THE CZAR'S MARRIAGE.

New Zealand Times, Volume LVII, Issue 2413, 19 January 1895, Page 2 (Supplement)

THE CZAR'S MARRIAGE.

AN INTERESTING DESCRIPTION. From Our Own Correspondent, London, December 1. The solemn retrain of the requiem over the dead Czar had hardly died away ere the bells rang out a joyous peal for the wedding of his successor. The funeral baked meats almost served for the marriage feast. Kings do not marry like the common herd. They have to subordinate mere human sentiment to the exigencies of the state and great family interests. In this case the young Czar’s marriage was hastened at the dying request of his father, the match being after his own heart. To Great Britain, and indeed the Empire at large, the royal marriage possesses a peculiar significance, for it may and probably will exercise an important influence over the relations between the two nations whose outposts almost confront each other in the East, and who hold the peace of the world in their hands. But beyond this there are 1 questions of sentiment which will make the match popular even in the estimation of. Englishmen, who are not usually deeply Stirred by alliances founded upon family connection. Nicholas 11. is by blood the nephew of the Princess of Wales and first cousin of the Duke of York, to whom ho bears a remarkable resemblance. His father's sister is the wife of another British prince, the Duke of Coburg. The Czar’s young bride is the granddaughter of our own Gracious Sovereign, and the daughter of a princess who was deservedly popular in the country of her adoption. Both bride and bridegroom are therefore very closely related to the Royal Family of England, and to other royal houses in Europe which run through a perfectly bewildering genealogical complication. If these royal alliances within more or less near degrees of kinship are objectionable from the standpoint of the physiologist, they serve to strengthen and consolidate ■the power and influence of the reigning families and to provide a sort of mutual insurance against the growth of republicanism. It has been a favourite idea of a certain school of writers to picture the • Queen ns a mere state figurehead, or automatic registrar of the decisions of her responsible advisers. But those . who know what transpires behind the scenes present Her Majesty in a totally different light. They credit her with a minute 1 acquaintance with foreign courts, a wonderful grasp of past and contemporary history, an untiring watchfulness of family interests, and infinite tact and skill as a matchmaker whenever an opportunity presents itself of extending and consolidating the power and influence of the reigning dynasties with which she is connected by ties of blood or community of interests. Thus it is an open secret that for years past the Queen has carefully cultivated affectionate relations between our own Royal Family and the heir to the Imperial throne of all the Eusaias, and the marked attention paid by the new Czar to the Prince of Wales,

his uncle, is regarded as a happy augury of fu'.ure amity between the two nations. That the significance of the family con-

nection is fully appreciated by the other powers is proved by the tone of the French 1 and Gorman press, which already recog- • nises in this rapprochement between .England and Russia the signs of a re’■'adjustment of the Triple Alliance and the . formation of new international relations. The marriage between the young Czar ‘ and the. Princess Alix of Hesse was cele’hrated on Monday last with great pomp and ceremony. Compared to the Oriental gorgoousness of a Bussian pageant, the moat splendid Western display lacks life " and colour. From early dawn in St. . ' Petersburg hundreds of bells pealed forth in silver chimes, mingled with deeper tones from innumerable towers and ' steeples. From stately cathedrals and churches came sounds of music, solemn chants, and the hush of prayer. Lines of troops in brilliant uniforms guarded the , streets and about the Winter Palace, and the royal residence of the Grand Duke , ' Sergius were grouped life-guards, hussars ‘ ■■ and uhlans. The day was ushered in by a ; j ‘‘salute of twenty-one guns, and later in the v ' : ‘forenoon sounds of martial music en- , livened the whole city. There was a cold ■ wind and a leaden sky, but from an early hour traffic was suspended and the streets crowded with people. At the Winter Palace, princes, generals, officers and masters of ceremonies were busy with the . final ■ arrangements. Bod, bine, yellow • and white uniforms moved among silk and satin dresses, crimsoned mantles and ' bejewelled headgear. There were the

