Note: Corrections made in transcription are listed at the end of the file. 

The Monarchies of Continental Europe

THE EMPIRE OF RUSSIA

From the Remotest Periods to the Present Time

by

JOHN S. C. ABBOTT

BOSTON:GRAVES AND YOUNG, 24 CORNHILL. 

1859

[Illustration]

PREFACE. 

The world is now too busy to read voluminous history. The interminabledetails of battles, and the petty intrigues of courtiers andmistresses, have lost their interest. In this volume it has been ourobject to trace perspicuously the path which Russia has trod fromearliest infancy to the present hour. The career of this empire hasbeen so wild and wonderful that the historian can have no occasion tocall in the aid of fancy for the embellishment of his narrative. 

The author has not deemed it necessary to incumber his pages withnotes to substantiate his statements. The renowned Russian historian, Karamsin, who wrote under the patronage of Alexander I. , gives ampleauthentication to all the facts which are stated up to the reign ofthat emperor. His voluminous history, in classic beauty, isunsurpassed by any of the annals of Greece or Rome. It has beenadmirably translated into French by Messrs. St. Thomas and Jauffret ineleven imperial quarto volumes. In the critical citations of thisauthor, the reader, curious in such researches, will find every factin the early history of Russia, here stated, confirmed. 

There are but few valuable works upon Russia in the English language. Nearly all, which can be relied upon as authorities, are writteneither in French or German. The writer would refer those who seek amore minute acquaintance with this empire, now rising so rapidly inimportance, first of all to Karamsin. The "Histoire Philosophique etPolitique de Russie Depuis les Temps les Plus Reculés Jusqu'au NosJours, par J. Esneaux, " Paris, five volumes, is a valuable work. The"Histoire de Russie par Pierre Charles Levesque, " eight volumes, isdiscriminating and reliable. The various volumes of William Tooke uponRussian history in general, and upon the reign of Catharine, containmuch information. 

It is only since the reign of Peter the Great that Russia has begun toattract much attention among the enlightened nations of Europe. Voltaire's life of this most renowned of the Russian sovereigns, atits first publication, attracted much notice. Since then, many bookshave been written upon fragments of Russian history and individualreigns. From most of these the author has selected such events as haveappeared to him most instructive and best adapted to give the reader aclear conception of the present condition and future prospects of thisgigantic empire. The path she has trod, since her first emergence intocivilization from the chaos of barbarism, can be very distinctlytraced, and one can easily count the concentric accretions of hergrowth. This narrative reveals the mistakes which have overwhelmed herwith woe, and the wisdom which has, at times, secured for Russia peaceand prosperity. 

In writing these histories of the monarchies of Continental Europe, the author has no wish to conceal his abhorrence of aristocraticusurpation. Believing in the universal brotherhood of man, hissympathies are most cordially with the oppressed masses. If the peopleare weak and debased, the claim is only the more urgent upon thepowerful and the wise to act the part of elder brothers, holding outthe helping hand to those who have fallen. The author feels gratefulfor the reception which the first number of this series, the Empire ofAustria, has received from the American public. He hopes that thisvolume will not prove less interesting or instructive. In the courseof a few months it will be followed by the History of Italy. 

CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER I. 

PARENTAGE AND BIRTH OF RUSSIA. 

From 500 B. C. To A. D. 910. 

Primeval Russia. --Explorations of the Greeks. --ScythianInvasion. --Character of the Scythians. --Sarmatia. --Assaults Upon theRoman Empire. --Irruption of the Alains. --Conquests of Trajan. --TheGothic invasion, --The Huns--their Character and Aspect. --TheDevastations of Attila. --The Avars. --Results of Comminglings of theseTribes. --Normans. --Birth of the Russian Empire--The Three SovereignsRuric, Sineous and Truvor. --Adventures of Ascolod andDir. --Introduction of Christianity. --Usurpation of Oleg. --HisConquests. --Expedition Against Constantinople. 

CHAPTER II. 

GROWTH AND CONSOLIDATION OF RUSSIA. 

From 910 to 973. 

Expedition to Constantinople. --Treaty with the Emperor. --Last Days ofOleg. --His Death. --Igor Assumes the Scepter. --His Expedition to theDon. --Descent Upon Constantinople. --His Defeat. --SecondExpedition. --Pusillanimity of the Greeks. --Death of Igor. --Regency ofOlga. --Her Character. --Succession of Sviatoslaf. --His Impiety andAmbition. --Conquest of Bulgaria. --Division of the Empire. --Defeat, Ruin and Death of Sviatoslaf. --Civil War. --Death of Oleg. --Flight ofVladimir. --Supremacy of Yaropolk. 

CHAPTER III. 

REIGNS OF VLADIMIR, YAROSLAF, YSIASLAF AND VSEVOLOD. 

From 973 to 1092. 

Flight of Vladimir. --His Stolen Bride. --The March UponKief. --Debauchery of Vladimir. --Zealous Paganism. --Introduction ofChristianity. --Baptism in the Dnieper. --Entire Change in the Characterof Vladimir. --His Great Reforms. --His Death. --Usurpation of Sviatopolkthe Miserable. --Accession of Yaroslaf. --His Administration andDeath. --Accession of Ysiaslaf. --His Strange Reverses, --HisDeath. --Vsevolod Ascends the Throne. --His Two Flights toPoland. --Appeals to the Pope. --Wars, Famine and Pestilence. --Characterof Vsevolod. 

CHAPTER IV. 

YEARS OF WAR AND WOE. 

From 1092 to 1167. 

Character of Vsevolod. --Succession of Sviatopolk. --HisDiscomfiture. --Deplorable Condition of Russia. --Death ofSviatopolk. --His Character. --Accession of Monomaque. --Curious FestivalAt Kief. --Energy of Monomaque. --Alarm of the Emperor AtConstantinople. --Horrors of War. --Death of Monomaque. --His RemarkableCharacter. --Pious Letter To His Children. --Accession of Mstislaf. --HisShort But Stormy Reign. --Struggles For the Throne. --Final Victory ofYsiaslaf. --Moscow in the Province of Souzdal. --Death ofYsiaslaf. --Wonderful Career of Rostislaf. --Rising Power ofMoscow. --Georgievitch, Prince of Moscow. 

CHAPTER V. 

MSTISLAF AND ANDRÉ. 

From 1167 to 1212. 

Centralization of Power At Kief. --Death of Rostislaf. --His ReligiousCharacter. --Mstislaf Ysiaslavitch Ascends the Throne. --Proclamation ofthe King. --Its Effect. --Plans of André. --Scenes At Kief. --Return andDeath of Mstislaf. --War in Novgorod. --Peace Concluded ThroughoutRussia. --Insult of André and Its Consequences. --Greatness of SoulDisplayed By André. --Assassination of André. --Renewal ofAnarchy. --Emigration From Novgorod. --Reign of Michel. --VsevolodIII. --Evangelization of Bulgaria. --Death of Vsevolod III. --His QueenMaria. 

CHAPTER VI. 

THE GRAND PRINCES OF VLADIMIR, AND THE INVASION OFGENGHIS KHAN. 

From 1212 to 1238. 

Accession of Georges. --Famine. --Battle of Lipetsk. --Defeat ofGeorges. --His Surrender. --Constantin Seizes the Scepter. --Exploits ofMstislaf. --Imbecility of Constantin. --Death of Constantin. --GeorgesIII. --Invasion of Bulgaria. --Progress of the Monarchy. --Right ofSuccession. --Commerce of the Dnieper. --Genghis Khan. --His Rise andConquests. --Invasion of Southern Russia. --Death of GenghisKhan. --Succession of His Son Ougadai. --March of Bati. --Entrance intoRussia. --Utter Defeat of the Russians. 

CHAPTER VII. 

THE SWAY OF THE TARTAR PRINCES. 

From 1238 to 1304. 

Retreat of Georges II. --Desolating March of the Tartars. --Capture ofVladimir. --Fall of Moscow. --Utter Defeat of Georges. --Conflict ofTorjek. --March of the Tartars Toward the South. --Subjugation of thePolovtsi. --Capture of Kief. --Humiliation of Yaroslaf. --Overthrow ofthe Gaussian Kingdom. --Haughtiness of the Tartars. --Reign ofAlexander. --Succession of Yaroslaf. --The Reign of Vassuli. --State ofChristianity. --Infamy of André. --Struggles With Dmitri. --Independenceof the Principalities. --Death of André. 

CHAPTER VIII. 

RESURRECTION OF THE RUSSIAN MONARCHY. 

From 1304 to 1380. 

Defeat of Georges and the Tartars. --Indignation of the Khan. --MichelSummoned To the Horde. --His Trial and Execution. --Assassination ofGeorges. --Execution of Dmitri. --Repulse and Death of the Embassador ofthe Khan. --Vengeance of the Khan. --Increasing Prosperity of Russia. --The Great Plague. --Supremacy of Simon. --Anarchy in theHorde. --Plague and Conflagration. --The Tartars Repulsed. --Reconquestof Bulgaria. --The Great Battle of Koulikof. --Utter Rout of theTartars. 

CHAPTER IX. 

DMITRI, VASSALI, AND THE MOGOL TAMERLANE

From 1380 to 1462. 

Recovery of Dmitri. --New Tartar invasion. --The Assault and Capture ofMoscow. --New Subjugation of the Russians. --Lithuania EmbracesChristianity. --Escape of Vassali From the Horde. --Death ofDmitri. --Tamerlane--His Origin and Career. --His Invasion ofIndia. --Defeat of Bajazet. --Tamerlane Invades Russia. --Preparationsfor Resistance. --Sudden Retreat of the Tartars. --Death ofVassali. --Accession of Vassali Vassilievitch. --The DisputedSuccession. --Appeal to the Khan. --Rebellion of Youri. --Cruelty ofVassali. --The Retribution. 

CHAPTER X. 

THE ILLUSTRIOUS IVAN III. 

From 1462 to 1480. 

Ivan III. --His Precocity and Rising Power. --The Three GreatHordes. --Russian Expedition Against Kezan. --Defeat of theTartars. --Capture of Constantinople By the Turks. --The PrincessSophia. --Her Journey To Russia, and Marriage With IvanIII. --Increasing Renown of Russia. --New Difficulty With theHorde. --The Tartars invade Russia. --Strife On the Banks of theOka. --Letter of the Metropolitan Bishop. --UnprecedentedPanic. --Liberation of Russia. 

CHAPTER XI. 

THE REIGN OF VASSILI. 

From 1480 to 1533. 

Alliance With Hungary. --A Traveler From Germany. --Treaty BetweenRussia and Germany. --Embassage to Turkey. --Court Etiquette. --Death ofthe Princess Sophia. --Death of Ivan. --Advancement ofKnowledge. --Succession of Vassili. --Attack Upon the Horde. --Rout ofthe Russians. --The Grand Prince Takes the Title of Emperor. --TurkishEnvoy to Moscow. --Efforts To Arm Europe Against the Turks. --Death ofthe Emperor Maximilian, and Accession of Charles V. To the Empire ofGermany. --Death of Vassili. 

CHAPTER XII. 

IVAN IV. --HIS MINORITY. 

From 1533 to 1546. 

Vassili At the Chase. --Attention To Distinguished Foreigners. --TheAutocracy. --Splendor of the Edifices. --Slavery. --Aristocracy. --Infancyof Ivan IV. --Regency of Hélène. --Conspiracies and Tumults. --War withSigismond of Poland. --Death of Hélène. --Struggles of theNobles. --Appalling Sufferings of Dmitri. --Incursion of theTartars. --Successful Conspiracy. --Ivan IV. At the Chase. --Coronationof Ivan IV. 

CHAPTER XIII. 

THE REIGN OF IVAN IV. 

From 1546 to 1552. 

The Title of Tzar. --Marriage of Ivan IV. --Virtues of HisBride. --Depraved Character of the Young Emperor. --TerribleConflagrations. --Insurrections. --The Rebuke. --Wonderful Change in theCharacter of Ivan IV. --Confessions of Sin and Measures ofReform. --Sylvestre and Alexis Adachef. --The Code of Laws. --Reforms inthe Church. --Encouragement To Men of Science and Letters. --TheEmbassage of Schlit. --War With Kezan. --Disasters and Disgrace. --ImmensePreparation For the Chastisement of the Horde. --The March. --Repulse ofthe Tauredians. --Siege of Kezan. --Incidents of the Siege. 

CHAPTER XIV. 

THE REIGN OF IVAN IV. --CONTINUED. 

From 1552 to 1557. 

Siege of Kezan. --Artifices of War. --The Explosion of Mines. --The FinalAssault. --Complete Subjugation of Kezan. --Gratitude and Liberality ofthe Tzar. --Return To Moscow. --Joy of the inhabitants. --Birth of AnHeir To the Crown. --Insurrection in Kezan. --The InsurrectionQuelled. --Conquest of Astrachan. --The English Expedition in Search ofa North-East Passage to India. --The Establishment atArchangel. --Commercial Relations Between France and Russia. --RussianEmbassy to England. --Extension of Commerce. 

CHAPTER XV. 

THE ABDICATION OF IVAN IV. 

From 1557 to 1582. 

Terror of the Horde in Tauride. --War with Gustavus Vasa ofSweden. --Political Punctilios. --The Kingdom of Livonia Annexed toSweden. --Death of Anastasia. --Conspiracy Against Ivan. --HisAbdication. --His Resumption of the Crown. --Invasion of Russia by theTartars and Turks. --Heroism of Zerebrinow. --Utter Discomfiture of theTartars. --Relations Between Queen Elizabeth of England, andRussia. --Intrepid Embassage. --New War with Poland. --Disasters ofRussia. --The Emperor Kills His Own Son. --Anguish of Ivan IV. 

CHAPTER XVI. 

THE STORMS OF HEREDITARY SUCCESSION. 

From 1582 to 1608. 

Anguish and Death of Ivan IV. --His Character. --Feodor andDmitri. --Usurpation of Boris Gudenow. --The Polish Election. --Conquestof Siberia. --Assassination of Dmitri. --Death of Feodor. --Boris CrownedKing. --Conspiracies. --Reappearance of Dmitri. --Boris Poisoned. --ThePretender Crowned. --Embarrassments of Dmitri. --A NewPretender. --Assassination of Dmitri. --Crowning of Zuski. --Indignationof Poland. --Historical Romance. 

CHAPTER XVII. 

A CHANGE OF DYNASTY. 

From 1608 to 1680. 

Conquests by Poland. --Sweden in Alliance with Russia. --Grandeur ofPoland. --Ladislaus Elected King of Russia. --Commotions andinsurrections. --Rejection of Ladislaus and Election of Michael FeodorRomanow. --Sorrow of His Mother. --Pacific Character of Romanow. --Choiceof a Bride. --Eudochia Streschnew. --The Archbishop Feodor. --Death ofMichael and Accession of Alexis. --Love in the Palace. --Successfulintrigue. --Mobs in Moscow. --Change in the Character of theTzar. --Turkish invasions. --Alliance Between Russia and Poland. 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

THE REGENCY OF SOPHIA. 

From 1680 to 1697. 

Administration of Feodor. --Death of Feodor. --Incapacity ofIvan. --Succession of Peter. --Usurpation of Sophia. --Insurrection ofthe Strelitzes. --Massacre in Moscow. --Success of theInsurrection. --Ivan and Peter Declared Sovereigns under the Regency ofSophia. --General Discontent. --Conspiracy against Sophia. --Her Flightto the Convent. --The Conspiracy Quelled. --New Conspiracy. --Energy ofPeter. --He Assumes the Crown. --Sophia Banished to aConvent. --Commencement of the Reign of Peter. 

CHAPTER XIX. 

PETER THE GREAT. 

From 1697 to 1702. 

Young Russians Sent to Foreign Countries. --The Tzar Decides Upon a Tourof Observation. --His Plan of Travel. --Anecdote. --Peter's Mode of Lifein Holland. --Characteristic Anecdotes. --The Presentation of theEmbassador. --The Tzar Visits England. --Life at Deptford. --IllustriousForeigners Engaged in His Service. --Peter Visits Vienna. --The Game ofLandlord. --Insurrection in Moscow. --Return of the Tzar, and Measures ofSeverity. --War with Sweden. --Disastrous Defeat of Narva. --Efforts toSecure the Shores of the Baltic. --Designs Upon the Black Sea. 

CHAPTER XX. 

CONQUESTS AND ACHIEVEMENTS OF PETER THE GREAT. 

From 1702 TO 1718. 

Peter takes Lake Lagoda and the Neva. --Foundation of St. Petersburg. --Conquest of Livonia. --Marienburg Taken by Storm. --TheEmpress Catharine. --Extraordinary Efforts in Building St. Petersburg. --Threat of Charles XII. --Deposition ofAugustus. --Enthronement of Stanislaus. --Battle of Pultowa. --Flight ofCharles XII. To Turkey. --Increased Renown of Russia. --DisastrousConflict with the Turks. --Marriage of Alexis. --His Character. --Deathof his Wife. --The Empress Acknowledged. --Conquest of Finland. --Tour ofthe Tzar to Southern Europe. 

CHAPTER XXI. 

THE TRIAL AND CONDEMNATION OF ALEXIS, AND DEATH OFTHE TZAR. 

From 1718 to 1725. 

The Tzar's Second Visit to Holland. --Reception in France. --Descriptionof Catharine. --Domestic Grief. --Conduct of Alexis. --Letters from HisFather. --Flight To Germany. --Thence to Naples. --Envoys Sent to BringHim Back. --Alexis Excluded from the Succession. --His Trial forTreason. --Condemnation and Unexpected Death. --New Efforts of the Tzarfor the Welfare of Russia. --Sickness of Peter. --His Death. --Successionof the Empress Catharine. --Epitaph to the Emperor. 

CHAPTER XXII. 

THE REIGN OF CATHARINE I. , ANNE, THE INFANT IVAN ANDELIZABETH. 

From 1725 TO 1769. 

Energetic Reign of Catharine. --Her Sudden Death. --Brief Reign of PeterII. --Difficulties of Hereditary Succession. --A RepublicContemplated. --Anne, Daughter of Ivan. --The Infant Ivan ProclaimedKing. --His Terrible Doom. --Elizabeth, Daughter of Peter the Great, Enthroned. --Character of Elizabeth. --Alliance with MariaTheresa. --Wars with Prussia. --Great Reverses of Frederic ofPrussia. --Desperate Condition of Frederic. --Death ofElizabeth. --Succession of Peter III. 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

PETER III. AND HIS BRIDE. 

From 1728 TO 1762. 

Lineage of Peter III. --Chosen by Elizabeth as her Successor. --TheBride Chosen for Peter. --Her Lineage. --The Courtship. --TheMarriage. --Autobiography of Catharine. --Anecdotes of Peter. --HisNeglect of Catharine and his Debaucheries. --Amusements of the RussianCourt. --Military Execution of a Rat. --Accession of Peter III. To theThrone. --Supremacy of Catharine. --Her Repudiation Threatened. --TheConspiracy. --Its Successful Accomplishment. 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

THE CONSPIRACY; AND ACCESSION OF CATHARINE II. 

From 1762 to 1765. 

Peter III. At Oranienbaum. --Catharine at Peterhof. --The SuccessfulAccomplishment of the Conspiracy. --Terror of Peter. --His Vacillatingand Feeble Character. --Flight to Cronstadt. --Repulse. --Heroic Counselof Munich. --Peter's Return to Oranienbaum. --His Suppliant Letters toCatharine. --His Arrest. --Imprisonment. --Assasination. --Proclamation ofthe Empress. --Her Complicity in the Crime. --Energy of Catharine'sAdministration. --Her Expansive Views and SagaciousPolicy. --Contemplated Marriage with Count Orlof. 

CHAPTER XXV. 

REIGN OF CATHARINE II. 

From 1765 to 1774. 

Energy of Catharine's Administration. --Titles of Honor Decreed toHer. --Code of Laws Instituted. --The Assassination of the EmpressAttempted. --Encouragement of Learned Men. --Catharine Inoculated forthe Small-Pox. --New War with Turkey. --Capture of Crimea. --Sailing ofthe Russian Fleet. --Great Naval Victory. --Visit of the Prussian PrinceHenry. --The Sleigh Ride. --Plans for the Partition of Poland. --TheHermitage. --Marriage of the Grand Duke Paul. --Correspondence withVoltaire and Diderot. 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

REIGN OF CATHARINE II. 

From 1774 to 1781. 

Peace with Turkey. --Court of Catharine II. --Her Personal Appearanceand Habits. --Conspiracy and Rebellion. --Defeat of theRebels. --Magnanimity of Catharine II. --Ambition of theEmpress. --Court Favorite. --Division of Russia intoProvinces. --internal Improvements. --New Partition of Poland. --Death ofthe Wife of Paul. --Second Marriage of the Grand Duke. --Splendor of theRussian Court. --Russia and Austria Secretly Combine to Drive the Turksout of Europe. --The Emperor Joseph II. 

CHAPTER XXVII. 

TERMINATION OF THE REIGN OF CATHARINE II. 

From 1781 to 1786. 

Statue of Peter the Great. --Alliance Between Austria andRussia. --Independence of the Crimea--The Khan of the Crimea. --VastPreparations for War. --National Jealousies. --Tolerant Spirit ofCatharine. --Magnificent Excursion to the Crimea. --Commencement ofHostilities. --Anecdote of Paul. --Peace. --New Partition ofPoland. --Treaty with Austria and France. --Hostility to Liberty inFrance. --Death of Catharine. --Her Character. 

CHAPTER XXVIII. 

THE REIGN OF PAUL I. 

From 1796 to 1801. 

Accession of Paul I. To the Throne. --Influence of HereditaryTransmission of Power. --Extravagance of Paul. --His Despotism. --TheHorse Court Martialed. --Progress of the French Revolution. --Fears andViolence of Paul. --Hostility to Foreigners. --Russia Joins theCoalition Against France. --March of Suwarrow. --Character ofSuwarrow. --Battle on the Adda. --Battle of Novi. --Suwarrow marches onthe Rhine. --His Defeat and Death. --Paul Abandons the Coalition andJoins France. --Conspiracies at St. Petersburg. 

CHAPTER XXIX. 

ASSASSINATION OF PAUL AND ACCESSION OF ALEXANDER. 

From 1801 to 1807. 

Assassination of Paul I. --Implication of Alexander in theConspiracy. --Anecdotes. --Accession of Alexander. --The FrenchRevolution. --Alexander Joins Allies Against France. --State ofRussia. --Useful Measures of Alexander. --Peace of Amiens. --Renewal ofHostilities. --Battle of Austerlitz. --Magnanimity of Napoleon. --NewCoalition. --Ambition of Alexander. --Battles of Jena and Eylau. --Defeatof the Russians. 

CHAPTER XXX. 

REIGN OF ALEXANDER I. 

From 1807 to 1825. 

The Field of Eylau. --Letter to the King of Prussia. --Renewal of theWar--Discomfiture of the Allies. --Battle of Friedland. --The Raft atTilsit. --Intimacy of the Emperors. --Alexander's Designs uponTurkey. --Alliance Between France and Russia. --Object of theContinental System. --Perplexities of Alexander. --Driven by the Noblesto War. --Results of the Russian Campaign. --Napoleon Vanquished. --LastDays of Alexander. --His Sickness and Death. 

CHAPTER XXXI. 

NICHOLAS. 

From 1825 to 1855. 

Abdication of Constantine. --Accession of Nicholas. --InsurrectionQuelled. --Nicholas and the Conspirator. --Anecdote. --The Palace ofPeterhof. --The Winter Palace. --Presentation at Court. --Magnitude ofRussia. --Description of the Hellespont and Dardanelles. --The TurkishInvasion. --Aims of Russia. --Views of England and France. --Wars ofNicholas. --The Polish Insurrection. --War of the Crimea. --Jealousies ofthe Leading Nations. --Encroachments. --Death of Nicholas. --Accession ofAlexander II. 

CHAPTER I. 

PARENTAGE AND BIRTH OF RUSSIA. 

From 600 B. C. To A. D. 910. 

Primeval Russia. --Explorations of the Greeks. --ScythianInvasion. --Character of the Scythians. --Sarmatia. --Assaults upon theRoman Empire. --Irruption of the Alains. --Conquests of Trajan. --TheGothic Invasion. --The Huns. --Their Character and Aspect. --TheDevastations of Attila. --The Avars. --Results of Comminglings of theseTribes. --Normans. --Birth of the Russian Empire. --The Three SovereignsRurik, Sineous and Truvor. --Adventures of Ascolod andDir. --Introduction of Christianity. --Usurpation of Oleg. --HisConquests. --Expedition Against Constantinople. 

Those vast realms of northern Europe, now called Russia, have beeninhabited for a period beyond the records of history, by wanderingtribes of savages. These barbaric hordes have left no monuments oftheir existence. The annals of Greece and of Rome simply inform usthat they were there. Generations came and departed, passing throughlife's tragic drama, and no one has told their story. 

About five hundred years before the birth of our Saviour, the Greeks, sailing up the Bosphorus and braving the storms of the Black Sea, began to plant their colonies along its shores. Instructed by thesecolonists, Herodotus, who wrote about four hundred and forty yearsbefore Christ, gives some information respecting the then condition ofinterior Russia. The first great irruption into the wastes of Russia, of which history gives us any record, was about one hundred yearsbefore our Saviour. An immense multitude of conglomerated tribes, taking the general name of Scythians, with their wives and theirchildren, their flocks and their herds, and their warriors, fiercerthan wolves, crossed the Volga, and took possession of the wholecountry between the Don and the Danube. These barbarians did notmolest the Greek colonies, but, on the contrary, were glad to learn ofthem many of the rudiments of civilization. Some of these tribesretained their ancestral habits of wandering herdsmen, and, with theirflocks, traversed the vast and treeless plains, where they found amplepasture. Others selecting sunny and fertile valleys, scattered theirseed and cultivated the soil. Thus the Scythians were divided into twoquite distinct classes, the herdsmen and the laborers. 

The tribes who then peopled the vast wilds of northern Europe andAsia, though almost innumerable, and of different languages andcustoms, were all called, by the Greeks, Scythians, as we have giventhe general name of Indians to all the tribes who formerly ranged theforests of North America. The Scythians were as ferocious a race asearth has ever known. They drank the blood of their enemies; tannedtheir skins for garments; used their skulls for drinking cups; andworshiped a sword as the image or emblem of their favorite deity, theGod of War. Philip of Macedon was the first who put any check upontheir proud spirit. He conquered them in a decisive battle, and thustaught them that they were not invincible. Alexander the Greatassailed them and spread the terror of his arms throughout all theregion between the Danube and the Dnieper. Subsequently the Romanlegions advanced to the Euxine, and planted their eagles upon theheights of the Caucasus. 

The Roman historians seem to have dropped the Scythian name, and theycalled the whole northern expanse of Europe and Asia, Sarmatia, andthe barbarous inhabitants Sarmatians. About the time of our Saviour, some of these fierce tribes from the banks of the Theiss and theDanube, commenced their assaults upon the frontiers of the Romanempire. This was the signal for that war of centuries, whichterminated in the overthrow of the throne of the Cæsars. The RomanSenate, enervated by luxury, condescended to purchase peace of thesebarbarians, and nations of savages, whose names are now forgotten, exacted tribute, under guise of payment for alliance, from the proudempire. But neither bribes, nor alliances, nor the sword in the handsof enervated Rome, could effectually check the incursions of thesebands, who were ever emerging, like wolves, from the mysterious depthsof the North. 

In the haze of those distant times and remote realms, we catch dimglimpses of locust legions, emerging from the plains and the ravinesbetween the Black Sea and the Caspian, and sweeping like a storm cloudover nearly all of what is now called Russia. These people, to whomthe name of Alains was given, had no fixed habitations; they conveyedtheir women and children in rude carts. Their devastations were alikeextended over Europe and Asia, and in the ferocity of their assaultsthey were as insensible to death as wild beasts could be. 

In the second century, the emperor Trajan conquered and tookpossession of the province of Dacia, which included all of lowerHungary, Transylvania, Moldavia, Wallachia and Bessarabia. The countrywas divided into Roman provinces, over each of which a prefect wasestablished. In the third century, the Goths, from the shores of theBaltic, came rushing over the wide arena, with the howling of wolvesand their gnashing of teeth. They trampled down all opposition, withtheir war knives drove out the Romans, crossed the Black Sea in theirrude vessels, and spread conflagration and death throughout the mostflourishing cities and villages of Bythinia, Gallacia and Cappadocia. The famous temple of Diana at Ephesus, these barbarians committed tothe flames. They overran all Greece and took Athens by storm. As theywere about to destroy the precious libraries of Athens, one of theirchieftains said, "Let us leave to the Greeks their books, that they, in reading them may forget the arts of war; and that we thus may more easily be able to hold them in subjection. "

These Goths established an empire, extending from the Black Sea to theBaltic, and which embraced nearly all of what is now European Russia. Towards the close of the fourth century, another of these appallingwaves of barbaric inundation rolled over northern Europe. The Huns, emerging from the northern frontiers of China, traversed the immenseintervening deserts, and swept over European Russia, spreadingeverywhere flames and desolation. The historians of that day seem tofind no language sufficiently forcible to describe the hideousness andthe ferocity of these savages. They pressed down on the Roman empireas merciless as wolves, and the Cæsars turned pale at the recital oftheir deeds of blood. 

It is indeed a revolting picture which contemporaneous history givesus of these barbarians. In their faces was concentrated the uglinessof the hyena and the baboon. They tattooed their cheeks, to preventthe growth of their beards. They were short, thick-set, and with backbones curved almost into a semicircle. Herbs, roots and raw meat theydevoured, tearing their food with their teeth or hewing it with theirswords. To warm and soften their meat, they placed it under theirsaddles when riding. Nearly all their lives they passed on horseback. Wandering incessantly over the vast plains, they had no fixedhabitations, but warmly clad in the untanned skins of beasts, like thebeasts they slept wherever the night found them. They had no religionnor laws, no conception of ideas of honor; their language was awretched jargon, and in their nature there seemed to be no moral senseto which compassion or mercy could plead. 

Such were the Huns as described by the ancient historians. The Gothsstruggled against them in vain. They were crushed and subjugated. Theking of the Goths, Hermanric, in chagrin and despair, committedsuicide, that he might escape slavery. Thousands of the Goths, intheir terror, crowded down into the Roman province of Thrace, now theTurkish province of Romania. The empire, then in its decadence, couldnot drive them back, and they obtained a permanent foothold there. TheHuns thus attained the supremacy throughout all of northern Europe. There were then very many tribes of diverse names peopling these vastrealms, and incessant wars were waged between them. The dominationwhich the Huns attained was precarious, and not distinctly defined. 

The terrible Attila ere long appears as the king of these Huns, aboutthe middle of the fifth century. This wonderful barbarian extended hissway from the Volga to the Rhine, and from the Bosphorus to the shoresof the Baltic. Where-ever he appeared, blood flowed in torrents. Heswept the valley of the Danube with flame and sword, destroyingcities, fortresses and villages, and converting the whole region intoa desert. At the head of an army of seven hundred thousand men, heplunged all Europe into dismay. Both the Eastern and Western empirewere compelled to pay him tribute. He even invaded Gaul, and upon theplains of Chalons was defeated in one of the most bloody battles everfought in Europe. Contemporary historians record that one hundred andsix thousand dead were left upon the field. With the death of Attila, the supremacy of the Huns vanished. The irruption of the Huns was adevastating scourge, which terrified the world. Whole nations wereexterminated in their march, until at last the horrible apparitiondisappeared, almost as suddenly as it arose. 

With the disappearance of the Huns, central Russia presents to us theaspect of a vast waste, thinly peopled, with the wrecks of nations andtribes, debased and feeble, living upon the cattle they herded, andoccasionally cultivating the soil. And now there comes forward uponthis theater of violence and of blood another people, called theSclavonians, more energetic and more intelligent than any who hadpreceded them. The origin of the Sclavonians is quite lost in the hazeof distance, and in the savage wilds where they first appeared. Thefew traditions which have been gleaned respecting them are of verylittle authority. 

From about the close of the fifth century the inhabitants of the wholeregion now embraced by European Russia, were called Sclavonians; andyet it appears that these Sclavonians consisted of many nations, rudeand warlike, with various distinctive names. They soon began to crowdupon the Roman empire, and became more formidable than the Goths orthe Huns had been. Wading through blood they seized province afterprovince of the empire, destroying and massacring often in merewantonness. The emperor Justinian was frequently compelled to purchasepeace with them and to bribe them to alliance. 

And now came another wave of invasion, bloody and overwhelming. TheAvars, from the north of China, swept over Asia, seized all theprovinces on the Black Sea, overran Greece, and took possession ofmost of the country between the Volga and the Elbe. The Sclavonians ofthe Danube, however, successfully resisted them, and maintained theirindependence. Generations came and went as these hordes, wild, degraded and wretched, swept these northern wilds, in debasement andcruelty rivaling the wolves which howled in their forests. They haveleft no traces behind them, and the few records of their joyless liveswhich history has preserved, are merely the gleanings of uncertaintradition. The thinking mind pauses in sadness to contemplate thespectacle of these weary ages, when his brother man was the mostferocious of beasts, and when all the discipline of life tended onlyto sink him into deeper abysses of brutality and misery. There is herea problem in the divine government which no human wisdom can solve. There is consolation only in the announcement that what we know notnow, we shall know hereafter. All these diverse nations blending haveformed the present Russians. 

Along the shores of the Baltic, these people assumed the name ofScandinavians, and subsequently Normans. Toward the close of theeighth century, the Normans filled Europe with the renown of theirexploits, and their banners bade defiance even to the armies ofCharlemagne. Early in the ninth century they ravaged France, Italy, Scotland, England, and passed over to Ireland, where they built citieswhich remain to the present day. "There is no manner of doubt, " writesM. Karamsin in his history of Russia, "that five hundred years beforeChristopher Columbus, they had discovered North America, andinstituted commerce with the natives. "

It is not until the middle of the ninth century, that we obtain anyreally reliable information respecting the inhabitants of centralRussia. They are described as a light-complexioned, flaxen-hairedrace, robust, and capable of great endurance. Their huts werecheerless, affording but little shelter, and they lived upon thecoarsest food, often devouring their meat raw. The Greeks expressedastonishment at their agility in climbing precipitous cliffs, andadmired the hardihood with which they plunged through bogs, and swamthe most rapid and swollen streams. He who had the most athletic vigorwas the greatest man, and all the ambition and energy of the nationwere expended in the acquisition of strength and agility. 

They are ever described as strangers to fear, rushing unthinkinglyupon certain death. They were always ready to accept combat with theRoman legions. Entire strangers to military strategy, they made noattacks in drilled lines or columns, but the whole tumultuous mass, inwild disorder rushed upon the foe, with the most desperate daring, having no guide but their own ferocity and the chieftains who ledsmall bands. Their weapons consisted of swords, javelins and poisonedarrows, and each man carried a heavy shield. As they crossed theDanube in their bloody forays, incited by love of plunder, theinhabitants of the Roman villages fled before them. When pursued by aninvincible force they would relinquish life rather than their booty, even when the plunder was of a kind totally valueless in their savagehomes. The ancient annals depict in appalling colors the crueltiesthey exercised upon their captives. They were, however, as patient inendurance as they were merciless in infliction. No keenness of torturecould force from them a cry of pain. 

Yet these people, so ferocious, are described as remarkably amiableamong themselves, seldom quarreling, honest and truthful, andpracticing hospitality with truly patriarchal grace. Whenever theyleft home, the door was unfastened and food was left for any chancewayfarer. A guest was treated as a heavenly messenger, and was guidedon his way with the kindest expressions for his welfare. 

The females, as in all barbaric countries, were exposed to everyindignity. All the hard labor of life was thrown upon them. When thehusband died, the widow was compelled to cast herself upon the funeralpile which consumed his remains. It is said that this barbarouscustom, which Christianity abolished, was introduced to prevent thewife from secretly killing her husband. The wife was also regarded asthe slave of the husband, and they imagined that if she died at thesame time with her husband, she would serve him in another world. Thewives often followed their husbands to the wars. From infancy the boyswere trained to fight, and were taught that nothing was moredisgraceful than to forgive an injury. 

A mother was permitted, if she wished, to destroy her female children;but the boys were all preserved to add to the military strength of thenation. It was lawful, also, for the children to put their parents todeath when they had become infirm and useless. "Behold, " exclaims aRussian historian, "how a people naturally kind, when deprived of thelight of revelation can remorselessly outrage nature, and surpass incruelty the most ferocious animals. "

In different sections of this vast region there were different degreesof debasement, influenced by causes no longer known. A tribe calledDrevliens, Nestor states, lived in the most gloomy forests with thebeasts and like the beasts. They ate any food which a pig woulddevour, and had as little idea of marriage as have sheep or goats. Among the Sclavonians generally there appears to have been noaristocracy. Each family was an independent republic. Different tribesoccasionally met to consult upon questions of common interest, whenthe men of age, and who had acquired reputation for wisdom, guided incounsel. 

Gradually during the progress of their wars an aristocracy arose. Warriors of renown became chiefs, and created for themselves posts ofauthority and honor. By prowess and plunder they acquired wealth. Intheir incursions into the empire, they saw the architecture of Greeceand Rome, and thus incited, they began to rear castles and fortresses. He who was recognized as the leading warrior in time of battle, retained his authority in the days of peace, which were very few. Thecastle became necessary for the defense of the tribe or clan, and thechieftain became the feudal noble, invested with unlimited power. Atone time every man who was rich enough to own a horse was deemed anoble. The first power recognized was only military authority. But theprogress of civilization developed the absolute necessity of otherpowers to protect the weak, to repress crime, and to guide in theessential steps of nations emerging from darkness into light. With allnations advancing from barbarism, the process has ever been slow bywhich the civil authority has been separated from the military. It isimpossible to educe from the chaos of those times any establishedprinciples. Often the duke or leader was chosen with imposingceremonies. Some men of commanding abilities would gather into theirhands the reins of almost unlimited power, and would transmit thatpower to their sons. Others were chiefs but in name. 

We have but dim glimpses of the early religion of this people. In thesixth century they are represented as regarding with awe the deitywhom they designated as the creator of thunder. The spectacle of themajestic storms which swept their plains and the lightning boltshurled from an invisible hand, deeply impressed these untutoredpeople. They endeavored to appease the anger of the supreme being bythe sacrifice of bulls and other animals. They also peopled thegroves, the fountains, the rivers with deities; statues were rudelychiseled, into which they supposed the spirits of their gods entered, and which they worshiped. They deemed the supreme being himself tooelevated for direct human adoration, and only ventured to approach himthrough gods of a secondary order. They believed in a fallen spirit, agod of evil, who was the author of all the calamities which afflictthe human race. 

The polished Greeks chiseled their idols, from snow-white marble, intothe most exquisite proportions of the human form. Many they investedwith all the charms of loveliness, and endowed them with the mostamiable attributes. The voluptuous Venus and the laurel-crownedBacchus were their gods. But the Sclavonians, regarding their deitiesonly as possessors of power and objects of terror, carved their idolsgigantic in stature, and hideous in aspect. 

From these rude, scattered and discordant populations, the empire ofRussia quite suddenly sprang into being. Its birth was one of the mostextraordinary events history has transmitted to us. We have seen thatthe Normans, dwelling along the southern and eastern shores of theBaltic, and visiting the most distant coasts with their commercial andpredatory fleets, had attained a degree of power, intelligence andculture, which gave them a decided preëminence over the tribes whowere scattered over the wilds of central Russia. 

A Sclavonian, whose name tradition says was Gostomysle, a man farsuperior to his countrymen in intelligence and sagacity, deploring theanarchy which reigned everywhere around him, and admiring the superiorcivilization of the Normans, persuaded several tribes unitedly to sendan embassy to the Normans to solicit of them a king. The embassy wasaccompanied by a strong force of these fierce warriors, who knew wellhow to fight, but who had become conscious that they did not know howto govern themselves. Their message was laconic but explicit:

"Our country, " said they, "is grand and fertile, but under the reignof disorder. Come and govern us and reign over us. "

Three brothers, named Rurik, Sineous and Truvor, illustrious both bybirth and achievements, consented to assume the sovereignty, each overa third part of the united applicants; each engaging to coöperate withand uphold the others. Escorted by the armed retinue which had come toreceive them, they left their native shores, and entered the wilds ofScandinavia. Rurik established himself at Novgorod, on lake Ilmen. Sineous, advancing some three hundred miles further, north-east, tookhis station at Bielo Ozero, on the shores of lake Bielo. Truvor wentsome hundred miles further south to Truvor, in the vicinity ofSmolensk. 

Thus there were three sovereigns established in Russia, united by theties of interest and consanguinity. It was then that this regionacquired the name of Russia, from the Norman tribe who furnished thesethree sovereigns. The Russia which thus emerged into being was indeedan infant, compared with the gigantic empire in this day of itsgrowing and vigorous manhood. It embraced then but a few thousandsquare miles, being all included in the present provinces of St. Petersburg, Novgorod and Pskov. But two years passed away ere Sineousand Truvor died, and Rurik united their territories with his own, andthus established the Russian monarchy. The realms of Rurik grew, rapidly by annexation, and soon extended east some two hundred milesbeyond where Moscow now stands, to the head waters of the Volga. Theywere bounded on the south-west by the Dwina. On the north they reachedto the wild wastes of arctic snows. Over these distant provinces, Rurik established governors selected from his own nation, the Normans. These provincial governors became feudal lords; and thus, with themonarchy, the feudal system was implanted. 

Feudality was the natural first step of a people emerging frombarbarism. The sovereign rewarded his favorites, or compensated hisservants, civil and military, by ceding to them provinces of greateror less extent, with unlimited authority over the people subject totheir control. These lords acknowledged fealty to the sovereign, paida stipulated amount of tribute, and, in case of war, were bound toenter the field with a given number of men in defense of the crown. Itwas a system essential, perhaps, to those barbarous times when therewas no easy communication between distant regions, no codes of laws, and no authority, before which savage men would bow, but that of thesword. 

At this time two young Norman nobles, inspired with that love of warand spirit of adventure which characterized their countrymen, left thecourt of Rurik at Novgorod, where they had been making a visit, andwith well-armed retainers, commenced a journey to Constantinople tooffer their services to the emperor. It was twelve hundred miles, directly south, from Novgorod to the imperial city. The adventurershad advanced about half way, when they arrived at a little village, called Kief, upon the banks of the Dnieper. The location of the citywas so beautiful, upon a commanding bluff, at the head of thenavigation of this majestic stream, and the region around seemed soattractive, that the Norman adventurers, Ascolod and Dir by name, decided to remain there. They were soon joined by others of theirwarlike countrymen. The natives appear to have made no opposition totheir rule, and thus Kief became the center of a new and independentRussian kingdom. These energetic men rapidly extended theirterritories, raised a large army, which was thoroughly drilled in allthe science of Norman warfare, and then audaciously declared waragainst Greece and attempted its subjugation. The Dnieper, navigablefor boats most of the distance from Kief to the Euxine, favored theirenterprise. They launched upon the stream two hundred barges, whichthey filled with their choicest troops. Rapidly they floated down thestream, spread their sails upon the bosom of the Euxine, entered theBosporus, and anchoring their fleet at the mouth of the Golden Horn, laid siege to the city. The Emperor Michael III. Then reigned atConstantinople. This Northmen invasion was entirely unexpected, andthe emperor was absent, engaged in war with the Arabs. A courier wasimmediately dispatched to inform him of the peril of the city. Hehastily returned to his capital which he finally reached, aftereluding, with much difficulty, the vigilance of the besiegers. Just asthe inhabitants of the city were yielding to despair, there arose atempest, which swept the Bosporus with resistless fury. The crowdedbarges were dashed against each other, shattered, wrecked and sunk. The Christians of Constantinople justly attributed their salvation tothe interposition of God. Ascolod and Dir, with the wrecks of theirarmy, returned in chagrin to Kief. 

The historians of that period relate that the idolatrous Russians wereso terrified by this display of the divine displeasure that theyimmediately sent embassadors to Constantinople, professing theirreadiness to embrace Christianity, and asking that they might receivethe rite of baptism. In attestation of the fact that Christianity atthis period entered Russia, we are referred to a well authenticatedletter, of the patriarch Photius, written at the close of the year866. 

"The Russians, " he says, "so celebrated for their cruelty, conquerorsof their neighbors, and who, in their pride, dared to attack the Romanempire, have already renounced their superstitions, and have embracedthe religion of Jesus Christ. Lately our most formidable enemies, theyhave now become our most faithful friends. We have recently sent thema bishop and a priest, and they testify the greatest zeal forChristianity. "

It was in this way, it seems, that the religion of our Saviour firstentered barbaric Russia. The gospel, thus welcomed, soon became firmlyestablished at Kief, and rapidly extended its conquests in alldirections. The two Russian kingdoms, that of Rurik in the north, andthat of Ascolod and Dir on the Dnieper, rapidly extended as theseenterprising kings, by arms, subjected adjacent nations to their sway. Rurik remained upon the throne fifteen years, and then died, surrendering his crown to his son Igor, still a child. A relative, Oleg, was intrusted with the regency, during the minority of the boyking. Such was the state of Russia in the year 879. 

In that dark and cruel age, war was apparently the only thought, military conquest the only glory. The regent, Oleg, taking with himthe young prince Igor, immediately set out with a large army on acareer of conquest. Marching directly south some hundred miles, andtaking possession of all the country by the way, he arrived at last atthe head waters of the Dnieper. The renown of the kingdom of Ascolodand Dir had reached his ears; and aware of their military skill andthat the ranks of their army were filled with Norman warriors, Olegdecided to seize the two sovereigns by stratagem. As he cautiouslyapproached Kief, he left his army in a secluded encampment, and with afew chosen troops floated down the stream in barges, disguised asmerchant boats. Landing in the night beneath the high and precipitousbanks near the town, he placed a number of his soldiers in ambuscade, and then calling upon the princes of Kief, informed them that he hadbeen sent by the king of Novgorod, with a commercial adventure downthe Dnieper, and invited them to visit his barges. 

The two sovereigns, suspecting no guile, hastened to the banks of theriver. Suddenly the men in ambush rose, and piercing them with arrowsand javelins, they both fell dead at the feet of Oleg. The two victimsof this perfidy were immediately buried upon the spot where they fell. In commemoration of this atrocity, the church of St. Nicholas has beenerected near the place, and even to the present day the inhabitants ofKief conduct the traveler to the tomb of Ascolod and Dir. Oleg, nowmarshaling his army, marched triumphantly into the town, and, withoutexperiencing any formidable opposition, annexed the conquered realm tothe northern kingdom. 

Oleg was charmed with his conquest. The beautiful site of the town, the broad expanse of the river, the facilities which the streampresented for maritime and military adventures so delighted him thathe exclaimed, "Let Kief be the mother of all the Russian cities. "

Oleg established his army in cantonments, strengthened it with freshrecruits, commenced predatory excursions on every side, and soonbrought the whole region, for many leagues around, under hissubjection. All the subjugated nations were compelled to pay himtribute, though, with the sagacity which marked his whole course, hemade the tax so light as not to be burdensome. The territories of Olegwere now vast, widely scattered, and with but the frailest bond ofunion between them. Between the two capitals of Novgorod and Kief, which were separated by a distance of seven or eight hundred miles, there were many powerful tribes still claiming independence. 

Oleg directed his energies against them, and his march of conquestwas resistless. In the course of two years he established hisundisputed sway over the whole region, and thus opened unobstructedcommunication between his northern and southern provinces. Heestablished a chain of military posts along the line, and placed hisrenowned warriors in feudal authority over numerous provinces. Eachlord, in his castle, was supreme in authority over the vassals subjectto his sway. Life and death were in his hands. The fealty he owed hissovereign was paid in a small tribute, and in military service with anappointed number of soldiers whom he led into the field and supported. 

Having thus secured safety in the north, Oleg turned his attention tothe south. With a well-disciplined army, he marched down the left bankof the river, sweeping the country for an hundred miles in width, everywhere planting his banners and establishing his simple andeffective government of baronial lords. It was easy to weaken anyformidable or suspected tribe, by the slaughter of the warriors. Therewere two safeguards against insurrection. The burdens imposed upon thevassals were so light as to induce no murmurings; and all the feudallords were united to sustain each other. The first movement towardsrebellion was drowned in blood. 

Igor, the legitimate sovereign, had now attained his majority; but, accustomed as he had long been, to entire obedience, he did not dareto claim the crown from a regent flushed with the brilliancy of hisachievements, who had all power in his hands, and who, by a nod, couldremove him for ever out of his way. 

Igor was one day engaged in the chase, when at the door of a cottage, in a small village near Kief, he saw a young peasant girl, ofmarvelous grace and beauty. She was a Norman girl of humble parentage. Young Igor, inflamed by her beauty, immediately rode to the door andaddressed her. Her voice was melody, her smile ravishing, and in herreplies to his questionings, she developed pride of character, quickness of intelligence and invincible modesty, which charmed himand instantly won his most passionate admiration. The young princerode home sorely wounded. Cupid had shot one of his most fiery arrowsinto the very center of his heart. Though many high-born ladies hadbeen urged upon Igor, he renounced them all, and allowing beauty totriumph over birth, honorably demanded and received the hand of thelowly-born yet princely-minded and lovely Olga. They were married atKief in the year 903. 

The revolution at Kief had not interrupted the friendly relationsexisting between Kief and Constantinople. The Christians of theimperial city made great efforts, by sending missionaries to Kief, tomultiply the number of Christians there. Oleg, though a pagan, grantedfree toleration to Christianity, and reciprocated the presents andfriendly messages he received from the emperor. But at length Oleg, having consolidated his realms, and ambitions of still greater renown, wealth and power, resolved boldly to declare war against the empireitself, and to march upon Constantinople. The warriors from a hundredtribes, each under their feudal lord, were ranged around his banners. For miles along the banks of the Dnieper at Kief, the river wascovered with barges, two thousand in number. An immense body ofcavalry accompanied the expedition, following along the shore. 

The navigation of the river, which poured its flood through a channelnearly a thousand miles in length from Kief to the Euxine, wasdifficult and perilous. It required the blind, unthinking courage ofsemi-barbarians to undertake such an enterprise. There were manycataracts, down which the flotilla would be swept over foaming billowsand amidst jagged rocks. In many places the stream was quiteimpassable by boats, and it was necessary to take all the barges, withtheir contents, on shore, and drag them for miles through the forest, again to launch them upon smoother water; and all this time they wereexposed to attacks from numerous and ferocious foes. Having arrived atthe mouth of the Dnieper, they had still six or eight hundred miles ofnavigation over the waves of that storm-swept sea. And then, at theclose, they had to encounter, in deadly fight, all the power of theRoman empire. But unintimidated by these perils, Oleg, leaving Igorwith his bride at Kief, launched his boats upon the current, andcommenced his desperate enterprise. 

CHAPTER II. 

GROWTH AND CONSOLIDATION OF RUSSIA

From 910 to 973. 

Expedition to Constantinople. --Treaty with the Emperor. --Last Days ofOleg. --His Death. --Igor Assumes the Scepter. --His Expedition to theDon. --Descent upon Constantinople. --His Defeat. --SecondExpedition. --Pusillanimity of the Greeks. --Death of Igor. --Regency ofOlga. --Her Character. --Succession of Sviatoslaf. --His Impiety andAmbition. --Conquest of Bulgaria. --Division of the Empire. --Defeat, Ruin and Death of Sviatoslaf. --Civil War. --Death of Oleg. --Flight ofVlademer. --Supremacy of Yaropolk. 

The fleet of Oleg successfully accomplished the navigation of theDnieper, followed by the horse along the shores. Each barge carriedforty warriors. Entering the Black Sea, they spread their sails andran along the western coast to the mouth of the Bosporus. The enormousarmament approaching the imperial city of Constantine by sea and byland, completely invested it. The superstitious Leon, surnamed thePhilosopher, sat then upon the throne. He was a feeble man engrossedwith the follies of astrology, and without making preparations for anyvigorous defense, he contented himself with stretching a chain acrossthe Golden Horn to prevent the hostile fleet from entering the harbor. The cavalry of Oleg, encountering no serious opposition, burnt andplundered all the neighboring regions. The beautiful villas of thewealthy Greeks, their churches and villages all alike fell a prey tothe flames. Every species of cruelty and barbarity was practiced bythe ruthless invaders. 

The effeminate Greeks from the walls of the city gazed upon this sweepof desolation, but ventured not to march from behind their rampartsto assail the foe. Oleg draw his barges upon the shore and draggedthem on wheels towards the city, that he might from them constructinstruments and engines for scaling the walls. The Greeks were soterrified at this spectacle of energy, that they sent an embassage toOleg, imploring peace, and offering to pay tribute. To conciliate theinvader they sent him large presents of food and wine. Oleg, apprehensive that the viands were poisoned, refused to accept them. Hehowever demanded enormous tribute of the emperor, to which terms theGreeks consented, on condition that Oleg would cease hostilities, andreturn peaceably to his country. Upon this basis of a treaty, theRussian array retired to some distance from the city, and Oleg sentfour commissioners to arrange with the emperor the details of peace. The humiliating treaty exacted was as follows:

=I. = The Greeks engage to give twelve _grivnas_ to each man of theRussian army, and the same sum to each of the warriors in the citiesgoverned by the dependent princes of Oleg. 

