The Czar As A Social Autocrat

Tlio Wiener Tagblatt, an influential Austrian journal, bas founel an extraordinary reason ior praising tho demeanor of the czar. He actually allowed Mme. Faure and Mme. Brisson, who are not even hoffahg, to dine at the same table Trtth himself and tho czarina. Such a concession to republican principies would, the journalist continúes, be absolutely impossible In Vienna, where, though a low-bom man might be admitted to the emperor's table, his wife never could be. The fact was correct and was once the occasion oL a curious scène at the Hofburg when the emperor had to exert his personal authority to obtain partners ior Ws premier's daughter; but our contemporary surely mistakea the feeling of the czar. In his mind, as in that of tvery true autocrat, there Is no rank except that derived from his favor. His notice, in fact, as Nicholas I. once openly said, of itself confers rank. The well-born in Russia have social advantages, as everywhere else, but Peter the Great's ablest minister was a cook or butler ajid the tradition has never been forgotten. In Russia, as in every oriental country without excepüon, all careers are as