The Washington herald., 1915-04-25

the story Of the Cars and their En-
Another article will be published
next Sunday in this series of sketches
of the backgrounds of the war as Mr..
Morgan saw them In the course OF his
Journey along the route of NaPoleon's
The palace of the Cars at Moscow
represents the position of Russia in
this war and in all her struggles.
east. the other on the west. while the
front of the structure is pointed
d.s GGn' tao psIae.,
walls Of the Kremlin.. The older
ays .oo walls
east and is as Oriental as anything in
Asia; The other. which is of the
nineteenth century and opens on the
west. is as Occidental as anything in
While strolling through the halls of
the double structure, l was astonished
European to an Asiatic environment.
1t was an experience which squarely
contradicted Kipling's assertion that
never the twain shall meet" For in
those palaces of the Kremlin tho
twain met; even as they meet in the
de ena tran a he from N the Orient to the
Occident is typical of the double per-
sonality Of the Muscovite. 1t is char
acteristic Of a nation half Asiatic. half
ing runs. If you scratch Russian
you will find Tartar.
The Natal Den of the Bear.
The history of Russia, It has been said.
is the story of the Cars. OF course. that
is far from the truth. The Cars did not
make Russia, but Russia made them
They have. however. marched at the head
Of the line and 1t is easier to watch
few men than a multitude.
And the story of the Cars Is told best
Of all in the wood and brick and stone
Of the Kremlin. Nowhere else in the
compressed within SO small a space as
behind the Kremlin walls. For there Is
the natal den Of the Russian bear whence
he stole forth to plant his paws upon a
cradle Of the vastest nation Of all time.
There is the old homestead of the Roman
offs. who have steadily pushed their
boundary fences farther and farther out
until today their farm comprises a third
OF Asia and more than half of Europe.
When a person at distance first hears
of the Krenlin. the name calls up
mental picture of an immense palace like
that at Versailles or big estate like
Heidelberg or a royal fortress like the
Alhambra- 1 must confess that no
amount of advance reading quite pre-
pared me for what I saw when I en-.
tered one of its gates and mob of
towers and domes. a riot Of architecture
and color surprised my eyes. For the
and saw all about me an imperial city
of palaces and gardens, OF churches. con-
vents and shrines, of museums. courts.
and barracks of thronged streets an6
This strange. this unique city sits on a
hill in the midst of Moscow, like Beacon
Hill in the center of Boston. only the
latter is sleeper and higher Around the
~ texa TOD hrfP
- to 20 feet high and Is to 20 feet thick.
AS it winds its circling way for nearly
two miles. 1t is broken here and there by
towers and gates: A. the soef YIN. lts GaSe
around it on the other sides the traffic
OF Moscow streams by in busy streets.
where droskies rattle and trolley cars
roll along past the shops and bazaars
and hotels of the city.
The Birth of . Nation.
Long before there was a Moscow and
when its Kremlin hill was yet covered
crossed the Baltic and burst upon the
savage chaos that still reigned in Rus
STA. 1t was in the age when the vikings
sailed out of their icy wilds to conquer
at once the shores of the New World
anG the Old and spread their dominion
from Vineland to Sicily.
Those OF them who invaded Russia
did not unite the conquered Slavs in one
ration but divided the country among
themselves and set up rival capitals at
Kiev. Novgorod. vladimir and at other
points In each r,itensd nes aod
equally among the heirs Of the CHIEF.
tains until there was a multitude OF
little duchies. whose quarrels and wars
never ceased.
1t is more than seven and a half GEN.
turtles since one of those petty dukes
erected an outpost of his dukedom on
the hill where the Kremlin now stands.
I,,&- @,,1 nh Itr
and monasteries sprang up in the shad-
ow of that rude fort and under Its pro-
lection. Finally wooden wall was
built around them, but the growing town
ovcrhowed 1t and the famous city OF
Moscow started into life outside the
wall.
From the north the Firms. from the
west the Poles and ldthuanians and
swarmed in upon disunited Russia
In the presence of a common foe. the
conauerinG Morse and the conquered
Slav were drawn together and all turned
tenders of the country. Thus was born
the Russian nation.
The little fort on the Kremlin hill and
tho town That struggled about its walls
were fortunate in being SO far east from
Poland, so far south from Finland and
$" far north from Turkestan IN the era
OF the invasions. By that lucky chance,
Moscow waXed rich in comparative
peace and security and when need be !
could afford to buy Off its assailants. |
For loot was the undisguised object of
warfare in those frank and simple days. |
Tho white Russian girls" were the
strongest lure of the golden horde that
poured up out of Bokhara- although
csptives OF both sexes were In demand
in the slave marts Of the Turks and OF
Islam generally.
While the Tartars ruled and ravaged
Russia for zoo years and more. from
1898 to 1862, Moscow was burned sew
eral times. Its rich princes, however.
oftener seduced the conquering par
barians and long reigned as the sa-
traps OF the Khan of Tartary.
The city rapidly moved forward to the |
stronghold and a sanctuary of the Rus /
slams. The Tartar. however. stamped /
himself upon Moscow and the nation in /
that plastic. formative period and both /
remain to this day strange blend Of /
the Orient and the Occident such as can
not be seen in any other land.
Although Russia then lay wholly in
Europe, she became an Asiatic nation. /
All her rivers and roads led to the East. /
She had not yet reached the shores Of /
the Baltic, while hostile Poland barred |
the pathways westward by land. The |
Russians, Therefore, were entirely cut OF |
from the West and shut in with the \
Ea stern or Greek Church. from which |
they received their religion. rather than |
from Rome. and with the Mohometan /
Tartars, who shaped their political and /
social institutions.
Hence the Oriental aspect Of Moscow
and of the Krcmlin. Hence the Oriental |
autocracy Of the Cars. Hence that old /
palace Of the Cars, with its low, East. |
arm arches and its Gaudy, barbaric deco
rations, where one feels himself to be IN |