The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1884-11-27

A Social Barbarian of tho Country Of tn
Northern Hear.

Social Barbarian orNthc Country Of the
Northern Hear.
A token of the social barbarism of
Russia in the olden times was found in
the position assigned the female sex.
Even a cars daughter had much To
complain of. for they were very seldom
allowed to marry, and they were very
generally immured for life in a convent.
In all ranks the women were treated as
inferior beings, and governed by the
lask; and, except in the case of peasants
and serfs. an almost Oriental seclusion
was their lot. A husband might fog
his wife at his pleasure. and even if she
died under his hand the criminal law
failed to touch him. The wife, on the
other hand, who might be goaded by
his cruelty to the murder of her hus-
band, was ruthlessly buried alive.
What our travellers report of the
method employed to select wives for
the czar affords further illustration of
the backwardness of Musoovite civiliza-
ton in that century. Instead of seek
ing suitable alliances with foreign
courts, or among the noble families at
home, the custom was, when a car
was to be married. to issue proclama-
ton inviting all manageable girls of
good position and tolerable pretensions
to beauty to present themselves at
Moscow on a given day for his czarish
Majesty's inspection, and after care
full scrutiny of the hundreds of fair
candidates for the great matrimonial
prize, the royal choice was announced
to the nation.
But there was still room for the pro-
verbal slip between the cup and the
lip. Disappointed families were apt to
seek revenge for the failure of their
candidate by endeavoring to "get at"
and disable the successful beauty. In
1917 one of these brides-elect was
drugged by the ruling clique at court,
and thrown into such state of apparent
disease that she was pronounced in
durable. and banished with all her
relatives to Siberia. Soon afterward
another actually died of foul play on
the very day fixed for her wedding.
When Peters father, the Gar Alexis,
was contracting his first marriage, in
1647, and the elect maiden was being
arrayed in the royal robes, the ladies'
in-waiting were bribed to twist her hair
so tightly that she swooned in his pres
ence, and the complaisant physicians
were induced to declare her hopelessly
epileptic. with the usual result of exile
to Siberia. Peters own mother, the
pretty dark haired Natalie Naryshlsin,
who became the second wife of Alexis,
narrowly escaped similar fate. She
was the niece by marriage, and also the
ward, of the Cars principal minister.
Matveof, at whose house the royal
widower noticed her when she brought
in the refreshments, fell in love with
her, and offered her marriage. 1t
happened that proclamation had been
already issued, summoning candidates
for the Cars hand to present them
selves in Moscow for his inspection and
choice; and at Matveofs entreaty, to
give less handle for jealous intrigue
and opposition, the girl was instructed
to present herself with the rest, and
appear to take her chance among
them. The expedient, how ever, failed
of success AS soon as the royal selec
ton was known, every engine was set
in motion to render it abortive. Her
guardian was accused of bewitching the
Gar with magic and sorcery. A long
investigation followed, carried on, as
usual, by the free infection of torture
on all concerned, and nine months
passed before the intriguers were baffied
and the marriage was solemniZed.
NeU York Home Journal.