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watch the approach of cholera; especially on the Persian



frontier。 Admirable precautions had been taken for securing



telegraphic information; and every day I received notices from



the Foreign Office as a result; which I communicated to



Washington。 For ages Russia had relied on fetishes of various



kinds to preserve her from great epidemics; but at last her



leading officials had come to realize the necessity of applying



modern science to the problem; and they did this well。 In the



city 〃sanitary columns〃 were established; made up of small squads



of officials representing the medical and engineering professions



and the police; these visited every nook and corner of the town;



and; having extraordinary powers for the emergency; compelled



even the most dirty people to keep their premises clean。



Excellent hospitals and laboratories were established; and of



these I learned much from a former Cornell student who held an



important position in one of them。 Coming to town three or four



times a week from my summer cottage in Finland; I was struck by



the precautions on the Finnish and other railways: notices of



what was to be done to prevent cholera and to meet it were



posted; in six different languages; disinfectants were made



easily accessible; the seats and hangings in the railway…cars



were covered with leather cloth frequently washed with



disinfectants; and to the main trains a hospital…car was



attached; while a temporary hospital; well equipped; was



established at each main station。 In spite of this; the number of



cholera patients at St。 Petersburg in the middle of July rose to



a very high figure; and the number of deaths each day from



cholera was about one hundred。







Of these victims the most eminent was Tschaikovsky; the composer;



a man of genius and a most charming character; to whom Mr。 Andrew



Carnegie had introduced me at New York。 One evening at a



dinner…party he poured out a goblet of water from a decanter on



the table; drank it down; and next day was dead from Asiatic



cholera。 But; with this exception; the patients were; so far as I



learned; almost entirely from the peasant class。 Although boiled



water was supplied for drinking purposes; and some



public…spirited individuals went so far as to set out samovars



and the means of supplying hot tea to peasant workmen; the answer



of one of the muzhiks; when told that he ought to drink boiled



water; indicated the peasant view: 〃If God had wished us to drink



hot water; he would have heated the Neva。〃















CHAPTER XXXVI







MY RECOLLECTIONS OF POBEDONOSTZEFF1892…1894







On arriving at St。 Petersburg in 1892 to take charge of the



American legation; there was one Russian whom I more desired to



meet than any otherConstantine Pobedonostzeff。 For some years



various English and American reviews had been charging him with



bigotry; cruelty; hypocrisy; and; indeed; with nearly every



hateful form of political crime; but the fact remained that under



Alexander III he was the most influential personage in the



empire; and that; though bearing the title of 〃procurator…general



of the Most Holy Synod;〃 he was evidently no less powerful in



civil than in ecclesiastical affairs。







As to his history; it was understood to be as follows: When the



Grand Duke Nicholas; the eldest son of Alexander II;a young man



of gentle characteristics; greatly resembling his father;died



upon the Riviera; the next heir to the throne was his brother



Alexander; a stalwart; taciturn guardsman; respected by all who



knew him for honesty and directness; but who; having never looked



forward to the throne; had been brought up simply as a soldier;



with few of the gifts and graces traditional among the heirs of



the Russian monarchy since the days of Catherine。







Therefore it was that it became necessary to extemporize for this



soldier a training which should fit him for the duties of the



position so unexpectedly opened to him; and the man chosen as his



tutor was a professor at Moscow; distinguished as a jurist and



theologian;a man of remarkable force of character; and devoted



to Russian ideas as distinguished from those of Western Europe:



Constantine Pobedonostzeff。







During the dark and stormy days toward the end of his career;



Alexander II had called in as his main adviser General



Loris…Melikoff; a man of Armenian descent; in whom was mingled



with the shrewd characteristics of his race a sincere desire to



give to Russia a policy and development in accordance with modern



ideas。







The result the world knows well。 The Emperor; having taken the



advice of this and other councilors;deeply patriotic men like



Miloutine; Samarine; and Tcherkassky;had freed the serfs within



his empire (twenty millions in all); had sanctioned a vast scheme



by which they were to arrive at the possession of landed



property; had established local self…government in the various



provinces of his empire; had improved the courts of law; had



introduced Western ideas into legal procedure; had greatly



mitigated the severities formerly exercised toward the Jews; and



had made all ready to promulgate a constitution on his



approaching birthday。







But this did not satisfy the nihilistic sect。 What more they



wanted it is hard to say。 It is more than doubtful whether Russia



even then had arrived at a stage of civilization when the



institutions which Alexander II had already conceded could be



adopted with profit; but the leaders of the anarchic movement;



with their vague longings for fruit on the day the tree was



planted; decreed the Emperor's deaththe assassination of the



greatest benefactor that Russia has ever known; one of the



greatest that humanity has known。 It was; perhaps; the most



fearful crime ever committed against liberty and freedom; for it



blasted the hopes and aspirations of over a hundred millions of



people; and doubtless for many generations。







On this the sturdy young guardsman became the Emperor Alexander



III。 It is related by men conversant with Russian affairs that;



at the first meeting of the imperial councilors; Loris…Melikoiff;



believing that the young sovereign would be led by filial



reverence to continue the liberal policy to which the father had



devoted his life; made a speech taking this for granted; and that



the majority of those present; including the Emperor; seemed in



accord with him; when suddenly there arose a tall; gaunt;



scholarly man; who at first very simply; but finally very



eloquently; presented a different view。 According to the



chroniclers of the period; Pobedonostzeff told the Emperor that



all so…called liberal measures; including the constitution; were



a delusion; that; though such things might be suited to Western



Europe; they were not suited to Russia; that the constitution of



that empire had been; from time immemorial; the will of the



autocrat; directed by his own sense of responsibility to the



Almighty; that no other constitution was possible in Russia; that



this alone was fitted to the traditions; the laws; the ideas of



the hundred and twenty millions of various races under the



Russian scepter; that in other parts of the world constitutional



liberty; so called; had already shown itself an absurdity; that



socialism; anarchism; and nihilism; with their plots and bombs;



were appearing in all quarters; that murder was plotted against



rulers of nations everywhere; the best of presidents having been



assassinated in the very country where free institutions were



supposed to have taken the most complete hold; that the principle



of authority in human government was to be saved; and that this



principle existed as an effective force only in Russia。







This speech is said to have carried all before it。 As its



immediate result came the retirement of Loris…Melikoff; followed



by his death not long afterward; the entrance of Pobedonostzeff



among the most cherished councilors of the Emperor; the



suppression of the constitution; the discouragement of every



liberal tendency; and that fanatical reaction which has been in



full force ever since。







This was the man whom I especially desired to see and to



understand; and therefore it was that I was very glad to receive



from the State Department instructions to consult with him



regarding some rather delicate matters needing adjustment between



the Greek Church and our authorities in Alaska; and also in



relation to the representation of Russia at the Chicago



Exposition。







I found him; as one of the great ministers of the crown; residing



in a ministerial palace; but still retaining; in large measure;



his old quality of professor。 About him was a beautiful library;



with every evidence of a love for art and literature。 I had gone



into his presence with many feelings of doubt。 Against no one in



Russia had charges so bitter been made in my hearing: it was



universally insisted that he was responsible for the persecution



of the Roman Catholics in Poland; of the Lutherans in the Baltic



provinces and in Finland; of the Stundists in Central Russia; and



of the dissenting sects everywhere。 He had been spoken of in the



English reviews as the 〃Torquemada of the nineteenth century;〃



and this epithet seemed to be generally accepted as fitting。







I found him a scholarly; kindly man; ready to discuss the


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