Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-10-12
RUSSIA'S FIRST ALEXEI
HE WAS BORN TO PETER I IN
1890.
Time Has Not Taken the Edge Off the
Horror of the Story of
His Death.
From the Pail Mall Gazette.

From the Pail Mall Gazette.
The czarowitch that now is is to per-
petuate the name of Alexei. He is thus to
perpetuate the name of the first heir to the
throne ever born. till now. to a Romanof
who filed it. The first Alexei, so called
after his grandfather, the second car of
the Romanoffs, born to Peter 1 in
1890 His mother was the mild and melan-
choly Eudoxia.
The great Peter was not much given to
domesticity, and he was less so than usual
just then He was intent upon acquiring
the art of shipbuilding; he was driving the
piles on which to build his Petersburg; he
was intoxicating the advantages of shaved
faces, and powdered wigs. and European
i,abliment upon his little fathers"
through the rough-and-ready medium OF
the headsman. HIS son apd heir was left
very much with his mother, and she was
left very much alones She could hardly be
expected to take a favorable view OF inno-
vatOns.
Wanted to Stay at Home.
One of the first things the new regime
entailed upon her was rigorous seclusion In
the convent at Souzdal. Her son, who, for
a time. shared this seclusion. naturally
learned to take, her, view, of things. He
was lad of weak physique and strong
pigheadedness-" ct -tetu.c When his
strenuous sire discovered "a use for nm.
and he did not like the use to when IL was
proposed he should be- put, he proved re
calcitrant. The car was for having MS
son serve-''le faire servir." he was always
putting it, in his new; tangled french Inc
boy was to go to the wars mere was
war with Sweden going to happen, Just
anropos The czarowitch did not see. IL.
IF. he pointed out, people stayed peaceaDly
at home. there would be no wars; and, TOT
his part he was for staying at nome. aoo
the trouble began.
tho car eyinced a certain amount OF pa
tience second refusal to serve must
have tried that patience hlgh' pu', III Nlie
result, the youthful Alexei-he was elghleen
ar nineteen then-was sent to Dresden 10
sae what civilization might do Tor MN. Oiie
of the results was his marriage win ,le
princess Charlotte of Wolfenputtel' at TOT
gau, in III. ;,oss o,;,,as
t,-o' different accounts of this union. NOW,
II is love and all love, between the happy
pair: now, she is dying or ms prulanty'
The mother of the future Peter IL IS usual
iv. understood to have been the victim OF
cnnnubiality though, the other hand'
there is a story of her escape, and or re-
turn to her own country, ana OF I'M
wears existence there in undisturped Seclu-
sion But between father and son the oiu
ontaponism continued and things came 10
a crisis. The heir apparent had the after
native plainly put before MN; ne NUS
either serve or renounce his blrthrlght anu
enter a monastery. He chose the nohas-
terry. But it was by no means his IDEA 10
go there He had, among some other
friends who shared his opinions, an lnu-
mate Kikine. Kikne was at Vienna from
Vienna he wrote that the emperor was
quite prepared to welcome the czarowftch
to his CAPITAL, to afford him an asylum,
and to provide him with an income. The
writer was merely inditing fairy tale, one
may suppose, but 1t was good enough LOT
his correspondent. who, presently, burst IN
upon the company at Schonbrunn, expa-
tiated upon his wrongs, implored the pro
lection of his majesty, and concluded by
asking for a glass of beer
Captured at Naples.
The situation was naturally an awkward
one. The emperor so far complied with
the fugitive's appeal for protection as to
have him put away in safe place while he
communicated with his good brother OF
Russia. Possibly. as consequence OF
these communications, he decided to speed
his parting guest in the direction of Naples,
and at Naples it was that the fugitive was
got hold Of The capture was erected
mainly by the influence of lady named
Euphrosyne, who had shared the caro-
wttchs affections at home. and who now
became the companion of his hegira. The
male agents Employed were Tolstoi and
Rumfantzoff. 1t wasH not a very difficult
matter to deliver the son into the hands OF
the father. There was to be no further
question of serving. The heir apparent was
to live his own life on landed property of
his own. Euphrosyfe was to share his
felicity. On the last day bf January. 171S,
the car was advised that that which was
required was done. A week later Alexei had
been arraigned before aqsynod of judges
and. in the Cathedral of the Assumption at
Moscow. had made fhrmaF remuneration of
the crown. He was beside himself with
terror-and this was only the beginning.
He gave the names of tsas many of his
friends as he could TecolEect. and he saw
them, one by one, put to the question. and
decapitated 1T was a leisurely conducted
proceeding; 1t lasted until about the middle
of June. Then his own turn came. OF
what happened to him there is more than
one version. Did hev"fall. into kind of
apoplexy' on hearing his sentence, and SO
save the executoner trouble? Who was
the executioner? Did the czar himself
knout his son to DEATH or did a court sur
geon open the patients veins at GATHERINGS
order! was he put TO the torture on the
l4th, l9th, and 24th of June, before he died
on the 2sth? Who knows?
So he died. anyhow, that, even yet, time
has not taken the edge off the horror of
the story.