ecognized 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. The
commissioners came to Mecca, but soon left with contempt, since
Mohammedanism then made too great demands upon the powers of
self-control, and prohibited the use of many things to which the
barbarians were attached. They were no better pleased with the
Manichean philosophy, which then extensively prevailed in the East;
for this involved the settlement of abstract ideas, for which
barbarians had no relish. They disliked Roman Catholicism, on account
of the arrogant claims of the pope. Judaism was spurned, because it
had no country, and its professors were scattered over the face of the
earth. But the lofty minarets of St. Sophia, and the extravagant
magnificence of the Greek worship, filled the commissioners with
admiration; and they easily induced Vladimir to adopt the forms of the
Greek Church; which has ever since been the established religion of
Russia. But Christianity, in its corrupted form, failed to destroy,
and scarcely alleviated, the traits of barbarous life. Old
superstitions and vices prevailed; nor were the Russian territories on
an equality with the Gothic kingdoms of Europe, in manners, arts
learning, laws, or piety.

[Sidenote: The Tartar Conquest.]

When Genghis Khan, with his Tartar hordes, overran the world Russia
was subdued, and Tartar princes took possession of the throne of the
ancient czars. But the Russian princes, in the thirteenth century,
recovered their ancient power. Alexander Nevsky performed exploits of
great brilliancy; gained important victories over Danes, Swedes,
Lithuanians, and Teutonic knights; and greatly enlarged the boundaries
of his kingdom. In the fourteenth century, Moscow became a powerful
city, to which was transferred the seat of government, which before
was Novgorod. Under the successor of Ivan Kalita, the manners, laws,
and institutions of the Russians became fixed, and the absolute power
of the czars was established. Under Ivan III., who ascended the
Muscovite throne in 1462, the Tartar rule was exterminated, and the
various provinces and principalities, of which Russia was composed,
were brought under a central government. The Kremlin, with its mighty
towers and imposing minarets