The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-07-16
MANY RUSSIAN RULERS HAVE
 BEEN VICTIMS OF ASSASSINS

This is the anniversary of the as- 1 sasstnation, in 1762, of Peter III, emperor of Russia, one of the many Muscovite rulers who have been mur- dered. Since the foundation of the khouse of. Romanoff as the ruling power in Russia, and even before that, a considerable proportion of Russian monarchs have died with I their boots on,' and the lives of all have been shadowed by constant fear of sudden and violent death. In the old days ambitious rivals were always plotting against the occupant of the throne, while in modern times the nihi1ists have been. a continual men ace
 Of the old czars of Muscovy. who ruled over Russia from 1462 to 1889, not one escaped attacks upon his life, although these were not always sue eessfuL Ivan the Terrible, who reigned from 15S3 to 1884, escaped the assa ssain's knife which he so richly deserved. He perpetrated the m ost terrible crue1ties, and, in a fit of rage, murdered his own son and heir. It is said that he died of sor- row for that act, and in his will he left a request for divine mercy for his victims. F'eodor l. and his son Demetrius were murdered by Boris Godonof, who usurped the throne. Feodor IT. was murdered in 1905, and was succeeded by DennetFius the I'm
 
 tended to be the murdered Prince DemetriuS- He was also put to death.
 The house of Romanoff attained the throne in 1913, and under Peter l., the Great, who assumed the title of emperor, the foundation of Rus sia as an European power was laid. Peter was a coarse. ignorant and cruel savage in his personal relations, but for all his faults he had the spirit Of reformer, and zea1ousIy promot- =
 and education. Catharine l., his con sort, who succeeded him on the Rus sian throne, began her career as a servant and was first married to a Swedish dragoon. The latter was slain on the day of Catfarine's mar had been, Catharine died suddenly, at the age of forty-two, and not with- out suspicion of having been poison ed. She was succeeded by Peter II.s who was deposed. and who died rather rnysteri riousiy Ivan VI, the geon for eighteen years. and put to death in 1864. In the meantime Peter Ill.,, the son of Anne, eldest daughter of Peter the Great. had also been assassinated. The third Peter married Princess Sophia, Augusta of Anhalt,, whose name he changed to Catharine. The empress, learning of his intention of {divorcing her, took him prisoner and compelled him to sign an abdication, after which he was thrown into fortress, where on July Is, 1762, he was murdered by Orloff Although far from being conventional in morals, Catharine was a brilliant and able ruler, and one of the greatest in Russian history She died sudden1y-of< apopIexy, it is all legged, although this has been doubted lin 1796- Her only son and heir, Paul I, was the victim of a court conspiracy headed by Count Pah1en, and was murdered in his bedroom, in 1801a Alexander L., sPaul's son, died in the Crfmea- His brother, Nicholas |. survived several plots and died lof lung disease in 1855 Ills son, Alex ander IL,ewas the first of the i'm peria1 victims of Nihi1ism. After sew era1 unsuccessful atternpts upon his life, the czar was slain by a bomb thrown at him in St. Petersburg street in 1881. His son, Alexander III, spent most of his time immured in his palace, because of his fear of fine nihilists. who made numerous at ternpts on his life The present czar has also been threatened many times. but the war, while bringing death to multitudes of his subjects, has par tally relieYhd the czar of his fears.