Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-09-04

YALTA, Crimea. August 5, 19lO.
Alexander III, Emperor Of Russia and
father OF the present car. died October
20. 1894, in a pretty little
Family villa near Yaita. on the
DID, southern coast OF the Cri-
mea, overlooking the Black
sea. It was his favorite residence. as it
was that of his father Alexander II. be-
fore him. At Avadia he could throw OF
those dignities which hedge about a king
and live like an ordinary man. A stately
chapel OF the Byzantine type OF archi-
lecture. with FIVE giIded domes. stands on
the hillside nearby as q memorial to this
man. whose piety and devotion were
among his most marked characteristics.
He was stern, relentless, implacable
autocrat. very different in character and
disposition from his father and his son,
who were men of amiable disposition and
great forbearance
1t Is a singular fact that every alternate
a broad-minded man Of liberal views. But
Alexander III was embittered by the as
sassination Of his father. who was the most
generous and benevolent of all the czars.
He emancipated the serfs. gave them
land and a draft OF a constitution. giving
Russia a parliamentary government which
he intended to confer as o voluntary gift
upon his subjects, lay upon his desk the
morning he was assassinated. He was as
gentle and considerate and unselfsh as
Mckinley, and he died the same way No
assassination was ever less excusable.
Alexander III was naturally of a reti-
cent. morbid disposition, without the
slightest sense OF humor
Reactlonary but with lofty aspirations
Monornh and a keen appreciation
OF his imperial preroga-
tives and power. He conceived 1t to be
his duty to punish the entire 1875 900. 600
population OF Russia for the crime of
rev fanatics. and thus arrested the prog
ress or Russian civilization during the en-
tire period OF his reign. He even went 30
far as to issue an edict forbidding the
education OF the peasants because 1t made
them discontented. closing all the schools
In Russia to the children of the laboring
class. and permitting the attendance ONLY
OF tnose whose parents had q certain I'm
come and paid certain amount of taxes.
dnis decree was revoked by his son. Mich
oIas II. VINO has few Of his characters
TICS and is as different from him as one
man can be from another.
alexander III sent more poor creatures
to Siberia than all the other cars. He
was neither merciful nor just; his heavy
hand fell upon the innocent as well as
the guilty. No modern monarch has
caused so much grief or SO much suffer-
ing. or was guilty OF greater cruelty and
injustice in his administration.
NO oriental king OF the middle ages
was more fond Of display or more risor-
Simple corning the ceremonies and
I;v;rr the etiquette of his court,
yet that man loved to escape
his imperial splendor and seek rest and
recreation In a cottage of not more than
twenty rooms. with his wife and children
and few Tartar servants. Here he
lived the simple life and enjoyed IT.
There was no ceremony. there was no
etiquette. there was no imperial prestige
TO maintain. Here he became the hus-
band and father instead Of the king.
IN the palaces at Petersburg he was
always surrounded by Cossacks, police
men and detectives even in the family
circle. and never crossed the threshold
OF his apartments without a military
guard. At Livadia. fearless Of anarchists.
he wandered about the villages with his
wife and children. talked familiarIy with
the Tartar peasants and often visited the
villas or his friends. There was a guard
at the gate and a sentinel at the door
OF the cottage. but he never had an
drives
There are thousands OF more spacious
and pretentious country villas in Russia;
there are hundreds Of thousands in the
United States more beautiful. more lux
urious and better equipped than that In
which he lived and died. Every village
In America has homes equally elegant
and comfortable, but Alexander III found
II most satisfactory and the most rest
full OF all the places in the world.
-
In that little red cottage. with its broad
verandas and its walls half hidden with
vines. he could forget the at
kestful fairs OF state that made his
pI.a. reign SO stormy.
00' Alexander II, his father. fed
to Livadia every winter for two or three
months for relaxation from the stern and
tragic life he was compelled to lead.
The present emperor has spent his hap
piest days here also. and during his
childhood was brought every winter to
escape the arctic climate of Petersburg,
with his governesses and tutors. and the
rooms which he and his brothers occu-
pied remain very much as they were In
those days. They open Immediately of
small hallway in the center OF the cot
tage on the ground floor, and the win
dows, which are only breast high from
the lawn, overlook the garden. They ere
small and coy. but very plain. They are
traps are still hanging on the walls; ten
mis- rackets, fencing foils and masks and
rubber-sole canvass shoes.
There is an ordinary hat rack, a table
and two plain chairs in the entrance
hall Two or three hats that belonged
to Alexander III still remain where he
hung them when he wore them last. The
children's schoolroom and the bedrooms
of the boys occupy one-half Of the ground
floor. On the opposite side is dining
room, q very plain apartment, with
polished floor and a rug and sideboards.
carving tables, high-backed mahogany