Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1914-09-15


scientific truth.
The story falls into three main
periods Antiquity, extending to
1898; the Dark Ages, and the mod
lern era that began in 1852. The
first is the time Of the making of
Russia, the second that of subsection
to the Mongols Of Asia and the third
that of rise to empire and expansion
| to the Baltic, the Black Sea, China,
Persia and the Pacific.
The Russians from the first have
been the creators of their own ma
tionality. Kluchevski has recently
proved conclusively that the Scandi-
navians did not originate Russian
civilization and that the legend that
Burik the Varangian founded the
nation must be discarded. AS early
as the ninth century, Russian Nov
gorod was a tlourishing republic, one
| in which the people ruled as actually
| as any free city or mediaval re-
public of the west, and it throve until
I147S. The turning points in this first
era were the swarming OF the Rus
slams from the Carpathians over the
| lmitless lands east and north, the
rise of numerous and vigorous prin-
cipalities and the acceptance of Greek
! Christianity. The master minds were
Oleg, the warrior; Queen Olga, the
first Christian ruler; Vladimir, the
~ .;o of in QSQ and
Yaroslaf, the legislator
Unfortunately for Russian nation
atty the dominions of Yaroslaf split
into fragments from 1854 to 1898.
This disunion opened the way for the
Mongols, and political and economic
development was checked for four
centuries, first through enslavement to
the Tartars from Asia. Noygorod
alone kept its freedom. The Oriental
dominance destroyed the powers OF
Russian self-government that had at
tanned no inconsiderable growth, halt
ed the onward march of native civil
ization and held Russia back behind
western Europe for more than two
hundred years. Oriental practices and
policies were stamped into the Rus
sian character and severed Russia
more and more from fellowship with
Scandinavia, Germany, France and
England. Justice to Russia requests
that these misfortunes be remember
ed and allowance made for them. Its
people have never had the fair chance
that western people have enjoyed.
These facts are the key to history.
Under Ivan the Great, Basil ", and
Ivan the Terrible G462-15S4 Russia
it's national life and entered on its !
great career. They originated the
policy that Peter the Great and cap
able rulers among his successors have
Russia a European state. Inch by
inch. except in the case of Siberia
Russia fought its way to the seas
and conquered a deserved place for
itself in the commonwealth of Eu-
rope. Force of circumstances made !
it's government an autocracy. after |
"despotism tempered by assassina-
tior," but the Code Alexis of l645, |
the first in Europe to recognize the |
equality of all men in the eyes of the |
law. the national constitution of 1870, |
the humanitarian:sm of Alexander |,
who contributed most effectively to
overthrow of Napoleon the Great. and |
the reforms of Alexander III, show |
that the Russian masses have an in
stnct for freedom and a latent ca
pacity for self-government
The blOts on the Russian annals
are many and dark, but the Russian
people have admirable qualities, and,
on the whole, Russia stands for the
progress of the Slav peoples and their
rise Ia their rightful place in the sun.
The European Slav in general and the
Russian in particular, as demon
strated 10y his great and remarkable
literature and his fervent piety, have
a providential destiny that will make
for the welfare of humanity.