The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-10-08
(Translated from La Revue des
 Deux Mondes)

l Many times, in the course of the
 years before the war, I found my | self with the Tsar Nicholas and his l wife. With the Tsarina, although | she was my own cousin, I establish | ed no kind of intimacy whatever, for l her ways were strangely cold. while 1 the affectfonate regard the Tsar and l had for each other remained un- changed by time The feeling that | the royal pair had not come up to l the expectations entertained of them was thus borne in upon me more by
 the talk of my family and by the voice of all classes in society than ] by my own personal observations. i Every time I heard these rumors, I 1 derived from them a profound e.1a- i grin.
 l Nicholas had in him more than i one good and really noble impulse, a real urge toward greater ideas and l modern conceptions, yet 1t seemed i ever that some occult force thwarted his will.
 1 For a long time we waited, hops | remained in our hearts, then, little 1 by little, rnurmurs began to reach 1 the court; there was criticism of the | court way of life. Under, other reigns | the sovereigns had always played a 1 larger part in the public fates. They 1 had been the soul of public ceremon- l ies; no fete, no popular mantresta- ] tion was complete without them, the l splendor which surrounded them | seemed a social necessity, the raIIying 1 point for the great and the small. | Little by little the new sovereigns
 retired from public life. The health 1 of the Tsarina was bad; jeaIously at l tached to her husband, she scarcely an111a ToIS
 without her, and this tended to with l draw the Emperor himself from cere- | monies in which his wife could not | take part. She bore four daughters 1 before having the joy of giving the 1 Empire an heir to the throne. This 1 series of deceptions, acting upon her 1 intense and morbid ambition, les sened her little faith in life, and
 when the much desired son was born at length, he was of delicate health; 1 a secret and curious weakness men aced the security of his existence. 1 This was too much for a, woman na- turally given to melancholy, and al ways on the defensive against the world and those who followed the ways of the world.
 Without a doubt. the Tsarina is largely responsible for her husbands conduct; she discouraged him in stead of encouraging him; she used her influence to block rather than to hasten plans which should have been carried through; instead of inspiring him. she filled him with her own distrust. But in all justice, let us remember that her intentions were good and can in no way be indicted as guilty; she believed firmly that ! she was in the right, never doubted of the excellence of her judgment, ever sure that all she did was done in the best interests of her husband, his country, and his people. He was the feebler of the two, her will was the stronger, thus she led him un-
 hesitatingly toward what she imagin- ed to be a light; a light, alas, which turned out to be but a shadow.
 The Tsarina is one Of those per
 sonalities which from time to time
 have appeared in history. Their
 power is inexplicable; we are for
 ever asking ourselves whence comes