Mr. Breckinridge to Mr. Gresham.

No. 3.]

Sir: I have the honor to inclose herewith the translation of the proclamation of His Imperial Majesty Nicolas II.

I have, etc.,

Clifton R. Breckinridge,
[Page 560]
[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.


(Signed)
Nicolas.