MYSTERY OF A TSAR.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18567, 27 November 1923, Page 5

MYSTERY OF A TSAR.

"TOME" OF ALEXANDER !.

REMAINS NOT ' INTERRED.

LEAD-WEIGHTED COFFIN.

The Tsar Alexander I. digd, according to the records, on November 19, 1825, at Taganrog, a small town : in the south of Russia, and was afterwards buried in the Cathedral.of Saints P'ter and Paul in St. Petersburg (now Petrograd). It has been discovered that the coffin bearing his name is empty. The strange story, with some of its implications, is told by Princess E. M. Almedingen. It was rumoured, sie writes, that the Tsar had died from tome infectious disease, and. in consequence of this, the coffin, said to contain his body, was sealed „ up immediately. Very few of the courtiers were enabled to see the corpse, which was soon, afterwards transported to St. Petersburg, and there laid to rest in tie usual burial-ground of the Sovereigns of All the Russias— magnificent Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul, erected by Peter the Great within the precincts of the famous fortress bearing the same name. However, soon after the Emperor's burial, strange things began to be whispered with regard to the fate of the much-beloved Tsar.

People said that he had not died at all, but had just disappeared in order to consecrate the rest of his days to God's service and work and prayer. These rapidly spread rumours, together with the slender evidence which existed even then concerning the authenticity of the body placed in the coiiin, gave birth to a series of legends based upon a firm popular belief that the Emperor was still alive and "would come back to rule his people once again.

Mysterious Siberian Hermit. But all these rumours and easily woven legends had hardly any basis to stand on until they became centred round one mysterious person, living buried in the deep and silent Siberian foreststhe famous hermit, " Fedor Kusmitch." Historically speaking, this hermit's real identity was never proved, and there is now hardly a chance that anything further will come to light with regard to him. The life he led in Siberia was that' of a hermit, or, rather, of a recluse. No one knew how he had come there or what he had done in earlier years. That he was a person of- importance is sufficiently proved by the fact that the Emperor Nicholas I. would often come to him., seeking his advice on many a difficult matter concerning the government of Russia. Many witnesses have stated that th« Emperor's attitude to the hermit, as shown on these occasions, was one of profound respect, not to say reverence. The occasional visits of Nicholas I. to the strange hermit's cell only served to d«epen the mystery. ~■' • ', >

Discovery of the Empty Grave. , In the summer, of 1922, during "'. the period of the sequestration of Church plate, a decree wrs issued by the Petro- ■ grad Soviet appointing a committee of experts for the inspection of all : Imperial tombs. It was surmised by the authorities that the Sovereigns might be found buried with their regalia and other gems of great value. This decree was duly executed, , and every Imperial tomb was opened and the contents of every coffin duly searched. , As could well be expected, this gruesome; search led to .very few, if any, practical results, but it made public the not unim- , portant fact of an Imperial geave being found empty, namely, that of Alexander

The coffin was certainly there, just as it was brought in some time in December, 1825, carefully sealed up. But when the seals were broken, it was discovered that no body had ever lain there, while the heavy weight of the coffin was explained by a few lumps of lead found in it. The magnificent white marble sarcophagus, : so snlendid in its simple severity, with a single letter " A," in gold letters on the top and a small ;i elaborately ;| carved imperial crown/covered the space of 6ft. and disclosed nothing but an empty coffin with the original Taganrog seals.' : :> - . This discovery, naturally, can in no way prove the identity of \ the person of Alex-'■■ ander I. with the strange hermit " Fedor Kusmitch." Yet it does away with the / supposition that Alexander's death really ,j took place on that y foggy day in November, 1825, at Taganrog. =.- ;:, . '.a""'*..■;-; ;