The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1917-06-12
END OF 4 DYNASTY
The Rise and Fall of the Russian
House of Romanoff.
FROM THE LION TO THE LAMB

DespotIc, but All Strong and Daring,
That Died When Nicholas H., Weak
and Timld, Was Flung Aside.
When the house Of Romanoh fell
with the abdication of Nicholas H.,
the car Of Russia, there came to an
end one Of the most extraordinary dy-
nasties In the history Of the world,
dynasty that took a stretch Of tundra
and steppe and turned 1t into an en-
pire flung across two continents and
occupying one-sixth Of the land space
of the world. 1t was the hereditary
line that produced Peter the Great and
the remarkable Catherine and many
other virile and vigorous characters,
cruel, yet efficient; wanton. yet success
full
Probably no dynasty in Europe pro-
duced so many strong figures as the
house of Romanon. Yet when it fell
1t was not due so much to the wrath
of downtrodden, betrayed people as to
the inherent weakness and shrinking
meekness Of the car.
Imagine Peter or Ivan the Terrible
or even Alexander Of recent memory
speaking as Nicholas did when inform
cd that an outbreak had occurred In
Petrograd:
LET 1t be so. Thank God i will
abdicate If that is what the people
want. l win go to Livadia (the i'm
perial estate In Crimea), to my gardens,
If the people want. I am SO fond Of
flowers"
While the first Romanoff to rule over
Russia was not crowned until 1913, the
family had become one Of influence In
Muscovy In the thirteenth century. At
that time Ivan Divinoyitch held an i'm
portant post at the court Of the grand
duke of Moscow. A daughter of Ro-
man, sixth In descent from Ivan, mar
ried Ivan the Terrible, whose chief
amusement was to watch people dying
between courses at his banquets Ro-
mans successors called themselves
ROmanOffs.
The old Tartar dynasty in Russia
came to an end In 1893. During the
next few years half dozen pretenders
ravaged the country. The 6wedes cut
In on the north and the Poles on the
west. Then the common folk and
| gentry of Russia met in convention
at Moscow and elected Michael Ro
MANOR car of the Russias. It is O
peculiar coincidence that an assembly
| Of the people chose the first Of the
Romanoffs and deposed the last OF
| them.
There followed line OF mad cars
bad czars, liberal cars, reactionary
czars, Peters, GATHERINGS, Elizabetht
| and Alexanders, all men and women Of
virility and strength OF mind regard
less of their other failings. They rule(
by force of personal strength.
This Is the descent of the recently
deposed Gear Nicholas-a lamb foalet
In nest Of tigers and nonesses. Coun
i Paul Vassin, who spent twoscore year
at the court Of Petrograd and who had
an intimate view OF three czars, In bis
i personal memoirs, composed shortly
before his death few years ago, ha(
thisAlo say of Nicholas:
Nicholas II. is one of those timid
weak natures which nevertheless like
to assert themselves at certain mo
i ments In matters utterly without i'm
| portance, but which to their eyes ap
1 pear to be vital ones. His mind is al
small as his person. He sees the big
gest events go by without being touch
4 ed or being even aware OF their grea
or tragic sides.
HE likes to be feared, but he can
not inspire respect, much less awe. 81,
feels this, and, not knowing how Il
fight against this lack of consideration
Of his person, he becomes savage in hi
wrath and, though In appearance
quiet, inoffensive little man, is capabl
Of the utmost cruelty and hardness.
when the news was brought to hin
Of the terrible disaster at Tsushima
which cost Russia the greater part o
her navy, the czar was playing tenni
In the park of Tsarskoe Selo. He reat
knen Of so many hopes and then quiet
ly resumed the game.
"When he found himself eonfronte
with the revolution Of 1905 1t neve
occurred to him that he might aver
It by putting his own person forward
On that dreadful day in January whic
ended in such bloodshed he never 70
o moment remembered the proud att
tude of his ancestor, that other Nicl
olas who on an almost similar occt
sion came out of the palace and COZ
fronted the angry crowd, forcing tn
multitude by his mere presence to IA
to their knees and submit.
''The only thought Of the car wa
to fee from danger and leave to other
the task of smothering the revolutio
In blood"
An incident reported In 1915 gives a
insight to the physical courage of th
ex-czar. or, rather, the lack Of 1t. TIL
account at the time said
'The emperor was reviewing tn
troops of General Brussiloff ON tn
Bukowina front when an Austria
fiier appeared overhead and droppe
bombs some distance from the cza
Nicholas entirely lost his self posse