Vladimir

“ Then turning to Vladimir he said in a tone of authority, "Follow me, sir! It is right that Count Kostia should receive your last breath."
Vladimir reflected for a moment, then rising, said:
"You are right. I must see him again before I die; but give me your arm, for the poison begins to work and my legs are very weak."
They began to walk, Stephane preceding them a few steps. At intervals, Vladimir would exclaim:
"To die—to breathe no more—no more to see the sun—no more to remember—to forget all!" And then he added, "One thing disturbs my happiness. I am not sufficiently revenged!" ”

“ At last Vladimir found that he was going in the wrong direction. He stopped; began to reflect, recollect, and consider; till at last he became convinced that he ought to have turned to the right. He did so now. His horse could scarcely drag along. But he had been more than an hour on the road, and Jadrino could not now be far. He drove and drove, but there was no getting out of the field. Still snow-drifts and ditches. Every moment the sledge was upset, and every moment Vladimir had to raise it up. ”

“ But at a certain princely banquet Nikitich rose to his feet in his place at one end of the oaken board, and said:
“Prince Vladimir, Fair Sun of royal Kiev, I have served thee long and faithfully, but always within the confines of the royal palace. Give me leave to wander farther, and first of all through the narrow lanes of Kiev town.”
“Young nestling,” said Prince Vladimir, “fly not from the nest. Young colt of the open steppe, gallop not away.” But the heroes of Holy Russia who sat at the board of Prince Vladimir had pity upon the young man and they said, “Go, Nikitich, and ask your mother.” ”

“ Vladimir was now master. He was one of those powerful, determined characters who found primitive states: large in person, self-willed, shrewd, with strong impulses and limitless activity.
Russia was pagan at that time, but there were a few Christians in Kief, and some writers think Yaropolk himself was on that side. In that case, Vladimir’s triumph over his brother was in the first instance a victory for primitive ideas. At all events, there came in with Vladimir a greater activity in the ancient religion, and for some time the new prince was its leader. ”

“ This Vladimir has the ironical intolerance characteristic of materialists. As to his professional ability there can be no doubt. The Count has entirely recovered; he is better than I have ever seen him. What vigor, what activity of mind! What confounds me is, that in our discussions, I come to see in him, in about the course of an hour, only the historian, the superior mind, the scholar; I forget entirely the man of the iron boots, the somnambulist, the persecutor of my Stephane, and I yield myself unreservedly to the charm of his conversation. Oh, men of letters! men of letters! ”

“ As long as he keeps peasants
⁠In reverence and thrall.
“They ridicule our sermons
⁠As were they asses’ bray,
And they have now to no one
⁠For Vladimir to pray.
“They need some god to make them
⁠Quail with his thunder’s roar—
We cannot work without one,
⁠You must some god restore!” ”

“ Then the ambassador took the little travelling bow in her hand and fitted to the bow-string a flaming shaft of steel.
The cord twanged, Prince Vladimir stepped quickly aside, the arrow sang a journeying song and shivered the trunk of the ancient oak, so that the sun streamed through it.
“I will prove this ambassador once again,” murmured Prince Vladimir in his royal beard. “If he (she) be a woman he (she) will have no taste for a wrestling match.” ”

“ Holy Saint Vladimir, equal to the apostles, preserve us from such demons as that Swedish maniac when he caught sight of Kuzmá and me and Gavril! He rushed straight at us like a wild bull, bellowing and shouting, and then—what think you, Mercifulness?—he whipped this very pistol from his pocket and banged one shot at Kuzmá and one at me. Me he missed, by the mercy of the Highest, and thanks, doubtless, to the interposition of my patron saint, Alexander of the Neva; but Kuzmá was struck by a bullet in the arm, and lay yelling on the ground. ”

“ Mr Vladimir went on, as if delivering a scientific lecture, "but they must be sufficiently startling--effective. Let them be directed against buildings, for instance. What is the fetish of the hour that all the bourgeoisie recognise--eh, Mr Verloc?"
Mr Verloc opened his hands and shrugged his shoulders slightly.
"You are too lazy to think," was Mr Vladimir's comment upon that gesture. "Pay attention to what I say. The fetish of to-day is neither royalty nor religion. Therefore the palace and the church should be left alone. You understand what I mean, Mr Verloc?" ”