=II. = The embassadors, sent by Russia to Constantinople, shall haveall their expenses defrayed by the emperor. And, moreover, the emperorengages to give to every Russian merchant in Greece, bread, wine, meat, fish and fruits, for the space of six months; to grant him freeaccess to the public baths, and to furnish him, on his return to hiscountry, with food, anchors, sails, and, in a word, with every thinghe needs. 

On the other hand the Greeks propose that the Russians, who visitConstantinople for any other purposes than those of commerce, shallnot be entitled to this supply of their tables. The Russian princeshall forbid his embassadors from giving any offense to theinhabitants of the Grecian cities or provinces. The quarter of SaintMeme shall be especially appropriated to the Russians, who, upon theirarrival, shall give information to the city council. Their names shallbe inscribed, and there shall be paid to them every month the sumsnecessary for their support, no matter from what part of Russia theymay have come. A particular gate shall be designated by which they mayenter the city, accompanied by an imperial commissary. They shallenter without arms, and never more than fifty at a time; and theyshall be permitted, freely, to engage in trade in Constantinoplewithout the payment of any tax. 

This treaty, by which the emperor placed his neck beneath the feet ofOleg, was ratified by the most imposing ceremonies of religion. Theemperor took the oath upon the evangelists. Oleg swore by his swordand the gods of Russia. In token of his triumph Oleg proudly raisedhis shield, as a banner, over the battlements of Constantinople, andreturned, laden with riches, to Kief, where he was received with themost extravagant demonstrations of adulation and joy. 

The treaty thus made with the emperor, and which is preserved in fullin the Russian annals, shows that the Russians were no longer savages, but that they had so far emerged from that gloomy state as to be ableto appreciate the sacredness of law, the claims of honor and theauthority of treaties. It is observable that no signatures areattached to this treaty but those of the Norman princes, whichindicates that the original Sclavonic race were in subjection as thevassals of the Normans. Oleg appears to have placed in posts ofauthority only his own countrymen. 

Oleg now, as old age was advancing, passed many years in quietude. Surrounded by an invincible army, and with renown which pervaded themost distant regions, no tribes ventured to disturb his repose. Hisdistance from southern Europe protected him from annoyance from thepowerful nations which were forming there. His latter years seem tohave been devoted to the arts of peace, for he secured to an unusualdegree the love, as well as the admiration, of his subjects. Ancientannalists record that all Russia moaned and wept when he died. He isregarded, as more prominently than any other man, the founder of theRussian empire. He united, though by treachery and blood, the northernand southern kingdoms under one monarch. He then, by conquest, extended his empire over vast realms of barbarians, bringing them allunder the simple yet effective government of feudal lords. Heconsolidated this empire, and by sagacious measures, encouraging artsand commerce, he led his barbarous people onward in the paths ofcivilization. He gave Russia a name and renown, so that it assumed aposition among the nations of the globe, notwithstanding its remoteposition amidst the wilds of the North. His usurpation, history cannot condemn. In those days any man had the right to govern who had thegenius of command. Genius was the only legitimacy. But he was anassassin, and can never be washed clean from that crime. He died aftera reign of thirty-three years, and was buried, with all the displaysof pomp which that dark age could furnish, upon one of the mountainsin the vicinity of Kief, which mountain for many generations wascalled the Tomb of Oleg. 

Igor now assumed the reins of government. He had lived in Kief aquiet, almost an effeminate life, with his beautiful bride Olga. Avery powerful tribe, the Drevolians, which had been rather restive, even under the rigorous sway of Oleg, thought this a favorableopportunity to regain their independence. They raised the standard ofrevolt. Igor crushed the insurrection with energy which astonished allwho knew him, and which spread his fame far and wide through all thewilds of Russia, as a monarch thoroughly capable of maintaining hiscommand. 

Far away in unknown realms, beyond the eastern boundary of Russia, where the gloomy waves of the Irtish, the Tobol, the Oural and theVolga flow through vast deserts, washing the base of fir-cladmountains, and murmuring through wildernesses, the native domain ofwolves and bears, there were wandering innumerable tribes, fierce, cruel and barbarous, who held the frontiers of Russia in continualterror. They were called by the general name of Petchénègues. Igor wascompelled to be constantly on the alert to defend his vast frontierfrom the irruptions of these merciless savages. This incessant warfareled to the organization of a very efficient military power, but therewas no glory to be acquired in merely driving back to their dens thesewild assailants. Weary of the conflict, he at last consented topurchase a peace with them; and then, seeking the military renownwhich Oleg had so signally acquired, he resolved to imitate hisexample and make a descent upon Constantinople. The annals of thosedays, which seem to be credible, state that he floated down theDnieper with ten thousand barges, and spread his sails upon the wavesof the Euxine. Entering the Bosporus, he landed on both shores of thatbeautiful strait, and, with the most wanton barbarity, ravaged thecountry far and near, massacring the inhabitants, pillaging the townsand committing all the buildings to the flames. 

There chanced to be at Constantinople, a very energetic Roman general, who was dispatched against them with a Greek fleet and a numerous landforce. The Greeks in civilization were far in advance of the Russians. The land force drove the Russians to their boats, and then the Grecianfleet bore down upon them. A new instrument of destruction had beeninvented, the terrible Greek fire. Attached to arrows and javelins, and in great balls glowing with intensity of flame which water wouldnot quench, it was thrown into the boats of the Russians, enkindlingconflagration and exciting terror indescribable. It seemed to thesuperstitious followers of Igor, that they were assailed by foeshurling the lightnings of Jove. In this fierce conflict Igor, havinglost a large number of barges, and many of his men, drew off hisremaining forces in disorder, and they slowly returned to theircountry in disgrace, emaciate and starving. Many of the Russians takencaptive by the Greeks were put to death with the most horriblebarbarities. 

Igor, exasperated rather than intimidated by this terrible disaster, resolved upon another expedition, that he might recover his lostrenown by inflicting the most terrible vengeance upon the Greeks. Hespent two years in making preparations for the enterprise; called tohis aid warriors from the most distant tribes of the empire, andpurchased the alliance of the Petchénègues. With an immense array ofbarges, which for leagues covered the surface of the Dnieper, and withan immense squadron of cavalry following along the banks, he commencedthe descent of the river. The emperor was informed that the wholeriver was filled with barges, descending for the siege and sack ofConstantinople. In terror he sent embassadors to Igor to endeavor toavert the storm. 

The imperial embassadors met the flotilla near the mouth of theDnieper, and offered, in the name of the emperor, to pay the sametribute to Igor which had been paid to Oleg, and even to increase thattribute. At the same time they endeavored to disarm the cupidity ofthe foe by the most magnificent presents. Igor halted his troops, andcollecting his chieftains in counsel, communicated to them the messageof the emperor. They replied, "If the emperor will give us the treasure we demand, without ourexposing ourselves to the perils of battle, what more can we ask? Whocan tell on which side will be the victory?"

Thus influenced, Igor consented to a treaty. The opening words of thiscurious treaty are worthy of being recorded. They were as follows:

"We, the embassadors of Igor, solemnly declare that this treaty shallcontinue so long as the sun shall shine, in defiance of themachinations of that evil spirit who is the enemy of peace and thefomenter of discord. The Russians promise never to break this alliancewith the horde; those who have been baptized, under penalty oftemporal and eternal punishment from God; others, under the penalty ofbeing for ever deprived of the protection of Péroune;[1] of neverbeing able to protect themselves with their shields; of being doomedto lacerate themselves with their own swords, arrows and other arms, and of being slaves in this world and that which is to come. "

[Footnote 1: One of the Gods of the Russians. ]

This important treaty consisted of fourteen articles, drawn up withgreat precision, and in fact making the Greek emperor as it were but avassal of the Russian monarch. One of the articles of the treaty isquite illustrative of the times. It reads, "If a Christian kills a Russian, or if a Russian kills a Christian, the friends of the dead have a right to seize the murderer and killhim. "

This treaty was concluded at Constantinople, between the emperor andthe embassadors of Igor. Imperial embassadors were sent with thewritten treaty to Kief. Igor, with imposing ceremonies, ascended thesacred hill where was erected the Russian idol of Péroune, and withhis chieftains took a solemn oath of friendship to the emperor, andthen as a gage of their sincerity deposited at the feet of the idoltheir arms and shields of gold. The Christian nobles repaired to thecathedral of St. Elias, the most ancient church of Kief, and theretook the same oath at the altar of the Christian's God. The renownedRussian historian, Nestor, who was a monk in the monastery at Kief, records that at that time there were numerous Christians in Kief. 

Igor sent the imperial embassadors back to Constantinople laden withrich presents. Elated by wealth and success, the Russian king began toimpose heavier burdens of taxation upon subjugated nations. TheDrevliens resisted. With an insufficient force Igor entered theirterritories. The Drevliens, with the fury of desperation, fell uponhim and he was slain, and his soldiers put to rout. During his reignhe held together the vast empire Oleg had placed in his hands, thoughhe had not been able to extend the boundaries of his country. It isworthy of notice, and of the highest praise, that Igor, though apagan, imitating the example of Oleg, permitted perfect tolerationthroughout his realms. The gospel of Christ was freely preached, andthe Christians enjoyed entire freedom of faith and worship. His reigncontinued thirty-two years. 

Sviatoslaf, the son of Igor, at the time of his father's unhappy deathwas in his minority. The empire was then in great peril. TheDrevliens, one of the most numerous and warlike tribes, were in openand successful revolt. The army accustomed to activity, and now inidleness, was very restive. The old Norman generals, ambitious andhaughty, were disposed to pay but little respect to the claims of aprince who was yet in his boyhood. But Providence had provided forthis exigence. Olga, the mother of Sviatoslaf, assumed the regency, and developed traits of character which place her in the ranks of themost extraordinary and noble of women. Calling to her aid two of themost influential of the nobles, one of whom was the tutor of her sonand the other commander-in-chief of the army, she took the helm ofstate, and developed powers of wisdom and energy which have rarelybeen equaled and perhaps never surpassed. 

She immediately sent an army into the country of the Drevliens, andpunished with terrible severity the murderers of her husband. Thepowerful tribe was soon brought again into subjection to the Russiancrown. As a sort of defiant parade of her power, and to overawe theturbulent Drevliens, she traversed their whole country, with her son, accompanied by a very imposing retinue of her best warriors. Havingthus brought them to subjection, she instituted over them a just andbenevolent system of government, that they might have no occasionagain to rise in revolt. They soon became so warmly attached to herthat they ever were foremost in support of her power. 

One year had not passed ere Olga was seated as firmly upon the throneas Oleg or Igor had ever been. She then, leaving her son Sviatoslaf atKief, set out on a tour through her northern provinces. Everywhere, byher wise measures and her deep interest in the welfare of hersubjects, she won admiration and love. The annals of those times arefull of her praises. The impression produced by this visit was noteffaced from the popular mind for five hundred years, being handeddown from father to son. The sledge in which she traveled was for manygenerations preserved as a sacred relic. 

She returned to Kief, and there resided with her son, for many years, in peace and happiness. The whole empire was tranquil, and in thelowly cabins of the Russians there was plenty, and no sounds of war orviolence disturbed the quiet of their lives. This seems to have beenone of the most serene and pleasant periods of Russian history. Thisnoble woman was born a pagan. But the gospel of Christ was preached inthe churches of Kief, and she heard it and was deeply impressed withits sublimity and beauty. Her life was drawing to a close. Thegrandeur of empire she was soon to lay aside for the darkness and thesilence of the tomb. These thoughts oppressed her mind, which was, bynature, elevated, sensitive and refined. She sent for the Christianpastors and conversed with them about the immortality of the soul, andsalvation through faith in the atonement of our Lord and Saviour JesusChrist. The good seed of Christian truth fell into good soil. Cordially she embraced the gospel. 

That her renunciation of paganism, and her confession of the Saviourmight be more impressive, she decided to go to Constantinople to bebaptized by the venerable Christian patriarch, who resided there. TheChristian emperor, Constantine Porphyrogenete, informed of herapproach, prepared to receive her with all the pomp worthy of soillustrious a princess of so powerful a people. He has himself left arecord of these most interesting ceremonies. Olga approached theimperial palace, with a very splendid suite composed of nobles of hercourt, of ladies of distinction, and of the Russian embassadors andmerchants residing at Constantinople. The emperor, with acorresponding suite of splendor, met the Russian queen at a shortdistance from the palace, and conducted her, with her retinue, to theapartments arranged for their entertainment. It was the 9th ofSeptember, 955. In the great banqueting hall of the palace there was amagnificent feast prepared. The guests were regaled with richestmusic. After such an entertainment as even the opulence of the Easthad seldom furnished, there was an exchange of presents. The emperorand the queen strove to outvie each other in the richness and eleganceof their gifts. Every individual in the two retinues, receivedpresents of great value. 

The queen at her baptism received the Christian name of Helen. We donot find any record of the ceremonies performed at her baptism. It issimply stated that the emperor himself stood as her sponsor. Olga, asshe returned to Kief, with her baptismal vows upon her, and in thefreshness of her Christian hopes, manifested great solicitude for herson, who still continued a pagan. But Sviatoslaf was a wild, pleasure-seeking young man, who turned a deaf ear to all his mother'scounsels. The unbridled license which paganism granted, was much morecongenial to his unrenewed heart than the salutary restraints of thegospel of Christ. The human heart was then and there, as now and here. The Russian historian Karamsin says, "In vain this pious mother spoke to her son of the happiness of beinga Christian; of the peaceful spirit he would find in the worship ofthe true God. 'How can I, ' replied Sviatoslaf, 'make a profession ofthis new religion, which will expose me to the ridicule of all mycompanions in arms?' In vain Olga urged upon him that his examplemight induce others to embrace the gospel of Christ. The young princewas inflexible. He made no effort to prevent others from becomingChristians, but did not disguise his contempt for the Christian faith, and so persistently rejected all the exhortations of his mother, whomhe still tenderly loved, that she was at last forced to silence, andcould only pray, in sadness, that God would open the eyes and touchthe heart of her child. "

The young prince having attained his majority in the year 964, assumedthe crown. His soul was fired with the ambition of signalizing himselfby great military exploits. The blood of Igor, of Oleg and of Rurikcoursed through his veins, and he resolved to lead the Russian arms tovictories which should eclipse all their exploits. He gathered animmense army, and looked eagerly around to find some arena worthy ofthe display of his genius. 

His character was an extraordinary one, combining all the virtues ofancient chivalry; virtues which guided by Christian faith, constitutethe noblest men, but which without piety constitute a man the scourgeof his race. _Fame_ was the God of Sviatoslaf. To acquire thereputation of a great warrior, he was willing to whelm provinces inblood. But he was too magnanimous to take any mean advantage of theirweakness. He would give them fair warning, that no blow should bestruck, assassin-like, stealthily and in the dark. 

He accustomed his body, Spartan-like, to all the fatigues andexposures of war. He indulged in no luxury of tents or carriages, andate the flesh of horses and wild beasts, which he roasted himself, over the coals. In his campaigns the ground was his bed, the sky hiscurtain, his horse blanket his covering, and the saddle his pillow;and he seemed equally regardless of both heat and cold. His soldierslooked to him as their model and emulated his hardihood. Turning hisattention first to the vast and almost unknown realms spreading outtowards the East, he sent word to the tribes on the Don and theVolga, that he was coming to fight them. As soon as they had time toprepare for their defense he followed his word. Here was chivalriccrime and chivalric magnanimity. Marching nine hundred miles directlyeast from Kief, over the Russian plains, he came to the banks of theDon. The region was inhabited by a very powerful nation called theKhozars. They were arrayed under their sovereign, on the banks of theriver to meet the foe. The Khozars had even sent for Greek engineersto aid them in throwing up their fortifications; and they were in anintrenched camp constructed with much military skill. A bloody battleensued, in which thousands were slain. But Sviatoslaf was victor, andthe territory was annexed to Russia, and Russian nobles were placed infeudal possession of its provinces. The conqueror then followed downthe Don to the Sea of Azof, fighting sanguinary battles all the way, but everywhere victorious. The terror of his arms inspired wide-spreadconsternation, and many tribes, throwing aside their weapons, bowedthe neck to the Russian king, and implored his clemency. 

Sviatoslaf returned to Kief with waving banners, exulting in hisrenown. He was stimulated, not satiated, by this success; and nowplanned another expedition still more perilous and grand. On the southof the Danube, near its mouth, was Bulgaria, a vast realm, populousand powerful, which had long bid defiance to all the forces of theRoman empire. The conquest of Bulgaria was an achievement worthy ofthe chivalry even of Sviatoslaf. With an immense fleet of barges, containing sixty thousand men, he descended the Dnieper to the Euxine. Coasting along the western shore his fleet entered the mouth of theDanube. The Bulgarians fought like heroes to repel the invaders. Alltheir efforts were in vain. The Russians sprang from their barges onthe shore, and, protected by their immense bucklers, sword in hand, routed the Bulgarians with great slaughter. Cities and villagesrapidly submitted to the conqueror. The king of Bulgaria in hisdespair rushed upon death. Sviatoslaf, laden with the spoils of thevanquished and crowned with the laurels of victory, surrenderedhimself to rejoicing and to all the pleasures of voluptuousindulgence. 

From these dissipations Sviatoslaf was suddenly recalled by thetidings that his own capital was in danger; that a neighboring tribe, of great military power, taking advantage of his absence with hisarmy, had invested Kief and were hourly expected to take it byassault. In dismay he hastened his return, and found, to hisinexpressible relief, that the besiegers had been routed by thestratagem and valor of a Russian general, and that the city and itsinhabitants were thus rescued from destruction. 

But the Russian king, having tasted the pleasures of a more sunnyclime, and having rioted in the excitements of sensual indulgence, soon became weary of tranquil life in Kief. He was also anxious toescape from the reproof which he always felt from the pious life ofhis mother. He therefore resolved to return to his conquered kingdomof Bulgaria. He said to his mother:

"I had rather live in Bulgaria than at Kief. Bulgaria is the center ofwealth, nature and art. The Greeks send there gold and cloths; theHungarians silver and horses; the Russians furs, wax, honey andslaves. "

"Wait, my son, at least till after my death, " exclaimed Olga. "I amaged and infirm, and very soon shall be conveyed to my tomb. "

This interview hastened the death of Olga. In four days she slept inJesus. She earnestly entreated her son not to admit of any pagan ritesat her funeral. She pointed out the place of her burial, and wasinterred with Christian prayers, accompanied by the lamentations andtears of all the people. Sviatoslaf, in his foreign wars, which hismother greatly disapproved, had left with her the administration ofinternal affairs. Nestor speaks of this pious princess in beautifulphrase as _the morning star of salvation for Russia_. 

Sviatoslaf, having committed his mother to the tomb, made immediatepreparations to transfer his capital from Kief to the more genialclime of Bulgaria. Had he been influenced by statesmanlikeconsiderations it would have been an admirable move. The climate wasfar preferable to that of Kief, the soil more fertile, and theopenings for commerce, through the Danube and the Euxine, immeasurablysuperior. But Sviatoslaf thought mainly of pleasure. 

It was now the year 970. Sviatoslaf had three sons, whom heestablished, though all in their minority, in administration ofaffairs in the realms from which he was departing. Yaropolk receivedthe government of Kief. His second son, Oleg, was placed over thepowerful nation of Drevliens. A third son, Vlademer, the child ofdishonor, not born in wedlock, was intrusted with the command atNovgorod. Having thus arranged these affairs, Sviatoslaf, with awell-appointed army, eagerly set out for his conquered province ofBulgaria. But in the meantime the Bulgarians had organized a strongforce to resist the invader. The Russians conquered in a bloodybattle, and, by storm, retook Pérégeslavetz, the beautiful capital ofBulgaria, where Sviatoslaf established his throne. 

The Greeks at Constantinople were alarmed by this near approach of theever-encroaching and warlike Russians, and trembled lest they shouldnext fall a prey to the rapacity of Sviatoslaf. The emperor, JeanZimisces, immediately entered into an alliance with the Bulgarians, offering his daughter in marriage to Boris, son of their former king. A bloody war ensued. The Greeks and Bulgarians were victors, andSviatoslaf, almost gnashing his teeth with rage, was driven back againto the cold regions of the North. The Greek historians give thefollowing description of the personal appearance of Sviatoslaf. He wasof medium height and well formed. His physiognomy was severe andstern. His breast was broad, his neck thick, his eyes blue, withheavy eyebrows. He had a broad nose, heavy moustaches, but a slightbeard. The large mass of hair which covered his head indicated hisnobility. From one of his ears there was suspended a ring of gold, decorated with two pearls and a ruby. 

As Sviatoslaf, with his shattered army, ascended the Dnieper in theirboats, the Petchénègues, fierce tribes of barbarians, whom Sviatoslafhad subdued, rose in revolt against him. They gathered, in immensenumbers, at one of the cataracts of the Dnieper, where it would benecessary for the Russians to transport their boats for some distanceby land. They hoped to cut off his retreat and thus secure the entiredestruction of their formidable foe. The situation of Sviatoslaf wasnow desperate. Nothing remained for him but death. With theabandonment of despair he rushed into the thickest of the foe, andsoon fell a mangled corpse. How much more happy would have been hislife, how much more happy his death, had he followed the counsels ofhis pious mother. Kouria, chief of the Petchénègues, cut off the headof Sviatoslaf, and ever after used his skull for a drinking cup. Theannalist Strikofski, states that he had engraved upon the skull thewords, "In seeking the destruction of others you met with your own. "

A few fugitives from the army of Sviatoslaf succeeded in reachingKief, where they communicated the tidings of the death of the king. The empire now found itself divided into three portions, each with itssovereign. Yaropolk was supreme at Kief. Oleg reigned in the spaciouscountry of the Drevliens. Vladimir was established at Novgorod. No oneof these princes was disposed to yield the supremacy to either of theothers. They were soon in arms. Yaropolk marched against his brotherOleg. The two armies met about one hundred and fifty miles north-westof Kief, near the present town of Obroutch. Oleg and his force wereutterly routed. As the whole army, in confusion and dismay, were inpell-mell flight, hotly pursued, the horse of Oleg fell. Nothingcould resist, even, for an instant, the onswelling flood. He wastrampled into the mire, beneath the iron hoofs of squadrons of horseand the tramp of thousands of mailed men. After the battle, his bodywas found, so mutilated that it was with difficulty recognized. As itwas spread upon a mat before the eyes of Yaropolk, he wept bitterly, and caused the remains to be interred with funeral honors. Themonument raised to his memory has long since perished; but even to thepresent day the inhabitants of Obroutch point out the spot where Olegfell. 

Vladimir, prince of Novgorod, terrified by the fate of his brotherOleg, and apprehensive that a similar doom awaited him, sought safetyin flight. Forsaking his realm he retired to the Baltic, and tookrefuge with the powerful Normans from whom his ancestors had come. Yaropolk immediately dispatched lieutenants to take possession of thegovernment, and thus all Russia, as a united kingdom, was againbrought under the sway of a single sovereign. 

CHAPTER III. 

REIGNS OF VLADEMER, YAROSLAF, YSIASLAF AND VSEVOLOD

From 973 to 1092. 

Flight of Vlademer. --His Stolen Bride. --The March UponKief. --Debauchery of Valdemar. --Zealous Paganism. --Introduction ofChristianity. --Baptism in the Dnieper. --Entire Change in the Characterof Valdemar. --His Great Reforms. --His Death. --Usurpation of Sviatopolkthe Miserable. --Accession of Yaroslaf. --His Administration AndDeath. --Accession of Ysiaslaf. --His Strange Reverses. --HisDeath. --Vsevolod Ascends the Throne. --His Two Flights toPoland. --Appeals to the Pope. --Wars, Famine And Pestilence. --Characterof Vsevolod. 

Though Vlademer had fled from Russia, it was by no means with theintention of making a peaceful surrender of his realms to hisambitious brother. For two years he was incessantly employed, upon theshores of the Baltic, the home of his ancestors, in gatheringadventurers around his flag, to march upon Novgorod, and chase fromthence the lieutenants of Yaropolk. He at length, at the head of astrong army, triumphantly entered the city. Half way between Novgorodand Kief, was the city and province of Polotsk. The governor was aNorman named Rovgolod. His beautiful daughter Rogneda was affianced toYaropolk, and they were soon to be married. Vlademer sent embassadorsto Rovgolod soliciting an alliance, and asking for the hand of hisdaughter. 

The proud princess, faithful to Yaropolk, returned the stinging reply, that _she would never marry the son of a slave_. We have beforementioned that the mother of Vlademer was not the wife of his father. She was one of the maids of honor of Olga. This insult roused theindignation of Vlademer to the highest pitch. Burning with rage hemarched suddenly upon Polotsk, took the city by storm, killed Rovgolodand his two sons and compelled Rogneda, his captive, to marry him, paying but little attention to the marriage ceremony. Having thussatiated his vengeance, he marched upon Kief, with a numerous army, composed of chosen warriors from various tribes. Yaropolk, alarmed atthe strength with which his brother was approaching, did not dare togive him battle, but accumulated all his force behind the ramparts ofKief. The city soon fell into the hands of Vlademer, and Yaropolk, basely betrayed by one of his generals, was assassinated by twoofficers of Vlademer, acting under his authority. 

Vlademer was now in possession of the sovereign power, and hedisplayed as much energy in the administration of affairs as he hadshown in the acquisition of the crown. He immediately imposed a heavytax upon the Russians, to raise money to pay his troops. Havingconsolidated his power he became a very zealous supporter of the oldpagan worship, rearing several new idols upon the sacred hill, andplacing in his palace a silver statue of Péroune. His soul seems tohave been harrowed by the consciousness of crime, and he sought, bythe cruel rites of a debasing superstition, to appease the wrath ofthe Gods. 

Still remorse did not prevent him from plunging into the mostrevolting excesses of debauchery. The chronicles of those times statethat he had three hundred concubines in one of his palaces, threehundred in another at Kief, and two hundred at one of his countryseats. It is by no means certain that these are exaggerations, forevery beautiful maiden in the empire was sought out, to be transferredto his harems. Paganism had no word of remonstrance to utter againstsuch excesses. But Vlademer, devoted as he was to sensual indulgence, was equally fond of war. His armies were ever on the move, and the cryof battle was never intermitted. On the south-east he extended hisconquests to the Carpathian mountains, where they skirt the plains ofHungary. In the north-west he extended his sway, by all the energiesof fire and blood, even to the shores of the Baltic, and to the Gulfof Finland. 

Elated beyond measure by his victories, he attributed his success tothe favor of his idol gods, and resolved to express his homage byofferings of human blood. He collected a number of handsome boys andbeautiful girls, and drew lots to see which of them should be offeredin sacrifice. The lot fell upon a fine boy from one of the Christianfamilies. The frantic father interposed to save his child. But theagents of Vlademer fell fiercely upon them, and they both were slainand offered in sacrifice. Their names, Ivan and Theodore, are stillpreserved in the Russian church as the first Christian martyrs ofKief. 

A few more years of violence and crime passed away, when Vlademerbecame the subject of that marvelous change which, nine hundred yearsbefore, had converted the persecuting Saul into the devoted apostle. The circumstances of his conversion are very peculiar, and are veryminutely related by Nestor. Other recitals seem to give authenticityto the narrative. For some time Vlademer had evidently been in muchanxiety respecting the doom which awaited him beyond the grave. Hesent for the teachers of the different systems of religion, to explainto him the peculiarities of their faith. First came the Mohammedansfrom Bulgaria; then the Jews from Jerusalem; then the Christians fromthe papal church at Rome, and then Christians from the Greek church atConstantinople. The Mohammedans and the Jews he rejected promptly, butwas undecided respecting the claims of Rome and Constantinople. Hethen selected ten of the wisest men in his kingdom and sent them tovisit Rome and Constantinople and report in which country divineworship was conducted in the manner most worthy of the Supreme Being. The embassadors returning to Kief, reported warmly in favor of theGreek church. Still the mind of Vlademer was oppressed with doubts. Heassembled a number of the most virtuous nobles and asked their advice. The question was settled by the remark of one who said, "Had not thereligion of the Greek church been the best, the sainted Olga would nothave accepted it. "

This wonderful event is well authenticated; Nestor gives a recital ofit in its minute details; and an old Greek manuscript, preserved inthe royal library at Paris, records the visit of these ambassadors toRome and Constantinople. Vlademer's conversion, however, seems, atthis time, to have been intellectual rather than spiritual, a changein his policy of administration rather than a change of heart. Thoughthis external change was a boundless blessing to Russia, there is butlittle evidence that Vlademer then comprehended that moral renovationwhich the gospel of Christ effects as its crowning glory. He saw theabsurdity of paganism; he felt tortured by remorse; perhaps he felt insome degree the influence of the gospel which was even then faithfullypreached in a few churches in idolatrous Kief; and he wished toelevate Russia above the degradation of brutal idolatry. 

He deemed it necessary that his renunciation of idolatry and adoptionof Christianity should be accompanied with pomp which should produce awide-spread impression upon Russia. He accordingly collected animmense army, descended the Dnieper in boats, sailed across the BlackSea, and entering the Gulf of Cherson, near Sevastopol, after severalbloody battles took military possession of the Crimea. Thusvictorious, he sent an embassage to the emperors Basil and Constantineat Constantinople, that he wished the young Christian princess Annefor his bride, and that if they did not promptly grant his request, hewould march his army to attack the city. 

The emperors, trembling before the approach of such a power, repliedthat they would not withhold from him the hand of the princess if hewould first embrace Christianity. Vlademer of course assented to this, which was the great object he had in view; but demanded that theprincess, who was a sister of the emperors, should first be sent tohim. The unhappy maiden was overwhelmed with anguish at the receptionof these tidings. She regarded the pagan Russians as ferocioussavages; and to be compelled to marry their chief was to her a doommore dreadful than death. 

But policy, which is the religion of cabinets, demanded the sacrifice. The princess, weeping in despair, was conducted, accompanied by themost distinguished ecclesiastics and nobles of the empire, to the campof Vlademer, where she was received with the most gorgeousdemonstrations of rejoicing. The whole army expressed theirgratification by all the utterances of triumph. The ceremony ofbaptism was immediately performed in the church of St. Basil, in thecity of Cherson, and then, at the same hour, the marriage rites withthe princess were solemnized. Vlademer ordered a large church to bebuilt at Cherson in memory of his visit. He then returned to Kief, taking with him some preachers of distinction; a communion servicewrought in the most graceful proportions of Grecian art, and severalexquisite specimens of statuary and sculpture, to inspire his subjectswith a love for the beautiful. 

He accepted the Christian teachers as his guides, and devoted himselfwith extraordinary zeal to the work of persuading all his subjects torenounce their idol-worship and accept Christianity. Every measure wasadopted to throw contempt upon paganism. The idols were collected andburned in huge bonfires. The sacred statue of Péroune, the mostillustrious of the pagan Gods, was dragged ignominiously through thestreets, pelted with mud and scourged with whips, until at last, battered and defaced, it was dragged to the top of a precipice andtumbled headlong into the river, amidst the derision and hootings ofthe multitude. 

Our zealous new convert now issued a decree to all the people ofRussia, rich and poor, lords and slaves, to repair to the river in thevicinity of Kief to be baptized. At an appointed day the peopleassembled by thousands on the banks of the Dnieper. Vlademer at lengthappeared, accompanied by a great number of Greek priests. The signalbeing given, the whole multitude, men, women and children, wadedslowly into the stream. Some boldly advanced out up to their necks inthe water; others, more timid, ventured only waist deep. Fathers andmothers led their children by the hand. The priests, standing upon theshore, read the baptismal prayers, and chaunted the praises of God, and then conferred the name of Christians upon these barbarians. Themultitude then came up from the water. 

Vlademer was in a transport of joy. His strange soul was notinsensible to the sublimity of the hour and of the scene. Raising hiseyes to heaven he uttered the following prayer:

"Creator of heaven and earth, extend thy blessing to these thy newchildren. May they know thee as the true God, and be strengthened bythee in the true religion. Come to my help against the temptations ofthe evil spirit, and I will praise thy name. "

Thus, in the year 988, paganism was, by a blow, demolished in Russia, and nominal Christianity introduced throughout the whole realm. AChristian church was erected upon the spot where the statue of Pérounehad stood. Architects were brought from Constantinople to buildchurches of stone in the highest artistic style. Missionaries weresent throughout the whole kingdom, to instruct the people in thedoctrines of Christianity, and to administer the rite of baptism. Nearly all the people readily received the new faith. Some, however, attached to the ancient idolatry, refused to abandon it. Vlademer, nobly recognizing the rights of conscience, resorted to no measures ofviolence. The idolaters were left undisturbed save by the teachings ofthe missionaries. Thus for several generations idolatry held alingering life in the remote sections of the empire. Schools wereestablished for the instruction of the young, learned teachers fromGreece secured, and books of Christian biography translated into theRussian tongue. 

Vlademer had then ten sons. Three others were afterwards born to him. He divided his kingdom into ten provinces or states, over each ofwhich he placed one of these sons as governor. On the frontiers of theempire he caused cities, strongly fortified, to be erected assafeguards against the invasion of remote barbarians. For severalyears Russia enjoyed peace with but trivial interruptions. Thecharacter of Vlademer every year wonderfully improved. Under hisChristian teachers he acquired more and more of the Christian spirit, and that spirit was infused into all his public acts. He became thefather of his people, and especially the friend and helper of thepoor. The king was deeply impressed with the words of our Saviour, "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy, " and with thedeclaration of Solomon, "He who giveth to the poor lendeth to theLord. "

In the excess of his zeal of benevolence he was disposed to forgiveall criminals. Thus crime was greatly multiplied, and the veryexistence of the state became endangered. The clergy, in a body, remonstrated with him, assuring him that God had placed him upon thethrone expressly that he might punish the wicked and thus protect thegood. He felt the force of this reasoning, and instituted, though withmuch reluctance, a more rigorous government. War had been his passion. In this respect also his whole nature seemed to be changed, andnothing but the most dire necessity could lead him to an appeal toarms. The princess Anne appears to have been a sincere Christian, andto have exerted the most salutary influence upon the mind of herhusband. In the midst of these great measures of reform, suddensickness seized Vlademer in his palace, and he died, in the year 1015, so unexpectedly that he appointed no successor. His death causeduniversal lamentations, and thousands crowded to the church of NotreDame, to take a last look of their beloved sovereign, whose bodyreposed there for a time in state, in a marble coffin. The remainswere then deposited by the side of his last wife, the Christianprincess Anne, who had died a few years before. The Russian historian, Karamsin, says:

"This prince, whom the church has recognized as equal to the apostles, merits from history the title of Great. It is God alone who can knowwhether Vlademer was a true Christian at heart, or if he wereinfluenced simply by political considerations. It is sufficient for usto state that, after having embraced that divine religion, Vlademerappears to have been sanctified by it, and he developed a totallydifferent character from that which he exhibited when involved in thedarkness of paganism. "

One of the sons of Vlademer, whose name was Sviatopolk, chanced to beat Kief at the time of his father's death. He resolved to usurp thethrone and to cause the assassination of all the brothers from whom hecould fear any opposition. Three of his brothers speedily fell victimsto his bloody perfidy. Yaroslaf, who had been entrusted with thefeudal government of Novgorod, being informed of the death of hisfather, of the usurpation of Sviatopolk and of the assassination ofthree of his brothers, raised an army of forty thousand men andmarched upon Kief. Sviatopolk, informed of his approach, hastened, with all his troops to meet him. The two armies encountered each otherupon the banks of the Dnieper about one hundred and fifty miles aboveKief. The river separated them, and neither dared to attempt to crossin the presence of the other. Several weeks passed, the two camps thusfacing each other, without any collision. 

At length Yaroslaf, with the Novgorodians, crossed the streamstealthily and silently in a dark night, and fell fiercely upon thesleeping camp of Sviatopolk. His troops, thus taken by surprise, fought for a short time desperately. They were however soon cut topieces or dispersed, and Sviatopolk, himself, saved his life only byprecipitate flight. Yaroslaf, thus signally victorious, continued hismarch, without further opposition, to Kief, and entered the capital intriumph. Sviatopolk fled to Poland, secured the coöperation of thePolish king, whose daughter he had married, returned with a numerousarmy, defeated his brother in a sanguinary battle, drove him back toNovgorod, and again, with flying banners, took possession of Kief. Thepath of history now leads us through the deepest sloughs of perfidyand crime. Two of the sisters of Yaroslaf were found in Kief. One ofthem had previously refused the hand of the king of Poland. Thebarbarian in revenge seized her as his concubine. Sviatopolk, jealousof the authority which his father-in-law claimed, and which he couldenforce by means of the Polish army, administered poison in the foodof the troops. A terrible and unknown disease broke out in the camp, and thousands perished. The wretch even attempted to poison hisfather-in-law, but the crime was suspected, and the Polish king, Boleslas, fled to his own realms. 

Sviatopolk was thus again left so helpless as to invite attack. Yaroslaf with eagerness availed himself of the opportunity. Raising anew army, he marched upon Kief, retook the city and drove his brotheragain into exile. The energetic yet miserable man fled to the banks ofthe Volga, where he formed a large army of the ferocious Petchénègues, exciting their cupidity with promises of boundless pillage. With thesewolfish legions, he commenced his march back again upon his owncountry. The terrible encounter took place on the banks of the Alta. Russian historians describe the conflict as one of the most fierce inwhich men have ever engaged. The two armies precipitated themselvesupon each other with the utmost fury, breast to breast, swords, javelins and clubs clashing against brazen shields. The Novgorodianshad taken a solemn oath that they would conquer or die. Three timesthe combatants from sheer exhaustion ceased the strife. Three timesthe deadly combat was renewed with redoubled ardor. The sky wasillumined with the first rays of the morning when the battlecommenced. The evening twilight was already darkening the field beforethe victory was decided. The hordes of the wretched Sviatopolk werethen driven in rabble rout from the field, leaving the ground coveredwith the slain. The defeat was so awful that Sviatopolk was plungedinto utter despair. Half dead with terror, tortured by remorse, andpursued by the frown of Heaven, he fled into the deserts of Bohemia, where he miserably perished, an object of universal execration. In theannals of Russia the surname of _miserable_ is ever affixed to thisinfamous prince. 

Yaroslaf, thus crowned by victory, received the undisputed title ofsovereign of Russia. It was now the year 1020. For several yearsYaroslaf reigned in prosperity. There were occasional risings ofbarbaric tribes, which, by force of arms, he speedily quelled. Muchtime and treasure were devoted to the embellishment of the capital;churches were erected; the city was surrounded by brick walls;institutions of learning were encouraged, and, most important of all, the Bible was translated into the Russian language. It is recordedthat the king devoutly read the Scriptures himself, both morning andevening, and took great interest in copying the sacred books with hisown hands. 

The closing years of life this illustrious prince passed in repose andin the exercises of piety, while he still continued, withunintermitted zeal, to watch over the welfare of the state. Nearly allthe pastors of the churches were Greeks from Constantinople, andYaroslaf, apprehensive that the Greeks might acquire too muchinfluence in the empire, made great efforts to raise up Russianecclesiastics, and to place them in the most important posts. Atlength the last hours of the monarch arrived, and it was evident thatdeath was near. He assembled his children around his bed, four sonsand five daughters, and thus affectingly addressed them:

"I am about to leave the world. I trust that you, my dear children, will not only remember that you are brothers and sisters, but that youwill cherish for each other the most tender affection. Ever bear inmind that discord among you will be attended with the most funerealresults, and that it will be destructive of the prosperity of thestate. By peace and tranquillity alone can its power be consolidated. 

"Ysiaslaf will be my successor to ascend the throne of Kief. Obey himas you have obeyed your father. I give Tchernigof to Sviatoslaf;Pereaslavle to Vsevolod; and Smolensk to Viatcheslaf. I hope that eachof you will be satisfied with his inheritance. Your oldest brother, inhis quality of sovereign prince, will be your natural judge. He willprotect the oppressed and punish the guilty. "

On the 19th of February, 1054, Yaroslaf died, in the seventy-firstyear of his age. His subjects followed his remains in tears to thetomb, in the church of St. Sophia, where his marble monument, carvedby Grecian artists, is still shown. Influenced by a superstitioncommon in those days, he caused the bones of Oleg and Yaropolk, thetwo murdered brothers of Vlademer, who had perished in the errors ofpaganism, to be disinterred, baptized, and then consigned to Christianburial in the church of Kief. He established the first public schoolin Russia, where three hundred young men, sons of the priests andnobles, received instruction in all those branches which would preparethem for civil or ecclesiastical life. Ambitious of making Kief therival of Constantinople, he expended large sums in its decoration. Grecian artists were munificently patronized, and paintings andmosaics of exquisite workmanship added attraction to churches rearedin the highest style of existing art. He even sent to Greece forsingers, that the church choirs might be instructed in the richestutterances of music. He drew up a code of laws, called RussianJustice, which, for that dark age, is a marvelous monument ofsagacity, comprehensive views and equity. 

The death of Yaroslaf proved an irreparable calamity; for hissuccessor was incapable of leading on in the march of civilization, and the realm was soon distracted by civil war. It is a gloomy period, of three hundred years, upon which we now must enter, while violence, crime, and consequently misery, desolated the land. It is worthy ofrecord that Nestor attributes the woes which ensued, to the generalforgetfulness of God, and the impiety which commenced the reignimmediately after the death of Yaroslaf. 

"God is just, " writes the historian. "He punishes the Russians fortheir sins. We dare to call ourselves Christians, and yet we live likeidolaters. Although multitudes throng every place of entertainment, although the sound of trumpets and harps resounds in our houses, andmountebanks exhibit their tricks and dances, the temples of God areempty, surrendered to solitude and silence. "

Bands of barbarians invaded Russia from the distant regions of theCaspian Sea, plundering, killing and burning. They came suddenly, likethe thunder-cloud in a summer's day, and as suddenly disappeared whereno pursuit could find them. Ambitious nobles, descendants of formerkings, plied all the arts of perfidy and of assassination to getpossession of different provinces of the empire, each hoping to makehis province central and to extend his sway over all the rest ofRussia. The brothers of Ysiaslaf became embroiled, and drew the swordagainst each other. An insurrection was excited in Kief, the populacebesieged the palace, and the king saved his life only by a precipitateabandonment of his capital. The military mob pillaged the palace andproclaimed their chieftain, Vseslaf, king. 

Ysiaslaf fled to Poland. The Polish king, Boleslas II. , who was agrandson of Vlademer, and who had married a Russian princess, received the fugitive king with the utmost kindness. With a strongPolish army, accompanied by the King of Poland, Ysiaslaf returned toKief, to recover his capital by the sword. The insurgent chief who hadusurped the throne, in cowardly terror fled. Ysiaslaf entered the citywith the stern strides of a conqueror and wreaked horrible vengeanceupon the inhabitants, making but little discrimination between theinnocent and the guilty. Seventy were put to death. A large number hadtheir eyes plucked out; and for a long time the city resounded withthe cries of the victims, suffering under all kinds of punishmentsfrom the hands of this implacable monarch. Thus the citizens werespeedily brought into abject submission. The Polish king, with hisarmy, remained a long time at Kief, luxuriating in every indulgence atthe expense of the inhabitants. He then returned to his own countryladen with riches. 

Ysiaslaf re-ascended the throne, having been absent ten months. Disturbances of a similar character agitated the provinces which wereunder the government of the brothers of Ysiaslaf, and which hadassumed the authority and dignity of independent kingdoms. Thus allRussia was but an arena of war, a volcanic crater of flame and blood. Three years of conflict and woe passed away, when two of the brothersof Ysiaslaf united their armies and marched against him; and again hewas compelled to seek a refuge in Poland. He carried with him immensetreasure, hoping thus again to engage the services of the Polish army. But Boleslas infamously robbed him of his treasure, and then, to usean expression of Nestor, "_showed him the way out of his kingdom_. "

The woe-stricken exile fled to Germany, and entreated theinterposition of the emperor, Henry IV. , promising to reward him withimmense treasure, and to hold the crown of Russia as tributary to theGerman empire. The emperor was excited by the alluring offer, and sentembassadors to Sviatoslaf, now enthroned at Kief, ostensibly topropose reconciliation, but in reality to ascertain what theprobability was of success in a warlike expedition to so remote akingdom. The embassadors returned with a very discouraging report. 

The banished prince thus disappointed, turned his steps to Rome, andimplored the aid of Gregory VII. , that renowned pontiff, who wasambitious of universal sovereignty, and who had assumed the title ofKing of kings. Ysiaslaf, in his humiliation, was ready to renounce hisfidelity to the Greek church, and also the dignity of an independentprince. He promised, in consideration of the support of the pope, torecognize not only the spiritual power of Rome, but also the temporalauthority of the pontiff. He also entered bitter complaints againstthe King of Poland. Ysiaslaf did not visit Rome in person, but senthis son to confer with the pope. Gregory, rejoiced to acquirespiritual dominion over Russia, received the application in the mostfriendly manner, and sent embassadors to the fugitive prince with thefollowing letter:

"Gregory, bishop, servant of the servants of God, to Ysiaslaf, princeof the Russians, safety, health and the apostolic benediction. 

"Your son, after having visited the sacred places at Rome, has humblyimplored that he might be reëstablished in his possessions by theauthority of Saint Peter, and has given his solemn vow to be faithfulto the chief of the apostles. We have consented to grant his request, which we understand is in accordance with your wishes; and we, in thename of the chief of the apostles, confer upon him the government ofthe Russian kingdom. 

"We pray that Saint Peter may preserve your health, that he willprotect your reign and your estates, even to the end of your life, andthat you may then enjoy a day of eternal glory. 

"Wishing also to give a proof of our desire to be useful to youhereafter, we have charged our embassadors, one of whom is yourfaithful friend, to treat with you verbally upon all those subjectsalluded to in your communication to us. Receive them with kindness asthe embassadors of Saint Peter, and receive without restriction allthe propositions they may make in our name. 

"May God, the all-powerful, illumine your heart with divine light andwith temporal blessings, and conduct you to eternal glory. Given atRome the 15th of May, in the year 1075. "

Thus adroitly the pope assumed the sovereignty of Russia, and theright, and the power, by the mere utterance of a word, to confer itupon whom he would. The all-grasping pontiff thus annexed Russia tothe domains of Saint Peter. Another short letter Gregory wrote to theKing of Poland. It was as follows:

"In appropriating to yourself illegally the treasures of the Russianprince, you have violated the Christian virtues. I conjure you, in thename of God, to restore to him all the property of which you and yoursubjects have deprived him; for robbers can never enter the kingdom ofheaven unless they first restore the plunder they have taken. "

Fortunately for the fugitive prince, his usurping brother Sviatoslafjust at this time died, in consequence of a severe surgical operation. The Polish king appears to have refunded the treasure of which he hadrobbed the exiled monarch, and Ysiaslaf, hiring an army of Polishmercenaries, returned a second time in triumph to his capital. It doesnot appear that he subsequently paid any regard to the interpositionof the pope. 

We have now but a long succession of conspiracies, insurrections andbattles. In one of these civil conflicts, Ysiaslaf, at the head of aformidable force, met another powerful army, but a few leagues fromKief. In the hottest hour of the battle a reckless cavalier, in thehostile ranks, perceiving Ysiaslaf in the midst of his infantry, precipitated himself on him, pierced him with his lance and threw himdead upon the ground. His body was conveyed in a canoe to Kief, andburied with much funeral pomp in the church of Notre Dame, by the sideof the beautiful monument which had been erected to the memory ofVlademer. 

Ysiaslaf expunged from the Russian code of laws the death penalty, andsubstituted, in its stead, heavy fines. The Russian historians, however, record that it is impossible to decide whether this measurewas the dictate of humanity, or if he wished in this way to replenishhis treasury. 

Vsevolod succeeded to the throne of his brother Ysiaslaf in the year1078. The children of Ysiaslaf had provinces assigned them inappanage. Vsevolod was a lover of peace, and yet devastation andcarnage were spread everywhere before his eyes. Every province in theempire was torn by civil strife. Hundreds of nobles and princes wereinflamed with the ambition for supremacy, and with the sword alonecould the path be cut to renown. The wages offered the soldiers, onall sides, was pillage. Cities were everywhere sacked and burned, andthe realm was crimsoned with blood. Civil war is necessarily followedby the woes of famine, which woes are ever followed by the pestilence. The plague swept the kingdom with terrific violence, and wholeprovinces were depopulated. In the city of Kief alone, seven thousandperished in the course of ten weeks. Universal terror, andsuperstitious fear spread through the nation. An earthquake indicatedthat the world itself was trembling in alarm; an enormous serpent wasreported to have been seen falling from heaven; invisible andmalignant spirits were riding by day and by night through the streetsof the cities, wounding the citizens with blows which, though unseen, were heavy and murderous, and by which blows many were slain. Allhearts sank in gloom and fear. Barbarian hordes ravaged both banks ofthe Dnieper, committing towns and villages to the flames, and killingsuch of the inhabitants as they did not wish to carry away ascaptives. 

Vsevolod, an amiable man of but very little force of character, wascrushed by the calamities which were overwhelming his country. Not anhour of tranquillity could he enjoy. It was the ambition of hisnephews, ambitious, energetic, unprincipled princes, struggling forthe supremacy, which was mainly the cause of all these disasters. 

CHAPTER IV. 

YEARS OF WAR AND WOE. From 1092 to 1167. 

Character of Vsevolod. --Succession of Sviatopolk. --HisDiscomfiture. --Deplorable Condition of Russia. --Death ofSviatopolk. --His Character. --Accession of Monomaque. --Curious Festivalat Kief. --Energy of Monomaque. --Alarm of the Emperor atConstantinople. --Horrors of War. --Death of Monomaque. --His RemarkableCharacter. --Pious Letter to his Children. --Accession of Mstislaf. --HisShort but Stormy Reign. --Struggles for the Throne. --Final Victory ofYsiaslaf. --Moscow in the Province of Souzdal. --Death ofYsiaslaf. --Wonderful Career of Rostislaf. --Rising Power ofMoscow. --Georgievitch, Prince of Moscow. 

Vsevolod has the reputation of having been a man of piety. But he wasquite destitute of that force of character which one required to holdthe helm in such stormy times. He was a man of great humanity and ofunblemished morals. The woes which desolated his realms, and which hewas utterly unable to avert, crushed his spirit and hastened hisdeath. Perceiving that his dying hour was at hand, he sent for his twosons, Vlademer and Rostislaf, and the sorrowing old man breathed hislast in their arms. 

Vsevolod was the favorite son of Yaroslaf the Great, and his father, with his dying breath, had expressed the wish that Vsevolod, whendeath should come to him, might be placed in the tomb by his side. These affectionate wishes of the dying father were gratified, and theremains of Vsevolod were deposited, with the most imposing ceremoniesof those days, in the church of Saint Sophia, by the side of those ofhis father. The people, forgetting his weakness and remembering onlyhis amiability, wept at his burial. 

Vlademer, the eldest son of Vsevolod, with great magnanimitysurrendered the crown to his cousin Sviatopolk, saying, "His father was older than mine, and reigned at Kief before my father. I wish to avoid dissension and the horrors of civil war. "

He then proclaimed Sviatopolk sovereign of Russia. The new sovereignhad been feudal lord of the province of Novgorod; he, however, soonleft his northern capital to take up his residence in the moreimperial palaces of Kief. But disaster seemed to be the doom ofRussia, and the sounds of rejoicing which attended his accession tothe throne had hardly died away ere a new scene of woe burst upon thedevoted land. 

The young king was rash and headstrong. He provoked the ire of one ofthe strong neighboring provinces, which was under the sway of anenergetic feudal prince, ostensibly a vassal of the crown, but who, inhis pride and power, arrogated independence. The banners of a hostilearmy were soon approaching Kief. Sviatopolk marched heroically to meetthem. A battle was fought, in which he and his army were awfullydefeated. Thousands were driven by the conquerors into a stream, swollen by the rains, where they miserably perished. The fugitives, led by Sviatopolk, in dismay fled back to Kief and took refuge behindthe walls of the city. The enemy pressed on, ravaging, with the mostcruel desolation, the whole region around Kief, and in a second battleconquered the king and drove him out of his realms. The whole ofsouthern Russia was abandoned to barbaric destruction. Nestor gives agraphic sketch of the misery which prevailed:

"One saw everywhere, " he writes, "villages in flames; churches, houses, granaries were reduced to heaps of ashes; and the unfortunatecitizens were either expiring beneath the blows of their enemies, orwere awaiting death with terror. Prisoners, half naked, were draggedin chains to the most distant and savage regions. As they toiledalong, they said, weeping, one to another, '_I am from such a village, and I from such a village_. No horses or cattle were to be seen uponour plains. The fields were abandoned to weeds, and ferocious beastsranged the places but recently occupied by Christians. "

The whole reign of Sviatopolk, which continued until the year 1113, was one continued storm of war. It would only weary the reader toendeavor to disentangle the labyrinth of confusion, and to describethe ebbings and floodings of battle. Every man's hand was against hisneighbor; and friends to-day were foes to-morrow. Sviatopolk himselfwas one of the most imperfect of men. He was perfidious, ungratefuland suspicious; haughty in prosperity, mean and cringing in adversity. His religion was the inspiration of superstition and cowardice, not ofintelligence and love. Whenever he embarked upon any importantexpedition, he took an ecclesiastic to the tomb of Saint Theodosius, there to implore the blessing of Heaven. If successful in theenterprise, he returned to the tomb to give thanks. This was thebeginning and the end of his piety. Without any scruple he violatedthe most sacred laws of morality. The marriage vow was entirelydisregarded, and he was ever ready to commit any crime which wouldafford gratification to his passions, or which would advance hisinterests. 

