The sun., 1902-03-09

| its choice was limited to members OF the
I family OF Rurik, but the new ruler was
not admitted TO the exercise OF sovereign
power until be had subscribed to a sort oi
contract by which he took upon himself
the obligation Of preserving the rights oi
his subjects. These compacts or covenants
constituted kind Of charter, assuring to the
people the free exercise Of their political
privileges. We know that in the case OF
Novgorod. which probably was no excep-
ton, there were other constitutional re-
straints on prinoely power, such as the pro-
visions that there should be no declaration
OF war without @Novgorods word;' that
no foreigner should be nominated to the
post Of Provincial Governor, and that no
public official should be dismissed without
legal cause. proclaimed such by the de-
cision of a court Of law. If, as sometimes
happened. the Prince decided on going TO
war against the wish Of his people. he had
TO rely exclusively on his own military
followers. who corresponded very closely
70 the old German comitdtus. As long
as the system OF land donations remained
unknown and the Prince had no other
property TO distribute among his followers
than that taken In time Of war the comitatus
was far from being numerous. The pur-
pose o. this short sketch Of the old Russian
folkmote is to show that medieval Russia
that is to say the Russia that preceded
the Tatar invasion, was a loose federation
Of principalities in which the people we're
accustomed TO exercise various attributes
OF sovereignty.
In the book before us there is no detailed
account Of the Tstar conquest OF the greater
part OF European Russia in the thirteenth
century, a conquest which may be said to
have lasted more than five hundred years,
30 far as the Crimca is concerned. Our
authors second chapter deals with Russia .
political institutions. as they were found
existing in the latter half Of the sixteenth
century. when English merchants FIRST
came into contact with the Carbon OF
Muscovy. In 1853 the English explorer
Chancellor found Muscovy governed by
one Of the most able men that has ever
shaped the destinies OF Russia. This was
Ivan w, better known under the sobriquet
of the Terrible. To the Tatars he had
given a grievous blow by the suppression
Of the Khanates OF Kazan and Astrakhan.
He had also annexed Russian principalties
which had previously preserved sort Of in
dependence, or had become parts Of neigh
boring kingdom, that Of Lithuania. He
had shown a willingness to fight the Poles
and the Swedes. in order, as he said. to en-
large his heritage. In these moves Ivan
the Terrible had but followed with peculiar
energy the first Dukes Of Muscovy. These
Princes had taken advantage Of the geo.
graphical position Of their small State,
surrounded as it was by woods and moors,
and. therefore, almost inaccessible 20 the
Tatars. Although protesting allegiance
TO it. they remained almost indeIs ndent
OF the great horde established on the shores
OF the Caspian Sea, and known as the Golden
Horde. Less impulsive than the southern
branches Of the Rurik family. the Muscovite
Dukes. instead OF lighting the Khans, bribed
them, and thus succeeded in becoming the
farmers OF the tribute or Tatar geld. paid
by the people Of the different principalities
Of Russia. Enriched by the farming OF the
Tatar tribute, the Muscovite Princes soon
secured a powerful ally in the head Of the
great Abbey OF Troitsk, situated close TO
Moscow. Kiev. the first see of the Russian
Metropolitan, being constantly exposed
to the invasions Of the Tatars. the Abbey
of Pechora in the vicinity Of that city
began 10 lose its former importance in
favor of Troitsk, founded by Sergius, the
popular hero Of the first successful battle
fought by Russian troops against the Mo-
hammeclan invaders The influence Of the
rulers of Moscow was enhanced not only by
the veneration in which the Abbey Of Troitsk
was held, but also by the fact that the city
became the permanent residence Of the
head of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Kiev was not safe enough for the Metro
politan, and, after a short stay in Vladimir,
he settled in Moscow as a powerful ally Of
its ruler.
What was the interior organization OF
the Czardom Of Muscovy in the time OF
John "? Historians sometimes speak Of
il as IL it were an enlarged manorial system,
sometimes as il il were a sort OF military
Damp. Our author says that II was both,
with this peculiar additional feature, that
manor and camp remained open TO all
newcomers. The rising State was richer
in land than in inhabitants, and ready.
therefore. TO insure 10 all newcomers the
possibility Of a yearly income proceeding
from the cultivation Of open fields and
wastes. The military attendants, the So
called men OF service" enrolled in the
Cars army received payment in the form
Of military benefces or grants Of land,
which did not become the permanent prop
erty OF the military attendant, but were
he'd by him only during effective service.
The free cultivators Of the soil, known
under the name Of Serebreniki, from the
word sersbro-the silver or capital ad-
vanced 10 them by the proprietor-were
established on open fields. belonging either
to the Gar or TO some other landowner.
They received from the proprietor the
necessary amount Of seed. cattle and wood.
and sometimes money. so as to enable them
TO cover the first expenses Of their settle
ment on virgin coil, On these conditions
they consented to serve as soldiers under
the leadership either Of the Gar or Of one
a. his subordinate chiefs, and 10 pay taxes
TO the State They were also charged
with rents in kind or money. and gave in
harvest time unpaid help 10 the slaves who
were settled on the manorial land.
Attention Ia here directed TO the fact that
Russian aristocracy was, from the time
when we first meet il in the reign OF Ivan
the Terrible, a mixture Of most discordant
elements, foreign and domestic, in which
princely families were not considered Of
better birth than simple untitled mobiles
like the Romanov OF the Scheremetiev.