The daily phoenix. (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, April 25, 1875, Image 1
BY JULIAN A. SELBY
an, the T?irrible-~Tho Wickedest Man
the World Ever Saw.
Precisely at what time the faith?
ful and affectionate subjects of his
Majesty Ivan IV, Czar of all the
Russins, conferred upon him his pet
name, "The Terrible," history ne?
glects to inform us, but wo are left
in no uncertainty as to the entire
appropriateness of the title, which
is now inseparably linked with his
baptismal name. Ho inherited the
throne at the age of throe years,
and'bis early, education was care?
fully attended to by his faithful
guardians, who snubbed and scared
him, m the hope that they might
so far weaken his intellect as to
secure a permanent control over
bim, and through him govorn
Russia as they pleased. They
made a foot-stool of him sometimes
and foot-ball at others, and, under 1
their, system of training, tho dovo-)
lopment of those qualities of ruind
and heart for which he is cele?
brated was remarkably rapid. He
was always Ivan tho terrified, and
he became Ivan the terriblo before
he was old enough to have played
a reasonably good gamo of marbles,
or to have become tolerably ex?
pert in the art of mumbling the
peg. Indeed, it would seem that
the young grand prince was whol?
ly insensible to the joys of . those
and tho other excellent sports iu
which ordinary youth delight, and,
being pf ah ingenious turn of mind,
ho invented others better suited to
his tastes .. and character. One of
these pastimes?perhaps the first
and simplest one devised by the
youthful genius?consisted iu the
dropping of pats, dogs and other
domestic animals from tho top of
tho palace to the pavement below,
and' sentimental, historians have
construed these interesting experi?
ments upon the law of gravitation
into cruelty. Another of the young
Czar's t amusoments was to turn
half-fashioned pet bears loose upon
passing pedestrians, and it is the
part of charity to suppose that his
purpose jn this was to study the
phsychological and physiognomical
phenomena of fear. A less profit?
able way lie had of accomplishing
the sarao thingj was by throwing,
or as youthful Americans phrase it,
"shying" stones at passers by, con
a screen. He cultivated his skill
in horsemanship by riding over
elderly people, cripples and chil?
dren. In sliort, his boyish sports
were all of ah original and highly
interesting sort.
Up to the ago of 13, Ivan was J
under the tutelage of a council, of
which the Prince Shuisky was
chief,' and it was this prince who
domineered over the boy and made
a foot-stool and a foot-ball of his
body. At that age Ivan asserted
his independence in a very positive
and emphatic way, which oven the
Prince Shuisky could not misap?
prehend. The young Czar was
out hunting, accompanied by Shu?
isky and other princes and boyards,
among whom was Prince Gluisky,
a rival of Shuisky's, who was pre?
judiced against that excellent gen?
tleman. At his suggestion, Ivan
addressed his guardian Shuisky in
language which the latter deemed
insolent. Shuisky replied angrily,
and Ivan requested his dogs to
remonstrate with tho prince, which
they did by' tearing him limb from
limb.
. Having thus silenced the dicta?
tion, of .Shuisky, the young Prince
becath? f the ward of the no less
excellent Gluisky, and wo>s carefully
tatigl&ihat tho only way by'whicn
he could effectually assorts authority
was by punishment. It was made
clear to^is^bn^ding intellect, top,,
that. #13 shortest, simplest,i, and
altogether;the best way to get .rid
of disagreeable people, was W put
them to death, and throughout bio
life Ivan nover forgot this lesson
for a single moment. Power, he
was tbjd, was worthless unless it
'was used, and the only way in
which it could bo really used was
by oppression*; For three years
not pains were spared to teach him
cipfes of governmental science
meanwhile behind
j $ . :?? 'f.. ?> ? Vi ?ari.T-. (f.
'Let our Just Censu
CO
imderlying the young Czar's sys
tom, became alarmed and fired the
city one night. When Ivan awoke
ho was terrified, being of an ab?
normally norvous temperament,
and the apparition of a warning
monk, together with the inlluence
of Anastatia, the young Czarina,
led tho Czar to abandon the simple
and straight-forward methods of |
government in which ho had been
bred, aud for thirteen years, under
the dictation of Alexis Adaseheffl
and the monk Sylvester, Ivan de?
voted himself to tho commonplace I
employments of developing Russia]
politically and socially. He dis?
missed his ministers and put others
in their places.' Ho re-organized
the army; revised the code in the
intorest of abstract justice; equal?
ized assessments; subdued the
Tartars; established forts for tho
protection of tho frontiers; laid tho
foundation for tho future greatness
of his empire; began the work
which Was completed so grandly!
Under Potcr the Great; introduced!
printing into Russia; added greatly
to her possessions; checked the
abuses of her clergy; brought ar- J
tists from Western Europe, and in
a hundred ways made himself]
famous by doing those things which
historians lovo to chronicle.
