Democratic Sentinel, Volume 9, Number 22, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 June 1885 — Moscow’s Famous Citadel. [ARTICLE]

Moscow’s Famous Citadel.

I have heard and read a great deal about the Kremlin, writes John L. Stoddard, but had no distinct idea of what it was like until I saw it. I had no idea of its vast extent; that within its walls were contained palaces, churches, monasteries, and aisenals. walls surrounding all these structures are of vast extent, height, and thickness. At frequent intervals are watchtowers of fanciful design, and the battlements are loopholed for the •discharge of missiles. Inside is the Red Square, so called from the thousands of judicial murders there committed, and in the center of it is a group of statuary called “The Prince and Moujik.” There are many entrances into the Kremlin, but the principal one is the Redeemer Gate, which is consided a holy place, on account of a certain famous statue which finds lodging in one of its niches. When passing through this portal every one is supposed to take off his hat. The Convent of the Ascension is a strange freak of architectural fancy, but beautiful withal. Near to it is a place where the holy oil is manufactured, with which all Russian children are baptized. Around the arsenal are hundreds of cannon taken from the French, and there I saw that immense piece of ordnance called the King of Cannon, but which, like the King of Bells, also in the Kremlin, is fit for nothing but show. The Ivan Tower and the cathedral, with its numberless costly thrones, are monuments of human skill. It is in this cathedral that the Czars of Russia crown themselves, no other than their own hands being considered fit for the holy office. The palace, which has an unpretentious appearance outside, being coated with stucco, is of great extent. It contains the St. George’s Hall and numberless suits of apartments for the guests of royalty. The throne of the Czar was shown to me, and as I stood looking at it I almost trembled as I thought

of the undisputed sway, of the limitless power of life and death over hundred millions of people, which he who had occupied xt a few days before held. — Exchange.