The Late Emperor.

Waikato Times, Volume XVI, Issue 1359, 17 March 1881, Page 3

The Late Emperor.

Alexander 11. was born in April, 1818, nnd was consequently in his 63rd year. His father, Nicholas, was raised to the throne by the death of Alexander I. and the renunciation of his rights by his brother Constantine. Even then the young Prince made his acquaintance with the world of plots ; for there was a fierce insurrection, only quelled by the vigour of Nicholas. A contemporary, has the following regarding His Late Majesty :—: — Throughout his youth Alexander Bhowed a predisposition to civil rather than military life. Ho succeeded to the throne in 1855, on the death of Nicholas, when he issued a manifesto declaring, in general terms, his intention to uphold the glory of the Empire. When the Crimean war lad been concluded, Alexander reduced the army and re-formed the finances. He also, with the consent of the nobles, and under definite terms, freed 20,000,000 from the condition of serfdom. Various reforms followed. One of the great strokes of the C/ar was in 1871 to i^&ue a declaration that he no longer considered himself bound by those provibions of the Treaty of 1856, which limited his rights in the Black Sea. A conference was held in London, when the parties to the Treaty consented to its modification, in compliance with the wishes of the Oar. Alexander went to Berlin in September, 1872. when he had an interview with the Emperors of Germany and Au&tria. The Khiva expedition, which so greatly exercised the public mind of England, took place in 1873, when that territory, which had heretofore been deemed almost out of the reach either of the Russian Empire from the north, or the British Empire from the south, was made subject to the control of the Czar. On April 24, 1877, Alexander issued a manifesto declaring war against Turkey. Of the events of that war we need not speak. The Czar showed great anxiety with regard to it, and was present with the army. Peace was concluded at San iStefano on March 3, 1878, the conditions being subsequently modified by the Treaty of Berlin. The attempts on the life of the Czar have been very numerous ; they must, indeed, have totally destroyed his happiness and enjoyment of life. In April, 1866, he was fired at by a student named Karakosof, while entering his carriage at St. Petersburg. The pistol was turned aside by » workman. In 1867, Berezowski, a Pole, fired into the carriage in which the Czar Avas seated with his two eons and the Emperor Napoleon. The horse of one of the equerries was wounded, and the assassin was about to fire another shot when the barrel of the pistol burst. In 1879, three attempts were made on the life of the Czar— in April, at St. Petersburg — when Solovieff fired four shots from a revolver without effect ; later whsn preparations were made for exploding a mine on thB occasion of his landing at Odessa ; and again on December lbt, when a portion of the Moscow railway was blown up. Thebe attempts opened the eyes of the world to the strength of the Nihilist organisation, the most singular revolutionary society that ever existed. On the 17th of February a part of the Winter Palace at St. Petersburg was blown up, in an attempt to destroy the life of the Czar. Since the explosion of the mine on the railway near Moscow, the most extroadinary precautions had been taken to ensure the safety of the Emperor. His carriage and sledge were lined with aheets of steel, and his uniform with bullet-proof wadding. He rarely went out, and when he did so, he was surrounded by a cloud of military officers and agents of the secret police, who onlj learn where he intended to go half-an-hour before starting, and were even then bound^ to secrecy. Within the palace His Majesty $ay© audien.ee in hi? prHrate ( apa.rtments,

nor did he open or read a letter or despatch, or newspaper himself. His linen, and in fact all hi* garments, wore most carefully watched and attended to by trusty servants lest they should be poisoned ; and although extremely fond of ataoking, he abstained for fear of cigars or cigarettes should 1 be i> chosen by the Nihilists as offering the greatest facility for the accomplishment of their deadly purpose. The Imperial cooks were under the supervision of two secret police agents, who watched the preparation of every meal. When a dish was ready (everything was cooked in the most simple way, aud no sauces were allowed) it was tasted by the two police officials before being served to the Czar. In spite of all precautions, for some time there found its way into the Czar's palacn a sealed letter, written on black-edged paper, warning the Czar that if he did not alter his system of oppression, he would not live over the twenty-fifth anniversary of his reign, All means to find out the person who laid the letter there were in vain, and, in consequence, on the Bth of February, a number of servants and officials of subordinate rank were dismissed, and replaced by others for whose fidelity the seoret police could vouch. A change was also made among the orderly officers, German officers being in large numbers substituted, and the Palace guard was changed, the two sotniaa of Cossacks being superseded by soldiers from the Finland battalion of Guards. Still, in spite of all these precautions, there was a strong feeling of uneasiness and distrust, and on ;he day before the explosion no fewer than forty arrests were made within the Palace itself ; yet on the very morning of the explosion a copy of the last issue of the Nihilist paper, the Semlja Wolga, was placed by some unknown person on the Czar's breakfast-table. Eight of the guard were killed and a number were wounded, several of whom died. The explosion was of dynamite, under the guard room of the palace. The Kussian police found that the Nihilist Society had agencies in London, Paris, and Berlin. On the day after the explosion, the Czar attended a thanksgiving service, and then held a council. The Emperor, who was in a state of great excitement, announced his firm intention to resign in favour of his son. With the greatest emotion he said that he had devoted all his life to his country ; that his constant wisli was to secure the happiness of his people ; but that the event which had just occurred showed a condition of things which rendered his posititn insupportable ; and that, when it was possible for attempts requiring such preparation to be made on his own life even in his own palace, it showed that a large proportion of his subjects must be hostile to him, or at least indifferent to his fate. The Czarewitch was most deeply affected, and throwing himself on his knees, implored his father to reconsider his decision. After an affecting scene, the Emperor was prevailed upon to postpone taking any action for the present. Trials of Nihilists have been constant, and considerable numbers have been sent to the scaffold or Siberia. The last trial concluded in November, when five prisoners were sentenced to death, and eleven to hard labour in the mines. Three women wero among the prisoners, and weje condemned to 15 years' penal servitude. Sheriaieff, one of those ninetepn sentenced to death, said that if cccain deedß of terrorism outside theiv plans were resorted to, it was because the Government had previously terrorised extra Icye*, and the Red terrorism was the consequence of the White terrorism. Tihonoff, a quiet-looking workman, a smith, said he was aware many of them would be condemned to death, and that only a few days remained to live. "In the presence of death which awaits us," he exclaimed, "I must warn you that the struggle is not finished with our death. After us, other defenders of liberty and the country will arise, and will continue the struggle !" The late Czar was married in 1841 to Maria Alexandrovna, Princess of HesseDarmstadt, by whom he lias a large family. The eldest of the princes, Nicholas, was born on September 20, 1843, who died prematurely. Alexander, the present Crown Prince, was born on March 10, 1845, and married in 1866 the Princess Marie Sophia Frederique Dagmar of Denmark. The only daughter of the late Emperor was married to the Duke of Edinburgh. The wife of the late Czar died last year, and since her death he married the Princess Dolgorouki, by whom he had had a large family previously.