CONSTANTINE PAVLOVICH, the second son of the Emperor Paul of Russia, and the brother of two other emperors, was born at St. Petersburg on the 8th of May (new style) 1779. The baptismal name of Constantine was bestowed on him at the desire of his grand mother the reigning empress Catharine, and was generally considered to indicate her wish that this grandson would accomplish the prophecy current among the Greeks, that a Constantine should once more reign at Constantinople. Greeks were placed about him from the cradle to interest him in their native language; but the child took a disgust to it from the very outset. Aa he grew up his favourite study was military exercises and manceuvrea, and he showed many signs of obstinate and eccentric character like that of his father, thsn the Grand-duke Paul, to whom he also bore a striking resemblance in features, which were the reverse of beautifuL At the age of seven teen he was united to a lady of fifteen, the Princess Juliana of Saxe-Coburg, sister of the present Duchess of Kent. The marriage, which took place iu the year of Catharine's death, did not turn out happily; four years afterwards the parties separated by mutual consent. In 1799 Constantine took part in the campaign of Suvorov in Italy. and displayed a daring tracery, but no great talent, for eoustavel On the death of his father the Emperor Paul be was eager for revenge, and was only persuaded to be quiet by his respect for his brother Alexander, which was carried to an extent altogether remarkable in so wild and wayward a character, and even exposed him at times to the charge of eervility. Ile earned his proudest military laurels on the bald of Austen-tits In 1805, where, at the head of the reserve composed of ten battalion. and eighteen squadrons of the guard. be withstood with fiery energy the charge of Bernadotte, and when victory was Impossible, retreated in good order. In all the sabeeqneot phases of the contest against Napoleon which terminated so triumphantly for Russia, be maintained the reputation of a brave and hardy soldier. At its close when Alexander succeeded, in spite of a formidable diplomatic opposition lu establishing a kingdom of Poland under hessian sway, Constantine was natned the commander iu-ehief of the Pulish troop', or generalissimo of Poland. No appoint• want could have been more unfortunate if it was intended to early oat in good faith the constitution which had been promised and guaranteed to the new kingdom. Tho generalistimo's antipathy to the constitution was however not so extreme as to induce him to refuse a yoke in the chambers, when he was very unexpectedly elected deputy for Prig% the suburb of Wareaw, whose destruction by Su vorov forms one of the moat frightful pages in Polish history. He took his seat, and even affected to oppose on some occasion* the measures of the government on local questions; but this was, as might be expected, only en ebullition of wayward humour, and he withdrew when the iucreaeing majorities of the chamber,' against the government showed that soon one or the other must give way. In fact the generalissimo, who was brother of the emperor, had a greater influence iu the government of Poland than the nominal Viceroy Zalaxcact, an old soldier of Napoleon's, and it was his management of the army, which he brought into excellent discipline, but with a sternness and severity that revolted the feelings of the officers, which gave rise to much of the discontent that prevailed in Poland. In
1820 the crisis came, and Alexander, incensed at the manner in which the Poles availed themselves of their constitution, dissolved the chambers.
In the same year the charms of a Polish lady led Constantine to a step which changed his own destiny and perhaps that of Russia. The Countess Joanna Grudzyuska was a fragile beauty, in delicate health, who seemed little likely to win the regard of a rough and boisterous soldier. Constantine saw her, and became so fascinated that he deter mined to overcome every obstacle that lay in the way of making her his wife. A decree of the Holy Synod of the Greek Church confirmed an imperial ukase, by which the emperor's brother was, on the fat of April 1520, divorced from the Princes, of Saxe Coburg, with liberty to marry again. By a decree of the same date, the Emperor Alexander ordained however that only the issue of marriages in the imperial family which were sanctioned by the reigning emperor should enjoy the right of succession to the throne. It was known therefore, when in the comae of May the marriage of the grand-duke to the countess took ilace, that their children would not belong to the imperial family ; but the rights of the grand-duke himself were supposed to remain intact, and he was then the presumptive heir to the czar. Nothing was known to the contrary till the unexpected death of Alexander at Taganrog, on the 1st of December 1825. When the news reached St. Petersburg the Grand-Duke Nicholas called together the Council of the Empire to take the oath to the Emperor Constan tine, who was then absent at Warsaw, where from generalissimo he had become viceroy of Poland. The council produced a packet deposited with them, on which was written, in the Emperor Alexan der. hand, that in the event of his death it was to be opened before prooesding to any other business; and the seal was solemnly broken. A letter from Constantine to his brother was found within, dated iu January 1822: "Conscious," so ran the letter, "that I do not pawns the genius, the talents, or the strength necessary to qualify me for the dignity of sovereign, to which my birth would give me a right, I entreat. your imperial Majesty to transfer that right to him to whom it belongs after me, and thus ensure the stability of the empire. By this renunciation I shall add a new force to the engagement which I spontaneously and solemnly contracted on the occasion of any divorce from my first wife." There was a reply by Alexander to this coin innnication, simply, without a word of comment, accepting the offer it conveyed; and, finally, a declaration that in pursuance of it the Grand-Duke Nicholas was to ascend the throne of Russia. Copies of these documents bad been deposited with the Synod and other bodies, yet Nicholas apto have been till then unacquainted with their existence. to accept the crown, and sent his brother Michael to urge Constantine to resume his birthright; but at Dorpat Michael met a messenger from Warsaw conveying Con stautiue's unalterable persistence in his resolution, and turned back in haste to bt.. Petersburg. It was indeed time to put an end to the interregnum, which had now lasted enters than twenty days. A republican con spiracy had far some time been apreadiog among the officers of the Rumba army; the discovery of its ramifications had saddened the last days of the Emperor Alexander. The ringleader' determined to avail themselves of the uncertainty of the cucconion to excite con fusion.