The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-06-16

| fallen I know of no more tranquil, se-
 rene spot than the Island of Iona. or
 IcomlSll, as the Sco<ch call it. It was the 1 home of tho Runic crosses. of which St. Martins and Maeleans are most interest | ing examples. It was also the ancient
 seat of the Druids and monasteries flouU
 ished there in the sixth century. Finally l 1t became a vast royal graveyard for the Scottish kings and it is now the realm of eternal slumber. Its popularity as a place of sepulture was owing to an
 ancient legend that at the end of time
 all the world but Iona would be de-
 stroyed This island would float upon
 the water unharmed and hence those who desired perpetual rest for their bones se- lected that spot as the place of their in- terment. Here every zephyr that comes
 waited from the sea is a sigh of rest and every leaf breathes an audible prison
 over the grassy pillows of the heads that once wore a crown or coronet.
 One of the most interesting memorials
 of Moscow is the Red Stair Case of Rus
 sia It leads from the Church of the. As- sumption, where all the Czars are
 crowned, to the Krenin and Is associ-
 ated with many dramatic events. It was
 here that Ivan the Terrible stood when | he received the celebrated letter from Kurbski, his traitor general, who from
 a safe place of refuge, sent a message
 of defiance by his servant. The naughty
 Czar is said to have nailed the foot of the
 messenger to the red staircase with his ! famous iron staff while the letter was
 being read 10 him. This same iron staff l in the hands of the angry Czar afterward
 killed his son and heir.
 | Another historic scene on the red stair
 case began with the ringing of the 400
 bells of Moscow. Regiments of soldiers. numbering thousands. followed by a
 great crowd of people dragging cannon. were marched to the Kremiln., They had
 been reused into fury by a false report | that brother of Nataiia, widow of the l Czar Alexis. had seized the crown and l that Ivan. the heir of the Russian throne, had been murdered. 1 Reaching the palace. they clamored for vengeance. Suddenly the tumult was uuelled as Nataia appeared on the plat l form of the red staircase with her two | children beside her-Ivan, her feeble. inn
 beetle stepson, and Peter, her own bright,
 handsome boy
 1 Natalia trembed as she faced the angry | crowd which had placed ladders against | the rails and climbed up to the platform. l but the young prince Peter. afterward Peter the Great. stood and looked at them without showing a sign of fear
 Further disturbance might have been | avoided if Mlkhall Doigorouki, cnief or | the army. had been sufficietly wise to let | well enough alone. But his temper got
 the better of his prudence, and he be- gan to rail at the rioters. ordering them
 to go home. His words rritated the mob. | who, angry at being deceived, were east ing about for some one upon whom to vent their spite.
 | Some of them rushing forward seized
 Dolgorouk by his long gown and threw l him down the red staircase. There soi-
 diers caught him on their spears and | killed him.
 1 Maddene1 by the sight the mob sacked
 the palace and satisfied their desire for
 revenge by crimes too terrible to describe.
 Later Ivan and Peter were crowned Czars by the patriarch and on their way l to the Church of the Assumption they