Urbana union. [volume] (Urbana, Ohio) 1862-1872, 1870-05-11
A FOOLS WEDDING.

AT the beginning of the year l74O, the
Russian court was busy with the pre-
paratiOns for strange wedding which
the Empress Anna had taken q fancy tC
/ have celebrated purely for her OWL
/ amusement and that Of the courtiers.
! The bridegroom of this fantastic cere,
mOny was the court fool, Prince SOlOzyu
! a man of fiftys who was to he married tC
/ a woman in the service of the empress
A committee was appointed to make the
arrangements for the festivities, which
were to take pIace-in part at Ieast-in
a house which, together with its furni-
ture, was constructed entirely of ice from
the Neva, and was built or the bank of
the river near the imperial palace The
columns supporting the roof, the Win
dOwS, and the ornaments We're all of ice,
and were to be lighted on the wedding
night with party-cOlored lanterns.
It was arranged that the bridal pair,
at the head of a procession formed Of the
/ representatives of the various Northern
races, each in his peculiar costume, rid
/ ing on or drawn by horses, reindeers,
/ dogs, and even hogs and goats, should
| pass through the principal streets Of the
/ capital to the palace Ofthe imperial favor
/ ite, Biren, where the wedding feast was
] 10 DC S6EAGU III JEtSGIlCG OF IIle empress
and the whole court.
Then, at twilight, the procession was
! to form again, and turn toward the Neva.
! The bridal pair were to be led into their
chamber of ice, guards were to be sta
| toned before the doors to prevent their
! escaping before m OTning, and, for the
amusement Of the court and the people,
! the house and its surroundings were to
be lighted with innumerable Chinese
lanterns.
Among the principal members Of the
committee appointed to set these singu-
lar wedding festivities into scenes was
Count WOlinski, one Of the principal IA
VOPit6s of the empress. In the eigh-
teenth century the aid of the MUSES. was
called into requisitiOn on all festive Oc-
casiOns. WOlinski, therefore, a few
days before the time fixed for the we'd
ding, sent for the secretary of the Acade-
my. TrediakOwski, intending to COM
mission him with the writing of the
necessary poem for the approaching
celebration.
The officer who bore the message did
not eOndescend to tell the poor poet
what was wanted of him, but roughly
ordered him to follow I'm the name of the
formidable count, who was Justly dread
ed for his arrogance and cruelty. 1t was
not till they were well on their way that
he deigned to tell the terrified poet that
he was wanted at the ice house on the
Neva, and not at the palace of the min
lister. The secretary TeprOached the Of
ficer for having uselessly terrified him
the officer answered in an abusive tone,
and, when they arrived in the presence
of Wolinski, they were engaged in an
angry alteration.
TredjakOwski approached his excelIen-
cy with becoming respect, but lost no
time in complaining of the conduct Of
his messenger. without even listening
to the charge, WOlinSki dealt the secre-
taTy a couple if severe blows in the face,
and then told the officer to take venge-
ance on his unarmed accuser. The Of
ficer was not slow in obeying. Hundreds
of people witnessed this brutality, but
not ohe dared interpose. When this
barbarOus scene came to an end, Violin
ski informed the secretary that he was to
write and deliver poem on the occasion
of the coming wedding.
Tredjakowsli was then allowed to re-
turn home What followed we will re-
late in his own words, extracted from
the account of the affair which he pre-
sented to the Academy.
I6buEuGu uOAl6,'' ne SAYS, !Mr0lG /
the verses demanded, thought of the i'll !
treatment I had received, and deter |
mined to go on the following morning
to his grace the duke lBiren) and COM |
plain 0f his excellency (WoIinskf.) Ac- |
on the following day, drove
to the ducal palace in full dress, with |
hat and sword. I had hardly arrived |
when, to my COnstaTnatiOn, in came his |
He asked what brought me |
there, and, as ] was silent, he began To I
beat me, and, seiZing me by the throat,
he handed me over to the sergeant on
duty, commanding him to take me to
the headquarters of the wedding COM
mittee. was soon followed by his ex-
cellency, who took my hat and sword
from me, and commanded me to be whip
ped on the bare back. | received seven
ty blows. His eXcellency then renew
ed his oppoTbriOus epitets, and question
ed me again. l was too much exhaust
EN- and beWlldered to reply or even to
BY his excellency's cam
mand, was again thrown to the ground,
and again whipped. This time ! receiv-
ed thirty blows. / was now removed In
a state of insensibility to an adjoining
and guarded until the eve
ming of the following day.
On the morning Of the 9th Of Februa-
~, l740, the entire population of st. Pc
lersburg were on their feet to see the
procession that opened the festivities Of
.he "FOO's Marriage" as 1t marched
through the streets. AT the banquet, at
which the empress herself presided, the
Unfortunate poet appeared and read his