Assassination Attempt of the Emperor of Russia
A Psychological StudyThe Indepéndence Belge, of April 30th, brings a detailed report of the circumstances that followed the attack on the czar, with the title News from Russia. In addition, it speaks of certain previous indications of the crime, containing the following passage about it:
“It is said that the governor of St. Petersburg, Prince Souwouroff, had received an anonymous letter signed N.N.N., in which they offered to unveil an important mystery, by a piece of important information, requesting a reply in the Gazette de la police. Such answer appeared; it read as follows: “The chancellery of the governor general invites N. N. N. to come tomorrow, between eleven and two o'clock, to give certain explanations. But the anonymous did not show up; he sent a second letter announcing that it was too late, that he was no longer free to go.
The invitation was repeated two days after the attack, but to no avail. Finally, as a last clue, some people have just remembered that three weeks before the attack, the German newspaper Die Gartenlaube published an account of a Spiritist session held in Heidelberg, and in which the Spirit of Catherine II announced that the Emperor Alexander was threatened with great danger.
It is difficult to understand, after all this, how the Russian secret police could not be informed at a time when crime was brewing. Such police, that is very expensive and floods all our circles and our public assemblies with useless spies, was unable not only to discover the plot in time, but even to surround the sovereign with their vigilance, which is elemental and absolutely necessary, especially with a prince who almost always goes out alone, followed by his big dog; who goes for walks in the early hours of the day, without being accompanied by an aide-de-camp on duty. On the very day of the attack, I met the Emperor in the “rue Millonaïa,” at half past nine in the morning; he was completely alone and greeted those who recognized him with cordiality. The street was almost deserted, with rare policing around.”
What is specially remarkable in this article is the reference, without a comment, to the warning given by the Spirit of Catherine II in a Spiritist session. Would they have considered this event among the forewarnings, had they considered the Spiritist communications as buffoonery or delusion? In such a serious matter they would have avoided the intervention of a belief considered ridiculous. It is a new proof of the reaction that takes place in the opinion about Spiritism.
The attack must be taken into account from another point of view. It is well-known that the Emperor owes his salvation to a young peasant called Joseph Kommissaroff that was on his way and disarmed the assassin. It is also known that the latter was rewarded with all sorts of favors. He was made a noble and the gifts that he received assured him with a considerable fortune.
This young man was going to a chapel on the other side of the Neva, at the time of his birthday; the de-icing had started, and circulation had been interrupted; he had, therefore, to change plans. For that reason, he remained on the other side of the riverbank, at the passage of the Emperor that was leaving his Summer gardens. He was meddled with the crowed when he noticed an individual with suspicious attitudes that was trying to approach; he followed and saw him grabbing a pistol and point it at the Emperor; he was quick to act and hit the man’s arm, forcing the shot into the air.
What a fortunate chance, some people will say, that the de-icing happened exactly at that time, impeding Kommissaroff of crossing the Neva! For us, who do not believe in chance, but that everything is submitted to an intelligent direction, we will say that the danger was in the trials of the czar (see The Gospel According to Spiritism, Chap. XXV: Prayer in imminent danger), but that since his time had not come, Kommissaroff had been chosen to preclude the realization of the crime, and that things that seem to be the works of chance were organized to lead to the desired result.
Men are the unconscious instruments of the designs of Providence. It is through them that the Providence carry them out, without the need to resource to prodigies. It suffices the invisible hand that guides them, and nothing escapes the natural order of things.
Some will then say: if that is the case, man is just a machine, and his actions are fatal. No, absolutely not because if man is requested to do something he is not forced to do it; he still keeps the free-will, and hence he can do or not do it, and the hand that guides him remains invisible, precisely to give him more freedom. Kommissaroff, therefore, could well refused to yield to the hidden impulse that guided him to the passage of the Emperor; he could remain indifferent, as many others, to the sight of a man with suspicious attitudes; finally, he could have looked the other way the moment when that man took the pistol from his pocket. But then, if he had resisted to that impulse, would the Emperor have died? Not at all. The deigns of Providence are not subjected to the caprices of a man. The life of the Emperor should have been preserved; given the lack of Kommissaroff, it would have been through another way; a fly could bite the hand of the assassin, forcing him to an involuntary movement; a fluidic current cast upon him could have obfuscated him. If Kommissaroff had not heard the inner voice that unwillingly guided him, he would have just lost the benefit of the action that he was assigned to carry out. That is all that would have resulted. But, if the czar’s fatal time had arrived, nothing could have preserved him. Now, the imminent dangers that we face have precisely the objective of showing us that our lives are on a thin line, that it can break at the moment when we think about it the least, and for that reason, warn us that we must be ready to depart at any time.