Meanwhile, his genius for go?
verning upon tho Giuiskan system!
lay dormant. It was not dead, bnt
slept, and after its nap of thirteen
years, it awoke one day refreshed.
Anastatia, the beautitiul qncen,
whose inlluence had been supremo
for so long a time, died, and Ivan
was free again. He recalled an old
bishop who had been banished for
his crimes, and consulted him as to
his future course.
"If you wish to be truly h sove- ]
reign," said this eminent prelate,
"never seek a counsellor wiser
than yourself: never receive advice
from any man. Command, but
never obey; and you will be a
terror to the boyards. Remember
that he who is permitted to begin
by advising is certain to end by
riding his sovereign."
Hero was advice of a sort suited
to Ivan's taste and education, and
for reply he kissed the good bishop's
hand, saying:
"My own father could not have |
spoken more wisely."
That the Czar spoke sincerely,
his faithfulness in following thel
bishop's precepts abundantly at-j
'?tests.
His ministers and advisers being I
manifestly wiser than he, and
therefore not at all the proper kind
of people to have about, he straight?
way banished them. He then Begun
n diligent search for their partisans, j
some of whom he put to death,
condemning others to imprison?
ment and torture. He next turned
his attention to his own household,
which he resolved.upon ruling ab?
solutely, at least, if not well. One
of the princes made himself disa?
greeable by declining to participate!
freely in the pleasures of the place,
and for the sake of domestic harmo-1
ny, Ivan had him poniarded while
ho was at his prayers. Another so
far overstepped the bounds of cour- [
tesy and propriety as to remonstrate
with one of the new favorites upon |
his improper conduct, and Ivan, in
order that there might be no bick?
ering and hard feeling in his]
family, slew the discourteous prince
with his own hand.
He was in the habit of carrying an
iron rod about with him, and he had
a playful way of striking his friends
with it now and then, merely for
his amusement. His pleasantries
pf this and other like sorts were
endless. One day Prince Boris, a
boyard, came to pay his respects to
the Czar, and as he bowed to the
ground, according to custom, Ivan,
seizing a knife, suid, "God bless
thee, my dear Boris; thou de
servest a proof of my favor," and
with thatkindly cut the nobleman's
ear off.
When Prince Knrbsky, whom he
had threatened with death, lied to
Poland, and wrote him a letter
thence, telling him pretty plainly
what he thought of him. tho Czar
playfully struck the bearer of the
mipsive with bis iron rod, as a pre?
liminary to the reading of the
letter, and the blood flowed con?
spicuously from the man's wounds,
while Ivan pondered the words of his
rebeftous subject,. He then became
convinced that the boyards gene
IjUMBIA, S. C, SUNDAY ]
rally sympathized with Kurbsky,
and to teach them better, ho put a
good many of them to death by
torture, and doprived many others
of their estates. His alarm was
very real, however, for he was a
phenomenon of abject cowardice.
Ho therefore lied to a fortified place
in tho midst of a dense forest,
where ho remained a month, writ?
ing letters to the people, telling
them that he had abdicated and
left them to thoir fate, as a punish?
ment for their disloyalty and their
crimes. Singularly enough, his
ilight terrified the people. He had
taught them that ho was their god
as God was his, and his flight to
Alexandrovsky seemed to them
a withdrawal of the protection of
Providence itself. Business was
suspended. The courts ceased to
sit. Tho people were in an agony
of terror. A large deputation of
boyards and priests journeyed to
Alexandrovsky, and besought the
sovereign to return-and resume his
holy functions as the head of the
church, that the souls of so many
millions might not perish. Exact?
ing of clergy and nobles, au admis?
sion of his absolute right to do as
he pleased, and apromis that they
would in no way interfere with or
resist authority, he returned to
Moscow. Here lie surrounded
himself with a body-guard of des?
peradoes 1,000 strong at first, and
afterwards increased to (5,000.
whose duty it was to discover the
Czar's enemies and sweep them
from tho face of tho earth. As
emblems of these their functions,
each member of the guard carried
at his saddle-bow a dog's head aud
a broom. As tho punishment of
tho Czar's enemies included the
confiscation of their property, a
large part of which was given to
the guards themselves, these were
always singularly successful in
discovering tho ' disaffection of
wealthy nobles, discovering it
oftentimes before the nobles them?
selves were awaro of their own
treasonable sentiments.
Feeling unsafe still, Ivan built
for himself a new palace outside
the walls of tho Kremlin, making
it -an impregnable castle. Then
finding that even this did not lull
his shaken nerves to rest, he pro?
ceeded to put danger afar off by
dispossessing the 12,000 rich no?
bles whose estates lay nearest the
palace, and giving their property
to his personal followers, so that
the head which wore the crown
might lio easy in the conviction
that there were no possible enemies
near on the other side of the im?
pregnable walls which shut him iu. ;
But even then he could not sleep i
easily, and so he repaired again to]
his forest stronghold at Alcxan
drovsky, where he surrounded him
self with guards and ramparts.
