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^o. 446. October 9Tl858.] THE LEADER.
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THE RUSSIAN IMPERIAL AGITATOR. Who are t...
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PORTRAITURES OF THE ROYAL FAMILY OF PRUS...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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^O. 446. October 9tl858.] The Leader.
^ o . 446 . October 9 Tl 858 . ] THE LEADER .
1065
The Russian Imperial Agitator. Who Are T...
THE RUSSIAN IMPERIAL AGITATOR . Who are the nobles with " whom the Emperor Alexander has been remonstrating on their resistance to his august will and pleasure ? Ihe nobles of Russia have hitherto borne rather a nigu character in Europe , at all events as compared with the Imperial family . The Russians have been called the F rench of the north , and with no small reason : there is some family resemblance between the
the Russian Sclave and the French Gael , — same vivacity of idea , the same impulsiveness , the same sympathetic desire for approbation . But there are some differences . If the Russian has m some parts of the empire been benefited by an admixture of Norman blood , he has not had the corresponding benefit of admixture with Italian blood , that combination which has perhaps brought forth the highest and most commanding type of Frenchman . Still the Russian noble lias been
considered a man of active mind , of advancing views , of taste ; he has been understood to represent the most cultivated aspect of Russian society ; while the Court clung to old Moscow , maintained a savage indigenous spirit , resented French innovations , hated the sound of the foreign language at Court , and , in" short , stood upon the ancient ways , barbarous as they were . Strange that the nobles in various governments of the empire should now be themselves standing upon the ancient ways , while it is the eldest son of that same obstructive autiquated family who is pressing
for a great reform . The position of the Russian nobles is not unlike that of the French nobles in another r . espect—their over-developed feudal ownership of tl ' ie cultivators of the land as well as of the land itself . The Russian noble owes allegiance to his lord , and must serve him with person , purse , and peasants , who form the raw material of the imperial anfries ; but with regard to the labourers themselves , they are the property of the noble , and wheu he contributes them to the State he doe ? but pay his taxes in kind . If he has the ownership of the peasant he has . burdens in consequence : he must
maintain him ; in old age and in sickness , his is the charge of hospital and almshouses . We may be quite sure , however , that if the noble is under these painful -liabilities , there is another side of the same liability which falls upon the poor peasant himself ; and we could tell abundant stories taken from that point of view . If the peasant is aged , it must be a kind lord that lets him feel not his uselessness . If he is sick , he may not tarry in the hospital . If he is a valuable labourer , such a man as in this country could work , his way , his lord wants his service . If he is an independent , courageous , intelligent man , he may speak a little too openly , is treated as a drunkard or outcast to
aud cither sent to the army ^ pr Siberia . Any way , his will lies in another man ' s hands , and that man a sort of French noble , who , like an Irish landowner of some generations back , rackrents his tenantry ; only with the more grasping capacity for raking out all that they can yield ; and spending his money , faster than ho gets it , at St . Petersburg , makes those at home feel the whole stress of his needs . Such a state of things cannot go on for ever ; it must come to an end . A country whose peasantry are ground to tho dust is daily impoverished , even while its numbers and its accumulated wealth arc both increasing ; and tho
spirit of man will not tolerate a consciousness of the strength with multitudes which tho examples of luxury hold up before his eyes . They will not remain passive . A reform is necessary . Iu Franco it burst up from , the under-strata of society , and the upheaval scattered the stratu above , shaking tho very throne to destruction . Tho idea has been struck out in Russia that such a reform may not come from below ; it must como from above , and Alexander II . is the Daniel O'Conncll of Kussin . But he is an O'Connell who confronts opponents very different from our Commons and Lords , with
all me oppression that they arc said to inflict upon Ireland . There is not , perhaps , in tho world so remarkable a clas 3 15 * men as tho Russian nobles , who represent almost every form of aristocratic power that at present exists m tho world . To have amongst thorn many princes of tho empire direct descendants of that Rurik who ia regarded as tho foundor of tho Russian monarchy ; while many of old birth , of ducal power own as their equals in antiquity , nobility , and blood , and in some respects of wealth , men amongst tho simple boynrs or esquires of Muscovy , who , like tho Ycrapkincs , tho Rjevskys , or Lmpouuoffs , when tho Russian
empire was consolidated , and they were deprived of something like sovereign power on their own estates , with something like power of life and death over their dependents , threw up the title of Prince a nd contented themselves with being the * imple country gentry of the land . We have among the same distinguished nobility some few creatures of the Court who , like the Kutaissoffs , descended from some Imperial butler , or the Viers , from a Venetian cabin-boy upon whom shone the sun of imperial liking . Amongst them also there ace the Strogonoffs , representatives of that energetic merchant
