St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1883-03-23
The Coming Coronation of Al
eNander HI.
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN AN IN
CROWNED AND A CROWNED CAR.

An interesting article IN the New
York Tribune, on this important event,
written by "A Russian, gives the follow
ing information Alexander III. will
be crowned in Moscow on Sunday, the
9th of May next, and will thus become
10y right the ear of all the Russias.
The ear while uncrowned has very
little power as a monarch, being, so to
say. "A minor, holding the reins of state
by courtesy rather than by right. He
cannot proclaim war or conclude a
treaty of peace, nor can he enter the
imperial throne room, nor confer the
grand Gordon of any of the decorations.
All orders issued by him are null and
void unless they be cOuntersigned by
two of the ministers of state, the body
of which they form part acting in
every respect as regents of the emperor
during the cars political minority.
During this period he has no right to
the fifty-six titles belonging only to
crowned cars, but is addressed simply
as Alexander, son of Alexander, and, as
a matter of etiquette, ear of Russia.
Under these circumstances it is not
singular that the various cZars should
have always FASTENED their coronation
in Moscow as much as possible, being
naturally unwilling to Toe under tute-
lage which in the majority of cases is
obnoxious and hitherto successors to
the throne have, with very few eXcep-
tons, been crowned within two months
of the death of their predecessors. In
cases where there have been disputes
about the throne, or where revolutions
were threatened, or where the throne
has been usurped, a. it was by Cath
crime, the ceremony has taken place
with what may he called indecent
haste. History informs us that Cath
crime stole away while the body of
Peter was yet warm, travelled to Mos
COW as iast'as horses could carry her,
and on the very day of her arrival
there got crowned once crowned, she
knew that she was safe. The millions
OF Russian peasants cannot believe the
ear to he 'by the grace of God the
most powerful ear" unless he has been
anointcd at Moscow. Even in death
an uncrOwned ear does not receive the
honors due to his rank, the body OF
Peter III. being deposited in the com
mon churchyard of st. Athanasius, in
stead of being laid among the czars, in
the great mauSOleum of the church OF
st. Peter and st. Paul within the St
Peter Citadel; for although Peter was
emperor, he had not been anOinted and
crowned. The bodies of two other
uncrOwned cZars have received the
same uncercmOnious burial In Russia
children who have died without being
baptized do not receive Christian
burial, and To a great extent an I'M
crowned ear is in the same category.
ale Roy est mort rire Ie ROi.n is the
saying throughout the world but III
the present case it has not been so.
The reasons of the poStpOnement of
the ceremony are not understood by
strangers, who imagine il was due Ia
Nihilism. Alexander ILL.,, like all the
Romanotls, knows not what fear is
indeed, he would not be Romanoff il
he did. Had he been afraid of the
asSasSins he could easily have been
anoinGed and crowned secretly long
ago, instead of which he means that
the ceremony shall he public and on Il
magnificent scale. The reason for the
postponement i due to nothing more
nor less than the great respect the I'm
crowned ear has for his departed fa-
ther, to whom he was much attached,
and whose loss he, in common with
all Russians, still mourn.
1t has always been the rule to issue
the Imperial UkdSe respecting the cor
onatiOn several months in advance in
order To give guests who have to come
from great distance ample time The
minister of the household, by order of
the ear, sends invitations to all friend
~ courts, to presidents of republics.
and To foreign diplomats. Commands.
not invitations, are sent to the Imperi-
al family, the clergy, mobiles, officers.
projects, governors, judges, the chiefs
of towns and villages, etc. The great
ceremony has always been performed
IN the Church of the Holy Assumption,
within the walls of the krcmlin, mt the
ancient town of Moscow. An old law
orders that every building must re
cclve three coats of white paint for
the occasion, but the Muscovites do
not require to Ice forced by law, they
are proud to receive their ear. and for
weeks previous to the ceremony their
town j. in gay holiday attire. Invited
monarchs, princes and diplomats are
the guests of the palace. but Russian
mobiles arriving in Moscow go directly
to the mansions of other mobiles of the
same rank, whose guests they remain ::
while strangers go to the many hotels
and private dwellings which the mu-
uicipalty rents for the occasion, where
they stay at the expense and us the
guests of the city. Although some of
the emperors have wished the ceremo-
ny to he performed in st. Petersburgh.
the clergy have always maintained that
such a coronation would he illegal.
The kremlim is not one building, but
a city, and Il strong city too, in itself
II is an octagon plot of ground of many
acres on high elevation, surrounded
10y high walls and Qualifications. and
contains four crown palaces, three
cathedrals, the headquarters of the
Imperial guards, the governors resi-
dence, u university and number of
mona>terics and nunnerics. The APP
pearauce of the Kremlin is exceeding
~ striking, as the walls are white. the
Notifications emerald green, the en-
frances rose-tinted and the roofs of the
cathcdIals gilded, the whole forming a
wonderful combination. The corona
tion procession begins to form at the
cavalry barracks, four miles distant
from the kremlin, and the proceedings
form without exception the grandest.
most solemn and brilliant ceremony in
the world.
Law-Making.
Close observers have not failed to
notice the decay of confidence in legis-
lnliVp wisdom True tbera nay.r ,,-as