THE CZAR'S VISIT.
IT is not good manners to criticise a guest, especially one whose presence is an honour, but this one is a public character as well as a guest, and there is something which appeals irresistibly to the imagination in the contrast between the figure of that slight young man with the weary face and the sad, anxious eyes, and the tremendous position to which Providence and events have raised the Czar. He is not only Autocrat of the Russian people, that is, of a hundred millions of white men who, if called upon, would elect him master and guide by a 90 per cent, majority, not only Commander-in-Chief of five million soldiers, not only lord of the whole Northern world so completely that his telegraphed order would be a sufficient sentence of death on any man living between the Baltic and Japan, but he disposes of the armies and fleets of France, and throughout Europe he is for the moment the final referee. The German Emperor, to all other men so defiant, is to him all complaisance ; and the head of the house of Hapsburg, who thinks of himself still as heir of the Cmsars, anxiously meditates whether the coldness of his recent visitor's speeches did or did not conceal a dangerous reserve. The King of Italy, a Sovereign with a descent of a thousand years, permits the marriage of his son with the daughter of a petty Prince in the Balkans, a Sheik rather than a King, because the alliance will conciliate the Czar ; while the Sultan for the moment recognises the existence of no other Monarch, and if bidden in an autograph letter would abandon even the dear delight of slaughtering Christians who are unarmed. Even in Britain, which the Russian troops cannot reach, there is a disposition to defer to power so vast ; and in a hall hung with Crimean trophies the aged Queen receives one who to her is a boy, with a feeling that on his fiat depends issues almost immeasurably great. Of the solidity of the power of Russia we may judge from the fact that we, who won the struggle in the Crimea, are now pleading for aid to the heir and name- sake of Nicholas I. It is said, of course, that the Czar is but travelling, as any other young noble might, to visit his wife's relatives, and enjoy, if that be possible, some approach to ordinary domestic life ; but there are no relatives in France, and that heavy sceptre is not one which even for a fortnight can be lightly laid aside. Power dwells with an autocrat even if he is asleep, for till he wakes nothing can be resolved. It is not possible for those gathered at Balmoral to forget that peace or war in Europe depend on that young man's decision, that if he were offended he might change the whole future, that if he were pleased a few words from his lips would rescue one of the oldest of Christian peoples from the extinction by torture with which they are now threatened. To bid men forget how potent the Czar is, and regard him only as a welcome guest, is to bid them forget all facts, and occupy themselves with pleasant imaginings. The modern world is too conscious for such a bidding to be of the smallest effect. The situation is only the more strained if the Czar is, as reported, self- distrustful, reluctant to act, anxious for time and advice and guidance from the kind of events which move Sovereigns, for the passionate desire of all around him in the Queen's house is that he should decide, should take up his burden, should say the words which will terminate the European suspense, perhaps even the sick agony of Armenia. The reluctance of the jury to give a verdict does not terminate the consciousness of the accused that his fate is in their hands.