Here he converted the palace into
a monastery, made himself abbot,
and his rascally followers monks.
He rigorously enforced monastic I
observances, of tho severest sort, |
and no doubt became a saint, in!
his own estimation. He spent
most of his time at prayers, allow?
ing himself no recreation except a
daily sight of the torture of the
prisoners who were confined in the
dungeons of the fortress. His
guards were allowed a rather larger
share of amusements, and they
wandered from street to .street]
during the day, punishing with j
their hatchets such disloyal people
as they encountered. They were j
moderate in thoir indulgences,
however, in imitation of their sove?
reign, doubtless, and it is recorded
to their credit that, at this time,
they rarely ever killed more than
twenty people in one day, while
sometimes the number was as low
as five.
But a quiet lifo of this kind
could not always content the Czar.
Naturally, he grew tired of indi?
vidual killings, and began to long
for some more exciting sport.
When, one day, a quarrel arose
between some of his guards and &
few of the people Of Torjek, Ivan
saw at a glance that all tho inhabi?
tants of Torjek were mutinous
rebols, and of bourse it became his
duty to put ^ them all to 'death,
which he straightway did.
Up to this time, the genius of
Ivan seems to have been cautiously
feeling its Way, and so the part of
his history already sketched may
be regarded as a preliminary to
MORNING, APRIL 25, 1875
his real career. His extraordinary
capacity for ruling an empire on
the principles taught him by the
Prince Gluisky, was now about to
show itself in all its greatness. A
criminal of Novgorod, feeling him?
self aggrieved by the authorities of
that city, who had incarcerated
him for a time, wrote a letter offer?
ing to placo the city under Polish
protection. This lottcr ho signed,
not with his own name, hut that
of the Archbishop; and, instead of
sending it to tho King of Polaud, to
whom it was addressed, he secreted
it in the Church of St. Sophia.
Then going to Aloxandrovsky, he
told Ivan that treason was contom
platod by tho Novgorodians, and
that the treasonable letter would
be found behind the statue of the
Virgin, in tho church. Ivan sent a
messenger to find tho letter, and
upon his return the Czar began his
march on tho doomed city. Hap?
pening to pass through tho town
of K?hr, on his way to Novgorod,
ho put all its inhabitants to death,
with the purpose, doubtless, of
training his troops in the art of
wholesale massacre, before requir?
ing them to practico it upon the
people of Novgorod. Finding this
system of drill an agreeable one,
he repeated it upon his arrival at
the city of Twer, and then, in
?order that the other towns along his
route might have no reason to
complain of partiality, he bestowed
upon all of thorn a like manifesta?
tion of his imperial regard.
It is not my purpose to describe
in detail the elaborate and inge?
nious cruelty practiced in the
massacre of the Novgorodians.
The story is sickening. Ivan first
heard mass, and then began the
butchery, which lasted for many
days, was conducted with tho ut
most deliberation and ingenious
cruelty, and ended in tho slaughter,
of 00,000 people. Ivan had select?
ed certain prominent citizens, to
tho number of several hundred,
whom he reserved for public und
particularly cruel execution at
Moscow. Summoning the small
and wretched remnant of the popu?
lation to his presence, he besought
their prayers for the continuance
and prosperity of his realm, und,
with gracious words of farewell,
took Ins departure from the mur?
dered city. Tho execution in Mos?
cow of the reserved victims, was a
scene too horrible to be described
in these pages. Indeed, the half
of Ivan's enormities may not be
told here at all, and even the his- J
torians content themselves with the
barest outlines of many parts of
his career. He thought himself in
some sense a deity, and blasphem?
ously assorted that his throne was ,
surrounded by archangels, pre- |
cisely as (rod's. Identifying him-]
sell' with the Almighty, he claimed !
exemption from the observance of j
Clod's laws, and, in defiance of the |
fundamental principles of tho j
Greek Church, of which he was the j
head, ho married seven wives. Be-j
lieving that he might with equal
impunity insult the moral sense of
other nations, he actually sought
to add England's Queen, Elizabeth, j
to tho list of his spouses. And ho i
was so far right in his estimate of j
his power to do as ho pleased, that,
the virgin queen, head of the Eng
lish Church, while she would not!
herself become one of his wives,
consented to assist him, and select-j
ed for his eighth consort Mary
Hastings, the (laughter of the Karl!
of Huntington. She came near'
bringing about a marriage between
the two in the face of the fact that
the two, churches, of which Ivan
and she were respectively head
were agreed in condemning po?
lygamy as u heinous crime. For
one only of his heinous crimes Ivan
showed regret, if not remorse. His
oldest and favorite son, when tho
city of Pskof was beseiged by the
Poles, asked that he might be en-1
trusted with the command of a|
body of troops, with which to us
siee the beleaguered place. Ivan
was so great a coward that he
dared not trust the affeetioun and
loyalty of even his own favorite
child, and in a fit of mingled fear
and rage, he beat tho young man to
death with his iron staff, saving:
"Rebel, yon are leagued^yith the
boyards m a conspiracy to dethrone
me."
