with jewels, from the Metropolitan who held it, and with his own
hands placed it on his head. This he did to intimate that from no
earthly power, clerical or lay, did he receive his sovereignty. The
Empress then advanced, and kneeling before him, he touched her forehead
with the crown, and then replaced it on his own head. The
Empress-mother, who was the first to advance to congratulate her son,
burst into tears, it is said, while her children, forgetful of all rules
of etiquette, clung affectionately round him. The whole congregation
wept, overcome at the sight.

"That same night all Moscow was illuminated, and a truly fairy-like
spectacle it was. Every tower, minaret, cupola, dome, the front of its
vast palace, and all the walls of the Kremlin were a blaze of light; so
was the vast square with the arches which temporarily surround it, and
the superb opera-house at one end, all the palaces of the great people,
and the public buildings. You remember our description of the Cathedral
of Saint Basil, with its wondrous towers and domes, and its various
ins-and-outs? Every part of that bizarre building was clearly traced
with bright lamps, and the effect was curiously beautiful. We walked
about, and gazed and gazed with wonder and delight, till our eyes were
so dazzled that we could scarcely see our way home.

"After this there were grand galas at the opera, and balls at the
palace, and one at the English Ambassador's, where McAllister, Lord
Stafford's piper, figured as a very important personage. The people
also had their feast, the preparations for which we had seen; but they
rushed up to the tables, and made away with the food, either down their
throats or into their pockets, before the arrival of the Emperor and the
greater part of the intended spectators. They, however, behaved much
better at a ball which the Emperor gave them at the palace in the
Kremlin. Dance they could not, but the mujicks and their wives and
daughters walked about the vast halls, admiring the wonders they beheld,
and eating and drinking as much of the delicate viands prepared for them
as they could procure.

"Last night there was a grand display of fireworks, but somehow or other
they did not go off at the right time and place; however, I daresay that
the crowd were equally astonished and delighted as if each squib and
cracker had played its part properly. One thing I must say for the
Russians, that they are a very orderly, well-behav