The San Francisco call., 1904-03-20

1.-The Terrible" and the rise to power
OF Boris Godunoff.
The interest of the tragedy may be
Tzar Ivan and Boris Godunoff. In order
10 comprehend the remarkable char
acter Of Ivan, il must be remembered
that in his boyhOOd he was neglected,
maltreated and even insulted by the
Shuiskis, who directed and controlled
the oligarchs.
Men to whom Ivan showed attach
ment were imprisoned or put TO death,
and he lived, as it were, alone in the
palace, neglected and harassed. The
plan was TO stunt his intellectual
growth to such a degree that he would
be incapable of rule.
Meanwhile the boy, impressionable
and passionate, had great natural gifts;
he read all the books that were acces-
sible-the Bible, Sacred History"
Fathers of the Church" Russian
Chronicles" and 1.-The History of the
Roman Empire, Eastern and Western"
Ivan was seIf-educated.
The Shuiskis, who hesitated at moth
ing in seizing power and holding it.
began by poisoning Ivan's mother.
Having gained possession Of the boy.
they did everything to deform him
morally. Ivan himself has left vivid
picture of what he endured in child
hood
The evil spirit of the Shuiskis aroused
terrible hatred in Ivan, and he later
paid his enemies in kind and with over
flowing measure. Ivan, who had sought
everywhere in books for reasons TO
strengthen his position. resolved with
all the vividness of his boyish enthu-
siasm to become in Moscow what David
and Solomon had been in Jerusalem.
what Augustus had been in Rome and
the first Christian Emperor in Con-
stantinople.
He finally revOlted and destroyed the
power of the Glinskis and the Shuiskis.
and founded the Oprichniks. a body
of men organized by Ivan for his own
special service Hereafter Ivan ruled
with an iron hand Ivan died in 1884.
Concerning the events dealt with in
the tragedy of Ivan's death and the ap-
pearance Of Ivan at that time the fol-
lowing may be of interest:
Ivan, in gloomy despair, summoned
a council declared that he wished to
enter a monastery, and ordered them
to proceed to the choice of another
Tzar Yielding, however, to the re-
peated prayers of the Boyars. he con-
sented TO remain upon the throne.
Losing his possessions one after an
other, threatened on every side by enc
mics, Ivan was cruelty stricken; his
tortured feelings were reflected in his
manner and in his exterior. He had
-, HE Ioff tot
ure was bent, his eyes had grown dim.
his lower jaw dropped as in advanced
age and only in the presence of others
did he constrain himself. stand proudly
erect and look with suspicion on those
around him to- find if any man noted
the decline of his spirits. In those mo-
ments he was still more terrible than
in the days Of his grandeur Never be-
fore had Moscow been under such pres
sure Of despondency and fear"
The historian states elsewhere that
''Ivan's face had grown greatly old. the
burrows had sunk deeper. on his head
there remained but little hair. his beard
had fallen out altogether
The statues and pictures of Ivan, de-
picting him at his death hour with a
beard and long hair, are therefore in
correct
Boris Fyodorvich (Godunoff) at this
period had risen with rapidity de
was the brotheT-in-law OF the Tzare-
witch. whom his sister Trina had mar
ried. 1t is recounted that Ivan. WISHING
t0 show how near GOdunOf and his
daughter-in-Iaw were to his heart.
raised three fingers, and counting them
with the other hand. said: This IS
Fyodor (his SOM, this is Trina, this is
Boris, and as it would be equally pain
full to my hand whichever OF three
fingers were cut of, so would it be
grievous to my heart TO lose any one
of these beloved"
Godunoff is described as modest,