The Sun.
London, England, 1856-09-09 00:00:00

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[fracE 41. STAMPED ' •

burg, and other foreign Princes and their suites.
Amid this crowd of great people we all search
out the Grand Duke Constantine, whose keen
stern eyes are piercing each window as he rides
along. A countssnance with more iron will, reso-
lution, and energy, stamped upon it, one rarely
sees, and th,e Russiays are not unjustifiably proud of
the ability and activity he displayed when the allied
squadron was expected at Crcnstadt. His features
and form are cast in the Romanoff mould which
the portraits of Alexander and Nicholas have made
pretty well known among us. A very splendid
staff follows the Princes. It consists of the Gene-
rals attached to his Majesty's person, the Aides-
de-Camp General, the General-Majors of the Suite,
and the Aides-de-Camp of the Emperor, and the
Generals and Aides-do-Camp attached to the per-
sons of their Imperial Highnesses on horseback in
full uniform. Among them are many whose names
are now of world-wide celebrity, but one could not
find out which was Luders and which was Osten-
Sacken, or Menschikoff, or Gortschakoff—all co-
vered as they were with plumes and feathers and
magnificent orders. The Empress Alexandra Feo-
clowna, whose appearance excited the liveliest accla-
mations of the people, now passed before us, her
feeble frame sustained by the part she had to play,
so that she surprises those who know how weak and
suffering she is when they see her ports and the
graceful and animated bearing with which she ac-
knowledges the cheers of the multitude. "Ah I"
say they who think of the old Court, " who would
ever imagine that she, who was a feather in the air
suspended by a breath, should live to see this day,
and that he—son Dieu—should have died before
her !" Her Majesty was right royally or imperially
attired, but how I cannot say. A cloud of light
drapery through which diamonds shone like stars,
floated around her, and on her head was a tiara of
brilliants. The carriage in which she sat was a
triumph of splendour—all gold and crimson velvet ;
and on the roof, which was composed of similar ma-
terials, was the likeness of an Imperial crown. The
eight horses, which were attached to the cairiage by
trappings and cords of gold, were the most beautiful in
the Imperial stables, and each was led with a golden
bridle by a palefrenier in grand livery. To bide from
bertha coachman's back, perforce turned towards her
Majesty's face, there was an array of little pages,
who sat outside the coach on the rail with their
backs towards the coachman's and their round vis-
ages vis-a-vis that of the Empress. On the right
of the carriage rode the Grand Ecuyer ; on the left
the Aide-de-Camp General attached to the person
of the Empress. An officer of the Imperial stable
rods before it, and four Cossacks of the Chamber
followed the Ecuyer and the General. Behind the
carriage were six Pages of the Chamber, and two
Palefreniers on horseback. As the carriage passes
amid the thunders of ten thousand voices another
vehicle, if possible more magnificent, comes before
us ; and again the hurrahs of the troops and the
people ring through the air. The Empress Marie
Alexandrovna is seated in this carriage, and by her
side the little Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandro-
witch, who is in full military uniform. Her Ma-
jesty seemed much affected as she bowed to the
right and left and acknowledged the salutations of
the people with vivacity and impressment. The
boy seemed to take it all as a matter of course, and
probably the arch ducal mind was occupied by dis-
tracting thoughts of dinner. The equipment and
attendance of the vehicle were the same as those of
the Empress-Mother. And now a galaxy of what
are really "stave coaches," so richly gilt and deco-
rated are they, pass before us. The first contains the
Grand Dachess Marie Paulovna and Alexander
Joseph ovna; the second the Grand Duchesses Alex-
andre Petrovna and Helene Paulovna; the third
the Grand Duchesses Marie Nicolaevna and Cathe-
rine Michailovna ; and the fourth her Imperial
Highness the Princess of Oldenburg. Another mili-
tary spectacle closes up in the rear of the last
carriage.
The first squadron of the Cuirassiers of the Guard,
and the first squadron of the Gardes Cuirassiers of
the Empress, clad in surcoats of mail, part bearing
laces with rich pennons, part armed with sabres
only, make the ground shake beneath the tramp of
their ponderous horses, and by the splendour of
their equipments almost challenge comparison with
the Chevalier Guard. The Dames and Maids of
Honour, the Maids of Honour c 1 portrait, the Mis-
tresses de la Cour of their Imperial Majesties and
Highnesses follow four-and-four in many gilt car-
riages, all in Court dresses, radiant with diamonds.
As the last carriage passes, the first squadron of
the Hussars of the Guard claims our attention.
The uniform of these troops is very handsome—
