CHAPTER 



MY EECOLLECTIONS OF POBEDONOSTZEFF 1892-1894 



ON arriving at St. Petersburg in 1892 to take charge 

 of the American legation, there was one Russian 

 whom I more desired to meet than any other Constan- 

 tine Pobedonostzeff. For some years various English 

 and American reviews had been charging him with big 

 otry, cruelty, hypocrisy, and, indeed, with nearly every 

 hateful form of political crime; but the fact remained 

 that under Alexander III he was the most influential per 

 sonage in the empire, and that, though bearing the title of 

 &quot;procurator-general of the Most Holy Synod,&quot; he was 

 evidently no less powerful in civil than in ecclesiastical 

 affairs. 



As to his history, it was understood to be as follows: 

 When the Grand Duke Nicholas, the eldest son of Alex 

 ander II, a young man of gentle characteristics, greatly 

 resembling his father, died upon the Riviera, the next 

 heir to the throne was his brother Alexander, a stalwart, 

 taciturn guardsman, respected by all who knew him for 

 honesty and directness, but who, having never looked 

 forward to the throne, had been brought up simply as a 

 soldier, with few of the gifts and graces traditional among 

 the heirs of the Russian monarchy since the days of Cath 

 erine. 



Therefore it was that it became necessary to extempo 

 rize for this soldier a training which should fit him for the 

 duties of the position so unexpectedly opened to him ; and 

 the man chosen as his tutor was a professor at Moscow, 



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