York Battery during
the war, as 1 suppose many of You did,
looking OF through lnagnifying glass
upon feet of Russian ships. what
ere they doing there?' asked, and SO
every Que asked. "What business have
the Russian wa,ships in OUT New York
harbor?' Word came that another feet
of Russian warships was in San Fran
cisco harbor. s'What does this meant"
our rulers asked, but did not get imnle-
date answer. In these two American
harbors the Russian fleets seemed sound
asleep. Their great mouths of iron
spoke not word, and the Russian hag,
floating in the air or dropping
by the flagstaff, made no answer to our
William II. Seward,
secretary Of state, asked the Russian
minister at Washington the meaning of
those Russian ships in American waters
and got no satisfactory response. Adj,
miral Farrasut said to Russian officer
after dining in the home Of the eminent
politician, Thurlow Weed, that maker
and unmakcr of presidents, "What are
you doing here with those Russian yes
sels of war;"
Not until the war was over was it
found out that in case of foreign inter
vention all the guns and The last gun of
these two fleets in New York and San
Francisco harbors were TO open in full
liapason upon any foreign snip that
should dare to interfere with the right
Of Americans. north and south, to Set