Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1894-11-09

stricted, had faint semblance of free
dom under the old, was fettered abso-
lutely under the new regime; Siberia,
bad enough always, became the horror
of the century; the Jews, whose lot
was mex er pleasant one in Russia, be-
came tho subjects of the most malevo-
lent persecution.
With private citizen the presunip.
ton is for innocence till guilt is proved;
with n hereditary ruler the chances arc
even, but with an absolute 4 ..ler, ospe-
cially Romanolf, the presumption is
always that he is dospOtic. We may,
therefore, with perfect safety, reject all |
the excuses made for Alexander III that |
he was kept i'll ignorance of the horrors |
of Siberia; that the real condition Of |
his subjects was carefully concealed |
from him, and that he was only cruel |
where it was a cruel necessity. That he |
was devoted husband and father is t. !
his credit; some of the worst persecu-
tors have been so. The hard, cruel fact |
remains that he reversed all the libor:
movements OF his father, gave the penal
laws "A sharper edge, treated Jews AID
/ Poles with atrocious cruelty, adopted
/ the worst features of so called panslav
ism and to the very last quureled bit
to,I, with his son for not beinp ennailv
bicoted and intoleraut
an was most fortunate in his mar.
riooe Indeed the whole history of the
Danish royal family is the pleasantcst
in the recent annals Of Europe and is
delightfully."- colored with romance. King
Christian TX and Oucon T,o11ise broan
lifo in ouitn humble ran1, co,nD9ra-
tiyelv. for me was merely the fourth son
Of Duke William of Slcswick Holst,ir.
but when the old roval line became OK.
tinct the great powers combined to OK.
tippuish iealorsv bv making this voun-
ger son king Of Denmark. and he took
tbe throne Nov. Is. 1868. His Oldest
daughter is now Princess of Wales. and
his second the widowed czarina. Ills
second son is King George l of Greece,
and the other daughter and two SONS are
most royalty connected. So little Den
mark. largely because it is little and not
dangerous, is prolific Of ROYALTY.
Maria Dagmar became Maria Feodo-
roma whcne she married the czarowitz
gave IN her German Professionalism and
became "A member of the Greek Catholic
church. and bv all accounts has intro
duced much needed clement of mild
ness within the blood Of the imperial
family for among a thousand contra
dictions + is ut least agreed that h r
son. the successor Of Alexander III. is
purely German Danish and quite unlike
his father in + I'm and disposition. Five
rina-Nicoas Al, xandrowitch, born at
St. Petersburg May IS, 1865; Georee
Alexandrowitch born May 8, 1871;
Xenia AloXandrOwna, born April 6,
1915; Michael Alelandrovitch born
Dec. >, 1878, and olga landrowna, BON
jane -, 1882.
OF his children the car, as a model
family man. was very fond, and many
stories are told of the methods he used
to adoUt to Give them pleasure He was
very fond Of amateur theatricals. and
he was never hammer than when get
ting M plavs in which his children were
to 1icme as actors Like Charles Dick
ems. he got an amazing amount OF en-
jovment out Of the details of imnrovis-
iug play. wardrobe. curtain and every
accessory out of ordinary materials and
in the face Of serious difficulties. Be
sides his own children the actors almost
invariably included the elder children
at the court, Young lads who some day
might rule provinces-Dossiblv king.
doms-and Young Girls destined perbups
to be the mothers of long lines of princes
aid princesses.
In religion Alexander III was thor
ough bipot. He never once doubted
1 did not implicitly obey his directions