signed, but the
rest of the structure so extended as to afford suites of royal state
apartments which are unsurpassed by any palace in the world, either
in spaciousness, magnificence of finish or furniture. The Throne Room
is beyond comparison the most superb apartment of its character which
the author has ever seen. Magnificent as the interior is, the
external architectural effect of the Palace is in such decided
contrast with that of the surrounding churches, monasteries, towers,
and sacred gates as to create a singular incongruity.

The venerable, crenellated walls of the Kremlin, which measure about
two miles in circumference, forming nearly a triangle, are pierced by
five gates of an imposing character, to each of which is attributed a
religious or historical importance. Often have invading hosts
battered at these gates, and sometimes gained an entrance; but
strange to say, they have always in the end been worsted by the
faithful Muscovites. Over the Redeemer's Gate, so called, is affixed
a wonder-working picture of the Saviour, which is an object of great
and universal veneration. No one, not even the Emperor, passes
beneath it without removing his hat and bowing the head. A miracle is
supposed to have been wrought in connection with this picture of the
Redeemer at the time when the retreating French made a vain attempt
to blow up the buildings of the Kremlin; hence the special honor
accorded to it. The gate itself was erected in 1491, and is like the
main tower of a large cathedral or an isolated campanile. It is
painted red, with green spires, and flanked on the sides by small
chapels. The National Armory, also within the walls, is of great
interest, quite unsurpassed in its collection of Oriental arms, but
those of all nations are also well represented. It will be remembered
that Moscow was in the olden time as celebrated for the excellence of
its steel weapons, and especially for the temper of its sword blades,
as were Toledo and Damascus. In the grand courtyard of the Kremlin,
near that pillar-like structure the Tower of Ivan, hundreds of
Napoleon's captured cannon lay idly on the earth, recalling the
tragic story of the French invasion; but then it was remembered that
the French have also at Paris their Column of Vendome, the encircling
bas-reliefs of which contain the metal of many captured Russian
cannon. So while scores of battle-torn Muscovite flags hang aloft in
the church of the Invalides at the Frenc