The Sun.
London, England, 1845-09-01 00:00:00

THE LAST DAYS of the EMPEROR

served to be asleep in the carriage. At Bacheserai, the
Emperor also dined alone, and the tollovi inn morning he in-
formed Sir James Wy,ie that he bad sulF ,ed from an attack
ot bilious (liar. 'nee., in !he right, but that he was then perfecely
well. "rhos,' he said, all my complaints pass away
without the help of medicine.' Sir James did not state to me
the circumstances which led the Emperor to believe that medi-
cal treatment was of no avail in arresting the progress of dis-
ease and to determine him not to have recourse to its aid.
There could be DO doubt that the Emperor had some peculiar
views about the doctrine of predestination, but whether his
scepticism respecting the eThcacy of medicine originated in these
opinions, I could not ascertain.
" His Majes; y that day went to Chufut Kali, and returned in
the afternoon to Bacheserai to meet the Tartar chiefs. Next
day he went to Kosloff, and on arriving there Sir James
observed that they had passed some marshes which emitted
a most disagreeable odour. The following night he slept
near Perecop, and on the next between the Isthmus and
Oriekoff. At this place he was observed by his valet-
de-chambre to be ill, but his Nlajesty did not inform
Sir James of the circumstance, and the latter saw nothing
unusual in the appearance of the Emperor the next morning
during their visit to an hospital close by this village. But the
valet afterwards stated that his Majesty had been very ill in the
night, and inquired if Sir James did not observe how pale he
was. In the carriage with General Diehitch on the road to
Marienpole, the Emperor was snacked with violent shiverings,
and on arriving there had a strong and distinct paroxysm of
fever. A warm bed was prepared for hien, and he took some
hot punch. As the place they were in was of a wretched
description, Sir James recommended him to push forward to
Taganrog on the following day, and there to take the proper
remedies. They reached Taganrog on the sth of November,
O.S. On the two following days, the Emperor suffered
severely from derangement of the liver and digestive organs,
and experienced severe paroxysms of fever. It was evident
that he was severely attacked with the bilious remittent
fever of the Crimea ; but at this time there was
no head-ache or any other symptom of the brain
being affected. Four grains of calomel were given,
and some purgative medicine, with great but tern-
porary relief of the febrile symptoms, yet his Majesty
would not consent to a repetition of these remedies, or to the
adoption of any other means. On the Bth, the fever continued
with undiminished vielenee, and as the Emperor positively re-
fused to avail himself of the aid of medicine Sir James re-
quested that Dr. Stofregen, physician to the Empress, should
be called into consultation. His head had now become burn-
ing hot, and a marked change was perceptible in his Majesty's
countenance. When Dr. Stofregen was introduced, he said,
' I am distressed to see your Majesty suffering in this manner.'
' Say nothing of my indisposition,' replied the Emperor,
but tell me how the Empress is.' After being satisfied on
this point, his Majesty told Dr. Stofregen that Sir James
Wylie considered him in a dangerous state, but he added, I
feel that I am not seriously ill, and that I shall recover without
the employment of medical aid.' It was the opinion of the
physicians that the Emperor 'should have been bled at this
time, and that calomel and cathartics should have been freely
administered, and this opinion they gave to the Emperor in a
decided manner, but he would not consent to the employment
of any remedies. The paroxysm of fever recurred, but there
were occasional remissions when the pulse came down to the
natural state ; once to seventy-one and repeatedly to ninety,
but it was at all times during the progress of the disease ex-
tremely email and feeble.
" On the 13th of the month, and tenth day of the disease, it
was again proposed to take blood from the Emperor, but he
would not submit. On the morning of the 14th, Sir James
and the other medical attendants again urged him to the same
purport, but he refused, even to the application of leeches to
the head. He rejected this proposal with the greatest impa-
tience and obstinacy. The Empress on her knees implored
him to consent, but he would nut. At first,' he said, I
had only an intermittent fever, and now it has been con-
verted into a continued fever, and I will trust rather to my
constitution than to the means recommended.' As it
was now obvious that his life was in imminent danger,
and that he was becoming worse and worse, Sir James pro-
posed, late in the evening, that a priest should be brought
to him. Sir James was again desired by the Empress
to endeavour to convince his Majrsty that his life was in the
greatest danger, and that as he would not submit to medical
treatment, he should think seriously, so long as he retained
consciousness, of employing spiritual aid. On the morn-
ing of the 15th, at five o'clock, he was confessed by
the priest ; and he requested that in this religious act he
should be confessed as a ample individual. When this was
finished, the priest strongly urged his Majesty to employ medi-
cal aid, saying that, unless he did to, he would not fulfil the
whole of his Christian duty. 11:tween nine and ten o'clock he
consented, for the first time, to the application of leeches to the
temples. The brain had now become affected, and lie was 00-
easionally delirious, and uttered incoherent expre.sions. For
thirty hours before his death the Empress hardly quitted his
bed-side. The scene was most affecting when the Emperor, on
the 19th, expired. The Empress had been kneeling by his
bed-side, with her eyes fixed upon hitn, as he gradually became
weaker and weaker, until ail signs of life were gone. Then,
rising, she closed his eyes, and with a handkerchief
bound up his head, to support the lower jaw. After
this, she folded his arms over his brecst, kissed his
hand, and then knelt down by the side of the dead body for
half an hour in prayer to God. Throughout the whole of his
Majesty's ihnesa she manifested the strongest attachment to her
husband, and at his death was inconsolable.
" On the post mortem examination of the body being made,
the appearances observed were such as are most frequently met
with in those dying from bilious remittent fever, with internal
congestion. Two ounces of serous fluid were found in the
ventricles of the brain, and all the veins and arteries were
gorged with blood. There was an old adhesion between the
dura and pia mater at the back part, but of no great extent.
The heart and lungs were sound, but too vascular. The liver
was turgid with blood, and of a much darker colour than
natural. The spleen was enlarged, and softened in texture.
"The prevalence of:fever in the Crimea during the autumn, the
sudden change of the weather when the Emperor left the coast,
the usual symptoms appearing in the course of a few days after
quitting Perecop, as I had before observed in others, with the
subsequent history of the disease and the appearances after
death, rendered it certain that the Emperor Alexander was cut
off by the bilious remittent fever of the Crimea. During the
six weeks I remained at Taganrog after the Emperor's death, 1
never heard that any one entertained a doubt, or expressed a
suspicion that his Majesty's death was attributable to any other
than a natural cause. The physicians who had the care of los
Majesty were accused by some, without the slightest ground, of
mismanaging the case; and I heard the question repeatedly
put, Why they did not compel his Majesty to submit to their
plan of treatment ?' or, in other words, as Sir James Wylie
expressed it, why they did not comrnit the crime of lose-Majesty?
—a proceeding which no circumstances could ever justify. I -
enjoyed the best opportunities in the Crimea of observing the
devoted attachment of Sir James Wylie to the Emperor Alex-
ander, whom he had accompanied in all his campaigns; and I
conscientiously believe, that on this trying occasion Sir James
Wylie discharged his arduous professional duty in a manner
worthy of his high reputation."