The death of Sviatopolk occurred in a season of general anarchy, andit was uncertain who would seize the throne. The citizens of Kief metin solemn and anxious assembly, and offered the crown to anillustrious noble, Monomaque, a brother of Sviatopolk, and a man whohad acquired renown in many enterprises of most desperate daring. Intruth it required energy and courage of no ordinary character for aman at that time to accept the crown. Innumerable assailants wouldimmediately fall upon him, putting to the most imminent peril not onlythe crown, but the head which wore it. By the Russian custom ofdescent, the crown incontestably belonged to the oldest son ofSviatoslaf, and Monomaque, out of regard to his rights, declined theproffered gift. This refusal was accompanied by the most melancholyresults. A terrible tumult broke out in the city. There was no arm oflaw sufficiently powerful to restrain the mob, and anarchy, with allits desolation, reigned for a time triumphant. A deputation of themost influential citizens of Kief was immediately sent to Monomaque, with the most earnest entreaty that he would hasten to rescue them andtheir city from the impending ruin. The heroic prince could not turn adeaf ear to this appeal. He hastened to the city, where his presence, combined with the knowledge which all had of his energy and courage, at once appeased the tumult. He ascended the throne, greeted by theacclamations of the whole city. No opposition ventured to manifestitself, and Monomaque was soon in the undisputed possession of power. 

Nothing can give one a more vivid idea of the state of the times thanthe festivals appointed in honor of the new reign as described by theancient annalists. The bones of two saints were transferred from onechurch to another in the city. A magnificent coffin of silver, embellished with gold, precious stones, and _bas reliefs_, soexquisitely carved as to excite the admiration even of the Grecianartists, contained the sacred relics, and excited the wonder andveneration of the whole multitude. The imposing ceremony drew to Kiefthe princes, the clergy, the lords, the warriors, even, from the mostdistant parts of the empire. The gates of the city and the streetswere encumbered with such multitudes that, in order to open a passagefor the clergy with the sarcophagus, the monarch caused cloths, garments, precious furs and pieces of silver to be scattered to drawaway the throng. A luxurious feast was given to the princes, and, forthree days, all the poor of the city were entertained at the expenseof the public treasure. 

Monomaque now fitted out sundry expeditions under his enterprising sonto extend the territories of Russia and to bring tumultuous tribes andnations into subjection and order. His son Mstislaf was sent into thecountry of the Tchoudes, now Livonia, on the shores of the Baltic. Heoverran the territory, seized the capital and established order. Hisson Vsevolod, who was stationed at Novgorod, made an expedition intoFinland. His army experienced inconceivable sufferings in that cold, inhospitable clime. Still they overawed the inhabitants and securedtranquillity. Another son, Georges, marched to the Volga, embarked hisarmy in a fleet of barges, and floated along the stream to easternBulgaria, conquered an army raised to oppose him, and returned to hisprincipality laden with booty. Another son, Yaropolk, assailed thetumultuous tribes upon the Don. Brilliant success accompanied hisenterprise. Among his captives he found one maiden of such rare beautythat he made her his wife. At the same time the kingdom of Russia wasinvaded by barbarous hordes from the shores of the Caspian. Monomaquehimself headed an army and assailed the invaders with such impetuositythat they were driven, with much loss, back again to their wilds. 

The military renown Monomaque thus attained made his name a terroreven to the most distant tribes, and, for a time, held in awe thoseturbulent spirits who had been filling the world with violence. Elatedby his conquests, Monomaque fitted out an expedition to Greece. Alarge army descended the Dnieper, took possession of Thrace, andthreatened Adrianople. The emperor, in great alarm, sent embassadorsto Monomaque with the most precious presents. There was a cornelianexquisitely cut and set, a golden chain and necklace, a crown of gold, and, most precious of all, a crucifix made of wood of the true cross!The metropolitan bishop of Ephesus, who was sent with these presents, was authorized, in the name of the church and of the empire, to placethe crown upon the brow of Monomaque in gorgeous coronation in thecathedral church of Kief, and to proclaim Monomaque Emperor of Russia. This crown, called the _golden bonnet of Monomaque_, is stillpreserved in the Museum of Antiquities at Moscow. 

These were dark and awful days. Horrible as war now is, it was thenattended with woes now unknown. Gleb, prince of Minsk, with aferocious band, attacked the city of Sloutsk; after a terrible sceneof carnage, in which most of those capable of bearing arms were slain, the city was burned to ashes, and all the survivors, men, women andchildren, were driven off as captives to the banks of the Dwina, wherethey were incorporated with the tribe of their savage conqueror. Inrevenge, Monomaque sent his son Yaropolk to Droutsk, one of the citiesof Gleb. No pen can depict the horrors of the assault. After a fewhours of dismay, shriekings and blood, the city was in ashes, and thewretched victims of man's pride and revenge were conducted to thevicinity of Kief, where they reared their huts, and in widowhood, orphanage and penury, commenced life anew. Gleb himself in this foraywas taken prisoner, conducted to Kief, and detained there a captiveuntil he died. 

Monomaque reigned thirteen years, during which time he was incessantlyengaged in wars with the audacious nobles of the provinces who refusedto recognize his supremacy, and many of whom were equal to him inpower. He died May 19, 1126, in the seventy-third year of his age, renowned, say the ancient annalists, for the splendor of his victoriesand the purity of his morals. He was fully conscious of the approachof death, and seems to have been sustained, in that trying hour, bythe consolations of religion. He lived in an age of darkness and oftumult; but he was a man of prayer, and, according to the light hehad, he walked humbly with God. Commending his soul to the Saviour hefell asleep. It is recorded that he was a man of such lively emotionsthat his voice often trembled, and his eyes were filled with tears ashe implored God's blessing upon his distracted country. He wrote, justbefore his death, a long letter to his children, conceived in themost lovely spirit of piety. We have space but for a few extracts fromthese Christian counsels of a dying father. The whole letter, writtenon parchment, is still preserved in the archives of the monarchy. 

"The foundation of all virtue, " he wrote, "is the fear of God and thelove of man. O my dear children, praise God and love your fellow-men. It is not fasting, it is not solitude, it is not a monastic life whichwill secure for you the divine approval--it is doing good to yourfellow-creatures alone. Never forget the poor. Take care of them, andever remember that your wealth comes from God, and that it is onlyintrusted to you for a short time. Do not hoard up your riches; thatis contrary to the precepts of the Saviour. Be a father to theorphans, the protectors of widows, and never permit the powerful tooppress the weak. Never take the name of God in vain, and neverviolate your oath. Do not envy the triumph of the wicked, or thesuccess of the impious; but abstain from everything that is wrong. Banish from your hearts all the suggestions of pride, and rememberthat we are all perishable--to-day full of life, to-morrow in thetomb. Regard with horror, falsehood, intemperance and impurity--vicesequally dangerous to the body and to the soul. Treat aged men with thesame respect with which you would treat your parents, and love all menas your brothers. 

"When you make a journey in your provinces, do not suffer the membersof your suite to inflict the least injury upon the inhabitants. Treatwith particular respect strangers, of whatever quality, and if you cannot confer upon them favors, treat them with a spirit of benevolence, since, upon the manner with which they are treated, depends the evilor good report which they will take back with them to their own land. Salute every one whom you meet. Love your wives, but do not permitthem to govern you. When you have learned any thing useful, endeavorto imprint it upon your memory, and be always seeking to acquireinformation. My father spoke five languages, a fact which excited theadmiration of strangers. 

"Guard against idleness, which is the mother of all vices. Man oughtalways to be occupied. When you are traveling on horseback, instead ofallowing your mind to wander upon vain thoughts, recite your prayers, or, at least, repeat the shortest and best of them all: '_Oh, Lord, have mercy upon us. '_ Never retire at night without falling upon yourknees before God in prayer, and never let the sun find you in yourbed. Always go to church at an early hour in the morning to offer toGod the homage of your first and freshest thoughts. This was thecustom of my father and of all the pious people who surrounded him. With the first rays of the sun they praised the Lord, and exclaimed, with fervor, 'Condescend, O Lord, with thy divine light to illumine mysoul. '"

The faults of Monomaque were those of his age, _non vitia hominis, sedvitia soeculi_; but his virtues were truly Christian, and it canhardly be doubted that, as his earthly crown dropped from his brow, hereceived a brighter crown in heaven. The devastations of thebarbarians in that day were so awful, burning cities and churches, andmassacring women and children, that they were regarded as enemies ofthe human race, and were pursued with exterminating vengeance. 

Monomaque left several children and a third wife. One of his wives, Gyda, was a daughter of Harold, King of England. His oldest son, Mstislaf, succeeded to the crown. His brothers received, as theirinheritance, the government of extensive provinces. The new monarch, inheriting the energies and the virtues of his illustrious sire, hadlong been renowned. The barbarians, east of the Volga, as soon as theyheard of the death of Monomaque, thought that Russia would fall aneasy prey to their arms. In immense numbers they crossed the river, spreading far and wide the most awful devastation. But Mstislaf fellupon them with such impetuosity that they were routed with greatslaughter and driven back to their wilds. Their chastisement was sosevere that, for a long time, they were intimidated from any furtherincursions. With wonderful energy, Mstislaf attacked many of thetributary nations, who had claimed a sort of independence, and whowere ever rising in insurrection. He speedily brought them intosubjection to his sway, and placed over them rulers devoted to hisinterests. In the dead of winter an expedition was marched against theTchoudes, who inhabited the southern shores of the bay of Finland. Themen were put to death, the cities and villages burned; the women andchildren were brought away as captives and incorporated with theRussian people. 

Mstislaf reigned but about four years, when he suddenly died in thesixtieth year of his age. His whole reign was an incessant warfarewith insurgent chiefs and barbarian invaders. There is an awfulrecord, at this time, of the scourge of famine added to the miseriesof war. All the northern provinces suffered terribly from this frownof God. Immense quantities of snow covered the ground even to themonth of May. The snow then melted suddenly with heavy rains, delugingthe fields with water, which slowly retired, converting the countryinto a wide-spread marsh. It was very late before any seed could besown. The grain had but just begun to sprout when myriads of locustsappeared, devouring every green thing. A heavy frost early in theautumn destroyed the few fields the locusts had spared, and thencommenced the horrors of a universal famine. Men, women and children, wasted and haggard, wandered over the fields seeking green leaves androots, and dropped dead in their wanderings. The fields and the publicplaces were covered with putrefying corpses which the living had notstrength to bury. A fetid miasma, ascending from this cause, addedpestilence to famine, and woes ensued too awful to be described. 

Immediately after the death of Mstislaf, the inhabitants of Kiefassembled and invited his brother Vladimirovitch to assume the crown. This prince then resided at Novgorod, which city he at once left forthe capital. He proved to be a feeble prince, and the lords of theremote principalities, assuming independence, bade defiance to hisauthority. There was no longer any central power, and Russia, insteadof being a united kingdom, became a conglomeration of antagonisticstates; every feudal lord marshaling his serfs in warfare against hisneighbor. In the midst of this state of universal anarchy, caused bythe weakness of a virtuous prince who had not sufficient energy toreign, Vladimirovitch died in 1139. 

The death of the king was a signal for a general outbreak--amultitude of princes rushing to seize the crown. Viatcheslaf, princeof a large province called Pereiaslavle, was the first to reach Kiefwith his army. The inhabitants of the city, to avoid the horrors ofwar, marched in procession to meet him, and conducted him in triumphto the throne. Viatcheslaf had hardly grasped the scepter andstationed his army within the walls, when from the steeples of thecity the banners of another advancing host were seen gleaming in thedistance, and soon the tramp of their horsemen, and the defiant tonesof the trumpet were heard, as another and far more mighty hostencircled the city. This new army was led by Vsevolod, prince of aprovince called Vouychegorod. Viatcheslaf, convinced of theimpossibility of resisting such a power as Vsevolod had broughtagainst Kief, immediately consented to retire, and to surrender thethrone to his more powerful rival. Vsevolod entered the city intriumph and established himself firmly in power. 

There is nothing of interest to be recorded during his reign of sevenyears, save that Russia was swept by incessant billows of flame andblood. The princes of the provinces were ever rising against hisauthority. Combinations were formed to dethrone the king, and the kingformed combinations to crush his enemies. The Hungarians, the Swedes, the Danes, the Poles, all made war against this energetic prince; butwith an iron hand he smote them down. Toil and care soon exhaustedhis frame, and he was prostrate on his dying bed. Bequeathing histhrone to his brother Igor, he died, leaving behind him the reputationof having been one of the most energetic of the kings of this blooddeluged land. 

Igor was fully conscious of the perils he thus inherited. He was veryunpopular with the inhabitants of Kief, and loud murmurs greeted hisaccession to power. A conspiracy was formed among the most influentialinhabitants of Kief, and a secret embassage was sent to the grandprince, Ysiaslaf, a descendant of Monomaque, inviting him to come, andwith their aid, take possession of the throne. The prince attended thesummons with alacrity, and marched with a powerful army to Kief. Igorwas vanquished in a sanguinary battle, taken captive, imprisoned in aconvent, and Ysiaslaf became the nominal monarch of Russia. 

Sviatoslaf, the brother of Igor, overwhelmed with anguish in view ofhis brother's fall and captivity, traversed the expanse of Russia toenlist the sympathies of the distant princes, to march for the rescueof the captive. He was quite successful. An allied army was soonraised, and, under determined leaders, was on the march for Kief. Theking, Ysiaslaf, with his troops, advanced to meet them. In themeantime Igor, crushed by misfortune, and hopeless of deliverance, sought solace for his woes in religion. "For a long time, " said he, "Ihave desired to consecrate my heart to God. Even in the height ofprosperity this was my strongest wish. What can be more proper for menow that I am at the very gates of the tomb?" For eight days he laidin his cell, expecting every moment to breathe his last. He then, reviving a little, received the tonsure from the hands of the bishop, and renouncing the world, and all its cares and ambitions, devotedhimself to the prayers and devotions of the monk. 

The king pressed Sviatoslaf with superior forces, conquered him inseveral battles, and drove him, a fugitive, into dense forests, andinto distant wilds. Sviatoslaf, like his brother, weary of the stormsof life, also sought the solace which religion affords to the wearyand the heart-stricken. Pursued by his relentless foe, he came to alittle village called Moscow, far back in the interior. This is thefirst intimation history gives of this now renowned capital of themost extensive monarchy upon the globe. A prince named Georges reignedhere, over the extensive province then called Souzdal, who receivedthe fugitive with heartfelt sympathy. Aided by Georges and several ofthe surrounding princes, another army was raised, and Sviatoslafcommenced a triumphal march, sweeping all opposition before him, untilhe arrived a conqueror before the walls of Novgorod. 

The people of Kief, enraged by this success of the foe of theirpopular king, rose in a general tumult, burst into a convent whereIgor was found at his devotions, tied a rope about his neck, anddragged him, a mutilated corpse, through the streets. 

The king, Ysiaslaf, called for a _levy en masse_, of the inhabitantsof Kief, summoned distant feudal barons with their armies to hisbanner, and marched impetuously to meet the conquering foe. Fiercebattles ensued, in which Sviatoslaf was repeatedly vanquished, andretreated to Souzdal again to appeal to Georges for aid. Ysiaslafsummoned the Novgorodians before him, and in the following energeticterms addressed them:

"My brethren, " said he, "Georges, the prince of Souzdal, has insultedNovgorod. I have left the capital of Russia to defend you. Do you wishto prosecute the war? The sword is in my hands. Do you desire peace? Iwill open negotiations. "

"War, war, " the multitude shouted. "You are our monarch, and we willall follow you, from the youngest to the oldest. "

A vast army was immediately assembled on the shores of the lake ofIlmen, near the city of Novgorod, which commenced its march of threehundred miles, to the remote realms of Souzdal. Georges was unpreparedto meet them. He fled, surrendering his country to be ravaged by thefoe. His cities and villages were burned, and seven thousand of hissubjects were carried captive to Kief. But Georges was not a man tobear such a calamity meekly. He speedily succeeded in forming analliance with the barbarian nations around him, and burning with rage, followed the army of the retiring foe. He overtook them near the cityof Periaslavle. It was the evening of the 23d of August. The uncloudedsun was just sinking at the close of a sultry day, and the vesperchants were floating through the temples of the city. The storm of warburst as suddenly as the thunder peals of an autumnal tempest. Theresult was most awful and fatal to the king. His troops were dispersedand cut to pieces. Ysiaslaf himself with difficulty escaped andreached the ramparts of Kief. The terrified inhabitants entreated himnot to remain, as his presence would only expose the city to thehorror of being taken by storm. 

"Our fathers, our brothers, our sons, " they said, "are dead upon thefield of battle, or are in chains. We have no arms. Generous prince, do not expose the capital of Russia to pillage. Flee for a time toyour remote principalities, there to gather a new army. You know thatwe will never rest contented under the government of Georges. We willrise in revolt against him, as soon as we shall see your standardsapproaching. "

Ysiaslaf fled, first to Smolensk, some three hundred miles distant, and thence traversed his principalities seeking aid. Georges enteredKief in triumph. Calling his warriors around him, he assigned to themthe provinces which he had wrested from the feudal lords of the king. 

Hungary, Bohemia and Poland then consisted of barbaric peoples justemerging into national existence. The King of Hungary had marriedEuphrosine, the youngest sister of Ysiaslaf. He immediately sent tohis brother-in-law ten thousand cavaliers. The Kings of Bohemia and ofPoland also entered into an alliance with the exiled prince, and inperson led the armies which they contributed to his aid. A war ofdesperation ensued. It was as a conflict between the tiger and thelion. 

The annals of those dark days contained but a weary recital of deedsof violence, blood and woe, which for ten years desolated the land. All Russia was roused. Every feudal lord was leading his vassals tothe field. There were combinations and counter-combinationsinnumerable. Cities were taken and retaken; to-day, the banners ofYsiaslaf float upon the battlements of Kief; to-morrow, those bannersare hewn down and the standards of Georges are unfurled to the breeze. Now, we see Ysiaslaf a fugitive, hopeless, in despair. Again, therolling wheel of fortune raises him from his depression, and, with thestrides of a conqueror, he pursues his foe, in his turn vanquished andwoe-stricken. But

 "The pomp of heraldry, the pride of power, And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave, Alike await the inevitable hour; The paths of glory lead but to the grave. "

Death, which Ysiaslaf had braved in a hundred battles, approached himby the slow but resistless march of disease. For a few days themonarch tossed in fevered restlessness on his bed at Kief, and then, from his life of incessant storms on earth, his spirit ascended to theGod who gave it. Georges was, at that time, in the lowest state ofhumiliation. His armies had all perished, and he was wandering inexile, seeking new forces with which to renew the strife. 

Rostislaf, grand prince of Novgorod, succeeded to the throne. ButGeorges, animated by the death of Ysiaslaf, soon found enthusiasticadventurers rallying around his banners. He marched vigorously toKief, drove Rostislaf from the capital and seized the scepter. Butthere was no lull in the tempest of human ambition. Georges hadattained the throne by the energies of his sword, and, acting upon theprinciple that "to the victors belong the spoils, " he had driven fromtheir castles all the lords who had been supporters of the pastadministration. He had conferred their mansions and their territoriesupon his followers. Human nature has not materially changed. Those inoffice were fighting to retain their honors and emoluments. Those outof office were struggling to attain the posts which brought wealth andrenown. The progress of civilization has, in our country, transferredthis fierce battle from the field to the ballot-box. It is, indeed, aglorious change. The battle can be fought thus just as effectually, and infinitely more humanely. It has required the misery of nearly sixthousand years to teach, even a few millions of mankind, that theballot-box is a better instrument for political conflicts than thecartridge-box. 

Armies were gathering in all directions to march upon Georges. He wasnow an old man, weary of war, and endeavored to bribe his foes topeace. He was, however, unsuccessful, and found it to be necessaryagain to lead his armies into the field. It was the 20th of March, 1157, when Georges, entering Kief in triumph, ascended the throne. Onthe 1st of May he dined with some of his lords. Immediately afterdinner he was taken sick, and, after languishing a fortnight inever-increasing debility, on the 15th he died. 

The inhabitants of Kief, regarding him as an usurper, rejoiced at hisdeath, and immediately sent an embassage to Davidovitch, prince ofTchernigof, a province about one hundred and fifty miles north ofKief, inviting him to hasten to the capital and seize the scepter ofRussia. 

Kief, and all occidental Russia, thus ravaged by interminable wars, desolated by famine and by flame, was rapidly on the decline, and wasfast lapsing into barbarism. Davidovitch had hardly ascended thethrone ere he was driven from it by Rostislaf, whom Georges haddethroned. But the remote province of Souzdal, of which Moscow was thecapital, situated some seven hundred miles north-east of Kief, was nowemerging from barbaric darkness into wealth and civilization. Themissionaries of Christ had penetrated those remote realms. Churcheswere reared, the gospel was preached, peace reigned, industry wasencouraged, and, under their influence, Moscow was attaining thatsupremacy which subsequently made it the heart of the Russian empire. 

The inhabitants of Kief received Rostislaf with demonstrations of joy, as they received every prince whom the fortunes of war imposed uponthem, hoping that each one would secure for their unhappy city theblessings of tranquillity. Davidovitch fled to Moldavia. There wasthen in Moldavia, between the rivers Pruth and Sereth, a piratic citycalled Berlad. It was the resort of vagabonds of all nations andcreeds, who pillaged the shores of the Black Sea and plundered theboats ascending and descending the Danube and the Dnieper. Thesebrigands, enriched by plunder and strengthened by accessions ofdesperadoes from every nation and every tribe, had bidden defianceboth to the grand princes of Russia and the powers of the empire. 

Eagerly these robber hordes engaged as auxiliaries of Davidovitch. Ina tumultuous band they commenced their march to Kief. They were, however, repulsed by the energetic Rostislaf, and Davidovitch, withdifficulty escaping from the sanguinary field, fled to Moscow andimplored the aid of its independent prince, Georgievitch. The princelistened with interest to his representations, and, following theexample of the more illustrious nations of modern times, thought it agood opportunity to enlarge his territories. 

The city of Novgorod, capital of the extensive and powerful provinceof the same name, was some seven hundred miles north of Kief. It wasnot more than half that distance west of Moscow. The inhabitants wereweary of anarchy and blood, and anxious to throw themselves into thearms of any prince who could secure for them tranquillity. The fruitwas ripe and was ready to drop into the hands of Georgievitch. He sentword to the Novgorodians that he had decided to take their countryunder his protection--that he had no wish for war, but that if theymanifested any resistance, he should subdue them by force of arms. TheNovgorodians received the message with delight, rose in insurrection, and seized their prince, who was the oldest son of Rostislaf, imprisoned him, his wife and children, in a convent, and withtumultuous joy received as their prince the nephew of Georgievitch. Rostislaf was so powerless that he made no attempt to avenge thisinsult. Davidovitch made one more desperate effort to obtain thethrone. But he fell upon the field of battle, his head being cleftwith a saber stroke. 

CHAPTER V. 

MSTISLAF AND ANDRÉ

From 1167 to 1212. 

Centralization of Power at Kief. --Death of Rostislaf. --His ReligiousCharacter. --Mstislaf Ysiaslavitch Ascends the Throne. --Proclamation ofthe King. --Its Effect. --Plans of André. --Scenes at Kief. --Return andDeath of Mstislaf. --War in Novgorod. --Peace Concluded ThroughoutRussia. --Insult of André and its Consequences. --Greatness of SoulDisplayed by André. --Assassination of André. --Renewal ofAnarchy. --Emigration from Novgorod. --Reign of Michel. --VsevolodIII. --Evangelization of Bulgaria. --Death of Vsevolod III. --His QueenMaria. 

The prince of Souzdal watched the progress of events in occidentalRussia with great interest. He saw clearly that war was impoverishingand ruining the country, and this led him to adopt the most wise andvigorous measures to secure peace within his own flourishingterritories. He adopted the system of centralized power, keeping thereins of government firmly in his own hands, and appointing governorsover remote provinces, who were merely the executors of his will, andwho were responsible to him for all their acts. At Kief the system ofindependent apanages prevailed. The lord placed at the head of aprincipality was an unlimited despot, accountable to no one but Godfor his administration. His fealty to the king consisted merely in anunderstanding that he was to follow the banner of the sovereign incase of war. But in fact, these feudal lords were more frequentlyfound claiming entire independence, and struggling against theirnominal sovereign to wrest from his hands the scepter. 

Rostislaf was now far advanced in years. Conscious that death couldnot be far distant, he took a journey, though in very feeble health, to some of the adjacent provinces, hoping to induce them to receivehis son as his successor. On this journey he died at Smolensk, the14th of March, 1167. Religious thoughts had in his latter yearsgreatly engrossed his attention. He breathed his last, praying with atrembling voice, and fixing his eyes devoutly on an image of theSaviour which he held devoutly in his hand. He exhibited manyChristian virtues, and for many years manifested much solicitude thathe might be prepared to meet God in judgment. The earnestremonstrances, alone, of his spiritual advisers, dissuaded him fromabdicating the throne, and adopting the austerities of a monasticlife. He was not a man of commanding character, but it is pleasant tobelieve that he was, though groping in much darkness, a sinceredisciple of the Saviour, and that he passed from earth to join thespirits of the just made perfect in Heaven. 

Mstislaf Ysiaslavitch, a nephew of the deceased king, ascended thethrone. He had however uncles, nephews and brothers, who were quitedisposed to dispute with him the possession of power, and soon civilwar was raging all over the kingdom with renewed virulence. Severalyears of destruction and misery thus passed away, during whichthousands of the helpless people perished in their blood, to decidequestions of not the slightest moment to them. The doom of thepeasants was alike poverty and toil, whether one lord or another lordoccupied the castle which overshadowed their huts. 

The Dnieper was then the only channel through which commerce could beconducted between Russia and the Greek empire. Barbaric nationsinhabited the shores of this stream, and they had long been held incheck by the Russian armies. But now the kingdom had become soenfeebled by war and anarchy, all the energies of the Russian princesbeing exhausted in civil strife, that the barbarians plundered withimpunity the boats ascending and descending the stream, and eventuallyrendered the navigation so perilous, that commercial communicationwith the empire was at an end. The Russian princes thus debarred fromthe necessaries and luxuries which they had been accustomed to receivefrom the more highly civilized and polished Greeks, were impelled tomeasures of union for mutual protection. The king, in this emergence, issued a proclamation which met with a general response. 

"Russia, our beloved country, " exclaimed Mstislaf, "groans beneath thestripes which the barbarians are laying upon her, and which we areunable to avenge. They have taken solemn oaths of friendship, theyhave received our presents, and now, regardless of the faith oftreaties, they capture our Christian subjects and drag them as slavesinto their desert wilds. There is no longer any safety for ourmerchant boats navigating the Dnieper. The barbarians have takenpossession of that only route through which we can pass into Greece. It is time for us to resort to new measures of energy. My friends andmy brothers, let us terminate our unnatural war; let us look to Godfor help, and, drawing, the sword of vengeance, let us fall in unitedstrength upon our savage foes. It is glorious to ascend to Heaven fromthe field of honor, thus to follow in the footsteps of our father. "

This spirited appeal was effective. The princes rallied each at thehead of a numerous band of vassals, and thus a large army was sooncongregated. The desire to punish the insulting barbarians inspireduniversal enthusiasm. The masses of the people were aroused to avengetheir friends who had been carried into captivity. The priests, withprayers and anthems, blessed the banners of the faithful, and, on the2d of March, 1168, the army, elate with hope and nerved withvengeance, commenced their descent of the river. The barbarians, terrified by the storm which they had raised, and from whose fury theycould attain no shelter, fled so precipitately that they left theirwives and their children behind them. The Russians, abandoning theincumbrance of their baggage, pursued them in the hottest haste. Overthe hills, and through the valleys, and across the streams pursuersand pursued rushed on, until, at last, the fugitives were overtakenupon the banks of a deep and rapid stream, which they were unable tocross. Mercilessly they were massacred, many Russian prisoners wererescued, and booty to an immense amount was taken, for these riverpirates were rich, having for years been plundering the commerce ofGreece and Russia. According to the custom of those days the booty wasdivided between the princes and the soldiers--each man receivingaccording to his rank. 

As the army returned in triumph to the Dniester, to their boundlesssatisfaction they saw the pennants of a merchant fleet ascending theriver from Constantinople, laden with the riches of the empire. Thearmy crowded the shores and greeted the barges with all thedemonstrations of exultation and joy. 

The punishment of the barbarians being thus effectually accomplished, the princes immediately commenced anew their strife. All their oldfeuds were revived. Every lord wished to increase his own power and todiminish that of his natural rival. André, of Souzdal, to whom we havebefore referred, whose capital was the little village of Moscow faraway in the interior, deemed the moment favorable for dethroningMstislaf and extending the area of such freedom as his subjectsenjoyed over the realms of Novgorod and Kief. He succeeded in unitingeleven princes with him in his enterprise. His measures were adoptedwith great secresy. Assembling his armies, curtained by leagues offorests, he, unobserved, commenced his march toward the Dnieper. Thebanners of the numerous army were already visible from the steeples ofKief before the sovereign was apprised of his danger. For two days thestorms of war beat against the walls and roared around the battlementsof the city, when the besiegers, bursting over the walls, swept thestreets in horrid carnage. 

This mother of the Russian cities had often been besieged and oftencapitulated, but never before had it been taken by storm, and neverbefore, and never since, have the horrors of war been more sternlyexhibited. For three days and three nights the city and itsinhabitants were surrendered to the brutal soldiery. The imaginationshrinks from contemplating the awful scene. The world of woe may bechallenged to exhibit any thing worse. Fearful, indeed, must be thecorruption when man can be capable of such inhumanity to his fellowman. War unchains the tiger and shows his nature. 

Mstislaf, the sovereign, in the midst of the confusion, the uproar andthe blood, succeeded almost as by miracle in escaping from thewretched city, basely, however, abandoning his wife and his childrento the enemy. Thus fell Kief. For some centuries it had been thecapital of Russia. It was such no more. The victorious André, ofMoscow, was now, by the energies of his sword, sovereign of theempire. Kief became but a provincial and a tributary city, which thesovereign placed under the governorship of his brother Gleb. 

Nearly all the provinces of known Russia were now more or lesstributary to André. Three princes only preserved their independence. As the army of André retired, Gleb was left in possession of thethrone of Kief. In those days there were always many petty princes, ready to embark with their followers in any enterprise which promisedeither glory or booty. Mstislaf, the fugitive sovereign, soon gatheredaround him semi-savage bands, entered the province of Kief, plunderingand burning the homes of his former subjects. As he approached Kief, Gleb, unprepared for efficient resistance, was compelled to seeksafety in flight. The inhabitants of the city, to escape the horrorsof another siege and sack, threw open their gates, and crowded out tomeet their former monarch as a returning friend. Mstislaf entered thecity in triumph and quietly reseated himself upon the throne. Hehowever ascended it but to die. A sudden disease seized him, and thesongs of triumph which greeted his entrance, died away in requiems andwailings, as he was borne to the silent tomb. With dying breath hesurrendered his throne to his younger brother Yaroslaf. 

André, at Moscow, had other formidable engagements on hand, whichprevented his interposition in the affairs of Kief. The Novgorodianshad bidden defiance to his authority, and their subjugation wasessential, before any troops could be spared to chastise the heir ofMstislaf. The Novgorodian army had even penetrated the realms ofAndré, and were exacting tribute from his provinces. The grand prince, André himself, was far advanced in years, opposed to war, and hadprobably been pushed on in his enterprises by the ambition of his son, who was also named Mstislaf. This young prince was impetuous andfiery, greedy for military glory, and restless in his graspings forpower. The Novgorodians were also warlike and indomitable. Theconflict between two such powers arrested the attention of all Russia. Mstislaf made the most extensive preparations for the attack upon theNovgorodians, and they, in their turn, were equally energetic inpreparations for the defense. The army marched from Moscow, andfollowing the valley of the Masta, entered the spacious province ofNovgorod. They entered the region, not like wolves, not like men, butlike demons. The torch was applied to every hut, to every village, toevery town. They amused themselves with tossing men, women andchildren upon their camp-fires, glowing like furnaces. The sword andthe spear were too merciful instruments of death. The flames of theburning towns blazed along the horizon night after night, and the cryof the victims roused the Novgorodians to the intensest thirst forvengeance. 

With the sweep of utter desolation, Mstislaf approached the city, andwhen his army stood before the walls, there was behind him a path, leagues in width, and two hundred miles in length, covered with ruins, ashes and the bodies of the dead. It was the 25th of February, 1170. The city was immediately summoned to surrender. The Novgorodiansappalled by the fate of Kief, and by the horrors which had accompaniedthe march of Mstislaf, took a solemn oath that they would struggle tothe last drop of blood in defense of their liberties. The clergy inprocession, bearing the image of the Virgin in their arms, traversedthe fortifications of the city, and with prayers, hymns and the mostimposing Christian rites, inspired the soldiers with religiousenthusiasm. The Novgorodians threw themselves upon their knees, and insimultaneous prayer cried out, with the blending of ten thousandvoices, "O God! come and help us, come and help us. " Thus roused tofrenzy, with the clergy chanting hymns of battle and pleading withHeaven for success, with the image of the Virgin contemplating theirdeeds, the soldiers rushed from behind their ramparts upon the foe. Death was no longer dreaded. The only thought of every man was to sellhis life as dearly as possible. 

Such an onset of maniacal energy no mortal force could stand. Thesoldiers of Mstislaf fell as the waving grain bows before the tornado. Their defeat was utter and awful. Mercy was not thought of. Sword andjavelin cried only for blood, blood. The wretched Mstislaf in dismayfled, leaving two thirds of his army in gory death; and, in hisflight, he met that chastisement which his cruelties merited. He hadto traverse a path two hundred miles in length, along which not onefield of grain had been left undestroyed; where every dwelling was inashes, and no animal life whatever had escaped his ravages. Starvationwas his doom. Every rod of the way his emaciated soldiers dropped deadin their steps. Famine also with all its woes reigned in Novgorod. Under these circumstances, the two parties consented to peace, theNovgorodians retaining their independence, but accepting a brother ofthe grand prince André to succeed their own prince, who was then atthe point of death. 

André, having thus terminated the strife with Novgorod by the peacewhich he loved, turned his attention to Kief, and with characteristichumanity, gratified the wishes of the inhabitants by allowing them toaccept Roman, prince of Smolensk, as their chieftain. Roman enteredthe city, greeted by the most flattering testimonials of the joy ofthe inhabitants, while they united with him in the oath of allegianceto André as the sovereign of Russia. André, who was ever disposed toestablish his sovereign power, not by armies but by equity andmoderation, and who seems truly to have felt that the welfare ofRussia required that all its provinces should be united under commonlaws and a common sovereign, turned his attention again to Novgorod, hoping to persuade its inhabitants to relinquish their independenceand ally themselves with the general empire. 

Rurik, the brother of André, who had been appointed prince ofNovgorod, proved unpopular, and was driven from his command. André, instead of endeavoring to force him back upon them by the energies ofhis armies, with a wise spirit of conciliation acquiesced in theirmovement, and sent to them his young son, George, as a prince, offering to assist them with his counsel and to aid them with hismilitary force whenever they should desire it. Thus internal peace wasestablished throughout the empire. By gradual advances, and with greatsagacity, André, from his humble palace in Moscow, extended hisinfluence over the remote provinces, and established his power. 

The princes of Kief and its adjacent provinces became jealous of theencroachments of André, and hostile feelings were excited. The king atlength sent an embassador to them with very imperious commands. Theembassador was seized at Kief, his hair and beard shaven, and was thensent back to Moscow with the defiant message, "Until now we have wished to respect you as a father; but since you donot blush to treat us as vassals and as peasants--since you haveforgotten that you speak to princes, we spurn your menaces. Executethem. We appeal to the judgment of God. "

This grievous insult of word and deed roused the indignation of theaged monarch as it had never been roused before. He assembled an armyof fifty thousand men, who were rendezvoused at Novgorod, and placedunder the command of the king's son, Georges. Another army, nearlyequal in number, was assembled at Tchernigof, collected from theprincipalities of Polotsk, Tourof, Grodno, Pinsk and Smolensk. Thebands of this army were under the several princes of the provinces. Sviatoslaf, grandson of the renowned Oleg, was entrusted with thesupreme command. These two majestic forces were soon combined upon thebanks of the Dnieper. All resistance fled before them, and withstrides of triumph they marched down the valley to Kief. The princeswho had aroused this storm of war fled to Vouoychegorod, an importantfortress further down the river, where they strongly entrenchedthemselves, and sternly awaited the advance of the foe. The royalistforces, having taken possession of Kief, pursued the fugitives. Themarch of armies so vast, conducting war upon so grand a scale, excitedthe astonishment of all the inhabitants upon the river's banks. Alittle fortress, defended by a mere handful of men, appeared to theman object unworthy of an army sufficiently powerful to crush anempire. 

But in the fortress there was perfect unity, and its commander had thesoul of a lion. In the camp of the besiegers there was neither harmonynor zeal. Many of the princes were inimical to the king, and werejealous of his growing power. Others were envious of Sviatoslaf, thecommander-in-chief, and were willing to sacrifice their own fame thathe might be humbled. Not a few even were in sympathy with theinsurgents, and were almost disposed to unite under their banners. 

It was the 8th of September, 1173, when the royalist forces encircledthe fortress. Gunpowder was then unknown, and contending armies couldonly meet hand to hand. For two months the siege was continued, withbloody conflicts every day. Wintry winds swept the plains, and stormsof snow whitened the fields, when, from the battlements of thefortress, the besieged saw the banners of another army approaching thearena. They knew not whether the distant battalions were friends orfoes; but it was certain that their approach would decide the strife, for each party was so exhausted as to be unable to resist any newassailants. Soon the signals of war proclaimed that an army wasapproaching for the rescue of the fortress. Shouts of exultation rosefrom the garrison, which fell like the knell of death upon the ears ofthe besiegers, freezing on the plains. The alarm which spread throughthe camp was instantaneous and terrible. The darkness of a Novembernight soon settled down over city and plain. With the first rays ofthe morning the garrison were upon the walls, when, to their surprise, they saw the whole vast army in rapid and disordered flight. Theplains around the fortress were utterly deserted and covered with thewrecks of war. The garrison immediately rushed from behind theirramparts united with their approaching friends and pursued thefugitives. 

The royalists, in their dismay, attempted to cross the river on thefragile ice. It broke beneath the enormous weight, and thousandsperished in the cold stream. The remainder of this great host werealmost to a man either slain or taken captive. Their whole camp andbaggage fell into the hands of the conquerors. This wonderful victory, achieved by the energies of Mstislaf, has given him a name in Russianannals as one of the most renowned and brave of the princes of theempire. 

George, prince of Novgorod, son of André, escaped from the carnage ofthat ensanguined field, and overwhelmed with shame, returned to hisfather in Moscow. The king, in this extremity, developed truegreatness of soul. He exhibited neither dejection nor anger, but bowedto the calamity as to a chastisement he needed from God. The victoryof the insurgents, if they may be so called, who occupied theprovinces in the valley of the Dnieper, was not promotive either ofprosperity or peace. Mindful of the former grandeur of Kief, as theancient capital of the Russian empire, ambitious princes wereimmediately contending for the possession of that throne. Afterseveral months of confusion and blood, André succeeded, by skillfuldiplomacy, in again inducing them, for the sake of generaltranquillity, to come under the general government of the empire. Thenobles could not but respect him as the most aged of their princes; asa man of imperial energy and ability, and as the one most worthy to betheir chief. He alone had the power to preserve tranquillity inextended Russia. They therefore applied to him to take Kief, undercertain restrictions, again into his protection, and to nominate forthat city a prince who should be in his alliance. This homage wasacceptable to André. 

But while he was engaged in this negotiation, a conspiracy was formedagainst the monarch, and he was cruelly assassinated. It was the nightof the 29th of June, 1174. The king was sleeping in a chateau, twomiles from Moscow. At midnight the conspirators, twenty in number, having inflamed themselves with brandy, burst into the house andrushed towards the chamber where the aged monarch was reposing. Theclamor awoke the king, and he sprang from the bed just as two of theconspirators entered his chamber. Aged as the monarch was, with oneblow of his vigorous arm he felled the foremost to the floor. Thecomrade of the assassin, in the confusion, thinking it was the kingwho had fallen, plunged his poignard to the hilt in his companion'sbreast. Other assassins rushed in and fell upon the monarch. He was aman of gigantic powers, and struggled against his foes with almostsupernatural energy, filling the chateau with his shrieks for help. At last, pierced with innumerable wounds, he fell in his blood, apparently silent in death. The assassins, terrified by the horriblescene, and apprehensive that the guard might come to the rescue of theking, caught up their dead comrade and fled. 

The monarch had, however, but fainted. He almost instantly revived, and with impetuosity and bravery, seized his sword and gave chase tothe murderers, shouting with all his strength to his attendants tohasten to his aid. The assassins turned upon him. They had lanterns intheir hands, and were twenty to one. The first blow struck off theright arm of the king; a saber thrust pierced his heart, passedthrough his body, and the monarch fell dead. His last words were, "Lord, into thy hands I commit my spirit. " There is, to this day, preserved a cimeter of Grecian workmanship, which tradition says wasthe sword of André. Upon the blade is inscribed in Greek letters, "Holy mother of God, assist thy servant. "

The death of the monarch was the signal for the universal outbreak ofviolence and crime. Where the sovereign is the only law, the death ofthe monarch is the destruction of the government. The anarchy whichsometimes succeeded his death was awful. The Russian annalists cherishthe memory of André affectionately. They say that he was courageous, sagacious and a true Christian, and that he merited the title he hasreceived of a second Solomon. Had he established his throne in themore central city of Kief instead of the remote village of Moscow, hecould more efficiently have governed the empire; but, blinded by hislove for his own northern realms, he was ambitious of elevating hisown native village, unfavorable as was its location, into the capitalof the empire. During his whole reign he manifested great zeal inextending Christianity through the empire, and evinced great interestin efforts for the conversion of the Jews. 

Just before the death of the king, a number of the inhabitants ofNovgorod, fatigued with civil strife and crowded out by the density ofthe population, formed a party to emigrate to the uninhabited landsfar away in the East. Traversing a region of about three hundred mileson the parallel of fifty-seven degrees of latitude, they reached thehead waters of the Volga. Here they embarked in boats and drifted downthe wild stream for a thousand miles to the mouth of the river Kama, where they established a colony. At this point they were twelvehundred miles north of the point where the Volga empties into theCaspian. Other adventurers soon followed, and flourishing coloniessprang up all along the banks of the Kama and the Viatha. This regionwas the Missouri valley of Russia. By this emigration the Russianname, its manners, its institutions, were extended through a sweep ofa thousand miles. 

The colonists had many conflicts with the aboriginal inhabitants, butRussian civilization steadily advanced over barbaric force. 

Soon after the death of André, the nobles of that region met in apublic assembly to organize some form of confederate government. Oneof the speakers rose and said, "No one is ignorant of the manner inwhich we have lost our king. He has left but one son, who reigns atNovgorod. The brothers of André are in southern Russia. Who then shallwe choose for our sovereign? Let us elect Michel, of Tchernigof. He isthe oldest son of Monomaque and the most ancient of the princes of hisfamily. "

Embassadors were immediately sent to Michel, offering him the throneand promising him the support of the confederate princes. Michelhastened to Moscow with a strong army, supported by several princes, and took possession of Moscow and the adjacent provinces. A littleopposition was manifested, which he speedily quelled with the sword. Great rejoicings welcomed the enthronement of a new prince and therestoration of order. Michel proved worthy of his elevation. Heimmediately traversed the different provinces in that region, anddevoted himself to the tranquillity and prosperity of his people. Thepopularity of the new sovereign was at its height. All lips praisedhim, all hearts loved him. He was declared to be a special gift whichHeaven, in its boundless mercy, had conferred. Unfortunately, thisvirtuous prince reigned but one year, leaving, however, in that shorttime, upon the Russian annals many memorials of his valor and of hisvirtue. It was a barbaric age, rife with perfidy and crime, yet notone act of treachery or cruelty has sullied his name. It was hisambition to be the father of his people, and the glory he sought wasthe happiness and the greatness of his country. 

Southern Russia was still the theater of interminable civil war. Theprovinces were impoverished, and Kief was fast sinking to decay. Michel had a brother, Vsevelod, who had accompanied him to Moscow. Thenobles and the leading citizens, their eyes still dim with the tearswhich they had shed over the tomb of their sovereign, urged him toaccept the crown. He was not reluctant to accede to their request, andreceived their oaths of fidelity to him under the title of VsevelodIII. His title, however, was disputed by distant princes, and an armedband, approaching Moscow by surprise, seized the town and reduced itto ashes, ravaged the surrounding region, and carried off the womenand children as captives. Vsevelod was, at the time, absent in theextreme northern portion of his territory, but he turned upon hisenemies with the heart and with the strength of a lion. It wasmidwinter. Regardless of storms, and snow and cold, he pursued the foelike the north wind, and crushed them as with an iron hand. With alarge number of prisoners he returned to the ruins of Moscow. 

Two of the most illustrious of the hostile princes were among theprisoners. The people, enraged at the destruction of their city, fellupon the captives, and, seizing the two princes, tore out their eyes. 

Vsevelod was a young man who had not acquired renown. Many of thewarlike princes of the spacious provinces regarded his elevation withenvy. Sviatoslaf, prince of Tchernigof, was roused to intensehostility, and gathering around him the nobles of his province, resolved with a vigorous arm to seize for himself the throne. Enlisting in his interests several other princes, he commenced hismarch against his sovereign. Vsevelod prepared with vigor to repulsehis assailants. After long and weary marchings the two armies met inthe defiles of the mountains. A swift mountain-stream rushing alongits rocky bed, between deep and precipitous banks, separated thecombatants. For a fortnight they vainly assailed each other, hurlingclouds of arrows and javelins across the stream, which generally fellharmless upon brazen helmet and buckler. But few were wounded, andstill fewer slain. Yet neither party dared venture the passage of thestream in the presence of the other. At length, weary of theunavailing conflict, Sviatoslaf, the insurgent chief, sent a challengeto Vsevelod, the sovereign. 

"Let God, " said he, "decide the dispute between us. Let us enter intothe open field with our two armies, and submit the question to thearbitrament of battle. You may choose either side of the river whichyou please. "

Vsevelod did not condescend to make any reply to the rebelliousprince. Seizing his embassadors, he sent them as captives to Vlademer, a fortress some hundred miles east of Moscow. He hoped thus to provokeSviatoslaf to attempt the passage of the stream. But Sviatoslaf wasnot to be thus entrapped. Breaking up his camp, he retired toNovgorod, where he was received with rejoicings by the inhabitants. Here he established himself as a monarch, accumulated his forces, andbegan, by diplomacy and by arms, to extend his conquests over theadjacent principalities. He sent a powerful army to descend the banksof the Dnieper, capturing all the cities on the right hand and on theleft, and binding the inhabitants by oaths of allegiance. The armyadvancing with resistless strides arrived before the walls of Kief, took possession of the deserted palaces of this ancient capital, andSviatoslaf proclaimed himself monarch of southern Russia. 

But while Sviatoslaf was thus prosecuting his conquests, at thedistance of four hundred miles south of Novgorod, Vsevelod advancedwith an army to this city, and was in his turn received by theNovgorodians with the ringing of bells, bonfires and shouts ofwelcome. All the surrounding princes and nobles promptly gave in theiradhesion to the victorious sovereign, and Sviatoslaf found that allhis conquests had vanished as by magic from beneath his hand. 

Under these circumstances, Vsevelod and Sviatoslaf were both inclinedto negotiation. As the result, it was agreed that Vsevelod should berecognized as the monarch of Russia, and that Sviatoslaf should reignas tributary prince of Kief. To bind anew the ties of friendship, Vsevelod gave in marriage his beautiful sister to the youngest son ofSviatoslaf. Thus this civil strife was terminated. 

But the gates of the temple of Janus were not yet to be closed. Foreign war now commenced, and raged with unusual ferocity. Sixhundred miles east of Moscow, was the country of Bulgaria. Itcomprehended the present Russian province of Orenburg, and was boundedon the east by the Ural mountains, and on the west by the Volga. Apopulation of nearly a million and a half inhabited this mountainousrealm. Commerce and arts flourished, and the people were enriched bytheir commerce with the Grecian empire. They were, however, barbarians, and as even in the nineteenth century the slave trade isurged as a means of evangelizing the heathen of Africa, war was urgedwith all its carnage and woe, as the agent of disseminatingChristianity through pagan Bulgaria. The motive assigned for the war, was to serve Christ, by the conversion of the infidel. The motiveswhich influenced, were ambition, love of conquest and the desire toadd to the opulence and the power of Russia. 

Vsevelod made grand preparations for this enterprise. Conferring withthe warlike Sviatoslaf and other ambitious princes, a large army wascollected at the head waters of the Volga. They floated down the wildstream, in capacious flat-bottomed barges, till they came to the mouthof the Kama. Thus far their expedition had been like the jaunt of agala day. Summer warmth and sunny skies had cheered them as theyfloated down the romantic stream, through forests, between mountainsand along flowery savannas, with pennants floating gayly in the air, and music swelling from their martial bands. War has always itscommencement of pomp and pageantry, followed by its terminations ofwoe and despair. 

Vsevelod in person led the army. Near the mouth of the Kama theyabandoned their flotilla, which could not be employed in ascending therapid stream. Continuing their march by land, they pushed boldly intothe country of the Bulgarians, and laid siege to their capital, whichwas called "The Great City. " For six days the battle raged, and thecity was taken. It proved, however, to be but a barren conquest. Anarrow from the walls pierced the side of a beloved nephew of Vsevelod. The young man, in excruciating agony, died in the arms of the monarch. Vsevelod was so much affected by the sufferings which he was thuscalled to witness, that, dejected and disheartened, he made the bestterms he could, soothing his pride by extorting from the vanquished avague acknowledgment of subjection to the empire. He then commencedhis long march of toil and suffering back again to Moscow, over vastplains and through dense forests, having really accomplished nothingof any moment. 

The reign of Vsevelod continued for thirty-seven years. It was a sceneof incessant conflict with insurgent princes disputing his power andstruggling for the supremacy. Often his imperial title was merelynominal. Again a successful battle would humble his foes and bringthem in subjection to the foot of his throne. But, on the whole, during his reign the fragmentary empire gained solidity, themonarchical arm gained strength, and the sovereign obtained a moremarked supremacy above the rival princes who had so long disputed thepower of the throne. Vsevelod died, generally regretted, on the 12thof April, 1212. In the Russian annals, he has received the surname ofGreat. His reign, compared with that of most of his predecessors, washappy. He left, in churches and in fortresses, many monuments of hisdevotion and of his military skill. 

His wife, Maria, seems to have been a woman of sincere piety. Herbrief pilgrimage on earth, passed six hundred years ago, led herthrough the same joys and griefs which in the nineteenth centuryoppress human hearts. The last seven years of her life she passed on abed of sickness and extreme suffering. The patience she displayedcaused her to be compared with the patriarch Job. Just before shedied, she assembled her six surviving children around her bed. As withtears they gazed upon the emaciated cheeks of their beloved and dyingmother, she urged them to love God, to study the Bible, to give theirhearts to the Saviour and to live for heaven. She died universallyregretted and revered. 

The reign of Vsevelod was cotemporaneous with the conquest ofConstantinople by the crusaders. The Latin or Roman church thus for aseason extended its dominion over the Greek or Eastern church. TheFrench and Venetians; robbed the rich churches of Constantine of theirpaintings, statuary, relics and all their treasures of art. The Greekemperor himself fled in disguise to Thrace. 

The Roman pontiff, Innocent III. , deeming this a favorable moment tosupplant the Greek religion in Russia, sent letters to the Russianclergy, in which he said:

"The religion of Rome is becoming universally triumphant. The wholeGrecian empire has recognized the spiritual power of the pope. Willyou be the only people who refuse to enter into the fold of Christ, and to recognize the Roman church as the ark of salvation, out ofwhich no one can be saved? I have sent to you a cardinal; a man noble, well-instructed, and legate of the successors of the Apostles. He hasreceived full power to enlighten the minds of the Russians, and torescue them from all their errors. "

This pastoral exhortation was entirely unavailing. The bishops andclergy of the Russian church still pertinaciously adhered to the faithof their fathers. The crusaders were ere long driven from the imperialcity, and the Greek church again attained its supremacy in the East, asupremacy which it has maintained to the present day. 

CHAPTER VI. 

THE GRAND PRINCES OF VLADIMIR, AND THE INVASIONOF GENGHIS KHAN. 

From 1212 to 1238. 

