Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-10-01
THE CARS PERSONALITY
Great Power Exercised by the Author Of the
Peace Manifesto.
The superb Independence and High
Courage Of the Young
Emperor.


Petersburg serious, commanding, so
different from all previous vain and transit
tory attempts to reconcile Christian princi-
pies with Christendom. is the person who
utters It. Some people have foolishly call
ed the cars manifesto "Cobdenite'' Cob
den, at the height Of his influence multi
piled thousandfold. could never have
awakened thousandth part of the echo
which rolls back on our ears from all
ners Of the civilized world from the simple
words of young man. proclaiming what
everybody already knew about the waste
fulness and danger of the armed peace.
This is because no man, old or young, in
all the earth holds anything like the posi-
ton of Nicholas the car.
In certain real sense Russia Is not gov
erned by the emperor for the time being
who Is her nominal ruler. She is governed
first of all by tradition. finding Its most
concrete expression in the will of Peter the
Great. which, If vague and elastic. like our
own constitution, Is even more powerful
to constrain and enjoin. Next she is gov
erned by the Orthodox Church and the
army, both in their spheres despotic, and
capable of secretly debating to the boldest
ministers and the most Independent SOW
ereigns. Lastly, though without direct rep
reSentation, the merchants the aristocracy
and the inarticulate but omnipotent masses
Of cattle-like peasantry help to govern Rus
sia-military policy being largely in the
hands of the colonies on the frontier. who
are in turn played with by palace adven-
turers. But to each and all of these the
car, the central figure, the focus OF this
barbaric Slav system, is indispensable; and
In spite Of all the checks provided by those
national lines of steel upon which the
Little Father" must move and live the per-
sonal power and authority of the ruling
car imply the most real. solid and stu
pendous Individual prerogatives ever exer-
cised by potentate.
When some asked the frat Nicholas
who was truly the greatest person, next to
himself. in all Russia it was merely a can
did and faithful reply which that car gave
IN saying: HE is the most considerable
person in all Russia to whom I happen at
the time to be speaking" Weather than
any brother or sister sovereign in the
world: absolute master of legions which on
peace footing number over million; lord
Of more than one-sixth of the territorial
surface of the globe, with subjects of many
races and colorS amounting to over 120, 0D0-
600 souls, of whom 100000 are, for pur-
poses of management, as homogeneous as
rice grains, the embodied center Of that
stupendous imperial sphere Is immeasur-
ably above ordinary human standards and
Yields an incredibly vast influence. What
Is 1t to such voice whether it's accents
please Berlin, suit Paris or soothe Vien-
ma, or crafty Rome, or terrify Pekin and
Constandnople? It can, at one breath, lift,
as 1t has just lifted. question Of history
out Of the region Of theory into one Of hard
fact and practice-and the chief point,
therefore. about this new and sudden mani
festo in favor Of peace and disarmament
consists In the certainty that 1t Is the cars
own utterance; not that of a statesman, or
philanthropic society, or of a church, or
Of a mob
1 have seen this young autocrat many
times and in close proximity. Never was
power so stupendous embodied in form SO
simple, gentle and progressing. Everybody
is familiar, by pictures at least with the
| appearance of Nicholas II, who innerits. by
n lie NM t1ar IN Of nar owl fha
| of pr1ncely grace and ''bonhomie'' to which
English people have grown accustomed by
the comey offspring of the illustrious SIS
| ter, Alexandra. 1t is a face which, whether
you admire 1t or not, you must love, you
must trust, you must ever pity, SO clear
| and plain 1t grows you while you gaze
| that the mind behind it and the heart beat
ing in that exalted breast feel the re-
| sponsibilities of that tremendous power
hundred times more than Its pleasures or
| gories.
1 saw the young car crowned in the
ancient chapel of the Kremlin. l was al
most within reach of him at that supreme
moment when. after the holy amounting,
and the solemn ceremonies of the confes-
sions Of faith, and the proclamation of his
| titles, the youthful autocrat-he Is but
| thirty years old today-placed on the brow
of his beautiful, sad consort the diamond
crown just removed from his own, while
| she, or her knees, buried her sobbing face
| in her mighty lords mantle, ami rose. love-
| ly in her imperial trouble, the greatest lady
of two continents. 1 knew then that from
natures so obviously noble noble deeds and
| thoughts would spring-if the awful world
| of splendor and necessity IN which The pair
must live did not hinder. / am not in the
| least surprised at the high courage and
| superb Independence Of this young mans
/ act, which comes near beng the test and
! bravest thing done this century. Still less
| need we be astonished II aware how Brit
| ish in love Of peace and progress the high
est are in the Russian court, how habit
| ually the daughter Of the Princess Alice
| and the grandson of King Christian OF
Denmark talk English to each other, and
| how dear to both is the character and are
| the counsels of our own beloved queen. 1t
| Is an old Joke at st. Petersburg and Mos
| COW that, more than once, in the sitting Of
| state ministers, when something uuwel-
| come at Osborne or Windsor was being
rooted. the Emperor of all the Russas
| has quietly murmured, Ne derangez pas
| grandmaman."
| There Is every reason, therefore, why this
| sublime experiment of civilization, whether
practical or not, should be cordially well
| coined and earnestly furthered in England
| and by all Englishmen. OF all living per-
| sonages the young car was, by his power,
| place and authority, the very man to ven
! ture the attempt in the personal sincerity
| Of which no 3arcasms and no Gynicisms
| ought to make clsar-headed people disbe-