One hundred years ago
The Czar has broken, for an instant, through his rigid seclusion. On the 11th inst., the fete of St Alexander Newsky, the Emperor and Empress left Peterhoff, and drove into St Petersburg. They passed through the city to the Monastery where the annual service is held, in an open carriage, amid immense multitudes of spectators, unprotected even by a Cossack. It is possible that this signifies that the Czar will in future face the dangers believed to beset him; but it is more probable that the drive is an isolated act of resolution. The danger was not increased by the absence of a guard, and the Czar made the journey as he would have made a charge in battle. It is certain that after months of waiting, the Nihilist danger is still considered so extreme that the coronation, though in Russia a ceremony almost necessary to the Sovereign's title, is still postponed sine die, and that the Society is believed to have made an attempt within the last fortnight. A bridge, just laid by the military engineers for the passage of the Emperor, was blown up by a torpedo.
Spectator, 16 September 1882
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