THE ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION OF THE CZAR.

Evening Star, Issue 5074, 10 June 1879, Page 4

THE ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION OF THE CZAR.

Hitherto the Czar has escaped the threats of the Socialists, who have lately been so Tiusy in the work of assassination. Whether sheir hearts are influenced by gratitude to the man who done so much for the good of the Russkn people, or whether they simply obey the dictates of policy and reason, no one knows; but it is generally ibelieved in St. Petersburg that letters have been sent by the Committee to His Majesty stating that they have nothing against him, and that, whatever fate might befall his "Ministers, his person would remain inviolate. Since Genera! Drenteln's life was attempted several of the Ministers drive about town, accompanied, or rather guarded, by two mounted Cossacks, and thus present a striking contrast to the Emperor and ■ the rest of the members of the Imperial family, who are often seen taking their drive in a small sledge, and unattended by a single follower. Further, while most of the .Ministers have of late eschewed outdoor ; exercise, the members of the Imperial family continue to take their walks daily, and generally at stated hours. None is more pune--tualiu.this respect than the Czar himself. Whatever the weather, and however severe the frost, he leaves the Winter Palace at ■ eight every morning, and walks along the ' Palace Qnay, or in that neighborhood, for a '■good hour. He goes along at a fair pace and (apparently) unguarded. Meanwhile, any person may cross the Czar's path, ~or may pass by so near as almost to rub shoulders against him. In the afternoon the Emperor takes a long drive, gets out of his vehicle on the Palace Quay, and tkeu, as a rule, walks through and round the Summer Gardens. In both instances when the life of the Czar was attempted in Russia, advantage "was taken of the unsuspecting manner in which he gets into his carriage or sledge, or goes through his morning exercise. Karakozoff, thirteen years ago, fired at Hi 3 Majesty just as the latter was getting into his calash, while the assassin of Mondsy laat walked close up to his monarch, saluted him, and discharged the contents of his revolver while the salnte was being returned. The affair took place thus :—On April 14, at nine o'clock, the Emperor was returning from his morning walk to the Winter Palace. In passing the House of the Military Staff of the Guards, where the pavement is rather ' narrow, he waa met by a young man (tail in statue, with a long, fair moustache, reapect- -, ably dressed, and wearing the cap of a : functionary of the Ministry of Finance), who suddenly appeared from behind the comer of the building. On the Czar approaching, the stranger stood aside to let him pass, arid saluted' him. As the Emperor was returning the salute he observed the ruffian pull out a revolver, which was immediately fired , point blank at His Majssty. The latter turned upon the criminal, who fired a second time. The Czar then crossed the road, and at a quick pace directed his steps to Prince GortschakofFs residence, which is opposite. ■ The assassin had the hardihood to ret in front of his intended victim, at whom he discharged a third shot, and then ran away. He was laid hold of by a carpenter, named Orlof, who was passing by at the . time, but, freeing himself from tho'v.nvvelcorhe grasp of the latter, he shot at him, and during the momentary confusion again attempted to escape. A captain of gendarmes whp happened at the time to he leaving the building of .the Military Staff, gave chase to the prisoner, and struck him on the nape of the neck with his sword. The biow stunned him but slightly, for lie had ■time to fire two more shots at his pursuers. Moau- : while Orlof ran up, and with the aid of a couple of soldiers got the assassin down and disarmed him. A few minutes after a coiibidji-able. crowd had gathered around the culprit, and handled' him somewhat roughly. The Emperor, who had retained his presence of mind all the while, called out to them not to iiltreat or touch the prisoner, and to wait until he sent the guarcb ; and getting into an open carriage belonging to an officer present, drove off to the Winter Palace, whence an escort of soldiers soon arrived.

