The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1909-10-10

:
His Imperial Majesty Nicholas Ii.
has more than once been called the
mystery of modern history, says the
London Daily Mail, and a French
statesman once said of him, "The
Car is psychological phenomenon"
Indeed, it is difficult, net 10 say
impossible, to discover the real per
sonality of the sovereign who has just
been England S guest. Volumes have
been written on the medley of puz-
cling contradictions which have filed
the eventful reign of Nicholas II.
Many have wondered or tried to ex-
plain why the Autocrat who issued
the famous peace manifesto and
initiated The Hague Conference did
not prevent the war with Japan, why
the sovereign who gave his country
a Constitution suppressed incipient
revolution with such severity.
More for Russia Than Russia Knows.
Those who are acquainted with the
bureaucracy and the various powerful
cliques of Russia are perhaps able to
"see through those contradictions,
which, by the way, have been largely
exaggerated; and one may safely
state that, to use the words of Count
Vladimir Bobrinsky, the leader of the
Moderates and one of the Duma
delegates who recently visited Eng
land, "The Gar has done for Russia
more than Russia realizes, and we are
daily and gradually advancing on the
path of progress which was determin-
ed by the Gar himself. -
At the Winter Palace.
The first time the writer saw the
| Gar of All the Russias was at func
ton. at the Winter Palace, in st
Petersburg, a year or so after Nicho-
| las H. s accession to the imperial
throne. The splendor of the scene
| was bewildering. Between the mas
sive marble columns, near the huge
| windows overlooking the Neva, in
that hall of almost abnormal proper
tons, noiselessly wandered officials in
gold-bedecked uniforms, noble ladies
| who seemed studded with pearls and
precious stones, and officers covered
with glittering stars and orders
Subtle, Fascinating Harmony.
The rustic of the dresses, the voices
| of the guests, and the strains of an
| invisible orchestra combined in subtle
and fascinating harmony.
! And there, beneath a great portrait
| of Nicholas l., was the Gar himself
| in the modest uniform of colonel Of
| the Preobrajensky Regiment His
smile was sad, his expression despond-
| emf. He had little color; his lips
were pale, and his hands, from time
to time, trembled or jerked suddenly
with nervousness.
| Hopeless Difficulties Surround Him.
1t was indeed trying to watch the
sovereign, and the attitude seemed to
be an adequate symbol of the bitter
sorrows and hopeless difficulties of a
| Gar s life
Yet there was the light of kindness
/ in his eyes, and I could i'll conceive a
| human being more sympathetic in ap-
pearance. How shy and retiring he
! looked amid the splendors of that
| function. The intensity Of the con-
| trast was overwhelming.
| An Indefatigable Worker.
| An aged official whom [ knew came
near me and whispered: ''His Ma
| iesty examined and signed some five
|
knew well enough that the worn look
! of the Car was not due to physical
| fatigue alone.
| Let it be then said at once that
/ Nicholas II is not so physically frail
as many would have Us believe. He
! IS rather short and slim. but has a
| strong constitution. thanks to careful
| training and a love of sports.
Resembles Prince Of Wales.
As everyone knows, the Gar bears
a striking resemblance to the Prince
| Of Wales. and the story has often been
told Of the remark made by a Russian
| official at the time of the coronation,
when it was said that the Prince of
| Wales would come: we can not very