Accession of Georges. --Famine. --Battle of Lipetsk. --Defeat ofGeorges. --His Surrender. --Constantin Seizes the Scepter. --Exploits ofMstislaf. --Imbecility of Constantin. --Death of Constantin. --GeorgesIII. --Invasion of Bulgaria. --Progress of the Monarchy. --Right ofSuccession. --Commerce of the Dnieper. --Genghis Khan. --His Rise andConquests. --Invasion of Southern Russia. --Death of GenghisKhan. --Succession of his Son Ougadai. --March of Bati. --Entrance intoRussia. --Utter Defeat of the Russians. 

Moscow was the capital of a province then called Souzdal. North-westof this province there was another large principality calledVladimir, with a capital of the same name. North of these provincesthere was an extensive territory named Yaroslavle. Immediately afterthe death of Vsevolod, a brother of the deceased monarch, namedGeorges, ascended the throne with the assent of all the nobles ofSouzdal and Vladimir. At the same time his brother Constantin, princeof Yaroslavle, claimed the crown. Eager partizans rallied around thetwo aspirants. Constantin made the first move by burning the town ofKostroma and carrying off the inhabitants as captives. Georges repliedby an equally sanguinary assault upon Rostof. Such, war has ever been. When princes quarrel, being unable to strike each other, they wreaktheir vengeance upon innocent and helpless villages, burning theirhouses, slaying sons and brothers, and either dragging widows andorphans into captivity or leaving them to perish of exposure andstarvation. 

In this conflict Georges was victor, and he assigned to his brothersand cousins the administration of the provinces of southern Russia. Still the ancient annals give us nothing but a dreary record of war. Avery energetic prince arose, by the name of Mstislaf, who, for years, strode over subjugated provinces, desolating them with fire and sword. Another horrible famine commenced its ravages at this time, causedprincipally by the desolations of war, throughout all northern andeastern Russia. The starving inhabitants ate the bark of trees, leavesand the most disgusting reptiles. The streets were covered with thebodies of the dead, abandoned to the dogs. Crowds of skeleton men andwomen wandered through the fields, in vain seeking food, and everdropping in the convulsions of death. Christian faith is stunned inthe contemplation of such woes, and yet it sees in them but the fruitsof man's depravity. The enigma of life can find no solution but indivine revelation--and even that revelation does but show in whatdirection the solution lies. 

Mstislaf of Novgorod, encouraged by his military success, andregardless of the woes of the populace, entered into an alliance withConstantin, promising, with his aid, to drive Georges from the throne, and to place the scepter in the hands of Constantin. The king sent anarmy of ten thousand men against the insurgents. All over Russia therewas the choosing of sides, as prince after prince ranged his followersunder the banners of one or of the other of the combatants. At lastthe two armies met upon the banks of the river Kza. The Russianannalists say that the sovereign was surrounded with the banners ofthirty regiments, accompanied by a military band of one hundred andforty trumpets and drums. 

The insurgent princes, either alarmed by the power of the sovereign, or anxious to spare the effusion of blood, proposed terms ofaccommodation. 

"It is too late to talk of peace, " said Georges. "You are now asfishes on the land. You have advanced too far, and your destruction isinevitable. "

The embassadors retired in sadness. Georges then assembled hiscaptains, and gave orders to form the troops in line of battle. Addressing the troops, he said:

"Let no soldier's life be spared. Aim particularly at the officers. The helmets, the clothes and the horses of the dead shall belong toyou. Let us not be troubled with any prisoners. The princes alone maybe taken captive, and reserved for public execution. "

Both parties now prepared, with soundings of the trumpet and shoutingsof the soldiers, for combat. It was in the early dawn of the morningthat the celebrated battle of Lipetsk commenced. The arena of strifewas a valley, broken by rugged hills, on the head waters of the Don, about two hundred miles south of Moscow. It was a gloomy day of wind, and clouds and rain; and while the cruel tempest of man's passionswept the earth, an elemental tempest wrecked the skies. From themorning till the evening twilight the battle raged, inspired by theantagonistic forces of haughty confidence and of despair. Darknessseparated the combatants, neither party having gained any decisiveadvantage. 

The night was freezing cold, a chill April wind sweeping the mistsover the heights, upon which the two hosts, exhausted and bleeding, slept upon their arms, each fearing a midnight surprise. With theearliest dawn of the next morning the battle was renewed; both armiesdefiantly and simultaneously moving down from the hills to meet on theplains. Mstislaf rode along the ranks of his troops, exclaiming:

"Let no man turn his head. Retreat now is destruction. Let us forgetour wives and children, and fight for our lives. "

His soldiers, with shouts of enthusiasm, threw aside all encumberingclothes, and uttering those loud outcries with which semi-barbariansever rush into battle, impetuously fell upon the advancing foe. Mstislaf was a prince of herculean stature and strength. With abattle-ax in his hands, he advanced before the troops, and it isrecorded that, striking on the right hand and the left, he cut a paththrough the ranks of the enemy as a strong man would trample down thegrain. A wake of the dead marked his path. It was one of the mostdeplorable of Russian battles, for the dispute had arrayed the sonagainst the father, brother against brother, friend against friend. 

The victory, however, was now not for a moment doubtful. The royalforces were entirely routed, and were pursued with enormous slaughterby the victorious Mstislaf. Nearly ten thousand of the followers ofGeorges were slain upon the field of battle. Georges having had threehorses killed beneath him, escaped, and on the fourth day reachedVladimir, where he found only old men, women, children andecclesiastics, so entirely had he drained the country for the war. Theking himself was the first to announce to the citizens of Vladimir theterrible defeat. Wan from fatigue and suffering, he rode in at thegates, his hair disheveled, and his clothing torn. As he traversed thestreets, he called earnestly upon all who remained to rally upon thewalls for their defense. It was late in the afternoon when the kingreached the metropolis. During the night a throng of fugitives wascontinually entering the city, wounded and bleeding. In the earlymorning, the king assembled the citizens in the public square, andurged them to a desperate resistance. But they, disheartened by theawful reverse, exclaimed:

"Prince, courage can no longer save us. Our brethren have perished onthe field of battle. Those who have escaped are wounded, exhausted andunarmed. We are unable to oppose the enemy. "

Georges entreated them to make at least a show of resistance, that hemight open negotiations with the foe. Soon Mstislaf appeared, leadinghis troops in solid phalanx, with waving banners and trumpet blasts, and surrounded the city. In the night, a terrible conflagration burstforth within the city, and his soldiers entreated him to takeadvantage of the confusion for an immediate assault. The magnanimousconqueror refused to avail himself of the calamity, and restrained theardor of his troops. The next morning, Georges despairing of anyfurther defense, rode from the gates into the camp of Mstislaf. 

"You are victorious, " said he. "Dispose of me and my fortunes as youwill. My brother Constantin will be obedient to your wishes. "

The unhappy prince was sent into exile. Embarking, with his wife andchildren, and a few faithful followers, in barges, at the head watersof the Volga, he floated down the stream towards the Caspian Sea, anddisappeared for ever from the observation of history. 

Constantin was now raised to the imperial throne through the energiesof Mstislaf. This latter prince returned to his domains in Novgorod, and under the protection of the throne he rivaled the monarch insplendor and power. Constantin established his capital at Vladimir, about one hundred and fifty miles west of Moscow. The warlikeMstislaf, greedy of renown, with the chivalry of a knight-errant, sought to have a hand in every quarrel then raging far or near. Southern Russia continued in a state of incessant embroilments; andthe princes of the provinces, but nominally in subjection to thecrown, lived in a state of interminable war. Occasionally they wouldsheath the sword of civil strife and combine in some importantexpedition against the Hungarians or the Poles. 

But tranquillity reigned in the principality of Vladimir; and theadjacent provinces, influenced by the pacific policy of the sovereign, or overawed by his power, cultivated the arts of peace. Constantin, however, was effeminate as well as peaceful. The tremendous energy ofMstislaf had shed some luster upon him, and thus, for a time, it wassupposed that he possessed a share, no one knew how great, of thatextraordinary vigor which had placed him on the throne. But now, Mstislaf was far away on bloody fields in Hungary, and the princes inthe vicinity of Vladimir soon found that Constantin had no spirit toresent any of their encroachments. Enormous crimes were perpetratedwith impunity. Princes were assassinated, and the murderers seizedtheir castles and their scepters, while the imbecile Constantin, instead of avenging such outrages, contented himself with sheddingtears, building churches, distributing alms, and kissing the relics ofthe saints, which had been sent to him from Constantinople. Thus helived for several years, a superstitious, perhaps a pious man; but, soutterly devoid of energy, of enlightened views respecting his duty asa ruler, that the helpless were unprotected, and the wicked riotedunpunished in crime. He died in the year 1219 at the early age ofthirty-three. Finding death approaching, he called his two sons to hisbedside, and exhorted them to live in brotherly affection, to be thebenefactors of widows and orphans, and especially to be the supportersof religion. The wife of Constantin, imbibing his spirit, immediatelyupon his death renounced the world, and retiring to the cloisters of aconvent, immured herself in its glooms until she also rejoined herhusband in the spirit land. 

Georges II. , son of Vsevelod, now ascended the throne. He signalizedthe commencement of his reign by a military excursion to orientalBulgaria. Descending the Volga in barges to the mouth of the Kama, heinvaded, with a well-disciplined army, the realm he wished tosubjugate. The Russians approached the city of Ochel. It was stronglyfortified with palisades and a double wall of wood. The assailantsapproached, led by a strong party with hatchets and torches. They wereclosely followed by archers and lancers to drive the defenders fromthe ramparts. The palisades were promptly cut down and set on fire. The flames spread to the wooden walls; and over the burning ruins theassailants rushed into the city. A high wind arose, and the wholecity, whose buildings were constructed of wood only, soon blazed likea volcano. The wretched citizens had but to choose between the swordsof the Russians and the fire. Many, in their despair, plunged theirpoignards into the bosoms of their wives and children, and then buriedthe dripping blade in their own hearts. Multitudes of the Russians, even, encircled by the flames in the narrow streets, miserablyperished. In a few hours the city and nearly all of its maleinhabitants were destroyed. Extensive regions of the country were thenravaged, and Bulgaria, as a conquered province, was considered asannexed to the Russian empire. Georges enriched with plunder andhaving extorted oaths of allegiance from most of the Bulgarianprinces, reascended the Volga to Vladimir. As he was on his return helaid the foundations of a new city, Nijni Novgorod, at the confluenceof two important streams about two hundred miles west of Moscow. Thecity remains to the present day. 

It will be perceived through what slow and vacillating steps theRussian monarchy was established. In the earliest dawn of the kingdom, Yaroslaf divided Russia into five principalities. To his eldest son hegave the title of Grand Prince, constituting him, by his will, chiefor monarch of the whole kingdom. His younger brothers were placed overthe principalities, holding them as vassals of the grand prince atKief, and transmitting the right of succession to their children. Ysiaslaf, and some of his descendants, men of great energy, succeededin holding under more or less of restraint the turbulent princes, whowere simply entitled _princes_, to distinguish them from the _GrandPrince_ or monarch. These princes had under them innumerable vassallords, who, differing in wealth and extent of dominions, governed, with despotic sway, the serfs or peasants subject to their power. Nogovernment could be more simple than this; and it was the necessaryresultant of those stormy times. 

But in process of time feeble grand princes reigned at Kief. Thevassal princes, strengthening themselves in alliances with oneanother, or seeking aid from foreign semi-civilized nations, such asthe Poles, the Danes, the Hungarians, often imposed laws upon theirnominal sovereign, and not unfrequently drove him from the throne, andplaced upon it a monarch of their own choice. Sviatopolk II. Wasdriven to the humiliation of appearing to defend himself fromaccusation before the tribunal of his vassal princes. Monomaque andMstislaf I. , with imperial energy, brought all the vassal princes insubjection to their scepter, and reigned as monarchs. But theirsuccessors, not possessing like qualities, were unable to maintain theregal dignity; and gradually Kief sank into a provincial town, and thescepter was transferred to the principality of Souzdal. 

André, of Souzdal, abolished the system of _appanages_, as it wascalled, in which the principalities were in entire subjection to theprinces who reigned over them, these princes only rendering vassalservice to the sovereign. He, in their stead, appointed governors overthe distant provinces, who were his agents to execute his commands. This measure gave new energy and consolidation to the monarchy, andadded incalculable strength to the regal arm. But the grand princes, who immediately succeeded André, had not efficiency to maintain thissystem, and the princes again regained their position of comparativeindependence. Indeed, they were undisputed sovereigns of theirprincipalities, bound only to recognize the superior rank of the grandprince, and to aid him, when called upon, as allies. 

In process of time the princes of the five great principalities, Pereiaslavle, Tchernigof, Kief, Novgorod and Smolensk, weresubdivided, through the energies of warlike nobles, into minorappanages, or independent provinces, independent in every thing savefeudal service, a service often feebly recognized and dimly defined. The sovereigns of the great provinces assumed the title of GrandPrinces. The smaller sovereigns were simply called Princes. Underthese princes were the petty lords or nobles. The spirit of all evilcould not have devised a system better calculated to keep a nationincessantly embroiled in war. The princes of Novgorod claimed theright of choosing their grand prince. In all the other provinces thescepter was nominally hereditary. In point of fact, it was onlyhereditary when the one who ascended the throne had sufficient vigorof arm to beat back his assailing foes. For two hundred years, duringnearly all of the eleventh and twelfth centuries, it is withdifficulty we can discern any traces of the monarchy. The history ofRussia during this period is but a history of interminable battlesbetween the grand princes, and petty, yet most cruel and bloody, conflicts between the minor princes. 

The doctrine of the hereditary descent of the governing power was thecause of nearly all these conflicts. A semi-idiot or a brutal ruffianwas thus often found the ruler of millions of energetic men. War andbloodshed were, of course, the inevitable result. This absurdity was, perhaps, a necessary consequence of the ignorance and brutality of thetimes. But happy is that nation which is sufficiently enlightened tochoose its own magistrates and to appreciate the sanctity of theballot-box. The history of the United States thus far, with itselective administrations, is a marvel of tranquillity, prosperity andjoy, as it is recorded amidst the bloody pages of this world's annals. 

According to the ancient custom of Russia, the right of successiontransferred the crown, not to the oldest son, but to the brother orthe most aged member belonging to the family connections of thedeceased prince. The energetic Monomaque violated this law bytransferring the crown to his son, when, by custom, it should havepassed to the prince of Tchernigof. Hence, for ages, there wasimplacable hatred between these two houses, and Russia was crimsonedwith the blood of a hundred battle-fields. 

Nearly all the commerce of Russia, at this time, was carried onbetween Kief and Constantinople by barges traversing the Dnieper andthe Black Sea. These barges went strongly armed as a protectionagainst the barbarians who crowded the banks of the river. The stream, being thus the great thoroughfare of commerce, received the popularname of _The Road to Greece_. The Russians exported rich furs inexchange for the cloths and spices of the East. As the Russian powerextended toward the rising sun, the Volga and the Caspian Sea becamethe highways of a prosperous, though an interrupted, commerce. Itmakes the soul melancholy to reflect upon these long, long ages ofrapine, destruction and woe. But for this, had man been true tohimself, the whole of Russia might now have been almost a garden ofEden, with every marsh drained, every stream bridged, every fieldwaving with luxuriance, every deformity changed into an object ofbeauty, with roads and canals intersecting every mile of itsterritory, with gorgeous cities embellishing the rivers' banks and themountain sides, and cottages smiling upon every plain. Man has no foeto his happiness so virulent and deadly as his brother man. Theheaviest curse is human depravity. 

We now approach, in the early part of the thirteenth century, one ofthe most extraordinary events which has occurred in the history ofman: the sweep of Tartar hordes over all of northern Asia and Europe, under their indomitable leader, Genghis Khan. 

In the extreme north of the Chinese empire, just south of Irkoutsk, inthe midst of desert wilds, unknown to Greek or Roman, there werewandering tribes called Mogols. They were a savage, vagabond race, without any fixed habitations, living by the chase and by herdingcattle. The chief of one of these tribes, greedy of renown and power, conquered several of the adjacent tribes, and brought them into verywilling subjection to his sway. War was a pastime for their fiercespirits, and their bold chief led them to victory and abundant booty. This barbarian conqueror, Bayadour by name, died in the prime oflife, surrendering his wealth and power to his son, Temoutchin, thenbut thirteen years of age. This boy thus found himself lord of fortythousand families. Still he was but a subordinate prince or khan, owing allegiance to the Tartar sovereign of northern China. Brought upby his mother in the savage simplicity of a wandering shepherd's hut, he developed a character which made him the scourge of the world, andone of its most appalling wonders. The most illustrious monarchieswere overturned by the force of his arms, and millions of men werebrought into subjection to his power. 

At the death of his father, Bayadour, many of the subjugated clansendeavored to break the yoke of the boy prince. Temoutchin, with thevigor and military sagacity of a veteran warrior, assembled an army ofthirty thousand men, defeated the rebels, and plunged their leaders, seventy in number, each into a caldron of boiling water. Elated bysuch brilliant success, the young prince renounced allegiance to theTartar sovereign and assumed independence. Terrifying his enemies byseverity, rewarding his friends with rich gifts, and overawing thepopulace by claims of supernatural powers, this extraordinary youngman commenced a career of conquest which the world has never seensurpassed. 

Assembling his ferocious hordes, now enthusiastically devoted to hisservice, upon the banks of a rapid river, he took a solemn oath toshare with them all the bitter and the sweet which he should encounterin the course of his life. The neighboring prince of Kerait venturedto draw the sword against him. He forfeited his head for his audacity, and his skull, trimmed with silver, was converted into a drinking cup. At the close of this expedition, his vast army were disposed in ninedifferent camps, upon the head waters of the river Amour. Eachdivision had tents of a particular color. On a festival day, as allwere gazing with admiration upon their youthful leader, a hermit, byprevious secret appointment, appeared as a prophet from heaven. Approaching the prince, the pretended embassador from the celestialcourt, declared, in a loud voice, "God has given the whole earth to Temoutchin. As the sovereign of theworld, he is entitled to the name of Genghis Khan (_the greatprince_). "

No one was disposed to question the divine authority of this envoyfrom the skies. Shouts of applause rent the air, and chiefs andwarriors, with unanimous voice, expressed their eagerness to followtheir leader wherever he might guide them. Admiration of his prowessand the terror of his arms spread far and wide, and embassadorsthronged his tent from adjacent nations, wishing to range themselvesbeneath his banners. Even the monarch of Thibet, overawed, sentmessengers to offer his service as a vassal prince to Genghis Khan. 

The conqueror now made an irruption into China proper, and with hiswolfish legions, clambering the world-renowned wall, routed all thearmies raised to oppose him, and speedily was master of ninety cities. Finding himself encumbered with a crowd of prisoners, he selected alarge number of the aged and choked them to death. The sovereign, thoroughly humiliated, purchased peace by a gift of five hundred youngmen, five hundred beautiful girls, three thousand horses and animmense quantity of silks and gold. Genghis Khan retired to the northwith his treasures; but soon again returned, and laid siege to Pekin, the capital of the empire. With the energies of despair, though allunavailingly, the inhabitants attempted their defense. It was the year1215 when Pekin fell before the arms of the Mogol conqueror. The wholecity was immediately committed to flames, and the wastingconflagration raged for a whole month, when nothing was left of theonce beautiful and populous city but a heap of ashes. 

Leaving troops in garrison throughout the subjugated country, theconqueror commenced his march towards the west, laden with the spoilsof plundered cities. Like the rush of a torrent, his armies sweptalong until they entered the vast wilds of Turkomania. Here the "greatand the mighty Saladin" had reigned, extending his sway from theCaspian Sea to the Ganges, dictating laws even to the Caliph atBagdad, who was the Pope of the Mohammedans. Mahomet II. Now held thethrone, a prince so haughty and warlike, that he arrogated the name ofthe second Alexander the Great. With two such spirits heading theirarmies, a horrible war ensued. The capital of this region, Bokhara, had attained a very considerable degree of civilization, and wasrenowned for its university, where the Mohammedan youth, of noblefamilies, were educated. The city, after an unavailing attempt atdefense, was compelled to capitulate. The elders of the metropolisbrought the keys and laid them at the feet of the conqueror. GenghisKhan rode contemptuously on horseback into the sacred mosque, andseizing the Alcoran from the altar, threw it upon the floor andtrampled it beneath the hoofs of his steed. The whole city wasinhumanly reduced to ashes. 

From Bokhara he advanced to Samarcande. This city was stronglyfortified, and contained a hundred thousand soldiers within its walls, besides an immense number of elephants trained to fight. The city wassoon taken. Thirty thousand were slain, and thirty thousand carriedinto perpetual slavery. All the adjacent cities soon shared a similarfate. For three years the armies of Genghis Khan ravaged the wholecountry between the Aral lake and the Indus, with such fearfuldevastation that for six hundred years the region did not recover fromthe calamity. Mahomet II. , pursued by his indefatigable foe, fled toone of the islands of the Caspian Sea, where he perished in paroxysmsof rage and despair. 

Genghis Khan having thoroughly subdued this whole region, now sent adivision of his army, under two of his most distinguished generals, across the Caspian Sea to subjugate the regions on the western shore. Here, as before, victory accompanied their standards, and, withmerciless severity, they swept the whole country to the sea of Azof. The tidings of their advance, so bloody, so resistless, spread intoRussia, exciting universal terror. The conquerors, elated withsuccess, rushed on over the plains of Russia, and were already pouringdown into the valley of the Dnieper. Mstislaf, prince of Galitch, already so renowned for his warlike exploits, was eager to measurearms with those soldiers, the terror of whose ravages now filled theworld. He hurriedly assembled all the neighboring princes at Kief, andurged immediate and vigorous coöperation to repel the common foe. TheRussian army was promptly rendezvoused on the banks of the Dnieper, preparatory to its march. Another large army was collected by theRussian princes who inhabited the valley of the Dniester. In athousand barges they descended the river to the Black Sea. Thenentering the Dnieper they ascended the stream to unite with the mainarmy waiting impatiently their arrival. 

On the 21st of May, the whole force was put in motion, and after amarch of nine days, met the Tartar army on the banks of the riverKalets. The waving banners and the steeds of the Tartar host, coveringthe plains as far as the eye could extend, in numbers apparentlycountless, presented an appalling spectacle. Many of the Russianleaders were quite in despair; others, young, ardent, inexperienced, were eager for the fight. The battle immediately commenced, and thecombatants fought with all the ferocity which human energies couldengender. But the Russians were, in the end, routed entirely. TheTartars drove the bleeding fugitives in wild confusion before themback to the Dnieper. Never before had Russia encountered so frightfula disaster. The whole army was destroyed. Not one tenth of theirnumber escaped that field of massacre. Seven princes, and seventy ofthe most illustrious nobles were among the slain. The Tartars followedup their victory with their accustomed inhumanity, and, as if it weretheir intention to depopulate the country, swept it in all directions, putting the inhabitants indiscriminately to the sword. They acted uponthe maxim which they ever proclaimed, "The conquered can never be thefriends of the conquerors; and the death of the one is essential tothe safety of the other. "

The whole of southern Russia trembled with terror; and men, women andchildren, in utter helplessness, with groans and cries fled to thechurches, imploring the protection of God. That divine power whichalone could aid them, interposed in their behalf. For some unknownreason, Genghis Khan recalled his troops to the shores of the Caspian, where this blood-stained conqueror, in the midst of his invinciblearmies, dictated laws to the vast regions he had subjected to hiswill. This frightful storm having left utter desolation behind it, passed away as rapidly as it had approached. Scathed as by thelightnings of heaven, the whole of southern Russia east of the Dnieperwas left smoking like a furnace. 

The nominal king, Georges II. , far distant in the northern realms ofSouzdal and Vladimir, listened appalled to the reports of the tempestraging over the southern portion of the kingdom; and when the darkcloud disappeared and its thunders ceased, he congratulated himself inhaving escaped its fury. After the terrible battle of Kalka, six yearspassed before the locust legions of the Tartars again made theirappearance; and Russia hoped that the scourge had disappeared forever. In the year 1227, Genghis Khan died. It has been estimated thatthe ambition of this one man cost the lives of between five and sixmillions of the human family. He nominated as his successor his oldestson Octai, and enjoined it upon him never to make peace but withvanquished nations. Ambitious of being the conqueror of the world, Octai ravaged with his armies the whole of northern China. In theheart of Tartary he reared his palace, embellished with the highestattainments of Chinese art. 

Raising an army of three hundred thousand men, the Tartar sovereignplaced his nephew Bati in command, and ordered him to bring intosubjection all the nations on the northern shores of the Caspian Sea, and then to continue his conquests throughout all the expanse ofnorthern Russia. A bloody strife of three years planted his bannersupon every cliff and through all the defiles of the Ural mountains, and then the victor plunging down the western declivities of thisgreat natural barrier between Europe and Asia, established his troops, for winter quarters, in the valley of the Volga. To strike the regionwith terror, he burned the capital city of Bulgaria and put all theinhabitants to the sword. Early in the spring of the year 1238, withan army, say the ancient annalists, "as innumerable as locusts, " hecrossed the Volga, and threading many almost impenetrable forests, after a march, in a north-west direction, of about four hundred miles, entered the province of Rezdan just south of Souzdal. He then sent anembassage to the king and his confederate princes, saying:

"If you wish for peace with the Tartars you must pay us an annualtribute of one tenth of your possessions. "

The heroic reply was returned, "When you have slain us all, you can then take all that we have. "

Bati, at the head of his terrible army, continued his march throughthe populous province of Rezdan, burning every dwelling andendeavoring, with indiscriminate massacre, to exterminate theinhabitants. City after city fell before them until they approachedthe capital. This they besieged, first surrounding it with palisadesthat it might not be possible for any of the inhabitants to escape. The innumerable host pressed the siege day and night, not allowing thedefenders one moment for repose. On the sixteenth day, after many hadbeen slain and all the citizens were in utter exhaustion from toiland sleeplessness, they commenced the final assault with ladders andbattering rams. The walls of wood were soon set on fire, and, throughflame and smoke, the demoniac assailants rushed into the city. Indiscriminate massacre ensued of men, women and children, accompaniedwith the most revolting cruelty. The carnage continued for many hours, and, when it ceased, the city was reduced to ashes, and not one of itsinhabitants was left alive. 

The conquerors then rushed on to Moscow. Here the tempest of battleraged for a few days, and then Moscow followed in the footsteps ofRezdan. 

CHAPTER VII. 

THE SWAY OF THE TARTAR PRINCES. 

From 1238 to 1304. 

Retreat of Georges II. --Desolating March of the Tartars. --Capture ofVladimir. --Fall of Moscow. --Utter Defeat of Georges. --Conflict atTorjek. --March of the Tartars Toward the South. --Subjugation of thePolovtsi. --Capture of Kief. --Humiliation of Yaroslaf. --Overthrow ofthe Russian Kingdom. --Haughtiness of the Tartars. --Reign ofAlexander. --Succession of Yaroslaf. --The Reign of Vassuli. --State ofChristianity. --Infamy of André. --Struggles with Dmitri. --Independenceof the Principalities. --Death of André. 

The king, Georges, fled from Moscow before it was invested by theenemy, leaving its defense to two of his sons. Retiring, in a panic, to the remote northern province of Yaroslaf, he encamped, with a smallforce, upon one of the tributaries of the Mologa, and sent earnestentreaties to numerous princes to hasten, with all the forces theycould raise, and join his army. 

The Tartars from Moscow marched north-west some one hundred and fiftymiles to the imperial city of Vladimir. They appeared before its wallson the 2d of February. On the evening of the 6th the battering ramsand ladders were prepared, and it was evident that the storming of thecity was soon to begin. The citizens, conscious that nothing awaitedthem but death or endless slavery, with one accord resolved to selltheir lives as dearly as possible. Accompanied by their wives andtheir children, they assembled in the churches, partook of thesacrament of the Lord's Supper, implored Heaven's blessing upon them, and then husbands, brothers, fathers, took affecting leave of theirfamilies and repaired to the walls for the deadly strife. 

Early on the morning of the 7th the assault commenced. The impetuosityof the onset was irresistible. In a few moments the walls were scaled, the streets flooded with the foe, the pavements covered with the dead, and the city on fire in an hundred places. The conquerors did not wishto encumber themselves with captives. All were slain. Laden with bootyand crimsoned with the blood of their foes, the victors dispersed inevery direction, burning and destroying, but encountering noresistance. During the month they took fourteen cities, slaying allthe inhabitants but such as they reserved for slaves. 

The monarch, Georges, was still upon the banks of the Sité, near whereit empties into the Mologa, when he heard the tidings of thedestruction of Moscow and Vladimir, and of the massacre of his wifeand his children. His eyes filled with tears, and in the anguish ofhis spirit he prayed that God would enable him to exemplify thepatience of Job. Adversity develops the energies of noble spirits. Georges rallied his troops and made a desperate onset upon the foe asthey approached his camp. It was the morning of the 4th of March. Butagain the battle was disastrous to Russia. Mogol numbers triumphedover Russian valor, and the king and nearly all his army were slain. Some days after the battle the bishop of Rostof traversed the field, covered with the bodies of the dead. There he discovered the corpse ofthe monarch, which he recognized by the clothes. The head had beensevered from the body. The bishop removed the gory trunk of the princeand gave it respectful burial in the church of Notre Dame at Rostof. The head was subsequently found and deposited in the coffin with thebody. 

The conquerors, continuing their march westerly one hundred and fiftymiles, burning and destroying as they went, reached the populous cityof Torjek. The despairing inhabitants for fifteen days beat off theassailants. The city then fell; its ruin was entire. The dwellingsbecame but the funeral pyres for the bodies of the slain. The army ofBati then continued its march to lake Seliger, the source of theVolga, within one hundred miles of the great city of Novgorod. 

"Villages disappeared, " write the ancient annalists, "and the heads ofthe Russians fell under the swords of the Tartars as the grass fallsbefore the scythe. "

Instead of pressing on to Novgorod, for some unknown reason Batiturned south, and, marching two hundred miles, laid siege to thestrong fortress of Kozelsk, in the principality of Kalouga. Thegarrison, warned of the advance of the foe, made the most heroicresistance. For four weeks they held their assailants at bay, bankingevery effort of the vast numbers who encompassed them. A moredetermined and heroic defense was never made. At last the fortressfell, and not one soul escaped the exterminating sword. Bati, nowsatiated with carnage, retired, with his army, to the banks of theDon. Yaroslaf, prince of Kief, and brother of Georges II. , hoping thatthe dreadful storm had passed away, hastened to the smouldering ruinsof Vladimir to take the title and the shadowy authority of GrandPrince. Never before were more conspicuously seen the energies of anoble soul. At first it seemed that his reign could be extended onlyover gory corpses and smouldering ruins. Undismayed by the magnitudeof the disaster, he consecrated all the activity of his genius and theloftiness of his spirit to the regeneration of the desolated land. 

In the spacious valleys of the Don and its tributaries lived thepowerful nation of the Polovtsi, who had often bid defiance to thewhole strength of Russia. Kothian, their prince, for a short time madevigorous opposition to the march of the conquerors. But, overwhelmedby numbers, he was at length compelled to retreat, and, with his armyof forty thousand men, to seek a refuge in Hungary. The country of thePolovtsi was then abandoned to the Tartars. Having ravaged thecentral valleys of the Don and the Volga, these demoniac warriorsturned their steps again into southern Russia. The inhabitants, frantic with terror, fled from their line of march as lambs fly fromwolves. The blasts of their trumpets and the clatter of their horses'hoofs were speedily resounding in the valley of the Dnieper. Soon fromthe steeples of Kief the banners of the terrible army were seenapproaching from the east. They crossed the Dnieper and surrounded theimperial city, which, for some time anticipating the storm, had beenmaking preparation for the most desperate resistance. The ancientannalists say that the noise of their innumerable chariots, the lowingof camels and of the vast herds of cattle which accompanied theirmarch, the neighing of horses and the ferocious cries of thebarbarians, created such a clamor that no ordinary voice could beheard in the heart of the city. 

The attack was speedily commenced, and the walls were assailed withall the then-known instruments of war. Day and night, without amoment's intermission, the besiegers, like incarnate fiends, pliedtheir works. The Tartars, as ever, were victorious, and Kief, with allits thronging population and all its treasures of wealth, architectureand art, sank in an abyss of flame and blood. It sank to rise no more. Though it has since been partially rebuilt, this ancient capital ofthe grand princes of Russia, even now presents but the shadow of itspristine splendor. 

Onward, still onward, was the cry of the barbarians. 

Leaving smoking brands and half-burnt corpses where the imperial cityonce stood, the insatiable Bati pressed on hundreds of miles furtherwest, assailing, storming, destroying the provinces of Gallicia as faras southern Vladimir within a few leagues of the frontiers of Poland. Russia being thus entirely devastated and at the feet of theconquerors, Bati wheeled his army around toward the south anddescended into Hungary. Novgorod was almost the only important cityin Russia which escaped the ravages of this terrible foe. 

Bati continued his career of conquest, and, in 1245, was almostundisputed master of Russia, of many of the Polish provinces, ofHungary, Croatia, Servia, Bulgaria on the Danube, Moldavia andWallachia. He then returned to the Volga and established himself thereas permanent monarch over all these subjugated realms. No one dared toresist him. Bati sent a haughty message to the Grand Prince Yaroslafat northern Vladimir, ordering him to come to his camp on the distantVolga. Yaroslaf, in the position in which he found himself--Russiabeing exhausted, depopulated, covered with ruins and with graves--didnot dare disobey. Accompanied by several of his nobles, he took theweary journey, and humbly presented himself in the tent of theconqueror. Bati compelled the humiliated prince to send his young son, Constantin, to Tartary, to the palace of the grand khan Octai, who wasabout to celebrate, with his chiefs, the brilliant conquests his armyhad made in China and Europe. If the statements of the annalists ofthose days may be credited, so sumptuous a fête the world had neverseen before. The guests, assembled in the metropolis of the khan, wereinnumerable. Yaroslaf was compelled to promise allegiance to theTartar chieftain, and all the other Russian princes, who had survivedthe general slaughter, were also forced to pay homage and tribute toBati. 

After two years, the young prince, Constantin, returned from Tartary, and then Yaroslaf himself was ordered, with all his relatives, to goto the capital of this barbaric empire on the banks of the Amour, where the Tartar chiefs were to meet to choose a successor to Octai, who had recently died. With tears the unhappy prince bade adieu to hiscountry, and, traversing vast deserts and immense regions of hills andvalleys, he at length reached the metropolis of his cruel masters. Here he successfully defended himself against some accusations whichhad been brought against him, and, after a detention of severalmonths, he was permitted to set out on his return. He had proceededbut a few hundred miles on the weary journey when he was taken sick, and died the 20th of September, 1246. The faithful nobles whoaccompanied him bore his remains to Vladimir, where they wereinterred. 

There was no longer a Russian kingdom. The country had lost itsindependence; and the Tartar sway, rude, vacillating and awfullycruel, extended from remote China to the shores of the Baltic. TheRoman, Grecian and Russian empires thus crumbling, the world wasthreatened with an universal inundation of barbarism. Russian princes, with more or less power ruled over the serfs who tilled their lands, but there was no recognized head of the once powerful kingdom, and noRussian prince ventured to disobey the commands even of the humblestcaptain of the Tartar hordes. 

While affairs were in this deplorable state, a Russian prince, Daniel, of Gallicia, engaged secretly, but with great vigor, in the attempt tosecure the coöperation of the rest of Europe to emancipate Russia fromthe Tartar yoke. Greece, overawed by the barbarians, did not dare tomake any hostile movement against them. Daniel turned to Rome, andpromised the pope, Innocent IV. , that Russia should return to theRoman church, and would march under the papal flag if the pope wouldrouse Christian Europe against the Tartars. 

The pope eagerly embraced these offers, pronounced Daniel to be Kingof Russia, and sent the papal legate to appoint Roman bishops over theGreek church. At the same time he wished to crown Daniel with regalsplendor. 

"I have need, " exclaimed the prince, "of an army, not of a crown. Acrown is but a childish ornament when the yoke of the barbarian isgalling our necks. "

Daniel at length consented, for the sake of its moral influence, to becrowned king, and the pope issued his letters calling upon thefaithful to unite under the banners of the cross, to drive thebarbarians from Europe. This union, however, accomplished but little, as the pope was only anxious to bring the Greek church under the swayof Rome, and Daniel sought only military aid to expel the Tartars;each endeavoring to surrender as little and to gain as much aspossible. 

One of the Christian nobles endeavored to persuade Mangou, a Tartarchieftain, of the superiority of the Christian religion. The paganreplied;

"We are not ignorant that there is a God; and we love him with all ourheart. There are more ways of salvation than there are fingers on yourhands. If God has given you the Bible, he has given us our _wise men_(Magi). But _you_ do not obey the precepts of your Bible, while _we_are perfectly obedient to the instructions of our Magi, and neverthink of disputing their authority. "

The pride of these Tartar conquerors may be inferred from thefollowing letter, sent by the great khan to Louis, King of France:

"In the name of God, the all powerful, I command you, King Louis, tobe obedient to me. When the will of Heaven shall be accomplished--whenthe universe shall have recognized me as its sovereign, tranquillitywill then be seen restored to earth. But if you dare to despise thedecrees of God, and to say that your country is remote, your mountainsinaccessible, and your seas deep and wide, and that you fear not mydispleasure, then the Almighty will speedily show you how terrible ismy power. "

After the death of Yaroslaf, his uncle Alexander assumed thesovereignty of the grand principality. He was a prince of muchmilitary renown. Bati, who was still encamped upon the banks of theVolga, sent to him a message as follows:

"Prince of Novgorod: it is well known by you that God has subjected toour sway innumerable peoples. If you wish to live in tranquillity, immediately come to me, in my tent, that you may witness the gloryand the grandeur of the Mogols. "

Alexander obeyed with the promptness of a slave. Bati received theprince with great condescension, but commanded him to continue hisjourney some hundreds of leagues further to the east, that he mightpay homage to the grand khan in Tartary. It was a terrible journey, beneath a blazing sun, over burning plains, whitened by the bones ofthose who had perished by the way. Those dreary solitudes had for agesbeen traversed by caravans, and instead of cities and villages, andthe hum of busy life, the eye met only the tombs in which the deadmouldered; and the silence of the grave oppressed the soul. 

In the year 1249, Alexander returned from his humiliating journey toTartary. The khan was so well satisfied with his conduct, that heappointed him king of all the realms of southern Russia. The pope, nowthoroughly alienated from Daniel, corresponded with Alexander, entreating him to bring the Greek church under the supremacy of Rome, and thus secure for himself the protection and the blessing of thefather of all the faithful. Alexander returned the peremptory reply, "We wish to follow the true doctrines of the church. As for yourdoctrines, we have no desire either to adopt them or to know them. "

Alexander administered the government so much in accordance with thewill of his haughty masters, that the khan gradually increased hisdominion. Bati, the Tartar chieftain, who was encamped with his armyon the banks of the Volga and the Don, died in the year 1257, and hisbloody sword, the only scepter of his power, passed into the hands ofhis brother Berki. Alexander felt compelled to hasten to the Tartarcamp, with expressions of homage to the new captain, and with richpresents to conciliate his favor. Many of the Tartars had by this timeembraced Christianity, and there were frequent intermarriages betweenthe Russian nobles and princesses of the Tartar race. It is a curiousfact, that even then the Tartars were so conscious of the power of theclergy over the popular mind, that they employed all the arts ofcourtesy and bribes to secure their influence to hold the Russians insubjection. 

The Tartars exacted enormous tribute from the subjugated country. Aninsurrection, headed by a son of Alexander, broke out at Novgorod. Thegrand prince, terrified in view of the Mogol wrath which might beexpected to overwhelm him, arrested and imprisoned his son, who hadcountenanced the enterprise, and punished the nobles implicated in themovement with terrible severity. Some were hung; others had their eyesplucked out and their noses cut off. But, unappeased by this fearfulretribution, the Tartars were immediately on the march to avenge, withtheir own hands, the crime of rebellion. Their footsteps were markedwith such desolation and cruelty that the Russians, goaded to despair, again ventured, like the crushed worm, an impotent resistance. Alexander himself was compelled to join the Tartars, and aid incutting down his wretched countrymen. 

The Tartars haughtily entered Novgorod. Silence and desolation reignedthrough its streets. They went from house to house, extorting, as theywell knew how, treasure which beggared families and ruined the city. Throughout all Russia the princes were compelled to break down thewalls of their cities and to demolish their fortifications. In theyear 1262, Alexander was alarmed by some indications of displeasure onthe part of the grand khan, and he decided to take an immediatejourney to the Mogol capital with rich presents, there to attempt toexplain away any suspicions which might be entertained. His health wasfeeble, and suffered much from the exposures of the journey. He wasdetained in the Mogol court in captivity, though treated with muchconsideration, for a year. He then returned home, so crushed in healthand spirits, that he died on the 14th of November, 1263. The princewas buried at Vladimir, and was borne to the grave surrounded by thetears and lamentations of his subjects. He seems to have died thedeath of the righteous, breathing most fervent prayers of penitenceand of love. In the distressing situation in which his country wasplaced, he could do nothing but seek to alleviate its woe; and to thisobject he devoted all the energies of his life. The name of AlexanderNevsky is still pronounced in Russia with love and admiration. Hisremains, after reposing in the church of Notre Dame, at Vladimir, until the eighteenth century, were transported, by Peter the Great, tothe banks of the Neva, to give renown to the capital which thatillustrious monarch was rearing there. 

Yaroslaf, of Tiver, succeeded almost immediately his father in thenominal sway of Russia. The new sovereign promised fealty to theTartars, and feared no rival while sustained by their swords. Hisoppression becoming intolerable, the tocsin was sounded in the streetsof Novgorod, and the whole populace rose in insurrection. The movementwas successful. The favorites and advisers of Yaroslaf were put todeath, and the prince himself was exiled. There is something quiterefreshing in the energetic spirit with which the populace transmittedtheir sentence of repudiation to the discomfited prince, blockaded inhis palace. The citizens met in a vast gathering in the church of St. Nicholas, and sent to him the following act of accusation:

"Why have you seized the mansion of one of our nobles? Why have yourobbed others of their money? Why have you driven from Novgorodstrangers who were living peaceably in the midst of us? Why do yourgame-keepers exclude us from the chase, and drive us from our ownfields? It is time to put an end to such violence. Leave us. Go whereyou please, but leave us, for we shall choose another prince. "

Yaroslaf, terrified and humiliated, sent his son to the publicassembly with the assurance that he was ready to conform to all theirwishes, if they would return to their allegiance. 

"It is too late, " was the reply. "Leave us immediately, or we shall beexposed to the inconvenience of driving you away. "

Yaroslaf immediately left the city and sought safety in exile. TheNovgorodians then offered the soiled and battered crown to Dmitry, anephew of the deposed prince. But Dmitry, fearing the vengeance of theTartars, replied, "I am not willing to ascend a throne from which youhave expelled my uncle. "

Yaroslaf immediately sent an embassador to the encampment of theTartars, where they were, ever eagerly waiting for any enterprisewhich promised carnage and plunder. The embassador, imploring theiraid, said, "The Novgorodians are your enemies. They have shamefully expelledYaroslaf, and thus treated your authority with insolence. They havedeposed Yaroslaf, merely because he was faithful in collecting tributefor you. "

By such a crisis, republicanism was necessarily introduced inNovgorod. The people, destitute of a prince, and threatened by anapproaching army, made vigorous efforts for resistance. The two armiessoon met face to face, and they were on the eve of a terrible battle, when the worthy metropolitan bishop, Cyrille, interposed and succeededin effecting a treaty which arrested the flow of torrents of blood. The Novgorodians again accepted Yaroslaf, he making the most solemnpromises of amendment. The embassadors of the Tartar khan conductedYaroslaf again to the throne. 

The Tartars now embraced, almost simultaneously and universally, theMohammedan religion, and were inspired with the most fanatic zeal forits extension. Yaroslaf retained his throne only by employing allpossible means to conciliate the Tartars. He died in the year 1272, ashe was also on his return journey from a visit to the Tartar court. 

Vassali, a younger brother of Yaroslaf, now ascended the throne, establishing himself at Vladimir. The grand duchy of Lithuania, extending over a region of sixty thousand square miles, was situatedjust north of Poland. The Tartars, dissatisfied with the Lithuanians, prepared an expedition against them, and marching with a great army, compelled many of the Russian princes to follow their banners. TheTartars spread desolation over the whole tract of country theytraversed, and on their return took a careful census of the populationof all the principalities of Russia, that they might decide upon thetribute to be imposed. The Russians were so broken in spirit that theysubmitted to all these indignities without a murmur. Still there wereto be seen here and there indications of discontent. An ecclesiasticalcouncil was held at Vladimir, in the year 1274. All the bishops of thenorth of Russia were assembled to rectify certain abuses which hadcrept into the church. A copy of the canons then adopted, written uponparchment, is still preserved in the Russian archives. 

"What a chastisement, " exclaim the bishops, "have we received for ourneglect of the true principles of Christianity! God has scattered usover the whole surface of the globe. Our cities have fallen into thehands of the enemy. Our princes have perished on the field of battle. Our families have been dragged into slavery. Our temples have becomethe prey of destruction; and every day we groan more and more heavilybeneath the yoke which is imposed upon us. "

It was decreed in this council of truly Christian men, that, as apublic expression of the importance of a holy life, none should beintroduced into the ranks of the clergy but those whose morals hadbeen irreproachable from their earliest infancy. "A single pastor, "said the decree of this council, "faithfully devoted to his Master'sservice, is more precious than a thousand worldly priests. "

Vassali died in the year 1276, and was succeeded by a prince ofVladimir, named Dmitri. He immediately left his native principalityand took up his residence in Novgorod, which city at this time seemsto have been regarded as the capital of the subjugated and dishonoredkingdom. The indomitable tribes inhabiting the fastnesses of theCaucasian mountains had, thus far, maintained their independence. TheTartars called upon Russia for troops to aid in their subjugation; andfour of the princes, one of whom, André of Gorodetz, was a brother ofDmitri the king, submissively led the required army into the Mogolencampment. 

André, by his flattery, his presents and his servile devotion to theinterests of the khan, secured a decree of dethronement against hisbrother and his own appointment as grand prince. Then, with a combinedarmy of Tartars and Russians, he marched upon Novgorod to takepossession of the crown. Resistance was not to be thought of, andDmitri precipitately fled. Karamsin thus describes the sweep of thisTartar wave of woe:

"The Mogols pillaged and burned the houses, the monasteries, thechurches, from which they took the images, the precious vases and thebooks richly bound. Large troops of the inhabitants were dragged intoslavery, or fell beneath the sabers of the ferocious soldiers of thekhan. The young sisters in the convents were exposed to the brutalityof these monsters. The unhappy laborers, who, to escape death orcaptivity, had fled into the deserts, perished of exposure andstarvation. Not an inhabitant was left who did not weep over the deathof a father, a son, a brother or a friend. "

Thus André ascended the throne, and then returned the soldiers of thekhan laden with the booty which they had so cruelly and iniquitouslyobtained. The barbarians, always greedy of rapine and blood, were everdelighted to find occasion to ravage the principalities of Russia. TheTartars, having withdrawn, Dmitri secured the coöperation of somepowerful princes, drove his brother from Novgorod, and again graspedthe scepter which his brother had wrested from him. The two brotherscontinued bitterly hostile to each other, and years passed of pettyintrigues and with occasional scenes of violence and blood as Dmitristruggled to hold the crown which André as perseveringly strove toseize. Again André obtained another Mogol army, which swept Russiawith fearful destruction, and, taking possession of Vladimir andMoscow, and every city and village on their way, plundering, burningand destroying, marched resistlessly to Novgorod, and placed again thetraitorous, blood-stained monster on the throne. 

Dmitri, abandoning his palaces and his treasures, fled to a remoteprincipality, where he soon died, in the year 1294, an old manbattered and wrecked by the storms of a life of woe. He is celebratedin the Russian annals only by the disasters which accompanied hisreign. According to the Russian historians, the infamous André, hiselder brother being now dead, found himself _legitimately_ thesovereign of Russia. As no one dared to dispute his authority, theill-fated kingdom passed a few years in tranquillity. 

At length Daniel, prince of Moscow, claimed independence of thenominal king, or grand prince, as he was called. In fact, most of theprincipalities were, at this time, entirely independent of the grandprince of Novgorod, whose supremacy was, in general, but an empty andpowerless title. As Daniel was one of the nearest neighbors of André, and reigned over a desolate and impoverished realm, the grand princewas disposed to bring him into subjection. But neither of the princesdared to march their armies without first appealing to their Mogolmasters. Daniel sent an embassador to the Mogol camp, but André wentin person with his young and beautiful wife. The khan sent hisembassador to Vladimir, there to summon before him the two princes andtheir friends and to adjudge their cause. 

In the heat and bitterness of the debate, the two princes drew theirswords and fell upon each other. Their followers joined in the melee, and a scene of tumult and blood ensued characteristic of thosebarbaric times. The Tartar guard rushed in and separated thecombatants. The Tartar judge extorted rich presents from both of theappellants and _settled_ the question by leaving it _entirelyunsettled_, ordering them both to go home. They separated like twoboys who have been found quarreling, and who have both been soundlywhipped for their pugnacity. In the autumn of the year 1303 anassembly of the Russian princes was convened at Pereiaslavle, to whichcongress the imperious khan sent his commands. 

"It is my will, " said the Tartar chief, "that the principalities ofRussia should henceforth enjoy tranquillity. I therefore command allthe princes to put an end to their dissensions and each one to contenthimself with the possessions and the power he now has. "

Russia thus ceased to be even nominally a monarchy, unless we regardthe Khan of Tartary as its sovereign. It was a conglomeration ofprincipalities, ruled by princes, with irresponsible power, but allpaying tribute to a foreign despot, and obliged to obey his willwhenever he saw fit to make that will known. Still there continuedincessant tempests of civil war, violent but of brief duration, towhich the khan paid no attention, he deeming it beneath his dignity tointer meddle with such petty conflicts. 

André died on the 27th July, 1304, execrated by his contemporaries, and he has been consigned to infamy by posterity. As he approached thespirit land he was tortured with the dread of the scenes which hemight encounter there. His crimes had condemned thousands to death andother thousands to live-long woe. He sought by priestcraft, andpenances, and monastic vows, and garments of sackcloth, to efface thestains of a soul crimsoned with crime. He died, and his guilty spiritpassed away to meet God in judgment. 

CHAPTER VIII. 

RESURRECTION OF THE RUSSIAN MONARCHY. 

From 1304 to 1380. 

Defeat of Georges and the Tartars--Indignation of the Khan. --MichelSummoned to the Horde. --His Trial and Execution. --Assassination ofGeorges. --Execution of Dmitri. --Repulse and Death of the Embassador ofthe Khan. --Vengeance of the Khan. --Increasing Prosperity ofRussia. --The Great Plague. --Supremacy of Simon. --Anarchy in theHorde. --Plague and Conflagration. --The Tartars Repulsed. --Reconquestof Bulgaria. --The Great Battle of Koulikof. --Utter Rout of theTartars. 

The Tartars, now fierce Mohammedans, began to oppress severely, particularly in Kief, the Christians. The metropolitan bishop of thisancient city, with the whole body of the clergy, pursued bypersecution, fled to Vladimir; and others of the Christians of Kiefwere scattered over the kingdom. 

The death of André was as fatal to Russia as had been his reign. Tworival princes, Michel of Tver, and Georges of Moscow, grasped at theshadow of a scepter which had fallen from his hands. In consequence, war and anarchy for a long time prevailed. At length, Michel, havingappealed to the Tartars and gained their support, ascended the frailthrone. But a fierce war now raged between Novgorod and Moscow. In theprosecution of this war, Georges obtained some advantage which ledMichel to appeal to the khan. The prince of Moscow was immediatelysummoned to appear in the presence of the Tartar chieftain. By themost ignoble fawning and promises of plunder, Georges obtained thesupport of the khan, and returning with a Tartar horde, cruellydevastated the principality of his foe. Michel and all his subjects, roused to the highest pitch of indignation, marched to meet theenemy. The two armies encountered each other a few leagues fromMoscow. The followers of Michel, fighting with the energies ofdespair, were unexpectedly successful, and Georges, with his Russianand Tartar troops, was thoroughly defeated. 

Kavgadi, the leader of the Tartar allies of Georges, was takenprisoner. Michel, appalled by the thought of the vengeance he mightanticipate from the great khan, whose power he had thus ventured todefy, treated his captive, Kavgadi, with the highest consideration, and immediately set him at liberty loaded with presents. Georges, accompanied by Kavgadi, repaired promptly to the court of the khan, Usbeck, who was then encamped, with a numerous army, upon the shoresof the Caspian Sea. Soon an embassador of the khan arrived atVladimir, and informed Michel that Usbeck was exasperated against himto the highest degree. 

"Hasten, " said he, "to the court of the great khan, or within a monthyou will see your provinces inundated by his troops. Think of yourperil, when Kavgadi has informed Usbeck that you have dared to resisthis authority. "

Terrified by these words, the nobles of Michel entreated him not toplace himself in the power of the khan, but to allow some one of themto visit the _horde_, as it was then called, in his stead, andendeavor to appease the wrath of the monarch. 

