Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1872-07-11
couRr roofs.

: 0as cf The ucss Moody rsicas IN il,
I 1his,osy Of Russia vas that sf The Mild s.,
good-ustused. yet weak and vicked En-
prsas Anna. daughter Of Jeha o.. Jerome
half f-brother Of Peter l., Who divided
paft Of his reign with him. II ra he
/ weakness Of eharsetsr that induced her /.
Eiss her scvernmept ever inso the hsnd,
s. hsrs sfavoriss. the former stable DO,
buhten, Who afterwards took the mama o
Bron, 70 order 70 give himself the. air d
descending freu the old French sristocra,
FFey. The Empress suhssquen,ly mad,
him the Deks Of Kurland.
/ This fellow. feeling tha. tie Russian
people hated him, determined 70. maxi
them fear him st the came time and a. II
ssoise Of Auna'r sriginslly. raiia ns.nre ID.
ts.'tu.ed . copy Of the reigns Of Tiberiss.
Nero and other tyran;s. Whsa the com.
plants Of oppression reached Anus's ears.
she would endesvor TO repair the injuries,
but yet did no. dare to punish her para.
pIcur. II her later wears she was fear.
fully troubled by the spentrcs tha. hauat-
ed her suG the evils whioh she hall .tolsrs
sted in her time. In order 10 furnish h.s
with distraction firm these barrsssins
thoughts, all sorts Of amusemer,s were IN.
vented for her benefit. Favori.s amoas 2
these we're tue court lss.srs. Peter l. aad
Kept twelve of them, and every nobleuan
aud citizen Of wealth had one or more
sbolt him. They were the fashion Of the
day. The cour; testers OF Annas rcign
numbered six. three Of whom were Of dis.
tinscished family, degraded to the station
Of court testers as a punishment. II is
no. dificu'. 10 imagine how bitter this
pu.ishment WAS
Among these cour. testers was one Of
prlncely family, 70 whom the care Of the
royal hounds was committed These
roor "foo's" the prince included, had a
wretchel existence. for ,hsv were a.wavs
bard worked, and sometimes verv Severe
~ whipped. especially when the empress
was IN bad humor or when her testers
failed TO amusa her.
1t was a custom thus to dccrsde men Of
rank, when they were guilty Of conduct
sdjudged to he worthy Of punishment !;
and their lot wss the harder IN that the
very people who coald bow to them low
enough before were the ones 70 heap dis
grace and ridicule upon the unfortunates
in their new condition. Such wss the
condition of a Prince Of the house OF Ga
litzen, whose numerous family under An
hes reign had to endure uuto'd perS"cn-
tions because Blhren hated them for be-
ing Of good Russisn blood. AMI having \
Russian name Of distinction. From this
1t can br iris sci what sal and so.ry fci-
lows these ;.e.ors warc
This Prince Gali,zen bad. during his
travels, gone over 20 Zee Chhu'is religion,
which was strictly forbidden b. the kus-
sian laws. A:ter his return home, lie vas
shorn OF his wealth. rank and order. aud
degraded to the position Of page and court
Jester. About this time. too, his wife
died-it is said from shame and grief
and Buhren took advantage Of .his to graf
ify his hate and desire for revenge by
forcing Galitzen. who was then already
forty years of age. to marry . common
peasant girl. the expenses of the wedding
to be betrayed by the Eupress.
II was during the Winter Of 1740, the
severest that Russia had had in century,
and it was ordered that a palace of ice
should be erected on the News. directly
opposite to where the present royal palace
stands. The palace of ice was built in
one Of its rooms bridal bed, also of ice.
was furnished; all the furniture was Of
the same material. including some cannon.
which was placed before tho ice-palace.
and out Of which they were able 10 shoe:
BY means Of lining them with iron.
I, is also related, bu, tbs is happily no.
confirmed. that Bchren selected number
of men who had equally mer;ed his wrath
by belong eing TO good Russian blood. a,
the head Of wh!ch stood Molinski. the FL
nance Minister, and placed them outside
the palace as ssntineis; that he then
caused water 10 be thrown upon them with
hnse until they became statures os ice.
aud thus kept them in their places. This.
however, is almost too horrible TO cred
it.
The governors Of al the provinces Of
the land. even the remotest. received in
structiUas to seul a humber of persons Of
both sexes to this wedding festival. They
were all clothed in new peasant dresses a,
the expense Of the Empress. This we'd
ding procession nnmbering sbou, 900 per-
song. para1ed through the streets Of the
capital and halted before the imperial pal
ace. Here the bridal pair were taken up.
plsced in kind Of barouche, and this wa
mounted on the back Of an elerhant -
Some of the guests were mounted on cam
els. the others riding deer. goats. oxen,
bioodhouris and even, hogs.
The wedding feas, was spread in Buh-
rcn's barn. and each nation was served
with the particular dishes of its uafionah-
ty. After The supper followed ball. in
which each co.pie appeared in the dance
peculiar to its province. Finally. the Iri-
dal couple were led into their palace OF
ice. a salute Of cannon hcnering their ar.
rival, and then laid upon their bridal b.i
of ice. which ws> furnished. however. With
quantity Of pilIoSs and covering -
Ns,ehmen were plsced at tie doors To-
prevent the neNly married couple from
banion,.g their cold quarters before the
break Of he next day. -
A boz rufs Iigtsei mitch into ne.-
l.