r of his
administration, and the attributes of infallibility which he cast
around his person, caused him to be regarded with awe, but not with
love. He could brook no opposition nor survive a failure. Few tears
were shed when he was stricken down in his pride. He left but a small
legacy of good deeds to endear him in the memory of his subjects. The
haughty Czar lies dead in his sepulchre--cold, stern, and solitary as
he lived.

Nicholas left his country in a distracted and unhappy
condition--deeply in debt; commerce deranged; the military service in
the worst possible condition, and nearly every branch of the public
service in the hands of corrupt and incapable men. Well might he say
to his own son upon his dying bed, "Poor Alexander, my beloved son,
where lie the ills of unhappy Russia?" Well might he endeavor to make
atonement for his errors by recommending at his last hour the
emancipation of the serfs.

The milder spirit of Alexander reigns in his place. What future, then,
does this humane young sovereign propose to himself and his country?
He gives personal liberty to the serfs, but he can not allow them to
become intelligent and responsible beings. If they do, they will no
longer acknowledge his right to deprive them of political liberty. He
removes various restrictions from the press, and the moment the light
of intelligence strikes upon the minds of his subjects, they call for
a constitution and the overthrow of a despotic camarilla. He
undertakes to restrain a powerful, intelligent, and unscrupulous
aristocracy, who by instinct, education, and self-interest hate the
very name of freedom, and they turn against him, and provoke those
whom he would serve to acts of rebellion against his authority. We can
scarcely wonder that this is the case when we consider the interests
they have at stake. It is not likely that they will quietly relinquish
their accustomed source of revenue. On the other hand, the argument is
advanced, and with a good share of reason, that the emancipation of
the serfs is really a benefit to the owners. It relieves them of
enormous responsibilities, and, by encouraging industry, increasing
the intelligence, self-reliance, and capacity of the serfs themselves,
makes their labor more profitable to the landed proprietors. This is a
view of the case, however, in which they have no faith. Believing in
nothing free except the free use of authority in their own persons,
they can not be brought to un