"No, " replied the high-minded prince; "Usbeck demands my presence notyours. Far be it from me, by my disobedience, to expose my country toruin. If I resist the commands of the khan, my country will be doomedto new woes; thousands of Christians will perish, the victims of hisfury. It is impossible for us to repel the forces of the Tartars. Whatother asylum is there then for me but death? Is it not better for meto die, if I may thus save the lives of my faithful subjects?"

He made his will, divided his estates among his sons, and entreatingthem ever to be faithful to the dictates of virtue, bade them aneternal adieu. Michel encountered the khan near the mouth of the Don, as it enters the Sea of Azof. Usbeck was on a magnificent huntingexcursion, accompanied by his chieftains and his army. For six weekshe did not deign, to pay any attention to the Russian prince, not evencondescending to order him to be guarded. The rich presents Michel hadbrought, in token of homage, were neither received nor rejected, butwere merely disregarded as of no moment whatever. 

At length, one morning, suddenly, as if recollecting something whichhad been forgotten, Usbeck ordered his lords to summon Michel beforethem and adjudge his cause. A tent was spread as a tribunal ofjustice, near the tent of the khan; and the unhappy prince, bound withcords, was led before his judges. He was accused of the unpardonablecrime of having drawn his sword against the soldiers of the khan. Nojustification could be offered. Michel was cruelly fettered withchains and thrown into a dungeon. An enormous collar of iron wasriveted around his neck. 

Usbeck then set out for the chase, on an expedition which was to lastfor one or two months. The annals of the time describe this expeditionwith great particularity, presenting a scene of pomp almost surpassingcredence. Some allowance must doubtless be made for exaggeration; andyet there is a minuteness of detail which, accompanied bycorroborative evidence of the populousness and the power of theseTartar tribes, invests the narrative with a good degree ofauthenticity. We are informed that several hundreds of thousands ofmen were in movement; that each soldier was clothed in rich uniformand mounted upon a beautiful horse; that merchants transported, ininnumerable chariots, the most precious fabrics of Greece and of theIndies, and that luxury and gayety reigned throughout the immensecamp, which, in the midst of savage deserts, presented the aspect ofbrilliant and populous cities. Michel, who was awaiting his sentencefrom Usbeck, was dragged, loaded with chains, in the train of thehorde. Georges was in high favor with the khan, and was importunatelyurging the condemnation of his rival. 

With wonderful fortitude the prince endured his humiliation andtortures. The nobles who had accompanied him were plunged intoinconsolable grief. Michel endeavored to solace them. He manifested, through the whole of this terrible trial, the spirit of the Christian, passing whole nights in prayer and in chanting the Psalms of David. Ashis hands were bound, one of his pages held the sacred book beforehim. His faithful followers urged him to take advantage of theconfusion and tumult of the camp to effect his escape. "Never, "exclaimed Michel, "will I degrade myself by flight. Moreover, should Iescape, that would save _me_ only, not my country. God's will bedone. "

The horde was now encamped among the mountains of Circassia. It wasthe 22d of November, 1319, when, just after morning prayers, whichwere conducted by an abbé and two priests, who accompanied the Russianprince, Michel was informed that Usbeck had sentenced him to death. Heimmediately called his young son Constantin, a lad twelve years ofage, into his presence, and gave his last directions to his wife andchildren. 

"Say to them, " enjoined this Christian prince, "that I go down intothe tomb cherishing for them the most ardent affection. I recommend totheir care the generous nobles, the faithful servants who havemanifested so much zeal for their sovereign, both when he was upon thethrone and when in chains. "

These thoughts of home overwhelmed him, and, for a moment losing hisfortitude, he burst into tears. Causing the Bible to be opened to thePsalms of David, which, in all ages, have been the great fountain ofconsolation to the afflicted, he read from the fifty-sixth Psalm, fifth verse, "Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me, and horrorhath overwhelmed me. "

"Prince, " said the abbé, "in the same Psalm with which you are sofamiliar, are the words, 'Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shallsustain thee. He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved. '"

Michel simply replied by quoting again from the same inspired page:"Oh that I had wings like a dove; for then would I fly away and be atrest. "

At that moment one of the pages entered the tent, pale and trembling, and informed that a great crowd of people were approaching. "I knowwhy they are coming, " said the prince, and he immediately sent hisyoung son away on a message, that the child might not witness thecruel execution of his father. Two brawny barbarians entered the tent. As the prince was fervently praying, they smote him down with clubs, trampled him beneath their feet, and then plunged a poignard into hisheart. The crowd which had followed the executioners, according totheir custom rushed into the royal tent for pillage. The gory body wasleft in the hands of the Russian nobles. They enveloped the remains inprecious clothes, and bore them with affectionate care back to Moscow. 

Georges, now confirmed in the dignity of grand prince by the khan, returned to Vladimir, where he established his government, sending hisbrother to Novgorod to reign over that principality in his name. Dmitri, and others of the sons of Michel, for several years wagedimplacable warfare against Georges, with but little success. The khan, however, did not deign to interfere in a strife which caused him notrouble. But in the year 1325 Georges again went to the horde on theeastern banks of the Caspian. At the same time, Dmitri appeared in theencampment. Meeting Georges accidentally, whom he justly regarded asthe murderer of his father, he drew his sword, and plunged it to thehilt in the heart of the grand prince. The khan, accustomed to suchdeeds of violence, was not disposed to punish the son who had thusavenged the death of his father. But the friends of Georges soimportunately urged that to pardon such a crime would be anineffaceable stain upon his honor, would be an indication of weakness, and would encourage the Russian princes in the commission of otheroutrages, that after the lapse of ten months, during which time Dmitrihad been detained a captive, Usbeck ordered his execution, and theunfortunate prince was beheaded. Dmitri was then but twenty-sevenyears of age. 

And yet Usbeck seems to have had some regard for the cause of theyoung prince, for he immediately appointed Alexander, a brother ofDmitri, and son of Michel, to succeed Georges in the grandprincipality. The Novgorodians promptly received him as their ruler. Affairs wore in this State when, at the close of the summer of 1327, an embassador of Usbeck appeared, with a band of Tartars, and enteredthe royal city of Tver, which was the residence of Alexander. Theprincipality of the Tver was spread along the head waters of theVolga, just north of the principality of Moscow. The report spreadthrough the city that the Mogol embassador, Schevkal, who was azealous Mohammedan, had come to convert the Russians to Mohammedanism, that he intended the death of Alexander, to ascend the throne himself, and to distribute the cities of the principality to his followers. 

The Tverians, in a paroxysm of terror and despair, rallied for thesupport of their prince and their religion. In a terrible tumult allthe inhabitants rose and precipated themselves upon the embassador andhis valiant body guard. From morning until night the battle raged inthe streets of Tver. The Tartars, overpowered by numbers, and greatlyweakened by losses during the day, took refuge in a palace. Thecitizens set the palace on fire, and every Tartar perished, eitherconsumed by the flames or cut down by the Russians. 

When Usbeck heard of this event, he was, at first, stupefied by theaudacity of the deed. He imagined that all Russia was in theconspiracy, and that there was to be a general rising to throw off theTartar yoke. Still Usbeck, with his characteristic sagacity, decidedto employ the Russians to subdue the Russians. He at once deposed andoutlawed Alexander, and declared Jean Danielovitch, of Moscow, to begrand prince, who promised the most obsequious obedience to hiswishes. At the same time he sent an army of fifty-thousand Tartars tocoöperate with the Russian army, which Jean Danielovitch was commandedto put in motion for the invasion of the principality of Tver. It wasin vain to think of resistance, and Alexander fled. The invading army, with awful devastation, ravaged the principality. Multitudes wereslain. Others were dragged into captivity. The smoking ruins of thecities and villages of Tver became the monument of the wrath of thekhan. Alexander, pursued by the implacable wrath of Usbeck, wasfinally taken and beheaded. 

But few particulars are known respecting the condition of southernRussia at this time. The principalities were under the government ofprinces who were all tributary to the Tartars, and yet these princeswere incessantly quarreling with one another, and the whole countrywas the scene of violence and blood. 

The energies of the Tartar horde were now engrossed by internaldissensions and oriental wars, and for many years, the conquerorsstill drawing their annual tribute from the country, but in no otherway interfering with its concerns, devoted all their energies toconspiracies and bloody battles among themselves. Moscow now becamethe capital of the country, and under the peaceful reign of Jean, increased rapidly in wealth and splendor. Jean, acting professedly asthe agent of Usbeck, extorted from many of the principalities doubletribute, one half of which he furtively appropriated to the increaseof the wealth, splendor and power of his own dominions. His reign wason the whole one of the most prosperous Russia had enjoyed for ages. Agriculture and commerce flourished. The Volga was covered with boats, conveying to the Caspian the furs and manufactures of the North, andladen, on their return, with the spices and fabrics of the Indies. Onthe 31st of March, 1340, Jean died. As he felt the approach of deathhis spirit was overawed by the realities of the eternal world. Layingaside his regal robes he assumed the dress of a monk, and entering amonastery, devoted his last days zealously to prayer. His end waspeace. 

Immediately after his death there were several princes who wereambitious of grasping the scepter which he had dropped, and, as Usbeckalone could settle that question, there was a general rush to thehorde. Simeon, the eldest son of Jean, and his brothers, were amongthe foremost who presented themselves in the tent of the all-powerfulkhan. Simeon eloquently urged the fidelity with which his father hadalways served the Mogol prince, and he promised, in his turn, to doevery thing in his power to merit the favor of the khan. Sosuccessfully did he prosecute his suit that the khan declared him tobe grand prince, and commanded all his rivals to obey him as theirchief. 

The manners of the barbarian Mogols had, for some time, been assuminga marked change. They emerged from their native wilds as fierce anduntamed as wolves. The herds of cattle they drove along with themsupplied them with food, and the skins of these animals supplied themwith clothing and with tents. Their home was wherever they happened tobe encamped, but, having reached the banks of the Black Sea and thefertile valleys of the Volga and the Don, they became acquainted withthe luxuries of Europe and of the more civilized portions of Asia. Commerce enriched them. Large cities were erected, embellished by thegenius of Grecian and Italian architects. Life became more desirable, and the wealthy chieftains, indulging in luxury, were less eager toencounter the exposure and perils of battle. The love of wealth nowbecame with them a ruling passion. For gold they would grant anyfavors. The golden promises of Simeon completely won the heart ofUsbeck, and the young prince returned to Moscow flushed with success. He assumed such airs of superiority and of power as secured for himthe title of _The Superb_. He caused himself to be crowned king, withmuch religious pomp, in the cathedral of Vladimir. Novgorod manifestedsome resistance to his assumptions. He instantly invaded theprincipality, hewed down all opposition, and punished his opponentswith such severity that there was a simultaneous cry for mercy. Rapidly he extended his power, and the fragmentary principalities ofRussia began again to assume the aspect of concentration and adhesion. 

Ere two years had elapsed, Usbeck, the khan, died. This remarkable manhad been, for some time, the friend and the ally of Pope Benoit XII. , who had hoped to convert him to the Christian religion. The khan hadeven allowed the pope to introduce Christianity to the Tartarterritories bordering on the Black Sea. Tchanibek, the oldest son ofUsbeck, upon the death of his father, assassinated his brothers, andthus attained the supreme authority. He was a zealous Mohammedan, andcommenced his reign by commanding all the princes of theprincipalities of Russia to hasten to the horde and prostratethemselves, in token of homage, before his throne. The least delaywould subject the offender to confiscation and death. Simeon was oneof the first to do homage to the new khan. He was received with greatfavor, and dismissed confirmed in all his privileges. 

In the year 1346, one of the most desolating plagues recorded inhistory, commenced its ravages in China, and swept over all Asia andnearly all Europe. The disease is recorded in the ancient annals underthe name of Black Death. Thirteen millions of the population were, inthe course of a few months, swept into the grave. Entire cities weredepopulated, and the dead by thousands lay unburied. The pestilenceswept with terrible fury the encampments of the Tartars, and weakenedthat despotic power beyond all recovery. But one third of thepopulation of the principalities of Pskof and of Novgorod were leftliving. At London fifty thousand were interred in a single cemetery. The disease commenced with swellings on the fleshy parts of the body, a violent spitting of blood ensued, which was followed by death thesecond or third day. 

It is impossible, according to the ancient annalists, to imagine aspectacle so terrible. Young and old, fathers and children, were buriedin the same grave. Entire families disappeared in a day. Each curatefound, every morning, thirty dead bodies, often more, in his church. Greedy men at first offered their services to the dying, hoping toobtain their estates, but when it was found that the disease wascommunicated by touch, even the most wealthy could obtain no aid. Theson fled from the father. The brother avoided the brother. Still therewere not a few examples of the most generous and self-sacrificingdevotion. Medical skill was of no avail whatever, and the churches werethronged with the multitudes who, in the midst of the dying and thedead, were crying to God for aid. Multitudes in their terror bequeathedall their property to the church, and sought refuge in the monasteries. It truth, it appeared as if Heaven had pronounced the sentence ofimmediate death upon the whole human family. 

Five times, during his short reign, Simeon was compelled to repair tothe horde, to remove suspicions and appease displeasure. He at lengthso far ingratiated himself into favor with the khan, that the Tartarsovereign conferred upon him the title of Grand Prince of _all theRussias_. The death of Simeon in the year 1353, caused a general rushof the princes of the several principalities to the Tartar horde, eachemulous of being appointed his successor. Tchanibek, the khan, aftersuitable deliberation, conferred the dignity upon Jean Ivanovitch ofMoscow. His reign of six years was disturbed by a multiplicity ofintestine feuds, but no events occurred worthy of record. He died in1359. 

Again the Russian princes crowded to the horde, as, in every age, office seekers have thronged the court. The khan, after duedeliberation, conferred the investiture of the grand principality uponDmitri of Souzdal, though the appointment was received with greatdissatisfaction by the other princes. But now the power of the Tartarswas rapidly on the decline. Assassination succeeded assassination, onechieftain after another securing the assassination of his rival andwith bloody hands ascending the Mogol throne. The swords of the Mogolwarriors were turned against each other, as rival chieftains ralliedtheir followers for attack or defense. Civil war raged among thesefierce bands with most terrible ferocity. Famine and pestilencefollowed the ravages of the sword. 

While the horde was in this state of distraction, antagonistic khansbegan to court the aid of the Russian princes, and a successful Tartarchieftain, who had poignarded his rival, and thus attained the throne, deposed Dmitri of Souzdal, and declared a young prince, Dmitri ofMoscow, to be sovereign of Russia. But as the khan, whose wholeenergies were required to retain his disputed throne, could send noarmy into Russia to enforce this decree, Dmitri of Souzdal paid butlittle attention to the paper edict. Immediately the Russian princesarrayed themselves on different sides. The conflict was short, butdecisive, and the victorious prince of Moscow was crowned assovereign. The light of a resurrection morning was now dawning uponthe Russian monarchy. There were, fortunately, at this time, two rivalkhans beyond the waves of the Caspian opposing each other with bloodycimeters. The energetic young prince, by fortunate marriage, and bythe success of his arms, rapidly extended his authority. But again theawful plague swept Russia. The annalists of those days thus describethe symptoms and the character of the malady:

"One felt himself suddenly struck as by a knife plunged into the heartthrough the shoulder blades or between the two shoulders. An intensefire seemed to burn the entrails; blood flowed freely from the throat;a violent perspiration ensued, followed by severe chills; tumorsgathered upon the neck, the hip, under the arms or behind the shoulderblades. The end was invariably the same--death, inevitable, speedy, but terrible. "

Out of a hundred persons, frequently not more than ten would be leftalive. Moscow was almost depopulated. In Smolensk but five individualsescaped, and they were compelled to abandon the city, the houses andthe streets being encumbered with the putrefying bodies of thedead. [2] Just before this disaster, Moscow suffered severely from aconflagration. The imperial palace and a large portion of the citywere laid in ashes. The prince then resolved to construct a Kremlin ofstone, and he laid the foundations of a gorgeous palace in the year1367. 

[Footnote 2: See Histoire de l'Empire de Russie, par M. Karamsin. Traduite par MM. St. Thomas et Jauffret. Tome cinquieme, p. 10. ]

Dmitri now began to bid defiance to the Tartars, doubly weakened bythe sweep of the pestilence and by internal discord. There were a fewminor conflicts, in which the Russians were victorious, and, elated bysuccess, they began to rally for a united effort to shake off thedegrading Mogol yoke. Three bands of the Tartars were encamped at themouth of the Dnieper. The Russians descended the river in barges, assailed them with the valor which their fathers had displayed, anddrove the pagans, in wild rout, to the shores of the Sea of Azof. 

The Tartars, astounded at such unprecedented audacity, forgetting, forthe time, their personal animosities, collected a large army, andcommenced a march upon Moscow. The grand prince dispatched hiscouriers in every direction to assemble the princes of the empire withall the soldiers they could bring into the field. Again the Tartarswere repulsed. For many years the Tartars had been in possession ofBulgaria, an extensive region east of the Volga. In the year 1376, thegrand prince, Dmitri, fitted out an expedition for the reconquest ofthat country. The Russian arms were signally successful. The Tartars, beaten on all hands, their cities burned, their boats destroyed, werecompelled to submit to the conqueror. A large sum of money wasextorted from them to be distributed among the troops. They wereforced to acknowledge themselves, in their turn, tributary to Russia, and to accept Russian magistrates for the government of their cities. 

Encouraged by this success, the grand prince made arrangements forother exploits. A border warfare ensued, which was continued forseveral years with alternating success and with great ferocity. Neither party spared age or sex, and cities and villages wereindiscriminately committed to the flames. Russia was soon alarmed bythe rumor that Mamai, a Tartar chieftain, was approaching thefrontiers of Russia with one of the largest armies the Mogols had everraised. This intelligence roused the Russians to the highest pitch ofenergy to meet their foes in a decisive battle. An immense force wassoon assembled at Moscow from all parts of the kingdom. After havingcompleted all his arrangements, Dmitri, with his chief captains, repaired to the church of the Trinity to receive the benediction ofthe metropolitan bishop. 

"You will triumph, " said the venerable ecclesiastic, "but only afterterrible carnage. You will vanquish the enemy, but your laurels willbe sprinkled with the blood of a vast number of Christian heroes. "

The troops, accompanied by ecclesiastics who bore the banners of thecross, passed out at the gate of the Kremlin. As the majestic hostdefiled from the city, the grand prince passed the hours in the churchof Saint Michael, kneeling upon the tomb of his ancestors, ferventlyimploring the blessing of Heaven. Animated by the strength whichprayer ever gives, he embraced his wife, saying, "God will be ourdefender, " and then, mounting his horse, placed himself at the head ofhis army. It was a beautiful summer's day, calm, serene and cloudless, and the whole army were sanguine in the hope that God would smile upontheir enterprise. Marching nearly south, along the valley of theMoskwa, they reached, in a few days, the large city of Kolomna, ahundred miles distant, on the banks of the Oka. Here they were joinedby several confederate princes, with their contingents of troops, swelling the army to one hundred and fifty thousand men. Seventy-fivethousand of these were cavalry, superbly mounted. Never had Russia, even in her days of greatest splendor, witnessed a more magnificentarray. 

Mamai, the Tartar khan, had assembled the horde, in numbers which hedeemed overwhelming, on the waters of the Don. Resolved not to awaitthe irruption of the foe, on the 20th of August, Dmitri, with hisarmy, crossed the Oka, and pressed forward towards the valley of theDon. They reached this stream on the 6th of September. Soondetachments of the advanced guards of the two armies met, and severalskirmishes ensued. Dmitri assembled his generals in solemn conclave, and saying to them, "The hour of God's judgment has sounded, " gaveminute directions for the conflict. Aided by a dense fog, whichconcealed their operations from the view of the enemy, the armycrossed the Don, the cavalry fording the stream, while the infantrypassed over by a hastily-constructed bridge. Dmitri deployed hiscolumns in battle array upon the vast plain of Koulikof. A mound ofearth was thrown up, that Dmitri, upon its summit, might overlook thewhole plain. 

As the Russian prince stood upon this pyramid and contemplated hisarmy, there was spread before him such a spectacle as mortal eyeshave seldom seen. A hundred and fifty thousand men were marshaled onthe plain. It was the morning of the 8th of September, 1380. Thousandsof banners fluttered in the breeze. The polished armor of thecavaliers, cuirass, spear and helmet, glittered in the rays of thesun. Seventy-five thousand steeds, gorgeously caparisoned, wereneighing and prancing over the verdant savanna. The soldiers, according to their custom, shouted the prayer, which rose like theroar of many waters, "Great God, grant to our sovereign the victory. "The whole sublime scene moved the soul of Dmitry to its profoundestdepths; and as he reflected that in a few hours perhaps the greaterportion of that multitude might lie dead upon the field, tears gushedfrom his eyes, and kneeling upon the summit of the mound, in thepresence of the whole army, he extended his hands towards heaven in afervent prayer that God would protect Russia and Christianity from theheel of the infidel. Then, mounting his horse, he rode along theranks, exclaiming, "My brothers dearly beloved; my faithful companions in arms: by yourexploits this day you will live for ever in the memory of men; andthose of you who fall will find, beyond the tomb, the crown ofmartyrs. "

The Tartar host approached upon the boundless plain slowly andcautiously, but in numbers even exceeding those of the Russians. Notwithstanding the most earnest remonstrances of his generals, Dmitriled the charge, exposing himself to every peril which the humblestsoldier was called to meet. 

"It is not in me, " said he, "to seek a place of safety while cryingout to you, '_My brothers, let us die for our country!_' My actionsshall correspond with my words. I am your chief. I will be your guide. I will go in advance, and, if I die, it is for you to avenge me. "

Again ascending the mound, the king, with a loud voice, read theforty-sixth Psalm: "God is our refuge and strength, a very presenthelp in trouble. Therefore will not we fear though the earth beremoved, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of thesea. " The battle was immediately commenced, with ferocity on bothsides which has probably never been surpassed. For three hours the twoarmies were blended in a hand to hand fight, spreading over a spaceseven miles in length. Blood flowed in torrents, and the sod wascovered with the slain. Here the Russians were victorious and theTartars fled before them. There the Tartars, with frenzied shouts, chased the Russians in awful rout over the plain. Dmitri had stationeda strong reserve behind a forest. When both parties were utterlyexhausted, suddenly this reserve emerged from their retreat and rushedupon the foe. Vladimir, the brother of Dmitri, led the charge. TheMogols, surprised, confounded, overwhelmed and utterly routed, in thewildest confusion, and with outcries which rent the heavens, turnedand fled. "The God of the Christians has conquered, " exclaimed theTartar chief, gnashing his teeth in despair. The Tartars were heweddown by saber strokes from unexhausted arms, and trampled beneath thehoofs of the war horse. The entire camp of the horde, with immensebooty of tents, chariots, horses, camels, cattle and preciouscommodities of every kind, fell into the hands of the captors. 

The valorous prince Vladimir, the hero of the day, returned to thefield of battle, which his cavalry had swept like a tornado, andplanting his banner upon a mound, with signal trumpets, summoned thewhole victorious host to rally around it. The princes, the nobles, from every part of the extended field, gathered beneath its folds. Butto their consternation, the grand prince, Dmitri, was missing. Amidstthe surgings of the battle he had disappeared, and was nowhere to befound. 

CHAPTER IX

DMITRI, VASSALI, AND THE MOGOL TAMERLANE. 

From 1380 to 1462. 

Recovery of Dmitri. --New Tartar invasion. --The Assault and Capture ofMoscow. --New Subjugation of the Russians. --Lithuania EmbracesChristianity. --Escape of Vassali From the Horde. --Death ofDmitri. --Tamerlane--His Origin and Career. --His Invasion ofIndia. --Defeat of Bajazet. --Tamerlane Invades Russia. --Preparationsfor Resistance. --Sudden Retreat of the Tartars. --Death ofVassali. --Accession of Vassali Vassilievitch. --The DisputedSuccession. --Appeal to the Khan. --Rebellion of Youri. --Cruelty ofVassali. --The Retribution. 

"Where is my brother?" exclaimed Vladimir; "where is he to whom we areindebted for all this glory?" No one could give any informationrespecting Dmitri. In the tumult he had disappeared. Sadly thechieftains dispersed over the plain to search for him among the dead. After a long exploration, two soldiers found him in the midst of aheap of the slain. Stunned by a blow, he had fallen from his horse, and was apparently lifeless. As with filial love they hung over hisremains, bathing his bloody brow, he opened his eyes. Gradually herecovered consciousness; and as he saw the indications of triumph inthe faces of his friends, heard the words of assurance that he hadgained the victory, and witnessed the Russian banners all over thefield, floating above the dead bodies of the Tartars, in a transportof joy he folded his hands upon his breast, closed his eyes andbreathed forth a fervent, grateful prayer to God. The princes stoodsilently and reverently by, as their sovereign thus returned thanks toHeaven. 

Joy operated so effectually as a stimulus, that the prince, who hadbeen stunned, but not seriously wounded, mounted his horse and rodeover the hard-fought field. Though thousands of the Russians weresilent in death, the prince could count more than four times as manydead bodies of the enemy. According to the annals of the time, ahundred thousand Tartars were slain on that day. Couriers wereimmediately dispatched to all the principalities with the joyfultidings. The anxiety had been so great, that, from the moment the armypassed the Don, the churches had been thronged by day and by night, and incessant prayers had ascended to heaven for its success. _No_language can describe the enthusiasm which the glad tidings inspired. It was felt that henceforth the prosperity, the glory, theindependence of Russia was secured for ever; that the supremacy of thehorde was annihilated; that the blood of the Christians, shed upon theplain of Koulikof, was the last sacrifice Russia was doomed to make. 

But in these anticipations, Russia was destined to be sadlydisappointed. Mamai, the discomfited Tartar chieftain, overwhelmedwith shame and rage, reached, with the wreck of his army, one of thegreat encampments of the Tartars on the banks of the Volga. A newkhan, the world-renowned Tamerlane, now swayed the scepter of Tartarpower. Two years were devoted to immense preparations for the newinvasion of Russia. Suddenly and unexpectedly, Dmitri was informedthat the Tartars were approaching in strength unprecedented. Russiawas unprepared for the attack, and terror congealed all hearts. Theinvaders, crossing the Volga and the Oka, pressed rapidly towardsMoscow. 

Dmitri, deeming it in vain to attempt the defense of the capital, fled, with his wife and children, two hundred miles north, to thefortress of Kostroma. A young prince, Ostei, was left in command ofthe city, with orders to hold it to the last extremity against theTartars, and with the assurance that the king would return, asspeedily as possible, with an army from Kostroma to his relief. Thepanic in the city was fearful, and the gates were crowded, day andnight, by the women and children, the infirm and the timid seekingsafety in flight. Ostei made the most vigorous preparations fordefense, while the king, with untiring energy, was accumulating anarmy of relief. The merchants and laborers from the neighboringvillages, and even the monks and priests crowded to Moscow, demandingarms for the defense of the metropolis. From the battlements of thecity, the advance of the barbarians could be traced by the volumes ofsmoke which arose, as from a furnace, through the day, and by theflames which flashed along the horizon, from the burning cities andvillages, through the night. 

On the evening of the 23d of August, 1382, the Tartars appeared beforethe gates of the city. Some of the chiefs rode slowly around theramparts, examining the ditch, the walls, the height of the towers, and selected the most favorable spot for commencing the assault. TheTartars did not appear in such overwhelming numbers as report hadtaught the Russians to expect, and they felt quite sanguine that theyshould be able to defend the city. But the ensuing morning dispelledall these hopes. It then appeared that these Tartars were but theadvance guard of the great army. With the earliest dawn, as far as theeye could reach, the inundation of warriors came rolling on, andterror vanquished all hearts. This army was under the command of aTartar chieftain called Toktamonish. The assault was instantlycommenced, and continued without cessation four days and nights. 

At length the city fell, vanquished, it is said, by stratagem ratherthan by force. The Tartars clambering, by means of ten thousandladders, over the walls, and rushing through the gates, with no earfor mercy, commenced the slaughter of the inhabitants. The city wasset on fire in all directions, and a scene of horror ensuedindescribable and unimaginable. The barbarians, laden with booty, andsatiated with blood and carnage, encamped on the plain outside of thewalls, exulting in the entireness of their vengeance. Moscow, thegorgeous capital, was no more. The dwellings of the city became butthe funeral pyre for the bodies of the inhabitants. The Tartars, intoxicated with blood, dispersed over the whole principality; and allits populous cities, Vladimir, Zvenigorod, Yourief, Mojaisk andDmitrof, experienced the same fate with that of Moscow. The khan thenretired, crossing the Oka at Kolomna. 

Dmitri arrived with his army at Moscow, only to behold the ruins. Theenemy had already disappeared. In profoundest affliction, he gaveorders for the interment of the charred and blackened bodies of thedead. Eighty thousand, by count, were interred, which number did notinclude the many who had been consumed entirely by the conflagration. The walls of the city and the towers of the Kremlin still remained. With great energy, the prince devoted himself to the rebuilding andthe repeopling of the capital; many years, however, passed away ere itregained even the shadow of its former splendor. 

Thus again Russia, brought under the sway of the Tartars, wascompelled to pay tribute, and Dmitri was forced to send his own son tothe horde, where he was long detained as a hostage. The grand duchy ofLithuania, bordering on Poland, was spread over a region of sixtythousand square miles. The grand duke, Jaghellon, a burly pagan, hadmarried Hedwige, Queen of Poland, promising, as one of the conditionsof this marriage which would unite Lithuania and Poland, to embraceChristianity. [3] He was married and baptized at Cracow, receiving theChristian name of Ladislaus. He then ordered the adoption ofChristianity throughout Lithuania, and the universal baptism of hissubjects. In order to facilitate the baptism of over a million atonce, the inhabitants were collected at several central points. Theywere arranged in vast groups, and were sprinkled with water which hadbeen blessed by the priests. As the formula of baptism was pronounced, to one entire group the name of Peter was given, to another the nameof Paul, to another that of John. These converts were received, notinto the Greek church, which was dominant-in Russia, but to the Romishchurch, which prevailed in Poland. Jaghellon became immediately theinveterate foe of the Russians, whom he called heretics, for newproselytes are almost invariably inspired with fanatic zeal, and heforbade the marriage of any of his Catholic subjects with members ofthe Russian church. This event caused great grief to Dmitri, for hehad relied upon the coöperation of the warlike Lithuanians to aid himto repel the Mogols. 

[Footnote 3: For an account of the romantic circumstances attendingthis marriage, see _Empire of Austria_, pp. 53 and 54. ]

Affairs were in this condition when Vassali, the son of Dmitri, escaped from the horde after a three years' captivity, and, traversingPoland and Lithuania, arrived safely at Moscow. Dmitri was now fortyyears of age. He was a man of colossal stature, and of vigoroushealth. His hair and beard were black as the raven's wing, and hisruddy cheek and piercing eye seemed to give promise of a long life. But suddenly he was seized with a fatal disease, and it was soonevident that death was near. The intellect of the dying prince wasunclouded, and, with much fortitude, in a long interview, he badeadieu to his wife and his children. He designated his son Vassali, then but seventeen years of age, as his successor, and then, afteroffering a touching prayer, folded his hands across his breast, in theform of a cross, and died without a struggle. The grief of theRussians was profound and universal. For ages they had not known aprince so illustrious or so devoted to the welfare of his country. 

The young Vassali had been but a few years on the throne whenTamerlane himself advanced with countless hordes from the far Orient, crushing down all opposition, and sweeping over prostrate nations likethe pestilence which had preceded him, and whose track he followed. Tamerlane was the son of a petty Mogol prince. He was born in a seasonof anarchy, and when the whole Tartar horde was distracted with civildissensions. The impetuous young man had hardly begun to think, ere hehad formed the resolve to attain the supremacy over all the Mogoltribes, to conquer the whole known world, and thus to render himselfimmortal in the annals of glory. Behind a curtain of mountains, andprotected by vast deserts, his persuasive genius collected a largeband of followers, who with enthusiasm adopted his views and hailedhim their chief. 

After inuring them to fatigue, and drilling them thoroughly in theexercises of battle, he commenced his career. The most signal victoryfollowed his steps, and he soon acquired the title of hero. Ambitious, war-loving, thousands crowded to his standards, and he had but justattained the age of thirty-five when he was the undisputed monarch ofall the Mogol tribes, and the whole Asiatic world trembled at themention of his name. He took his seat proudly upon the throne ofGenghis Khan, a crown of gold was placed upon his brow, a royal girdleencircled his waist, and in accordance with oriental usage his robesglittered with jewels and gold. At his feet were his renownedchieftains, kneeling around his throne in homage. Tamerlane then tookan oath, that by his future exploits he would justify the title he hadalready acquired, and that all the kings of the earth should yet lieprostrate before him. 

And now commenced an incessant series of wars, and victory evercrowned the banners of Tamerlane. He was soon in possession of all thecountries on the eastern shores of the Caspian Sea. He then enteredPersia, and conquered the whole realm between the Oxus and the Tigris. Bagdad, until now the proud capital of the caliphs, submitted to hissway. Soon the whole region of Asia, from the Sea of Aral to thePersian Gulf, and from Teflis to the great Arabian desert, recognizedthe empire of Tamerlane. The conqueror then assembled his companionsin arms, and thus addressed them:

"Friends and fellow-soldiers; fortune, who recognizes me as her child, invites us to new conquests. The universe trembles at my name, and themovement even of one of my fingers causes the earth to quake. Therealms of India are open to us. Woe to those who oppose my will. Iwill annihilate them unless they acknowledge me as their lord. "

With flying banners and pealing trumpets he crossed the Indus, andmarched upon Delhi, which for three centuries had been governed by theMohammedan sultans. _No_ opposition could retard the sweep of hislocust legions; and the renowned city at once passed into his hands. Indulging in no delay, the order was still _onwards_, and the hostssoon bathed their dusty limbs in the waves of the Ganges. Here he wasinformed that Bajazet, the Grand Seignior of Turkey, was on a careerof conquest which rivaled his own; that he had overrun all of AsiaMinor; that, crossing the Hellespont, he had subjugated Serbia, Macedonia, Thessaly, and that he was even besieging the imperial cityof Constantine. The jealousy of Tamerlane was thoroughly aroused. Heinstantly turned upon his steps to seek this foe, worthy of his arms, dispatching to him the following defiant message:

"Learn, " wrote Tamerlane to Bajazet, "that the earth is covered withmy warriors from sea-to sea. Kings compose my body guard, and rangethemselves as servants before my tent. Are you ignorant that thedestiny of the universe is in my hands? Who are you? A Turkoman ant. And dare you raise your head against an elephant? If in the forests ofNatolia you have obtained some trivial successes; if the timidEuropeans have fled like cowards before you, return thanks to Mohammedfor your success, for it is not owing to your own valor. Listen to thecounsels of wisdom. Be content with the heritage of your fathers, and, however small that heritage may be, beware how you attempt, in theslightest degree, to extend its limits, lest death be the penalty ofyour temerity. "

To this insolent letter, Bajazet responded in terms equally defiant. 

"For a long time, " he wrote, "Bajazet has burned with the desire tomeasure himself with Tamerlane, and he returns thanks to theAll-powerful that Tamerlane now comes himself, to present his head tothe cimeter of Bajazet. "

The two conquerors gathered all their resources for the great anddecisive battle. Tamerlane speedily reached Aleppo, which city, aftera bloody conflict, he entered in triumph. The Tartar chieftain was animpostor and a hypocrite, as well as a merciless butcher of hisfellow-men. He assembled the learned men of Aleppo, and assured themin most eloquent terms that he was the devoted friend of God, and thatthe enemies who resisted his will were responsible to God for all theevils their obstinacy rendered it necessary for him to inflict. Beforeevery conflict he fell upon his knees in the presence of the army inprayer. After every victory, he assembled his troops to return thanksto God. There are some sad accounts to be settled at the judgment day. In marching from Aleppo to Damascus, Tamerlane visited ostentatiouslythe pretended tomb of Noah, that upon the shrine of that patriarch, soprofoundly venerated by the Mohammedans, he might display hisdevotion. 

Damascus was pillaged of all its treasures, which had beenaccumulating for ages, and was then laid in ashes. The two armies, headed by their respective chieftains, met in Galacia, near Ancyra. Itwas the 16th of June, 1402. The storm of war raged for a few hours, and the army of Bajazet was cut to pieces by superior numbers, and hehimself was taken captive. Tamerlane treated his prisoner with themost condescending kindness, seated him by his side upon the imperialcouch, and endeavored to solace him by philosophical disquisitionsupon the mutability of all human affairs. The annals of the day donot sustain the rumor that Bajazet was confined in an iron cage. 

The empire of Tamerlane now extended from the Caspian and theMediterranean to the Nile and the Ganges. He established his capitalat Samarcand, some six hundred miles east of the Caspian Sea. To thiscentral capital he returned after each of his expeditions, devotingimmense treasures to the erection of mosques, the construction ofgardens, the excavation of canals and the erection of cities. And now, in the pride and plenitude of his power, he commenced his march uponRussia. 

His army, four hundred thousand strong, defiled from the gates ofSamarcand, and marching to the north, between the Aral and the CaspianSeas, traversed vast plains, where thousands of wild cattle had longenjoyed undisturbed pasturage. These cattle afforded them abundantfood. The chase, in which they engaged on a magnificent scale, offereda very brilliant spectacle. Thousands of horsemen spread out in animmense circle, making the tent of the emperor the central point. Withtrumpet blasts, the clash of arms and clouds of javelins and arrows, the cattle and wild beasts of every kind were driven in upon theimperial tent, where Tamerlane and his lords amused themselves withtheir destruction. The soldiers gathered around the food thusabundantly supplied, innumerable fires were built, and feasting andmirth closed the day. Vast herds of cattle were driven along for theordinary supply of the troops, affording all the nourishment whichthose rude barbarians required. Pressing forward, in a long march, which occupied several months, Tamerlane crossed the Volga, andentered the south-eastern principalities of Russia. The tidings of theinvasion spread rapidly, and all Russia was paralyzed with terror. Thegrand prince, Vassali, however, strove with all his energies to rousethe Russians to resistance. An army was speedily collected, andveteran leaders placed in command. The Russian troops were rapidlyconcentrated near Kolomna, on the banks of the Oka, to dispute thepassage of the river. All the churches of Moscow and of Russia werethronged with the terrified inhabitants imploring divine aid, theclergy conducting the devotions by day and by night. 

Tamerlane, crossing from the Volga to the Don, ascended the valley ofthe latter stream, spreading the most cruel devastation everywherearound him. It was his design to confound his enemies with terror. Hewas pressing on resistlessly towards Moscow, and had arrived within afew days' march of the Russian army on the banks of the Oka, whensuddenly he stopped, and remained fifteen days without moving from hisencampment. Then, for some cause, which history has never satisfactoryexplained, he turned, retraced his steps, and his banners soondisappeared beyond the frontiers of the empire. It was early inSeptember when he commenced this retrograde march. Some have surmisedthat he feared the Russians, strongly posted on the banks of the Oka, others that he dreaded the approaching Russian winter; others thatintelligence of some conspiracy in his distant realms arrested hissteps, and others that God, in answer to prayer, directly interposed, and rescued Russia from ruin. 

The joy of the Russians was almost delirious; and no one thought evenof pursuing a foe, who without arriving within sight of the banners ofthe grand prince, or without hearing the sound of his war trumpets, had fled as in a panic. 

The whole of the remaining reign of Vassali was a scene of tumult andstrife. Civil war agitated the principalities. The Lithuanians, unitedwith Poland, were incessant in their endeavors to extend the triumphof their arms over the Russian provinces; and the Tartar hordes againswept Russia with the most horrible devastation. In the midst ofcalamities and lamentations, Vassali approached his grave. He died onthe 29th of February, 1425, in the fifty-third year of his age, andthe thirty-sixth of his reign. 

Vassali Vassalievitch, son of the deceased monarch, was but ten yearsof age when the scepter of Russia passed into his hands. Youri, theeldest brother of the late king, demanded the throne in accordancewith the ancient custom of descent, and denied the right of hisbrother to bequeath the crown to his son. After much trouble, both ofthe rival claimants consented to submit the question to the decisionof the Tartar khan, to whom it appears that Russia still paid tribute. Vassali was to remain upon the throne until the question was decided. Six years passed away, and yet no answer to the appeal had beenobtained from the khan. At length both agreed to visit the horde inperson. It was a perilous movement, and Vassali, as yet but a boysixteen years of age, wept bitterly as he left the church, where hehad implored the prayers of the faithful, and set out upon hisjourney. All the powers of bribery and intrigue were employed by eachparty to obtain a favorable verdict. 

A tribunal was appointed to adjudge the cause, over which Machmet, thekhan, presided. Vassali claimed the dominion, on the ground of the newrule of descent adopted by the Russian princes. Youri pleaded theancient custom of the empire. The power which the Tartar horde stillexercised, may be inferred from the humiliating speech which Jean, anoble of Moscow, made on this occasion, in advocacy of the cause ofthe young Vassali. Approaching Machmet, and bowing profoundly beforehim, he said, "Sovereign king, your humble slave conjures you to permit him to speakin behalf of his young prince. Youri founds his claim upon the ancientinstitutions of Russia. Vassali appeals only to your generousprotection, for he knows that Russia is but one of the provinces ofyour vast domains. You, as its sovereign, can dispose of the throneaccording to your pleasure. Condescend to reflect that the uncle_demands_, the nephew _supplicates_. What signify ancient or moderncustoms when all depends upon your royal will? Is it not that augustwill which has confirmed the testament of Vassali Dmitrievitch, bywhich his son was nominated as heir of the principality of Moscow? Forsix years, Vassali Vassilievitch has been upon the throne. Would youhave allowed him thus to remain there had you not recognized him asthe legitimate prince?"

This base flattery accomplished its object. Vassali was pronouncedgrand prince, and, in accordance with Tartar custom, the uncle wascompelled to hold the bridle while his successful rival, at the doorof the tent, mounted his horse. On their return to Moscow, Vassali wascrowned, with great pomp, in the church of Notre Dame. Youri, while atthe horde, dared not manifest the slightest opposition to thedecision, but, having returned to his own country, he murmured loudly, rallied his friends, excited disaffection, and soon kindled the flamesof civil war. 

Youri soon marched, with an army, upon Moscow, took the city by storm, and Vassali, who had displayed but little energy of character, wasmade captive. Youri proclaimed himself grand prince, and Vassali invain endeavored to move the compassion of his captor by tears. Theuncle, however, so far had pity for his vanquished nephew as toappoint him to the governorship of the city of Kolomna. This seemedperfectly to satisfy the pusillanimous young man, and, after partakingof a splendid feast with his uncle, he departed, rejoicing, from thecapital where he had been enthroned, to the provincial city assignedto him. 

A curious result ensued. Youri brought to Moscow his own friends, whowere placed in the posts of honor and authority. Such generaldiscontent was excited, that the citizens, in crowds, abandoned Moscowand repaired to Kolomna, and rallied, with the utmost enthusiasm, around their ejected sovereign. The dwellings and the streets ofMoscow became silent and deserted. Kolomna, on the contrary, wasthronged. To use the expression of a Russian annalist, the peoplegathered around their prince as bees cluster around their queen. Thetidings of the life, activity and thriving business to be found atKolomna, lured ever-increasing numbers, and, in a few months, grasswas growing in the streets of Moscow, while Kolomna had become thethronged metropolis of the principality. The nobles, with theirarmies, gathered around Vassali, and Youri was so thoroughlyabandoned, that, convinced of the impossibility of maintaining hisposition, he sent word to his nephew that he yielded to him thecapital, and immediately left for his native principality of Galitch. 

The journey of Vassali, from Kolomna to Moscow, a distance of twohundred miles, was a brilliant triumph. An immense crowd accompaniedthe grand prince the whole distance, raising incessant shouts of joy. But Youri was by no means prepared to relinquish his claim, and soonthe armies of the two rivals were struggling upon the field of battle. While the conflict was raging, Youri suddenly died at the age of sixtyyears. One of the sons of Youri made an attempt to regain the thronewhich his father had lost, but he failed in the attempt, and was takencaptive. Vassali, as cruel as he was pusillanimous, in vengeance, plucked out the eyes of his cousin. Vassali, now seated peacefullyupon his throne, exerted himself to keep on friendly relations withthe horde, by being prompt in the payment of the tribute which theyexacted. 

In June, 1444, the Tartars, having taken some offense, again invadedRussia. Vassali had no force of character to resist them. Under hisweak reign the grand principality had lost all its vigor. The Tartarssurprised the Russian army near Moscow, and overwhelming them withnumbers, two to one, trampled them beneath their horses. Vassalifought fiercely, as sometimes even the most timid will fight whenhedged in by despair. An arrow pierced his hand; a saber stroke cutoff several of his fingers; a javelin pierced his shoulder; thirteenwounds covered his head and breast, when by the blow of a battle-axhe was struck to the ground and taken prisoner. The Tartars, elatedwith their signal victory, and fearful that all Russia might rise forthe rescue of its prince, retreated rapidly, carrying with them theircaptive and immense booty. As they retired they plundered and burnedevery city and village on their way. After a captivity of three monthsthe prince was released, upon paying a moderate ransom, and returnedto Moscow. 

Still new sorrows awaited the prince. He was doomed to experiencethat, even in this world, Providence often rewards a man according tohis deeds. The brothers of the prince, whose eyes Vassali had causedto be plucked out, formed a conspiracy against him; and they wereencouraged in this conspiracy by the detestation with which the grandprince was now generally regarded. 

During the night of the 12th of February, 1446, the conspiratorsentered the Kremlin. Vassali, who attempted to compensate for hisneglect of true religion by punctilious and ostentatious observance ofecclesiastical rites, was in the church of the Trinity attending amidnight mass. Silently the conspirators surrounded the church withtheir troops. Vassali was prostrate upon the tomb of a Russian saint, apparently absorbed in devotion. Soon the alarm was given, and theprince, in a paroxysm of terror, threw himself upon his knees, and foronce, at least, in his life, prayed with sincerity and fervor. Hispathetic cries to God for help caused many of the nobles around him toweep. The prince was immediately seized, no opposition being offered, and was confined in one of the palaces of Moscow. Four nights afterhis capture, some agents of the conspirators entered his apartment andtore out his eyes, as he had torn out the eyes of his cousin. He wasthen sent, with his wife, to a castle in a distant city, and hischildren were immured in a convent. Dmitri Chemyaka, the prime moverof this conspiracy, now assumed the reins of government. Gradually thegrand principality had lost its power over the other principalitiesof the empire, and Russia was again, virtually, a conglomeration ofindependent states. 

Public opinion now turned so sternly against Chemyaka, and such bittermurmurs rose around his throne for the cruelty he had practiced uponVassali, that he felt constrained to liberate the prince, and toassign him a residence of splendor upon the shores of lake Kouben. Chemyaka, thus constrained to set the body of his captive free, wishedto enchain his soul by the most solemn oaths. With all his court hevisited Vassali. The blinded prince, with characteristic duplicity, expressed heartfelt penitence in view of his past course, and took themost solemn oaths never to attempt to disturb the reign of hisconqueror. 

Vassali received the city of Vologda in appanage, to which he retired, with his family, and with the nobles and bishops who still adhered tohim. But a few months had passed ere he, with his friends, hadenlisted the coöperation of many princes, and especially of the Tartarhorde, and was on the march with a strong army to drive Chemyaka fromMoscow. Chemyaka, utterly discomfited, fled, and Moscow fell easilyinto the hands of Vassali the blind. 

Anguish of body and of soul seems now to have changed the nature ofVassali, and with energy, disinterestedness and wisdom undevelopedbefore, he consecrated himself to the welfare of his country. Heassociated with himself his young son Ivan, who subsequently attainedthe title of the Great. "But Chemyaka, " writes Karamsin, "still lived, and his heart, ferocious, implacable, sought new means of vengeance. His death seemed necessary for the safety of the state, and some onegave him poison, of which he died the next day. The author, of anaction so contrary to religion, to the principles of morality and ofhonor, remains unknown. A lawyer, named Beda, who conveyed the news ofhis death to Moscow, was elevated to the rank of secretary by thegrand prince, who exhibited on that occasion an indiscreet joy. " Onthe 14th of March, 1462, Vassali terminated his eventful andtumultuous life, at the age of forty-seven. His reign was during oneof the darkest periods in the Russian annals. Life to him, and to hiscotemporaries, was but a pitiless tempest, through which hardly oneray of sunshine penetrated. It was under his reign that the horriblepunishment of the _knout_ was introduced into Moscow, a barbaric modeof scourging unknown to the ancient Russians. Fire-arms were alsobeginning to be introduced, which weapons have diminished rather thanincreased the carnage of fields of battle. 

CHAPTER X. 

THE ILLUSTRIOUS IVAN III. 

From 1462 to 1480. 

Ivan III. --His Precocity and Rising Power. --The Three GreatHordes. --Russian Expedition Against Kezan. --Defeat of theTartars. --Capture of Constantinople by the Turks. --The PrincessSophia. --Her Journey to Russia, and Marriage with IvanIII. --Increasing Renown of Russia. --New Difficulty with theHorde. --The Tartars Invade Russia. --Strife on the Banks of theOka. --Letter of the Metropolitan Bishop. --UnprecedentedPanic. --Liberation of Russia. 

In the middle of the fifteenth century, Constantinople was to Russiawhat Paris, in the reign of Louis XIV. , was to modern Europe. Theimperial city of Constantine was the central point of ecclesiasticalmagnificence, of courtly splendor, of taste, of all intellectualculture. [4] To the Greeks the Russians were indebted for theirreligion, their civilization and their social culture. 

[Footnote 4: Karamsin, vol. Ix. , p. 436. ]

Ivan III. , who had for some time been associated with his father inthe government, was now recognized as the undisputed prince of thegrand principality, though his sway over the other provinces of Russiawas very feeble, and very obscurely defined. At twelve years of age, Ivan was married to Maria, a princess of Tver. At eighteen years ofage he was the father of a son, to whom he gave his own name. When hehad attained the age of twenty-two years, his father died, and thereins of government passed entirely into his hands. From his earliestyears, he gave indications of a character of much more than ordinaryjudgment and maturity. Upon his accession to the throne, he not onlydeclined making any appeal to the khan for the ratification of hisauthority, but refused to pay the tribute which the horde had so longextorted. The result was, that the Tartars were speedily rallyingtheir forces, with vows of vengeance. But on the march, fortunatelyfor Russia, they fell into a dispute among themselves, and exhaustedtheir energies in mutual slaughter. 

According to the Greek chronology, the world was then approaching theend of the seven thousandth year since the creation, and theimpression was universal that the end of the world was at hand. It isworthy of remark that this conviction seemed rather to increaserecklessness and crime than to be promotive of virtue. Bat the yearsglided on, and gradually the impression faded away. Ivan, withextraordinary energy and sagacity, devoted himself to theconsolidation of the Russian empire, and the development of all itssources of wealth. The refractory princes he assailed one by one, and, favored by a peculiar combination of circumstances, succeeded inchastising them into obedience. 

The great Mogol power was essentially concentrated in three immensehordes. All these three combined when there was a work of nationalimportance to be achieved. The largest of the hordes, and the mosteastern, spread over a region of undefined extent, some hundreds ofmiles east of the Caspian Sea. The most western occupied a largeterritory upon the Volga and the Kama, called Kezan. From this, theirencampment, where they had already erected many flourishing cities, enriched by commerce with India and Greece, they were continuallyravaging the frontiers of Russia, often penetrating the country threeor four hundred miles, laying the largest cities in ashes, and thenretiring laden with plunder and prisoners. This encampment of thehorde was but five hundred miles east of Moscow; but much of thecountry directly intervening was an uninhabited waste, so great wasthe terror which the barbarians inspired. 

Ivan resolved to take Kezan from the horde. It was the boldestresolve which any Russian prince had conceived for ages. All themechanics in the great cities which lined the banks of the upper Volgaand the Oka, were employed in constructing barges, which were armedwith the most approved instruments of war. The enthusiasm of Russiawas roused to the highest pitch by this naval expedition, whichpresented a spectacle as novel as it was magnificent and exciting. 

War has its pageantry as well as its woe. The two flotillas, withfluttering pennants and resounding music, and crowded withgayly-dressed and sanguine warriors, floated down the streams untilthey met, at the confluence of these rivers, near Nizni Novgorod. Herethe two fleets, covering the Volga for many leagues, were united. Spreading their sails, they passed rapidly down the river about twohundred miles, until they arrived at Kezan, the capital of the horde. Deeming their enterprise a religious one, in which the cross of Christwas to be planted against the banners of the infidel, they all partookof the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, and engaged in the most earnestexercises of devotion the evening before they reached their place oflanding. 

