The Red Cloud chief., 1913-05-22


new sttte around the obscure city of Moscow.
Is one Of the most remarkable in history. Yet in
1ol1 all their work seemed undone Ivan w..
prematurely aged worn out, broken hearted, hav.
ing murdered his eldest son in fit OF maniacal
tury, passed away In circumstances Of the utmost
horror in 1884. For the next twenty years the
real ruler OF Muscovy was Ivan's great minister.
Boris Godunov, one of the new men" whom his
reforming zeal had called to the front Godunov
was In many ways an excellent ruler-he was
perhaps the most enlightened Of the prePetrine
monarchs Of Russia. But the great mobiles dis
liked him. and there Is little doubt that he
cleared his path to the throne by making away
with Dmitr the halfbrother of the nominal Gear,
Feodor l.. and his natural heir The great family
OF the Romanohs stood near the throne for Feo
doris mother had been Romanon While Feo
dor lived Godunov dared not attack them but
when the weak monarch died in 1893 and the
minister. despite his more or less feigned reluc.
tance, was elected his successor. the whole fam.
lily was banished.
Suspicion was the bane Of the otherwise bene.
hcial rule of Boris. Finally. an adventurer named
Gregory Otrepev gave out that he was Prince
Dmitr who had escaped from the assassins OF
Boris and raised formidable insurrection, aided
by Sigismund III, king Of Poland In the midst
OF the war Boris died. and the fatal period Of
troubles" Of Russia began.
The supposed Dmitri soon overthrew the
youthful Feodor H.. son of Boris. He proved an
admirable ruler. but he was a Roman Catholic
and was murdered by the mobiles. Shuiski. one
OF the conspirators. was elected Gear under the
title OF Vasili ". but obtained firm footing
Revolt everywhere broke out sprang up in every
direction. raised armies Of miscellaneous ruflans
and Polish adventurers. and spread terror and
devastation to the gates of Moscow. For years
this anarchy lasted. The worst Of the pretenders
was ''the Thief" whose lair was at Tushino near
MOSCOW, but everywhere the wretched country
was overrun and wasted by gangs of Cossacks.
1. e., robbers. The desolation was fearful; in
hve years the fruits Of q century Of effort ap.
peared to have been hopelessly lost The wretch
ed Shuish purchased, by the surrender Of terri
tory in the Baltic provinces the aid of Sweden;
but the result was to bring about Polish inva.
sion. In 1909 Smolensk was besieged; next year
the great Polish general, Zolkiewski. defeated
and captured Shuiski, entered Moscow, and pro.
claimed Wladislaw, son of Sgismund Ill.,. czar.
BY skillful diplomacy he occupied the Kremlin,
end gained some measure of support for Wladis.
law.
Russia seemed lost. Smolensk held out with
bitter desperation for two years. but was at last
taken. "The Thief" was murdered, but his fol.
lowers held together and contested the posses.
sion OF Moscow desperately with the Poles. Half
the wretched city was destroyed in the course
OF the struggle. but the famous Troitsa monastery
near the capital resisted siege after siege dur.
Ing the anarchy and refused to submit.
Here the movement to put an end to the pre-
vailing misery first took definite shape. The
abbot, Dionysius. and the administrator Abraham
Palitsin. took the lead. In October. 1911 letters
were sent all over Russia calling upon the peo-
pie to unite in defense of their religion Mini
Novgorod, led by Kuzma Minin. master butcher,
ut once responded with enthusiasm. Kazan,
Jealous OF Mini Novgorod. held back. but all
down the Volga the towns Joined the movement
and men and money came pouring into the
patriot city Prince Dmitri Mikhailovich Poz.
harskt a brave noble who had consistently op.
posed the Poles and had been wounded almost
to death in the fighting round Moscow. was elect.