above all others, is in a position to appreciate at its true value.

The Czar's bitterness against his 5,000,000 Jewish subjects, which is so contrary to his personal kindly character, would be better understood in the western world were it not that hitherto the foreign public has only been made acquainted with one side of the question, namely, the Jewish one. This is due to the fact that almost all the principal newspapers of Europe are either owned, controlled or influenced by Hebrew gold. Moreover, the editors and correspondents to whose utterances the public is indebted for such knowledge as it possesses about the Jewish problem in Russia belong in nearly every instance to the Semitic race. Having lived much in Russia, I am able to state with absolute truth that the terrible portrayals of Jewish misery and oppression in the Czar's dominions are, to say the least, overdrawn and exaggerated.

In Russia, as in nearly every other country, there is an invasion of the indigenous Aryan by the Semite. It is true that there, as elsewhere, there are among these Semites not only men of high intellectual calibre, but also men of charitable and generous hearts. But the mass is not made in their image. The common Semite-very shrewd, very intelligent, and not too scrupulous-makes himself very free with the Russian people, whom he exploits with all the ingenuity of his race. The common run of his vocations lies in being. tavern-keeper and money-lender of the village-at usurious rates-money-changer and dealer in old clothes. Moreover, he shirks military service by such proceedings and in such proportions that the law is obliged to take special measures

against his desertion. Finally, he furnishes the ranks of Nihilism, which is opposed to all the beliefs and traditions of the Russian people, a contingent which is estimated at So per cent. This is the regulation thing, to which have to be added such occasional incidents as the monstrous and incredible exploitation of the Russian army and people by fraudulent Jewish contractors during the war of 1877-78. Moreover, the object of the exceptional laws concerning the Hebrews in Russia is identical with that of the analogous legislation against the Chinese in the United States: namely, the protection of the interests of the poorer classes-of the American workingmen and of the Muscovite moujik or peasant. The latter is to all intents and purposes a child, especially in matters where money is concerned. Largehearted, hospitable, and generous to a degree, he is ignorant of the elementary principles of economy. If an abundant harvest happens to fill his pockets, he spends everything, to the last kopeck, in merrymaking and drinking. When bad times come, the moujik, finding himself penniless, is obliged to appeal for assistance to the Hebrew moneylender, who makes the best of the bargain. The result is that the majority of the twenty-five millions of male peasant landowners in European Russia are heavily in debt to the Jews, who, as a rule, display more greed than discretion in the rates of interest that they extort. These relations of creditor and debtor, which exist between the Jews on the one hand and the Russian masses on the other, are responsible for the most bitter part of the sentiments which prevail. For a debtor can scarcely be expected to regard with feelings other than of aversion a creditor who, in nine cases out of ten, is characteristically relentless in exacting his due.

THE ROYAL FAMILY

OF

SAXONY.

THE

HE present King of Saxony, who is before all else a soldier, was born in Dresden in April, 1828, son of King John and Princess Amelie of Bavaria. After being carefully educated under his father's eye and direction, he was sent at the age of nineteen to the University of Bonn, where he studied at the same time with the then Prince Frederick William of Prussia, and with whom he knit a close friendship-a friendship many common battle-fields in after years were to cement yet closer. His studies were, however, interrupted by the Revolution of 1848, it being held desirable that the Prince should be in his own home, and should devote himself rather to military than literary studies. The war with Denmark in 1849 gave him his "baptism of fire," and he distinguished himself on this occasion by personal bravery. From that time forward he rose higher and higher in military rank, until at last he took command of the whole Saxon infantry.

It was in 1853 that the King, at the time Prince Albert, married the Princess Caroline, of Wasa, a union that proved childless. The following year the reigning King of Saxony died quite suddenly, owing to a carriage accident while driving in Tyrol, and thus King John ascended the throne, and his son became Crown Prince. King John was one of the best Dante scholars Germany could boast. He also made the best metrical translation of the "Divine Comedy," with critical and historical notes, that the same language possesses.

As might be expected, the King proved himself an enlightened Sovereign, and introduced several reforms of great benefit to his country. To his son, less literary in his tastes, he entrusted the military command of the land. Being bound by treaty to stand by the Austrians, Prussia in 1866 declared

KING OF SAXONY.

war against Saxo

ny, overran the country with its troops, and exacted from it after the peace of Prague a large sum of money and the cession of its chief fortress. In this war again Prince Albert distinguished himself, and after the

peace, when the Saxon army had to become a part of the North German Federation, a leading position was accorded him by the old Prussian Monarch.

In the terrible Franco-German struggle the Saxon Division fought bravely under the head leadership of the Red Prince, Frederick Charles, of Prussia, the father of the Duchess of

Connaught. At Sedan it was a Saxon bomb that wounded Marshal MacMahon. Crown Prince Albert visited the sick man as he lay on his couch at Sedan, and both Generals recalled the fact that they had met last in Konigsberg, on the occasion of the crowning of William I. as King of Prussia. What events had occurred since then!

As the Emperor William and his son returned home, it fell to the lot of Prince Albert to command the Allied Armies still left behind in France. He was merely allowed a brief vacation which he employed in hurrying to Saxony and fetching his wife to keep him company at Compiegne, Napoleon III.'s favorite country residence, which had been assigned to the Saxon Commander-in-chief for his abode while on French soil. When the victorious German troops made their triumphant entry first into Berlin, then into Dresden, the Crown Prince of Saxony rode proudly at the head of his men, feeling he had earned the enthusiastic applause that everywhere greeted his appearance. King William had created him General Field-Marshal on this occasion, and it is interesting to note that he carried in his hand that day the Marshal's staff which the Polish King, John Sobieski, had borne on his entry into Vienna in 1683.

Through the ancient connection between Saxony and Poland this baton had come to Dresden, and King John bestowed it on his son on that festive day in honor of his bravery. On the death of King John in 1873, Prince Albert ascended the throne, and under his rule Saxony has increased in prosperity. He and his wife have known how to make themselves popular and beloved among their people, and when, five years after their accession, they celebrated their silver wedding, it was an occasion of real rejoicing.