mayors, resplendent in their robes and gold chains, nobility, foreign representatives and the elite, conspicuous amongst the brilliant assemblage being Genghis Khan, the direct lineal descendant of the famous conqueror, General Tchernaieff, the hero of the Servian war, Jewish Babbis, and the Mohammedan head of the church. Most imposing of all were the cavalier guards of the Empress in snow white uniforms, silver helmets and high boots. As one of the Grand Dukes passed along attired in hussar uniform, every one of the hundred hussars in the Hall of Escutcheons drew his sabre from Us scabbard at the same instant, and shouted in voices of thunder, “We wish you health, your Imperial Highness." In the little church where the ceremony was to take place there wore assembled the venerable Metropolitan Archbishop of St. Petersburg and Ladoga, attended by the archbishops, bishops and members of the most Holy Synod, in gorgeous vestments of heavy gold brocade and bearing mitres, jewelled crosses and icons. In the spacious Nicholas Hull there was a crowd of hoary old generals, weather-beaten admirals, and in the Concert Hall were the grand mistress of the court, the ladies in waiting and maids of honour of the Empress, grand duchesses and foreign princesses, along with staid senators, secretaries of state and court dignitaries. Suddenly the guns of the fortress announced the arrival of the Czar, who was preceded by the masters of ceremonies, bearing massive gold ensigns of oflioo, jewelled eagles and crowns, followed by gentlemen in waiting, chamberlains and others, whoso glittering uniforms dazzled the eye. Then came the Empress widow, the King of Denmark, the Imperial brido, side by side with the Czar. Then a great shout wont up of “ Long live the Czar." The brido was attired in a robe of dazzling whiteness adorned with real orange blossoms from the Imperial hothouse at Moscow. The diamonds in her crown and peeping out from among her tresses seemed but sparkling dew drops just shod by the fragrant flowers. Her long white veil like fairy gossamer was thrown back, leaving uncovered a queenly face. With the Czar were the Prince and Princess of Wales, the Duke of Coburg, the Duchess of Edinburgh, the Duke of York, with a very large number of royal personages. The Prince of Wales wore the uniform of his Russian regiment of Kieff, and the Duke of York that of a captain of the British navy. At the entrance to the church the Czar was received by the Metropolitan Archbishop, who offered holy water, and he then led his blushing brido to the platform. Though the marriage ceremony was solemnly impressive, it need not be described in detail. It began with the formal betrothal, and the blessing of the rings to be worn by the bride and bridegroom. Then the choir having chanted the 127th Psalm, the priest put the following question to the Czar, “ Hast thou, Nicholas Aloxandroviteh, a good and unconstrained will and a firm intention to take unto thyself this woman, Alexandra Feodorovna, whom here thou seest before thee ?" The Czar responded :—“ I have, reverend father." The priest:—“Thou hast not vowed thyself to another bride ?" The Czar: —“I have not vowed myself, reverend father." The bride was interrogated in similar terms. After other ceremonies, the bride and bridegroom were conducted three times round the holy table. It was noticed that the bride shed tears during the greater part of the ceremony, and the Czar, who was exceedingly pale, was also visibly affected. A peculiarity of the ceremony is that the ring is placed on the finger of the bride, not by the bridegroom, but by the priest,who also puts a ring on the finger of the husband. As the loyal party returned to tho Winter Palaco the enthusiasm of the people In the streets was unbounded, but the utmost order and decorum wero preserved. Their majesties came frequently to the balcony and bowed their acknowledgments. The Imperial manifesto issued by the Czar on his wedding day remitted certain debts due to the Crown, and the repayment of loans made by the Crown to tho peasantry during tho late famine ; it also remitted arrears of taxes and fines, and granted alleviations or abridgment of sentences and other penalties. In London services were held at the Bussian Church, and the Queen gave a banquet at Windsor Castle, to which the members of the Bussian Embassy were invited. There were also services in Paris and Nice. The Czar has boon appointed Colonel in Chief of tho Royal Scots Gt'eys, who have sent him a congratulatory telegram through their Lieutenant-Colonel. An interesting feature in the marriage ceremony was a sprig .of myrtle from tho Queen’s garden at Osborne, which was sent by Her Majesty to _ St. Petersburg expressly for the occasion. Near the principal entrance at Osborne there is an immense myrtle bush, grown from a sprig which was taken out of the wedding bouquet of the Empress Frederick in 1858. It has been a rule at couro that every royal marriage in which either bride or bridegroom was a descendant of the Queen, that some pieces of this myrtle should be placed in the bride’s wedding bouquet. The practice commenced when the Princess Alice married Prince Louis of Hesse at Osborne in 1862, and it has been continued up to the present. . , One of the most significant incidents in the accession to the Imperial throne ol the new Czar is the attitude he is showing towardsthepeople. Wberehisfatherfeared to move about lest some desperate Nihilist should suddenly assassinate him by means of a bomb or dagger, the new Emperor goes without apprehension of harm. He has accompanied his bride without escort round the glove shops and other fashionable establishments on an ordinary shopping tour, justj as any private gentleman might do in Bond Street, and has been seen walking arm in arm with officers in the principal thoroughfares. Confidence begets confidence, and it is possible that in the revival of loyal enthusiasm caused by recent events, tho young Emperor may begin his reign undisturbed by fears of assassination.