Hessian boots with tassels, light blue pantaloons,
scarlet laced jacket, re white pelisse trimmed with
black fur, lined inside with yellow satin, and a
black bearskin shako with scarlet calpack. The
first squadron of the Regiment of the Lancers of
the Guard, in blue and red, splendidly mounted,
comes next in order, and the rear of the procession
is closed by the municipal, authorities, the civil
authorities, and the magistrates of the bourgeoisie,
with trade flags and civic emblems, and by the
bands, kettledrums, and standards of the various
cavalry regiments which have taken part in the
procession. After all the people—a crowd of long-
coated, bearded people, struggling, and running,
and sweltering together at the horses' heels. What
happened more I cannot say, for (under all the cir-
cumstances) I could not be in two places at once,
but many anecdotes of restif horses and agitated
carriages were related to me, and what follows I
give on the authority of the official report, and
from the evidence of eye-witnesses.
At the moment the Emperor entered the city
of Moscow a salvo of seventy-one guns was fired
by the artillery outside the town ; and the Go-
vernor-General of the city, at the head of
all the officers and employes of the military de-
partments, received his Majesty, and afterwards
Joined the procession. Tho functionaries of the
Hotel de Ville and the city magistrates received
him at the entry of the Quarter Zemlenoy-Gored,
and the Marshal and the nobility of Moscow at
that of the Quarter Beloy-Gorod. Thence the pro-
cession moved on to the Gate of the Resurrection
(Vosresenskie Vovota), where the vi hole cortege,
all save the Emperor and two carriages, moving
rapidly on, was lost to sight inside the Kremlin.
Here two arched gateways, piercing the thick walls
of the ancient citadel, lead to the spacious squares
within. Between them, on the outer side of the
wall, there is a gilded and azure coloured box,
which is called the Chapel of our Lady of Iberia.
It is almost small enough to be a toy, and is covered
outside with stars of gold, and the doors are richly
gilt. A flight of two or three steps leads to the
narrow platform on which the chapel stands, and
here the ground was covered with carpeting and
cloth. Just opposite to this spot there was a stand
for the French officers and visitors, erected pro-
bably by the care of their Minister. The English
visitors found places as best they might by paying
for admission to the balconies in the streets. The
carriages of the Imperial family drew up in the
open space before this chapel, and the Emperor,
alighting from his horse, handed the Empress-
Mother first from her carriage, and next assisted
the Empress to the chapel. There they all knelt
on the platform "pour saluer l'-image de _Notre
Dame d'lberie," and having kissed some portion or
other of the chapel, they entered the shrine, and
there offered up their prayers, after which they
proceeded to rejoin the cortege within the gate.
The clergy, in full canonicals of the costliest
kind, were present, received his Majesty, and
assisted at this ceremony ; and at the gate the go-
vernor and the civil authorities of the Government
of Moscow were in attendance to pay their rever-
ences to him. Inside the Kremlin an immense
crowd, civil and military, were seated on benches
and seats ; the pavement was also thronged
by a mass of persons to whom the right of
entry had been accorded by the authorities, all
of whom welcomed the Emperor with great enthu-
siasm. The cortege slowly wound its way through
this brilliant assemblage to the Sacred Gate of the
Saviour, called Sparkie Vovota, in passing through
which every man must uncover, where the Em-
peror and Empress were received by the Com-
mandant of Moscow and the officers under his
orders. The clergy attached to the churches inside
the Kremlin were assembled before the porch of
their several edifices holding the sacred images and
crosses in the air to welcome, and the Senat Dire-
geant was ranged at each side of the entrance of
the cathedral. Here their Majesties left their car-
riage, and the Emperor descended from his charger
and advanced towards the door of the cathedral, at
which they were met by the Holy Synod and the
clergy, who had previously chanted a Te Ileum,
en actions de graces, for the happy arrival of Lis
Majesty, and who awaited him with the cross and
the holy water. Amid the sounds of a solemn
chant and the prayers of the people the Emperor
and the Empresses entered the cathedral, and at
the same moment a salvo of 85 guns was fired to
announce the fact. Their Majesties having kissed
the sacred " images," among which are a picture of
the Virgin, painted by St. Luke, and a miraculous
portrait of our Saviour—walked in solemn pro-
cession, preceded by the Metropolitan of Moscow,
to the Cathedrals of the Archangel Michael and of
the Annunciation, where they kilssed more ima6efi

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