e as
it is, which forms the sole strength of the great Russian Empire,
embracing nearly two thirds of the earth's surface, and covering an
area of eighty millions of square miles. There is a power behind the
army which is nearly as potent as any other element in maintaining
the absolute sovereignty of the Emperor, and that is the Church which
recognizes him as its head; and where physical control might prove
inadequate to enforce the wishes of the Tzar, religious influence, as
directed by the priesthood, would undoubtedly accomplish as much with
the masses of the population as would force of arms. The clergy of
the Greek Church are the faithful servitors of absolutism, and from
the nature of things must always be hearty supporters of the reigning
monarch. It requires no remarkable insight for them to realize that
their very existence as a priesthood depends upon the stability of
the Empire. The Anarchists, who entertain but one distinctive idea,
admit of no fealty to God or man, and cherish as little respect for
the Church as for the State.

Alexander III. has probably at this writing one hundred millions of
subjects, embracing the most remarkable diversity of nationalities
and races of which it is possible to conceive. Since March 3, 1861,
there have been no serfs in the Empire. Twenty millions of human
beings who were slaves the day before, on that auspicious date were
proclaimed freemen. All honor to the memory of him who made this
bold and manly stride towards universal emancipation against the
combined influence of the entire Russian nobility! Whatever of
political restlessness there may be existing among the upper classes
of the Tzar's subjects is traceable in its origin to this freeing of
the peasantry of the country. Like slavery in our own Southern
States serfdom died hard, and its supporters are not yet all
"reconstructed." Like the American negroes, the serfs were sold from
master to master and treated like chattels; humanity was not a
relative term between noble and serf. Masters sent them to Siberia
to work in the mines, or to serve in the army, or exchanged them for
cattle or money, and often gambled them away by the dozen in a
single night. They made or unmade families according to the
heartless caprice of the moment, and unhesitatingly outraged every
domestic tie. Before the abolishment of serfdom the Government and
the nobles owned all the land in Russia; but to-day the former
serfs own at least one t