The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-03-22

TINS eVoaIo0 20 o00ok u. Tho china,
was reached. however, and the ,last YES
tiss Of the Cars popularity disAppeare,
when he married the Princess fort!
days after the death Of the Empress.
Meanwhile he was pursAinE the re
forms for which he was 20 far from
getting any credit that the spread o
the Nihilism to which ne was to fall ,
victim went on, at IN equal pace will
them. The establishment. Of the xemst
vos. or provincial conversations Of nota
bles. looked like . movement for tn,
encoursseme Of some measure Of ioca
self government and was hailed q
such. Hut very soon Il appeared. a Z
generation later with the dumas, tina
every step toward the accomplishment,
Of the ends for which alone the bodisi
could nationally be conceived to exist
was Obstructed and embarrassed by the
provincial governors. acting under thu
orders Of the central authority at the
capital. d.
The domestic. dissensions and discus
sions induced by the Cars III consid
cred reforms produced . situation Ok
threatening that relief from II could
most readily be expected by the sub
stitution Of . foreign for = domesti<
centre Of interest According to the
present authority that IL the sxplana.
ton. and the only explanation, Of the
war Of 1877. The raising Of the CRY
Of Panslavism and Of tho freeing q
communities Of Orthodox Greek Chris.
tians from the yoke Of the unspeak-
able Turk was At first popular, though
It Ii here insisted that nothing but
mischief has come frum II to Russia.
There was not much Of military glory
reaped. Many Russian Commanders
showed gross incapacity, while the one
Russian hero Of the war. SkobelefY, wns
at least Offset in foreign estimation By
the recognition Of his Turkish adver-
sary. In fact Osman Digna was almost
as clearly the hero Of Plevna a. Tod
leben had been twenty years before
Of Sebastopol; Todleben. who had to
be invoked again at Plevna to assist
the besiegers as m the FORMER case he
had been the mainstsy Of the besieged.
There would have been prestige for the
Russian arms II the Gar had insisted.
In spite Of the concert Of Europe. upon
entering ConstantinOple with his army,
as Bismarck had insisted Q few years
before upon the German army's enter
ing Paris. It 10 hard to see how "Eu-
rope" could have prevented Il, though
the reminiscent relates q conversation
he had With Disraeli at the Berlin con-
ference IN which he asked Dizzy what
he would have done II the Russians
had entered the Turkish capital. and
Dizzy answered: Il would have achieved
my greatest diplomatic triumph in get
ting you out Of II without going to
war"
The first hand account Of the proceed
lngs. or rather OF the personalities, Of
that famous conference convoked to
tear up the treaty Of San Stefano and
to deprive Russia Of any substantial
advantage as a result Of the war re-
tains much Of It's interest in spite Of
the lapse Of time and the passing or
changing OF ihe questions" The rapid
sketches OF the -plentpotentiaries and
their aids. Andrassy for Austria, Jomini
for Russia. Beaconsfield and Salisbury
and Odo Russell for England waddlng-
ton and st. Waller for France and the
towering figure Of "the honest broker"
as Bismarck called himself. all bear un-
mistakabie marks OF authenticity. 1t
appears. by the way. that II was to st.
Waller tina; first occurred the notion
Of Russo French alliance. and as an
outcome OF the Congress Of Berlin.
Upon the whole the reign must be
called a failure which ended with the
Of Alexander H. There
Is a good story here. one Of many.
about how. when he was murdered. he
left in his desk q manifesto granting q
to Russia. The existence
OF the document was rather widely
known. and when, the day after the
assa sslnation, the heir to the throne
and his two next brothers and conn.,
Dental friend Of them all. whose name
Is not disclosed. were looking through
n certain drawer in which the widow OF
the murdered Gar had notified them
the precious legacy might be found
the first paper they came to seemed
to be the document in question. The
new Car was about to read II when
the confidential friend took 1. from his
hands and tore it into undeciphcrable
fragments. Then he turned to the new
Car and said: Now. your Majesty,
you can punish me. but at least II can
not be said that YOU stepped upon the
throne Of Russia with your hands tied"
Alexander III. on the other hand,
q L., .;~