In those days intelligence was only transmitted by means of couriers, at vast expense, and either accompanied by an army or by a strong bodyguard. The Mogols had no suspicion of the tempest which was about tobreak over their heads. On the 21st of May, 1469, before the dawn ofthe morning, the Russians leaped upon the shore near Kezan, thecapital, and with trumpet blasts and appalling cries, rushed upon thesleeping inhabitants. Without resistance they penetrated the streets. The Russians, in war, were as barbaric as the Tartars. The city wasset on fire; indiscriminate slaughter ensued, and awful vengeance wastaken for the woes which the horde had for ages inflicted upon Russia. But few escaped. Those who fell not by the sword perished in theflames. Many Russian prisoners were found in the city who had been inslavery for years. 

Thus far, success, exceeding the most sanguine anticipations, hadaccompanied the enterprise. The victorious Russians, burdened with theplunder of the city, reembarked, and, descending the river somedistance, landed upon an island which presented every attraction for aparty of pleasure, and there they passed a week in rest, in feastingand in all festive joys. Ibrahim, prince of the horde, escaped thegeneral carnage, and, in a few days, rallied such a force of cavalryas to make a fierce assault upon the invaders. The strife continued, from morning until night, without any decisive results, when bothparties were glad to seek repose, with the Volga flowing between them. The next morning neither were willing to renew the combat. Ibrahimsoon had a flotilla upon the Volga nearly equal to that of theRussians. The war now raged, embittered by every passion which cangoad the soul of man to madness. 

One of the Russian princes, a man of astonishing nerve and agility, inone of these conflicts sprang into a Tartar boat, smiting, with hiswar club, upon the right hand and the left, and, leaping from boat toboat of the foe, warded off every blow, striking down multitudes, until he finally returned, in safety, to his own flotilla, cheered bythe huzzas of his troops. The Mogols were punished, not subdued; butthis punishment, so unexpected and severe, was quite a new experiencefor them. The Russian troops, elated with their success, returned toNizni Novgorod. In the autumn, Ivan III. Sent another army, under thecommand of his two brothers, Youri and André, to coöperate with thetroops in Nizni Novgorod in a new expedition. This army left Moscow intwo divisions, one of which marched across the country, and the otherdescended the Volga in barges. Ibrahim had made every effort in hispower to prepare to repel the invasion. A decisive battle was fought. The Mogols, completely vanquished, were compelled to accept suchterms as the conqueror condescended to grant. 

This victory attracted the attention of Europe, and the greatmonarchies of the southern portion of the continent began to regardRussia as an infant power which might yet rise to importance. Anotherevent at this time occurred which brought Russia still moreprominently into the view of the nations of the South. In the year1467, the grand prince, with tears of anguish, buried his young andbeautiful spouse. Five years of widowhood had passed away. The Turkshad overrun Asia Minor, and, crossing the Hellespont under MohammedII. , with bloody cimeter had taken Constantinople by storm, cuttingdown sixty thousand of its inhabitants, and bringing all Greece underthe Turkish sway. The Mohammedan placed his heel upon the head of theChristian, and Constantinople became the capital of Moslem power. Thiswas in the year 1472. 

Constantin Paleologue was the last of the Grecian emperors. One of hisbrothers, Thomas, escaping from the ruins of his country, fled toRome, where, in consideration of his illustrious rank and lineage, hereceived a large monthly stipend from the pope. Thomas had a daughter, Sophia, a princess of rare beauty, and richly endowed with all mentalgraces and attractions. The pope sought a spouse worthy of thisprincess, who was the descendant of a long line of emperors. MohammedII. , having overrun all Greece, flushed with victory, was collectinghis forces for the invasion of the Italian peninsula, and his vaunt, _that he would feed his horse from the altar of St. Peters_, hadthrilled the ear of Catholic Europe. The pope, Paul II. , anxious torouse all the Christian powers against the Turks, wished to make themarriage of the Grecian princess promotive of his political views. Herbeauty, her genius and her exalted birth rendered her a rare prize. 

Rumors had reached Rome of the vast population and extraordinarywealth of Russia; nearly all the great Russian rivers emptied into theBlack Sea, and along these channels the Russian flotillas could easilydescend upon the conquerors of Constantinople; Russia was united withGreece by the ties of the same religion, and the recent victory overthe Tartars had given the grand prince great renown. Theseconsiderations influenced the pope to send an embassador to Moscow, proposing to Ivan III. The hand of Sophia. To increase the apparentvalue of the offer, the embassador was authorized to state that theprincess had refused the hand of the King of France, and also of theDuke of Milan, she being unwilling, as a member of the Greek church, to ally herself with a prince of the Latin religion. 

Nothing could have been more attractive to Ivan III. , and his nobles, than this alliance. "God himself, " exclaimed a bishop, "must haveconferred the gift. She is a shoot from an imperial tree whichformerly overspread all orthodox Christians. This alliance will makeMoscow another Constantinople, and will confer upon our sovereign therights of the Grecian emperors. "

The grand prince, not deeming it decorous to appear too eager, and yetsolicitous lest he might lose the prize, sent an embassador, with anumerous suite, to Rome, with a letter to the pope, and to report moreparticularly respecting the princess, not forgetting to bring him herportrait. This embassage was speedily followed by another, authorizedto complete the arrangements. The embassadors were received withsignal honors by Sextus IV. , who had just succeeded Paul II. , and atlength it was solemnly announced, in a full conclave of cardinals, onthe 22d of May, 1472, that the Russian prince wished to espouseSophia. Some of the cardinals objected to the orthodoxy of Ivan III. ;but the pope replied that it was by condescension and kindness alonethat they could hope to open the eyes of one spiritually blind; asentiment which it is to be regretted that the court of Rome and alsoall other communions have too often ignored. 

On the 1st of June the princess was sacredly affianced in the churchof St. Peter's to the prince of Moscow, the embassadors of Ivan III. Assuring the pope of the zeal of their monarch for the happy reunionof the Greek and Latin churches. The pope conferred a very rich dowryupon Sophia, and sent his legate to accompany her to Russia, attendedby a splendid suite of the most illustrious Romans. The affiancedprincess had a special court of her own, with its functionaries ofevery grade, and its established etiquette. A large number of Greeksfollowed her to Moscow, hoping to find in that distant capital asecond country. Directions were given by the pope that, in every citythrough which she should pass, the princess should receive the honorsdue to her rank, and that, especially throughout Italy and Germany, she should be furnished with entertainment, relays of horses andguides, until she should arrive at the frontiers of Russia. 

Sophia left Rome on the 24th of August, and after a rapid journey ofsix days, arrived, on the 1st of September, at Lubec, on the extremesouthern shore of the Baltic. Here she remained ten days, and on the10th of September embarked in a ship expressly and gorgeously equippedfor her accommodation. A sail of eight hundred miles along the BalticSea, which occupied twenty days, conveyed the princess to Revel, nearthe mouth of the Gulf of Finland. Arriving at this city on the 30th ofSeptember, she remained there for rest, ten days, during which timeshe was regaled with the utmost magnificence by the authorities of theplace. Couriers had been immediately dispatched, by the way ofNovgorod, to Moscow, to inform the prince of her arrival. Her journeyfrom Revel to lake Tchoude presented but a continued triumphal show. On the 11th of October she reached the shores of the lake. A flotillaof barges, decorated with garlands and pennants, here awaited her. Apleasant sail of two days conveyed her across the lake. Immediatelyupon landing at Pskov, she repaired, with all her retinue, to thechurch of Notre Dame, to give thanks to Heaven for the prosperitywhich had thus far attended her journey. From the church she wasconducted to the palace of the prince of that province, where shereceived from the nobles many precious gifts. 

After a five days' sojourn at Pskov, she left the city to continue herjourney. Upon taking her departure, she aroused the enthusiasm of thecitizens by the following words:

"I must hasten to present myself before your prince who is soon to bemine. I thank the magistrates, the nobles and the citizens generallyfor the reception which they have given me, and I promise never toneglect to plead the cause of Pskov at the court of Moscow. "

At Novgorod she was again entertained with all the splendor whichRussian opulence and art could display. The Russian winter had alreadycommenced, and the princess entered Moscow, in a sledge, on the 12thof November. An innumerable crowd accompanied her. She was welcomed atthe gates of the city by the metropolitan bishop, who conducted her tothe church, where she received his benediction. She was then presentedto the mother of the grand prince, who introduced her to her futurespouse. Immediately the marriage ceremony was performed with the mostimposing pomp of the Greek church. 

This marriage contributed much in making Russia better knownthroughout Europe. In that age, far more than now, exalted birth wasesteemed the greatest of earthly honors; and Sophia, the daughter of along line of emperors, was followed by the eyes of every court inEurope to her distant destination. Moreover, many Greeks, of highaesthetic and intellectual culture, exiled from their country by thedomination of the Turk, followed their princess to Russia. They, bytheir knowledge of the arts and sciences, rendered essential serviceto their adopted kingdom, which was just emerging from barbarism. Theyenriched the libraries by the books which they had rescued from thebarbarism of the Turks, and contributed much to the eclat of the courtof Moscow by the introduction of the pompous ceremonies of the Greciancourt. Indeed, from this date Moscow was often called a secondConstantinople. The capital was rapidly embellished with palaces andchurches, constructed in the highest style of Grecian and Italianarchitecture. From Italy, also, mechanics were introduced, whoestablished foundries for casting cannon, and mints for the coinage ofmoney. 

The prominent object in the mind of Ivan III. Was the consolidation ofall the ancient principalities into one great empire, being firmlyresolved to justify the title which he had assumed, of _Sovereign ofall the Russias_. He wished to give new vigor to the monarchicalpower, to abolish the ancient system of almost independent appanageswhich was leading to incessant wars, and to wrest from the princesthose prerogatives which limited the authority of the sovereign. Thiswas a formidable undertaking, requiring great sagacity and firmness, but it would doubtless be promotive of the welfare of Russia to beunder the sway of one general sovereign, rather than to be exposed tothe despotism of a hundred petty and quarrelsome princes. Ivan III. Was anxious to accomplish this result without violating any treaty, without committing any arbitrary or violent act which could rouseopposition. 

That he might triumph over the princes, it was necessary for him tosecure the affections of the people. The palace was consequentlyrendered easy of access to them all. Appointed days were consecratedto justice, and, from morning until evening, the grand prince listenedto any complaints from his subjects. The old magistrates had generallyforfeited all claim to esteem. Regarding only their own interests, they trafficked in offices, favored their relatives, persecuted theirenemies and surrounded themselves with crowds of parasites whostifled, in the courts of justice, all the complaints of theoppressed. Novgorod was first brought into entire subjection to thecrown; then Pskov. 

While affairs were moving thus prosperously in Russia, the horde uponthe Volga was also recovering its energies; and a new khan, Akhmet, war-loving and inflated by the success which his sword had alreadyachieved, resolved to bring Russia again into subjection. Heaccordingly, in the year 1480, sent an embassy, bearing an image ofthe khan as their credentials, to Moscow, to demand the tribute whichof old had been paid to the Tartars. Ivan III. Was in no mood toreceive the insult patiently. He admitted the embassage into theaudience chamber of his palace. His nobles, in imposing array, weregathered around prepared for a scene such as was not unusual in thosebarbaric times. As soon as the embassadors entered and were presented, the image of the khan was dashed to the floor by the order of Ivan, and trampled under feet; and all the Mogol embassadors, with theexception of one, were slain. 

"Go, " said Ivan sternly to him, "go to your master and tell him whatyou have seen; tell him that if he has the insolence again to troublemy repose, I will treat him as I have served his image and hisembassadors. "

This emphatic declaration of war was followed on both sides by themustering of armies. The horde was soon in motion, passing from theVolga to the Don in numbers which were represented to be as the sandsof the sea. They rapidly and resistlessly ascended the valley of thisriver, marking their path by a swath of ruin many miles in width. Thegrand prince took the command of the Russian army in person, andrendezvoused his troops at Kalouga, thence stationing them along thenorthern banks of the Oka, to dispute the passage of that stream. AllRussia was in a state of feverish excitement. One decisive battlewould settle the question, whether the invaders were to be driven inbloody rout out of the empire, or, whether the whole kingdom was to besurrendered to devastation by savages as fierce and merciless aswolves. 

About the middle of October the two armies met upon the opposite banksof the Oka, with only the waters of that narrow stream to separatethem. Cannon and muskets were then just coming into use, but they wererude and feeble instruments compared with the power of such weapons atthe present day. Swords, arrows, javelins, clubs, axes, battering-ramsand catapults, and the tramplings of horse were the engines ofdestruction which man then wielded most potently against hisfellow-man. The quarrel was a very simple one. Some hundreds ofthousands of Mogols had marched to the heart of Russia, leaving behindthem a path of flame and blood nearly a thousand miles in length, thatthey might compel the Russians to pay them tribute. Some hundredthousand Russians had met them there, to resist even to death theirinsolent and oppressive demand. 

The Tartars were far superior in numbers to the Russians, but Ivan hadmade such a skillful disposition of his troops that Akhmet could notcross the stream. For nearly a week the two armies fought from theopposite banks, throwing at each other bullets, balls, stones, arrowsand javelins. A few were wounded and some slain in this impotentwarfare. 

The Russians were, however, very faint-hearted. It was evident that, should the Tartars effect the passage of the river, the Russians, already demoralized by fear, would be speedily overpowered. The grandprince himself was so apprehensive as to the result, that he sent oneof his nobles with rich presents to the khan and proposed terms ofpeace. Akhmet rejected the presents, and sent back the haughty reply:

"I have come thus far to take vengeance upon Ivan; to punish him forneglecting for nine years to appear before me with tribute and inhomage. Let him come penitently into my presence and kiss my stirrup, and then perhaps, if my lords intercede for him, I may forgive him. "

As soon as it was heard in Moscow that the grand prince wasmanifesting such timidity, the clergy sent to him a letter urging thevigorous defense of their country and of their religion. The letterwas written by Vassian, the archbishop of Moscow, and was signed, onbehalf of the clergy, by several of the higher ecclesiastics. We havenot space to introduce the whole of this noble epistle, which isworthy of being held in perpetual remembrance. The following extractswill show its spirit. It was in the form of a letter from thearchbishop to the king; to which letter others of the clergy gavetheir assent:

"It is our duty to announce the truth to kings, and that which I havealready spoken in the ear of your majesty I now write, to inspire youwith new courage and energy. When, influenced by the prayers and thecouncils of your bishop, you left Moscow for the army, with the firmintention of attacking the enemy of the Christians, we prostratedourselves day and night before God, pleading with him to grant thevictory to our armies. Nevertheless, we learn that at the approach ofAkhmet, of that ferocious warrior who has already caused thousands ofChristians to perish, and who menaces your throne and your country, you tremble before him--you implore peace of him, and send to himembassadors, while that impious warrior breathes only vengeance anddespises your prayer. 

"Ah, grand prince, to what counselors have you lent your ear? Whatmen, unworthy of the name of Christian, have given you such advice?Will you throw away your arms and shamefully take to flight? Butreflect from what a height of grandeur your majesty will descend; towhat a depth of humiliation you will fall! Are you willing, oh prince, to surrender Russia to fire and blood, your churches to pillage, yoursubjects to the sword of the enemy? What heart is so insensible asnot to be overwhelmed by the thought even of such a calamity?

"No; we will trust in the all-powerful God! No; you will not abandonus! You will blush at the name of a fugitive, of being the betrayer ofyour country. Lay aside all fear. Redouble your confidence in God. Then one shall chase a thousand, and two shall put ten thousand toflight. There is no God like ours. Do you say that the oath, taken byyour ancestors, binds you not to raise your arms against the khan? Butwe, your metropolitan bishop, and all the other bishops, representatives of Jesus Christ, absolve you from that oath, extortedby force; we all give you our benediction, and conjure you to marchagainst Akhmet, who is but a brigand and an enemy of God. 

"God is a Father full of tenderness for his children. He knows when topunish and when to pardon. And if formerly he submerged Pharaoh tosave the children of Israel, he will, in the same manner, save you andyour people, if you purify your heart by penitence, for you are a manand a sinner. The penitence of a monarch is his sacred obligation toobey the laws of justice, to cherish his people, to renounce every actof violence, and grant pardon even to the guilty. It is thus that Godwill elevate you among us, as formerly he elevated Moses, Joshua andthe other liberators of Israel, that Russia, a new Israel, may bedelivered by you from the impious Akhmet, that other Pharaoh. 

"I pray you, grand prince, do not censure me for my feeble words, forit is written, 'Give instruction to a wise man and he will be yetwiser. '[5] So may it be. Receive our benediction, you and yourchildren, all the nobles and chieftains, and all your brave warriors, children of Jesus Christ. Amen. "

[Footnote 5: Proverbs of Solomon, ix. 9. ]

This letter, instead of giving the king offense, inspired him with newzeal and courage. He immediately abandoned all idea of peace. Afortnight had now passed in comparative inaction, the Russians andTartars menacing each other from opposite sides of the stream. Thecold month of November had now come, and a thin coating of ice beganto spread over the surface of the stream. It was evident that Akhmetwas only waiting for the river to be frozen over, and that, in a fewdays, he would be able to cross at any point. The grand prince, seeingthat the decisive battle could not much longer be deferred, orderedhis troops, in the night, to make a change of position, that he mightoccupy the plains of Borosk as a field more favorable for his troops. But the Russian soldiers, still agitated by the fears which theirsovereign had not been able to conceal, regarded this order as thesignal for retreat. The panic spread from rank to rank, and, favoredby the obscurity of the night, soon the whole host, in the wildestconfusion, were in rapid flight. No efforts of the officers couldarrest the dismay. Before the morning, the Russian camp was entirelydeserted, and the fugitives were rushing, like an inundation, up thevalley of the Moskwa toward the imperial city. 

But God did not desert Russia in this decisive hour. He appears tohave heard and answered the prayers which had so incessantly ascended. In the Russian annals, their preservation is wholly attributed to theinterposition of that God whose aid the bishops, the clergy andChristian men and women in hundreds of churches had so earnestlyimplored. The Tartars, seeing, in the earliest dawn of the morning, the banks of the river entirely abandoned by the Russians, imaginedthat the flight was but a ruse of war, that ambuscades were preparedfor them, and, remembering previous scenes of exterminating slaughter, they, also, were seized with a panic, and commenced a retreat. Thismovement itself increased the alarm. Terror spread rapidly. In anhour, the whole Tartar host, abandoning their tents and their baggage, were in tumultuous flight. 

As the sun rose, an unprecedented spectacle was presented. Twoimmense armies were flying from each other in indescribable confusionand dismay, each actually frightened out of its wits, and no onepursuing either. The Russians did not stop for a long breath untilthey attained the walls of Moscow. Akhmet, having reached the headwaters of the Don, retreated rapidly down that stream, wreaking suchvengeance as he could by the way, but not venturing to stop until hehad reached his strongholds upon the banks of the Volga. Thus, singularly, _providentially_, terminated this last serious invasion ofRussia by the Tartars. A Russian annalist, in attributing the glory ofthis well-authenticated event all to God, writes: "Shall men, vain andfeeble, celebrate the terror of their arms? No! it is not to the mightof earth's warriors, it is not to human wisdom that Russia owes hersafety, but only to the goodness of God. "

Ivan III. , in the cathedrals of Moscow, offered long continued praisesto God for this victory, obtained without the effusion of blood. Anannual festival was established in honor of this great event. Akhmet, with his troops disorganized and scattered, had hardly reached theVolga, ere he was attacked by a rival khan, who drove him some fivehundred miles south to the shore of the Sea of Azof. Here his rivalovertook him, killed him with his own hand, took his wives and hisdaughters captives, seized all his riches, and then, seeking friendlyrelations with Russia, sent word to Moscow that the great enemy of thegrand prince was in his grave. 

Thus terminated for ever the sway of the Tartars over the Russians. For two hundred years, Russia had been held by the khans in slavery. Though the horde long continued to exist as a band of lawless anduncivilized men, often engaged in predatory excursions, no furtherattempts were made to exact either tribute or homage. 

CHAPTER XI. 

THE REIGN OF VASSILI

From 1480 to 1533. 

Alliance With Hungary. --A Traveler From Germany. --Treaty BetweenRussia and Germany. --Embassage To Turkey. --Court Etiquette. --Death ofthe Princess Sophia. --Death of Ivan. --Advancement ofKnowledge. --Succession of Vassili. --Attack Upon the Horde. --Rout ofthe Russians. --The Grand Prince Takes the Title of Emperor. --TurkishEnvoy To Moscow. --Efforts To Arm Europe Against the Turks. --Death ofthe Emperor Maximilian, and Accession of Charles V. To the Empire ofGermany. --Death of Vassili. 

The retreat of the Tartars did not redound much to the glory of Ivan. The citizens of Moscow, in the midst of their rejoicings, were farfrom being satisfied with their sovereign. They thought that he hadnot exhibited that courage which characterizes grand souls, and thathe had been signally wanting in that devotion which leads one tosacrifice himself for the good of his country. They lavished, however, their praises upon the clergy, especially upon the Archbishop Vassian, whose letter to the grand prince was read and re-read throughout thekingdom with the greatest enthusiasm. This noble prelate, whoseChristian heroism had saved his country, soon after fell sick anddied, deplored by all Russia. 

Hungary was at this time governed by Matthias, son of the renownedHunniades, [6] a prince equally renowned for his valor and his genius. Matthias, threatened by Poland, sent embassadors to Russia to seekalliance with Ivan III. Eagerly Russia accepted the proposition, andentered into friendly connections with Hungary, which kingdom wasthen, in civilization, quite in advance of the northern empire. 

[Footnote 6: See Empire of Austria, p. 71. ]

In the year 1486, an illustrious cavalier, named Nicholas Poppel, visited Russia, taking a letter of introduction to the grand princefrom Frederic III. , Emperor of Germany. He had no particular mission, and was led only by motives of curiosity. "I have seen, " said thetraveler, "all the Christian countries and all the kings, and Iwished, also, to see Russia and the grand prince. "

The lords at Moscow had no faith in these words, and were persuadedthat he was a spy sent by their enemy, the King of Poland. Though theywatched him narrowly, he was not incommoded, and left the kingdomafter having satisfied his desire to see all that was remarkable. Hisreport to the German emperor was such that, two years after, hereturned, in the quality of an embassador from Frederic III. , with aletter to Ivan III. , dated Ulm, December 26th, 1488. The nobles nowreceived Poppel with great cordiality. He said to them:

"After having left Russia, I went to find the emperor and the princesof Germany at Nuremburg. I spent a long time giving them informationrespecting your country and the grand prince. I corrected the falseimpression, conceived by them, that Ivan III. Was but the vassal ofCasimir, King of Poland. 'That is impossible, ' I said to them. 'Themonarch of Moscow is much more powerful and much richer than the Kingof Poland. His estates are immense, his people numerous, his wisdomextraordinary. ' All the court listened to me with astonishment, andespecially the emperor himself, who often invited me to dine, andpassed hours with me conversing upon Russia. At length, the emperor, desiring to enter into an alliance with the grand prince, has sent meto the court of your majesty as his embassador. "

He then solicited, in the name of Frederic III. , the hand of Ivan'sdaughter, Helen, for the nephew of the emperor, Albert, margrave ofBaden. The proposition for the marriage of the daughter of the grandprince with a mere margrave was coldly received. Ivan, however, sentan embassador to Germany with the following instructions:

"Should the emperor ask if the grand prince will consent to themarriage of his daughter with the margrave of Baden, reply that suchan alliance is not worthy of the grandeur of the Russian monarch, brother of the ancient emperors of Greece, who, in establishingthemselves at Constantinople, ceded the city of Rome to the popes. Leave the emperor, however, to see that there is some hope of successshould he desire one of our princesses for his son, the KingMaximilian. "

The Russian embassador was received in Germany with the mostflattering attentions, even being conducted to a seat upon the throneby the side of the emperor. It is said that Maximilian, who was then awidower, wished to marry Helen, the daughter of the grand prince, buthe wished, very naturally, first to see her through the eyes of hisembassador, and to ascertain the amount of her dowry. To this requesta polite refusal was returned. 

"How could one suppose, " writes the Russian historian Karamsin, "thatan illustrious monarch and a princess, his daughter, could consent tothe affront of submitting the princess to the judgment of a foreignminister, who might declare her unworthy of his master?"

The pride of the Russian court was touched, and the emperor'sembassador was informed, in very plain language, that the grand princewas not at all disposed to make a matter of merchandise of hisdaughter--that, _after_ her marriage, the grand prince would presenther with a dowry such as he should deem proportionate to the rank ofthe united pair, and that, above all, should she marry Maximilian, sheshould not change her religion, but should always have residing withher chaplains of the Greek church. Thus terminated the question of themarriage. A treaty, however, of alliance was formed between the twonations which was signed at Moscow, August 16th, 1490. In this treaty, Ivan III. Subscribes himself, "by the grace of God, monarch of allthe Russias, prince of Vladimir, Moscow, Novgorod, Pskof, Yougra, Viatha, Perme and Bulgaria. " We thus see what portion of the countrywas then deemed subject to his sway. 

Ivan III. , continually occupied in extending, consolidating anddeveloping the resources of his vast empire, could not but look withjealousy upon the encroachments of the Turks, who had already overrunall Greece, who had taken a large part of Hungary, and who weresurging up the Danube in wave after wave of terrible invasion. Still, sound judgment taught him that the hour had not yet come for him tointerpose; that it was his present policy to devote all his energiesto the increase of Russian wealth and power. It was a matter of thefirst importance that Russia should enjoy the privileges of commercewith those cities of Greece now occupied by the Turks, to which Russiahad access through the Dnieper and the Don, and partially through thevast floods of the Volga. But the Russian merchants were incessantlyannoyed by the oppression of the lawless Turks. The following letterfrom Ivan III. To the Sultan Bajazet II. , gives one a very clear ideaof the relations existing between the two countries at that time. Itis dated Moscow, August 31st, 1492. 

"To Bajazet, Sultan, King of the princes of Turkey, Sovereign of theearth and of the sea, we, Ivan III. , by the grace of God, only trueand hereditary monarch of all the Russias, and of many other countriesof the North and of the East; behold! that which we deem it our dutyto write to your majesty. We have never sent embassadors to each otherwith friendly greetings. Nevertheless, the Russian merchants havetraversed your estates in the exercise of a traffic advantageous toboth of our empires. Often they complain to me of the vexations theyencounter from your magistrates, but I have kept silence. The lastsummer, the pacha of Azof forced them to dig a ditch, and to carrystones for the construction of the edifices of the city; more thanthis, they have compelled our merchants of Azof and of Caffa todispose of their merchandise for one half their value. If any one ofthe merchants happens to fall sick, the magistrates place seals uponthe goods of all, and, if he dies, the State seizes all these goods, and restores but half if he recover. No regard is paid to the clausesof a will, the Turkish magistrates recognizing no heirs but themselvesto the property of the Russians. 

"Such glaring injustice has compelled me to forbid my merchants toengage in traffic in your country. From whence come these acts ofviolence? Formerly these merchants paid only the legal tax, and theywere permitted to trade without annoyance. Are you aware of this, ornot? One word more. Mahomet II. , your father, was a prince of grandeurand renown. He wished, it is reported, to send to us embassadors, proposing friendly relations. Providence frustrated the execution ofthis project. But why should we not now see the accomplishment of thisplan? We await your response. "

The Russian embassador received orders from Ivan III. To present hisdocument to the sultan, standing, and not upon his knees, as was thecustom in the Turkish court; he was not to yield precedence to theembassador of any other nation whatever, and was to address himselfonly to the sultan, and not to the pachas. Plestchief, the Russianenvoy, obeyed his instructions to the letter, and by his haughtybearing excited the indignation of the Turkish nobles. The pacha ofConstantinople received him with great politeness, loaded him withattentions, invited him to dine, and begged him to accept of a presentof some rich dresses, and a purse of ten thousand sequins. The haughtyRussian declined the invitation to dine, returning the purse and therobes with the ungracious response, "I have nothing to say to pachas. I have no need to wear theirclothes, neither have I any need of their money. I wish only to speakto the sultan. "

Notwithstanding this arrogance, Bajazet II. , the sultan, receivedPlestchief politely, and returned a conciliatory answer to the grandprince, promising the redress of those grievances of which hecomplained. The Turk was decidedly more civilized than the Christian. He wrote to Mengli Ghirei, the pacha of the Crimea, where most ofthese annoyances had occurred:

"The monarch of Russia, with whom I desire to live in friendlyrelations, has sent to me a clown. I can not consequently allow any ofmy people to accompany him back to Russia, lest they should find himoffensive. Respected as I am from the east to the west, I blush inbeing exposed to such an affront. It is in consequence my wish that myson, the sultan of Caffa, should correspond directly with the grandprince of Moscow. "

With a sense of delicacy as attractive as it is rare, Bajazet II. Refrained from complaining of the boorishness of the Russian envoy, but wrote to the grand prince, Ivan III. , in the following courteousterms:

"You have sent, in the sincerity of your soul, one of your lords tothe threshold of my palace. He has seen me and has handed me yourletter, which I have pressed to my heart, since you have expressed adesire to become my friend. Let your embassadors and your merchants nolonger fear to frequent our country. They have only to come to certifyto the veracity of all which your envoy will report to you from us. May God grant him a prosperous journey and the grace to convey to youour profound salutation--to you and to your friends; for those whomyou love are equally dear to us. "

In the whole of this transaction the Turkish court appears farsuperior to the Russian in the refinements and graces of polishedlife. There seems to be something in a southern clime whichameliorates harshness of manners. The Grecian emperors, perhaps, inabandoning their palaces, left also to their conquerors that suavitywhich has transmitted even to our day the enviable title of the"polished Greek. "

In the year 1503, Ivan III. Lost his spouse, the Greek princessSophia. Her death affected the aged monarch deeply, and seriouslyimpaired his health. Twenty-five years had now elapsed since hereceived the young and beautiful princess as his bride, and during allthese tumultuous years her genius and attractions had been the mostbrilliant ornament of his court. The infirmities of age pressedheavily upon the king, and it was manifest that his days could notmuch longer be prolonged. With much ceremony, in the presence of hislords, he dictated his will, declaring his oldest son Vassili to behis successor as monarch, and assigning to all his younger childrenrich possessions. The passion for the aggrandizement of Russia stillglowed strongly in his bosom even in the hour of death. Vassili, though twenty-five years of age, was as yet unmarried. He decided toselect his spouse from the daughters of the Russian nobles, andfifteen hundred of the most beautiful belles of the kingdom werebrought to the court that the prince, from among them, might make hisselection. The choice fell upon a maiden of exquisite beauty, ofTartar descent. Her father was an officer in the army, a son of one ofthe chiefs of the horde. The marriage was immediately consummated, andall Moscow was in a blaze of illumination, rejoicing over the nuptialsof the heir to the crown. The decay of the aged monarch, however, advanced, day by day. His death, at last, was quite sudden, in thenight of the 27th of October, 1505, at the age of sixty-six years andnine months, and at the close of a reign of forty three years and ahalf. 

Ivan III. Will, through all ages, retain the rank of one of the mostillustrious of the sovereigns of Russia. The excellencies of hischaracter and the length of his reign, combined in enabling him togive an abiding direction to the career of his country. He made hisappearance on the political stage just in the time when a new systemof government, favorable to the power of the sovereigns of Europe, wasrising upon the ruins of feudalism. The royal authority was gainingrapidly in England and in France. Spain, freed from the domination ofthe Moors, had just become a power of the first rank. The fleets ofPortugal were whitening the most distant seas, conferring upon theenergetic kingdom wonderful wealth and power. Italy, though divided, exulted in her fleet, her maritime wealth, and her elevation above allother nations in the arts, the sciences and the intrigues of politics. Frederic IV. , Emperor of Germany, an inefficient, apathetic man, wasunable to restore repose to the empire, distracted by civil war. Hisenergetic son, Maximilian, was already meditating that politicalchange which should give new strength to the monarch, and whichfinally raised the house of Austria to the highest point of earthlygrandeur. Hungary, Bohemia and Poland, governed by near relatives, might almost be considered as a single power, and they were, as byinstinct, allied with Austria in endeavors to resist the encroachmentsof the Turks. 

Inventions and discoveries of the greatest importance were made in theworld during the reign of Ivan III. Gutenberg and Faust in Strasbourginvented the art of printing. Christopher Columbus discovered the NewWorld. Until then the productions of India reached central Europethrough Persia, the Caspian Sea and the Sea of Azof. On the 20th ofNovember, 1497, Vasco de Gama doubled the Cape of Good Hope, thusopening a new route to the Indies, and adding immeasurably to theenterprise and wealth of the world. A new epoch seemed to dawn uponmankind, favorable at least to the tranquillity of nations, theprogress of civilization and the strength of governments. Thus farRussia, in her remote seclusion, had taken no part in the politics ofEurope. It was not until the reign of Ivan III. That this greatnorthern empire emerged from that state of chaos in which she hadneither possessed definiteness of form nor assured existence. 

Ivan III. Found his nation in subjection to the Tartars. He threw offthe yoke; became one of the most illustrious monarchs in Europe, commanding respect throughout Christendom; he took his position by theside of emperors and sultans, and by the native energies of his mind, unenlightened by study, he gave the wisest precepts for the internaland the external government of his realms. But he was a rude, sternman, the legitimate growth of those savage times. It is recorded thata single angry look from him would make any woman faint; that at thetable the nobles trembled before him, not daring to utter a word. 

Vassili now ascended the throne, and with great energy carried out theprinciples established by his father. The first important measure ofthe new monarch was to fit out an expedition against the stillpowerful but vagabond horde at Kezan, on the Volga, to punish them forsome acts of insubordination. A powerful armament descended the Volgain barges. The infantry landed near Kezan on the 22d of May, 1506. TheTartars, with a numerous array of cavalry, were ready to receive theirassailants, and fell upon them with such impetuosity and courage thatthe Russians were overpowered, and driven back, with much slaughter, to their boats. They consequently retreated to await the arrival ofthe cavalry. The Tartars, imagining that the foe, utterly discomfited, had fled back to Moscow, surrendered themselves to excessive joy. Amonth passed away, and on the 22d of June an immense assemblage ofuncounted thousands of Tartars were gathered in festivity on theplains of Arsk, which spread around their capital city. More than athousand tents were spread upon the field. Merchants from all partswere gathered there displaying their goods, and a scene of festivityand splendor was exhibited, such as modern civilization has neverparalleled. 

Suddenly the Russian army, horse and infantry, were seen upon theplain, as if they had dropped from the clouds. They rushed upon theencampment, cutting down the terrified multitude, with awful butchery, and trampling them beneath their horses' feet. The fugitives, indismay, sought to regain the city, crushing each other in their flightand in the desperate endeavor to crowd in at the gates and along thenarrow streets. The Russians, exhausted by their victory, and lured bythe luxuries which filled the tents, instead of taking the city bystorm, as, in the confusion they probably could have done, surrenderedthemselves to pillage and voluptuous indulgence. They found the tentsfilled with food, liquors of all kinds and a great quantity ofprecious commodities, and forgetting they were in the presence of anenemy, they plunged into the wildest excesses of festivity andwassail. 

The disgraceful carousal was briefly terminated during the night, butrenewed, with additional zest, in the morning. The songs and theshouts of the drunken soldiers were heard in the streets of Kezan, and, from the battlements, the Tartars beheld these orgies, equalingthe most frantic revels of pagan bacchanals. The Tartar khan, from thetop of a bastion, watched the spectacle, and perceiving the negligenceof his enemies, prepared for a surprise and for vengeance. On the 25thof June, just at the dawn of day, the gates were thrown open, andtwenty thousand horsemen and thirty thousand infantry precipitatedthemselves with frightful yells upon the Russians, stupefied withsleep and wine. Though the Russians exceeded the Tartars two to one, yet they fled towards their boats like a flock of sheep, without orderand without arms. The plain was speedily strewn with their dead bodiesand crimsoned with their blood. Too much terrified to think even ofresistance, they clambered into their barges, cut the cables, andpushed out into the stream. But for the valor of the Russian cavalryall would have been destroyed. In the deepest humiliation thefugitives returned to Moscow. 

Vassili resolved upon another expedition which should inflict signalvengeance upon the horde. But while he was making his preparations, the khan, terrified in view of the storm which was gathering, sent anembassage to Moscow imploring pardon and peace, offering to deliver upall the prisoners and to take a new oath of homage to the grandprince. Vassili, who was just on the eve of a war with Poland, withalacrity accepted these concessions. The King of Poland had heard, with much joy, of the death of Ivan III. , whose energetic arm he hadgreatly feared, and he now hoped to take advantage of the youth andinexperience of Vassili. A harassing warfare was commenced betweenRussia and Poland, which raged for several years. Peace was finallymade, Russia extorting from Poland several important provinces. 

In the year 1514, Vassili, entering into a treaty with Maximilian, theEmperor of Germany, laid aside the title of grand prince and assumedfor himself that of emperor, which was _Kayser_ in the German languageand _Tzar_ in the Russian. With great energy Vassili pushed the workof concentrating and extending his empire, every year strengtheninghis power over the distant principalities. Bajazet II. , the Turkishsultan, the victim of a conspiracy, was dethroned by his son Selim. Vassili, wishing, for the sake of commerce, to maintain friendlyrelations with Turkey, sent an embassador to the new sultan. Theembassador, Alexeief, was authorized to make all proper protestationsof friendship, but to be very cautious not to compromit the dignity ofhis sovereign. He was instructed not to prostrate himself before thesultan, as was the oriental custom, but merely to offer his hands. Hewas to convey rich presents to Selim, with a letter from the Russiancourt, but was by no means to enquire for the health of the sultan, unless the sultan should first enquire for the health of the emperor. 

Notwithstanding these chilling punctilios, Selim received the Russianembassador with much cordiality, and sent back with him a Turkishembassador to the court of Moscow. Nine months, from August to May, were occupied in the weary journey. While traversing the vast desertsof Veronage, their horses, exhausted and starving, sank beneath them, and they were obliged to toil along for weary leagues on foot, suffering from the want both of food and water. They nearly perishedbefore reaching the frontiers of Rezan, but here they found horses andretinue awaiting them, sent by Vassili. Upon their arrival at Moscow, the Turkish embassador was received with great enthusiasm. It wasdeemed an honor, as yet unparalleled in Russia, that the terribleconquerors of Constantinople, before whose arms all Christendom wastrembling, should send an embassador fifteen hundred miles to Moscowto seek the alliance of the emperor. 

The Turkish envoy was received with great magnificence by Vassili, seated upon his throne, and surrounded by his nobles clad in robes ofthe most costly furs. The embassador, Theodoric Kamal, a Greek bybirth, with the courtesy of the polished Greek, kneeling, kissed thehand of the emperor, presented him the letter of his master, thesultan, beautifully written upon parchment in Arabic letters, andassured the emperor of the wish of the sultan to live with him ineternal friendship. But the Turk, loud in protestations, was notdisposed to alliance. It was evident that the office of a spyconstituted the most important part of the mission of Kamal. 

This embassador had but just left the court of Moscow when anotherappeared, from the Emperor Maximilian, of Germany. The message withwhich the Baron Herberstein was commissioned from the court of Viennato the court of Moscow is sufficiently important to be recorded. 

"Ought not sovereigns, " said the embassador, "to seek the glory ofreligion and the happiness of their subjects? Such are the principleswhich have ever guided the emperor. If he has waged war, it has neverbeen from the love of false glory, nor to seize the territories ofothers, but to punish those who have dared to provoke him. Despisingdanger, he has been seen in battle, exposing himself like the humblestsoldier, and gaining victories against superior forces because theAlmighty lends his arm to aid the virtuous. 

"The Emperor of Germany is now reposing in the bosom of tranquillity. The pope and all the princes of Italy have become his allies. Spain, Naples, Sicily and twenty-six other realms recognize his grandson, Charles V. , for their legitimate and hereditary monarch. The King ofPortugal is attached to him by the ties of relationship, and the Kingof England by the bonds of sincere friendship. The sovereigns ofDenmark and Hungary have married the grand-daughters of Maximilian, and the King of Poland testifies to unbounded confidence in him. Iwill not speak of your majesty, for the Emperor of Russia well knowshow to appreciate the sentiments of the Emperor of Germany. 

"The King of France and the republic of Venice, influenced by selfishinterests, and disregarding the prosperity of Christianity, have takenno part in this fraternal alliance of all the rest of Europe; but theyare now beginning to manifest a love for peace, and I have justlearned that a treaty is about to be concluded with them, also. Letany one now cast a glance over the world and he will see but oneChristian prince who is not attached to the Emperor Maximilian eitherby the ties of friendship or affection. All Christian Europe is inprofound peace excepting Russia and Poland. 

"Maximilian has sent me to your majesty, illustrious monarch, toentreat you to restore repose to Christianity and to your states. Peace causes empires to flourish; war destroys their resources andhastens their downfall. Who can be sure of victory? Fortune oftenfrustrates the wisest plans. 

"Thus far I have spoken in the name of my master. I wish now to add, that on my journey I have been informed, by the Turkish embassadorhimself, that the sultan has just captured Damascus, Jerusalem and allEgypt. A traveler, worthy of credence, has confirmed this deplorableintelligence. If, before these events, the power of the sultaninspired us with just fear, ought not this success of his arms toaugment our apprehensions?"

Russia and Poland had long been engaged in a bloody frontier war, eachendeavoring to wrest provinces from the other; but Russia was steadilyon the advance. The embassage of Maximilian was not productive ofpeace. On the contrary, Vassili immediately sent an embassador toVienna to endeavor to secure the aid of Austria in his war withPoland. Maximilian received the envoy with very extraordinary marks offavor. He was invited to sit, in the presence of the emperor, with hishat upon his head, and whenever the embassador, during the conference, mentioned the name of the Russian emperor, Maximilian uncovered hishead in token of respect. The great object of Maximilian's ambitionwas to arm all Europe against the Turks; and he was exceedinglyanxious to secure the coöperation of a power so energetic as that ofRussia had now proved herself to be. Even then with consummateforesight he wrote:

"The integrity of Poland is indispensable to the general interests ofEurope. The grandeur of Russia is becoming dangerous. "

Maximilian soon sent another embassador to Moscow, who very forciblydescribed the conquests made by the Turks in Europe, Asia and Africa, from the Thracian Bosporus to the sands of Egypt, and from themountains of Caucasia to Venice. He spoke of the melancholy captivityof the Greek church, which was the mother of Russian Christianity; ofthe profanation of the holy sepulcher; of Nazareth, Bethlehem andSinai, which had fallen under the domination of the Turk. Hesuggested, that the Turks, in possession of the Tauride--as thecountry upon the north shore of the Black Sea, bounded by the Dnieperand the Sea of Azof was then called--threatened the independence ofRussia herself; that Vassili had every thing to fear from theferocity, the perfidy and the success of Selim, who, stained with theblood of his father and his three brothers, dared to assume the titleof master of the world. He entreated Vassili, as one of the mostpowerful of the Christian princes, to follow the banner of JesusChrist, and to cease to make war upon Poland, thus exhausting theChristian powers. 

Maximilian died before his embassador returned, and thus thesenegotiations were interrupted. But Russia was then all engrossed withthe desire of obtaining provinces from Poland. Turkey was tooformidable a foe to think of assailing, and the idea at that time ofwresting any territory from Turkey was preposterous. All Europecombined could only hope to check any _further advance_ of the Moslemcimeters. Influenced by these considerations, Vassili sent anotherembassador to Constantinople to propose a treaty with Selim, whichmight aid Russia in the strife with her hereditary rival. The sultan, glad of any opportunity to weaken the Christian powers, ordered hispachas to harass Poland in every possible way on the south, thusenabling Russia more easily to assail the distracted kingdom on thenorth. The King of Poland, Sigismond, was in consternation. 

Poland was united with Rome in religion. The pope, Leo X. , anxious tosecure the coöperation of both Poland and Russia against the Turks, who were the great foe Christianity had most to dread, proposed thatthe King of Poland, a renowned warrior, should be entrusted with thesupreme command of the Christian armies, and adroitly suggested toVassili, that Constantinople was the legitimate heritage of a Russianmonarch, who was the descendant of a Grecian princess; that it wassound policy for him to turn his attention to Turkey; for Poland, being a weaker power, and combined of two discordant elements, theoriginal Poland and Lithuania, would of necessity be graduallyabsorbed by the growth of Russia. 

Vassili hated the pope, because he had ordered _Te Deums_ in Rome, incelebration of a victory which the Poles had obtained over theRussians, and had called the Russians _heretics_. But still the baitthe pope presented was too alluring not to be caught at. In thelabyrinthine mazes of politics, however, there were obstacles to thedevelopment of this policy which years only could remove. 

Upon the death of Maximilian, Charles V. Of Spain ascended the throneof the German empire, and established a power, the most formidablethat had been known in Europe for seven hundred years, that is, sincethe age of Charlemagne. Vassili was in the midst of these plans ofaggrandizement when death came with its unexpected summons. He was inthe fifty-fourth year of his age, with mental and physical vigorunimpaired. A small pimple appeared on his left thigh, not larger thanthe head of a pin, but from its commencement attended withexcruciating pain. It soon resolved itself into a malignant ulcer, which rapidly exhausted all the vital energies. The dying king wasexceedingly anxious to prepare himself to stand before the judgmentseat of God. He spent days and nights in prayer, gave mostaffectionate exhortations to all around him to live for heaven, assumed monastic robes, resolving that, should he recover, he woulddevote himself exclusively to the service of God. It was midnight the3d of December, 1533. The king had just partaken of the sacrament ofthe Lord's Supper. Suddenly his tongue was paralyzed, his eyes fixed, his hands dropped by his side, and the metropolitan bishop, who hadbeen administering the last rites of religion, exclaimed, "It is allover. The king is dead. "

CHAPTER XII. 

IVAN IV. --HIS MINORITY. 

From 1533 to 1546. 

Vassili At the Chase. --Attention To Distinguished Foreigners. --TheAutocracy. --Splendor of the Edifices. --Slavery. --Aristocracy. --Infancyof Ivan IV. --Regency of Hélène. --Conspiracies and Tumults. --War withSigismond of Poland. --Death of Hélène. --Struggles of theNobles. --Appalling Sufferings of Dmitri. --Incursion of theTartars. --Successful Conspiracy. --Ivan IV. At the Chase. --Coronationof Ivan IV. 

Under Vassili, the Russian court attained a degree of splendor whichhad before been unknown. The Baron of Herberstein thus describes theappearance of the monarch when engaging in the pleasures of the chase:

"As soon as we saw the monarch entering the field, we dismounted andadvanced to meet him on foot. He was mounted upon a magnificentcharger, gorgeously caparisoned. He wore upon his head a tall cap, embroidered with precious stones, and surmounted by gilded plumeswhich waved in the wind. A poignard and two knives were attached tohis girdle. He had upon his right, Aley, tzar of Kazan, armed with abow and arrows; at his left, two young princes, one of whom held anax, and the other a number of arms. His suite consisted of more thanthree hundred cavaliers. "

The chase was continued, over the boundless plains, for many days andoften weeks. When night approached, the whole party, often consistingof thousands, dismounted and reared their village of tents. The tentof the emperor was ample, gorgeous, and furnished with all theappliances of luxury. Hounds were first introduced into these sportsin Russia by Vassili. The evening hours were passed in festivity, with abundance of good cheer, and in narrating the adventures of theday. 

Whenever the emperor appeared in public, he was preceded by esquireschosen from among the young nobles distinguished for their beauty, thedelicacy of their features and the perfect proportion of their forms. Clothed in robes of white satin and armed with small hatchets ofsilver, they marched before the emperor, and appeared to strangers, say his cotemporaries, "like angels descended from the skies. "

Vassili was especially fond of magnificence in the audiences which hegave to foreign embassadors. To impress them with an idea of the vastpopulation and wealth of Russia, and of the glory and power of thesovereign, Vassili ordered, on the day of presentation, that all theordinary avocations of life should cease, and the citizens, clothed intheir richest dresses, were to crowd around the walls of the Kremlin. All the young nobles in the vicinity, with their retinues, weresummoned. The troops were under arms, and the most distinguishedofficers, glittering in the panoply of war, rode to meet theenvoys. [7] In the hall of audience, crowded to its utmost capacity, there was silence, as of the grave. The king sat upon his throne, hisbonnet upon one side of him, his scepter upon the other. His nobleswere seated around upon couches draped in purple and embroidered withpearls and gold. 

[Footnote 7: Francis da Callo relates that when he was received by theemperor, forty thousand soldiers were under arms, in the richestuniform, extending from the Kremlin to the hotel of the embassadors. ]

Following the example of Ivan III. , Vassili was unwearied in hisendeavors to induce foreigners of distinction, particularly artists, physicians and men of science, to take up their residence in Russia. Any stranger, distinguished for genius or capability of any kind, whoentered Russia, found it not easy to leave the kingdom. A Greekphysician, of much celebrity, from Constantinople, visited Moscow. Vassili could not find it in his heart to relinquish so rich a prize, and detained him with golden bonds, which the unhappy man, mourningfor his wife and children, in vain endeavored to break away. At lastthe sultan was influenced to write in behalf of the Greek. 

"Permit, " he wrote, "Marc to return to Constantinople to rejoin hisfamily. He went to Russia only for a temporary visit. "

The emperor replied:

"For a long time Marc has served me to his and my perfectsatisfaction. He is now my lieutenant at Novgorod. Send to him hiswife and children. "

The power of the sovereign was absolute. His will was the supreme law. The lives, the fortunes of the clergy, the laity, the lords, thecitizens were dependent upon his pleasure. The Russians regarded theirmonarch as the executor of the divine will. Their ordinary languagewas, _God and the prince decree it_. The Russians generally defendthis _autocracy_ as the only true principle of government. Thephilosophic Karamsin writes:

"Ivan III. And Vassili knew how to establish permanently the nature ofone government by constituting in _autocracy_ the necessary attributeof empire, its sole constitution, and the only basis of safety, forceand prosperity. This limitless power of the prince is regarded as_tyranny_ in the eye of strangers, because, in their inconsideratejudgment, they forget that _tyranny_ is the abuse of autocracy, andthat the same tyranny may exist in a republic when citizens orpowerful magistrates oppress society. Autocracy does not signify theabsence of laws, since law is everywhere where there is any duty to beperformed, and the first duty of princes, is it not to watch over thehappiness of their people?"

To the traveler, in the age of Vassili, Russia appeared like a vastdesert compared with the other countries of Europe. The sparseness ofthe habitations, the extended plains, dense forests and roads, roughand desolate, attested that Russia was still in the cradle of itscivilization. But as one approached Moscow, the signs of animated liferapidly increased. Convoys crowded the grand route, which traversedvast prairies waving with grain and embellished with all the works ofindustry. In the midst of this plain rose the majestic domes andglittering towers of Moscow. The convents, in massive piles, scatteredaround, resembled beautiful villages. The palace of the Kremlin alone, was a city in itself. Around this, as the nucleus, but spreading overa wide extent, were the streets of the metropolis, the palaces of thenobles, the mansions of the wealthy citizens and the shops of theartisans. The city in that day was, indeed, one of "magnificentdistances, " almost every dwelling being surrounded by a garden inluxurious cultivation. In the year 1520, the houses, by count, whichwas ordered by the grand prince, amounted to forty-one thousand fivehundred. 

The metropolitan bishop, the grand dignitaries of the court, theprinces and lords occupied splendid mansions of wood reared by Grecianand Italian architects in the environs of the Kremlin. On wide andbeautiful streets there were a large number of very magnificentchurches also built of wood. The bazaars or shops, filled with therich merchandise of Europe and of Asia, were collected in one quarterof the city, and were surrounded by a high stone wall as a protectionagainst the armies, domestic or foreign, which were ever sweeping overthe land. 

From the eleventh to the sixteenth century, slavery may be said tohave been universal in Russia. Absolutely every man but the monarchwas a slave. The highest nobles and princes avowed themselves theslaves of the monarch. There was no law but the will of the sovereign. He could deprive any one of property and of life, and there was nopower to call him to account but the poignard of the assassin or thesword of rebellion. In like manner the peasant serfs were slaves ofthe nobles, with no privileges whatever, except such as the humanityor the selfishness of their lords might grant But gradually custom, controlling public opinion, assumed almost the form of law. The kingsestablished certain rules for the promotion of industry and theregulation of commerce. Merchants and scholars attained a degree ofpractical independence which was based on indulgence rather than anyconstitutional right, and, during the reign of Vassili, the law alonecould doom the serf to death, and he began to be regarded as a _man_, as a _citizen_ protected by the laws. [8] From this time we begin tosee the progress of humanity and of higher conceptions of social life. It is, perhaps, worthy of record that anciently the peasants or serfswere universally designated by the name _smerdi_, which simply means_smelling offensively_. Is the exhalation of an offensive odor thenecessary property of a people imbruted by poverty and filth? InAmerica that unpleasant effluvium has generally been considered apeculiarity pertaining to the colored race. Philosophic observationmay show that it is a disease, the result of uncleanliness, but, likeother diseases, often transmitted from the guilty parent to theunoffending child. We have known white people who were exceedinglyoffensive in this respect, and colored people who were not so at all. 

