The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1914-08-30
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disaster Of 1s12. 1t is the gray stone gate
OF ST. Nicholas, where Poles and Tartars
and Muscovites have fought and bled
these hundreds Of years
Above the gate rises q bell tower. with
Its miraculous image or fkon OF St Mich
olas- This Ikon, a mosaic under q pro-
tecttng pane Of glass, is specially terrible
to liars, who cannot look upon II with
out having their perjuries overwhelm
them. and II Is powerfully helpful to all
honest litigants who come on their
knees to implore its aid In their lawsuits.
Although the French laid a mine under
the gate and blew its tower to frag-
ments, as a memorial tablet records, the
ikon "by the wonderful power OF Goo"
was unframed and even the pane Of
glass over II and the lantern and candle
fore. the tablet triumphantly inquiries.
who is greater than God, our God. the
marvellous God who doest miracles by his
Saints"
Another of the sixteen gates that pierce
the Kremlin wall is even more venerated
and with a still more miraculous kon,
which centuries ago COMPOUNDED and dis
persed the bssieging Tartars. Through
this gate the Cars all go to their coro-
nations No one, not even the most hur-
rying drosky driver. passes IN or out Of
II with covered head. And anybody in
the genuhecting throng that daily pours
through II could tell the stranger that
Napoleon paid dear for refusing to I'M
cover at that Gate OF the Redeemer.
The City Within n City.
Entering the gate the unwarned stran-
ger is startled by a mob of towers
and domes and a riot of color and ar
chItecture. Possibly he may be surprised
TO see before him not one great palace
or castle. but a city. Of palaces and gar
dens. OF churches, shrines. and converts,
of museums, courts, and barracks. Of
streets and open squares.
For the Kremlin really is a city In it.
self. II has no less than ten churches
and as many as three dozen big bells,
including the Napoleon bell, so called
because il was cast from metal dug out
Of the fire ruins. And the bells Of Rus
STA are the most musical in the world
For bell casting is both an art and rite
with the Russians, and bell ringing is
not mere rope pulling and careless jang-
ling. Indeed their bells are not swung
at all, but are played upon with clappers
as drum is beaten with its stick.
Each of the Kremlin churches has its
own bitter memory of the Napoleonic in
vasion, but the bitterest OF all turks in
the dusk Of the special church OF the
Cars. For on the very altar before
which the Romanofrs kneel to receive
the oil Of conservation. the alien soldiers
squatted and gambled with cards. while
they stabbed their horses in its nave and
chapels. even as they had desecrated the
great mosque Of FL AhZar at Cairo. But
the church has its triumph to Offset its
shame. for its present chandeliers were
cast from 800 pounds Of stolen silver that
the Cossacks recaptured from the re-
treating grand army
The most conspicuous OF the towers,
that of Ivan or John, recalls the day
when the Emperor stood before II per-
sonally experimenting the removal OF its
enormous cross. And for what purpose?
To sent II to Paris and place IL above
the dome of the Hotel des Invalides- But
the immense thing tumbled and crashed,
nearly killing its impious assailants.
Only by that lucky mischance was Ma
poleon spared the ignominy of finding
his grave beneath a stolen cross.
The palace OF Napoleon. or that part OF
II which he occupied, in the Kremlin, was
torn down long ago. In place OF II the
Cars have the most palatial of all the
palaces in Europe. With its great halls
Of glistening marble and cleaning gold,
hung in red and blue, with its noble
columns OF rarest stones and thousands
upon thousands Of electric lights glow
Ing in its chandeliers, Il is a palace Mt
for the princes and princesses OF fairy
tales. This huge, modern pile backs
upon a remnant Of the old palace Of Ma
poleon'E time. which. with its low ByIan-
tine arches and ceilings and decnrSnona