Remorse seized upon him at onee,
and his sufferings and hie fenrs of
;nd the True Event."
YOI
retribution wore terrible. Finally
ho determined to abandon the
throne and seek pence in a convent,
but the infatuated Russians en?
treated him not to desert them.
Ho died at last, in 1580, and even
on his death bed attempted oue of
the most infamous crimes of his
life, and was balked ouly by the
flight of his victim and his owu
inability to follow her. She was a
member of his family, being the
wife of his son.
Did Hchchcrezade herself even
imagine a stranger story than this? |
And yet it is plain history, only a j
fragment of the truth.
"Idiot!" exclaimed a lady coming I
out of the theatre, one evening, as
a gentleman accidentally stepped
on li'T trailing skirt. "Which one
of ns'.J" blandly responded the man.
Free Lunch,
AT "LITTLE MACK'S ALL NIGHT
SALOUN," corner Gervais and Lin?
coln streets, from 11 to 2 in the morning.
April 24 3?
New Spring Millinery.
MUS. M. O'CONNEEhas just |
(opened, at the store formerly
occupied by F. B. Orchard AI
Co., a fine and well selected
stock of MILLINERY AND!
FANCY GOODS, to which she would in?
vite the attention of the ladies of Colum?
bia and vicinity. Prices moderate.
April 2 lmt
Boarding.
TV/TISS C6RDELIA MORDECAJ, Co-|
xTj. lunibiu, S. O, announces that hi
establishment, South-west corner of I
Kumter and Lady streets, is prepared to
accommodate BOARDERS, permanent
and transient, where tho taste and com?
forts of the most fastidious will be gua?
ranteed. March 20 \VA
Odd Fellows' School.
THE undersigned has taken
charge of this School, and re?
spectfully solicits patronage.
No labor spared to advance
^ pupils committed to hts care.
Terms -Primary Department, $3.00 per
month; Intermediate, Si.00; Languages,
*?5.00. J. J. McCANTS.
April ."i lino Principal.
Mllii
jUME XI?NUMBER 2^ 3 ^
FIRBMEN^S
AFIREMAN'S TOURNAMENT will
bo bold in Columbia, S. C, on
THTIRBDAY, MAY 6," 1875.
Under the auspices of tho Palmetto and
Independent Steam Fire Engine Com?
panies and the Phoenix Hook and. Lad?
der Company.
The following prizes have been offered
by the citizens for competition:
1st Prize, for steamers.S100,
2d " ". 75
lta *? Hook A Ladder Co.. 75
2d **. " " .. '* " GO
1st " " Hose Cos. and Hose
Reels.? 75
2<l " " " " 50
Compnnies intending to participate in
the Tournament, will plcaso communi?
cate with Capt. W. B. Stanley, Chief En?
gineer, Columbia, S. C.
Copies of the Order of Exercine -will bo
furnished on application to "'. H. Blnck
wcll, Secretary of tho Com.?itee of Ar?
rangements.
THOS. DODAMF.AD, Chairman.
T. II. Blaokweli., Secrotary.
To Mio Citizjcs of Colombia.
Coi.T'MBiA, S. C, April 17, 1875.
THE undersigned, on behalf of the
hand engines of the city of Colum?
bia, have appointed tho following per?
sons to solicit contributions to aid them
in defraying tho expenses of tho TOUR?
NAMENT to bo given by them on' the
11th OF MAY next, viz: Messrs. John
Dennison, H. E. Hayno, Isaac Black, Jr.,
C. M. Wilder, Thos. J. Gregory and
William Rose.
Tho members of both companies have
contributed to a fund for that purpose,
but failing to raise a sufficient amount,
they are compelled to appeal to a gene?
rous public to supplement their own
contributions with a sum sufficient to
pay* the expenses. |
It is unnecessary for us to refer to our
voluntary services, given at al} times for
the protection of the lives and property*
of the citizens of Columbia; we feel they
are known.and appreciated, und that our
appeal will meet with a. hearty, liberal
response. ' H. E. HAYNE,
? President Enterprise F. E. Co.
JOHN DENNISON,
President Vigilant F. E. Co.
Davis' Diamond Hams.
a FULL supply of these cbiice HAMS
j\. just received and for sale by
April 16 JOHN AGNEW AEON.
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