THE TWO ALEXANDERS.

Globe, Volume IX, Issue 1241, 27 February 1878, Page 3

THE TWO ALEXANDERS.

The London “ Times” St. Petersburg correspondent, wilting on December 28th, draws the following parallel, suggested by the centenary of the first Alexander’s birth, between the two Czars of that name :

Between the present Emperor and the famous grandson of Catherine 11. there are some striking points of resemblance. Both appear in the pages of history ns great reformers, as men of humane characters and nobles apirations, as autocrats at home and liberal politicians abroad ; both take a leading part in the great work of political emancipation—the one by helping Western Europe to throw off the yoke of Napoleon, the other by helping the Southern Slavs to throw off the yoke of the Sultan. The two Alexanders have much in common ; but when we examine more closely their aims and policy wo are at a loss to decide whether the parallel should be a comparison or a contrast. Alexander I. was endowed by nature with many good qualities and many serious defects. He was intelligent, humane, generous, and singularly sensitive to the charm of grand, noble conceptions ; but at the same time he was very deficient in moral energy and had a decided tendency to dreamy sentimentality. Under the influence of Catherine and of his Swiss tutor Laharpo ho early imbibed the liberal, humane principles of the French philosophical world of that time, and when he mounted the throne in 1801 he determined to put those principles in practice. In the course of a few years he hoped to transform completely, according to the wisdom of Montesquieu and the Encyclopbdistes, the Empire over which Providence had placed him, after which he would retire into private life and enjoy the love and veneration of his grateful countrymen. As a first step towards this result ho abolished the oppressive measures which had been introduced by his father, Paul 1., and invited some of his young friends to elaborate a project for giving form and symmetry to “the formless edifice of the State.” The young Liberal statesmen, jocularly termed le Comite do Saint Public , set to work at once and showed themselves thoroughly .'imbued with the spirit of the time ; but no serious attempt was made to realise their schemes. Alexander was not the man to undertake such a Herculean task as that which he proposed to himself. He was easily discouraged, and was always disposed to abandon, a scheme as soon as ho met with serious difficulties In justice to him, however, it must be said that the diifi ullies he encountered in the form of indifference and passive resistance were enormous. The great mass of his subjects wore incapable of understanding his designs, and even in the educated classes ho found little assistance. Disappointed in his attempts at internal reform, he threw himself into foreign politics, and, leaving _ the great majority of his own subjects in a state of serfdom, ho aimed at becoming emancipator of enthralled Europe. For a time he was successful in this new career, but here, again, disappointment awaited him. At the Congress of Vienna his allies distrusted him and crossed his plans, and soon afterwards the reactionary policy of the Holy Alliance produced revolutionary movements which threatened to overthrow all constituted authority. Some political fanatics even harbored schemes against his life. Crushed by his shattered illusions, he sank into a state of chronic melancholy. The philosophic sentimentality of his early days assumed the form of religious mystipiam, and his ultraLiberal tendencies were replaced by _ the ultra-Conservative and reactionayr principles which at that time radiated from Vienna all over Europe. The character of the present Emperor is much less complicated and enigmatical. Ho has the humane disposition without the dreamy sentimentality of his uncle, and he has more of the moral energy requisite for realising good intentions. His reign, like that of his namesake, began with an outburst of humanitarian Liberalism, but there was an important difference. At tho commencement of tho century the initiative proceeded from the Czar and a small group of young friends, and it found at first little response in the majority of tho educated classes. At the beginning of tile present reign the impulse cam.o spontaneously from tho educated classes and was merely guided and utilized by the Czar. As the ground was better prepared, and the Monarch had more energy and better instruments to execute tho work, much more was actually effected. But ya ybe present, as in the former inordinate expectations were folloufecj by disappointment and despondency. Hearing that in various purls ; of ’Russia 'there were' revolutionary move- ; mentis, Alexander I. is reported to Have exclaimed in bitterness of soul, The ungrateful monsters!- I only desired their happiness.” Probably no such words over escaped the present Emperor, but it is well known that he does not much relish enthusiastic allusions to the great liberal reforms which ho has accomplished, and it is generally believed that tho reform period is at an end. For some time past his attention has been directed clfieffy to questions of foreign policy, end new, in spite of his strong pacific, disposition, ho is engaged in an enterprise that may, perhaps, devolope into qx\ 9 of the greatest wars of modern times.

Thus we see that between the two reigns there is a certain analogy. In both we find first an outburst of liberal enthusiasm, followed by a series of internal reforms, then a time of disonebant and reaction, and u period of foreign wars undertaken ostensibly for the liberation of foreign peonies. So far the analogy is complete, and the*question naturally presents itself—Since wo have already three analogous periods, is it not probable that we shall have the fourth likewise? Are the foreign wars now, as formerly, to bo followed by a period of exhaustion and national paralysis, in which aU the most vital interests of the country bo sacrificed to military and diplomatic considerations ? Some qw-vaVerc of the. highest official circle haye. nra > o fears on this subject, and they, accordingly, wish to see the war terminated as speedily ns possible. They are compelled, however, to admit that for the moment the omens are not very propitious. Since the Emperor’s return no decided indication has been given, but there seems to be a growing conviction that peace is still far off.