St. Paul daily globe., 1895-12-27
AUToCRAT OF RUSSIA.
Popular misconceptions as to His
Power Are Corrected by LobanoR.

Popular misconceptions as to His
Power Are Corrected by LobanOR.
In the course Of his recent conversa-
ton with M. de Blowitz in Paris, the
Russian foreign minister, Prince Lo-
banoff, said:
''It is great mistake to believe that
our emperor expresses his own will.
nothing but his will, and that this
will becomes the will Of the nation.
When the emperor expresses his will
1t must be understood that that will
has already become the will of the ma
ton, and that it has imposed itself
on certain select few Of the nation
who understand it and completely per-
sonify it. 1t is they, the chosen few,
who cause it to penetrate the highest
circles until it reaches even the mind
of the emperor. His counselors i'm
press the idea upon him as an inspira-
ton of the loftiest and truest wisdom.
1t becomes part of the atmosphere by
which he is surrounded. 1t sinks into
his mind and he in turn undertakes to
spread it abroad among the people.
"Thus, take for instance, the .eman-
that the Emperor Alexander II. con-
ceived it and carried it out unaided?
Do you suppose that one man by
single stroke Of the pen restored the
moral life and a human consciousness
to millions Of individuals who were
sunk in slavery? No! The idea of the
liberation of the serfs had fermented
for long years in certain minds either
from instinct Or from reason. To the
emperor is given the honor because it
was he who had the energy to take
it in hand, and he alone was in a po-
sition to carry it through, but the idea
germinated first among the people.
It was first the vague conception Of
certain superior minds. 1t took shape
and penetrated up to the imperial pal
ace. Then the emperor, seeing that the
time was ripe and that the measure
was necessary, by his supreme author
ity and formal will made the scheme a
reality.
''Yet by this act of emancipation the
Emperor Alexander II.has none the less
obtained everlasting glory, which must
be proclaimed, because it will be be-
slowed upon him by history. 1t was
owing to his energetic WILL to his per-
sistent infexibility, in spite of the ad-
vice of some of the most influential
persons of his Immediate encourage,
that that emancipation was brought
about-a reform which was one of the
most daring Of modern times and
which has remained blessing not only
for Russia, but for civilization as a
whole.
'"The task of an absolute emperor in
q dominion so vast as that of Russia
is crushing one, far exceeding the
strength of one man, however great
may be his capacity for work or his
Intelligence. The Emperor Alexander
III, with his loyal devotion to his du-
ties, wished to accomplish his task
the whole of his task. He sometimes
remained at his desk up to 2 or 8
o'clock in the morning, and then fell
upon his bed utterly worn out. He
died in the flower Of his age, entirely
owing, I am convinced, to an excess
of hard work. Consequently, as you
see, when people talk of the Russian
emperors as sovereigns whose single
Will dlrectS tne great empire SUCH re-
marks are absurd. The emperor Is the
head, he is the soul Of the nation. But
he calls to his aid auxiliaries who are
working for the same end as the en-
peror and attached to the same round
of duties, and they give Russia the
force secured by unity of action and
preserve it from the inconvenience of
single paramount power without
counterpoise"