The importance of the assassination of General Bobrikoff, the Governor-General
of Finland, has been increased by subsequent revelations. It appears that the ' murderer, Eugen Schaumann, after deciding on his crime, deposited in Sweden a copy of a letter to the Czar in which he explained his motives. The original was found on his body ; but he was so sure that his letter would never reach the Czar that he took this deliberate precaution. The copy has now been published in the Afionblacl, a leading Swedish journal, and contains a solemn declaration that X. Schaumann acted on his own impulse, and that he was not- a member of any conspiracy, but a loyal subject of the Czar, who deemed the death of General Bobrikoff the only means of bringing the "real situation" of affairs in Finland to the knowledge of his Majesty. M. Schaumann, therefore, implores his Sovereign, "whose most humble and truest subject he is," to inform himself as to the condition of things "in Finland, Poland, and the Baltic provinces." Murder is inexcusable ; but there are many degrees of guilt in the offence, and the opinion of most reflective men will be that Eugen Schaumann committed an evil act under an impulse of misguided patriotism. The wrongs inflicted on his country, and the impossibility, not only of remedying them, but of obtaining a hearing from the man in whose hands the power of giving remedy lies, drove the unhappy patriot to despair.
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