" There were oysters at dinner, and a small worm was ad-
hering to the shell of one pie erred to his Majesty. This was
shown fo Sir James who said i‘ was quite common ant'
harrntess, and he ressinel«l the Emperor of aca etunstacce
which had occurred to them at the Congress of Verona. A
person at Venice had then sent to the Emperor to intreat that
he would abstain from the use of oysters, as there was.a poi-
sonous marine worm or insect in them. This led the conver-
sation to the insects of the Crimea and Ukraine, of which I
had made a considerable collection, and the Emperor inquired
of me if there were scorpions, scolopendras, and tarantulas in
the Crimea. I said scorpions of large size were not uncommon
and that at Musghor, during our former visit, we found a scor-
pion of great strength in the apartment where we passed the
night, but that it was harmless. Scolopendras of great length
I had often seen around Odessa, but not in the Crimea, nor
tarantulas, although, as I had been informed, they were not
very rare. I heard of no instance during the autumn in which
they had inflicted any injury by their bites or stings. He said,
he supposed they were the same as in Italy, and then alluded to
the dance for the cure of the bite of the tarantula ; Sir James
Wylie reminded his Majesty of the scorpion which was found in
his bed at Verona, and of the prescription which he had then
written for the cure of the bites of the carbonari.
" Again the Emporor expressed how much he was pleased
with Orianda, and stated that it it was his determination to have
a palace built there as expeditiously as possible.
To my
amazement he then said, after a pause, When I give in my
demission, I will return and fix myself at Orianda, and wear
the costume of the Taurida.' Not a word was uttered by any
one when this extraordinary resolution was announced, and I
thought that I must have misunderstood the Emperor, but this
could not be, for in a'short time,when CountWoronzow proposed
that the large open flat space of ground to the westward of
Orianda should be converted into pleasure-grounds for his
Majesty, he replied, I wish this to be purchased for General
Diebiteh, as it is right that the chief of my etat-major and I
should be neighbours.'
" His Majesty made a frugal repast, and drank little wine.
When champagne was presented, Count Woronzow .Sire,
may we be permitted to drink to the health of her Majesty the
Empress ?' He replied, Most certainly ; and all immediately
rising, did honour to the toast. On retiring, his Majesty
returned thanks to Count Woronzow for the excellent enter-
tainment he had provided, and, addressing himself to us all,
said, with kindness and condescension, Your presence on this
occasion has afforded me the greatest satisfaction.' He then
walked out, and mounted the steps to the flat roof of the house,
around which a number of Tartars were collected. He looked
at the groups through his eve-glass, and said, What hand-
some oriental countenances 1 what a fine race of men ! One
of the snout striking peculiarities of the Crimea would be lost
if the Tarters were expelled ; I hope they will be encouraged
to continue here.' An Effendi was:, introduced to his Majesty
to present a petition, which he did by bending down and raising
his hands to his head, without removing his turban from it.
" The Emperor retired to rest early in the evening. In the
middle of the night a courier arrived, when he arose and trans-
acted business. General Diebitch, who slept in a house close
to that in which I was, was twice summoned in the night to
wait upon His Majesty. I was afterwards informed that the
dispatches brought by the courier were of the highest public
importance ; in fact, that they fully revealed to His Majesty
the existence of a dangerous and extensive conspiracy, of which
he had not been previously aware.
" On the morning of the 27th, after breakfast, the Emperor
sent a message to say that he desired me to accompany him
round the lower garden. After some conversation respecting
the illness of the Empress, and the proposal that I should visit
her Majesty professionally at Taganrog, he again called my
attention to the magificence of the scenery around us, and ex-
pressed the pleasure he had derived from this visit. to the
Crimea, and the hope he entertained that at no very rea ote
period its shores should be full of rich vineyards, an contain
many flourishing villages and towns. I hinted, in the most
delicate manner I could, that the frequent occurrence of vio-
lent fevers to those who visited the Crimea, and to its constant
inhabitants, was the only circumstance which appeared t me
likely to prevent his Majesty's anticipations being completely
realised. He expressed a strong wish that I should remain in
Russia, permanently attached to Count Woronzow, the value of
whose public services he appeared justly to appreciate.
"At mid-day the Emperor and his attendants were on horse-
back, and, af er shaking hands with and taking an affectionate
