The origin of the mistake appears to have been that,
in general, the Czar had travelled in the second train, sending his baggage train on before, as a sort of avant-courier to see that all was safe. But in the present instance, the Czar's train had over- -taken and 'Domed the baggage train in the journey, so that the plot, whether through some suspicion in the mind of the authorities, or by mere coincidence, was counterplotted. Yet it is not at all certain that even if the right train had been struck, the Czar would have been killed, or even injured. It seems that therewere fifty attendants of the Emperor's in the baggage train, and that no one of them was hurt, though one of the luggage vans was blown to pieces, and a trench blown out of the roadway five feet deep, sixteen feet long, and nineteen feet broad,---another account making the hole very much bigger. The Czar, speaking on Tues- day to the Notables in the Kremlin Palace at Moscow, said, "God has saved me and all who journeyed with me hither. Caring only for Russia, I have given myself into the hands of Providence. But the revolutionary spirit must be extermi- nated." But to give himself thus into the hands of Providence Was rather to make a merit of a necessity. If the Czar did not care only for Russia, and were disposed therefore not to give himself into the hands of Providence, we wonder how he would have proceeded? In the meantime, might he not succeed better in "exterminating the revolutionary spirit," if he gave himself a little more into the hands of Providence, that is, guided himself more by the political and moral signs of the times P It is frequently a sagacious political policy, as well as a Christian counsel of perfection, when any man asks for your coat, to let him have your cloak also. Concession is like a flexible coat of mail ; it turns many a blade which would pierce the thickest plates of steel.
