THE ALARMED AUTOCRAT !
"The Czar declared that he was determined to continue resolutely to the end the policy upon which he had entered, with a view to the solution of the Jewish difficulty, adding that it was the Jews themselves who had forced that policy upon him by their conduct.... 'Down to the present time' (His Majesty remarked), 'there has never been a single Nihilistic plot, in which Jews have not been concerned.'"—The Times' Correspondent at Moscow.
The Great White CZAR he has put down his foot;
On the neck of the Hebrew that foot he will plant.
Can fear strike a CÆSAR—a Russian to boot?
Can a ROMANOFF stoop to mere cowardly cant?
Forbid it traditions of Muscovite pride!
An Autocrat's place is the Conqueror's car,
But he who that chariot in triumph would ride,
Must not earn a name as the White-livered CZAR!
No, no, scurril scribe, dip your pen in rose-pink,
Or the Censor's black blurr shall your slander efface
A CÆSAR turn sophist, an Autocrat shrink?
Pusillanimous spite mark the ROMANOFF race?
Too wholly absurd! What is this we have heard
Which on courtier spirits must painfully jar?
Who is he, this mal à propos "little bird"
Who twitters such tales of the White-livered CZAR?
The Wolf and the Lamb? We all know that old tale.
But the Wolf, though a tyrant, was scarcely a cur.
He bullied and lied, but he didn't turn pale,
Or need poltroon terror as cruelty's spur.
But a big, irresponsible, "fatherly" Prince
Afeared—of a Jew? 'Tis too funny by far!
The coldest of King-scorning cynics might wince
At that comic conception, a White-livered CZAR!
No; Russia is heaven, the CZAR is a saint,
And the poor "Ebrew Jew" is a troublesome pest;
But is he the thing to make CÆSAR go faint,
Or disturb an Imperial Autocrat's rest?
The Jew's all to blame—as a matter of course;
The weak and the weary invariably are;
But weakness on power harsh tyranny force?
That's an argument worthy a White-livered CZAR.
An Israelite meshed in a 'Nihilist plot
Is a pitiful picture. Ungrateful indeed
Is the poor Russian Jew, not content with his lot—
As a slave to the Slav. But expel the whole breed?
Apply that same rule to your subjects all round,
And one fancies you'll find it too sweeping by far.
The vast realm of Muscovy then might be found
A wilderness—save for the White-livered CZAR.
The pick of your people, the best of your blood,
Your purest of women, your bravest of men,
O CZAR, have they not, in despair's dusky mood,
Turned Nihilist, plotted, been banished? What then?
Best banish them all, as you'd banish the Jew;
'Twill sweep your dominions more clear than red war.
Picture Russia a waste with one resident—you,
Perched high—and alone—as the White-livered CZAR!
Maybe they malign you. It cannot be sooth
That you talk like an angry illogical girl.
Yes, banish the Hebrews, as wholly as ruth.
Be cold in your wrath as the Neva's chill swirl,
Snub friendly remonstrance, blunt satire's keen blade.
With a blot of black ink! Will it carry you far?
A CÆSAR must not be a fool or afraid;
There's no place in earth's round for a White-livered CZAR!
SAD FINISH.—We see advertised, "George Meredith, A Study. By HANNAH LYNCH." Poor GEORGE! "Taken from life," of course. There's an end of him! Lynch'd!
