lossal
stature which has distinguished so many of the Romanofs, he is well
built, holds himself erect, and shows a quiet dignity in his movements;
while his face, which resembles that of his cousin, the Prince of Wales,
wears a kindly, sympathetic expression. The Empress looks even more than
usually beautiful, in a low dress cut in the ancient fashion, her thick
brown hair, dressed most simply without jewellery or other ornaments,
falling in two long ringlets over her white shoulders. For the moment,
her attire is much simpler than that of the Empress Dowager, who wears
a diamond crown and a great mantle of gold brocade, lined and edged
with ermine, the long train displaying in bright-coloured embroidery the
heraldic double-headed eagle of the Imperial arms.

Each of these august personages sits on a throne of curious workmanship,
consecrated by ancient historic associations. That of the Emperor, the
gift of the Shah of Persia to Ivan the Terrible, and commonly called the
Throne of Tsar Michael, the founder of the Romanof dynasty, is covered
with gold plaques, and studded with hundreds of big, roughly cut
precious stones, mostly rubies, emeralds, and turquoises. Of still older
date is the throne of the young Empress, for it was given by Pope Paul
II. to Tsar Ivan III., grandfather of the Terrible, on the occasion of
his marriage with a niece of the last Byzantine Emperor. More recent
but not less curious is that of the Empress Dowager. It is the throne of
Tsar Alexis, the father of Peter the Great, covered with countless and
priceless diamonds, rubies, and pearls, and surmounted by an Imperial
eagle of solid gold, together with golden statuettes of St. Peter and
St. Nicholas, the miracle-worker. Over each throne is a canopy of purple
velvet fringed with gold, out of which rise stately plumes representing
the national colours.

Their Majesties have come hither, in accordance with time-honoured
custom, to be crowned in this old Cathedral of the Assumption, the
central point of the Kremlin, within a stone-throw of the Cathedral of
the Archangel Michael, in which lie the remains of the old Grand Dukes
and Tsars of Muscovy. Already the Emperor has read aloud, in a clear,
unfaltering voice, from a richly bound parchment folio, held by the
Metropolitan of St. Petersburg, the Orthodox creed; and his Eminence,
after invoking on his Majesty the blessing of the Holy Spirit, has
performed the mystic rite of placing his hands in th