Bisbee daily review., 1908-06-06

Hermit.
rs Alexander l., is now proved to have
been the natural son of Paul l.
From such a source there now ap-
pears to be no reason TO doubt the
truth Of this strange story, and a
French Journal recently gave currency
to the following remarkable solution
Of the old mystery:
II must be recalled that the alleged
death of the Emperor Alexander l.
was at least mysterious. There was
current a story that he had been
dropped by the hand of an assassin.
II was said also the he had sue
cumbed to a bilious fever, called in
Russia the Crimea fever Whichever
way His death is viewed, it was mys
FERROUS. Alexander as ruler of Rus,
STA never was happy man. He came
10 a throne which had been stained
by the blood of his father, Paul l.,
and the murder of his parent made a
deep impression upon him. At night
while Paul was asleep in the Michael
on palace, bold assassins, after killing
the sentry at the door, rushed upon
the sleeping car, and, calling upon
him to abdicate, strangled him bru
tally when he refused.
The murder of his father occurred
In 1901 and Alexander sat on the
throne until, in 1926, when his death
was officially announced, and what
was supposed to be his body was
borne on a bier to the tomb.
According to the legend, Alexander
slipped away and caused to be pub
lished the proclamation of his death.
He went to Siberia. according to the
story, which appeared to be impreg-
nable with the evidence of two ser
wants at the court, a letter written
by Alexander and by the remarkable
likeness existing between the suppos-
eddy dead monarch and hermit
named Feodor Kozomitch, who for
many years was an exile in Siberia.
Nothing in fiction is more strange
than the tale Of the effacement of
Alexander l., and Tolstoy has given
the popular version of II in one of his
stories, for the legend is common
enough in Russia, but ignored when
not contradicted in official histories.
Among the documents which have
lain unknown in the personal archives
of the present car are the journal
of the Empress Elizabeth, widow Of
Alexander, who was with the emperor
tn hfa Last ond he In4X
of the emperor's familiars, who at
tended him in his last hours; the
death mask Of the emperor, the GER
tificate of the nine doctors describ-
ing the nature of his disease and the
result Of the autopsy. 1t is also
maintained that, under the circum-
stances, it would have been impossible
for a body to have been substituted
for that of the emperor
The solution of the mystery, then,
had to be looked for in another d.
rection. This now has been accom-
plished, and it is asserted that the
circumstances surrounding the death
Of the natural son Of Paul l. were Pc
culiar. From midshipman he became
an officer in the British navy and is
said by one account to have died
while his vessel was in the Antilles
in 1894. Another account of his death
relates that he was drowned at Cron.
stadt, and still another version states
that he died in the Indies. The inves-
dgation has shown that, while appar,
emily drowned, the young man was
resuscitated and became the exile
The Grand Duke Nicholas, in max
ing his search, also found that the
names Feodor and Kouzma, or Koz-
ma, which are the same as Feodor
Kozmitch. occur with frequency in
the family OF Semen 'Velikli, under
which name the son Of Paul I. was
known. In discovering the identity
Of PauTs natural son with this per-
son, the grand duke believes he has
settled a vexed question and set at
rest for all time the curious legend.
AS the half brother Of the Emperor
Alexander, the hermit not IN
naturally resembled him sufi.
GENTLY for court retainers to
recognize him and to give the impress
sion that the car was not dead, but
living incognito as holy man in a.
IBERIA.
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