contest are
systematically withheld by the Czar, who will not permit the slightest
display of popular sentiments within the lawful domain of Representative
Government. Many years ago a distinguished French writer described the
Russian system as "a tyranny tempered by the dagger." Alexander, too,
himself is fully aware of this tragic concatenation of events. He is
even known to have often, in the very beginning of his reign, expressed
a feeling of fear lest his own end should be a violent one, like that of
so many of his predecessors. The attempts of Karakasoff and Berezowski
have lately been repeated by Solovieff. Whilst strongly condemning the
deed of the latter, even the Conservative _Standard_ felt called upon,
by the dangers of the situation at large, to make the following
comments, which possess a lasting interest:--

"It would be well if this painful incident could be disposed of by
a homily upon individual wickedness and individual perverseness.
Unhappily, it is but too certain that not only the deed itself, but
the peculiar circumstances attending it, are closely related with
the existing condition of a considerable section of Russian
society. We are obliged to add that this condition is closely
connected, in turn, with the form of government and the methods of
administration that prevail in that country.... In spite of the
emancipation of the serfs from the condition of territorial
slavery, the Russian people have made little visible progress in
the acquisition of political freedom. The Czar is still an absolute
Sovereign; his Ministers still remain responsible to no will but
his, and their agents have to answer only to their superiors for
the manner in which they exercise authority.... The sanguine youth
of the nation, eager for a career, and burning for activity, finds
itself debarred from any course of distinction save that of arms,
or that official existence which too often places men in Russia in
antagonism to their own countrymen.... The old method of
government--of police supervision, of private espionage, of
imprisonment, of exile, of political silence--has been tried, and
the result is discontent and extensive conspiracy. We fear that
even the confession of sensualistic atheism by Solovieff will not
prevent his memory from being cherished by thousands of his
countrymen. They will for