In  a  detailed  account  of  the  Coronation  which  I  wrote  on  leav-
ing the  Kremlin,  I  find  the  following :  "  The  magnificent  cere-
mony is  at  an  end,  and  now  Nicholas  II.  is  the  crowned  Emperor
and  anointed  Autocrat  of  all  the  Eussias.  May  the  cares  of  Em-
pire rest  lightly  on  him !  That  must  be  the  earnest  prayer  of  every
loyal  subject  and  every  sincere  well-wisher,  for  of  all  living  mor-


MOSCOW   AND   THE    SLAVOPHILS  353

tals  he  is  perhaps  the  one  who  has  been  entrusted  by  Providence
with  the  greatest  power  and  the  greatest  responsibilities."  In
writing  those  words  I  did  not  foresee  how  heavy  his  responsibili-
ties would  one  day  weigh  upon  him,  when  his  Empire  would  be
sorely  tried,  by  foreign  war  and  internal  discontent.
One  more  of  these  old  Moscow  reminiscences,  and  I  have  done.