leave of all, he set out for Sebastopole. In a few days I re-
turned with Count Woronzow'to Odessa, by Perecop, Bereslaw,
and Nicolaef, where we remained till the 22d November, 1825.
" At eight o'clock, on Sunday morning, the 22d November,
Count Woronzow expressed a wish to see me in his library.
On going there, the Count stated that he had received bad
news from Taganrog—that the Emperor was dangerously ill,
and that I must set out with him, in two hours, to render my
assistance with the other physicians. It appeared from a letter
of the 7th inst. that the Emperor had been attacked with
symptoms of slight catarrh soon after leaving the Crimea, and
that at Oriekoff these had assumed the decided form of re-
mittent fever—that it had increased in severity, and that his
Majesty refused to take any medicine. Another letter, of the
14th, stated that he was much worse—indeed, in great danger
—and that still he refused to submit to any medical treatment.
A third letter, dated Thursday, the 19th, had also been re-
ceived, from which it appeared that the malady had been daily
growing worse, and that almost all hope of his recovery was
past. The Count was much afflicted when he communicated
this intelligence, and expressed his fear that we should
find all over before we reached Taganrog. We started
from Odessa at midday, and when our carriage was going
slowly over the deep sands by the sea-shore, the Count said
that unpleasant occurrences seldom came alone—that a letter
had arrived that morning from London, informing him of an
accident that had endangered the life of his father; also, that
William Findley, who had been his father's coachman for up-
wards of thirty years, had been thrown from his hex, and kilted
on the spot. I knew William Findley well,' he added,
bursting into tears, and feel how much my father must have
suffered on the occasion.' We continued our journey to
Nicolaef, where we arrived at midnight. The Count retired
to rest for two hours ; but I did not, being anxious to learn
from Admiral Greig what consequences would be likely to re-
sult, in the event of the Emperor's death, and the accession of
his brother Constantine to the throne. We were, of course,
unacquainted with the fact, that in 1822, the Grand Duke
Constantine had voluntarily waived his title to the succession,
and that the next in the line after him should take his place.
Admiral Greig requested me to write to him immediately after
Iny arrival at Taganrog, which I did, and communicated all the
information I could obtain respecting his Imperial Majesty's
illness and death.
" We reached Cherson at seveno'clock in the morning. There
had been a hard frost during the night, The town was evidently
in a state of decay, and many of the houses were roofless. Du-
ring the previous winter, the fo'age in the Crimea and country
cottages
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that the commerce of the place was ruined that the rise of
Odessa had, in fact, been the fall of Cherson. The Dnieper is
here as broad as the Danube above Vienna, or the Rhone near
the Mediterranean. At a sht rt distance from the gate of the
town, we saw an obelisk, which had been erected to the me-
n.ory of John Howard, who died of fever, near Cherson, on the
20th of January, 1790, and was buried in the open steppe, at a
short distance from the town. It was his request that a sun-
dial should be created over his grave ; and Admiral Greig in-
formed me that this wish had recently been complied with, and
through the Admiral's exertions chiefly, as I learn from others.
"We arrived at Beresla.v at two o'clock in the afternoon of the
23d, and crossed the Dnieper on a raft, the floating bridge
having been removed. In the morning of the 24th, we reached
Oriekoff, which is on the high road between Taganrog and
Warsaw, where the Grand Duke Constantine then was. The
postmaster of this place stated that no account had been re-
ceived of the Emperor's death ; but he must have wished to con-
ceal the fact, as at the next post station, we were at once in-
formed that the news of his decease had been received two
days before.
" On Wednesday, the 25th, at seven in the morning, we ar-
rived at Marienpole, a small town on the Sea of Azoff, inha-
bited by Greeks, who had emigrated from the Crimea forty
years before. We remained an hour at the residence of a mi-
litary officer of rank, who gave me a general account of the
Emperor's illness. He informed me that bilious fevers
were very common along the whole northern coast
of the Sea of Azoff. From Alarieripole to Ta-
ganrog the country presented a most dreary aspect,
and the post-houses and horses were truly wretched.
We crossed a small river, and, entering Taganrog at eight
o'clock in the evening, were immediately conducted by the
governor of the town to the house of one of the most respect..
able merchants. We learned, on arriving, that his Majesty died
on the 19th of November, and that he bad been insensible
and deprived of the power of swallowing two days before his
decease.

