"From the Great Bell we went to the Nicholas Palace, which occupies the site of the one destroyed by the French at the time of their retreat, and then to the Bolshoi Dvorets, or Great Palace.
"The state apartments are numerous and gorgeous; their number is absolutely bewildering, and so is the array of furniture, paintings, statuary, and other valuables that are gathered there. In the Emperor's cabinet there are pictures representing the battles of Borodino and Smolensk, and also of the French entering and leaving Moscow. There are halls dedicated to St. George, St. Alexander Nevski, and St. Andrew, all of them hung with battle-flags, and the last—the Hall of St. Andrew—containing the Emperor's throne. In some of the halls are paintings representing scenes in the history of Poland. They were brought from Warsaw, where they once hung in the Royal castle.
"They showed us the 'Red Staircase,' which is used by the Emperor on state occasions, and was the spot where in former times the Czar allowed the people to see him. Napoleon and his marshals ascended these steps when they took possession of the Kremlin, and it was from the top of the staircase that John the Terrible saw the comet which caused him to tremble with fear.
"Then they took us to the banqueting-room, where the Emperor dines with his nobles immediately after the ceremony of coronation, and beyond it to the Terem, which was formerly occupied by the wife and children of the Czar. It is now filled with articles of historic interest: the seals of Russian sovereigns, the certificate of the election of Michael, first of the Romanoffs, to the Russian throne, and several copies of the Evangelists, on parchment, and said to be five hundred years old.
"Near the Great Palace is the Treasury, which reminded us of The Hermitage of St. Petersburg, or the more famous Tower of London. It is filled with all sorts of curious things, many of them of enormous value. It has been said that the national debt of Russia could be paid from the sale of the pearls, diamonds, and other precious things in the Treasury of Moscow. Perhaps this is not strictly true, but certainly they would go a long way towards doing so.
"What we saw in the Treasury would take too long to tell; and besides, it would be a catalogue filling many pages of our note-books. Armor and weapons of all times and forms can be seen here. There are faded and tattered flags that tell of the glory of Russia; here is the flag carried by the soldiers of John the Terrible at the capture of Kazan; the flag under which Yermak conquered Siberia and added it to the Russian Empire; the flag which a little band of Cossacks carried to the shores of the Pacific Ocean more than two hundred years ago; and here are the flags which belonged to the Regiment of Streltsi, which rebelled against Peter the Great.
THE EMPRESS ELIZABETH.
"Here are thrones and coronation chairs in goodly number. The first is that of the Empress Elizabeth, and near it are the coronation chairs of Paul I. and Alexander II. In the centre of the room where these chairs are standing is the baldachino, under which the Emperor and Empress walk at their coronation, and at the farther end is a stand of colors given by Alexander I. to his Polish regiment, and afterwards captured at the storming of Warsaw, in 1831. The royal throne of Poland is in another room, along with the throne of Kazan, which is studded with pearls, diamonds, rubies, and turquoises, as are several other thrones. One throne contains over eight hundred diamonds and twice as many rubies, and it is by no means the most costly one in the collection. Near the thrones are the coronation robes worn by several of the emperors and empresses, and there is also a masquerade dress which belonged to Catherine the Great.