The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1899-08-14
CZAROWITZES.
Il MYSTERIOUS FATE Has DOGGED
THEIR FOOTSTEPS.
Throne Ia Russia Were Devised by IA
Maniac and They Change at the VIII
of the Monarch.

Maniac and They Change at the VIII
of the Monarch.
Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovitcl
. may be congratulated on the fact thai
; his brother, the Emperor. in the ukase
of July II proclaiming him heir to the
throne of Russia, has pontedly neglect
ed to invest him with the title of Czaro-
WITT. 1t is q title that to the students
of Muscovite history bears an ominous
sound, being associated in their minds
with every species of tragedy and I'M
happiness, Indeed, one would be al
most tempted to believe that the very
fact of prince being styled Czarowtz
is sufficient to mark him out as a vic
tim of Fate
Although the word Czarowitz means
''son of the Car" yet there have been
times when it has been borne by the
brother of the Gear, although the latter
has had several sons living at the time.
Like the dignity of the Prince Of Wales
in Great Britain, and that OF Prince or
Princess of the Asturlas In Spain, it is
conferred by the sovereign as an art of
royal or imperial favor instead of being
assumed as right of birth and inherl-
lance, and the Gar is at liberty if he
wishes to appoint some other prince of
his family rather than his eldest son as
Czaropitz if he sees fit Thus Emper-
or Paul, although he proclaimed his
eldest son Alexander heir to the throne
in 1911, conferred the title of Caro-
WITT upon his second son. Constantine,
in 1899, to reward his distinguished ser
vices in the italian campaign, and Con-
tantine continued to bear it not only
throughout the reign of his elder broth
err, Alexander but likewise during part
of the reign of his younger brother,
Nicholas, although the latter had no
fewer than three sons, the eldest of
them IA years old, at the time Of his
| (Constantine's) DEATH
NOT ALWAYS HEIR TO THE
CROWN.
The first occasion that mention of
Czarowitz Is made in the history of
Russia Is the tragic tale of Ivan ~ kill
| ing in fit of temporary passion his
favorte son, the one object that he low
ed in the world. and this Emperor, who
was SO justly surnamed 1.-THE Terrible"
is on record as having become well
nigh insane with grief and despair
when he realized that he had slain his
Czarowitz. Coming down to more ia
miliar days, we find Peter the Great adj
ministering poison to his son, the
Czarowitz Alexis nominally as punish
ment for treatson but in reality because
the Prince hated the western ways of
his father and openly proclaimed his
intention of abolishing as son as he
came to the throne all the Occidental
reforms introduced by the founder Of
modern Russia. There are few more
dramatic pages in Muscovite annals
than those describing the closing
scenes of this drama acted by the EN-
peror and his heir in the dungeons of
the Kremlin of Moscow, and in the pres
ence of the leading dignitaries of the
realm
From that time forth nothing more
was heard of CZarowitzes until near the
end of the last century when Catherine
III conferred the title upon her son Paul.
In the interval between his nomination
and the death of Peter the Great thu
throne was occupied by the Empress
Catherine |, Elizabeth and Catherine H.
who may be said to have owed their ele-
walton to might rather than to right
while Peter II reigned by virtue of the
first GATHERINGS testament, Ivan vi by
that of Anne, and Peter III by the
nomination of Empress Elizabeth. 1t is
almost impossible to describe the cruel
ties to which the C7azrowitz Paul was
subjected by his mother, Empress
Catherine, who hated him during the
latter part Of her reign with such a |
bitter hatred that his life was in con-
slant danger She repeatedly sought TO |
have sn tut out of the way, an left |
a will disinheriting him in favor of his
eldest son, Alexander, who was her fav
orite. This document, however was
burned Immediately after her death by
Count Kurakin a friend of Paul, and
the latter assembled the throne. There
is but little doubt that the cr1eltles
which he had been subjected to by his
mother had impaired his mind, and
that he was insane during portion of
his brief reign, which was brought to
close by his assination with the con-
nivance of the two eldest sons During
his lucid moments he, however, did two
very sensible things. He restored to
liberty the Polish patriot Kosciusko.
who thereupon came to this country and
spent number of years at West Point
on the Hudson, and he repealed the de-
cree of Peter the Great which made the
of the throne dependent up
on the will of the reigning sovereign,
and endowed Russia with the laws Of
succession that remain in force today.
Inasmuch as there Is no constitution in
Russia and the rulers of that country
are in every sense of the word auto
Gratis, both temporarily and ecclesasti-
cally, it is within the power of the
present Gear to modify at any moment,
and at his caprice, the laws of success
sion decreed by his ancestor. the mad
man Paul
Alexander became Emperor without
ever having been Czarowitz, that title,
as stated, having been conferred upon
his younger brother Constantine as a
reward for military services. Yet ON
The death of Alexander without male is
sue it was not Constantine that sue
,eeded to the throne, but his younger
brother, Nicholas I. 1t is said that
IzaroWitz Constantines renunciation
If his right to the succession to the
throne in favor of his younger brother
Nicholas was voluntary. But to this
lay the entire affair remains shrouded
n the densest mystery, no one save
possibly some of the members of the