Evening star., 1923-03-28
BIZ THE ,IARaUIsE DE FoSTExoy

All doubts which have hitherto
prevailed as to the nature of the
sudden death of Emperor Nicholas I
of Russia on the I'd of March, 1855.
have been set at rest by the auto
graph letter addressed by his eldest
son and successor, Alexander IL, to
his rnorganatic widow, the late
Princess Youricvska, who died last
year at Nice, where she made her
principal home, and whose volumi-
| nous correspondence is now about to
be published in Paris by NJ. Markoff
For very many years he was her
confidential secretary. and who at
her death was found to be the prin-
cipal executor OF the residue of her
once enormous estate. with authori-
cation to make public her corre-
spondence-or. rather. / should say,
Of the letters which she received
from her husband. not only during
their brief married life, but also
throughout the many years which she
spent with him openly as his favor
| lte. up to the time when the death
or empress Marie. enabled him to
iegiumatize. after a fashion, his re-
lations with her by means Of a left
handed marriage.
1t is known that both Alexander
III and Nicholas II. moved heaven
and earth to obtain possession of
princess-letters in which he ex-
pressed himself with the utmost
freedom. She rejected all offers of
cash made for their surrender, in
spite of her greed for money and
her notorious avarice. and 1t is
known
made by secret police agents from
Petrograd to recover the letters by
means of carefully organized bur
glartes. both of her villa at Nice and
Of her home in Paris on the Avenue
Kleber.
Among the revelations contained
In these letters was an admission by
the czar who liberated the serfs
that his father, Emperor Nicholas I.
unwilling to kill himself, and to thus
imperil his soul. compelled his chief
physician to administer to him a dose
of poison. which was almost trnme-
diately fatal. Known as the proud
est monarch OF the old world in hts
time, and having for over thirty
years exercised an almost degpotic
sway and all-domtnating influence
over the whole Of Europe, the crush
ing defeat of his armies in the Cri-
mea by the coalition of Great Britain
France, Italy and Turkey, and espe-
cfally the fall of his stronghold of
Sebastopol, which had been, up to
that time, considered absolutely i'm
pregnable, broke his pride and his
spirit to such an extent that he
no longer wished to live.
His autocracy had been of eucir
character and his tyranny over his
subjects so relentless that none OF
them dared to disobey his bidding.
Consequently, when he ordered his
physician to administer to him a.
mortal dose Of poison, the poor man,
after overwhelming him with en-
treaties to be spared the fulfillment
Of such a command, finally yielded
and on the following morning made
a free confession to Alexander II of
the true cause Of his fathers death
X X X X
Nor was the physician ever called
upon to answer for what was, after
all. dn the strict eyes of the law, not
only murder. but high treason. Alex
ander II knew his father too well to
doubt that the unfortunate medico
had any other alternative than to
obey, and, so, instead of being pun
ished as regicide. the physician
was generously pensioned on the un-
derStandiE]G that hs kept his mouth