The Sun.
London, England, 1856-08-26 00:00:00

ASSOCIATIONS CONNECTILD WITH TEE
CORONATION OF THE CZAR.

To one of the chief actorsin that splendid pageant
which is attracting all the world to Moscow, the
associations which it must suggest cannot fail to be
full of anguish. Thirty years ago the Dowager
Empress Alexandra—then young and beautiful;
the very ideal of an empress—was the chief orna-
ment of a similar ceremony ; and he who is now
about to perform what in the eyes of the genuine
Russian is net a mere show, but an an act which
clothes him with sanctity, was a rosy-cheeked boy.
What strange and gloomy thoughts will pass through
her mind when she once more sits on the throne of
Alexis Michailovitch, beneath the gorgeous canopy
of crimson velvet and cloth of gold in the Cathe-
dral of the Assumption ! They must need recur
to him who lies—half forgotten already by the
multitude—in another cathdral, that of St. Peter
and St. Paul, in the fortress of St. Petersburg, and
to the great events in which he was the chief actor,
which have occurred since they sat side by side
within that same temple. To one whose health is
so utterly shaken, it will be no wonder if these
emotions prove fatal ; and the lingering malady
brought on by the earliest events of her husband's
reign be brought to a termination while the solemn
assumption of empire by his son is still fresh on
men's minds and tongues. -
Through what a dreary vista she will look back
—into what strange shapes the wreathes of incense
filling the gloomy od cathedral will form themselves.
—how the boom of the guns announcing that Alex-
ander the Second has placed the crown on his head,
will recall that other fearful cannonade when his
father stood in front of the Winter Palace, the tar-
get for a thousand bullets ! For her husband's reign
began and ended in war and bloodshed. When
Alexander died at Taganrog, in 1825, Constan-
tine, by a family compact, waived his right of suc-
cession in favour of his younger brother NichOlas ;
and wisely, for he inherited, with much of the
physical characteristics of his father, Paul, much
also of his tendency to insanity. But during some
years a conspiracy had been widely spreading
through the army, the object of which was to in-
troduce, in lieu of the existing government, an-
other form of government, for which Russia was by
no means prepared, and which would have re-
placed the absolute monarchy by an oligarchy. The
substitution of Nicholas for Constantine was
thought to be an opportune circumstance on which
to found an outbreak ; and when the troops were
drawn up in the great square fronting the Winter
Palace and Admiralty, at St. Petersburg, the re-
volt broke out by a portion of them refusing to
take the oaths of allegiance, and uttering seditious
cries. The amiable and popular Governor of St.
Petersburg, Miloradovitch, rode up to calm them
and bring theni back to their duty, when he was
shot through the heart by one of the conspirators,
and fell dead. The struggle had become inevit-
able ; guns were unlimbered and loaded, some with
grape, some with rouudshot, and a short but san-
guinary battle was fought, until the insurgents,
hemmed in by fresh troops who arrived from all
quarters, were compelled to submit, but not be-
fore the ground was thickly strewn with the dead
and dying.
The roar of the artillery and the sharp rattle of
-small arms shook the very walls of the oratory where
the Empress was praying for the preservation of
him, who, though a stern and severe master,
was a kind and affectionate husband ; and the
terrible anxieties of that day so powerfully affect-
•d her nervous system that she never recovered
from the shock. Then came the long investigations
which carried misery and disgrace into almost every
noble family iu Russia, .ending in the horrible
execution of iViouravieff, Pestel: and other chibfs
of the conspiracy, and the exile of some scarcely
less guilty, and among whom were men of the
highest rank in the empire. The coronation fol-
lowed ; and then, after the war with Persia where
the Russian troops under Paskievich won glory
cheaply, came the Turkish war, in which, had it
not been for the ignorance and incapacity of the
Turkish authorities, and the opportune interference
at Constantinople by the European Powers, not a
man of all those thousands who crossed the Pruth
would have returned to Russia to tell the story of
their defeat. Next came the rebellion of Poland,
provoked by the insane tyranny of Constantine,
who fell a victim to cholera, with thousands of
others, at an early stage of the war ; nor was it
until Warsaw surrendered in 1830, and the fire of
Polish patriotism had been quenched in blood, that
the star of Nicholas seemed to emerge from the
clouds that had hidden it during the early years of
his reign. Thenceforward his career was a series
of political successes, with few and slight checks ;
and his dream of making Russia the arbitress of
the destinies of Europe seemed rapidly approach-
ing its realisation. The events of 1848, which
shook the thrones around ham, left him unscathed
and even appeared to have advanced his long-che-
rished political views ; but in an evil hour his po-
litical sagacity failed him ; he tempted his destiny,
and undid the labour of a life.
When the Empress Alexandra sees the Ambassa-
dors of England, France, Austria, Prussia, and
Sweden making their obeisance to her son after he
has crowned his young wife, and whilst the
chorus of " Long life" is sung by the choir to the
accompaniment of the massive bells of the Krem-
lin and the thunder of the cannon, will not
her thoughts revert to that last scene in the win-
ter palace, when all those nations whose represen-
tatives join in the acclamation were either hollow
friends or open enemies, and when lie for whom like
prayers had been made and similar obeisance d one lay
dying, the victim of mortified pride and ambition ?
Thus war and bloodshed marked the beginning and
the end of his reign, and he left to his son a like •
evil omen to mark the commencement of his impe-
rial career ! Austria, the humble servant of his
father, gave no sign of encouragement to the young
Czar, but stood by, waiting to side with the
strongest ; Prussia, ruled by the brother of the
Empress Alexandra, was earning the contempt of
all ; and Sweden was preparing to burst the chain
which the sovereigns of Russia, from the dayswhen
Bernadotte was Crown Prince, had been ceaselessly
and laboriously endeavouring to bind around her.
Then came theglorious day for France and England,
when the impregnable Sebastopol was a heap of
ruins ; when the fleet which, under Peter and his
successors had grown into a mighty armada, were
rotting under the waters of the Black Sea, when
Russia, which was to have given laws to the world,
was compelled to accept the terms imposed on her ;
and when the ambitious projects with which Ni-
cholas began his reign were scattered to the winds.
Such has been the gloomy commencementof the
reign of Alexander. And surely in that solemn co-
ronation ceremony—solemn beyond measure to a
religious Russian—the deep-voiced deacons chauut
forth the prayers for peace, and glory, and long life
to the Czir, the Empress-Mother must, needs echo
them with an earnest awe, when she recalls the ca-
reer of him for whom she heard these prayers last

