St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1894-11-08

strlcted, had faint Semblance OF 1ree-
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 never a pleasant one in Russia, be-
came the subjects of the most malevo-
lent persecution.
With private citizen the presunp-
ton is for innocence till guilt is proved;
with hereditary ruler the chances are
even, but with an absolute dler, espe-
cially Romanoff, the presumption is
always that he is despotic We may,
therefore, with perfect safety, reject all
the excuses made for Alexander III that
he was kept in 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 cruel necessity. That he
was devoted husband and father is to
bis credit; some of the worst persecu-
tors have been so. The hard, cruel fact
remains that he reversed all the liberal
movements of his father, gave the penal
laws sharper edge, treated Jews and
Poles with atrocious cruelty, adopted
the worst features of SO called panslav-
ism and to the very last quarreled Bit
terly with his son for not being equally
bigoted and intolerant.
He was most fortunate in his mar
rage Indeed the whole history of the
Danish royal family is the pleasantest
In the recent annals of Europe and is
delightfully."- colored with romance. King
Christian TX and Queen Louise began
life i'll quite humble rank compare
lively, for he was merely the fourth son
of Duke William of Sleswick- Holstein,
but when the old royal line became ex-
tinct the great powers combined to ex-
tinguish jealousy by making this youn-
ger son king of Denmark, and he took
the throne Nov. Is, 1868. His Oldest
daughter is now Princess of Wales, and
his second the widowed czarina. His
second son is King George 1 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 when she married the czarowitz,
gave up her German Professionalism and
became a member of the Greek Catholic
church, and by all accounts has intro
duced a much needed element of mild
ness within the blood of the imperial
family, for among a thousand contra
dictions it is at least agreed that her
son, the successor of Alexander III, is
purely German Danish and quite unlike
his father in form and disposition. Five
children were born to the car and GA
rina-Nicolas Alexandrowitch, born at
st. Petersburg May 10, 1868; George
Alexandrowitch, born May 9, 1871;
Xenia Alexandrowna, born April 6,
1875; Michael Alexandrowitch born
Dec. 5, 1878, and lgaAlandrowna, born
June IS, 1882.
Of his children the czar, as a model
family man, was very fond, and many
stories are told of the methods he used
to adopt to give them pleasure. He was
very fond of amateur theatricals, and
he was never happier than when get
ting up plays in which his children were
to figure as actors. Like Charles Dick
ems, he got an amazing amount of en-
joyment out of the details of improvis-
ing 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-possibly king
doms-and young girls destined perhaps
to be the mothers of long lines Of princes
and princesses.
In religion Alexander III was thor
ough bigot. He never once doubted
that he was the Lords anointed, ru1-
ing all Russia and her subject prov
inces by divine right, and that Jews,
Stundists Mennonites and others who
did not implicitly obey his directions
were in rebellion against God and de-
serving of little consideration. The Ro-
manoffs have always been given to
sort of brutal devotion, and the natural
bent of AleXander's mind was intensi-
fed by the teachings of his tutor, NJ.
Pobiedonotsoff, in later years the much
feared chief of the holy synod of the
Russian church. Nevertheless he taught
that Alexander III was the only Euro
pean sovereign of his time who never
kept mistress. He was frantically de-
vout, and his views on education were
those of the Russian priests AS head of
the church he consistently opposed ev-
cry form of instruction not controlled
by the priests.
Alexander III was man of remark
able physi cal force. He stood feet
inches in his stockings, and it is told Of
him that he could take silver coin of
the size of a dollar and double it be-
@3