The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-12-30
UNSwERvING FRIEND OF PEACE
DIFFICULTY In SECURING LIBERTY
OF PERSONAL ACTION.
Domestic Relations Of the Emperor
and Dramatic Possibilities In
voIved in h Succession.
Although showing in stature and physlqu.

manifestly inherited from his stalwart sire
some of the qualities Of mind which rem
dered the latter, for a full decade, the pre-
eminently conspicuous figure among the
crowned heads of the world. Alexander III
was acknowledged to have held the peace
of Europe in his hands. During his reign,
which extended over the thirteen years
from 1881 to 1894, Europe remained free
from war, despite the critical relations
reached at different stages between the
dominant countries, and when the avert
ing of a conflict at arms appeared only
little short of the miraculous. Alexander's
personality was incomparably imposing.
Six feet six. and from head to foot of mas
sive proportions, his physical front itself
commanded extraordinary respect; this. in
the added recognition of his power as the
absolute autocrat Of a hundred millions Of
people, tended to invoke the awe of the
sternest republican of those admitted to his
presence, or viewing him from a distance.
Yet, withal, he was never the lion, save
when stroked the wrong way. The role of
the lamb was more to his nature, which
was anything rather than in c~onsonance
with the pedestal upon which fate had
place him. Dress parade was always an
abomination to Alexander. He was not born
to the throne, in that his coming into the
world signalized the establishing of a new
generation OF the house of the Romanoffs.
Another preceded him. to whom he was
second in the line of succession
SO avtrse was he to the pomp and pune
tilio of his exalted position that his great
est happiness was to run off with his wife
TO the parental roof of the latter in Copen-
hagen, from whence the two would emerge
~incognito to roam the streets at will, bliss
full In the semblance. at the least, of an
ordinary couple determined upon having a
good time in their own way. There was
no more loving pair in all Europe; the
husband perfectly devoted, and the wife.
mite that she was compared to him. the
mentor of every ramble. SO long as its pur-
pose was to get away from the state and
it's affairs. Scores of photographs are ex-
tant Of the imperial twain as, caught by the
kodak, as they were on the tram-cars.
meandering along the streets, leaning over
bridge ratings or seated in a cafe as would
be any affectionate Darby and Joan on
an afternoons outing. The dissimilarity
between the democracy of the Denmark
capital and the ceremonial Of the seat of
imperial government of Russia vas
marked in the extreme. AT the one was
the simplicity Alexander craved, at the
other the Journalism he detested.
FREE IN COPENHAGEN.
In Copenhagen, as at st. Petersburg, he
never moved out OF doors that he was not
instantly surrounded by gendarmes respon-
sible with their lives for his safety. His
father. Alexander III, han whom the Rus
sian people en- masse never had truer
friend, a been rent to death by Nihilist
bomb, and there We're the gravest of
grounds for the apprehension hat a like
doom might at any time or in n place
befall the son. Hence, wherever he went
went also the ubiquitous guards; only in
Copenhagen hey were u-nrecognizable to
the objects Of their surveillance. In the
guise of the man of the people the soldier
was in reality none the less such in Den
mark than in his uniform in Russia. The
Danes themselves. in abiding affection for
the royal couple, one of whom was the
daughter of their King. comprised q pro-
lection money could not have bought. and
which was ever alert and conscious. 1t
was the pride of the simple Danes that the
autocrat of the Russias could come and be
as one of them. and Alexander, with all his
r~epugnance for obsequious attention at
home or abroad, was consistently consid-
crate of the common folk, among whom
he so frequently mingled. and who knew
and respected his wish to be let alone.
No one who has not had glimpses of the
inner life of the Muscovite ruler can con-
ceive of the dificulties-yes, of the very
impossibility of his securing the merest
liberty of personal action. To sometimes
be let alone is the natural longing of hu-
manity. 1t is as common to the highest
as to the humblest. Even a reigning Car
i'm following bent 10 this end is, as the lad
in boarding school, put to the limit Of his
wits to plan and perfect petty schemes
to thwart espionage. AS a matter of course
he can come and go at will; and while
there may be reasons advanced by those
nearest to him why he should not, there
is no one daring TO openly say him nay.
Nevertheless there is the minister of the
imperial household. whose business it is to
know the mind of his master, and, not
merely be cognizant OF his announced pur-
poses. but anticipate as we'll those of which
no preliminary mention may be made, or,
in fact. intimated in any manner.
oMNIPRESENT OFFICER
Over the entire household, itself almost a
city in population. all ears are auxiliaries of
this minister's, all eyes his glasses and
all minds his daily reading. He is a human
exemplifcation of omnipresence. Thus
it comes about that IL the
Emperor concludes to indulge in a quiet
drive or a horseback ride, with no other
company than his musings. wherever he
turns there are the mounted gendarmes
clearing the roadway for his passage. To
the fore, as on the TANKS and in the rear.
are galloping officers, and nc policeman.
soldier or guardian of the peace. whatever
his special vocation, who does not know his
imperial Majesty is out for an airing.
Should 1t be a stroll on foot, and seemingly
the impulse OF the moment on the part of
the monarch. the result Is the same. Some
how or other he nj lave a thought
connected with an action without in one
way or another communicating II to an
ever-set hair trigger in the mechanism
enmeshing him. An electric-like shock
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