The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-01-21

does not by any means possess the same
iron capacity as his father, with his i'm
mense physical strength and powers of
endurance. He trusts more to his sub
ordinates than his father did, and that
he is not endowed with the same clear
ness of judgment and decision of charac-
ter is proved by the published Armenian
correspondence as to the coercion OF the
sultan, which shows to demonstration
that the emperor of Russia did not know
his own mind in the matter, and changed
1t repeatedly to suit the exigencies of
the moment. The truth is that Nicholas
II. of Russia, with all his virtues, does
not seem to be endowed with a 1.-THE of
the force and character which distin-
guishes his fellow-sovereign, William II.
of Germany. The latter had not been on
the throne a month before it was abund-
antly clear that a sovereign of great
originality and force had succeeded to the
throne of Frederick the Great; but even
now. after nearly four years of sover-
eighty, it can not be said of Nicholas II
that he has said or done anything that
Flets in very much light on his character,
apart, of course, from his initiation Of
the peace conference, which was held at
The Hague, and which must Always Nbe
counted to him as shining landmark i'll
the path of human progress. The one
principal occasion on which he put his
foot down with something like the empha-
sis of decided character was when he de-
clared his firm resolution to walk in the
autocratic footsteps of his father, of ''im-
pershable memory; and for his atti-
tude to the Graeco-Turkish war, it is
known that he allowed himself at first
to be more Influenced by his political
counselors than by his own personal con-
victions.
That the young emperor, however, has
courage of the physical kind was shown
by his admirably cool demeanor when
his life was attempted by a Japanese
fanatic during his tour in the East as
czarowitz; and of this tour, one of his
travelling companions, Prince Ouchtom-
sky, has published a very elaborate ac
count which the car is fond of present
ing to his visitors as token of his
friendship or his favor. Gorgeously
bound these presentation copies of the
cars travels look like the huge prayer
book of that orthodox church of which
his majesty Is so devoted an adherent.
so much so that he has a private chapel
in some cases several, in every one Of
his residences, including the imperial
yacht Standard, which is by no means
the least splendid of his palaces. Equip
ped with crew of over 300 officers and
men, it contains dining saloon capable
of seating eighty guests, and of being
converted into a concert room. Every
member of the imperial family had been
thought of in the construction of this
floating palace, and a special suite of
rooms was assigned to the empress-moth-
er, to whom the car continues to be ten
derby devoted, writing to her every day
| when absent.
AS for the special saloon train, used
for the journeys of the imperial family.
its splendor and domestic comfort IMPLY
defy description. For reasons of safety
it never travels more than thirty-five
miles per hour during the day time
which is a very slow rate even for a
Russian train. But, on the other hand
Russia herself, in spite of the lack Of
personal goaheadness in her ruler. which
is SO marked feature in the character
of his fellow emperor at Berlin-has been
lately travelling at surprising rate Of
speed-especially toward the far East.
The contrast between the character Of
Russia's ruler and the forward policy Of
Russia herself is one of the most inter-
esting mysteries of the time.