THE EMPEROR OF RUSSIA.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 5167, 13 October 1877, Page 2 (Supplement)

THE EMPEROR OF RUSSIA.

The present Emperor of Russia is a man prominent in the world by the accident of birth, but rendered more conspicuous of late by the war now ragins in the old country. We find from "Men of the Time" that "Alexander 11. (Nicolaivitch), Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias, who succeeded, on the death of his father, Nicholas 1., March 2, 1855, was born April 29, 1818, in the reign of his uncle, Alexander I. The first seven years of his life were hardly completed, when the death of Alexander 1., and the renunciation of his rights by his brother Constantine, led to the elevation of his father Nicholas to the throne, to which the young prince became heir apparent. For a moment, however, his own destiny and that of his house trembled in the balauce, as a widely-spread defection, which was only qHenchod by torrents of blood, exhibited itself in the garrisons of the capital. The resolute spirit of Nicholas I, overawed the rebellious regiments, and from that day, December 26, 1835, he ruled over a nation of slaves. The whole tenor of the young prince's life waa altered, the gentle sway of his mother, the daughter of Frederick 111., of Prussia, having been changed for the discipline of military governors and tutors. The substitution of the stern regimen of the barrack-room for the more genial influence of domestic life proved so irksome to the future czar, that he enfranchised himself from it at the earliest possible period, and sought in travel and the society of the female members of his mother's family the softening influences of intellectual culture and taste. This predilection for civil | rather than military life was opposed to all the traditions of the Russian court. Gloomy forebodings prevailed respecting the prospects of the crown prince, whose succession it was feared might possibly be disputed by the old direction of reform, was the reduction of the army to tho lowest limits compatible with the dignity and safety of the empire. Vigorous efforts were made to place the national finances on a firmer basis, and to promote commercial prosperity. But the greatest reform of all was bis emancipation of 23,000,000 human beings from the bondage of serfdom, and an Imperial ukase proclaimed the liberation of the serfs, on certain conditions, March 3, 1861. A peri d of two years was assigned for the settlement of terms, with regard to the quantity of land to be ceded, and the rent, labor, or purchasemoney to be paid for it. In February, 1864, the same boon was conferred upon the Polish serfs, with a view to weaken the influence of the Polish nobility, who owned the greater part of the land, and were consequently allpowerful. Whether this reform will have any effect in inducing the Poles to submit quietly to Russian rule remains to be seen. At present their national spirit seems crushed by the total failure of their late attempt to achieve independence. As regards education, great efforts are being made by the Emperor to place the state colleges on a level with the best oducational institutions in Europe. A still more notable reform, however, is tho inauguration of elective representative assemblies in the provinces. The first of these met iu 1865, and it was anticipated that this tentative measure would pave the way for the introduction of a National Representative Assembly. The principal war entered into of late years by Russia was that undertaken in Turkestan against the Ameer of Bokhara, in November, 1866. After a resistance of a year and a half tho Ameer was conquered, his army dispersed, and the city of Samarcand occupied by the Russian troops (May, 1868). In March, 1867, the Crar sold the wholo of Russian America, to the United States for £1,100,000. V hilc Paris was being bosicgod by the Germans, the Czar declared that he no longer considered himself bound by thoso provisions of the treaty of 1856 which limited his rights in tho Black Sea. This lod to the conference held in London at the commencement of tho year 1871, when he parties to the treaty consented to its modification in compliance with the wishes of the Czar. It has been the contant policy of the presont Czar to strengthen the influence of the Church of which he is the head. The result has been a persecution of all other religious bodies, and especially of the Catholic Church, the bishops of that communion having been forbidden to hold any commuuication with the Holy See. Two attempts have been made on the Czar's life : tho first on April 16, 1866, when ho was fired at whilo entering his carriage at St. Petersburg. The pistol, however, was turned aside by a workman named Dimitri Karakosow, who was afterwards ennobled for tho act. The second attempt was mado at Paris, June 6, 1867_, by Berezowski, a Pole, who fired into the carriage in which tho Czar was seated with his two sons and the Emperor Napoleon. Both sovereigns escapod unhurt, but the- horso of one of Ibo equerrfes was wounded. Tho assassin w«8

about to fire another shot, when the barrel of the pistol burst and rendered his arm powerless. The Emperor Alexander 11. married, April 28, 1841, Maria Alexandrovna, Princess of Hesse, by whom he has had a large family. Tho eldest of the princes, Nicholas, the late Czarewitch, born September 20, 1843, died prematurely at Nice in April, 1865. Alexander, the present Crown Prince, born March 10, 1845, married November 9, 1866, the Princess Marie Sophia Frcderique Dagmar, of Denmark.

During the past few years Russia has made great advances in railways and other means of internal communication ; and although a great military ruler, the Emperor has devoted himself greatly to promoting the arts of peace. It is very generally believed that he was forced by his Minister, Gortschakoff, and the religious sentiment of the Russian people, to engage in the present war, ostensibly for the protection of the Christians in Turkey, but which is generally thought by the neighboring nations to be chiefly for the acquisition of territory, and is in keeping with the hereditary policy of the house of Romanof.