h capital, the tri-color also
decks the walls of Peter and Paul in the fortifications of St.
Petersburg,--toys in "that mad game the world so loves to play," but,
alas! what do they represent but condensed drops of blood?

Opposite the Arsenal stands the Senate House of Moscow, the High
Court of Appeals, built by Catherine II. The main hall is of great
capacity and magnificence; the whole building underwent complete
restoration in 1866. The summit of the Tower of Ivan the Great,
erected in 1600, affords a widespread view of the city in every
direction; and perhaps it may be said to be the best that can be
obtained. It is one of the most conspicuous structures in the
Kremlin, standing partially by itself, and is seen from a long
distance as one approaches by rail. The tower consists of five
stories, and is three hundred and twenty-five feet in height. The
basement and three stories above it are octagonal, the last
cylindrical, the whole embracing a wild confusion of design. Half-way
up is a gallery from whence the former sovereigns used to harangue
the people. The lower story is a chapel dedicated to Saint John,
while the other stories contain many bells, the heaviest of which, we
were told, weighed over sixty tons. In the upper portion there is a
chime of silver bells which daily ring forth the national anthem at
meridian. The racket and din produced when _all_ the bells in the
tower are rung together, as they are on Easter eve, must be
deafening.

The famous King of Bells of which we have all heard so much, and
which according to the records was tolled at the birth of Peter the
Great, stands near the foot of the Tower of Ivan. It is broken, but
weighs in its present condition nearly four hundred and fifty
thousand pounds. The piece broken from its side, which is seen close
at hand, weighs eleven tons. The height of the bell is twenty-one
feet. When it was cast in 1730, by order of the Empress Anne, the
gold, silver, and copper consumed in the operation weighed ninety-one
hundred and twenty tons, valued at the royal sum of half a million
dollars. History tells us that the casting took place with religious
ceremonies, and royal ladies vied with one another in throwing their
golden ornaments into the great caldron which supplied the molten
metal. Doubtless this very generosity of contribution only served to
impart brittleness to the bell. As to improving the purity of tone,
modern experience shows that foreign metals,