THE RULER OF CZARS.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume L, Issue 9001, 25 January 1906, Page 6

THE RULER OF CZARS.

The resignation of Constantiue Petrovitscli Pobiedonostseff, the ProcuratorGeneral of the Holy Synod, is in all probability the most convincing proof of the Czar's sincerity of his intention to grant a large measure of constitutional freedom to the Russian, people. [The most Tecent cables state £hat the Czar continues to consult Pobiedonostseff on all questions of moment even now.] Pobiedonostseff has long been one of the great powers behind the throne of tlie CzaT, by virtue of his position, which practically, though net theoretically, amounted to Pope of the Greek Church. By this strong and forceful personality he wielded an influence upon two generations of Czars greater than that of any other man in the whole empire. Indeed, Alexander the Third and Nicholas the Second may be said to be his creatioas. He is the potter who has fashioned the Imperial clay according to lias own pattern. ' As tutor of the sons of Alexander ths Second in their youth, the trusted and infallible councillor of their later years, the views -which have prevailed at the court and the- principles which have been so tenaciously adliered to were all initiated .by this man. While he cannot be said to liave created the autocratic policy of Russia, he has' done more than anyone else to strengthen and intensify it in the consciousness of the Imperial family. It is, therefore, a significant fact that while both the father and the grandfather of the present Czar were at different periods of their reign inclined to cede some of their power to the people — Alexander £he Second more than Alexander the Third — Nicholas the Second, .<y\ the other

hand, although perhaps at heart more humane than either, has up to quite recently not yielded one whit on this point, but has adhered to the tradition of autocracy

with a' tenacity almost unparalleled. It is in the grandson of that Czar who appointed Pobiedonostseff tutor of his sons that Pobiedonostseff's teaching have reached their full fruition. For the last twenty-five years he has been ruler of the spiritual destinies of the

Russians as Procurator-General of the

Holy Synod. Prior to his appointment to this position he was professor of civic law in the University of Moscow, .and

ranked as the foremost authority on this

subject in Russia. It was not until the ascension to th& throne of Alexander the Third that Pobiedonostseff achieved fame beyond the boundaries of Russia. Immediately after his assumption- of the reins of government Alexander the Third summoned his former teacher to the palace for advice on the difficult problems that called for the Czar's instant attention. He ,found the man .both ready and willing to jgive it. The -terrible catastrophe which 'had so recently convulsed the country had not made the slightest impression on the opinions oi the Imperial dictator. If anything lie was more convinced than ever of the absolute supremacy of autocracy over all other forms of government. ' His ftrst advice to the young Ozar was to tsar to pieces the Constitutional programme which his father had left behind Him as an evidence of his intentions. Though almost seventy-nine years of age, he lias until now wielded his power with undiminished vigor, his zeal for autocracy and orthodoxy has not abated, nor his hatred of Western civilisation diminished. He is the same .invincible foe of freedom and reform, , the same fanatical bigot tha>t he always I lias been. Emperors and. Ministers might be assassinated, t—e streets of St. Pet?.rs- | burg be covered with the blood of innocent citizens, commerce and industry might cease, and the cries of hunger, starvation, and violence be heevrd from one end of the country to the otlier, as the .result of the policy of despotism, but through it all the man who sat in ths chair of the Procurator-General remained unshaken.

His power over Nicholas the Second kuwbeen as great as it was over Alexander the Third, and in some Tespects has been greater, especially indirectly. The late Grand Duke Sergius has been called i "the evil genius of Russia, owing to his bajieful influence over the Czar. Grand Duke Vladimir may mow properly be said to have succeeded his. brother to the unenviable title-. But it should ,be observed that both Sergius "and Vladimir have been merely the tools and echoes of Pobiedonosteeff, who has remained their trusted and infallible councillor since the days when as boys he taught them the first principles of Russian autocracy and Greek orthodoxy. But that his influence ' over the Czar ha 6 keen, direct as well as indirect the history of the past twelve months affords ample testimony. Thus a few months ago, when the Zemstvos, supported by the Minister of the Interior, '

appealed to the Czar for representation in the Government, and the members of the nobility sent him their addresses of loyally, urging certain important reforms, and ToLbtoi addressed ms now famous "fraternal letteT," and tried to disabuse the mind of his Imperial "brother"' from the error of his native faith in the unbounded loyalty of his subjects, Pobiedonostseff also addressed a note to the Czar, not so long as the letter of Tolstoi or the address of the nobility, but far more effective, for it was on the advice contained therein the Czar acted.

Practically Pobiedonosteeff has ruled both the Czar and the Church, inasmuch as the Czar has merely dictated what iris chief adviser had previously dictated to him. If Nicholas the Second could Rave realised the tragi-comic position in which he has been placed he would have had more reason than King Philip, in Schiller's 'Don Carlos, to exclaim: "Defend me from this priest!" History does not afford a single instance in which a man. of Pobiedonostseff's calibre has wielded so decisive and so baneful an influence upon j a monarch, and especially one who styles himself autocrat. This man has .not kept his daTk counsels behind the screens of political intrigues or ecclesiastical caprices, but' has thrown them out into the world wit n all the zeal of a Christian apostle and all the vigor of a- Scottish logician, as though they contained the princif)les of the world's- salvation. As a writer of books he. is also known to fame. In 1897 he produced &• remarkable volume, entitled "Disputed Questions of the Day," which attracted a gxeat deal of attention. It is principally interesting foT the evident sincerity with" which it espouses autocracy with its despotism and its tyrannies without apology or compromise, and for the intellectual and polemic vigor, the keen satire, and the quick wit which characterises this old incorrigible foe of freedom and reform. — St. James' Gazette.