ALEXANDRA FEODOROVNA, TSARINA OF RUSSIA
Photo: Boissonnas & Eggler, St. Petersburg
my thoughts the secret forewarning that this Princess, who wept such bitter tears when she left Darmstadt, will have a life full of tears and bitterness on foreign soil. One need not be a prophet to foresee what conflict of thoughts and impressions will crowd within the heart of the august bride during these decisive weeks: Human law requires that a young girl follows the husband of her choice into the unknown.
“But the German people cannot consider this marriage with joy nor with the charm of things where the heart alone is in question. The German people cannot forget the old saying of the poet: ‘Princes are only the slaves of their position; they must not follow the leanings of their own hearts.’
“If we cast a glance upon the Tsar fighting against the throes of death; upon the ‘private life’ of the bridegroom; upon the renunciation of the evangelical faith of the Princess, a faith to which she has belonged to this day, sincere and convinced as to its truth—we consider that only an heroic nature can overcome all these terrors:
“After the German people had, until the last hour, reckoned on the rupture of this union, which cannot bring any happiness for the bride, so far as it is possible to judge of these things in advance, it only remains to feel ashamed that, in the country of liberty of conscience and of convictions, one can make to political considerations the sacrifice of one’s faith and of one’s heart.
“One would learn with a deep joy in Germany that the Princess has found by the side of her husband real and lasting happiness. In the meanwhile we can only indulge in wishes for her welfare, and hope for the best in presence of this dark and uncertain future.”