Year: 1878

conspiracy against the life of the
Emperor had been brewed at Moscow
without the knowledge of the police.
and the student KarakosoG, acting i'm
the name of the conspirators, fred.
April l6, 1866, a pistol shot at the En-
peror as he was walking in the summer
garden. The confusion which succeeded
this event is indescIibable The police
had not only allowed things to 90 on i'm
such way that the conspiracy, of which
their chief had acquired some faint
knowledge few days before, had broken
out; but they showed themselves equally
incapable of Wrestling from Karakosoh
who was arrested soon after the attack
acknowledgements respecting himself and
his accomplices. A misunderstanding
OF serious nature also, charged like
wise TO the account of the police. had
resulted from circumstances connected
with the pretended savior of the En-
peror, the capmaker Komissaroh This
peasant, who was only twentv-three
years old, and had arrived in the gov
erment Of Kostroma little while be-
fore, happened to be numbered among
the curious who were following the EN-
peror, when he was promenading i'm the
summer garden the fatal morning of the
10Th of April; he was in the front rank
of the spectators when Karakosoff ap-
preached the sovereign and discharged
his pistol; frightened at the report Of
the weapon and the criminal character
of the act, he tainted and fell, without
any one Offering to lift him up


At the time of the attack General
Iodleben, the celebrated defender of
Sebastopol, was also promenading i'm the
garden; he had heard the pistol-shot
and gone in the direction whence il
came, and had learned what had taken
place; but the murderer was no longer
there. In his stead he perceived man
who lay on the ground without moving
and a young workman who looked like n
locksmith's apprentice, and who stood
close TO the man who had tainted, de-
clared that he believed the latter had
warded of the arm of the murderer. and
in that way saved the life Of the Gar.
The General received this information
with joy; they lifted up the man who
had tainted, and both the locksmth and
the savior of the Gar were Professionally
guarded at the police station, 10 keep the
precious treasure-trove in safety. Some
time after, the Prince Soavarof, Gov
ernor-ieDeral, also arrived at the place
where the attack had occurred On
learning the savior Of his Emperor had
been found, he likewise manifested
Joyous surprise, and sent his Aide-de-
camp to hunt up the young hero at the
police station. Ossip Komissarof ar
rived, staggering like one who sleeps
standing, remained long time without
being able to pronounce a word, and
allowed his captors 20 do with him as
they would. The smith'sapprentice
who might have given more exact in
formation, had escaped from the hands
OF the police in the midst of the gen
eral confusion and excitement. and
taken with him the key to the situation


Ossip, who seemed momentarily to be
about to faint again, had come 20 him
self sufficiently to make known his
name and Tesidence but he had not
completely recovered his senses when he
found himself suddenly in one of the
halls OF the winter palace, in the pres
ence Of the Emperor himself, and
glittering group of generals and high
dignitaries. The Emperor embraced him
and said '1create you Knight; conduct
yourself according to your new rank"
Then, turning 10 those who surrounded
him, he added, "What do you think of
1t, gentlemenY


A boisterOus hurrah succeeded the
words OF the Emperor. and from this
moment Ossip became the idol. not only
Of the court and the aristOcracv. but of
all classes Of society, all the journals
the public, the two capitals and all the
provinces of the vast Russian Empire.
Before trying 10 give an idea of the
Ovations of which he was the object. we
must relate a scene which took place on
the morrow, early i'm the morning. in
the cabinet Of q German Baron or Count
from the Baltic provinces. This per-
sonage was The proprietor of MOlvitino.
Ossip5 native village, and he had
therefore, up 10 that time been the lat
ter's master.


The emancipation Of the peasants had
been, il Is true, proclaimed few vcars
before, but the bonds which united tbe
gentleman and his serfs could not bo so
quickly broken by law. Ossip accord
ingly went to his natural representative
and protector 10 open his heart fo him
and ask him his support and advice. He
related what had happened TO him, and
gave oath that he was in no way the
cause Of 1t; he added that 10 was the
hrst time he had heard n pistol shot.
and that he had Lost his consciousness
That on opening his eyes, he had been
embraced by a gentleman he was not ac-
qualnted with; that il had been, for an
hour, impossible for him 10 say "a single
Word mat moreover, he knew nothing