ALEXANDER. By tWBERT LEE, M.D., F.R.S

The following extracts from a memoir of
Emperor of Russia, just published by 1)r. Lc e, will be
read with deep interest. Coming from such a source
they are entitled to implicit credit, and must put an end
to all doubts as to the cause of the late Emperor's death.
Dr. Lea was placed in such a situation as to be able to
ascertain, not only from the reports of the physicians on
the spot, but from his own personal observation;, all the
real circumstat eec accompanying an event which caused
a great sensation throughout the political world. Addi-
tional weight also is given to his testimony by the rank
which he holds in his profession. Dr. Lee is well known
to the public for his medical skill ; the important dis-
coveries which he has made in that branch of anatomical
science to which he has long devoted great research and
unwearied application, have given him an European
character, not likely to be forfeited by any deviation
from the truth ; and the interest excited by the death
of that benevolent, wise, and patriotic Prince, has long
ceased to exist, so that it would hardly be possible to
furnish evidence of a more satisfactory character.
Alexander, it is admitted, had become weary of political
life ; he had been harassed by apprehensions of con-
spiracies of various kinds, and doubtful in their charac-
ter, and resolved to end his days in a remote region of
his empire as a simple individual, leaving the cares of
royalty to his brother, the present Emperor; for Constan-
tine, from some mysterious cause, had been set aside.
One of the outbreaks which Alexander feared took place
at St. Petersburgh; soon after his decease, and was
speedily put:down by the energy and presence of mind of
Nicholas, but, from all authentic accounts, no plots were
formed against his life, and his death is to be attributed
entirely to the fever so prevalent in the Crimea, and to
his obstinacy in refusing to submit to those remedies
which, according to Dr. Lee's account, could hardly
have failed of success. The picture of this royal pro-
gress is a melancholy one. At several of the places
where the Emperor stopped, there was scarcely any ac-
commodation suited even to a common traveller, and oc-
casionally he was left with hardly any attendant but his
valet. These circumstances give rise to suspicions, but
the facts accompanying his death are so manifest, and the
authorities on which they rest are so authentic, that no
stretch of rational credulity could attribute his death to
any but natural causes. On the post mot tern examina-
tion of his body, not the slightest symptoms of poison
were visible, but all the symptoms of the fatal ague
which had carried off so many of his subjects. With
these remarks we give the plain statement drawn up by
Dr. Lee, which is prefaced by some interesting details
of the fever which prevailed in that part of the country,
and of the occurrences which took place some day's pre-.
vious to the fatal attack of illness :
"During the month of September, 1825, the whole population
of the Crimea between the mountains and the sea, all the in-
habitants of "this terrestrial paradise," were in a very sickly
condition, and in the villages along the coast between Your-
souff and Simeis, 1 saw and treated more than a hundred cases
of intermittent and remittent fever. Many who had been
suffering for months had enlargement of the liver and spleen
with jaundice and dropsy, The weather, during the whole
time 1 remained on the south coast of the Crimea, was delight-
ful, and none of those sudden and violent changes were ob-
served which so frequently occur in all the countries situated
along the northern shore of the Black Sea. There could be
little doubt that the fever which then prevailed on the coast
and in the interior of the Crimea, was produced by noxious
exhalations from the earth.
"After visiting all the most interesting places in the Crimea,
I embarked on board Admiral Greig's yacht at Sevastopole,
on the 23d September, and returned to Odessa, with Count
F. Pahlen, on the Ist of October. Count Woronzow at the
same time set out for Taganrog, to meet the Emperor Alexan-
der, who had arrived there with the Empress a short time be-
fore, with the intention of spending the winter on the shores
of the sea of Azoff. Before reaching Odessa, Count Pahlen
was seized with severe shivering, headache, and the other cha-
racteristic symptoms of bilious remittent fever. The attack
was far mere violent and dangerous than in any of the eases
which had before fallen under my observation, and he narrowly
escaped with his life. Mr. Rose, an English gentleman, who
had been in the Crimea with us, was also attacked after our re-
turn to Odessa, and died, from effusion into the brain. The
health of a considerable number of those who had been on the
south coast of the Crimea at the same time, suffered severely
for some months after, and in a few fever appeared in a severe
form early the following spring. There was evidence to prove
