There never was such a position as that of the
Czar of Russia. Europe and Asia are being ransacked to increase the splendour of his coronation, the church where the ceremonial is performed will be entirely filled with Princes, Grand Dukes, Ambassadors, and Bishops, and the crowds of grandees swarming up from the whole world are raising rents in Moscow till, on the days of festivity, they will exceed the normal standard by two thousand per cent. All Europe is interested and all Russia excited, and the centre of the whole scene, the all-powerful Czar, is to enter the city by a circuitous railway route, which will be strictly con- cealed. He may come in from east or west, for if he comes by the direct road he will be blown up. The precaution is an extreme one, but many signs indicate that the danger is real. The Revolutionists, in Russia as well as abroad, have formally warned the Czar that he shall not be crowned, one mine has already been discovered, and in every Continental capital there is a murmur among the zealots as of expectation. It is simply impossible to recede, but there will not be a moment of the ceremony during which its hero will not believe that he is being "covered" by an assassin. It is a strange passage, however it may end, in the history of despotism. The Caesar rarely died in his bed, but at least he was safe while his Lictors were round him.
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