But, what that young man instead of someone else? For those that do not see in these events a simple game of chance, everything has a reason to be. There should then be a motive for the choice of that young man, and even if that motive was unknown to us, Providence gives us many proofs of its wisdom for us do not doubt it that such a choice had its utility. Having this issue presented in a Spiritist meeting in the house of a Russian family residing in Paris, a Spirit gave the following explanation.
Paris, May 1st, 1866 – medium Mr. Desliens
If in the life of the tiniest creature, nothing is left to chance. The may events of your life are determined by your trial: the details are influenced by your free-will. But the whole of the situation was foreseen and agreed previously, by him and by those that God has appointed to his care.
In the present case, things happened within normality. That young man was advanced and intelligent already, and chose to be born in miserable conditions as a test, after having occupied a high social position; having already developed his intelligence and morality, he asked for a humble and obscure condition, to extinguish the last seeds of pride that the spirit of cast had left on him. He chose freely, but God and the good Spirits decided to reward him in the first manifestation of selfless devotion, and you see his reward.
Among honors and fortune, it is up to him now to keep intact the humbleness that was the basis for his new incarnation. Thus, it is still a test, a double test as a man and as a father. As a man, he must resist the intoxication of a great and subtle fortune; as a father, he must preserve the children from the arrogance of the new rich. He can create a remarkable position to them; he can take advantage of his intermediary position to turn them into useful men to their country. Plebeian by birth and noble by the merit of their father, they can, as many that presently incarnate in Russia, work strongly for the fusion of all the heterogeneous elements, for the extinction of slavery that for a long time yet will not be able to be radically eliminated.
In that promotion there is a reward, no doubt, but more than that there is a test. I know that in Russia the rewarded merit meets the appreciation of the great; but there, like elsewhere, the proud new rich, puffed up by his worth, falls victim of mockery; he becomes a plaything of a society that he uselessly tries to imitate. Gold and greatness did not give him the spirit of the world. Neglected and envied by those in the environment where he was born, he is frequently isolated and unhappy in his luxury.
As you see, not everything is pleasant in those sudden elevations, and particularly when achieve such proportions. As for that young man, we hope, given his excellent qualities, that he may know to peacefully enjoy the advantages that resulted from his action, avoiding the tripping stones that could delay his march on the path of progress.
Moki
Observation: In the absence of material proofs about the accuracy of this explanation, it cannot be denied that it is eminently rational and instructive, and as the Spirit that gave it is always characterized by the gravity and elevated reach of his communication, we regard this as having all the characteristics of probability. Kommissaroff’s new position is a very slippery effect to him, and his future depends on the way he will endure this trial, a hundred times more dangerous than the material disgraces that people are forced to resign to, whereas it is much more difficult to resist to the temptations of pride and opulence. What a force couldn’t he extract from the knowledge of and truths taught by Spiritism!
But, as we noticed, the eyes of Providence were not fixated on that young man. By submitting himself to the test, and by the fact of the test, he can, by the chain of event, become an element of progress to his country, helping in the destruction of the prejudices of cast. Thus, everything is connected in the world by the support of the intelligent forces that direct it. Nothing is useless, and the apparently small things may lead to the greatest results, and all that without breaching the laws of nature. What wouldn’t be our awe if we could see the mechanism hidden by our inferiority and material nature! But, if we cannot see it, Spiritism makes it understandable to our thoughts, by revealing its laws, and that is how it elevates us, boosts our faith and our trust in God, and that successfully combats disbelief.