There is exaggeration in all that ? We fear there is none, and that the failure of most men is to realise how true it all is, how terrible is the real power of the Queen's guest, how directly the responsibility for events rests on his personality. Be it through a certain weakness among her statesmen, be it because of a tremor which can be distinctly felt running through the nations, be it a mere result of complicated circum- stances, nothing is strong in Europe at this moment except Russia, and the autocracy of the Czar in Russia is real, unhampered even by the existence of advisers whom he must not disregard. The power of decision rests with him exclusively, and his decision will practically be that of the entire Continent. It is folly to shut our eyes to that fact, or to the further one that on that decision rests, and for a long time to come will rest, the future dis- position of the British people towards Russia. At pre- sent that disposition is singularly friendly, not only towards the Czar himself, but towards his State. They have neither been frightened nor annoyed by the great advance which. Russia has made in the Far East, though that advance has made her the great influence at Pekin, and the formal Protector of Corea, which is rapidly becoming a Russian Principality almost as subordinate as Bokhara. They are willing, if the Czar will coerce Turkey into endurable order, to see the Russian flag advanced over Armenia, and would even as a people consent, on conditions, to see Constantinople pass into Russian hands. They wish, in fact, heartily wish, for a termination, or at least a suspen- sion, of the antagonism between the two Empires. But if the decision goes the other way, if the counsellors at St. Petersburg persuade the Czar that Turkey must be suffered to go on rotting till the Ottoman Empire falls, if the Armenians are given up to massacre, and the Czar declares himself the benevolent ally of Abd-ul-Hamid, British feeling will undergo a strong revulsion. The whole nation will fall back into the attitude of cold sus- picion out of which even now some British statesmen cannot be driven, and will mutter under its breath that one autocracy is as bad as another, and that it does not become Great Britain to foster or even, if it can be avoided, permit any Russian advance, for there is no guarantee that such advance will be for the happiness of mankind. That was the temper of the British people a very few years ago, as witness the positively silly agitation about the Pamirs, and it would be their temper again, probably for a generation, to the immense embarrassment of Russia- as well as of themselves. They need Russia in Asia as- Russia, in Asia, needs them, but there will be no cordiality, no hearty co-operation, unless Russia will understand that neither in European nor Asiatic Turkey have we any selfish interests, and will make reasonable concessions to the outraged moral sense of the British people, who are burning with rage, justifiable rage, at what they consider a war on the human race, waged indeed by the Sultan, but sheltered by Powers far stronger and less blinded by ignorance than he. These are the facts of the hour, and as we ourselves urgently plead for an understanding with Russia, and would gratify her permanent aspirations in, pursuit of it, we can see no failure of hospitality in. describing them as they are.
The splendid position which the Czar, and therefore Russia, occupies at this moment is a singular object- lesson in the advantages and the drawbacks of auto- cratic government. It can hardly be denied, we think, by reasonable men that much of the prestige enjoyed by Nicholas II., a prestige almost bewildering in its grandeur, is due to the fact that he has really a free hand, that is the great decisions to be made every Russian will accept his guidance, and, if required, will follow him. His com- mand, to employ a rather extravagant and yet true expres- sion, will within his own dominions affect all wills as well as all acts. If he decides that the status quo must be maintained whatever its consequences, all Russians will rail at England as the peace-breaker of the world. If, on the other hand, he decides that Abd-ul-Hamid is too bad to bear, all Russians will recall their secular quarrel with Constantinople, and rejoice that Russia is making good her claim to be the protectress of all Christians in the East. That unity of the nation, which is the result, as it is also the source, of the autocracy, is an element in the power of Russia which it is impossible to exaggerate. The Czar can choose as ally whom he will, unfettered by any- thing save his own conscience, and therefore those who wish to be chosen—which just now is all Europe—wait humbly on his commands. There is solid strength as well as immense prestige in that freedom of action ; but then look at the other side. Everything, the whole future• of Russia, as well as of the Continent, hangs on the capacity of one man, who would be Czar whether he had the brain of Peter the Great or of Peter the Little, whether he possessed, like the first German Emperor, the power of choosing the exact instrument required, or whether, like Napoleon Ill., he never made a choice without making also a more or less grave blunder. The very liabilities of mortal life in an autocrat become to his nation enormous dangers, dangers which justify the apparently absurd precautions taken for the past month throughout the Western world. Moreover, Kings are conscious like other men, and it is impossible to doubt that the weight ci this unshared power presses heavily upon autocrats, producing in some indecision, in some rashness, in some that ungovernable caprice which resembles the insanity which marked most of the Ccesars of the Julian line. To be uncontrolled, and to be human,— it is not a good combination. On the whole, we believe that Englishmen will prefer their own system even in external politics, though it is so nearly fatal to genius, produces such exhausting delays, and leaves so much to Cabinets which, like Councils of War, will do anything but act.
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