who really won for Russia her Siberian provinces , by intelligently employing the Cossack robbers that molested his own property , and loyally _ handing over the proceeds to his imperial master . We have amongst them the representatives of the Nesselrodes , and the Pozzo di Borgos , whom Germany or Italy has furnished for the service of the Court . But amongst the nobles also , there is a class of men who might make the Emperor pause if he were a man to be deterred by sense of personal peril or even dynastic danger . Amongst the nobles are the Orloffs , the Zouboffs , and Bariatinskys , who
are coolly recorded in authentic Russian histories as being amongst the actual murderers of the Peters and Pauls in the Imperial families , those headstrong ill-regulated princes that molested their nobles with their uncorisidered innovations or vexatious regulations . If a Paul was murdered for meddling with men ' s beards and hats , what might not be apprehended by the man wh » meddles with their property - — the peasants . No French levity which may distinguish the Russian nobles can blunt the danger ; there is no button on the foil of the foppish nobility when its
blood is up . The Count Samoiloff , who offended his imperial master , was the subject of undying imperial dislike , and lie felt the displeasure in many ways ; yet never was the young buck ' s blood quelled . When a popular actor was ordered to caricature him on the stage , the exquisite told the actor that he wanted one " property " to complete the perfection of the character : it was the diamond ring which the nobleman himself commonly wore , and which he presented to the actor to be worn when he personated the character . It was the same man who originally incurred the imperial displeaat review
sure by some military lault a , ana wnen the indignant Emperor raised his hand to strike , the young nobleman coldly remarked , " Take care , sire , you see I have a sword in my hand . " The Emperor Alexander cannot take his stand against a nobility of this spirit now , notwithstanding its various origin and standing , united in such numbers to oppose him , unless he were conscious of very great support ; and such is the fact . In the first place , all the nobility are not against him ; but many who best understand the position of the country join with him in urging the most important reforms . Amongst them , ior example , we find the Potemkines , distinguished for their
fidelity and their audacity ; the Scheremeteits , of whose family the Romanoffs themselves form a younger branch ; and many others . The Emperor has , on his side , the large and increasing number of professional men , whom his intelligent patronage encourages to study tho resources of Russia and of science . We may presume that he has with him the merchant class , hitherto kept down by Court and nobles , forming , indeed , only the foundatibu of the class as it will hereafter exist in Russia . This class , notwithstanding its great wealth , has made little way into the ranks ot tho nobilitv , and is looked down upon . Some of tho
nobles have descended into it , and these have been peculiarly disgusted by the obstruction which they mvc encountered from tho old-fashioned ways of , Russia . In tho matter of the railways , tho Emperor lately discovered tho largo dcpcndcnco which not only himself but tho throne must owe towards this wealth-possessing and wealth-creating class . It is quito certain that the Emperor has on his side also tho now turbulent millions of peasantry , who , by their impulsivo movements , by tho
ires which they arc lighting up in tho Russian forests—thoso precious sources of noblo wealth which , already so scanty * nl' ° so rapidl y becoming tlnnned-T-show their impatience for tho coming reform . And , above all , the Emperor has on his sido the right . Ho has shown no disposition to stop in his oarocr . It is reportod , and the report ia very likely true , that ho has promised to visit Paris and London as soon as ho shall havo accomplished this great work . Tho nobles havo , until now , exhibited ft passive resistance . Commissions have been
appointed in the various provinces to collect evidence on the subject , and to suggest provisions for the emancipation of the peasantry , with the necessary regulations for _ defining the social position and perhaps the municipal regulation of the peasantry ; . who would ,. course , have henceforward , for example , to pay their own . taxes to the Crown , to raise rates among themselves for local purposes , and so forth . Even these few " considerations show how difficult and onerous the
measure is . The nobles have not shown much , alacrity in aiding these committees . In a recent tour the EmperOr has addressed them in language of paternal encouragement , of reproof , and even of remonstrance and entreaty combined . He has announced to them that , after the termination of the local committees , the nobles of each province will be allowed to elect two delegates to sit in a centra ] commission which will be assembled at St . Petersburg , and it is by the aid of this central commission that the Emperor will definitively arrange his newlaw . That new law he has determined ,-it would appear , to settle before he lays down the task , the magnitude and vital importance of which the reader can now understand .
