The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-12-27

which he had written In the Empcror's name
The manifesto was liberal In tendency, and. al
Count Loris explained, was substantially Tho
same as one ho had prepared at the suggestion
Of the dead Emperor.
Doubt SIN prevails as to precisely what hap
penod at this important session. According tc
one account, Alexander III. is said to have ap
proved Lurls-Melikoff' manifesto, writing or
the margin Every we'll done" From the same
source we learn that when the question OF thu
adoption OF the manifesto was put the Ministers
voted eight to i've for Its promulgatioh, Pobcdo'
nostzof OF course voting with the minority,
When the vote was announced II is said that
the Emperor expressed himself rs greatly
pleased, saying that he felt as IL n mountain had
been lifted of his shoulders.
The Council mot on March 90, but the mani.
festo was not issued until the 18th of May, and
1t fatty contradicted tho statements of that
which had been ratified by the Ministers. Clear
ly some now influence had been ut work on the
Emperor, and according to the current
story this new Influence was the new Over Proc
orator, Konstantine Pobedonostzeff. Prince
Mesh'tchersky has told the story in the GRAZ
ddnine newspaper. He says that when Katkoff,
the famous editor of the Moskofsky Vtedomosty,
learned what the Council of Ministers had done,
he hurried from Moscow to st Petersburg. and,
seeking Pobedonostzetf, brought all his powers
10 bear upon him to persuade him to oppose Lo-
ris-Melikoff's project. Leaving Katkoff. Prince
Mesh'tchersky continues, the Over Procurator
hnstened to the Anitchkoff Palace, and there, In
the Emperor's presence. delivered the first of his
patriotic addresses. This address produced two
consequences: The Emperor rejected Loris-
Melikoff's manifesto, substituting for 1t the one
he issued on May IL; and no renowned then
and there and forever. as the history Of his reign
shows, his adherence to liberal ideas. Prince
Mesh'tchersky says further that, shortly after
the meeting Of the Ministerial Council. Alex
ander III. summoned Pobedonostzetf and COM
missioned him to prepare a draft of a manifesto
in which the principle of autocracy was to be
vigorously asserted.
As has been said, this version of the impor-
tant session of the Council. although the one
generally credited, has been denied by Pobed-
onostzeff. He denies having seen the editor
Katkoff at the time mentioned by Prince
Mesh'tchersky; denies that the Emperor was
pleased with the action of the Council. On the
other hand. he admits that he voted against
Loris- Melikoff's draft, and asserts that the En-
peror had frequently complained OF the liberal
manifesto. Concerning the other allegation.
namely, that he visited the Emperor in the
Anitchkofr Palace, the Over Procurator has
preserved a stubborn silence. One thing is GER
Ihlhs I oDGdOIiostLCh NotSu khlhb
and scored his first decisive victory.
Having thus effectively checked aggressive
liberalism and safely rooted the sovereign
power In the only place where. as he considered,
It could possibly flourish, he set himself to up
building the ideal of nationalism. The means
to which he had immediate resort he himself
explained in an address delivered during the
past year before the Russian Historical Society.
In the beginning of the reign of Alexander Ill.
he said, there was founded at Moscow a club Of
cultivated persons who banded themselves To-
gether for the purpose of studying and per-
suadinR others to study the history OF Russia.
The members of the club agreed to declare
in both conversation and print the
sworn enemies of everything inconsistent with
the requirements of national Russian life.
Tho Moscow club also made 1t q virtue
to oppose cosmopolltanism in all its forms.
Mr.. Pobedonostzeff said that the Emperor
manifested a deep interest In the propaganda
of the society from the first, and eagerly alb
sorbed The Slavophile doctrines taught by its
In consequence OF this, Alexander
III. became not merely the autocrat of his peo-
pie. but their idol. tho incarnation OF their ma
tional aspirations. PobedonostZef watched
this apotheosis with mingled delight and pride:
for II the Slavophile policy, which was in after
years to be Identified with the personality Of
the Emperor. wa to be known by his name. the
credit OF having first given 1t utterance. of
in a very true sense. invented II, was
due to the Jealous Over Procurator.
To prevent misconceptions. it Is important
here TO note that when Mr.. Pobedonostzeff de-
clared himself the champion Of nationalism.
and persuaded the Emperor to adopt his
theories. he quite Enthusiastically limited his
of nationality so that It should in
clude only those OF his countrymen whose patri-
otism rested equally on a love OF country and q
strict observance OF the rites aud ceremonies of
the Russian Orthodox Church. Hence his
Russia for the Russians - is to be
Russia for the orthodox Russians"
1t Is important to keep this Limitation in
mind, in order not to misjudge the Over
Procurator's conduct. Admitting that State
and Church are independent in certain vital re-
spects, he ass erts the indIspensability of their
being mutually sustaining. and to be thus sus-
tanning they must be based on an identity of
belief. A secular government In q religious
State is in his theory a ridiculous contradiction
in terms, which is as fruitful OF dangers as
would be n double standard of moral conduct in
the individual. Faith" he writes with char
medieval mysticism. being accord
Ing to Its nature unconditional. can suf-
for nothing conditional in Its IDEAL Look
ing moro narrowly to his conception
Of religion, his views reveal the strong
Individuality OF his nature. He has explained
them at length in an essay In the Moscow
but they may be summarized thus:
Each nationality, by virtue of It's inbred Pc
culiarities and characteristics. evolves q form
Of religious worship peculiar to itself. And as
no nation worthy Of the name can be based on
3 multiplicity of elements. but to be strong
must DO united. SO no nation can have more
han one form Of religious belief. The Germans
have theirs. the Italians theirs, the English
heirs. and Russia's 10 incarnated In the ortho-
lox ritual. ceremonies. and theology. To admit
If another or others would be quite as dangerous
As to admit Of several different kinds of civil
governing the empire at one and
he same time.
From this conception Of the Heterogeneous
If Church and State proceeds. BY logical Sc
Iucnco, the justification of the Over Procura-
.or's crusade against tho Jews. and against all
of religious dissent In the empire. II
rom time to time he has permitted himself to
from his theory, he has done so grudR-
ngly and has regretted his lenity afterward.