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Updated: June 20, 2025
He acquiesced in this, and I then went on to say that the Emperor Nicholas had before him an opportunity to do more good and make a nobler reputation than any other czar had ever done, not excepting Alexander II with his emancipation of the serfs; that I had thought very seriously of writing, at the close of the conference, to M. Pobedonostzeff, presenting to him the reasons why Russia might well make a practical beginning of disarmament by dismissing to their homes, or placing on public works, say two hundred thousand of her soldiers; that this would leave her all the soldiers she needs, and more; that he must know, as everybody knows, that no other power dreams of attacking Russia or dares to do so; that there would be no disadvantage in such a dismissal of troops to peaceful avocations, but every advantage; and that if it were done the result would be that, in less than forty years, Russia would become, by this husbanding of her resources, the most powerful nation on the eastern continent, and able to carry out any just policy which she might desire.
This speech is said to have carried all before it. As its immediate result came the retirement of Loris-Melikoff, followed by his death not long afterward; the entrance of Pobedonostzeff among the most cherished councilors of the Emperor; the suppression of the constitution; the discouragement of every liberal tendency; and that fanatical reaction which has been in full force ever since.
As to historical studies, the most interesting man I found was Professor Demetrieff, who was brought to my house by Pobedonostzeff.
There are a few strong men, and, unfortunately, Pobedonostzeff is one of them. Luckily, De Witte, the minister of finance, is another. July 10. The evil which I dreaded, as regards the formation of public opinion in relation to the work of our conference, is becoming realized.
On such occasions Pobedonostzeff frequently came over from his position among the ministers of the crown to explain to us the significance of this or that feature in the ritual of music. It was plain that these things touched what was deepest in him; it must be confessed that his attachment to the church is sincere. Nor were these impressions made upon me alone.
Great, therefore, was my surprise when, on my asking Pobedonostzeff, as the representative of the Emperor in the Synod of the empire, the highest assemblage in the church, and he the most influential man in it, really controlling archbishops and bishops throughout the empire, whether the "filioque" clause is an insurmountable obstacle to union, he replied, "Not at all; that is simply a question of dialectics.
Sometime later, meeting Pobedonostzeff, I asked him which of these stories was correct. He answered immediately, "Neither: in the discharge of my duties I saw the Archbishop Isidore constantly down to the last hours of his life, and no such event ever occurred. He was never paralyzed and never blind."
Petersburg in 1892 to take charge of the American legation, there was one Russian whom I more desired to meet than any other Constantine Pobedonostzeff.
Or, if he be an accomplished statesman and theologian like Pobedonostzeff, he may reason himself back into mediaeval methods, and endeavor to fetter all free thought and to crush out all forms of Christianity except the Russo-Greek creed and ritual.
Difficulties arising from the complicated law of the Empire. Violations of the Buchanan Treaty. Cholera at St. Petersburg; thorough measures taken by the Government; death of Tschaikovsky; difficulty in imposing sanitary regulations upon the peasantry. My desire to know Pobedonostzeff; his history; his power.
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