The Morristown gazette. [volume] (Morristown, Tenn.) 1867-1920, 1877-06-20
HISTORY OF RUSSIA.
Rules for the Past One Thousand
Years-An Interesting Review.


maps by j. r. Osgood & Co. Th,
history gives a succinct account o
the successive rules from the time
when Rurlk, the noted Varangiar
chief, was called to Novgorod tc
suppress internal dissension and pro
tect the place from foreign invasion
He acted his part well, and Novgored
found that, like the horse in the
fable, who asked the help of man,
it had taken a master upon it's back
when it begged for an ally. Rurik
laid the foundation of the empire.
and after fifteen years Of fighting AID
ruling with strong hand, left his
infant son, Igor, TO succeed him in
679, with Oleg for regent, and the
regent seems to have been faithful
to his young master. This Igor mar
ried beautiful peasant girl without
disclosing his rank, afterwards made
her his queen, and at his death she
ganism and was baptized at Con-
stantinople. the Greek emperor and
empress acting as her sponsors. and
the imposing solemnity was follow
ed by grand entertainment, the
table at which Olga and her sponsors
sat being of solid gold. But she
made very little headwaY in intro
ducing Christianity into Russia.
Fourteen sovereigns followed, and
at varying intervals till the throne
became vacantin 1912, when Michael
Romanof. a youth of sixteen, was
chosen czar. His family had long
been famous for it's public services
and patriotism, and he was said to
be a descendant of Rurik on the
female side. He was the founder Of
the present reigning family, and
during his fortunate reign Of thirty
two years the country began to
emerge into condition of compare
tive order and civilization. His son
Alexis reigned thirty-one years, and
did more than any of his predeces-
sors to make Russia European in
stead of an Asiatic nation. His son
Feodore died after a brief reign of
six years, and was succeeded by
Peter, who achieved the title of ''the
Great" And in many respects was
one of the most remarkable rulers
of his age, and under his energetic
administration Russia made a long
stride toward internal unity and
civilization. His reign covered the
period between 1859 and 1925, and
was followed by his queen, Catharine,
who kept the throne two years, dying
suddenly from the effect of dissipa
tion in her thirty-ninth year. Her
career was remarkable. In one of
Peters campaigns against Charles
XII. Livonian peasant girl, seven
teen years old, came to one of his
generals with tears in her eyes for
the loss of her husband in melee,
to whom she was married only the
day before. She was graceful in
person, pleasing in manner, with
remarkable sense aud sweetness of
temper, and prisoner. Peter made
her his mistress and then married
her, anG ever after acknowledged her
as his wife. She joined the Greek
church, and changed her name from
Marpha to Catharine. Her devotion
to him was boundless, and she alone
could soothe the mad frenzies of pas
sion to which he was subject. She
went with him everywhere, advised
him, protected him, encouraged him,
and after the terrible defeat in the
battle of Pruth, when he was in des-
pair, she saved him and his army and
his empire by her genius and hero
ism. But after his death she was
treated with contempt by the nobil-
ity, and deserted by friends. She
lost the virtues that had ennobled
her and sank iuto dissipation.
She was presently foiled by Peter
H., with whom the male line of the
Romanoff family became extinct.
Anna, daughter of half brother of
Peter the Great, reigned from 1870
to 1740 with conspicuous ability. She
was followed by Elizabeth, the
daughter of Peter the Great and
Catharine, a narrow-minded super
stitions woman, who ruled twenty
years. She was followed by Peter
ILL.,, whose head was unfortunately
crammed with German notions. and
whose face was still more unfortun.
ately pitted with smallpox. He got
tired of his queen after the mannerof
English Henry the Eighth; but in
this case the aversion was mutual,
and she. being the abler and more
unscrupulous of the two, anticipated
his intended divorce by getting him
deposed and finally taken off by
poison. Once fairly on the throne,
she filed it, and for thirty-two years
showed what coarse, strong mind
ed, ambitious unscrupulous woman
could do. She earned from Voltaire
the title of the Semiramis of the
North," and others, with more JUS
tice perhaps, have called her =" the
Louis XIV. of Russia" She GER
tainly raised the Russian court to q
high degree of splendor, extended
the boundaries of the empire. in
creased its influence in Europe and
marked her career with a series of
inexcusable crimes.
Catharine was followed by her SON
Paul, whom she always hated, and
whom she did not intend should
reign; but she died too suddenly to
designate another successor. He
was eccentric in mind, "a madman
in brain and a Finn in feature, ignor-
ant of the machinery of the govern
ment and q stranger to the people
ne was called to rule" His reign
was failure, and he was strangled
by conspirators in its fifth year. In
1901, Alexander, his son, who in
herited his mothers beauty and
grace of person, and who had been
educated in Germany, assembled the
throne. He was then twenty-four,