Beaufort Republican. [volume] (Beaufort, S.C.) 1871-1873, 1872-10-03

and features, and substituted him for the
prince on the night appointed for the lat
ier's assassination. Demetrius was with
drawn from observation, and the decep-
ton was not discovered. The boy sub.
stituted for him was murdered, in the be-
lief that he was the prince, and the ply
sician and Demetrius fed. The latter
was committed to the care of loyal gen.
tleman, who, for his greater security,
placed him in monastery.
Both the physician and the gentleman
to whose care Demetrius was alleged to
have been committed were now dead, and
the eonly corroborative evidence which the
young man could produce consisted of 8
seal bearing the name and arms of De-
metrus, and jeweled cross of gold, said
to have been baptismal gift of his god
father, Prince Ivan Matislauskl. The
production Of these articles satisfied
Wiszniowiecki that his servant was really
md truthfully the rightful Gar, and he
at once lodged him in the best apartments
of his castle, and provided Kim with
clothing, carriages, horses, and retinue
of attendants suitable to his supposed
rank.
The pretensions of the young man were
Immediately made known to many of the
leading Polish nobility, who warmly sup
ported them. Confrmatory evidence on
his behalf was obtained from one Piet-
rovski, servant Of the Chancellor OF
Lithuania, who stated that he had former
ly been one of tue attendants of Demetrius
and described the marks by which the
prince, if really living, might be identified
Demetrius, he said, had one of his arms
shorter than the other, a wart on the
| forehead, and another under the right
eye. These sufficiently remarkable evil
dences of his identity the ex-servant OF
Prince Adam Wiszniowiechi was able to
show.
The apparent age Of the pretender to
the crown of Russia agreed with that
which Demetrius ould have attained had
he been still living. But, if there was
serf's son who so much resembled De-
metrius as to be mistaken for him, not
only by the attend ants about his person,
but even by his mother and his uncle,
the evidence of identity cannot be ad'
mitted to be of much value. According
to the pretender's story, this boy had
been murdered; but the story is strongly
suggestive of the hypothesis that 1t was
the prince who was murdered, as general
ly believed, and that it was the sert's son
who was afterward received as the De-
metrius who had been supposed to have
been murdered.
Against this supposition there was set
the fact that the pretender had evidently
received what was for the times, an edu'
cation befitting a prince. He spoke Po-
lish as well as Russian-rather better,
indeed; he knew little Latin, wrote
well, was conversant with Russian history
and politics, and with the genealogies of
the Russian nobility; and, which went as
far as ANYTHING else to satisfy the Polish
mobiles that he was the righttul Gar, he
rode and fenced as well as theRselves.
But if he was an impOster, as historians
have agreed to consider him, these qualiti-
cations would have been given him, as
matter of necessity, by the intriguers by
whom the fraud was cOncocted.
His story was not long in reaching the
ears of Boris, who at once committed the
objectionable folly OF endeavOring to buy
the pretender off, and thus strengthening
the conviction of the Poles that they had
the rightful Gar among them, and fur
nishing his enemies with formidable
weapon against himself. The pretender
strong in the support of the Poles, soon
became very troublesome; but, rs long as
Boris lived, all the efforts of his partisans
to place him on the throne was unavail-
ing.
On the death of Boris, tie pretended
Demetrius and his adherentS renewed
their efforts, and with so much success
that the reign of Theodore Borisovitch
was a short one. The pretepder entered
Russia once more at the head of force
which gained strength as it marched,
overcame all opposition, and entering
Moscow. deposed Theodore and assumed
the government The mother Of Demet-
rius, who had, till then been prevented
from seeing him, now declared her con-
viction that he was her SOD, and his claim
was generally acknow lodged.
He married Polish princess; but,
though his position seemed secure, his
tenure of the Empire proved to be pre-.
carious. Aspowerful noble named Zuski
denounced him as an imposter, and raised
against him an insurrection which became
more formidable every day. Attacked in
his palace by tie insurgents, he defended
it with great intrepidity, until, Overpow
cred BY numbers, he was killed fighting,
and died with his sword in his hand.
The Czarina WAS sent prisoner to Jar
iSlay ana Zuski wss proclaimed Emper-
or, but deposed after brief reign, har
rassed by continual tumults and rebel.
lions