The Czar has broken, for an instant, through his rigid
seclu- sion. On the 11th inst., the fete of St. Alexander Newsky, the Emperor and Empress left Peterhoff, and drove into St. Peters- burg. They passed through the city to the Monastery where the annual service is held, in an open carriage, amid immense multi- tudes 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. That may be untrue, though the occurrence of a dangerous "acci- dent " seems proved ; but the story shows how little the tension has been relaxed, how utterly the police have failed to extirpate the Society. There never was a more striking phenomenon in history, or one which boded so ill for the future. Evil shows in Russia the courage, the self-suppression, and the long- enduring patience which should belong to good.
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