THE TRUE TEST.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume IV, Issue 211, 20 April 1877, Page 11

THE TRUE TEST.

The death of a religious has reminded us of the bitter enemy which the Catholic Church possesses in the Government of the Czar. The lady to whom we refer was named Narischkin. She was membei of a noble family of Russia, and many years ago, while still in the morning of life, she renounced the schismatic creed of her country, and entered the fold of the Church. In consequence of this act, when she had concealed the step she had taken for several months, during which she resided in her uncle's house at Moscow, lest sbe should be the means of drawing down upon tier relatives the ire of the Emperor, it was thought desiraMe that she shoal i leave her native l*ud, and she took advantage of the marriage of one of her sisters to remove to Venice, where she resided until she felt called upon to enter religion, which she did by taking the veil in a convent of the Sisters of Charity of St. Vinceut de Paul. We have, however, no intention of dwelling upon the life of thi3 saintly nun ; we quote it only in illustration of the nature of that despotism of the North towards which men's minds are, in consequence of the interest that attaches to the Eistern Question, at present turned, and in favour of which many arguments are being advance I ; writers of mark even endeavouring to show that the cause of Russia is that of civilisation, and that it is no longer true to say the Tartar lurks beneath the Muscovite skin. But as straws indicate the direction and force of tne winds, so do such slight matters as the event alluded to tell of the extent of the tyrauny that holds in check even the individu.il members of a private family ; and though this, of which we speak, happened in the reign of Nicholas, tliat of Alexander, if the truth were fully cousidered, would be found not one whit more enlightened or liberal. Of all the royal or imperial houses of Europe, that of Russia is least to be estimated by any signs of nobleness or amiability shown by its head Catherine Hi herself, disgraceful as was her life, and tyrannous her reign, gave many evidences of an admirable disposition. In her letters to | Madam^ de Bielke there are instances of remarks that seem to betray a true woman's heart. She speaks of the games played with her little sou for the sake of playing the child, and, pitying an ill-used Queen, declares that, for her own part, she could have loved her husband dearly, had such beeu his [ good pleasure. The sentiments expressed by her to Paolt, tue Corsicau patriot, breathe the very soul of magnanimity ; and tan picture drawn of her by Grimm, when for the time she was wont to throw off in a degree the grandeur of her state, and converse with him familiarly, would seem to depict one to whom an ignoble thought, much less such an act, would be an impossibility : " Tlie Empress w.is in truth," he says, " never absent from these tetea tete, but neither w.is she ever there too palpably." Yet of what Catherine was, let the student of history judge. The occupant of the throne of all the Russias is not, therefore, to be ju'ig-d by any symptoms of amiability shown by him. These indications have generally proved deceptive, and much better may Alexander be known by the de;is of his myrmidons in Central Asia and in Poland, than by any signs of humanity given by him, if such there have been, as it seems to be assumed in some quarters. A ta-iner of " anarchic

peoples, that is the role assigned to him by Oablylb, who mistakes phantasmagoria of the imagination for historical entities. Much better may he be known as th 6 oppressor of those, who of all men are most regardful of law and order, the faithful members of the Catholic Church.