uttered within these walls some thirty years ago.
—Daily Netts.

SEIZURE OF DNWITOLESONE GRAIN
T LEEDS.

Last week Messrs. Thomas England and Dickenson
Hurtley, corn merchants, of Warehouse-hill, Leeds,
were summoned before the magistrates, at the Court-
house, for having in their possession, exposed for sale,
12 quarters and upwards of wheat which was unfit for
the food of man when seized by the Inspector of Nui-
sances. The case excited a good deal of interest, and
the court where the complaint was heard was crowded
by corn merchants and others. There was a great deal
of discussion between the opposing counsel on the bear-
ing of the 20th section of the Nuisances Removal Act,
and one or two objections of a formal character, on the
part of the defendants' advocates, were overruled by the
bench. Another objection taken for the defence was
that no inspector had a right to enter a merchant's
warehouse without a written authority ; but the magis-
trate, Mr. Lupton, replied that this was what they must
all submit to for the good of society. Mr. Hugger, an
analytical chemist, proved that the corn seized by the
inspector was unfit for the food of man. The sample
produced stank abominably ; and it appeared to be com-
posed of three-fourths of brown earth and one-fourth of
discoloured grains of wheat. The counsel for the defence
relied on the assertion that the wheat was not exposed
for sale—it was simply warehoused; it had reached Mr.
England in the ordinary way, and his servants had
simply deposited it in the best way they could until they
had received the orders of the owners. He, therefore,
called upon the bench to dismiss the case. Mr. Eng-
land corroborated the statement of his advocate, and
said that the wheat would have been used for manure ;
it formed the damaged portion of a cargo of 1,800 quar-
ters from Egypt. The decision of the bench was at
length given by Mr. Lupton as follows The subject
is one of deep importance to the public ; and the magis-
trates have given it a great deal of consideration. Mr.
Sands, the inspector, has performed his duties well and
properly. He has acted in accordance with law, and de•
serves commendation. We are of opinion that the corn
complained of was not exposed for sale within the mean-
ing of the statute, inasmuch as it proved to our satisfac-
tion that it possessed no money value whatever. We
are of opinion that corn placed in warehouses unfit for
the food of man is always seizable by the inspector, and
that there is great danger to the person holding it of
being convicted under this act of Parliament, unless he
can clearly and satisfactorily show that he had it not in
his possession for any of the purposes contemplated by
the act ; and the 022213 probandi will rest upon him. In
order to prevent any information of offences of this
character, it is desirable and will be prudent on the part
of persons being in possession of such corn at once to
announce the fact to the inspector, in order that it may
be examined and disposed of in such manner as will
prevent the sale of it for human food." The defendant's
counsel hereupon promised to make manure of the rotten
wheat, and the paxtiee left the vour,