Quite a curiosity: this "slight and delicately-formed" boy became the doomed Nicholas II, who with his wife Alexandra, four daughters, and young son, were murdered in 1917 during the Russian Revolution (florid poem following the article notwithstanding!). Nicholas' mother was the sister of Queen Alexandra, who married the man who later became King Edward VII of England.The boy-prince whose portrait is here
given, and who may one day rule the Russian Empire, is the Grand-duke Nicholas, eldest son of the Emperor Alexander III, and Princess Maria Dagmar (Daydawn) of Denmark, now the Empress Maria Feodorovna. His distinctive title, as eldest son and heir, is the Czarevitch which means the son of the Czar All Russian boys and girls are designated as sons and daughters of their father. The Russian termination evitch or ovitch means son of; evna or ovna daughter of; Alexandrovitch is son of Alexander; Alexandrovna, daughter of Alexander. The younger sons of the Czar would be George or Michael Alexandrovitch, but only the eldest is spoken of as Czarevitch. The name which the Empress took when she was admitted to the Russian Church signifies the daughter of Feodor (Theodore), this being one of the names of her father, King Christian of Denmark.Grand-duke Nicholas was born May 18, 1868, at Czarskoe Selo (Czar's village), an imperial summer palace, fifteen miles south of St. Petersburg. This spacious palace stands upon the Neva bank, over two hundred feet above the water, and is surrounded by extensive grounds so perfectly kept that you can hardly find even a dead leaf upon the lawns. The interior is adorned with precious marbles and mosaics, costly bronzes, tapestries from the Gobelin looms, and all that the Empress Catharine II., who completed it, could bring together to add to its beauty and grandeur. It has always been a favorite residence of the imperial family, and its park an attractive resort for the people. The first railway in Russia was built from St. Petersburg to Czarskoe Selo.
Crown princes have so much to learn that they must begin early and lose no time. Until his ninth year the education of the young Grand-duke was superintended by Madame de Flotow, one of the ladies of honor who had followed the Princess Dagmar from Denmark to Russia. In 1877 the charge was given to Lieutenant-General Danilovitch, who has arranged the Prince's hours of instruction in accordance with those of the military gymnasiums. His regular lessons are from eight in the morning till three in the afternoon, but with such intermissions that they never exceed five hours a day. His afternoons are spent in walks with the Emperor, or in outdoor sports,—riding, swimming, fishing, fencing, gymnastics,—of all of which he is very fond; and his evenings are devoted to preparing for next day's lessons, reading, and keeping a diary. He is an excellent scholar and linguist; enters into his studies with much spirit, and speaks fluently Russian, Danish, French, German, and English. The crown princes of England and Germany may study if they like at the universities, but the heir of Russia must be educated by private tutors.
Last May, upon his sixteenth birthday, the day on which the Prince became of age, he renewed his oath of adherence to the orthodox church, the ceremonies taking place in the chapel of the Winter Palace at St. Petersburg. As heir to the Russian throne, he accompanied the Emperor and Empress to their recent meeting with the sovereigns of Germany and Austria.
In person the Prince is slight and delicately formed, with fair complexion and auburn hair; and he usually wears a sailor costume, which suits his slender figure. He is a member of the Preobrajensky (Transfiguration) Guard, the famous regiment founded by Peter the Great; and by birth he is Attaman (chief) of all the Cossacks of the empire. It is his privilege to wear the uniform of any regiment he pleases. This in which he is pictured is that of the Hussars.
Neither for crown princes in Europe, nor for boys and girls in America, can we predict what the rolling years will bring; but we will all give our best wishes to
THE CZAREVITCH.
Son of the dauntless sea-kings,
Heir of the mighty Czars,
What stately crowns his brow may wear,
His breast what jeweled stars!
All night the red auroras flamed
Down from the ice-fields lorn,
And the winds blew swift from the southern steppes
To greet his natal morn;
The guns of the Fortress thundered;
The church-bells thrilled the air;
Te Deums glorious stole to heaven
By many an altar fair;
A thousand thousand prayers went up
That the Lord might guard and guide
The boy who lay in his mother's arms
By Neva's brimming tide.
God help the lad whose words may bless
Or blight where'er they fall,
From woods Carpathians' winds have stirred,
To China's winding wall;
And from Solovetsk, whose crosses gleam
Athwart the Frozen seas,
To soft Crimean vales that dream
In balm and summer ease!
God grant that the Russian peasant
The Khivan by the border,
The roving Kalmuck of the steppe,
The valiant Cossack warder,
The Pole by broad-armed Vistula,
The Tartar by the sea,
And all the countless clans and tribes
Swayed by the Czar's decree,
May find that might and right are one
Within the vast domain,
And dwell in peace and loyalty
When he shall come to reign!
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