PETER OF RUSSIA

We have always thought that Peter the Great was more worthy of that epithet, than any Prince to whose name it has been affixed. Peter was a great man. He was truly GREAT. His intellect was of the highest order—and his sole study through life was to make his subjects wiser and happier. He introduced among barbarians the arts and the courtesies of civilized life—and he paved the way to the grandeur of the Russian Empire. His name is never mentioned by a Russian but with the utmost veneration and respect. Peter the Great was a practical Mechanic. He was a carpenter and a blacksmith—and his tools are now preserved with great care in the Museum of St. Petersburgh, and are pointed out to strangers with all the marks of devotion which are exhibited by good Catholics, when exposing to the unhallowed gaze of heretics, the holiest relics.

Peter built one of the noblest maritime cities in the world, and thither removed his Court. He introduced the European discipline into his armies—and taught them to fight and conquer. He laid the foundation for a navy, and furnished his artificers with models of naval architecture constructed by himself. He facilitated communication through the different parts of his immense Empire by making public roads, some of which were upwards of one thousand miles in length! He established manufactories of various kinds—the first of which was pins. He made just laws and caused them to be respected.

But more than all, the Russian women have reason to bless the memory of Peter. Previous to his reign, women in Russia were not allowed to see their intended husbands until their nuptial day—and among the presents which the bridegroom received from his bride on this important occasion was a handful of rods—intimating that if she should ever conduct improperly, she was ready to submit to marital chastisement. After marriage the husband never allowed the wife to be seated at the same table with him—he could even kill her with impunity. On the other hand, a woman who murdered her husband was sentenced to be buried alive! But Peter, knowing well the humanizing influence which woman exerts over the character of man, caused laws to be enacted in her favor—and raised her from a slave to become the companion of man !”— Sun