Portraitures Of The Royal Family Of Prus...
PORTRAITURES OF THE ROYAL FAMILY OF PRUSSIA . The Court of Berliu , almost forgotten by us during the stormy times of the late war , has once more attracted public attention in this country . Through , the affliction of insanity which has befallen the old King , the governmental machine of Prussia has all at once become unhinged ; and questions have started up iu the most unexpected ; manner , the solution of which will probably influence not only the future of Germany , but the course of European , policy at large . The Prussian monarchy , at preseut . ' stands before the world the prey of the most
violent dissensions of its Court . The unity which , hitherto it : exhibited , at least in appearance , has given way to a display of fierce and unseemly contention in the " highest quarters / ' Several , monarchic parties , —or perhaps we should , say fac- ? tions , —are undisguisedly struggling with each other . There is the feudalist ^ iind Bigot party of the Gerlachs , Stahls , and otherromariticists of right divine , who would fain uphold the government of the insane king , in spite of the wretched state of debasement into which he has fallen , both intellecfnotw . anA rJnr *' \ r > n \\ v Thp . rft is . further , the Jesuit tualland hsicall . There isfurtherthe Jesuit
y py y , , and reactionary coterie of the Queen , whose desire is to establish a Regency , the chief power of which should belong to the zealot Bavarian princess . There are the minions , also , of the Prince of Prussia —a medley faction , composed of military and bureaucratic elements , with an admixture Of the remnants of the " G otha party . "<* They are loud ia their demands for the establishment of the government of the Prince , either as Regent with unrestricted powers , or , better still , as Sovereign and Kiug . There is , lastly , even a small group who advocate the abdication of both King and Prince , in order to make room for young Frederick William , the husband of the Princess Royal . The latter knot of political speculators is , however , as yet
insignificant enough , owing to the youth and niexperience of the party on whom they desire tho regal responsibility to devolve . So far as principles arc concerned , there is , in the three first-namod parties , but a difference in nuance . Thevallhavethc same objeetsinview—theinvestment of absolute power within , the narrovy circle of a particular caste . But the way in which they seek to accomplish this end lays in various directions . The Camarilla , whoso tool King Frederick William IV . has been for years , strives to make the Crown the pediment of a mediaeval building , of whjch the landed aristocraoy and a certain sect of , religious illuminati would be the supporting pillars . Tins is
the parity of tho " Junkers" and saintly " Pietists . " Opposed to it is the military and bureaucratic party of the Prince , who care but little for theological squabbles and antiquarian imaginings , but who advocato a system of despotism equally , if not more comprehensive , than oven that demanded by tho adhoronts of tho King . As regards tho Queen , » ho may be * said , wlicn speaking of principles , to stand midway between those profosscd by tho King and the 1 nnco . In matters of religion , being a member ot the Roman Church , sho of courso goes far beyond the Crypto-Catholioism of her husband . In matters ol government , sho moro approaches the dry , martinet notions of her mothorVlaw than the exuberant feudal ronmntioism of Frederick William IV . On
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 9, 1858, page 17, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_09101858/page/17/
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