The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1855-12-29

is in the arnory of the kromin. The great
attraction Of the place to the Russians is the
| body Of the last DenctriuS, regarded as the
last offShoot of the old dynasty of Rurik.
This is the mummy of boy Of five or six
| years of age, for two centuries canoniZcd and
worshippcd as a saint. The firmly believed
story goes, that after vain search for the
body Of the stripping, i'll the place where he
was murdered by the usurper, it arose out Of
the earth, to crafty the longing of the people
On festival days and great occasions, this
relic of humanity, magniicen;ly clad. is OK
| poscl in an open coffin and infatuated
crowds struggle and jostlc to kiss the fore
head of the young st. Dcmetrius.
| From the last royal inteIment in the Arch
angels church at Moscow the line Of de-
ceased Cars is continued to the present per-
iod in the church of Peter and Paul at st.
Petersburg. The graceful and lofty spire Of
this edifice, rising to the total height of three
hundred and fifty feet, and so slender for the
last hundred and fifty feet, that it must be
climbed like pine-trce, is its only peculiar
external feature. Gilt with gold, and glitter
ing in the sun, it marks, to the distant obscr-
vor, nearly the centre of the capital, the To-
cality Of the fortress in which it is situated,
and the mausolcum of the sovcrcigns since
the assumption of the imperial dignity. The
fortress is on the opposite side CT the Neva to
| the Winter palace, almost in direct line ;
and The church occupies all open space in
the centre oft. Nothing can be more simple
| than the tombs, ranged on each side of the
alter. The collins are in the vaults, and over
them in the church are plain stone sarcopha-
ri. Each is covered with rcd velvet pail
on which the names of the deceased or merely
the initials arc embroidered in gold, with the
Russian arms, as ellis imperial majesty the
Emperor Alexander l." His imperial high
ness the grand duke Constantine" Military
ensigns, chiefly taken in the Persian and
| Turkish wars, are suspended as trophies
about the tombs, and in valions parts of the
building. They consist Of flags bearing the
Persian sun and the Turkish crescent-thc
brass or silver batons of commanders and
grand viziers-the triple hoIse-tails of pashas
the keys of fortrcSses-insignia of the de-
runct janizaries. Some of the flags have bull
lct-holcs; and on one, five bloody finger marks
may be seen, traces Of the hand Of the STAN
lard-bcarer, who defended it to the last. AS
in life, so III DEATH the Cars appear as men
of the sword surrounded with the symbols Of
military power, entombcd in the church of a
citadel. Granite walls, five regularly fortified
bastions, one hundred cannon and garrison
of five thousand soldiers defend their bones,
The bodies in the vaults are those of Peter
l., who founded the state as a European en-
pire, with a hatchet for his sceptfe. and got
rid of his only son by poison -Catharine l.,
his wife, who could neither read nor write
Peter H., a boy-Anne- Elizabeth Catharne
H., murdrrcss Ill, her husband and
yictim-Paul l., assasSinatcd, s,rang!cd by
his mobiles with his own scarf-AlcXandcr |.
and by this time, we may add, Nicholas,
with numerous princes and princesses of the
imperial family.
One member of the rayol line is wanting
the baby car Ivan W., who had twelve
months unconscious reign, under a regency.
On the 9th Of November, 1871 70. S. hard
snow laid upon the ground in the capital,
Slcdgcs were driving TO and fro, and rcgi-
mcnt of guards before the winter palace salu-
ted the emperor, who appeared in bis nurses
arms at one of the windows DR.. Cook a
Scotch medical practitioner was in the crowd
of spectators The next day, the streets were
deserted. A revolution had taken place. The
child and his parents, Anthony Uric, duke of
Brunswick Luncbmg. and Anne, ncice of Pc
ter l were prisoners of state; and Eliza beth
ascendcd the throne, for which she was in
lcbted to intrigucs Of Lestocq, a French bar
Der. After being cont.Hd in various places,
the dcposcd family separated. The parents
were sent to Cholanogory, on the northern
DIV ina. where they endured miserable exile
Ivan, now a boy eight years old, was immurrd
i'll easement of the fortress of SchluSselburg
On the Ladoga, the very loop hole of which
was Immediately bricked up. As no ray OF
heaven ever visited his eyes, a lamp was kept
constantly burning. He knew, therefore, no
difference between day and night; and as 10
clock was either seen or heard he could take
no note of time For a period his attendants
were forbidden to ask him question, or re.
turn an answer Subsequently his condition
was somewhat mitigatcd, but still severe
lie lived to the age Of twenty -four, but his
mind being a complete blank, more than half
idiotic. AT last, two of his guards dispatch
ed him, in consequence, as was alleged, of q
conspiracy in his favor in the garrison, hay
ing orders to do so, under the circumstances,
from Catharine IL. Many believed the con.
Spiracy to be sham, contrivcd on Purpose to
have the deed accomplished. The two assas-
sins retired into Denmark, where they were
taken under tie protection of the Russian
minister but both returned to be advanced
in the service of the state. Habitcd in the
garb of a sailor the body of the unfortunate
prince, once a car, was exposed for Some
days to public inspection, according to GUS
tom, in an old dccaycd and abandoned wood
en- church of the fortress. 1t was then wrap
ped in shecp-skin, and inferred without
ceremony. But numbers coming from the
capital, insisting upon still seeing the corpse,
and popular tumults being apprehendcd, 1t
was secretly conveyed by night to the mon
astcry of Tchsina, at a greater distance from
ST. Petersburg. Thus ended the tragedy of
Ivan VI, one of the saddcst and most fearful
on the page Of history. With him terlnina-
ted thclegilimatc line of the RonanofS, the
succeeding cars having German, not Musco-
, vite blood in their veins.
AS in the church of Michael the archangcl,
) so in that of Peter and Paul, the slayer and
, the slain, the second Catharine and the third
Peter, are side by side in the grave. This
was the arrangement of another party. The
empress, having dethroncd the emperor with
) in seven months of his accession, made sharp
work of it in the execution of her plans issll-
ing a manifesto seven days afterwards, in
which she informed her loving subjects of his
) death. 1t mentioned "a violent gripping collie, VI
as the cause Of the event. instead of dose OF
poisoned brandy, followed up by napkin
with a running knot round his neck, which
| n,la I,lJ g., l,.o