The Opelousas courier., 1904-07-16
THE ROMANCE OF MOSCOW.
PAST AND PRESENT OF FAMOUS
AND INTERESTING CITY.
For Centuries the Heart Of Russia
Beat There-Now 1t Charms With
the Interest of a Romantic Past,

Probably to most American readers
who are following the war in the Far
East. st. Petersburg stands for Rus
sia. writes Cosmopolitan" in the
New York Sun. The city Of Peter the
Great is indeed the Political and So
cial capital of the great empire-it
Is the point through which Russia
comes in contact with the Western
world, the world Of modern enterprise
and progress. 1t is the nervous
centre of the great imperial system,
the seat of the government, the centre
of military power, the home Of the
nobility. st. Petersburg shows you
a glittering splendor of the present,
Moscow charms with the interest of
q romantic past.
For centuries the heart of Russia
beat here; here history was made,
mobiles thronged the city, Cars were
born, married, died and were buried;
here the Church Of Russia was estab-
Iished in its great power, before which
even Emperors were sometimes
made to bow, as when Ivan the Ter
rible was compelled to do spenance
for his anticipation of Mormon prac-
tees.
The development Of the Russian
Empire was not unlike that of Ger
many process Of amalgamation
welding a number of practically indie
pendent principalities Of Russia, that
of Moscow early took the lead, COM
ing into prominence and power as a
result of a war in the thirteenth CEN
fury. In 1900 the Kremlin, the his
foric fortress vas established, and
with the next few years the principal
fly acquired considerable territory,
and by rolling back a ave of Mongol
invasion greatly increased its infiue-
ence. The Prince who commanded in
this war and saved Russia for the
West was Dmitri Donskoi, for whom
one Of the Russian ships in the pres
emit wal was named. By the six
teenth century Moscow had become a
large government, with the territory
of the present department of the same
name, covering some o12.50O square
miles, and in that century the Prince
OF Moscow asserted his supremacy
over all the country. and Ivan III. be-
came Gear Of all the Russias."
AT the close Of the sixteenth cen
fury Moscow was a wealthy and pow
erful p~rincipality, but there were
opposing interests that led to fright
full disturbances, and the story of the
seventeenth century is n of blood
shed and bitter quarrelling, SO that
the history of this time reads like a
succession Of tragedies taken from a
mediaval romance.
After the death Of Ivan w, the Ter
rible, the regent caused the a~ssassina-
ton Of Dmitri the proper and made
himself Car. Then rose a false
Dmitri, in whom for a time the peo-
pie believed. Discovering the fraud,
they stormed the palace. The impos'
ter fed down a corridor, leaped from
a window, hurt his foot in falling and
was taken. His body was riddled
with bullets, torn to pieces, burned,
the ashes placed in a cannon and fired
in the direction from which he had
come. Such are the stories that greet
the traveller in Moscow at every turn
AS the Cars frightened their hold
upon the reins of government and the
power of the people declined the
character of Moscow changed-its pc
litical power and influence waned
and gradually a commercial class be
gan to predominant. Therefore, In
the eighteenth century Moscow, the
rival of the1z1ew st. Petersburg Gov
eminent, was able to offer but a spirit
less opposition.
Fire has played q notable part In
the history Of this interesting OLE
city. In the early days 1t was severa
times sacked and partially burned By
Eastern invaders, the last of these uc
casions being in 1888. In 1547 twt
CONGREGATIONS nearly destroyed Mos
COW, and there were others OF a sert
out nature in 1877, 174s and 1853. II
each instance the city was rebuilt
and the people had the good sense
and enterprise to turn the catastrophe
each time into advantage, by erecting
better buildings, widening some o
the streets, and improving the appear
ance of their Phoenix city. In Sep
TENDER, 1912, occurred the last grea
fire Of Moscow-the burning OF Mos
cow by the Russians themselves. on
Of the great scenes of history.
Through all the b~ewildering changes
Of this tragic history, the old Kremlin
the great fortress of Moscow. ha
passed-countless times stormed b.
hordes of savage enemies, batteret
and SCARED, the centre OF a mael
strom of human ambition and passion
Today as one stands in its courts tn
palace seemed haunted by counties
ghosts Of those who in the hell OF bat
tie have fallen within It's walls; AM
the hundreds Of cannon left Their
after the French invasion are ele
quent though silent witnesses OF tn
Jury of that great struggle between
two empires. There Is one old guI
known as the Gear Pushka, the "Kinl
0f Cannon" cast three hundred year
ago, which weighs nearly forty tons
Another curious relic is the King 9
Bells. which was rendered useless b.
the breaking off of an e~leven-ton sec
ton In the fire of 1871. The grea
bell now rests upon d pedestal, o.