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the less he had personally to do with the actual work of the
Congress； the better they were pleased。 They even encouraged
his plans for a Holy Alliance that he might be fully occupied
while they were engaged upon the work at hand。
Alexander was a sociable person who liked to go to parties
and meet people。 Upon such occasions he was happy and gay
but there was a very different element in his character。 He
tried to forget something which he could not forget。 On the
night of the 23rd of March of the year 1801 he had been sitting
in a room of the St。 Michael Palace in Petersburg； waiting for
the news of his father's abdication。 But Paul had refused to
sign the document which the drunken officers had placed before
him on the table； and in their rage they had put a scarf
around his neck and had strangled him to death。 Then they
had gone downstairs to tell Alexander that he was Emperor of
all the Russian lands。
The memory of this terrible night stayed with the Tsar
who was a very sensitive person。 He had been educated in
the school of the great French philosophers who did not believe
in God but in Human Reason。 But Reason alone could
not satisfy the Emperor in his predicament。 He began to
hear voices and see things。 He tried to find a way by which
he could square himself with his conscience。 He became very
pious and began to take an interest in mysticism； that strange
love of the mysterious and the unknown which is as old as the
temples of Thebes and Babylon。
The tremendous emotion of the great revolutionary era
had influenced the character of the people of that day in a
strange way。 Men and women who had lived through twenty
years of anxiety and fear were no longer quite normal。 They
jumped whenever the door…bell rang。 It might mean the news
of the ‘‘death on the field of honour'' of an only son。 The
phrases about ‘‘brotherly love'' and ‘‘liberty'' of the Revolution
were hollow words in the ears of sorely stricken peasants。
They clung to anything that might give them a new hold on
the terrible problems of life。 In their grief and misery they
were easily imposed upon by a large number of imposters
who posed as prophets and preached a strange new doctrine
which they dug out of the more obscure passages of the Book
of Revelations。
In the year 1814； Alexander； who had already consulted a
large number of wonder…doctors； heard of a new seeress who
was foretelling the coming doom of the world and was exhorting
people to repent ere it be too late。 The Baroness von
Krudener； the lady in question； was a Russian woman of uncertain
age and similar reputation who had been the wife of a
Russian diplomat in the days of the Emperor Paul。 She had
squandered her husband's money and had disgraced him by
her strange love affairs。 She had lived a very dissolute life
until her nerves had given way and for a while she was not in
her right mind。 Then she had been converted by the sight of
the sudden death of a friend。 Thereafter she despised all
gaiety。 She confessed her former sins to her shoemaker； a
pious Moravian brother； a follower of the old reformer John
Huss； who had been burned for his heresies by the Council of
Constance in the year 1415。
The next ten years the Baroness spent in Germany making
a specialty of the ‘‘conversion'' of kings and princes。 To convince
Alexander； the Saviour of Europe； of the error of his
ways was the greatest ambition of her life。 And as Alexander；
in his misery； was willing to listen to anybody who brought him
a ray of hope； the interview was easily arranged。 On the evening
of the fourth of June of the year 1815； she was admitted
to the tent of the Emperor。 She found him reading his Bible。
We do not know what she said to Alexander； but when she
left him three hours later； he was bathed in tears； and vowed
that ‘‘at last his soul had found peace。'' From that day on the
Baroness was his faithful companion and his spiritual adviser。
She followed him to Paris and then to Vienna and the time
which Alexander did not spend dancing he spent at the
Krudener prayer…meetings。
You may ask why I tell you this story in such great detail？
Are not the social changes of the nineteenth century of greater
importance than the career of an ill…balanced woman who had
better be forgotten？ Of course they are； but there exist any
number of books which will tell you of these other things with
great accuracy and in great detail。 I want you to learn something
more from this history than a mere succession of facts。
I want you to approach all historical events in a frame of mind
that will take nothing for granted。 Don't be satisfied with
the mere statement that ‘‘such and such a thing happened then
and there。'' Try to discover the hidden motives behind every
action and then you will understand the world around you
much better and you will have a greater chance to help others；
which （when all is said and done） is the only truly satisfactory
way of living。
I do not want you to think of the Holy Alliance as a piece
of paper which was signed in the year 1815 and lies dead and
forgotten somewhere in the archives of state。 It may be forgotten
but it is by no means dead。 The Holy Alliance was
directly responsible for the promulgation of the Monroe
Doctrine； and the Monroe Doctrine of America for the Americans
has a very distinct bearing upon your own life。 That is
the reason why I want you to know exactly how this document
happened to come into existence and what the real motives were
underlying this outward manifestation of piety and Christian
devotion to duty。
The Holy Alliance was the joint labour of an unfortunate
man who had suffered a terrible mental shock and who was
trying to pacify his much…disturbed soul； and of an ambitious
woman who after a wasted life had lost her beauty and her
attraction and who satisfied her vanity and her desire for
notoriety by assuming the role of self…appointed Messiah of a
new and strange creed。 I am not giving away any secrets
when I tell you these details。 Such sober minded people as
Castlereagh； Metternich and Talleyrand fully understood
the limited abilities of the sentimental Baroness。 It would have
been easy for Metternich to send her back to her German
estates。 A few lines to the almighty commander of the imperial
police and the thing was done。
But France and England and Austria depended upon the
good…will of Russia。 They could not afford to offend Alexander。
And they tolerated the silly old Baroness because they
had to。 And while they regarded the Holy Alliance as utter
rubbish and not worth the paper upon which it was written；
they listened patiently to the Tsar when he read them the first
rough draft of this attempt to create the Brotherhood of Men
upon a basis of the Holy Scriptures。 For this is what the
Holy Alliance tried to do； and the signers of the document
solemnly declared that they would ‘‘in the administration of