that almost all of us had suffered from malaria.
" On the 14th October, 1825 (0.8.), at Odessa, I received
a letter from Count Woronzow at Taganrog, informing me of
the Emperor's determination to visit the Crimea, and request-
ing me to meet him at Bereslaw: on the Dnieper.
I accordingly left Odessa in the afternoon of the same
day, with General Bashmakoff, Messrs. Marini and Artemieff.
We arrived at Nieolaef in the afternoon of the 15th, and re-
mained a few hours with Admiral Greig, who had just re-
turnee from Taganrog. It was a clear, beautiful night, the
road was excellent, and vs e reached Bereslaw, the following
morning, at seven o'clock, where we remained during the day.
This is a large town on the west bank of the Dnieper, which
does not differ in appearance from the other towns in the south
of Russia. There were many shops or bazaars in it, full of
every kind of merchandise. Great numbers of waggons laden
with salt from the Crimea, were then passing through, and
large bodies of troops marching to join the army on the Turkish
frontiers. The country around was extremely fertile, but the
locust had committed great havoc the year before, the peasants
and landed proprietors being in a state of the greatest distress.
We left Bereslaw in the afternoon, for the isthmus of Perecop,
and after passing over an extensive plain of sand like the
Llandes, near the Pyrenees, we entered the Crimea and spent
the night at the German colony of Nahitchvan. Here all was
order, cleanliness, and comfort, the population rapidly increas-
ing, and additional grants of land required. On quitting these
intelligent, happy people, the following morning, we were not
long in coming among the Nogay Tartars, were all was igno-
ranee, poverty, and wretchedness. Light and darkness, civi-
lization and barbarism, were here almost in contact. We re-
mained two days and a night at Sympheropole, where I had the
satisfaction of giving professional aid to the daughter of Count
Rostopschin, a name which will be preserved through all ages
in the annals of Russia.
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completing this arduous work appeared sickly and depressed. -eef
from
suffered
Upwards of a hundred out of five hundred had fever during the autumn, but in none had the disease assumed
aj dangerous form. No less than a thousand soldiers had been
employed in this important work the year before, and compa-
ratively few of them, it was reported, had suffered from
the effects of fever. The face of the country had changed
since our former visit to the Crimea. The woods along the
Salgir and on the Chatyr-Dagh were stripped of their leaves,
though on entering the valley cif Alushta the trees were still
green. From the Isthmus of Perecop to Yoursouff, where we
arrived on the 20th, preparations were being made for the
reception of the Emperor ; the roads were being repaired, and
all the err tages and houses in the line were being cleaned and
whitewashed. The principal Tartar of the village of Your-
souff had been suffering severely from intermittent fever for
several weeks, but the fits were speedily arrested by the calo-
mel and sulphate of quinine which I administered to him.
Phis latter remedy, which had never before been employed in
the fevers of the Crimea, often stopped their course so quickly,
that some of the ignorant Tartars were disposed to attribute
the striking effects to supernatural influence.
" The followina morning we set out for Aloupka. It was like
a summer's day in England, the thermometer in the shade
being 17 deg. of Reaumur (70 deg. Fahrenheit). The tops
of the mountains were, however, covered with dense clouds.
The road along the sea-shore to Orianda from Yoursouff never
appeared to me so beautiful before, and I could not pass Nikita
and Masandra without halting to admire the glorious scenery.
The woods had lost a part of their verdure, but there were still
many of the trees as green as during the autumn. The wild
vine, which climbs to the lops of the highest trees, and the leaves
of which were then of a deep red colour, formed a striking fea-
ture in the scene. The walnut and fig trees were still fresh and
green. At Aloupka, in the evening, we walked around the
gardens, the most romantic in the Crimea, where preparations
were being made for planting forty lemon trees in the open air,
which had been imported the previous year from Italy, and
one of them, which had been exposed in the middle of the gar-
den to the intense frost the preceding winter, was in a flourish-
ing state. We returned to the Tartar house which was pre-
pared for the Emperor. Boards had been placed around the
front of it, and whitewashed. The walls of the two chambers
for his Maj,sty's accommodation, had been surrounded with a
coarse white linen cloth, and a very neat bed prepared. There
were two chairs, a table, and a couch, and newly glazed win-
dows had been put in. In that climate one could not have
desired a better habitation for a night, though it was a common
Tartar cottage.

