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THE CHAUTAUQUAN.

_A MONTHLY MAGAZINE DEVOTED TO THE PROMOTION OF TRUE CULTURE. ORGAN OF
THE CHAUTAUQUA LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC CIRCLE._

    VOL. III.      MAY, 1883.      NO. 8.


Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle.

_President_, Lewis Miller, Akron, Ohio.

_Superintendent of Instruction_, J. H. Vincent, D. D., Plainfield, N. J.

_General Secretary_, Albert M. Martin, Pittsburgh, Pa.

_Office Secretary_, Miss Kate F. Kimball, Plainfield, N. J.

_Counselors_, Lyman Abbott, D. D.; J. M. Gibson, D. D.; Bishop H. W.
Warren, D. D.; W. C. Wilkinson, D. D.




REQUIRED READING

FOR THE

_Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle for 1882-83_.

MAY.


HISTORY OF RUSSIA.

By MRS. MARY S. ROBINSON.

_CHAPTER X._

ALEXANDER NEVSKI—MIKHAIL OF TVER.

We have seen that Mstislaf the Brave defied the tyranny of Andreï
Bogoliubski, in his attempt to intimidate Novgorod the Great.[A] When
Vsevolod, surnamed Big Nest, by reason of his large family, would force
the city to his will, Mstislaf again came to its rescue; and when
Iaroslaf of the Big Nest family, continuing the feud, betook himself
to Torjok near the Volga, where he obstructed the passage of the
merchants and brought famine upon the great city, Mstislaf the Bold,
of Smolensk, son of the Brave, left his powerful capital, one of the
strongest of Russia’s fortified cities, and went to the help of the
distressed people. “Torjok shall not hold herself higher than the Lord
Novgorod,” he swore in princely fashion, “I will deliver his lands,
or leave my bones for his people to bury.” Thus he became champion
and prince of the Republic. Between Iaroslaf and his brothers Iuri of
Vladimir, and Konstantin of Rostof ensued one of the family wrangles
common to the times, that was settled on the field of Lipetsk (1216),
where Konstantin allied with Mstislaf won his cause, and Iaroslaf was
compelled to renounce both his claims and his captives. When the bold
Mstislaf had put the affairs of the principality in order, he took
formal leave of the _vetché_, assembled in the court of Iaroslaf, and
resisting their entreaties to abide with them, went as we have seen
to the aid of Daniel of Galitsch.[B] But according to his wish he
was buried beside his father, the Brave, who, when at the height of
his greatness was borne down with disease, commanded that he should
be carried to Saint Sophia in Novgorod, received there the eucharist
amid the congregated citizens, crossed his once mighty arms upon his
breast, and closed his eyes forever upon the scenes that had witnessed
his achievements. In the cathedral lie the two warriors in mute
company, with the consort of Iaroslaf the Great, his son Vladimir, who
laid its foundations, the archbishop Nikita, whose prayers extinguished
a conflagration, and a goodly company of other illustrious dead.

[Footnote A: _Vid._ THE CHAUTAUQUAN for January, 1883, p. 181, col. 2.]

[Footnote B: _Vid._ THE CHAUTAUQUAN for February, 1883, p. 13, col. 2.]

In course of time the Iaroslaf who had renounced his claim to the
Republic after the defeat at Lipetsk, was elected its prince, he being
also Prince of Suzdal; but he was compelled to make good his claim
before the Grand Khan in Asia, and perished in the desert journey. Of
his two sons, Andreï succeeded him at Vladimir (Suzdal), and Alexander
at Novgorod.

The incoming of the Tatars had left the Russian realm a prey to its
northern neighbors,—the Finnish tribes, the Livonians and Swedes. In
his early years Alexander proved his capacity for leadership by a
battle won against these united forces near one of the affluents of
the Neva—an exploit that gained him his surname Nevski, and that has
