Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1866-05-07
A Glimpse at Russian History
Curious Record of Violent
Denths. ..


The London Daily Ne,cs, aprOpos of the
recent attaining OF his majority by the
present heir 70 the Russian throne, gives
this historical synopsis:
The events of Russian history prior to
the sixteenth century may be summed up
In very few words. All was disorder when
the hardy Mortimer came to rule over the
plains of Russia, and utter disorder and
discord, intensified by Tartar incursions
and atrocities, continued to prevail until
John III subdued his rival kinsmen, annex
ed their territories, and founded the pres
ent empire out of the Grand Duchy of Mos
COW. Heirs to the throne in those days
were nominated by the reigning sovereign
at pleasure. The eldest son was generally
preferred, but the patriarchal policy per-
mitted every divergence from the principle
of primogeniture. When John III was
asked by his mobiles to bequeath the crown
to his grandson John, whom he had dispos-
sessed in favor OF son by his second wife,
his arrogant reply was: II will leave Rus
sia to whomsOever | please And this
was the principle on which Russian Caro-
witches inherited the crown until the Em
perOr Paul decreed law OF hereditary
| succession in the male line, and afterwards
| in the female instead of leaving it to the
caprice of the reigning sovereign, or to the
Vaccinations of political factions.
The first Car of Russia, the renowned
| John the Terrible, killed his son and heir
| in fit of rage, with walking stick of
| iron--a crime for which he endeavored to
atone by giving large grants to churches
and monastic establishments, and he died
| full of grief and remOrse, after taking the
tonsure. Dimitri, the son of his successor,
Theodore |, was foully murdered by his
own uncle, the usurper, Boris GodunOff,
| and In him the Rurik dynasty became eX-
tinct. Theodore III, third sovereign of
the house of ROmanotf the joy and delight
of his people, died very young, after reign
| ingonly six years. On the day of his death,
| SAYS Keramsin. Moscow was in the same
distress as Rome was on the death of Titus"
John, his brother, should have succeeded to
the crown, as no other disposition had been
made by the deceased Gar, but the Streltsi
Guards decided that Johns half-brother
| Peter, afterwards the Great, should share
the throne with him. But Peter the Great
although only seventeen years of age, pre-
ferred an undivided authority, and John
soon after resigned in his favor. The
tragedy of the death of Peter the treats
eldest son is well known. Opposedoto his
fathers reforms, and having fled the cOun-
try and had been captured, Alexis died in d
dungeon of the fortress of ST. Petersburg
almost Immediately after visit from hi;
strong-willed parent.
The application of torture has been prov
ed by documentary evidence. The poison
ing of the son by the father is a matter OF
strong suspicion. Then the male line of
the ROmanoffS became extinct in Peter IL
grandson of the Great Peter, who died at
fifteen of smallpox. Anne, Duchess OF
COurland. daughter of John, Peter the
| Grnot,c bolf- brother SI1pnapda6 NV tho wi II
of the mobiles, who imposed Constitution
upon her. John vi, grand-nephew of the
Empress Anne, who had left the crown tC
him, was first imprisoned in monastery
and then put to death at the Castle o,
Schlusselherg, In order to make way fol
EliZIbeth daughter of Peter the Great
Catherine III became Empress of all the
Russias by the murder of Peter III, he
husband at ROspha, near St. Petersburg
Her son Paul met with similar fate at til,
hands (by connivance) OF his son, AleXan
der l. the first sovereign who came under
law of succession to the crown.
The rightiul heir of Alexander, his broth
er Constantine. abdicated in favor of Mich
olaS whose succession was resisted, though
unsuccesstully, by the conspiratOrs Of 1875
The Emperor Alexander is thus the only
sovereign since Theodore III Ca. ID. 1852
who has come to the throne peaceatly, hon
orably, by indisputable right, and in tn,
natural order of events. But even this ex
ception may be cavied at for Nicholas
died prematurely and suddenly in the mids
of a war in which he had risked his empire
And now it is but few months since th'
name of the Czaroviteh Nicholas has beer
added to the long list of young sovereign!
and heirs-presumptlYe of Russia who have
withered and perished before their time
May thesins of fathers be visited no turth
er, and may the Prince this day so mourn
fully called TO swear fealty break the spell
under which so many OF his ancestors have
succumbed.