RAILWAY TRAIN ON FIRE.

An alarming fire broke out yesterday morning in the
seven o'clock train from Glasgow, on the Edinburgh and
Glasgow line. When the train had arrived about a mile
from the Castlecary station,
dense smoke was observed
to rise from a cattle-box, filled with household furniture,
which, together with a luggage van, was hooked on be-
tween the engine and the open carriages containing pas-
sengers. It at once became evident that embers from
the grating of the engine had caught upon the furniture,
which was only covered. by a sheet of coarse tarpaulin.
One of the passengers informs us, that so defective was
the grating, that he observed large pieces of red cinders
blowing out upon the cattle-box. The passengers in the
open carriages became alarmed, and the engineer was
loudly hailed from all parts of tho train. The guard
raised his flag and the passengers their hats and um-
brellas ; but whether these were imperceptible to the
engineer, on account of the dense columns of smoke
which were now rising from the burning van, or whether
he imagined that the best course to adopt was to make
all haste to arrive at Castlecary, where plenty of water
could be got to extingui.sh the flames, it is certain, at
least, that the train was not stopped until it arrived at
that station. The fire ;soon reached a second van, in
which the passengers' luggage was stowed, and a burn-
ing fragment of the cattle-box was blown into one of the
open carriages, to the great alarm and danger of the
passengers in it. One of the passengers, though not in
the carriage nearest the- fire, leaped out, and was very
much bruised about the face. Luckily, the distance to
Castlecary was very short, as the train arrived at that
station before the fire had fully reached the passengers.
It was found, however, that the first van was completely
destroyed, together with. the furniture it contained, to
`.he amount, it is said, of 1.50/ or 2001.—Edinburgh

