The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1892-06-06
include constitutional refe

his heart upon instigating war pei"sen
Russia and Turkey. and upon TINS event.
which would disturb everything IN rus
STA, he hoped to base his success. Follow
ing the suggestions Of those Of the con-
spirators who were in the RUSSIAN army,
Aksakow gained the aid OF Servla, OF, 70
speak more precisely, Russian agents weIs
sent into Servia who eventually innaineu
public sentiment there to sncn an eA-
tent that the unequal war OF little oeIs!a
against Turkey was instgateo' anu tn.s
provoked the declaration OF war by husSia
against the Ottoman empire. Trusting 10
tae assurances of lgnatiew, Gar Aie1an-
der III. was not sufficiently prepared wnen
he threw himself against turkey. near
Biela. in Bulgaria. he was surrounded oy
the Turks, and at Plevna the brave Os ,i
Pacha checked the Russian advance. inen
at last Alexander III. saw that ignatie%
had deceived him, and when, reproacheo
by the czar. the former ambassador 10
Turkey began to explain matters III an nm
pertinent fashion. the car lost all controi
OF his temper and struck his faithless ser
want several times. 1t goes without say
ing that Ignatiew saw IN this an ena 10
his official career. land all that was ieit LOT
HIM was to decide how he could revenge
himself most effectively for his fall and
disgrace.
Admiral Nicolas Tchichatchow. of Odes-
So (he is now minister of marine), an Old
fried of Ignatiew's, aided him In TINS mat
ter He showed Ignatiew how he might
take the place of Aksakow, and then
the car would be In his hanus.
Ignatiew followed Tchichatchow's plan,
and made a proposition to Aksakow 10
the effect that they should cooperate.
Aksakow knew that such an alliance
threatened him with certain peril, put
at the same time he recognized the
character of Ignatiew and the methods
he employed: there was nothing for
it but to accept the proposition.
Two mortal enemies to the Rus
came ostenslbly allies, each mean
while making attacks upon the other,
attacks equally perilous for Russian
officiaIdom. In 1875 and 1879 lgnatiew
artfully provoked political disturbance
in Kew. One of Ignatiews accompiices,
General Brenteln, who was then CHIEF oil
the gendarmes. exploited this disturbance
before the car as the manifestation OF a
very terrible agitation that embraced all
Russia; and the car, convinced, took
measures to suppress the agitation by APP
pointing an Armenian general, Michael
Loris- Melikow. dictator. This general
was a stanch friend of Ignatiew. Thus
Ignatiew strengthened the hands of the
conspiracy in general, and his own de-
signs in particular.
Macarius, Metropolitan of Moscow, and
General Michael Skobelew. who distin-
guished himself in the war with Turkey.
Macarius was a highly educated man and
an excellent theologian. As such he could
not but see the hollowness of the ortho-
dox religion (PrawoslawIel which, in
fact, is not Christian religion, but
simply a government cult (Kazionnaia
wiera), as it is called by the 3D.
100000 adherents of the ancient Rus
sian faith Drewneprayoslawie). MacarIus
had been archbishop In Wilma, Poland,
and in the capital of Lithuania. which is
also Polish town. His experience there
had convinced him that the constant fric-
ton between the Russians and the Poles
was largely due to instigation by the Ger
mans from outside and evil-disposed men
within the country; that Russia suf-
fered from it equally with Poland,
and that the fundamental cause of all the
trouble was the Russian government, a
government of functionaries only, whose
methods of administration were not con-
duciye to content and good order. Hold
Ing these convictions, he welcomed the
prospect of a change; he felt that the situ-
alton could not be made worse by revoiu-
ton, and with himself an influential men,
Der OF the revolutionary party he doubtless
hoped to accomplish such reforms as
seemed important to him as a prelate
He was remarkably popular with the Rus
sian clergy, upon whose active allegiance
therefore, Aksakow could rely. Michael
Skobleew was willing adherent to the
conspiracy, because of bitter disappoint-
ment that he had not been promoted after
the Turkish war. To him, so extensive
were the plans and SO profound the conf
dence of the conspiracy, Aksakow offered
the bulgarian crown.
Thus there were two powerful parties
In boz y, - &c
and each chief lighting cautiously against
the other. Such state of things could
not endure long. 1t was inevitable that
one OF the chiefs must give way or
the whole organization would fall
to pieces through treachery on one side or
the other, or through some blunder aris-
ing out Of excess of rivalry. The internal
struggle failed to destroy the design, but
it resulted in the other alternative, so that
now the conspiracy knows but one chief,
and that is Ignatiew.
The reader will recall that the car had
been Guped into appointing Ignatiew's
ally, Loris-Melikow. dictator. This man
has been mistakenly considered by many
people in Europe as liberal-an earnest
advocate of the institution of con-
stitutional government. He was, in
fact, quite the reverse, and in his ca
paclfy OF dictator he committed acts of ex-
treme oppression, and took care at the
same time to line his purse For example
in consideration of $500, 900 roubles, he
gave to one Juravlov, trader of Rybinsk.
the monopoly of the sale of all kinds OF
grain, compelling all other merchants to
submit to Juravloy's terms. So terrible
were the political and civic prosecutions
during his dictatorship that many highly
respectable Russians could not keep
quiet. conspiracy was organized that
Included men and women of every class,
from the aristocracy (Sofe Perovska.
daughter OF senator and niece of a min
ister) TO the peasantry tthe famous Jela-
bow. At the hands OF this conspiracy.
on the 1st of March. 1881, Alexander III.
was killed. and Loris -Meiikow fell.
By this event Aksakow's chances i'm
proved, and 1t behooved Ignatiew to strike
quickly and surely. His methods and his
success demonstrate his wonderful! per-
sonal influences. In enforced retirment
from public life he had, and has vet, a
host OF contederates in all parts of the
empire ready to do his bidding without
question. To begin with, General Skobe-
Lewis mother was killed while on her wav
to Bulgaria to demand the throne for
her son. After this METROPOLITAN
Macarius was poisoned, and two
German women Of ill-repute murdered
Skobelew in broad daylight in one of the
best hotels in Moscow. At last Aksakow
himself was poisoned. Thanks to Igna-
tlew : far-reachlng power there was no eff
tectlve search for the assassins of these
celebrated people, and for the same reason
nothing had been done about the murder