Washington sentinel., 1855-03-18
Biographical Notice OF the Late Emperor
Nicholas.

| Biographical Notice OF the Late Emperor
Nicholas.
Nicholas Paulovitch, the son Of Paul the
| First and Maria Fevdorowna, was the fifteenth
| sovereign of the Romanoff dinasty, if the impe-
| rial historians. are to be believed. In reality
he was the eighth sovereign of the Holstein-
Gotorp dynasty, the Romanoff race having be-
come extinct with Peter Ill. The Holsteins
are of German descent; their name is even
| difficult of pronunciation to Russian lips.
Nicholas, aware that the Muscovite pride would
feel but little hattered to owe the sacred person
of their sovereign to thedetested race of Nemetz,
| (Germans,) always carefully suppressed his real
family name. The courtiers maintained in
| spite of all proof to the contrary, that the
blood flowing in the veins of the Gear was
Russian to the last drop. Golovine, however,
informs us that the poet Pouchkin was of a
contrary opinion. "He had" says Golovine,
"a habit of illustrating the nationality Of the
reigning family in a whimsical manner. He
would pour into vase a glass of pure red
wine in honor Of Peter l., whose Russian ori.
gin could not be disputed. He should, justly
| speaking, have stopped there, and turned the
| glass upside down; but, faithful to the princi-
| pie of the Russian Government, which makes
the Gotorps pass for the Romanoffs, he would
pour in another glass-of water-in honor Of
Catharine H., Princess Of Anhalt. This time
he should, perhaps, have poured glass Of
wine, but, fearing to compromise himself, would
| pass on and pour another glass of water for
| Maria Fevdorowna, the mother of Nicholas l.;
then fourth, for the reigning Empress and
he obtained at last a liquor so slightly tinged
with red that he would excite general laugh,
when be called upon his audience to decide as
to whether it was wine or water he was show
ing them, and whether, by comparison, the
reigning Cars were really Russians or Ger
mans" This Muscovite pleasantly had the
merit of expressing the exact truth with re-
ference to the ultra. national pretensions of the
Emperor Nicholas
1t is, however, curious to remark, by the way,
that in spite of the strong desire Of the sons OF
the Gotorp race to pass for Romanoffs, they do
not carry it so far as to abandon the titles that
belong to them as representatives of the elder
branch of Hostein; thus Nicholas invariably
added to the qualifications attached to the
Czarate those Of Heir of Norway, Duke OF
Schleswig, of Stormar, Of Ditmorsen, and
| Oldenburg.
Nicholas was twenty nine years of age when
| he came to the throne. Born the year Of
Catharine's death, (l796,) he had been educated
under the eve Of his excellent mother, the En-.
press Marie, from whom be had derived sound
| religious instruction and high moral principle.
| Childhood had yelled from him the awful TRACE
dy which closed his fathers life, and the great
wars which terminated with the burning Of the
| Kremlin. Warned by the example Of bis
| brothers, bis marriage had been delayed till be
attained his majority, when be was united to
Louise Charlotte, daughter OF Frederic William
| III, of Prussia, lady whose amiable charac
4 - L. l.
toned. From the period of his marriage til
his accession he had, like all members Of the
royal family, devoted himselfto military studies
He lived retired, and spent most Of his time in
the barracks. Ii does not appear that he de-
rived much fruit from his perseverance. He
never was good general, and frequently dis
played such want Of skill as to expose him Il
the ridicule Of his officers. If we are to believe
the works Of some Of his countrymen, he nearly
contriyed to Illustrate the success of his own
army in 1923, by bis illjudged interference
and inju3icious man9uyres.
The very day Of his accession, the most for
midable revolt that Russia had known since
the days Of Michale RomanoH broke ont AT the
capital. Ii was not formidable by its strength
or the skill by which il was marked: couple
Of thousand officers and men Of intellect com
posed its entire force, and their plans were wo
fully defective. But it differed from all forme,
Instructions in its principle. They had beer
family quarrels for power, court intripues, out
bursts Of insubordnation among the soldiery-
this was the first direct blow struck for popu
lar rights. The aim Of Ryleief in the north
and Pestel in the south, was to supersede the
autocrscy OF the Cars by constitutional mon
srchy. They wanted freedom for themselves
and their fellow-countrymen; and though they
foresaw that the struggle might involve the
death OF the Gar, this they regarded as a mere
incidental consequence, and not the mair
object Of their movement They would have
accepted even Constantine, had he offered them
constitutional guarantees for their natural
rights. An insurection on this ground was Q
new and startling event for Russia.
On the 25th Of December the oath was TO be
administered to the regiments. Instead oi
swearing, several abandoned their barracks
and marched 70 the great square in ST. Peters
burg on which the statue Of Peter the Great
rests, shouting, Hurrah for Constantine They
might as well have shouted Hurrah for the
Popel so far as their purpose went-but all
insurgents must have a rallying CRY. Conid.
ing his son to sloyal Finnish regiment, Nicho-
las took the command Of few trusty battalions,
and advanced against the rebels. He tried
again and again TO divert them from their pur.
pose: but failing, resorted at last, at nghtfall,
to the final expedent Of the grape. They we're
incapable Of resisting, and in an hour after the
FIRST cannon shot the streets we're cleared, and
the rebellion was quelled. Ryleief and several
other leaders we're taken, together with Pestel
whose movements in the south we're anticipated.
These two eminent men-the one a stern re-
publican Of the old Roman school, whose soul
knew no swerving from the direct line of prin-
ciple, and who thought Of nothing but freeing
his country; the other chivalrous young Of.
Gcer, full Of nobility, eloquence and 6re-were
hanged, with three others, on the borders Of
the Neva. After the drop had fallen three Of
the ropes broke, and the bodies Of the con.
demned fell heavily into the grave already dug
at their feet. "Cursed country" exclaimed
Ryleief, where people can neither conspire,
nor judge, nor hangr' Disabled by their fall.
they we're carried once more 10 the scaffold
and the gray dawn saw their bodies stiffened
in death. Several other conspira,ors we're sent
to Siberia.
/ An ominous hepinninr for a ra;on 7, La