Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1874-12-17
IVAN THE TERRIBLE.

fFHN TX tEIsniDEEE
PRECISELY at what time the faithful
and afectionate subjects of His Majesty
Ivan ", Gar Of all the Russias, con
ferred upon him his pet name, The Ter
rible," history neglects to inform us, but
we are left to no uncertainty as to the
entire appropriateness of the title, which
is now in8eparably linked with his bap-
tismal name He inherited the throne at
the age of three years, and his early edu-
cation was carefully attended to by his
faithful guardians, who snubbed and
scared him, in the hope that they might
so far weaken his intellect as to secure
a permanent control over him, and
through him govern Russia as they
pleased They made footstool of him
sometimes, and football at others, and,
under their system of training, the de-
velopment of those qualities of mind
and heart for which he is celebrated was
remarkably rapid. He was always Ivan
the terrified, ard he became Ivan the
terrible before he was old enough to
have played a reasonably good game of
marbles or to have become tolerably
expert in the art of mumbling the peg.
Indeed, 1t would seem that the young
Grand Prince was wholly insensible to
the joys of these and the other excellent
sports in which ordinary youth delight,
and, being of an ingenious turn of mind,
he invented others better suited to his
tastes and character. One of these
pastimes-perhaps the first and simplest
one devised by the youthful genius-con-
sisted in the dropping of cats, dogs, and
other domestic animals from the top of
the palace to the pavement below, and
sentimental historians have construed
these interesting experiments upon the
law of gravitatiOn into cruelty. Another
of the young Cars amusements was to
turn half-famished pet bears loose upon
passing pedestrians, and it is the part of
charity to suppose that his purpose in
this was to study the psychological and
physiognomical phenomena of fear. A
less profitable way he had Of accomplish
ing the same thing was by throwing, or,
as youthful Americans phrase it, shy
ing" stones at passers-by, Concealing
himself meanwhile behind screen. He
cultivated his skill IN Workmanship by
riding over elderly people, cripples and
children. In short, his boyish sports were
all of an original and highly interesting
sort.
Up to the age Of thirteen Ivan was uD-
der the tutelage Of a council, Of which
the Prince Shuiskv was chief, and it was
this Prince who domineered over the boy
and made tootstool and a football of
his body At that age Ivan asserted his
independence in very positive and en-
phatic way, which even the Prince
Shuisky could not misapprehend. The
young Gar was out hunting, accom-
panied by Shuisly and other Princes and
boyards, among whom was Prince GIuis-
ky, rival of Sauisky's, who was preju-
diced against chat excellent gentleman.
At his suggestion, Ivan address his
guardian Shuisky in language which the
latter deemed insolent. Shuisky replied
angerly, and Ivan requested his dogs to
demonstrate with the Prince, which they
did by tearing him limb from limb.
Having thus silenced the dictation of
Shuisky, the young Prince became the
ward of the no less excellent Gluisky,
and was carefully taught that the only
way in which he could efectually assert
authority was by punishment. 1t was
made clear to his budding intellect, too,
that the shortest, simplest and altogether
the best way to get rid of disagreeable
people was to put them to death, and
throughout his life Ivan never forgot this
lesson for single moment Power, he
was told, was worthless unless it was
used, and the only way in which it could
be really used was by oppression. For
three years no pains were spared to
teach him this system of ethics and poll
tics, and the young Prince, in his anxiety
to perfect himself in the art of govern
ing, diligently practiced all these pre-
cepts.
When he was seventeen years of age
he was formally crowned Car The cit
liens, ignorant Of the truths of political
economy and the principles of govern
mental science underlying the young
Cars system, became alarmed and fired
the city one night. When Ivan awoke
he was terrified, being of an alb
normally nervous temperament, and the
apparition of 4 warning monk, together
with the influence of Anastatia, the
young CZarina, led the Gar to abandon
the simple and straightforward methods
of government in which he had been
bred, and for thirteen years, under the
dictation of Alexis Adascheff and the
monk Sylvester, Ivan devoted himself tc
the commonplace employments of de-
veloping Russia politically and socially
He dismissed his Ministers and put 9th
ers in their places. He reorganized the
army; revised the code in the interest OF
abstract justice; equalized assessments
subdued the Tartars; established forts
for the protection of the frontiers; laiC
the foundation for the future greatness
of his empire; began the work which
was completed so grandly under Peter