“ Then all the guests grew silent, and for a long time no man spoke a word; and as often as the eye of Vladimir sought out one man, he took pains to hide himself behind some one bigger. At length there stood up in his place the bold, brave youth Nikitich, who could both read and write, and said:
"My lord and master, Prince Vladimir, have I leave to speak what is in my mind without fear of speedy death or distant exile or heavy chastisement?" ”

“ Was there aught in Kiev or in the train of Vladimir to compare with India the Glorious?"
"Only one thing, lady mother," said Diuk, who had seen enough of splendour, "a man and a hero, Ilya of Murom the Old Cossáck. And for his renown I would barter all the wealth of India the Glorious." ”

“ On he went, quietly watching until he came to Kiev town, where he went to the inn and entered into conversation with men of the place. From these fellows he learnt that Prince Vladimir was holding a great feast, and that his guests were eating the white swan and drinking green wine of priceless value.
As it happened, just at that moment the boasting time had come. One man bragged of his horse, another of his valour, a third of his sharp sword, a fourth of his young wife, and a wise man who had not drunk so well, of the goodness of his father and the tenderness of his mother. ”

“ They summoned Vladimir to give up the woman that they might punish her. Vladimir took fright, and fled to Hungary with his family and his treasures. This was all the boyards desired, and they offered the throne to Roman, prince of Volhynia (1188) . But Bela, king of Hungary, brought back the fugitive prince with an army, and entered Galitch. There he suddenly changed his mind, and coveted this beautiful country, rich in salt and minerals, for himself. He threw his protégé Vladimir into prison, and proclaimed his own son Andrew. ”

“ Vladimir, in the zeal of his recent conversion to Christianity, cast into the waters of the Dnieper at Kief the huge wooden, silver-headed, golden-bearded idol of Perun the Thunderer, and in baptizing his twelve sons set an example which was quickly followed by the rest of the population of his grand duchy, he was very far from convincing his people that thunderings in the future were to be regarded as merely impersonal manifestations of the forces of nature. ”

“ And Mr Vladimir indulged mentally in an enormous and derisive fit of merriment, partly at his own astonishment, which he judged naive, but mostly at the expense of the universally regretted Baron Stott-Wartenheim. His late Excellency, whom the august favour of his Imperial master had imposed as Ambassador upon several reluctant Ministers of Foreign Affairs, had enjoyed in his lifetime a fame for an owlish, pessimistic gullibility. His Excellency had the social revolution on the brain. ”

“ The multitude then came up from the water nominal Christians.
Vladimir, who was sincere and truthful in all these strange movements, was in a transport of joy. Profoundly excited by the sublimity of the scene, he raised his flooded eyes to heaven, and, with great fervor, offered the following simple and touching prayer:—
“O thou Creator of heaven and earth! extend thy blessing to these thy new children. May they know thee as the true God, and be strengthened by thee in the true religion! Come to my help against the temptations of the Evil Spirit, and I will praise thy name.” ”

“ Vladimir’s son by his first wife was married to a daughter of Roman. She was in Galitch at that time. Roman, the crafty Prince of Volynia, tempted the boyars of Galitch. To win for himself the principality, he urged them against the unworthy Vladimir. Common people were true to Vladimir, but the boyars sent these words to him: “The people do not oppose thee, but they will not bow down to a priest’s wife. Take whatever princess seems good to thee; they will receive any decent woman, but they will put an end to the priest’s wife.” ”

“ The youth’s quiet determination had more effect upon Vladimir than weeks of persuasion, and he bade Yermak choose what charger he desired from the royal stables as well as the armour which suited him best from the armoury. Off went the youth in great glee and equal haste, but the chain mail which he found was so rusty that he flung it down with impatience upon the brick floor, whereupon all the rust flew from it; so he picked it up, selected weapons to his taste, ran to the stables, saddled a horse, mounted it and rode at topmost speed to the pavilion of the heroes. ”