Meanwhile, the prisoner showed no further opposition. His muscles were relaxed, and too flaccid and feeble, apparently, to bear the wdght_of his body. He was blue iu the face, his lips twitched nervously, Iris eyes were fixed and glassy, and he foamed at the mouth. On his way to the police office'he vomited almost incessantly. He had swallowed ■ ■ poiiion. Several physicians were in attendance on. the prisoner nearly ail. day, and by aeven'in the evening he was out of danger. The poison used was cyanide of potassium : ha had it concealed in a small filbert shell, which was hermetically scaled. The culprit wa3 thus able to hold the outwardly harmless nut in his mouth as long as he liked, while, by cracking it, he could poison himself, at will. He had two of these 'deadly filberts in his mouth, behind his check, when he attempted the Czar's life, but had

time to crack and swallow the contents of

only one of. them. Two iv.ore were found, *'"' after careful examination, attached by means ■of wax-to the hair of his arm-pits. "It was discovered, on chemical analysis, that-the cyanide of potassium had lost much of its . strength from long-keeping. The prisoner, after recovering from the cfi'ecfca '"of the poison, flatly refused to answer any question put to 'him, or to say who he was or where he came from. He simply contented himself with- observing that he was sorry, and unable to comprehend how he had inisscd his victim; and added further that the. •circumstance of : the poison he swallowed ;; not having killed him, also grieved and - astonished him. Towards evening he aaked for tea and cigareotes, both of which were given him. On searchincr the prisoner's pockets the detectives found a piece of old news-paper, with the words " Ellena Constantiuovna Solovieva" written in pencil on it. It was this apparently trivial - ■ . circumstance that led to his identification, for the police soon discovered that the lady in question lived out of town, that she walked into the city f.linost daily to give lessons, that she occupied the same lodgings with her parents, grandfather (aged eighty), and two brothers, one of whom served in the Custom-house, while the other is lying ill in an hospital. A third brother, whs has not resided in St. Petersburg for several years, had recently spent a few days with his family, and-had left his home for the country on Saturday, the 11th of April. On the father being questioned by the police as to whether he had a likeness of his absent son, he replied in the affirmative, and it was found that the portrait in his . possession was that of the man who had shot at the Emperor. His name is Alexander Komtantinovitch Solovief, . aged thirtyseven. He finished.his education at one of ' the St. Petersburg gymnases, then entered the University, but left it after his second session, and became a village schoolmaster in the Government of Pskov. . The palace, after the of the unsuc- ....;■ , 'Cessful attempt on the Czar's life had spread : '■"." throughout town, soon filled with those who have the right of admittance, and who came in large numbers to ' congratulate their monarch on his providential escape. Old senators and members of the Imperial Council who have not been seen for "years came to the palace to offer their tribute of respect, while Prince Anatole Bariatinsky, who had been confined to his bed for eight days, left it, and succeeded—though more • , dead than alive—in personally expressing his , feelings of loyalty to his Sovereign. ■'■ ■• At eleven o'clock the Emperor entered the large hall of the Winter Palace, which was crowded, and, such was the prolonged and vociferous cheering with which he was met, that he was unable to speak for several minutes. "I am deeply moved, 1 ' he observed, " and heartily thank you for the feelings of devotion you have sho.vn. I regret they should be called forth by so sad I an event. It has been the Almighty's will to save me, for the third time, from'certain . . ;:•/ death ; and my heart is full of gratitude to h'im for his favora towards me.. May he help me to serve Russia and see her ■ ' ■'■ - rr happy, and develop peacefully, as is ; ,my earnest desire. Again kt me thank ' ■•■ you."' These few words, uttered at such a

■•■-.-■>, - ■•■moment;--and coming from the ho&rt, «.lectri\i,■■■.■■) fied ■his hearero, and were met with a regular :,:• storm of .applause. The Czar then loft, the hall and proceeded to the balcony -outside where his gaze met a crowd of j, upwards'of 50,000 persons in the, square ''",.,,•< below. Y They cheered him 30 loudly and so ' -iohg that he was unable to utter a single i/T v word. Tho heir apparent and the Grand Duke Nicholas, with heads uncovered, stood

to the right and left of him. At two o'clock the Czar drove in an open carriage to the Kazan Cathedral, where Mass was celebrated, and on leaving it he was again loudly cheered by the populace, who lined the whole ros.d from the church to the palace.