" On Thursday, the 26th of November, I went to see his
Imperial Majesty lying in state in the house where he had lived
and died. '1 he coffin was placed upon a slightly-elevated plat-
form, and covered by a canopy. The room was hung with
black, and the coffin covered with a cloth of gold. There
were numerous large wax lights burning in the apartment, and
each person present held a slender lighted wax taper. A
priest was standing at the head of the coffin reading the
Evangelists, and I was told that this was carried on day
and night. On each side of the body a sentinel was placed
with a drawn sword. In the ante-room there were a
number of priests putting an their robes, and preparing
for the service or mass, which was celebrated twice
every day. There were no symptoms of melancholy
in this crowded room, and some young military
officers even displayed a degree of levity altogether
unsuitable to the solemnity of the scene. The Empress,
I was informed, remained constantly in an apartment, the door
of which opened into that where the body of the Emperor was
lying, and where the service was performed. Guards were
stationed around the house, at the door, as also on the stairs,
and in the ante-room.
" tin the evening of Friday, the 27th of November, I pro-
ceeded, at the request of Count Woronzow, to the residence of
Sir James Wylie, for many years physician to the person of his
Imperial Majesty, for the purpose of obtaining an account of
the Emperor's illness, and the treatment which would have
been pursued, had not his Majesty strenuously refused all
medical assistance. Sir James read to me the whole of the
reports of his Majesty's case, written down by him from day to
day, and which contained the fullest and most satisfactory ex-
planation of all the attendant circumstances. These reports
were also signed by the other physicians, who coincided in the
views entertained by Sir James respecting the nature and pro-
posed treatment of the disease. As these reports were
about to be forwarded to St. Petersburgh for the satisfac-
tion of the Government,-I could not procure a perfect copy,
but the following are the most important facts they contained,
and were noted down by me in short-hand, as I heard them.
Dr. Reinhold, surgeon to the Empress, who had remained with
the Emperor during the night of the 12th of November, came
in when Sir James Wylie was thus occupied, and declared to
me in the most unequivocal manner that he was entirely of the
same opinion with the other physicians respecting the nature
of the disease; and of the means that would have been employed.
" The weather suddenly changed on the day the Emperor left
Aloupka, the 26th of October. A thick mass of clouds covered
the mountains in the afternoon, the east wind was cold, and a
shower of rain fell. '1 he previous day had been intensely but
on the coast, and at the time the Emperor was riding from
Yoursouff to Aloupka. His Majesty was accustomed to travel
in an open caldche, with alight military cloak, trusting solely
to the vigour of his constitution' against the sudden changes of
the atmosphere. After quitting Aloupka, he went to that
part of the road where the ascent of the Merdveen
commences, and hesitated for some time whether to
proceed by this difficult pass, over the mountains, which
are between three and four thousand feet high, into the valley
of Baidar, or by that of Foros. After a little delay he decided
for the former, end arrived at Baidar fatigued, perspiring, and
unusually irritable on account of the unruliness of his horse.
At Baidar, a caldche awaited him, but no refreshment was pre-
pared—his maitre (Mel having gone on to Sevastopole.
From Baidar, he proceeded to Balaclava, and reviewed Colonel
Ravilotti's regiment of Greek guards. The Emperor again
entered his catehe, and drove to that part where the road turns
off to the monastery of St. George. Here he mounted a horse
and rode to the monastery alone, a distance of at least ten
versts. Sir James had gone forward before him to Sevasto-
pole, and the Emperor did not arrive there until it was quite
dark, having remained upwards of two hours at the monastery,
where was a bishop and several priests. He entered Sevasto-
pole by to, chlight, and before going to the house prepared, went
to the chureh, and afterwards reviewed some troops drawn up
in a line along the street through which he passed. His
Majesty dined alone, and it was said scarcely tasted any-
thing. The following day, at twelve o'cloa, he examined
the barracks, hospital, and forts at Sevastopole, and then I
set out for Bacheserai. On the journey he was ob-

,ess.

TERRIFIU RAILWAY ACCIDENT.
GLOUCESTER, SUNDAY MORNING.—A most terrific
accident occurred yesterday evening, about ten o'clock,
on the Birmingham and Gloucester Railway, near the
Deffurd station, which is situated within 33 miles ofßir-
mingham and 20 of Gloucester, by which Joseph Ward,
a fireman, lost his life, several persons were injured and
scalded, two carriages burnt, and two fire-engines very
nearly destroyed. From the impossibility of extracting
information from the men employed at the station, the
cause of the accident is not satisfactorily stated, 1),1 —the
follr)wing vcats upon pretty good authority.
A luggage train, in the charge of Joseph Ward, en-
gine-driver, left Gloucester at nine o'clock fur Birming-
ham, and it is said that on arriving at Dell Ord he ran
into a heavy truck which had most culpably been left
in his way. The shock was so great as not only
to throw the truck on the opposite rails, but to cause
the tender to project above the engine, and fall
upon it. Poor Ward_ was pressed against the engine
rails by the tender, and twenty minutes elapsed ere
he was extricated, and not till life was extinct. He
was conscious for a good many minutes of the effort
which was making to save him. The truck, as already
noticed, which caused the first accident, was thrown on
the opposite rails, and t
in that position a train
from Birmingham came dashing
The driver jumped
off and escaped, but the carriages were projected above
each other, two of them caught fire, some of the passen-
gers were scalded, and all more or less injured. About
three o'clock this morning three of the Umnpany's ser-
vants arrived ; one of them was conveyed to the in-
firmary, but the others went home. A gentleman who
left Birmingham this morning by the 1 A.m. mail train,
states that when the passengers left the station nobody
seemed to have heard of the accident. As they ad-
Oetrild to leave the car-
-1 On nearing the
veneer), however, the pace slackened until it became a
walk. This led to an inquiry, and the passengers were
fatalt:hl that tin
the
e
were
riages and walk across a field and regain the rails at
another point. Our informant, however, went back, and
saw waggon piled upon waggon, and one of them with
the bottom burnt out and still on fire ; the tender was
also lying upon the lugga.gemgine. The passengers
allhad
tie
that beenacei
acrid;
ctv as aone
removed‘ obcyc this
i ti md e. Another account is
by
the meeting of the
trains.

