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Show I STRONGEST MAN IS WEAKEST Uve and Is consistent 1n his opposition ; to all political reforms. Grand Duke Sergius. another uncle of the Emperor, who was recently re-; moved as Governor of Moscow, has a reputation almost as bad as that of ' Ivan the Terrible. He is vicious. mMi. ' unprincipled, and has a fanatical ha-' tred of the Jews, Protestants snd Roman Ro-man Catholics. It is said of him that1 his greatest pleasure is found In the sufferings of others. Some of the worst scandals In Ruatlan history have occurred oc-curred under the administration of Ser-' glus. He was respor slble for the disappearance disap-pearance of $1,000,000 raised and contributed con-tributed by the Empress for the relief' of th sick and wounded In the army In ' Manchuria. . One of tha ablest and most highly re- spected and popular of the Grand. Dukes Is Constantino Constantlnovitch. a second cousin of the Emperor, who is the literary member of the family and will have nothing- to do with the Government. Gov-ernment. He Is very conservative in his ideas, believes in the autocracy and resists re-sists all political reforms, spending- his' time In promoting science and letters. He Is president of the Iirpeiial Academy Acad-emy of Sciences and his hobby is the imperial library, where may be found one of the finest collections of books and . manuscripts in the world. He has translated several of Shakespeare's plays and other English classics Into Russian and has himself appeared in the role of Hamlet, supported by professionals, pro-fessionals, at the Imperial theater In the winter palace. William E. Curtis In Chicago Record-Herald. Theoretically, the Csar of Russia Is able to do exactly as he pleases at all times and to exercise his own will In an matters - concerning himself and the 150,000,000 million souls who occupy his dominions, Theoretically, everything within the limits Of the great Russian empire belongs to him, to use at his pleasure;' including the lives as well as the property, of bis subjects. He can order armies and fleets to any part of the earth whenever he desires; ha can declare war or make peace, according to his Individual Judgment; he - can spend all the money in the treasury for any purpose, and nobody has the right to question his acta or his wisdom. Practically, however, the. Csar is a prisoner, pris-oner, surrounded by a group of relations rela-tions and officials mors or less honest, vicious and corrupt, who control his acts, his words and his thoughts by the various Influence - they are able to bring to bear- upon him. He may read the European and American newspapers newspa-pers and periodicals; ho may occasionally occasion-ally see a book tbat disclose the condition condi-tion of affairs in the empire, and sometimes some-times a disinterested and candid subject sub-ject may secure an audience with him and give him accurate information. But, as a rule, all of his knowledge of public affairs and every other subject la filtered through groups of designing men, the most of whom have evil reputations rep-utations and are believed to practice habitual deception upon their sovereign for their own benefit or the advantage of their friends. At the same time Nicholas Nich-olas II. has better advantages and greater opportunities for knowing the truth than any of his predecessors and his personal responsibility for conditions condi-tions and events in Russia is greater than that of his father or grandfather, or any other man who ever sat on the throne ot the Romanoffs. There is a decided difference of opinion opin-ion as to tha personal character and disposition of the Cxar. Those who had sn opportunity to study hlra before he ascended the throne and passed beyond the close observation of the public represent rep-resent him to be sympathetic, affectionate, affec-tionate, sincere, modest, conscientious, and kindly disposed, but with a deep, melancholy strain, a short memory, limited moral courage, a tendency to shrink from responsibility, a weak will. Inability to retain impressions, easily Imposed upon and apt to be Influenced by the last person who sees him. His strongest characteristic is religious su-rvrtttinn su-rvrtttinn which he inherited from his father, and which has made him the plastic tool of M. Pobiedonosteff. procurator procu-rator of the holy synod, the Torque-mada Torque-mada of the Russian empire, the most bigoted reactionary and the crudest of all the influences by which he is surrounded. sur-rounded. Pobiedonosteff would massacre massa-cre all the Jews In Russia: he would send to the stake every man, woman and child who questioned the divine authority au-thority of his sovereign, and would consign con-sign to the icy mines of Siberia every man who dlTered from his opinions. ... The Ciar takes a childish delight In the supernatural. He believes In miracles; mira-cles; in the direct Influence of spirits, and for two or three years has been receiving re-ceiving messages from the invisible world through a French adventurer, M. Philllppe, who is both a hypnotist and a medium, and has played upon hi.? perplexities and superstitions in a most extraordinary manner. Through him the Czar has been able to obtain the advice and counsel of his father, the late Alexander III., for whom he has the greatest veneration, and the spirits of various other saints and ancestors in whose judgment he has confidence. M. Philllppe predicted the birth of an heir to the throne six months before that event of supreme gratification occurred, and convinced the Czar that it was accomplished ac-complished through the Intercession of a certain St. Seraphim, a holy man to whom barren peasant women pray for children. Phllllppe's influence surpassed sur-passed that of any other man at court; the Czar would go nowhere without him. and kept him busy communicating with the other world until the charlatan charla-tan betrayed himself one day by having the spirit of Alexander III. recommend the employment of certain contractors by the Government. That suddenly-ended suddenly-ended his career; he fled from St. Petersburg Pe-tersburg and has disappeared. It is generally understood that with the gift of the conspirators he served and the generosity of his victim, he acquired a considerable fortune. The Grand Ducal ring, or cabal, as It Is usually called. Is composed of the brothers, uncles and cousins of the Cr.ar, who are very numerous, and form a sort of executive family council. The Inventory of Grand Dukes Is very lorg. The imperial relatives have large families. Most of the sons held important impor-tant honorary military and civil positions. posi-tions. In which they oMain rather than promote public business, because the i lost of th?n are not willing to perform per-form the labors and assume the responsibilities respon-sibilities attached to thfir positions, snd leave everything to their favorite subordinate. The latter, in many rases, are incompetent, mercenary and corrupt, and are responsible for the scand'aU that are constantly occurring In official circles. According to general rpute. the family fam-ily of the Grand Duke Vladimir, the senior se-nior uncle of the Emperor, are the worst. Their Immorality Is common gossip among the peasants, and the two sons, Boris, who visited the United States two years ago, and Cyril, who had a narrow escape at fort Aitnur. are notorious for their scandalous escapades. es-capades. The Grand Duke Alexis, who visited the United States In 1872 and had a buffalo buf-falo hunt with Gen. Sheridan, is the most liberal-minded and progressive in political views of all the family; but his life is given up to dissipation and he has lost ell sense of propriety and solf-respect. His mitre sss are known to every gossip at the capital, and on of them, a French actrtjs. Is accredited with being the most powerful Influence Ir. the affairs of the Rurslan navy. His cousin. Alexander Mlchaelovitch. und of thj KmpTor and husband of the latter's Filter Xenica, is second in command of the navy, anc is a very different man from Alexis so different that the two are the bitterest enemies. Alexander la a serious, honest student of naval science; very popular and highly respe-ted by the best officers In the service, and porseesing the public confidence to a high degree. At the nme time. Alexander Is very oonserva- |