It would be impossible to describe or to conceive, without witnessing it,

the gorgeousness and splendor of the spectacle which the coronation

afforded. The scene of the principal ceremony was the Cathedral, which

was most magnificently decorated for the occasion. The whole interior of

the building was illumined with an immense number of wax candles,

contained in chandeliers and branches of silver and gold, which were

suspended from the arches or attached to the walls. The steps of the

altar, and all that part of the pavement of the church over which the

Czarina would have to walk in the performance of the ceremonies, were

covered with rich tapestry embroidered with gold, and the seats on which

the bishops and other ecclesiastical dignitaries were to sit were covered

with crimson cloth.

The ceremony of the coronation itself was to be performed on a dais, or

raised platform, which was set up in the middle of the church. This

platform, with the steps leading to it, was carpeted with crimson velvet,

and it was surmounted by a splendid canopy made of silk, embroidered with

gold. The canopy was ornamented, too, on every side with fringes,

ribbons, tufts, tassels, and gold lace, in the richest manner. Under the

canopy was the double throne for the emperor and empress, and near it

seats for the royal princesses, all covered with crimson velvet trimmed

with gold.

When the appointed hour arrived the procession was formed at the royal

palace, and moved toward the Cathedral through a dense and compact mass

of spectators that every where thronged the way. Every window was

filled, and the house-tops, wherever there was space for a footing, were

crowded. There were troops of guards mounted on horseback and splendidly

caparisoned--there were bands of music, and heralds, and great officers

of state, bearing successively, on cushions ornamented with gold and

jewels, the imperial mantle, the globe, the sceptre, and the crown. In

this way the royal party proceeded to the Cathedral, and there, after

going through a great many ceremonies, which, from the magnificence of

the dresses, of the banners, and the various regal emblems that were

displayed, was very gorgeous to behold, but which it would be tedious to

describe, the crown was placed upon Catharine's head, the moment being

signalized to all Moscow by the ringing of bells, the music of trumpets

and drums, and the firing of cannon.

The ceremonies were continued through two days by several other imposing

processions, and were closed on the night of the second day by a grand

banquet held in a spacious hall which was magnificently decorated for the

occasion. And while the regal party within the hall were being served

with the richest viands from golden vessels, the populace without were

feasted by means of oxen roasted whole in the streets, and public

fountains made to run with exhaustless supplies of wine.

The coronation of Catharine as empress was not a mere empty ceremony.

There were connected with it formal legal arrangements for transferring

the supreme power into her hands on the death of the Czar. Nor were

these arrangements made any too soon; for it was in less than a year

after that time that the Czar, in the midst of great ceremonies of

rejoicing, connected with the betrothal of one of his daughters, the

Princess Anna Petrowna, to a foreign duke, was attacked suddenly by a