[Footnote 8: Karamsin, tome vii. , page 265. ]

The pride of illustrious birth was carried to the greatest extreme, and a noble would blush to enter into any friendly relations whateverwith a plebeian. The nobles considered all business degradingexcepting war, and spent the weary months, when not under arms, inindolence in their castles. The young women of the higher familieswere in a deplorable state of captivity. Etiquette did not allow themto mingle with society, or even to be seen except by their parents, and they had no employment except sewing or knitting, no mentalculture and no sources of amusement. It was not the custom for theyoung men to choose their wives, but the father of the maidenselected some eligible match for his daughter, and made propositionsto the family of his contemplated son-in-law, stating the dowry hewould confer upon the bride, and the parties were frequently marriedwithout ever having previously seen each other. 

The death of Vassili transmitted the crown to his only son, Ivan, aninfant but three years of age. By the will of the dying monarch, theregency, during the minority of the child, was placed in the hands ofthe youthful mother, the princess Hélène. The brothers of Vassili andtwenty nobles of distinction were appointed as counselors for thequeen regent. Two men, however, in concert with Hélène, soon took thereins of government into their own hands. One of these was a sturdy, ambitious old noble, Michel Glinsky, an uncle of Hélène; the other wasa young and handsome prince, Ivan Telennef, who was suspected oftender _liaisons_ with his royal mistress. 

The first act of the new government was to assemble all the higherclergy in the church of the Assumption, where the metropolitan bishopgave his benediction to the child destined to reign over Russia, andwho was there declared to be accountable to God only for his actions. At the same time embassadors were sent to all the courts of Europe toannounce the death of Vassili and the accession of Ivan IV. To thethrone. 

But a week passed after these ceremonies ere the prince Youri, one ofthe brothers of Vassili, was arrested, charged with conspiracy towrest the crown from his young nephew. He was thrown into prison, where he was left to perish by the slow torture of starvation. Thisseverity excited great terror in Moscow. The Russians, ever stronglyattached to their sovereigns, now found themselves under the reign ofan oligarchy which they detested. Conspiracies and rumors ofconspiracies agitated the court. Many were arrested upon suspicionalone, and, cruelly chained, were thrown into dungeons. MichelGlinsky, indignant at the shameful intimacy evidently existing betweenHélène and Telennef, ventured to remonstrate with the regent boldlyand earnestly, assuring her that the eyes of the court werescrutinizing her conduct, and that such vice, disgraceful anywhere, was peculiarly hideous upon a throne, where all looked for examples ofvirtue. The audacious noble, though president of the council, wasimmediately arrested under an accusation of treason, and was throwninto a dungeon, where, soon after, he was assassinated. A reign ofterror now commenced, and imprisonment and death awaited all those whoundertook in any way to thwart the plans of Hélène and Telennef. 

André, the youngest of the brothers of Vassili, a man of feeblecharacter, now alone remained of the royal princes at court. He wasnominally the tutor of his nephew, the young emperor, Ivan IV. , andthough a prominent member of the council which Vassili hadestablished, he had no influence in the government which had beengrasped so energetically and despotically by Hélène and her paramourTelennef. At length André, trembling for his own life, timidly raisedthe banners of revolt, and gathered quite an army around him. But hehad no energy to conduct a war. He was speedily taken, and, loadedwith chains, was thrown into a dungeon, where, after a few weeks ofmost cruel deprivations, he miserably perished. Thirty of the lords, implicated with him in the rebellion, were hung upon the trees aroundNovgorod. Many others were put to torture and perished on the rack. Hélène, surrendering herself to the dominion of guilty love, developedthe ferocity of a tigress. 

Sigismond, King of Poland, taking advantage of the general discontentof the Russians under the sway of Hélène, formed an alliance with thehorde upon the lower waters of the Don, and invaded Russia, burningand destroying with mercilessness which demons could not havesurpassed. Prince Telennef headed an army to repel them. The penwearies in describing the horrors of these scenes. One hundredthousand Russians are now flying before one hundred and fifty thousandPolanders. Hundreds of miles of territory are ravaged. Cities andvillages are stormed, plundered, burned; women and children are cutdown and trampled beneath the feet of cavalry, or escape shriekinginto the forests, where they perish of exposure and starvation. But anarmy of recruits comes to the aid of the Russians. And now one hundredand fifty thousand Polanders are driven before two hundred thousandRussians. They sweep across the frontier like dust driven by thetornado. And now the cities and villages of Poland blaze; her streamsrun red with blood. The Polish wives and daughters in their turnstruggle, shriek and die. From exhaustion the warfare ceases. The twoantagonists, moaning and bleeding, wait for a few years but to recoversufficient strength to renew the strife, and then the brutal, demoniacbutchery commences anew. Such is the history of man. 

In this brief, but bloody war, the city of Staradoub, in Russia, wasbesieged by an army of Poles and Tartars. The assault was urged withthe most desperate energy and fearlessness. The defense was conductedwith equal ferocity. Thousands fell on both sides in every mangledform of death. At last the besiegers undermined the walls, and placingbeneath hundreds of barrels of gunpowder, as with the burst of avolcano, uphove the massive bastions to the clouds. They fell in astorm of ruin upon the city, setting it on fire in many places. Through the flames and over the smouldering ruins, Poles and Tartars, blackened with smoke and smeared with blood, rushed into the city, andin a few hours thirteen thousand of the inhabitants were weltering intheir gore. None were left alive. And this is but a specimen of thewars which raged for ages. The world now has but the faintestconception of the seas of blood and woe through which humanity haswaded to attain even its present feeble recognition of fraternity. 

In this, as in every war with Poland, Russia was gaining, everwresting from her rival the provinces of Lithuania, and attaching themto the gigantic empire. In the year 1534, Hélène commenced theenterprise of surrounding the whole of Moscow with a ditch, and a wallcapable of resisting the batterings of artillery. An Italian engineer, named Petrok Maloi, superintended these works. The foundation of thewalls was laid with imposing religious ceremonies. The wall wascrowned with four towers at the opening of the four gates. Hélène wasso conscious of the importance of augmenting the population of Russia, that she offered land and freedom from taxes for a term of years toall who would migrate into her territory from Poland. Perhaps also shehad a double object, wishing to weaken a rival power. Much counterfeitcoin was found to be in circulation. The regent issued an edict, thatany one found guilty of depreciating the current standard of coin, should be punished with death, and this death was to be barbarouslyinflicted by first cutting off the hands of the culprit, and thenpouring melted lead through a tunnel down his throat. 

On the 3d of April, 1538, Hélène, in the prime of life, and with allher sins in full vigor and unrepented, retired to her bed at night, suddenly and seriously sick. Some one had succeeded in administeringto her a dose of poison. She shrieked for a few hours in mortal agony, and soon after the hour of twelve was tolled, her spirit ascended tomeet God in judgment. Being dead, she had no favors to confer and noterrors to execute; and her festering remains were the same dayhurried ignominiously to the grave. Her paramour, Telennef, alone weptover her death. Russia rejoiced, and yet with trembling. Whose strongarm would now seize the helm of the tempest-torn ship of State, no onecould tell. 

The young prince, Ivan IV. , was but seven years of age at the death ofhis mother Hélène. For several days there was ominous silence inMoscow, the stillness which precedes the storm. The death of theregent had come so suddenly, so unexpectedly, that none were preparedfor it. A week passed away, during which time parties were forming andconspiracies ripening, while Telennef was desperately endeavoring toretain that power which he had so despotically wielded in conjunctionwith his royal mistress. The prince Vassili Schouisky, who hadoccupied the first place in the councils of Vassili, opened the drama. Having secured the coöperation of a large number of nobles, hedeclared himself the head of the government, arrested all thefavorites of Hélène, and threw Telennef, bound with chains, into adungeon. There he was left to die of starvation--barbarity, which, though in accordance with that brutal age, even all the similarexcesses of Telennef could not justify. The beautiful sister ofTelennef, Agrippene by name, was torn from the saloons her lovelinesshad embellished, and was imprisoned for life in a convent. The victimsof the cruelty of Hélène, who were still languishing in prison, wereset at liberty. 

Schouisky was a widower, and in the fiftieth year of his age. Hewished to strengthen his power by engaging the coöperation of thestill formidable energies of the horde at Kezan, and accordinglymarried, quite hurriedly, the daughter of the czar of the horde. Butthe regal diadem proved to him but a crown of thorns. Conspiracysucceeded conspiracy, and Schouisky felt compelled to enlist all theterrors of the dungeon, the scaffold and the block to maintain hisplace. Six months only passed away, ere he too was writhing upon theroyal couch in the agonies of death, whether paralyzed by poison orsmitten by the hand of God, the day of judgment alone can reveal. 

Ivan Schouisky, the brother of the deceased usurper, now stepped intothe dangerous post which death had so suddenly rendered vacant. He wasa weak man, assuming the most pompous airs, quite unable todiscriminate between imposing grandeur and ridiculous parade. He soonbecame both despised and detested. This state of things encouraged thetwo hordes of Kezan and Tauride to unite, and with an army of ahundred thousand men they penetrated Russia almost unopposed, burningand plundering in all directions. 

Under these circumstances the metropolitan bishop, Joseph, a man ofsincere piety and of very elevated character, and who enjoyed in thehighest degree the confidence both of the aristocracy and of thepeople, presented himself before the council, urged the incapacity ofIvan Schouisky to govern, and proposed that Ivan Belsky, a nobleman ofgreat energy and moral worth, should be chosen regent. The proposalwas carried by acclamation. So unanimous was the vote, so cordial wasthe adoption of the republican principle of election, that IvanSchouisky was powerless and was merely dismissed. 

The new regent, sustained by the clergy and the aristocracy, governedthe State with wisdom and moderation. All kinds of persecution ceased, and vigorous measures were adopted for the promotion of the publicwelfare. Old abuses were repressed; vicious governors deposed, and therising flames of civil strife were quenched. Even the hithertounheard-of novelty of trial by jury was introduced. Jurors were chosenfrom among the most intelligent citizens. Though there was some bitteropposition among the corrupt nobles to these salutary reforms, theclergy, as a body, sustained them, and so did also even a majority ofthe lords. It was Christianity and the church which introduced thesehumanizing measures. 

Among the innumerable tragedies of those days, let one be mentionedillustrative of the terrific wrongs to which all are exposed under adespotic government. There was a young prince, Dmitri, a child, grandson of Vassili the blind, whose claims to the throne were feared. He was thrown into prison and there forgotten. For forty-nine years hehad now remained in a damp and dismal dungeon. He had committed nocrime. He was accused of no crime. It was only feared that restivenobles might use him as an instrument for the furtherance of theirplans. All the years of youth and of manhood had passed in darknessand misery. No beam of the sun ever penetrated his tomb. All unheededthe tides of life surged in the world above him, while his mind withhis body was wasting away in the long agony. 

 "O who can tell what days, what nights he spent, Of tideless, waveless, sailless, shoreless woe. "

Mercy now entered his cell, but it was too late even for that angelvisitant to bring a gleam of joy. His friends were all dead. His namewas forgotten on earth. He knew nothing of the world or of its ways. His mind was enfeebled, and even the slender stock of knowledge whichhe had possessed as a child, had vanished away. They broke off hischains and removed him from his dungeon to a comfortable chamber. Thepoor old man, dazzled by the light and bewildered by the change, lingered joylessly and without a smile for a few weeks and died. Immortality alone offers a solution for these mysteries. "After deathcometh the judgment. "

The Christian bishop, Joseph, and Ivan Belsky, the regent, in cordialcoöperation, endeavored in all things to promote prosperity andhappiness. Again there was a coalition of the Tartars for the invasionof Russia. The three hordes, in Kezan, in the Tauride and at the mouthof the Volga, united, and in an army one hundred thousand strong, withnumerous cavalry and powerful artillery, commenced their march. TheRussian troops were hastily collected upon the banks of the Oka, thereto take their stand and dispute the passage of the stream. By order ofthe clergy, prayers were offered incessantly in the churches by dayand by night, that God would avert this terrible invasion. The youngprince, Ivan IV. , was now ten years of age. The citizens of Moscowwere moved to tears and to the deepest enthusiasm on hearing theiryoung prince, in the church of the Assumption, offer aloud andfervently the prayer, "Oh heavenly Father! thou who didst protect our ancestors against the cruel Tamerlane, take us also under thy holy protection--us in childhood and orphanage. Our mind and our body are still feeble, and yet the nation looks to us for deliverance. "

Accompanied by the metropolitan Joseph, he entered the council andsaid, "The enemy is approaching. Decide for me whether it be best that I should remain here or go to meet the foe. "

With one voice they exclaimed, "Prince, remain at Moscow. "

They then took a solemn oath to die, if necessary, for their prince. The citizens came forward in crowds and volunteered for the defense ofthe walls. The faubourgs were surrounded with pallisades, andbatteries of artillery were placed to sweep, in all directions, theapproaches to the city. The enthusiasm was so astonishing that theRussian annalists ascribe it to a supernatural cause. On the 30th ofJuly, 1541, the Tartar army appeared upon the southern banks of theOka, crowning all the heights which bordered the stream. Immediatelythey made an attempt to force the passage. But the Russians, thoroughly prepared for the assault, repelled them with prodigiousslaughter. Night put an end to the contest. The Russians were elatedwith their success, and waited eagerly for the morning to renew thestrife. They even hoped to be able to cross the river and to sweep thecamp of their foes. The fires of their bivouacs blazed all the night, reinforcements were continually arriving, and their songs of joyfloated across the water, and fell heavily upon the hearts of thedismayed Tartars. 

At midnight the khan, and the whole host, conscious of their peril, commenced a precipitate retreat, in their haste abandoning many gunsand much of their baggage. The Russians pursued the foe, but were notable to overtake them, so rapidly did they retrace their steps. 

The news of the expulsion of the enemy spread rapidly through Russia. The conduct of the grand prince everywhere excited the most livelyenthusiasm. He entered the church, and in an affecting prayer returnedthanks to God for the deliverance. The people, with unanimity, exclaimed, "Grand prince, your angelic prayers and your happy star have caused us to triumph. "

Awful, however, were the woes which fell upon those people who were onthe line of march of the barbaric Tartars. 

Ivan Belsky, the regent, had now attained the highest degree of goodfortune, and in his own conscience, and in the general approbation ofthe people, he found ample recompense for his deeds of humanity, andhis patriotic exertions. But envy, that poison of society, raised upagainst him enemies. Ivan Schouisky, who had been deposed by vote ofthe council, organized a conspiracy among the disaffected nobles, andon the night of the 3d of January, 1542, three hundred cavalierssurrounded the residences of the regent and of the metropolitanbishop, seized them and hurried them to prison, and in the prisonfinished their work by the assassination of Ivan Belsky. 

Ivan Schouisky, sustained by the sabers of his partisans, reassumedthe government. A new metropolitan bishop, Macaire was appointed totake the place of Joseph, who was deposed and imprisoned. The clergy, overawed, were silent. The reign of silence was again commenced, andall the posts of honor and influence were placed in the hands of thepartisans of Schouisky. The government, such as it was, was now in thehands of a triumvirate consisting of Ivan, André and Feodor. Not asyllable of opposition would these men endure, and the dungeon and theassassin's poignard silenced all murmurs. The young prince, Ivan IV. , was now thirteen years of age. He was endowed by nature with a mind ofextraordinary sagacity and force, but his education had been entirelyneglected, and the scenes of perfidy and violence he was continuallywitnessing were developing, a character which menaced Russia with manywoes. 

The infamous Schiouskies sought to secure the friendship of the youngprince by ministering, in every possible way, to his pleasures. Theyled him to the chase, encouraged whatever disposition he chanced tomanifest, and endeavored to train him in a state of feebleness andignorance which might promote their ambitious plans. The Kremlinbecame the scene of constant intrigues. Cabal succeeded cabal. Theposition of the triumvirate became, month after month, more perilous. The young prince gave decisive indications of discontent. It began tobe whispered into his ears that it was time for him to assume thereins of government, and he was assured that all Russia was waiting, eager to obey his orders. The metropolitan bishop, either from a senseof justice or of policy, also espoused the cause of the youthfulsovereign. It was evident that another party was rising into power. 

On the 29th of December, 1534, Ivan IV. Went with a large party of hislords to the chase. Instructed beforehand in the measures he was toadopt, he, quite unexpectedly to the triumvirate, summoned all hislords around him, and, assuming an imperious and threatening tone, declared that the triumvirate had abused his extreme youth, hadtrampled upon justice, and, as culprits, deserved to die. In his greatclemency, however, he decided to spare the lives of two, executingonly one as an example to the nation. The oldest of the three, AndréSchouisky, was immediately seized and handed over to the conductors ofthe hounds. They set the dogs upon him, and he was speedily torn topieces in the presence of the company, and his mangled remains werescattered over the plain. 

The partisans of Schouisky, terrified by this deed, were afraid toutter a murmur. The nobles generally were alarmed, for it was evidentthat though they had escaped the violence of the triumvirate, they hadfallen into hands equally to be dreaded. Confiscations and other actsof rigor rapidly succeeded, and the young prince, still too youthfulto govern by the decision of his own mind, was quite under the controlof the Glinskys, through whose council he had shaken off thetriumvirate of the Schouiskies. Ivan IV. Now made the tour of hiskingdom, but with no other object than the promotion of his personalgratification. Most of his time was devoted to the excitements of thechase in the savage forests which spread over a large portion of hisrealms. He was always surrounded by a brilliant staff of nobles, andthe sufferings of the people were all concealed from his view. Theenormous expenses of his court were exacted from the people hevisited, and his steps were followed by lamentations. 

In the year 1546, Ivan attained the eighteenth year of his age, andmade great preparations for his coronation. The imposing rites were tobe performed at Moscow. On the 16th of January, the grand princeentered one of the saloons of his palaces while the nobles, theprinces, the officers of the court, all richly dressed, were assembledin the ante-chamber. The confessor of the grand prince, havingreceived from Ivan IV. A crucifix, placed it upon a plate of gold withthe crown and other regalia, and conveyed them to the church of theAssumption accompanied by the grand equerry, Glinsky, and otherimportant personages of the court. Soon after, the grand prince alsorepaired to the church. He was preceded by an ecclesiastic holding inhis hand a crucifix, and sprinkling to the right and to the left holywater upon the crowd. 

Ivan IV. , surrounded by all the splendors of his court, entered thechurch, where he was encircled by the ecclesiastics, and received thebenediction of the metropolitan bishop. A hymn was then sang by theaccumulated choirs, which astounded the audience; after which mass wascelebrated. In the midst of the cathedral, a platform was erected, which was ascended by twelve steps. Upon this platform there were twothrones of equal splendor, covered with cloth of gold, one for themonarch, the other for the metropolitan bishop. In front of the stagethere was a desk, richly decorated, upon which were placed the crownregalia. The monarch and the bishop took their seats. The bishop, rising, pronounced a benediction upon the monarch, placed the crownupon his head, the scepter in his hand, and then, with a loud voice, prayed that God would endow this new David with the influences of theHoly Spirit, establish his throne in righteousness, and render himterrible to evil doers and a benefactor to those who should do well. The ceremonies were closed by an anthem by the choir. The youngemperor then returned, with his court, to the Kremlin, through streetscarpeted with velvet and damask. As they walked along, the emperor'sbrother, Youri, scattered among the crowd handsfull of gold coin, which he took from a vase carried at his side by Michel Glinsky. Themoment Ivan IV. Left the church, the people, till then motionless andsilent, precipitated themselves upon the platform, and all the richcloths which had decorated it were torn to shreds, each individualeager to possess a souvenir of the memorable day. 

CHAPTER XIII. 

THE REIGN OF IVAN IV. 

From 1546 to 1552. 

The Title of Tzar. --marriage of Ivan IV. --Virtues of HisBride. --Depraved Character of the Young Emperor. --TerribleConflagrations. --Insurrections. --The Rebuke. --Wonderful Change in theCharacter of Ivan IV. --Confessions of Sin and Measures ofReform. --Sylvestre and Alexis Adachef. --The Code of Laws. --Reforms inthe Church. --Encouragement To Men of Science and Letters. --TheEmbassage of Schlit. --War With Kezan. --Disasters andDisgrace. --Immense Preparation For the Chastisement of the Horde. --TheMarch. --Repulse of the Tauredians. --Siege of Kezan. --Incidents of theSiege. 

Though the monarchs of Russia, in all their relations with foreignpowers, took the title of Tzar or Emperor, they also retained that ofGrand Prince which was consecrated by ancient usage. And now theenvoys of Ivan IV. Were traversing Russia in all directions to find, among the maidens of noble blood, one whose beauty would render herworthy of the sovereign. The choice at last fell upon Anastasia, thedaughter of a lady of illustrious rank, who was a widow. Language isexhausted, by the Russian annalists, in describing the perfections ofher person, mind and heart. All conceivable social and moralexcellences were in her united with the most brilliant intellectualgifts and the most exquisite loveliness. 

The marriage was performed by the bishop in the church of Notre Dame. "You are now, " said the metropolitan, in conclusion, "united for ever, by virtue of the mysteries of the gospel. Prostrate yourselves, then, before the Most High, and secure his favor by the practice of everyvirtue. But those virtues which should especially distinguish you, arethe love of truth and of benevolence. Prince, love and honor yourspouse. Princess, truly Christian, be submissive to your husband; foras the Redeemer is the head of the church, so is man the head of thewoman. "

For many days Moscow was surrendered to festivity and rejoicings. Theemperor devoted his attention to the rich, the empress to the poor. Anastasia, since the death of her father, had lived remote from thecapital, in the most profound rural seclusion. Suddenly, and as bymagic, she found herself transported to the scenes of the highestearthly grandeur, but still she maintained the same beautifulsimplicity of character which she had developed in the saddened homeof her widowed mother. Ivan IV. Was a man of ungovernable passions, and accustomed only to idleness, he devoted himself to the most grossand ignoble pleasures. Mercilessly he confiscated the estates of thosewho displeased him, and with caprice equal to his mercilessness, heconferred their possessions upon his favorites. He seemed to regardthis arbitrary conduct as indicative of his independence and grandeur. 

The situation of Russia was perhaps never more deplorable than at thecommencement of the reign of Ivan IV. The Glinskys were in high favor, and easily persuaded the young emperor to gratify all their desires. Laden with honors and riches, they turned a deaf ear to all themurmurs which despotism, the most atrocious, extorted from everyportion of the empire. The inhabitants of Pskof, oppressed beyondendurance by an infamous governor, sent seventy of their mostinfluential citizens to Moscow to present their grievances to theemperor. Ivan IV. Raved like a madman at what he called the insolenceof his subjects, in complaining of their governor. Almost choking withrage, he ordered the seventy deputies to be put to death by the mostcruel tortures. 

Anastasia wept in anguish over these scenes, and her prayers wereincessantly ascending, that God would change the heart of her husband. Her prayers were heard and answered. The same power which changedSaul of Tarsus into Paul the Apostle, seemed to renew the soul of IvanIV. History is full of these marvelous transformations--a mentalphenomenon only to be explained by the scriptural doctrine ofregeneration. In Ivan's case, as in that of thousands of others, afflictions were instruments made available by the Holy Spirit for theheart's renewal. 

Moscow was at this time a capital of vast extent and of greatmagnificence. As timber was abundant and easily worked, most of thebuildings, even the churches and the palaces, were constructed ofwood. Though almost every house was surrounded by a garden, theseenclosures were necessarily not extensive, and the city was peculiarlyexposed to the perils of conflagration. 

On the 12th of April, 1547, the cry of fire alarmed the inhabitants, and soon the flames were spreading with fury which baffled all humanpower. The store-houses of commerce, the magazines of the crown, theconvent of Epiphany and a large number of dwellings, extending fromthe gate of Illinsky, to the Kremlin and the Moskwa, were consumed. The river alone arrested the destruction. A powder magazine took fire, and with a terrible explosion its towers were thrown into the air, taking with them a large section of the walls. The ruins fell like anavalanche into the river, completely filling up its channel, addingthe destruction of a deluge to that of the fire. 

A week had hardly passed ere the cry of fire again was raised, and, ina few hours, the whole section of the city on the other side of theYaouza was in ashes. This region was mostly occupied by mechanics andmanufacturers, and immense suffering ensued. Six weeks elapsed, andthe inhabitants were just beginning to recover from theirconsternation, and were sweeping away the ashes to rebuild, when onthe 20th of June, the wind at the time blowing a gale, the fearful cryof fire again rang through the streets. The palaces of the nobleswere now in flames. The palace of the Kremlin itself, the gorgeousstreets which surrounded it, and the whole of the grand faubourg in afew moments were glowing like a furnace. God had come with flamingfire as his minister of vengeance, and resistance was unavailing. Thewhole city was now in ashes, and presented the aspect of an immensefuneral pile, over which was spread a pall of thick and black smoke. The wooden edifices disappeared entirely. Those of stone and brickpresented a still more gloomy aspect, with only portions of theirwalls standing, crumbling and blackened. The howling of the tempest, the roar of the flames, the crash of falling buildings, and theshrieks of the inhabitants, were all frequently overpowered by theexplosions of the powder magazines in the arsenals of the Kremlin. 

To many of the people it seemed that the day of judgment had actuallyarrived, that the trump of the archangel was sounding, and that thefinal conflagration had arrived. The palace of the emperor, histreasures, his precious things, his arms, his venerated images and thearchives of the kingdom, all were devoured. The destruction of thecity was almost as entire and as signal a proof of the divinedispleasure as that of Sodom and Gomorrah. Even the metropolitanbishop, who was in the church of the Assumption, pleading for divineinterposition, was with great difficulty rescued. Smothered, and in astate almost of insensibility, he was conveyed through billows offlame and smoke. Seventeen hundred adults, besides uncounted children, perished in the fire. 

For many days the wretched inhabitants were seen wandering about, inthe fields and among the ruins, searching for their children, theirfriends or any articles of furniture which might, by chance, haveescaped the flames. Many became maniacs, and their cries arose in alldirections like the howlings of wild beasts. The emperor and thenobles, to avoid the spectacle of so much misery, retired to thevillage of Vorobeif, a few miles from Moscow. The whole population ofMoscow, being in a state of despair, and reckless of consequences, were ripe for any conspiracy against an emperor and his favorites, whose iniquities, in their judgment, had brought down upon them theindignation of Heaven. 

Several of the higher clergy, in coöperation with some of the princesand nobles, resolved to arouse the energies of the populace to effecta change in the government. The Glinskys were the advisers andinstigators of the king. Against them the fury of the populace waseasily directed. These doomed minions of despotism were pursued withfury energized by despair. Ivan IV. Was quite unable to protect them. The Glinskys, with their numerous partisans, had returned to Moscow tomake arrangements for the rebuilding of the Kremlin when the mob fellupon them, and they were nearly all slain. In the eye of the populace, there was something so sacred in the person of their prince that noone thought of offering him any harm. 

Ivan IV. , astounded by this outbreak, was trembling in his palace atVorobeif, and his truly pious wife, Anastasia, was, with tears, pleading with Heaven, when one of the clergy, an extraordinary mannamed Sylvestre, endowed with the boldness of an ancient prophet, entered the presence of the emperor. He was venerable in years, andhis gray locks fell in clusters upon his shoulders. The boy king wasoverawed by his appearance. One word from that capricious king wouldcause the head of Sylvestre to fall from the block. But the intrepidChristian, with the solemnity of an embassador from God, with pointedfinger and eye sparkling with indignation, thus addressed him:

 "God's avenging hand is suspended over the head of a God-forgetting, man-oppressing tzar. Fire from heaven has consumed Moscow. The anger of the Most High has called up the people in revolt, and is spreading over the kingdom anarchy, fury and blood. "

Then taking from his bosom a copy of the New Testament, he read tothe king those divinely-inspired precepts which are alike applicableto monarchs and peasants, and, in tones subdued by sadness, urged theking to follow these sacred lessons. The warning was heeded, and Ivanbecame "a new creature. " Whatever explanations philosophy may attemptof the sudden and marvelous change of the character of Ivan IV. , thefact remains one of the marvels of history. He appears to have beenimmediately overwhelmed with a sense of his guilt; with tears heextended his hand to the courageous monitor, asked imploringly what hecould do to avert the wrath and secure the favor of Heaven, and placedhimself at once under the guidance of his new-found friend. 

Sylvestre, a humble, world-renouncing Christian, sought nothing forhimself, and would accept neither riches nor honors, but he remainednear the throne to strengthen the young monarch in his goodresolutions. There was a young man, Alexis Adachef, connected with thecourt who possessed a character of extraordinary nobleness andloveliness. He was of remarkable personal beauty, and his soul waspure and sensitive. Entirely devoted to the good of others, withoutthe least apparent mixture of sordid motives, he engaged in theservice of the tzar, and became to him a friend of priceless value. Alexis, mingling freely with the people, was acquainted with all theirwants and griefs, and he coöperating with Sylvestre, inspired theemperor with a heart to conceive and energy to execute all goodthings. 

From this conjunction is to be dated the commencement of the glory ofthe reign of Ivan IV. The first endeavor of the reformed monarch wasto quell the tumult among the people. Three days after theassassination of the Glinskys, a mob from Moscow rushed out to thevillage of Vorobeif, surrounded the palace and demanded one of theaunts of the emperor and another of the nobles who had becomeobnoxious to them. The king immediately opened a fire upon mob anddispersed them. This decisive act restored order. Ivan IV. Immediatelydevoted all his energies to preparing dwellings for the houseless poorand in relieving their necessities. His whole soul seemed aroused topromote the happiness of his subjects, both temporal and spiritual, and all selfish considerations were apparently obliterated from hismind. In order to consolidate, by the aids of religion, the happychange effected in the government and in his own heart, the youngsovereign shut himself up for several days in solitude, and, in theexercises of self-examination, fasting and prayer, made the entireconsecration of himself to his Maker. He then assembled the bishops inone of the churches, and, in their presence, with touching words andtearful eyes, made confession of his faults, implored divineforgiveness, and then, with the calmness of a soul relieved of theburden of sin, received the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. 

With true nobility of soul, he wished his penitence to be asconspicuous as his sins had been. He resolved to humble himself beforehis Maker in the presence of all Russia, that his subjects universallymight understand the new principles which animated his heart, and thenew desires which would enlist his energies. Every city in the empirereceived orders to send deputies to Moscow, chosen from all the ranksof society, to attend to matters of the utmost importance to thecountry. The Sabbath morning after their arrival, they were allassembled, an immense multitude, in one of the public squares of thecity. The czar, accompanied by the clergy and the nobles, left thepalace of the Kremlin to meet the deputies. The solemnity of theSabbath hallowed the scene, and the people received their sovereign inprofound silence. 

The metropolitan bishop first offered a prayer. Ivan IV. Then, standing on a platform, addressed the bishop in the following terms:

"Holy father! Your zeal for religion, your love for our country arewell known to me; aid me in my good intentions. I lost, while aninfant, my parents, and the nobles, who sought only their ownaggrandizement, neglected entirely my education, and have usurped, inmy name, wealth and power. They have enriched themselves by injustice, and have crushed the poor without any one daring to check theirambition. I was, as it were, both deaf and dumb in my deplorableignorance, for I heard not the lamentations of the poor, and my wordssolaced them not in their sorrows. Who can tell the tears which havebeen shed, the blood which has flowed? For all these things thejudgment of God is to be feared. "

Bowing then on all sides to the people, the monarch continuing, thusaddressed them:

"O, you my people, whom the All-powerful has entrusted to my care, Iinvoke this day, in my behalf, both your religion and the love youhave for me. It is impossible to repair past faults, but I willhereafter be your protector from oppression and all wrong. Forgetthose griefs which shall never be renewed. Lay aside every subject ofdiscord, and let Christian love fraternize your hearts. From this dayI will be your judge and your defender. "

Religious ceremonies, simple yet imposing, closed this scene. AlexisAdachef was appointed minister of justice, receiving specialinstructions to watch the empire with a vigilant eye, that the poorespecially should be subject to no oppression. From that moment allthe actions of the sovereign were guided by the counsels of Sylvestreand Adachef. Ivan IV. Assembled around him a council of his wisest andbest men, and ever presided in person over their meetings. With greatenergy he entered upon the work of establishing a code of laws, whichshould be based upon the love of justice and good order. In the year1550 this important code was promulgated, which forms almost the basisof Russian civilization. 

On the 23d of February, 1551, a large convention of the clergy, of thenobles and of the principal citizens of the empire, was assembled atthe Kremlin, and the emperor presented to them, for their ownconsideration and approval, the code of laws which had been framed. The mind of Ivan IV. Expanded rapidly under these noble toils, and ina speech of great eloquence he urged them to examine these laws, topoint out any defects and to coöperate with him in every endeavor forthe prosperity of Russia. 

After having thus settled the affairs of the State, the monarch turnedhis attention to those of the Church, urging the clergy to devotethemselves to the work of ecclesiastical reform; to add simplicity tothe ceremonies of religion, to prepare books of piety for the people, to train up a thoroughly instructed clergy for the pulpits, toestablish rules for the decorous observance of divine worship, toabolish useless monasteries, to purify the convents of all immorality, and to insist that ecclesiastics, of every grade, should be patternsof piety for their flocks. The clergy eagerly engaged in this plan ofreform, and vied with their Christian monarch in their efforts for thepublic weal. 

Among the number of projects truly worthy of the grand prince, we mustnot neglect particular mention of his attempt to enrich Russia byencouraging the emigration, from other lands, of men distinguished inthe arts and sciences. A distinguished German, named Schlit, being inMoscow in 1547, informed the tzar of the rapid progress Germany wasmaking in civilization and enlightenment. Ivan IV. Listenedattentively, and after many interviews and protracted questionings, proposed that he should return to Germany as an envoy from Russia, andinvite, in his name, to Moscow, artists, physicians, apothecaries, printers, mechanics, and also literary men, skilled in the languages, dead or living, and learned theologians. 

Schlit accepted the mission and hastened to Augsburg, where theEmperor Charles V. Was then presiding over a diet. Schlit presented tohim a letter from Ivan IV. Relative to this business. Charles was alittle doubtful as to the expediency of allowing illustrious men fromhis empire to emigrate and thus add to the consideration and power ofa rival kingdom. Nevertheless, after a long deliberation with theassembled States, he consented to gratify the tzar, on considerationthat he would engage, by oath, not to allow any of the artists or theliterati to pass from Russia into Turkey, and that he would not employtheir talents in any manner hurtful to the German empire. Turkey wasat that time assuming an attitude so formidable, that it was deemedexpedient to increase the power of Russia, as that kingdom might thusmore effectually aid as a barrier against the Turks; while, at thesame time, it was deemed a matter of the utmost moment that Turkeyshould receive no aid whatever from Christian civilization. 

Charles V. Accordingly gave Schlit a written commission to raise hiscorps of emigrants. He soon assembled one hundred and twentyillustrious men at Lubeck, where they were to embark for Russia. But, in the mean time, the opposition had gained ground, and even CharlesV. Himself had become apprehensive that Russia, thus enlightened, might attain to formidable power. He accordingly had Schlit arrested. The corps of emigrants, thus deprived of their leader, andconsequently disheartened, soon dispersed. Several months passed awaybefore Ivan IV. Received intelligence of the sad fate of his envoy. Though the plan thus failed, nevertheless, quite a number of theseGerman artists, notwithstanding the prohibition of the emperor, effected their escape from Germany, secretly entered Russia, andengaged in the service of the tzar, were they were very efficient incontributing to Russian civilization. 

The barbarian horde at Kezan still continued to annoy Russia with verymany incursions. Some were mere petty forays, others were extendedinvasions, but all were alike merciless and bloody. In February, 1550, Ivan IV. , then but twenty two years of age, placed himself at the headof a large army to descend the Volga and punish the horde. Themonarch was young and totally inexperienced in war. A series ofterrible disasters from storms and floods thinned his ranks, and themonarch in great dejection returned to Moscow to replenish his forces. Again, early in December, he hastened to meet his army which had beenrendezvoused at Nigni Novgorod, on the Volga, about three hundredmiles west of Moscow. In the early spring they descended the river, and in great force encamped before the walls of Kezan. The walls wereof wood. The Russians were sixty thousand strong, and were aided withseveral batteries of artillery. The assault was immediately commenced, and for one whole day the battle raged with equal valor on the part ofthe assailants and the defendants. The next day a storm arose, therain falling abundantly and freezing as it touched the ground. Theencampment was flooded, and the assailants, unable to make anyprogress, were again compelled to beat a retreat. These reversesmortified the young tzar, though he succeeded in effecting a treatywith the barbarians, which in some degree covered his disgrace. 

But the horde, entirely disorganized, paid no regard to treaties andcontinued their depredations. Again, in the year 1552, the tzarprepared another expedition to check their ravages. He announced tothe council, in a very solemn session, that the time had arrived whenit was necessary, at all hazards, to check the pride of the horde. 

"God is my witness, " said he, "that I do not seek vain glory, but Iwish to secure the repose of my people. How shall I be able in the dayof judgment to say to the Most High, 'Behold me and the subjects thouhast entrusted to my care, ' if I do not shelter them from the eternalenemies of Russia, from these barbarians from whom one can haveneither peace nor truce?"

The lords endeavored to persuade the emperor to remain at Moscow, andto entrust the expedition to his experienced generals, but hedeclared that he would not expose his army to perils and fatigueswhich he was not also ready and willing to share. Though many were infavor of a winter's campaign, as Kezan was surrounded with streams andlakes which the ice would then bridge, yet Ivan decided upon thesummer as more favorable for the transportation of his army down therivers. By the latter part of May the waters of the Volga and the Okawere covered with bateaux laden with artillery and with militarystores, and the banks of those streams were crowded with troops uponthe march. Nigni Novgorod, where the Oka empties into the Volga, wasas usual the appointed place of rendezvous. The 16th of June Ivan tookleave of the Empress Anastasia. Her emotion at parting was so greatthat she fell fainting into the arms of her husband. 

From his palace Ivan proceeded to the church of the Assumption, wherethe blessing of Heaven was implored, and then issuing orders that thebishops, all over the empire, should offer prayers daily for thesuccess of the expedition, he mounted his horse, and accompanied bythe cavalry of his guard, took the route to Kolumna, a city on theOka, about a hundred miles south of Moscow. 

It will be remembered that the Tartar horde existed in several vastencampments. One of these encampments occupied Tauride, as the regionnorth of the Crimea, and including that peninsula, was then called. These barbarians, thinking that the Russian army was now five hundredmiles west of Moscow at Kezan, and that the empire was thusdefenseless, with a vast army of invasion were on the eager march forMoscow. Ivan at Kolumna heard joyfully of their approach, for he wasprepared to meet them and to chastise them with merited severity. Onthe 22d of July, the horde, unconscious of their danger, surroundedthe walls of Toola, a city about a hundred miles south of Kolumna. Ivan himself, heading a division of the army, fell fiercely upon them, and the Tartars were totally routed, losing artillery, camels, bannersand a large number of prisoners. They were pursued a long distance asin wild rout they fled back to their own country. 

This brilliant success greatly elated the army. Ivan IV. , sending histrophies to Moscow, as an encouragement to the capital, again put hisarmy in motion towards Kezan. The relation which existed between thesovereign and his pastor, the faithful metropolitan bishop, may beinferred from the following communications which passed between them, equally worthy of them both. 

"May the soul of your majesty, " wrote the metropolitan, "remain pureand chaste. Be humble in prosperity and courageous in adversity. Thepiety of a sovereign saves and blesses his empire. " The tzar replied, "Worthy pastor of the church, we thank you for your Christianinstructions. We will engrave them on our heart. Continue to us yourwise counsels, and aid us also with your prayers. We advance againstthe enemy. May the Lord soon enable us to secure peace and repose tothe Christians. "

On the 13th of August, with his assembled army, he reached Viask onthe Volga, about fifty miles above Kezan. Here he encamped toconcentrate and rest his troops after so long a march. Bargesfreighted with provisions, merchandise and munitions of war, wereincessantly arriving from the vast regions watered by the Volga andthe Oka. As by magic an immense city spread out over the green plain. Tents glistened in the sun, banners waved, and horsemen and footmen, in all the gorgeous panoply of war, extended as far as the eye couldreach. 

While resting here, Ivan IV. Sent an embassy to Kezan, saying that thetzar sought their repentance and amendment, not their destruction;that if they would deliver up to punishment the authors of sedition, and would give satisfactory pledges of future friendliness, they mightlive in peace under the paternal government of the tzar. To thismessage a contemptuous and defiant response was returned by the Tartarkhan. The answer was closed with these words: "We are anxiouslyawaiting your arrival, and are all ready to commence our festivities. "

That very day, the Russian army, amounting to one hundred and fiftythousand men, arrived within sight of Kezan. A prairie four miles inwidth, carpeted with flowers, extended from the Volga to the range ofmountains at the base of which the city stood. The Tartars, aboundingin wealth, by the aid of engineers and architects from all lands, hadsurrounded the city with massive walls defended with towers, rampartsand bastions in the most formidable strength of military art as thenknown. Within the walls rose the minarets of innumerable mosques andthe turrets of palaces embellished with all the gorgeousness oforiental wealth and taste. The horde, relying upon the strength oftheir fortification, remained behind their walls, where they preparedfor a defense which they doubted not would be successful. Two dayswere employed in disembarking the artillery and the munitions of war. 

While thus engaged, a deserter escaped from the city and announced tothe tzar that the fortress was abundantly supplied with artillery, provisions and all means of defense; that the garrison consisted ofthirty-two thousand seven hundred veteran soldiers; that a numerouscorps of cavalry had been detached to scour the surrounding countryand raise an army of cavalry and infantry to assail the besiegers inflank and rear, while the garrisons should be prepared to sally fromtheir entrenchments. 

On the 23d of August, at the dawn of day, the army, advancing from theriver, approached the city. The moment the sun appeared in thehorizon, at the sound of innumerable trumpets, the whole army arrestedtheir steps and the sacred standard was unfurled, presenting theeffigy of Jesus Christ, our Saviour, surmounted by a golden cross. Ivan IV. And his staff alighted from their horses, and, beneath theshadow of the banner, with prayers and other exercises of devotion, received the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. The monarch then rodealong the ranks, and, in an impassioned harangue, roused the soldiersto the noblest enthusiasm. Exalting the glory of those who might fallin the defense of religion, he assured them in the name of Russia thattheir wives and their children should never be forgotten, but thatthey should be the objects of his special care and should ever enjoyprotection and abundance. In conclusion, he assured them that he wasdetermined to sacrifice his own life, if necessary, to secure thetriumph of the cross. These words were received with shouts ofacclaim. The chaplain of Ivan, elevated in the view of the whole army, pronounced a solemn benediction upon the sovereign and upon all thetroops, and then bowing to the sacred standard, exclaimed, "O Lord, it is in thy name we now march against the infidels. "

With waving banners and pealing trumpets, the army was now conductedbefore the walls of the city. Every thing there seemed abandoned andin profound silence and solitude. Not the slightest movement could beperceived. Not an individual appeared upon the walls. Many of theRussians began to rejoice, imagining that the tzar of Kezan, struckwith terror, had fled with all his army into the forest. But thegenerals, more experienced, suspected a snare, and regarded the aspectof affairs as a motive for redoubled prudence. With great caution theymade their dispositions for commencing the siege. As a division ofseven thousand troops were crossing a bridge which they had thrownover a ditch near the walls, suddenly a violent uproar succeeded theprofound silence which had reigned in the city. The air was filledwith cries of rage. The massive gates rolled open upon their hinges, and fifteen thousand mounted Tartars, armed to the teeth, rushed uponthe little band with a shock utterly resistless, and, in a fewmoments, the Russians were cut to pieces in the presence of the wholearmy. The victorious Tartars, having achieved this signal exploit, swept back again into the city and the gates were closed. This eventtaught the Russians prudence. 

Anticipating a long siege, a city of tents was reared, with itsstreets and squares, beyond the reach of the guns from the walls. Three churches of canvas were constructed, where worship was dailyheld. Day after day, the siege was conducted with the usual eventswitnessed around a beleaguered fortress. There were the thunderings ofartillery, the explosion of mines, fierce and bloody sorties, theshrieks of the combatants, and the city ever burning by flamesenkindled by red hot shot thrown over the walls. The Russian batteriesgrew every day more and more formidable, and the ramparts crumbledbeneath their blows. The Russian army was so numerous that thesoldiers relieved themselves at the batteries, and the bombardment wascontinued day and night. At length a Tartar army was seen descendingthe distant mountains and hastening to the relief of the garrison. Ivan dispatched one half his army to meet them. The Tartars, after asanguinary conflict, were cut to pieces. As the division returnedcovered with dust and blood, and exulting in their great achievement, Ivan displayed the prisoners, the banners, and the spoil he had taken, before the walls of the city. A herald was then sent, to address thesewords to the besieged:

"Ivan promises you life, liberty and pardon for the past, if you willsubmit yourselves to him. "

The response returned was, "We had rather die by our own pure hands, than perish by those ofmiserable Christians. "

This answer was followed by a storm of all the missiles of war. 

The monarch, wishing as far as possible to save the city fromdestruction, and to avoid the effusion of blood, directed a Germanengineer to sink a mine under an important portion of the walls. Theminers proceeded until they could hear the footsteps of the Kezaniansover their heads. Eleven tons of powder were placed in the vault. Onthe 5th of September the match was applied. The explosion was awful. Large portions of the wall, towers, buildings, rocks, the mutilatedbodies of men, were thrown hundreds of feet into the air and fell uponthe city, crushing the dwellings and the inhabitants. The besiegedwere seized with mortal terror, not knowing to what to attribute sodire a calamity. The Russians, who were prepared for the explosion, waving their swords, with loud outcries rushed in at the breach. Butthe Kezanians, soon recovering from their consternation, with theirbreasts and their artillery presented a new rampart, and beat back thefoe. Thus, day after day, the horrible carnage continued. Within thecity and without the city, death held high carnival. There were famineand pestilence and misery in all imaginable forms within the walls. Inthe camp of the besiegers, there were mutilation, and death's agoniesand despair. Army after army of Tartars came to the help of thebesieged, but they were mown down mercilessly by Russian sabers, andtrampled beneath Russian hoofs. 

Ivan, morning and evening, with his generals, entered the church toimplore the blessing of God upon his enterprise. In no other way couldhe rescue Russia from the invasion of these barbarians, than by thusappealing to the energies of the sword. In the contemplation of such atragedy, the mind struggles in bewilderment, and can only say, "Bestill and know that I am God. "

CHAPTER XIV. 

THE REIGN OF IVAN IV. --CONTINUED. 

From 1552 to 1557. 

Siege of Kezan. --Artifices of War. --The Explosion of Mines. --The FinalAssault. --Complete Subjugation of Kezan. --Gratitude and Liberality ofthe Tzar. --Return To Moscow. --Joy of the inhabitants. --Birth of AnHeir To the Crown. --Insurrection in Kezan. --The InsurrectionQuelled. --Conquest of Astrachan. --The English Expedition in Search ofa North-East Passage to India. --The Establishment atArchangel. --Commercial Relations Between France and Russia. --RussianEmbassy to England. --Extension of Commerce. 

The Russians had now been a month before the walls of Kezan. Tenthousand of the defenders had already been slain. The autumnal sun wasrapidly declining, and the storms of winter were approaching. Secretlythey now constructed, a mile and a half from the camp, an immensetower upon wheels, and rising higher than the walls of the city. Uponthe platform of this tower they placed sixteen cannon, of the largestcaliber, which were worked by the most skillful gunners. In the nightthis terrible machine was rolled up to the walls, and with the firstdawn of the morning opened its fire upon the dwellings and thestreets. The carnage was at first horrible, but the besieged at lengthtook refuge in subterranean walks and covered ways, where theyindomitably continued the conflict. The artillery, placed upon thewalls of Kezan, were speedily dismounted by the batteries on thetower. 

A new series of mines beneath the walls were now constructed by theRussian engineers, which were to operate with destructive power, hitherto unrecorded in the annals of war. On the 1st of October thetzar announced to the army that the mines were ready to be fired, andwished them to prepare for the general assault. While one half of thetroops continued the incessant bombardment, the other half wereassembled in the churches to purify themselves for the conflict byconfession, penitence, prayer and the partaking of the sacrament ofthe Lord's Supper. The divisions then exchanged that the whole armymight prostrate itself before God. Ivan IV. Himself retired with hisconfessor and passed several hours in earnest devotion. The nightpreceding the assault there was no repose in either camp. TheKezanians, who were anxiously awaiting events, had perceived anextraordinary movement among the Russians, as each battalion wasguided to the spot whence it was to rush over the ruins immediatelyafter the explosion. Forty-eight tons _(tonneaux)_ of powder had beenplaced in the mines. 

The morning of the 2d of October dawned serene and cloudless. Theearliest light revealed the Russians and the Kezanians each at theirposts. The moment the sun appeared above the horizon the explosiontook place. First the earth trembled and rose and fell for many milesas if shaken by an earthquake. A smothered roar, swelling into pealingthunder ensued, which appalled every mind. Immense volumes of smoke, thick and suffocating, instantaneously rolled over the city and thebeleaguering camp, converting day into night. A horrible melange oftimbers, rocks, guns and mutilated bodies of men, women and childrenwere hurled into the air through this storm cloud of war, and fell inhideous ruin alike upon the besiegers and the besieged. At the momentwhen the explosion took place, one of the bishops in the church wasreading the words of our Saviour foretelling the peaceful reign offraternity and of heavenly love, "Henceforth there shall be but oneflock and one shepherd. " Strange contrast between the spirit of heavenand the woes of a fallen world!

For a moment even the Russians, though all prepared for the explosion, were paralyzed by its direful effects. But instantly recovering, theyraised the simultaneous shout, "God is with us, " and rushing over thedebris, of ruin and blood, penetrated the city. The Tartars met themwith the fury of despair, appealing, in their turn, to Allah andMohammed. Soon the Russian banner floated over tottering towers andblackened walls, though for many hours the battle raged withfierceness, which human energies can not exceed. 

Prince Vorotinsky, early in the afternoon, soiled with blood andblackened with smoke, rode from the ruins of the city into thepresence of Ivan, and bowing, said, "Sire, rejoice; your bravery and your good fortune have secured thevictory. Kezan is ours. The khan is in your power, the people areslain or taken captive. Unspeakable riches have fallen into ourhands. "

"Let God be glorified, " cried Ivan, raising his eyes and his hands toheaven. Then taking the sacred standard in his own hands, he enteredthe city, planted the banner in one of the principal squares, ordereda _Te Deum_ there to be chanted, and then directed that upon that spotthe foundation should be laid of the first Christian temple. All thebooty Ivan surrendered to the army, saying, "The only riches I desire, are the repose and the honor of Russia. "

Then assembling his troops around him, he thus addressed them:

"Valiant lords, generals, officers, all of you who in this solemn dayhave suffered for the glory of God, for religion, your country andyour emperor, you have acquired immortal glory. Never before did apeople develop such bravery; never before was so signal a victorygained. How can I suitably reward your glorious actions?

"And you who repose on the field of honor, noble children of Russia, you are already in the celestial realms, in the midst of Christianmartyrs and all resplendent with glory. This is the recompense withwhich God has rewarded you. But as for us, it is our duty to transmityour names to future ages, and the sacred list in which they shall beenrolled shall be placed in the temple of the Lord, that they may everlive in the memory of men. 

"You, who bathed in your blood, still live to experience the effectsof my love and my gratitude; all of you brave warriors now before me, listen attentively to my words, and repose perfect confidence in thepromises I make to you this day, that I will cherish you and protectyou to the end of my life. "

These were not idle words. Ivan personally visited the wounded, cheered them with his sympathy, and ever after watched over them withparental care. His brother-in-law, Daniel, was immediately sent anenvoy to the empress and to the metropolitan bishop, to inform them ofthe victory. The day was closed by a festival, in a gorgeous tent, where all the principal officers and lords were invited to dine withthe tzar. A proclamation was addressed to all the tribes and nationsof the conquered region. 

"Come, " said the Russian tzar, "without fear to me. The past isforgotten; for perfidy has received its reward. I shall require of youonly the tribute which you have heretofore paid to the tzars ofKezan. "

On the 3d of October the dead were buried and the whole city wascleansed. The next day, Ivan, accompanied by his clergy, his counciland the chiefs of his army, made his triumphal entrance, and laid, onthe designated spot, the corner-stone of the cathedral church of theVisitation. He also made the tour of the city, bearing the sacredbanner, and consecrating Kezan to the true God. The clergy sprinkledholy water upon the streets and upon the walls of the houses, imploring the benediction of Heaven upon this new rampart ofChristianity. They prayed that the inhabitants might be preserved fromall maladies, that they might be strengthened to repel every enemy, and that the city might for ever remain the glorious heritage ofRussia. Having traversed the whole city and designated the places forthe erection of churches, the tzar gave orders for the immediaterebuilding of the fortifications, and then, accompanied by his court, he took possession of the palace of the khan, over which now floatedthe banners of the cross. 

