The herald., 1896-06-15
The Most Savage Gentleman
That Ever Lived
CAR, BRIGAND, REFORMER
Cut Oft Eighty.four Heads With His
Own Hands
Marvellous Energy Of This rian Of Porce.
Soldier, Shlpbuilder, Sailmaker-How
He Quelled Q Revolt
lCopyright. 1895, by John Clark Ridpath. ]
FIRST PASSAGES.

C1ar Peter, the Nuscovite, was with
ont doubt tho most savage gentleman
that ever lived. In him the forces Of
barbarism and the forces Of the civilized
life " ere combined in perfect accord. In
him violence and moderation were not
separate moods, but two manifestations
Of the same character. His scowl and
bis smile were only the two sides Of the
SANG medallion. He could drink pint
Of brandy at two swallows without max
ing his eyes red. he could kill and make
love in the same act without changing
his coat. Ono time he wanted German
princess (Wilhslmina, sister Of Fred
eriuk the Great, tells the story in her
diary) to kiss him. and when she drew
back and struggled he snatched out his
sword and shouted, Kopf ab-"Cut your
head o6 II you don'tl"
Vainly do we strive to know how
much history great man makes. Old
fashioned ohroniolers would have us be-
lieve with their singsong philosophy
that the hero is the creator of events.
Thomas Carlyle could not free himself
from the delusion that man-the indi-
vidual - makes history. To him the
great facts Of the human drama seemed
to proceed from the single wills Of men
from Caesar, from Charlemagne, from
Cromwell. from Peter, from Bonaparte.
It is easy to understand how the sage Of
Chelsea could believe in heroes. He who
could seriously suggest that Robert
Burns would have made better war
minister than William Pitt was capable
Of anything that might be struck from
the diapason Of absurdity.
Peter did not make Russia any more
than Russia made Peter, or as much,
but he was great personal force. Aft
or the flesh he was the son Of the EN-
peror Alexis-that is, he was Peter AL
exievitch. The seventeenth century was
threescore and twelve years old when
he came. In that year Charles II and
his oabal were in their heyday with a
company Of ladies dressed in scarlet
and fine linen, but otherwise undesira-
BILE in society. In that year Nathaniel
Bacon was elected to the Virginia coun.
Gil. and in that year old Berkley thank.
ed God that there was not q free school
or printing press in his province. The
epoch was favorable to the apparition of
just such an imperial brigand and re-
former as Peter. The age solicited his
coming as much as the thirteenth GEN.
tury had longed for Genghis Khan.
Peter was the youngest Of eleven chill
dyen. The Ozarina Maria Miloslavska,
first wife Of Alexis, had eight children
six daughters and two sons. Feodor
and the imbecile Ivan. Natalia Naruish-
kin, the second wife. had two daughters
and one son-worth all the rest. There
was thus great group and lesser
group in the family Of Alexis, and the
lesser group was the greater for it in
cluded Peter. Feodor, by the death Of
his father, came to the throne-if such
q barbaric structure might be called
throne-in 1876. but he died In May Of
1852, leaving condition hard to un-
derstand.
By the imperial constitution Ivan, the
eldest son surviving, was entitled to
reign, but he could not, being a fool.
OF the first six daughters Of Alexis the
middle one, Sophia, was the genius.
She got herself declared regent for Ivan,
but presently the strelzui, or faction Of
the old Russians, who had aided her in
her conspiracy, tired Of woman rule and
supported Peter in equal rank with
Ivan. Sophia put down the strelzui and
out off the heads Of 80, but she deemed
It prudent to keep Peter on the throne
along with her own brother in order
that she might manage them both.
The double throne which Sophia, the
czaritza dowager, invented was not a
figure Of speech, but literal fact. It
exists to this day as piece Of old fur
niture among the royal rubbish Of Mos
cow. It has two seats and silken veil,
behind which the czaritza was won't to
sit out Of sight. Looking at it, one is
reminded of the Hindoo trinity. Ivan
and Peter correspond to the Kami- -Rati
and Sophia to silva, the Destroyer, be-
hind the throne.
The Naruishkins, or faction Of Pc
ter's mother, gradually gained the up
per hand, and the Miloslavskis, or fac
tion Of Ivan's mother, went to the wall.
The law Of evolution was illustrated in
the high places Of barbarism. In the
case Of Peter there were only two places
which he might occupy and find sta
BILE equilibrium-the gallows and the
throne. Between the two extremes there
was no middle ground.
The education Of the boy czar was
something past finding out. He would
obey nobody. His intelligence was as
quick az his will was perverse and ire
sistible. From childhood he was ter
ror to all opponition. He took naturally
to drums and muskets and wanted to
see the ocean. A German named Zotof,
a man Of neither rank nor character,
was Peters tutor. He fixed up some
kind Of colored prints representing the
few countries and facts with which he
was acquainted, and with this lurid de-
vice taught Peter history. In after
years the czar, in sarcastic revenge,
conferred on old Zotof the honorary de-
gree OF archpope of fools-a degree that
ought to have been perpetuated.
Early in life the boy learned some-
thing OF his great ancestor. Ivan the
and would fain initiate his
career. From bis master he got smat-
terinR Of Latin. German and Dutch.
with the school business, the
VOunQ barbarian ty1vrod hiv., a. - into tbo