THE TSAR OF ALL THE RUSSIAS.

Auckland Star, Volume XXX, Issue 5, 7 January 1899, Page 1 (Supplement)

THE TSAR OF ALL THE RUSSIAS.

Nicholas 11. (says the special correspondent of the 'Daily News." who is now visiting Russia, aud who is understood to be Mr W. T. Stead) is about the same height as General Gordon, whom he resembles in other things besides the number of his inches. When he rides or sits, the Emperor | seems as tall as most men. When he | stands he is a little taller than Lord i Nelson or Napoleon Bonaparte. The I writer continues: — i 'In physique the Emperor is wiry I and vigorous. One who sees ihim - ; every day told me that physically Nicholas is a much healthier man than J his father. The Tsar is full of vital-j ity, quick and active in his move-j ments, fond of outdoor exercise. Cer- J tainiy no one meeting him for the [ first time would put t'.m down among j the weakly. The note of his intellec- j tual. temperament is that of extreme! alertness. As he is also extremely . sympathetic, this makas him one of j the most charming persons to talk to \ ! I have ever met. He is as quick as a ] needle, and quite as bright. I have ; seldom met. any one so quick to seize j a point. Whatever he may fail in, ! lit will not be in lack of capacity to j see and understand. This exceptional! rapidity of perception is united- with ] a remarkable memory and a very wide j grasp of an immense range of facts. I There are plenty of woolly-minded men iv high places, and it is a real | pleasure to meet anyone who has his j facts at his finger-ends, who tells you j in a flash-what was done aud sJ.bat j . was not done, and Whose ideas, be they right or wrong, are lucidly expressed in a very definite form. Alertness, exactness. lucidity, and definiteness are four excellent qualities in "a man, and the Emperor has Them all. With all this there is an absolute absence of anything even distantly ap- j proaching priggishness. Many years ago Mr Gladstone described the pre- j sent Emperor as a (.•harming type of ] the best of our public-schoolboys. He was frank, fearless .perfectly natural, j and simplicity itself. Nicholas 11. is no longer a boy. He has borne for j several trying years the burden of one of the greatest empires in the world. But he' is still as absolutely simple and unaffected as he was when Mr Gladstone met him in Copehagen 15 years ago. There is still in him all the delightful schoolboy abandon of manner, a keen sense of humour, and a hearty, outspoken frankness in expressing his opinions which makes you feel that you are dealing with a man whose character is as transparent as crystal. Add to all this a modesty as admirable as it is rare, and it must be admitted that, even if the net human product should fall short of being a great ruler, he has at least all the qualities which make men beloved by their fellows. The bright, clear, blue eye, the quick sympathetic change of feature, the merry laugh, succeeded in a moment by an expression of noble gravity and of high resolve, the rapidity and grace of his movements, even his curious little expressive shrug of the shoulders, are all glimpses of a character not often found unspoiled by power. Those who know him best appear to love him most, and, naturally enough, each one thinks that his only fault is that he i._ too ready to sacrifice ___s own convenience and his wishes to oblige the' ethers. A more dutiful son never sat on a throne. It was perhaps carrying filial affection a long way when, in order to sustain his mother at her mother's grave, the Tsar crossed and fecrossed Russia from end to end, and at the time when all Europe was ringing with a crime that cost the Empress of Austria her life. But, considering the conspicuous example of the opposite extreme in the case of the other young KaiSer, the Tsar's, tender affection for his mother, even if carried-toex-ees... is-at least a fault on virtue's side. He is singularly happy in his marriage, and the Emperor of Russia will never lack one of the most intelligent and loyal of counsellors while his wife^ lives. As his parents before him set Europe an example of domestic unity and felicity, so Nicholas 11. maintains the honourable and happy tradition. ; He is loyal in his friendships, and slow to part with any of those who are in his own or were in his fathers service. Nicholas 11. has inherited from his father the hatred for falsehood, and he has added thereto the industry of a singularly active mind, almost painfully overwhelmed by the immensity of liis responsibilities. No one is omniscient; but no one could work harder in mastering- facts. He has. moreover, the divining .acuity of intense sympathy—a gift which opens the way to theheart of many subjects, at the door of which mere study would knock in vain. An intimate personal friend, who had known him before his accession, remarked to me, 'People often say That his heart is stronger than his" head, and that his will is weakest of all. But I, who have seen him closely, in many varied circumstances, assure you that of the three I have much more confidence in the strength of his will than either of his head or his heart.'