“ His son Yaroslaf, whom he had made ruler of Novgorod, had refused to pay tribute, and the old prince, forced to march against his rebel son, died of grief on the way.
With all his faults, Vladimir deserved the title of Great which his country has given him. He put down the turbulent tribes, planted colonies in the desert, built towns, and embellished his cities with churches, palaces, and other buildings, for which workmen were brought from Greece. Russia grew rapidly under his rule. He established schools which the sons of the nobles were made to attend. ”

“ Nevertheless, Vladimir had fully made up his mind to have himself baptized by an archbishop. It was his lifelong habit, when he wanted anything, to take it by force. He had taken two thirds of his dominions in that way, and, as we have seen, it was in that way that he got his wife Rogneda. So now that he wanted an archbishop, he determined to take one. Calling his army together, he declared war on the Greek emperors, and promising his soldiers all the pillage they wanted, he marched away towards Constantinople. ”

“ It was a lovely face with dark eyes that brought back to Vladimir the sound of silver laughter, of troika bells, and the sight of gilt domes, the blue sky and snow-covered streets of Moscow.
“Most of us went to Paris, but I chose Pomerania,” the girl explained easily. “And now sleep. Tomorrow we’ll talk.”
But the next day, the girl didn’t stop to talk, despite her promise. She placed Vladimir’s food on a stool near his bed and left, smiling her lip smile, as she slipped her feet into the wooden shoes at the door.
When he finished his food, he felt so much stronger that he arose and dressed. ”

“ But Vladimir was a very pious prince in his heathen way, and feeling that the gods had greatly favored him, he made rich feasts of thanksgiving in their honor. He ordered splendid memorials to various deities to be erected throughout the country, and he specially honored Perune, the father of the gods, for whom he provided a new pair of golden whiskers—golden whiskers being the special glory of Perune. ”

“ In amazement Vladimir looked at the barefooted peasant girl who had entered, for she spoke Russian, and a Russian with the accent of a grande dame of Petrograd. In one hand she held a pair of wooden shoes, and in the other a glass of milk. She smiled at him with her lips but not with her eyes.
“I daren’t leave my shoes outside or the dog will run off with them. He’s very strong.” ”

“ There is no tie so strong as the tie of faith, and in no country has it shown more strength than in Russia.
Vladimir died in 1015, leaving twelve sons and also a nephew, or son, namely Sviatopolk. These sons were from various mothers, and great trouble rose quickly among them. Sviatopolk, whom people called “the sinful son of two fathers,” could claim Vladimir’s heritage as a nephew of Vladimir, and son of Yaropolk. He was the only one of the heirs who was in Kief when the prince died, and he claimed the throne at once by virtue of his seniority. ”

“ The first great event in Russian history is the nominal conversion of a powerful king to Christianity, in the tenth century, named Vladimir, whose reign was a mixture of cruelty, licentiousness, and heroism. Seeing the necessity of some generally recognized religion, he sent ten of his most distinguished men into all the various countries then known, to examine their religious systems. Being semi-barbarians, they were disposed to recommend that form which had the most imposing ceremonial, and appealed most forcibly to the senses. ”

“ And now Vladimir, being surrounded and supported by believers in his own domestic circle, and encouraged by seeing that his boyars and suite were prepared and ready to embrace the faith, made a proclamation to the people, "That whoever, on the morrow, should not repair to the river, whether rich or poor, he should hold him for his enemy." At the call of their respected lord all the multitude of the citizens in troops, with their wives and children, flocked to the Dnieper; and without any manner of opposition received holy baptism as a nation from the Greek bishops and priests. ”

“ Vladimir (12) , capital of a government in the centre of Russia, 120 m. NE. of Moscow; once practically the capital of the country, with many remains of its ancient grandeur.
Vladimir I. the Great or St., grand-duke of Russia; converted to Christianity through his wife Anna Romanovna, laid the foundation of the Russian empire; has been canonised by the Russian Church; d. 1015.
Vladimir II., surnamed Monomachus; succeeded to the throne of Russia in 1113, and consolidated it by the establishment and enforcement of just laws; was married to Gida, a daughter of King Harold of England (1063-1126) . ”