[Inclosure 1 in No.
3.—Translation.]
Manifesto of the Emperor.
By the grace of God we, Nicolas II, Emperor and Autocrat of all the
Russias, King of Poland, Grand Duke of Finland, etc., to all our
faithful subjects be it known:
It has pleased Almighty God, in His unfathomable way, to put an end
to the precious life of our dearly loved father, the Emperor
Alexander Alexandrovitch. His painful illness resisted both the care
of the physicians and the beneficent climate of the Crimea, and on
the 20th October he died at Livadia, surrounded by his august
family, in the arms of Her Majesty, the Empress, and in those of
ourselves.
Words can not express our grief, but every Russian heart will
understand it, and we are sure that there is no single part of our
vast Empire where tears are not shed for the sovereign prematurely
gone to eternity, and having left his country which he loved with
all the force of his Russian soul, and whose prosperity he had made
the aim of all his thoughts, sparing neither his health nor even his
life. And it is not in Russia only, but far beyond her limits, the
memory of the Tzar will never cease to be venerated, in whom were
embodied immutable justice and the country, which has not once been
troubled during the course of his reign.
But the will of the Most High be done, a steadfast faith in the
wisdom of Divine Providence comforting us; and let us console
ourselves in the consciousness that our grief is also the sorrow of
all our much-loved people, who can not forget that the strength and
stability of holy Russia are in their union with us, and in their
unqualified devotion to our person.
For us, in this sad but solemn hour of our ascension of the throne of
our ancestors, the throne of the Empire of Russia, as of the Kingdom
of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Finland, which are inseparable, we
have ever present the memory of our dead father’s teachings, and,
deeply impressed with those teachings, we engage ourselves before
the face of the Most High to have always for our sole aim a pacific
policy, the power and glory of our beloved Russia, as well as the
happiness of our faithful subjects.
As it has pleased Almighty God to call us to this great mission, may
He help us. In raising toward the throne of the Master of the World
our ardent prayers for the repose of the pure soul of our father of
imperishable memory, we order all our subjects to take the oath of
allegiance to us and to our heir, His Imperial Highness the Grand
Duke George Alexandrovitch, who will be Césarévitch Inheritor,
carrying that title until it pleases God to bless with a son our
approaching marriage with the Princess Alice of Hesse.
Done at Livadia, the 20th day of the month of October, of
the year of grace 1894 and of our reign the
first.
(Signed)
Nicolas.
