NEWS OF THE WEEK.
-EUROPE has lost a bulwark of her peace. Alexander III. died peacefully in his chair at 2 o'clock on Thursday. The Emperor's giant strength resisted the disease to the last ; and he was conscious to the end, taking the sacraments and uttering farewells to his family, nearly all of whom were gathered round him as he expired. The grief of his subjects is deep and sincere ; for though intensely autocratic, the late Czar was also intensely Russian ; and some of his worst acts, • 'such as the persecution of the Jews, increased, rather than diminished, his internal popularity. We have endeavoured elsewhere to indicate hie true character, and need only say here that he was devoted to two ends—the " Russification" -of his vast dominion, and the maintenance of peace. He succeeded fully in the latter object, and though not a great man, probably did more for the world's happiness than if he had been. Personally, his position and his destiny offered a terrible contrast. He suffered from the hereditary melancholy of his house, and unlike many of his forefathers never drank to relieve it; he lived his life under the shadow of imminent assassination; and except his wife, and a brother who was seldom with him, he had no intimate friends. The mistress who has cheered and debased the life of every pre- vious Czar, was never sought by Alexander III. He lived on a lonely man, crushed by a task too big for him ; but working at it every day, and in the end reaping a great though now a useless reward. Three great democracies at least are sor- rowing for an autocrat.
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