The Hickman courier., 1877-06-08
HISTORY OFRUSSIA.
Rules Io,. the Past one thousand Years-AJ'
Interesting lcerie'o.


Frances A. Shaw has written a btit
history of Russia, which has been pull
lished with two excellent maps by j. 1
Osgood & Co. The history gives a suC
cinct account OF the successive ruler
from the time when Rurik, the note
Varangian chief, was called to Novgoro
to suppress internal dissension and pre-
tect the place from foreign invasion
He acted his part well, end NOvgoro
found That, like the horse in the fable
who asked the help ofa man, it had take
Il master upon its back when il begget
for an ally. Rurik laid the foundation
of the empire, and after fifteen years o
fighting and ruling with a strong hand
left his infant son, Igor, to succeed hin
| in SO, with Oleg 1or regent, and the re
gent seems to have been faithful to hi
young master. This Igor married
beautiful peasant girl without disclosin!
his rank, afterwards made her his queen
and at his death she became regent
She renounced paganism and was baptizet
at Constantinople, the Greek enpero
and empress acting as her sponsors, anC
the imposing solemnity was followed by
grand entertainment, the table al
which Olga and her sponsors sat being o
solid goli. But she made very little
headway in introducing Christianity into
Russia.
Fourteen sovereigns followed, and at
varying intervals till the throne became
vacant in 1912, when Michael Romanof,
youth Of sixteen. was chosen czar.
His family had long been famous for It's
public services and patriotism, and he
was said to have been 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 a condition of comparative order
and civilization. His son Alexis reigned
thirty-one years, aud did more than any
OF his predecessors to make Russia Il
European instead 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 4" the Great"
And in many respects he was one of the
most remarkable rulers of his age, and
under his energetic administration Rus
sia made long stride toward internal
unity and civilization. His reign COW
cred the period between 1859 and 1925
and was followed by his queen, Catha-
rine, who kept the throne two years,
dying suddenly from the effects Of dissi-
patton IN her thirty-ninth year. Her
career was remarkable. In one of Peters
campaigns against Charles XII. 1.-Two
nian peasant girl, seventeen years old,
came to one of his generals with tears in
her eyes for the loss of her husband in a
melee, to whom she was married only
the day before. She was graceful
in person, pleasing in manner, with re-
sense and sweetness of temper,
and prisoner. Peter made her his mis-
tress and then married her, and ever af-
ter 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 passion 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 despair, she saved
him and his army and his empire by her
genius and heroism. But after his death
she was treated with contempt by the
nobility, and deserted by friends. She
lost the virtues that had ennobled her,
and sank into dissipation. She was pres
emily followed by Peter H., with whom
.he male line of the Romanoff family be-
,ame extinct. Anna daughter of half
brother of Peter the Great, reigned from
L730 to 1740 with conspicuous ability.
She was followed by Elizabeth, the
laughter of Peter the Great and Cath
crime, a narrOw-minded superstitious
woman, who ruled twenty years. She
vas followed by Peter Ill, whose head
vas unfortunately crammed with Ger
man notions, and whose face was still
more unfortunately pitted with small
)ox. He got tired of his queen af
er the manner of English Henry the
eighth; but in this case the aversion was
mutual, and she, being the ADLER anI
more INSCRIPTIONS Of the two, antici
,ated his intended divorce by getting
lim deposed and finally taken off by poi
on. Once fairly on the throne, she
illed it, and for thirty-two years showed
What a coarse, strorg minded, ambitious,
woman could do. She earned
rom Voltaire the title of ''the Semiramis
# the North" and others, with more jus
ice perhaps, have called her Z" the Louis
XIV. of Russia" She certainly raised
he Russian court to high degree of
plendor, extended the boundaries of the
mpire, increased its influence in Europe
nd marked her career with a series OF
crimes.
Catharine was followed by her son
PAUL, whom she always hated, and whom
he did not intend should reign but she
lied too suddenly to designate another
He was eccentric in mind, "a
nadman in brain and a Finn in feature,
gnorant of the machinery of the govern
nent and a stranger to the people he was
allied to rule. His reign was failure,
nd he was strangled by conspirators in
IS fifth year. In 1901 Alexander, his |
On, who inherited his mothers beauty |
nd grace of person, and who had been
arefully educated in Germany, ascended
be throne. He was then twenty-four,
nd Immediately displayed the hand of
eformer and the mind of a statesman. |
he circumstances of his reign made it |
npossible for him to carry out his plans |
,r internalimprovements. With Europe |
i arms, he was forced to fight, and was
efeated in the battle of Austerlitz. But |
ne conquering genius of Napoleon daz-
ed him, and, yielding to the infatuation
e made the famous treaty of Tilsit in /
S07. One of the most memorable
lbleaux in modern history was the
leeting of these two monarchs on the |
raft in the river Niemen, where they |