,6 We rotxrrnod to Yours/Ina' on tha osa mouirtng
day one of the Emperor's couriers arrived, and arranged all
the apartments in the house for his Majesty and attendants.
On the 25th the Emperor arrived at Sympheropole. He went
to the service in the cathedral the following morning, and he
arrived at Yoursouff about four o'clock in the afternoon, ac-
companied by General Diebitch, Sir James Wylie, and a few
attendants. When he dismounted from his horse in front of
the house at Yoursouff, Count Woronzow, his aides-de-camp,
secretaries, and myself, were standing in a line to receive him.
" Though apparently active, and in the prime and vigour of
life, the Emperor stooped a little in walking, and seemed
rather inclined to corpulency. He was dressed in a blue
military surtout, with epaulettes, and had nothing to dis-
tinguish him from any general officer. He shook Count
Woronzow by the hand, and afterwards warmly saluted him,
first on one cheek, and then on the other. He after-
wards shook hands with us all, and then inquired of
me particularly about the health of the Count's children
at Biala Cerkie, whom I had seen not long before.
He then inquired if I had visited the south coast of the Crimea
during the autumn, and if so, how I was pleased with it.
Looking up to the mountains above Yoursouff, and then to the
calm sea, upon which the sun was shining, his Majesty ex-
claimed, ' Was there ever such magnificent scenery !' I
replied that the ccast of Italy between Genoa and Nice pre-
sented the only scenery I had ever witnessed that could he
compared to it, a part of Italy which his Maj.2sty stated he had
never visited.

" I set out from Yoursouff on the morning of the 26th of
Octeher, before the Emperor, and rode along the coast to
Aloupka. It was a sultry day, and the scenery was rendered
still more interesting to me than on all former occasions in con-
sequence of the Tartars having come from all parts of the
Crimea to see the Emperor, on his way from Yoursouff to
Aloupka, w here he arrived about four o'clock, I was informed
that a Tartar female compla,ned to his Majesty, at Orianda, of
her having been beaten and ill treated by the superintendent ;
when the offender was ordered to appear before his Majesty,
he threw himself upon his knees and implored forgive•
ne's. Alexander ordered him to be arrested, and said,
with great severity, that it was an eternal disgrace to
injure any female, more especially one in her situation,
she being pregnant. The Emperor was greatly pleased
with Orianda, and immediately determined to purchase, the
estate from Count Kisseloff, and build a palace there. Before
coming to Aloupka he vinttd the vineyards at Martvan, and
the Princess Galitzin at Uusghor, distributing liberally to the
poor in his way.
4" Count Weronzow, General Diebitch, Sir James Wylie, and
myself, with one or two others, had the honour of dining with
the Experor on this occasion, the last he was destined to enjoy.
The Emperor addressed himself chiefly to Count Wororizow,
who was seated next to his Majesty, and the greater part of the
conversation was carried on in French and English. Again
his Majesty recurred to the beauties of Orianda, and thanked
the Count fur the acquisition he had that day made for him.

present time,
THE GAME LAWS IN WILTS —lt is a remarkable
nor has there been one of this descrip-
3finNoent for six weeks past, although
fifancetdthiant
etliitehreerisonfott,haet the present
in
this
Coonuentiyndfiovriduoafflecnocne:
preserves and coursing grounds as
lire in the kingdom, and although
taigoani nos
ft
offendersthe garn e -
il
na game-laws,
0,
d
weekly in about twenty places
tmhuechco,upnrotybabalbyo,ussni:,ssionwiy,sithsieij
ilbe:edor weather Mince our last
the farmers to cut a large
twhietrheinartehepceottuynty.
aeatively little has yet bi en housed.
bdraet'aeld' iltohef
oit).:ill‘lvv>ilihileelaratati,ohnbi eu
th accsollnvae
A few more fine days will remove all apprehensions of scarcity,
although the yield is not so abundant as at one time antici-
pated, nor will the conditim of the grain be first-rate,—Kent
Ilsrakl.

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 13, 1845."

'3`24Bl'l>l