It was thus that one of the most considerable principalities of thedescendants of Genghis Khan fell into the hands of Russia. Kezan wasfounded upon the ruins of ancient Bulgaria, and, situated upon thefrontiers of Russia, had long filled the empire with terror. Ivanimmediately established a new government for the city and thesurrounding region, which was occupied by five different nations, powerful in numbers and redoubtable in war. An army of about tenthousand men was left to garrison the fortresses of the city. On the11th of October the emperor prepared to return to Moscow. Many of thelords counseled that he should remain at Kezan until spring, that themore distant regions might be overawed by the presence of the army. But the monarch, impatient to see his spouse and to present himself inMoscow fresh from these fields of glory, rejected these sage counselsand adopted the advice of those who also wished to repose beneath thelaurels they had already acquired. Passing the night of the 11th ofOctober on the banks of the Volga, he embarked on the morning of the12th in a barge to ascend the stream, while the cavalry followed alongupon the banks. The emperor passed one day at Sviazk and thenproceeded to Nigni Novgorod. The whole city, men, women and children, flocked to meet him. They could not find words strong enough toexpress their gratitude for their deliverance from the terribleincursions of the horde. They fell at their monarch's feet, bathed hishands with their tears and implored Heaven's blessing upon him. 

From Nigni Novgorod the emperor took the land route through Balaknaand Vladimir to Moscow. On the way he met a courier from the EmpressAnastasia, announcing to him that she had given birth to a son whomshe named Dmitri. The tzar, in the tumult of his joy, leaped from hishorse, passionately embraced Trakhaniot, the herald, and then fallingupon his knees with tears trickling down his cheeks, rendered thanksto God for the gift. Not knowing how upon the spot to recompense theherald for the blissful tidings, he took the royal cloak from his ownshoulders and spread it over Trakhaniot, and passed into his hands themagnificent charger from which the monarch had just alighted. He spentthe night of the 28th of October in a small village but a few milesfrom Moscow, all things being prepared for his triumphant entranceinto the capital the next day. With the earliest light of the morninghe advanced toward the city. The crowd, even at that early hour, wasso great that, for a distance of four miles, there was but a narrowpassage left through the dense ranks of the people for the tzar andhis guard. The emperor advanced slowly, greeted by the acclaim of morethan a million of his people. With uncovered head he bowed to theright and to the left, while the multitude incessantly cried, "MayHeaven grant long life to our pious tzar, conqueror of barbarians andsaviour of Christians. "

At the gate he was met by the metropolitan, the bishops, the lords andthe princes ranged in order of procession under the sacred banner. Ivan IV. Dismounted and addressed them in touching words ofcongratulation. The response of the metropolitan was soulfull, flooding the eyes of the monarch and exciting all who heard it to thehighest enthusiasm. 

"As for us, O tzar, " he said, in conclusion, "in testimony of ourgratitude for your toils and your glorious exploits, we prostrateourselves before you. "

At these words the metropolitan, the clergy, the dignitaries and thepeople fell upon their knees before their sovereign, bowing theirfaces to the ground. There were sobbings and shoutings, cries ofbenedictions and transports of joy. The monarch was now conducted tothe Kremlin, which had been rebuilt, and attended mass in the churchof the Assumption. He then hastened to the palace to greet his spouse. The happy mother was in the chamber of convalescence with herbeautiful boy at her side. For once, at least, there was joy in apalace. 

The enthusiasm which reigned in the capital and throughout all Russiawas such as has never been surpassed. The people, trained to faith anddevotion, crowded the churches, which were constantly open, addressingincessant thanksgivings to Heaven. The preachers exhausted the powersof eloquence in describing the grandeur of the actions of theirprince--his exertions, fatigues, bravery, the stratagems of war duringthe siege, the despairing ferocity of the Kezanians and the final andglorious result. 

After several days passed in the bosom, of his family, Ivan gave agrand festival in his palace, on the 8th of November. Themetropolitan, the bishops, the abbés, the princes, and all the lordsand warriors who had distinguished themselves during the siege ofKezan, were invited. "Never, " say the annalists, "had there beforebeen seen at Moscow a fête so sumptuous, joy so intense, or liberalityso princely. " The fête continued for three days, during which theemperor did not cease to distribute, with a liberal hand, proofs ofhis munificence. His bounty was extended from the metropolitan bishopdown to the humblest soldier distinguished for his bravery or hiswounds. The monarch, thus surrounded with glory, beloved by hispeople, the conqueror of a foreign empire and the pacificator of hisown, distinguished for the nobleness of his personal character and thegrandeur of his exploits, alike wise as a legislator and humane as aman, was still but twenty-two years of age. His career thus farpresents a phenomenon quite unparalleled in history. 

As soon as Anastasia was able to leave her couch she accompanied thetzar to the monastery of Yroitzky, where his infant son Dmitrireceived the ordinance of baptism. It seems to be the doom of lifethat every calm should be succeeded by a storm; that days of sunshineshould be followed by darkness and tempests. Early in the year 1553tidings reached Moscow that the barbarians at Kezan were in bloodyinsurrection. The Russian troops had been worsted in many conflicts;very many of them were slain. The danger was imminent that theinsurrection would prove successful, and that the Russians would beentirely exterminated from Kezan. The imprudence of the emperor, inwithdrawing before the conquest was consolidated, was now apparent toall. To add to the consternation the monarch himself was suddenlyseized with an inflammatory fever; the progress of the malady was sorapid that almost immediately his life was despaired of. The mind ofthe tzar was unclouded, and being informed of his danger, without anyapparent agitation he called for his secretary to draw up his lastwill and testament. The monarch nominated for his successor his infantson, Dmitri. To render the act more imposing, he requested the lords, who were assembled in an adjoining saloon, to take the oath ofallegiance to his son. Immediately the spirit of revolt wasmanifested. Many of the lords dreaded the long minority of the infantprince, and the government of the regency which would probably ensue. The contest, loud and angry, reached the ears of the king, and he sentfor the refractory lords to approach his bedside. Ivan, burning withfever, with hardly strength to speak, and expecting every hour to die, turned his eyes to them reproachfully and said, "Who then do you wish to choose for your tzar? I am too feeble tospeak long. Dmitri, though in his cradle, is none the less yourlegitimate sovereign. If you are deaf to the voice of conscience youmust answer for it before God. "

One of the nobles frankly responded, "Sire, we are all devoted to you and to your son. But we fear theregency of Yourief, who will undoubtedly govern Russia in the name ofan infant who has not yet attained his intellectual faculties. This isthe true cause of our solicitude. To how many calamities were we notexposed during the government of the lords, before your majesty hadattained the age of reason. It is necessary to avoid the recurrence ofsuch woes. "

The monarch was now too feeble to speak, and the nobles withdrew fromhis chamber. Some took the oath to obey the will of the sovereign, others refused, and the bitter strife extended through the city andthe kingdom. The dissentients rallied round prince Vladimir, and thenation was threatened with civil war. The next day the tzar hadrevived a little, and again assembled the lords in his chamber andentreated them to take the oath of submission to his son and toAnastasia, the guardian of the infant prince. Overcome by the exertionthe monarch sank into a state of lethargy, and to all seemed to bedying. But being young, temperate and vigorous, it proved but thecrisis of the disease. He awoke from his sleep calm and decidedlyconvalescent. Deeply wounded by the unexpected opposition which he hadencountered, he yet manifested no spirit of revenge, though Anastasia, with woman's more sensitive nature, could never forget the oppositionwhich had been manifested towards herself and her child. 

Ivan during his sickness had made a vow that, in case of recovery, hewould visit, in homage, the monastery of St. Cyrille, some thousandmiles distant beyond the waves of the Volga. It is pleasant to recordthe remonstrance which Maxime, one of the clergy, made against thefulfillment of his wishes. 

"You are about, " said he, "to undertake a dangerous journey with yourspouse and your infant child. Can the fulfillment of a vow whichreason disapproves, be agreeable to God? It is useless to seek indeserts that heavenly Father who fills the universe with his presence. If you desire to testify to Heaven the gratitude you feel, do goodupon the throne. The conquest of Kezan, an event so propitious forRussia, has nevertheless caused the death of many Christians. Thewidows, the mothers, the orphans of warriors who fell upon the fieldof honor, are overwhelmed with affliction. Endeavor to comfort themand to dry their tears by your beneficence. These are the deedspleasing to God and worthy of a tzar. "

Nevertheless the monarch persisted in his plan, and entered upon thelong journey. He buried his child by the way, and returned overwhelmedwith grief. But he encountered a greater calamity than the death ofthe young prince, in bad advice which he received from Vassian, theaged and venerable prince of Kolumna. 

"Sire, " said this unwise ecclesiastic, "if you wish to become amonarch truly absolute, ask advice of no one, and deem no one wiserthan yourself. Establish it as an irrevocable principle never toreceive the counsels of others, but, on the contrary, give counsel tothem. Command, but never obey. Then you will be a true sovereign, terrible to the lords. Remember that the counselors of the wisestprinces always in the end dominate over them. "

The subtle poison which this discourse distilled, penetrated the soulof Ivan. He seized the hand of Vassian, pressed it to his lips, andsaid, "My father himself could not have given me advice more salutary. "

Bitterly was the prince deceived. Experience has proved that, in thecounsel of the wise and virtuous, there is safety. There was no suddenchange in the character of Ivan. He still continued for some years tomanifest the most sincere esteem for the opinions of Sylvestre andAdachef. But the poison of bad principles was gradually diffusingitself through his heart. A year had not passed away, ere Ivan wasconsoled by the birth of another son. In the meantime he devotedhimself with ardor to measures for the restoration of tranquillity inKezan. A numerous army was assembled at Nigni Novgorod, with orders tocommence the campaign for the reconquest of the country as soon as thecold of winter should bridge the lakes and streams. The Tartars hadmade very vigorous efforts to repel their foes, by summoning everyfighting man to the field, and by the construction of fortresses andthrowing up of redoubts. 

In November of 1553, the storm of battle was recommenced on fields ofice, and amidst smothering tempests of snow. For more than a monththere was not a day without a conflict. In these incessant engagementsthe Tartars lost ten thousand men slain and six thousand prisoners. One thousand six hundred of the most distinguished of these prisoners, princes, nobles and chieftains, who had been the most conspicuous inthe rebellion, were put to death. Nevertheless these severities didnot stifle the insurrection; the Tartars, in banditti bands, evencrossing the Volga, pillaging, massacring and burning with savagecruelty. For five years the war raged in Kezan, with everyaccompaniment of ferocity and misery. The country was devastated andalmost depopulated. Hardly a chief of note was left alive. The horrorsof war then ceased. The Russians took possession of the country, filled it with their own emigrants, reared churches, establishedChristianity, and spread over the community the protection of Russianlaw. Most of the Kezanians who remained embraced Christianity, andfrom that time Kezan, the ancient Bulgaria, has remained an integralportion of the Russian empire. 

Soon after, a new conquest, more easy, but not less glorious, wasadded to that of Kezan. The city and province of Astrachan, situatedat the mouth of the Volga as it enters the Caspian, had existed fromthe remotest antiquity, enjoying wealth and renown, even before thefoundation of the Russian empire. In the third century of theChristian era, it was celebrated for its commerce, and it became oneof the favorite capitals of the all-conquering Tartars. Russia, beingnow in possession of all the upper waters of the Volga, decided toextend their dominions down the river to the Caspian. It was notdifficult to find ample causes of complaint against pagan and barbarichordes, whose only profession was robbery and war. 

Early in the spring of 1554 a numerous and choice army descended theVolga in bateaux to the delta on which Astrachan is built. The lowlands, intersected by the branching stream, is composed of innumerableislands. The inhabitants of the city, abandoning the capital entirely, took refuge among these islands, where they enjoyed great advantagesin repelling assailants. The Russians took possession of the city, prosecuted the war vigorously through the summer, and the tzar, on the20th of October, which was his birthday, received the gratifyingintelligence that every foe was quelled, and that the Russiangovernment was firmly established on the shores of the Caspian. Wellmight Russia now be proud of its territorial greatness. The opening ofthese new realms encouraged commerce, promoted wealth, and developedto an extraordinary degree the resources of the empire. 

England was, at that time, far beyond the bounds of the politicalhorizon of Russia. In fact, the Russians hardly knew that there wassuch a nation. Great Britain was not, at that time, a maritime powerof the first order. Spain, Portugal, Venice and Genoa were then thegreat monarchs of the ocean. England was just beginning to become thedangerous rival of those States whom she has already so infinitelysurpassed in maritime greatness. She had then formed the project ofopening a shorter route to the Indies through the North Sea, and, in1553, during the reign of Edward VI. , had dispatched an expedition ofthree vessels, under Hugh Willoughby, in search of a north-eastpassage. These vessels, separated by a tempest, were unable toreunite, and two of them were wrecked upon the icy coast of RussianLapland in the extreme latitude of eighty degrees north. Willoughbyand his companions perished. Some Lapland fishermen found theirremains in the winter of the year 1554. Willoughby was seated in acabin constructed upon the shore with his journal before him, withwhich he appeared to have been occupied until the moment of his death. The other ship, commanded by Captain Chanceller, was more fortunate. He penetrated the White Sea, and, on the 24th of August, landed in theBay of Dwina at the Russian monastery of St. Nicholas, where nowstands the city of Archangel. The English informed the inhabitants, who were astonished at the apparition of such a ship in their waters, that they were bearers of a letter to the tzar from the King ofEngland, who desired to establish commercial relations with the greatand hitherto almost unknown northern empire. The commandant of thecountry furnished the mariners with provisions, and immediatelydispatched a courier to Ivan at Moscow, which was some six hundredmiles south of the Bay of Dwina. 

Ivan IV. Wisely judged that this circumstance might prove favorable toRussian commerce, and immediately sent a courier to invite Chancellerto come to Moscow, at the same time making arrangements for him toaccomplish the journey with speed and comfort. Chanceller, with someof his officers, accepted the invitation. Arriving at Moscow, theEnglish were struck with astonishment in view of the magnificence ofthe court, the polished address and the dignified manners of thenobles, the rich costume of the courtiers, and, particularly, with thejeweled and golden brilliance of the throne, upon which was seated ayoung monarch decorated in the most dazzling style of regal splendor, and in whose presence all observed the most respectful silence. Chanceller presented to Ivan IV. The letter of Edward VI. It was anoble letter, worthy of England's monarch, and, being translated intomany languages, was addressed generally to all the sovereigns of theEast and the North. The letter was dated, "London, in the year 5517of the creation, and of our reign the 17. " The English were honorablyreceived, and were invited to dine with the tzar in the royal palace, which furnished them with a new occasion of astonishment from thesumptuousness which surrounded the sovereign. The guests, more than ahundred in number, were served on plates of gold. The goblets were ofthe same metal. The servants, one hundred and fifty in number, werealso in livery richly decorated with gold lace. 

The tzar wrote to Edward that he desired to form with him an allianceof friendship conformable to the precepts of the Christian religionand of every wise government; that he was anxious to do any thing inhis power which should be agreeable to the King of England, and thatthe English embassadors and merchants who might come to Russia shouldbe protected, treated as friends and should enjoy perfect security. 

When Chanceller returned to England, Edward VI. Was already in thetomb, and Mary, _Bloody Mary_, the child of brutal Henry VIII. , was onthe throne. The letter of Ivan IV. Caused intense excitementthroughout England. Every one spoke of Russia as of a country newlydiscovered, and all were eager to obtain information respecting itshistory and its geography. An association of merchants was immediatelyformed to open avenues of commerce with this new world. Anotherexpedition of two ships was fitted out, commanded by Chanceller, toconclude a treaty of commerce with the tzar. Mary, and her husband, Philip of Spain, who was son of the Emperor Charles V. , wrote a letterto the Russian monarch full of the most gracious expressions. 

Chanceller and his companions were received with the same cordialhospitality as before. Ivan gave them a seat at his own table, loadedthem with favors and gave to the Queen of England the title of "mydearly beloved sister. " A commission of Russian merchants wasappointed to confer with the English to form a commercial treaty. Itwas decided that the principal place for the exchange of merchandiseshould be at Kolmogar, on the Bay of Dwina, nearly opposite theconvent of St. Nicholas; that each party should be free to name itsown prices, but that every kind of fraud should be judged after thecriminal code of Russia. Ivan then delivered to the English a diploma, granting them permission to traffic freely in all the cities of Russiawithout molestation and without paying any tribute or tax. They werefree to establish themselves wherever they pleased to purchase housesand shops, and to engage servants and mechanics in their employ, andto exact from them oaths of fidelity. It was also agreed that a manshould be responsible for his own conduct only, and not for that ofhis agents, and that though the sovereign might punish the criminalwith the loss of liberty and even of life, yet, under nocircumstances, should he touch his property; that should always passto his natural heirs. 

The port of St. Nicholas, which, for ages, had been silent andsolitary in these northern waters where the English had found but apoor and gloomy monastery, the tomb, as it were, of hooded monks, soonbecame a busy place of traffic. The English constructed there a largeand beautiful mansion for the accommodation of their merchants, andstreets were formed, lined with spacious storehouses. The principalmerchandise which the English then imported into Russia consisted ofcloths and sugar. The merchants offered twelve guineas for what wasthen called a half piece of cloth, and four shillings a pound forsugar. 

In 1556, Chanceller embarked for England with four ships richly ladenwith the gold and the produce of Russia, accompanied by Joseph Nepeia, an embassador to the Queen of England. Fortune, which, until then, hadsmiled upon this hardy mariner, now turned adverse. Tempests dispersedhis ships, and one only reached London. Chanceller himself perished inthe waves upon the coast of Scotland. The ships dashed upon the rocks, and the Russian embassador, Nepeia, barely escaped with his life. Arriving at London, he was overwhelmed with caresses and presents. Themost distinguished dignitaries of the State and one hundred and fortymerchants, accompanied by a great number of attendants, all richlyclad and mounted upon superb horses, rode out to meet him. Theypresented to him a horse magnificently caparisoned, and thus escorted, the first Russian embassador made his entrance into the capital ofGreat Britain. The inhabitants of London crowded the streets to catcha sight of the illustrious Russian, and thousands of voices greetedhim with the heartiest acclaim. A magnificent mansion was assigned forhis residence, which was furnished in the highest style of splendor. He was invited to innumerable festivals, and the court were eager toexhibit to him every thing worthy of notice in the city of London. Hewas conducted to the cathedral of St. Paul, to Westminster Abbey, tothe Tower and to all the parks and palaces. The queen received Nepeiawith the most marked consideration. At one of the most gorgeousfestivals he was seated by her side, the observed of all observers. 

The embassador could only regret that the rich presents of furs andRussian fabrics which the tzar had sent by his hand to Mary, were allengulfed upon the coast of Scotland. The queen sent to the tzar themost beautiful fabrics of the English looms, the most exquisitelyconstructed weapons of war, such as sabers, guns and pistols, and aliving lion and lioness, animals which never before had been seenwithin the bounds of the Russian empire. In September, 1557, Nepeiaembarked for Russia, taking with him several English artisans, minersand physicians. Ivan was anxious to lose no opportunity to gain fromforeign lands every thing which could contribute to Russiancivilization. The letter which Mary and Philip returned to Moscow wasflatteringly addressed to the august emperor, Ivan IV. When the tzarlearned all the honors and the testimonials of affection with whichhis embassador had been greeted in London, he considered the Englishas the most precious of all the friends of Russia. He ordered mansionsto be prepared for the accommodation of their merchants in all thecommercial cities of the empire, and he treated them in other respectswith such marked tokens of regard, that all the letters which theywrote to London were filled with expressions of gratitude towards theRussian sovereign. 

In the year 1557 an English commercial fleet entered the Baltic Seaand proceeded to the mouth of the Dwina to establish there an entrepotof English merchandise. The commander-in-chief of the squadron visitedMoscow, where he was received with the greatest cordiality, and thencepassed down the Volga to Astrachan, that he might there establishcommercial relations with Persia. The tzar, reposing entire confidencein the London merchants, entered into their views and promised togrant them every facility for the transportation of Englishmerchandise, even to the remotest sections of the empire. Thiscommercial alliance with Great Britain, founded upon reciprocaladvantages, without any commingling of political jealousies, wasimpressed with a certain character of magnanimity and fraternity whichgreatly augmented the renown of the reign of Ivan IV. , and which was asignal proof of the sagacity of his administration. How beautiful arethe records of peace when contrasted with the hideous annals of war!

The merchants of the other nations of southern and western Europe werenot slow to profit by the discovery that the English had made. Shipsfrom Holland, freighted with the goods of that ingenious andindustrious people, were soon coasting along the bays of the greatempire, and penetrating her rivers, engaged in traffic which neitherRussia or England seemed disposed to disturb. While the tzar wasengaged in those objects which we have thus rapidly traced, otherquestions of immense magnitude engrossed his mind. The Tartar horde inTauride terrified by the destruction of the horde in Kezan, wereravaging southern Russia with continual invasions which the tzar foundit difficult to repress. Poland was also hostile, ever watching for anopportunity to strike a deadly blow, and Sweden, under Gustavus Vasa, was in open war with the empire. 

CHAPTER XV. 

THE ABDICATION OF IVAN IV. 

From 1557 to 1582. 

Terror of the Horde in Tauride. --War with Gustavus Vasa ofSweden. --Political Punctilios. --The Kingdom of Livonia Annexed toSweden. --Death of Anastasia. --Conspiracy Against Ivan. --HisAbdication. --His Resumption of the Crown. --Invasion of Russia by theTartars and Turks. --Heroism of Zerebrinow. --Utter Discomfiture of theTartars. --Relations Between Queen Elizabeth of England, andRussia. --Intrepid Embassage. --New War with Poland. --Disasters ofRussia. --The Emperor Kills His Own Son. --Anguish of Ivan IV. 

The entire subjugation of the Tartars in Kezan terrified the horde inTauride, lest their turn to be overwhelmed should next come. DevletGhirei, the khan of this horde, was a man of great ability andferocity. Ivan IV. Was urged by his counselors immediately to advanceto the conquest of the Crimea. The achievement could then doubtlesshave been easily accomplished. But it was a journey of nearly athousand miles from Moscow to Tauride. The route was very imperfectlyknown; much of the intervening region was an inhospitable wilderness. The Sultan of Turkey was the sovereign master of the horde, and Ivanfeared that all the terrible energies of Turkey would be rousedagainst him. There was, moreover, another enemy nearer at home whomIvan had greater cause to fear. Gustavus Vasa, the King of Sweden, had, for some time, contemplated with alarm the rapidly increasingpower of Russia. He accordingly formed a coalition with the Kings ofPoland and Livonia, and with the powerful Dukes of Prussia and ofDenmark, for those two States were then but dukedoms, to oppose theambition of the tzar. An occasion for hostilities was found in adispute, respecting the boundaries between Russia and Sweden. Theterrible tragedy of war was inducted by a prologue of burningvillages, trampled harvests and massacred peasants, upon thefrontiers. Sieges, bombardments and fierce battles ensued, with thealternations of success. From one triumphal march of invasion intoSweden, the Russians returned so laden with prisoners, that, as theirannalists record, a man was sold for one dollar, and a girl for fiveshillings. 

At length, as usual, both parties became weary of toil and blood, andwere anxious for a respite. Gustavus proposed terms of reconciliation. Ivan IV. Accepted the overtures, though he returned a reproachful andindignant answer. 

"Your people, " he wrote, "have exhausted their ferocity upon ourterritories. Not only have they burned our cities and massacred oursubjects, but they have even profaned our churches, purloined ourimages and destroyed our bells. The inhabitants of Novgorod imploredthe aid of our grand army. My soldiers burned with impatience to carrythe war to Stockholm, but I restrained them; so anxious was I to avoidthe effusion of human blood. All the misery resulting from this war, is to be attributed to your pride. Admitting that you were ignorant ofthe grandeur of Novgorod, you might have learned the facts from yourown merchants. They could have told you, that even the suburbs ofNovgorod are superior to the whole of your capital of Stockholm. Layaside this pride, and give up your quarrelsome disposition. We arewilling to live in peace with you. "

Sweden was not in a condition to resent this rebuke. In February, 1557, the embassadors of Gustavus, consisting of four of the mostillustrious men in the empire, clergy and nobles, accompanied by abrilliant suite, arrived in Moscow. They were not received as friends, but as distinguished prisoners, who were to be treated withconsideration, and whose wants were to be abundantly supplied. Thetzar refused to have any direct intercourse with them, and would onlytreat through the dignitaries of his court. A truce was concluded forforty years. The tzar, to impress the embassadors with his wealth andgrandeur, entertained them sumptuously, and they were served fromvessels of gold. 

Though peace was thus made with Sweden, a foolish quarrel, for sometime, prevented the conclusion of a treaty with Poland. Ivan IV. Demanded, that Augustus, _King_ of Poland, should recognize him as_Emperor_ of Russia. Augustus replied, that there were but twoemperors in the world, the Emperor of Germany and the Sultan ofTurkey. Ivan sent, through his embassadors, to Augustus; the lettersof Pope Clement, of the Emperor Maximilian, of the Sultan, of theKings of Spain, Sweden and Denmark, and the recent dispatch of theKing of England, all of whom recognized his title of tzar, or emperor. Still, the Polish king would not allow Ivan a title, which seemed toplace the Russian throne on an eminence above that of Poland. Unfriendly relations consequently continued, with jealousies andborder strifes, though there was no vigorous outbreak of war. 

Ivan IV. Now succeeded in attaching Livonia to the great and growingempire. It came in first as tributary, purchasing, by an annualcontribution, peace with Russia and protection. Though there were manysubsequent conflicts with Livonia, the territory subsequently becamean integral portion of the empire. Russia had now become so great, that her growth was yearly manifest as surrounding regions wereabsorbed by her superior civilization and her armies. Theunenlightened States which surrounded her, were ever provokinghostilities, invasion, and becoming absorbed. In the year 1558, theTartars of Tauride, having assembled an army of one hundred thousandhorsemen, a combination of Tartars and Turks, suddenly entered Russia, and sweeping resistlessly on, a war tempest of utter desolation, reached within two hundred miles of Moscow. There they learned thatIvan himself, with an army more numerous than their own, was on themarch to meet them. Turning, they retreated more rapidly than theyadvanced. Notwithstanding their retreat, Ivan resolved to pursue themto their own haunts. A large number of bateaux was constructed andlaunched upon the Don and also upon the Dnieper. The army, in thesetwo divisions, descended these streams, one to the Sea of Azof, theother to the mouth of the Dnieper. Thence invading Tauride, both bythe east and the west, they drove the terrified inhabitants, takenentirely by surprise, like sheep before them. The tents of thesenomads they committed to the flames. Their flocks and herds wereseized, with a great amount of booty, and many Russian captives wereliberated. The Tartars fled to fastnesses whence they could not bepursued. Some Turks being taken with the horde, Ivan sent them withrich presents to the sultan, stating that he did not make war againstTurkey, only against the robbers of Tauride. The Russian troopsreturned from this triumphant expedition, by ascending the waters ofthe Dnieper. All Russia was filled with rejoicing, while the churchesresounded with "Te Deums. "

And now domestic griefs came to darken the palace of Ivan. Forthirteen years he had enjoyed all the happiness which conjugal lovecan confer. Anastasia was still in the brilliance of youth and beauty, when she was attacked by dangerous sickness. As she was lying upon hercouch, helpless and burning with fever, the cry of fire was heard. Theday was excessively hot; the windows of the palace all open, and adrouth of several weeks made every thing dry as tinder. Theconflagration commenced in an adjoining street, and, in a moment, volumes of flame and smoke were swept by the wind, enveloping theKremlin, and showering upon it and into it, innumerable flakes offire. The queen was thrown into a paroxysm of terror; the attendantshastily placed her upon a litter and bore her, almost suffocated, through the blazing streets out of the city, to the village ofKolomensk. The emperor then returned to assist in arresting theconflagration. He exposed himself like a common laborer, inspiringothers with intrepidity by mounting ladders, carrying water andopposing the flames in the most dangerous positions. The conflagrationproved awful in its ravages, many of the inhabitants perishing in theflames. 

This calamitous event was more than the feeble frame of Anastasiacould endure. She rapidly failed, and on the 7th of August, 1560, sheexpired. The grief of Ivan was heartrending, and never was nationalaffliction manifested in a more sincere and touching manner. Not onlythe whole court, but almost the entire city of Moscow, followed theremains of Anastasia to their interment. Many, in the bitterness oftheir grief, sobbed aloud. The most inconsolable were the poor andfriendless, calling Anastasia by the name of mother. The anguish ofIvan for a time quite unmanned him, and he wept like a child. The lossof Anastasia did indeed prove to Ivan the greatest of earthlycalamities. She had been his guardian angel, his guide to virtue. Having lost his guide, he fell into many errors from which Anastasiawould have preserved him. 

In the course of a few months, either the tears of Ivan were dried up, or political considerations seemed to render it necessary for him toseek another wife. Notwithstanding the long hereditary hostility whichhad existed between Russia and Poland, perhaps _in consequence of it_, Ivan made proposals for a Polish princess, Catharine, sister ofSigismond Augustus, the king. The Poles demanded, as an essential itemin the marriage contract, that the children of Catharine should takethe precedence of those of Anastasia as heirs to the throne. Thisiniquitous demand the tzar rejected with the scorn it merited. Therevenge in which the Poles indulged was characteristic of the rudenessof the times. The court of Augustus sent a white mare, beautifullycaparisoned, to Ivan, with the message, that such a wife he would findto be in accordance with his character and wants. The outrageousinsult incensed Ivan to the highest degree, and he vowed that thePoles should feel the weight of his displeasure. Catharine, in themeantime, was married to the Duke of Finland, who was brother to theKing of Sweden, and whose sister was married to the King of Denmark. Thus the three kingdoms of Poland, Sweden and Denmark, and the Duchyof Finland were strongly allied by matrimonial ties, and were ready tocombine against the Russian emperor. 

Ivan IV. Nursed his vengeance, waiting for an opportunity to strike ablow which should be felt. Elizabeth was now Queen of England, and herembassador at the court of Russia was in high favor with the emperor. Probably through his influence Ivan showed great favor to the Lutheranclergy, who were gradually gaining followers in the empire. Hefrequently admitted them to court, and even listened to theirarguments in favor of the reformed religion. The higher clergy and thelords were much incensed by this liberality, which, in their view, endangered the ancient usages, both civil and religious, of the realm, and a very formidable conspiracy was organized against the tzar. 

Ivan IV. Was apprised of the conspiracy, and, with singular boldnessand magnanimity, immediately assembled his leading nobles and higherclergy in the great audience-chamber of the Kremlin. He presentedhimself before them in the glittering robes and with all the insigniaof royalty. Divesting himself of them all, he said to his astonishedauditors, "You have deemed me unworthy any longer to occupy the throne. I hereand now give in my abdication, and request you to nominate some personwhom you may consider worthy to be your sovereign. "

Without permitting any reply he dismissed them, and the next dayconvened all the clergy of Moscow in the church of St. Mary. A highmass was celebrated by the metropolitan, in which the monarchassisted, and he then took an affecting leave of them all, in asolemn renunciation of all claims to the crown. Accompanied by his twosons, he retired to the strong yet secluded castle of Caloujintz, situated about five miles from Moscow. Here he remained several days, waiting, it is generally supposed, for a delegation to call, imploringhim again to resume the crown. In this expectation he was notdisappointed. The lords were unprepared for such decisive action. Intheir councils there was nothing but confusion. Anarchy was rapidlycommencing its reign, which would be followed inevitably by civil war. The partisans of the emperor in the provinces were very numerous, andcould be rallied by a word from him; and no one imagined that theemperor had any idea of retiring so peacefully. It was not doubtedthat he would soon appear at the head of an army, and punishrelentlessly the disaffected, who would all then be revealed. Thecitizens, the nobles and the clergy met together and appointed anumerous deputation to call upon the emperor and implore him again toresume the reins of power. 

"Your faithful subjects, sire, " exclaimed the petitioners, "are deeplyafflicted. The State is exposed to fearful peril from dissensionwithin and enemies without. We do therefore most earnestly entreatyour majesty, as a faithful shepherd, still to watch over his flock;we do entreat you to return to your throne, to continue your favor tothe deserving, and not to forsake your faithful subjects inconsequence of the errors of a few. "

Ivan listened with much apparent indifference to this patheticaddress, and either really felt, or affected, great reluctance againto resume the cares of royalty. He requested a day's time to considertheir proposal. The next morning the nobles were again convened, andIvan acquainted them with his decision. Rebuking them with severityfor their ingratitude, reproaching them with the danger to which hislife had been exposed through their conspiracy, he declared that hecould not again assume the cares and the perils of the crown. Stillhis refusal was not so decisive as to exclude all room for furtherentreaties. They renewed their supplications with tears, for Russiawas, indeed, exposed to all the horrors of civil war, should Ivanpersist in his resolve, and it was certain that the empire, thusdistracted, would at once be invaded by both Poles and Turks. 

Thus importuned, Ivan at last consented to return to the Kremlin. Heresolved, however, to make an example of those who had conspiredagainst him, which should warn loudly against the renewal of similarattempts. The principal movers in the plot were executed. Ivan thensurrounded himself with a body guard of two hundred men carefullyselected from the distant provinces, and who were in no way under theinfluence of any of the lords. This body guard, composed of low-born, uneducated men, incapable of being roused to any high enthusiasm, subsequently proved quite a nuisance. 

Ivan IV. Had but just resumed his seat upon the throne when couriersfrom the southern provinces brought the alarming intelligence that animmense army of combined Tartars and Turks had invaded the empire andwere on the rapid march, burning and destroying all before them. Selim, the son and successor of Solyman the Magnificent, entered intoan alliance with several oriental princes, who were to send himsuccors by the way of the Caspian Sea, and raised an army of threehundred thousand men. These troops were embarked at Constantinople, and, crossing the Black Sea and the Sea of Azof, entered Tauride. Herethey were joined by a reinforcement of Crimean Tartars, consisting offorty thousand well-armed and veteran fighters. With this force thesultan marched directly across the country to the Russian city andprovince of Astrachan, at the mouth of the Volga. 

But a heroic man, Zerebrinow, was in command of the fortresses in thisremote province of the Russian empire. He immediately assembled allhis available troops, and, advancing to meet the foe, selected hisown ground for the battle in a narrow defile where the vast masses ofthe enemy would only encumber each other. Falling upon the invadersunexpectedly from ambuscades, he routed the Turks with great carnage. They were compelled to retreat, having lost nearly all their baggageand heavy artillery. The triumphant Russians pursued them all the wayback to the city of Azof, cannonading them with the artillery and theammunition they had wrested from their foes. Here the Turks attemptedto make a final stand, but a chance shot from one of the gunspenetrated the immense powder magazine, and an explosion so terrificensued that two thirds of the city were entirely demolished. 

The Turks, in consternation, now made a rush for their ships. ButZerebrinow, with coolness and sagacity which no horrors could disturb, had already planted his batteries to sweep them with a storm ofbullets and balls. The cannonade was instantly commenced. The missilesof death fell like hail stones into the crowded boats and upon thecrowded decks. Many of the ships were sunk, others disabled, and but afew, torn and riddled, succeeded in escaping to sea, where the most ofthem also perished beneath the waves of the stormy Euxine. Such wasthe utter desolation of this one brief war tempest which lasted but afew weeks. 

Queen Elizabeth, anxious to maintain friendly relations with an empireso vast, and opening before her subjects such a field of profitablecommerce, having been informed of the conspiracy against Ivan IV. , ofhis abdication, and of his resumption of the crown, sent to him anembassador with expressions of her kindest wishes, and assured himthat should he ever be reduced to the disagreeable necessity ofleaving his empire, he would find a safe retreat in England, where hewould be received and provided for in a manner suitable to hisdignity, where he could enjoy the free exercise of his religion and bepermitted to depart whenever he should wish. 

The tolerant spirit manifested by Ivan IV. Towards the Lutherans, continued to disturb the ecclesiastics; and the clergy and nobles ofthe province of Novgorod, headed by the archbishop, formed a plot ofdissevering Novgorod from the empire, and attaching it to the kingdomof Poland. This conspiracy assumed a very formidable attitude, and oneof the brothers of the tzar was involved in it. Ivan immediately sentan army of fifteen thousand men to quell the revolt. We have noaccount of this transaction but from the pens of those who wereenvenomed by their animosity to the religious toleration of Ivan. Wemust consequently receive their narratives with some allowance. 

The army, according to their account, ravaged the whole province; tookthe city by storm; and cut down in indiscriminate slaughtertwenty-five thousand men, women and children. The brother of Ivan IV. Was seized and thrown into prison, where he miserably perished. Thearchbishop was stripped of his canonical robes, clad in the dress of aharlequin, paraded through the streets on a gray mare, an object ofderision to the people, and then was imprisoned for life. Such crueltydoes not seem at all in accordance with the character of Ivan, whilethe grossest exaggeration is in accordance with the character of allcivil and religious partisans. 

War with Poland seems to have been the chronic state of Russia. Whenever either party could get a chance to strike the other a blow, the blow was sure to be given; and they were alike unscrupulouswhether it were a saber blow in the face or a dagger thrust in theback. In the year 1571, a Russian army pursued a discomfited band ofLivonian insurgents across the frontier into Poland. The Poles eagerlyjoined the insurgents, and sent envoys to invite the Crimean Tartarsto invade Russia from Tauride, while Poland and Livonia should assailthe empire from the west. The Tartars were always ready for war at amoment's notice. Seventy thousand men were immediately on the march. They rapidly traversed the southern provinces, trampling down allopposition until they reached the Oka. Here they encountered a fewRussian troops who attempted to dispute the passage of the stream. They were, however, speedily overpowered by the Tartars and werecompelled to retreat. Pressing on, they arrived within sixty miles ofthe city, when they found the Russians again concentered, but now inlarge numbers, to oppose their progress. A fierce battle was fought. Again the Russians were overpowered, and the Tartars, trampling thembeneath their horses' hoofs, with yells of triumph, pressed on towardsthe metropolis. The whole city was in consternation, for it had nomeans of effectual resistance. Ivan IV. In his terror packed up hismost valuable effects, and, with the royal family, fled to a strongfortress far away in the North. 

From the battlements of the city, the banners of these terriblebarbarians were soon seen on the approach. With bugle blasts andsavage shouts they rushed in at the gates, swept the streets withtheir sabers, pillaged houses and churches, and set the city on firein all directions. The city was at that time, according to thetestimony of the cotemporary annalists, forty miles in circumference. The weltering flames rose and fell as in the crater of a volcano, andin six hours the city was in ashes. Thousands perished in the flames. The fire, communicating with a powder magazine, produced an explosionwhich uphove the buildings like an earthquake, and prostrated morethan a third of a mile of the city walls. According to the mostreliable testimony, there perished in Moscow, by fire and sword, fromthis one raid of the Tartars, more than one hundred and fifty thousandof its inhabitants. 

The Tartars, tottering beneath the burden of their spoil, and draggingafter them many thousand prisoners of distinction, slowly, proudly, defiantly retired. With barbaric genius they sent to the tzar a nakedcimiter, accompanied by the following message:

"This is a token left to your majesty by an enemy, whose revenge isstill unsatiated, and who will soon return again to complete the workwhich he has but just begun. "

Such is war. It is but a succession of miseries. A hundred and fiftythousand Tartars perished but a few months before in the waves of theEuxine. Now, a hundred and fifty thousand Russians perish, in theirturn, amidst the flames of Moscow. When we contemplate the wars whichhave incessantly ravaged this globe, the history of man seems to bebut the record of the strifes of demons, with occasional gleams ofangel magnanimity. 

After the retreat of the Tartars, Ivan IV. Convened a council of war, punished with death those officers who had fled before the enemy as hehimself had done; and, rendered pliant by accumulated misfortune, hepresented such overtures to the King of Poland as to obtain thepromise of a truce for three years. Soon after this, Sigismond, Kingof Poland, died. The crown was elective, and the nobles, who met tochoose a new monarch, by a considerable majority invited MaximilianII. , Emperor of Germany, to assume the scepter. They assigned as areason for this choice, which surprised Europe, the religiousliberality of the emperor, who, as they justly remarked, hadconciliated the contending factions of the Christian world, and hadacquired more glory by his pacific policy than other princes hadacquired in the exploits of war. 

A minority of the nobles were displeased with this choice, andrefusing to accede to the vote of the majority, proceeded to anotherelection, and chose Stephen Bathori, a warrior chief of Transylvania, as their sovereign. [9] The two parties now rallied around their rivalcandidates and prepared for war. Ivan IV. Could not allow so favorablean opportunity to interfere in the politics of Poland to escape him. He immediately sent embassadors to Maximilian, offering to assist himwith all the power of the Russian armies against Stephen Bathori. Maximilian gratefully acknowledged the generosity of the tzar, andpromised to return the favor whenever an opportunity should bepresented. At the same time, Stephen Bathori, who had already beencrowned King of Poland, sent an embassador to Moscow to inform Ivan ofhis election and coronation, and to propose friendly relations withRussia. Ivan answered frankly that a treaty already existed betweenhim and the Emperor Maximilian, but that, since he wished to live onfriendly terms with Poland, whoever her monarch might be, he wouldsend embassadors to examine into the claims of the rival candidatesfor the crown. Thus adroitly he endeavored to obtain for himself theposition of umpire between Maximilian and Stephen Bathori. The deathof the Emperor Maximilian on the 12th of October, 1576, settled thisstrife, and Stephen attained the undisputed sovereignty of Poland. 

[Footnote 9: See Empire of Austria, page 181. ]

Almost the first measure of the new sovereign, in accordance withhereditary usage, was war against Russia. His object was to regainthose territories which the tzar had heretofore wrested from thePoles. Apparently trivial incidents reveal the rude and fiercecharacter of the times. Stephen chivalrously sent first an embassador, Basil Lapotinsky, to the court of Ivan, to demand the restitution ofthe provinces. Lapotinsky was accompanied by a numerous train ofnobles, magnificently mounted and armed to the teeth. As theglittering cavalcade, protected by its flag of truce, swept alongthrough the cities of Russia towards Moscow, and it became known thatthey were the bearers of an imperious message, demanding the surrenderof portions of the Russian empire, the populace were with difficultyrestrained from falling upon them. 

Through a thousand dangers they reached Moscow. When there, Lapotinskydeclared that he came not as a suppliant, but to present a claim whichhis master was prepared to enforce, if necessary, with the sword, andthat, in accordance with the character of his mission, he wasdirected, in his audience with Ivan, to present the letter with onehand while he held his unsheathed saber in the other. The officers ofthe imperial household assured him that such bravado would inevitablycost him his life. 

"The tzar, " Lapotinsky replied, "can easily take my life, and he maydo so if he please, but nothing shall prevent me from performing theduty with which I am intrusted, with the utmost exactitude. "

The audience day arrived. Lapotinsky was conducted to the Kremlin. Thetzar, in his imperial robes glittering with diamonds and pearls, received him in a magnificent hall. The haughty embassador, with greatdignity and in respectful terms, yet bold and decisive, demandedreparation for the injuries which Russia had inflicted upon Poland. His gleaming saber was carelessly held in one hand and the letter tothe tzar, from the King of Poland, in the other. Having finished hisbrief speech, he received a cimeter from one of his suite, and, advancing firmly, yet very respectfully, to the monarch, presentedthem both, saying, "Here is peace and here is war. It is for your majesty to choosebetween them. "

Ivan IV. Was capable of appreciating the nobility of such a character. The intrepidity of the embassador, which was defiled with nocomminglings of insolence, excited his admiration. The emperor, with asmile, took the letter, which was written on parchment in the Russianlanguage and sealed with a seal of gold. Slowly and carefully he readit, and then addressing the embassador, said, "Such menaces will not induce Russia to surrender her dominions toPoland. We, who have vanquished the Poles on so many fields of battle, who have conquered the Tartars of Kezan and Astrachan, and who havetriumphed over the forces of the Ottoman empire, will soon cause theKing of Poland to repent his rashness. "

He then dismissed the embassador, ordering him to be treated with therespect due his high station. War being thus formally declared, bothparties prepared to prosecute it with the utmost vigor. The tzarimmediately commenced raising a large army, reinforced his garrisons, and sent a secret envoy to Tauride, to excite the Crimean Tartars toinvade Poland on the south-east while Russia should make an assaultfrom the north. 

The Poles opened the campaign by crossing the frontiers with a largearmy, seizing several minor cities and laying siege to the importantfortress of Polotzk. After a long siege, which constituted one ofthose terrific tragedies of blood and woe with which the pages ofhistory are filled, but which no pen can describe and no imaginationcan conceive, the city, a pile of gory and smouldering ruins, fellinto the hands of the Poles. Battle after battle, siege after siegeensued, in nearly all of which the Poles were successful. They wereguided by their monarch in person, a veteran warrior, who possessedextraordinary military skill. The blasts of winter drove both partiesfrom the field. But, in the earliest spring, the campaign was openedagain with redoubled energy. Again the Poles, who had obtained strongreinforcements of troops from Germany and Hungary, were signallysuccessful. Though the fighting was constant and arduous, the wholecampaign was but a series of conquests on the part of Stephen, andwhen the snows of another winter whitened the fields, the Polishbanners were waving over large portions of the Russian territory. Thedetails of these scenes are revolting. Fire, blood and the brutalpassions of demoniac men were combined in deeds of horror, the recitalof which makes the ears to tingle. 

Before the buds of another spring had opened into leaf, the contendingarmies were again upon the march. Poland had now succeeded inenlisting Sweden in her cause, and Russia began to be quite seriouslyimperiled. Riga, on the Dwina, soon fell into the hands of the Poles, and their banners were resistlessly on the advance. Ivan IV. , muchdejected, proposed terms of peace. Stephen refused to treat unlessRussia would surrender the whole of Livonia, a province nearly threetimes as large as the State of Massachusetts, to Poland. The tzar wascompelled essentially to yield to these hard terms. 

The treaty of peace was signed on the 15th of January, 1582. Ivan IV. Surrendered to Poland all of Livonia which bordered on Poland, whichcontained thirty-four towns and castles, together with several otherimportant fortresses on the frontiers. A truce was concluded for tenyears, should both parties live so long. But should either die, thesurvivor was at liberty immediately to attack the territory of thedeceased. No mention whatever was made of Sweden in this treaty. Thisneglect gave such offense to the Swedish court, that, in pettyrevenge, they sent an _Italian cook_ to the Polish court as anembassador with the most arrogant demands. Stephen very wisely treatedthe insult, which he probably deserved, with contempt. 

The result of this war, so humiliating to Russia, rendered Ivan veryunpopular. Murmurs loud and deep were heard all over the empire. Manyof the nobles threw themselves at the feet of the tzar and entreatedhim not to assent to so disgraceful a treaty, assuring him that thewhole nation were ready at his call to rise and drive the invadersfrom the empire. Ivan was greatly incensed, and petulantly repliedthat if they were not satisfied with his administration they hadbetter choose another sovereign. Suspecting that his son was incitingthis movement, and that he perhaps was aiming at the crown, Ivanassailed him in the bitterest terms of reproach. The young princereplied in a manner which so exasperated his father, that he struckhim with a staff which he had in his hand. The staff was tipped withan iron ferule which unfortunately hit the young man on the temple, and he fell senseless at his father's feet. 

The anguish of Ivan was unspeakable. His paroxysm of anger instantlygave place to a more intense paroxysm of grief and remorse. He threwhimself upon the body of his son, pressed him fervently to his heart, and addressed him in the most endearing terms of affection andaffliction. The prince so far revived as to be able to exchange a fewwords with his father, but in four days he died. The blow whichdeprived the son of life, for ever after deprived the father of peace. He was seldom again seen to smile. Any mention of his son would everthrow him into a paroxysm of tears. For a long time he could withdifficulty be persuaded to take any nourishment or to change hisdress. With the utmost possible demonstrations of grief and respectthe remains of the prince were conveyed to the grave. The death ofthis young man was a calamity to Russia. He was the worthy son ofAnastasia, and from his mother he had inherited both genius and moralworth. By a subsequent marriage Ivan had two other sons, Feodor andDmitri. But they were of different blood; feeble in intellect andpossessed no requisites for the exalted station opening before them. 

CHAPTER XVI. 

THE STORMS OF HEREDITARY SUCCESSION. 

From 1582 to 1608. 

Anguish and Death of Ivan IV. --His Character. --Feodor andDmitri. --Usurpation of Boris Gudenow. --The Polish Election. --Conquestof Siberia. --Assassination of Dmitri. --Death of Feodor. --Boris CrownedKing. --Conspiracies. --Reappearance of Dmitri. --Boris Poisoned. --ThePretender Crowned. --Embarrassments of Dmitri. --A NewPretender. --Assassination of Dmitri. --Crowning of Zuski. --Indignationof Poland. --Historical Romance. 

The hasty blow which deprived the son of Ivan of life was also fatalto the father. He never recovered from the effects. After a few monthsof anguish and remorse, Ivan IV. Sank sorrowing to the grave. Penitent, prayerful and assured that his sins were forgiven, he metdeath with perfect composure. The last days of his life were devotedexclusively to such preparations for his departure that the welfare ofhis people might be undisturbed. He ordered a general act of amnestyto be proclaimed to all the prisoners throughout all the empire, abolished several onerous taxes, restored several confiscated estatesto their original owners, and urged his son, Feodor, who was to be hissuccessor, to make every possible endeavor to live at peace with hisneighbors, that Russia might thus be saved from the woes of war. Exhausted by a long interview with his son, he took a bath; on comingout he reclined upon a couch, and suddenly, without a struggle or agroan, was dead. 

Ivan IV. Has ever been regarded as one of the most illustrious of theRussian monarchs. He was eminently a learned prince for the times inwhich he lived, entertaining uncommonly just views both of religionand politics. In religion he was tolerant far above his age, allowingno Christians to be persecuted for their belief. We regret that thishigh praise must be limited by his treatment of the Jews, whom hecould not endure. With conscientiousness, unenlightened and bigoted, he declared that those who had betrayed and crucified the Saviour ofthe world ought not to be tolerated by any Christian prince. Heaccordingly ordered every Jew either to be baptized into the Christianfaith or to depart from the empire. 

Ivan was naturally of a very hasty temper, which was nurtured by thecruel and shameful neglect of his early years. Though he struggledagainst this infirmity, it would occasionally break out in paroxysmswhich caused bitter repentance. The death of his son, caused by one ofthese outbreaks, was the great woe of his life. Still he wasdistinguished for his love of justice. At stated times the aggrievedof every rank were admitted to his presence, where they in personpresented their petitions. If any minister or governor was foundguilty of oppression, he was sure to meet with condign punishment. This impartiality, from which no noble was exempted, at timesexasperated greatly the haughty aristocracy. He was also inflexible inhis determination to confer office only upon those who were worthy ofthe trust. No solicitations or views of self-interest could induce himto swerve from this resolve. Intemperance he especially abominated, and frowned upon the degrading vice alike in prince or peasant. Heconferred an inestimable favor upon Russia by causing a compilation, for the use of his subjects, of a body of laws, which was called "TheBook of Justice. " This code was presented to the judges, and wasregarded as authority in all law proceedings. 

The historians of those days record that his memory was so remarkablethat he could call all the officers of his army by name, and couldeven remember the name of every prisoner he had taken, numbering manythousands. In those days of dim enlightenment, when the masses werelittle elevated above the animal, the popular mind was more easilyimpressed by material than intellectual grandeur. It was then deemednecessary, among the unenlightened nations of Europe, to overawe themultitude by the splendor of the throne--by scepters, robes anddiadems glittering with priceless jewels and with gold. The crownregalia of Russia were inestimably rich. The robe of the monarch wasof purple, embroidered with precious stones, and even his shoessparkled with diamonds of dazzling luster. 

When he sat upon his throne to receive foreign embassadors, or themembers of his own court, he held in his right hand a globe, theemblem of universal monarchy, enriched with all the jeweled splendorwhich art could entwine around it. In his left hand he held a scepter, which also dazzled the eye by its superb embellishments. His fingerswere laden with the most precious gems the Indies could afford. Whenever he appeared in public, the arms of the empire, finelyembroidered upon a spread eagle, and magnificently adorned, were borneas a banner before him; and the masses of the people bowed beforetheir monarch, thus arrayed, as though he were a god. 

Ivan IV. Left two sons, Feodor and Dmitri. Feodor, who succeeded hisfather, was twenty years of age, weak, characterless, though quiteamiable. In his early youth his chief pleasure seemed to consist inringing the bells of Moscow, which led his father, at one time, to saythat he was fitter to be the son of a sexton than of a prince. Dmitriwas an infant. He was placed, by his father's will, under the tutelageof an energetic, ambitious noble, by the name of Bogdan Bielski. Thisaspiring nobleman, conscious of the incapacity of Feodor to govern, laid his plans to obtain the throne for himself. 

Feodor was crowned immediately after the death of his father, andproceeded at once to carry out the provisions of his will byliberating the prisoners, abolishing the taxes and restoringconfiscated estates. He also abolished the body guard of the tzar, which had become peculiarly obnoxious to the nation. These measuresrendered him, for a time, very popular. This popularity thwartedBielski in the plan of organizing the people and the nobles in aconspiracy against the young monarch, and the nobles even became somuch alarmed by the proceedings of the haughty minister, who was soevidently aiming at the usurpation of the throne, that they besiegedhim in his castle. The fortress was strong, and the powerful feudallord, rallying his vassals around him, made a valiant and a protracteddefense. At length, finding that he would be compelled to surrender, he attempted to escape in disguise. Being taken a captive, he wasoffered his choice, death, or the renunciation of all politicalinfluence and departure into exile. He chose the latter, and retiredbeyond the Volga to one of the most remote provinces of Kezan. 

Feodor had married the daughter of one of the most illustrious of hisnobles. His father-in-law, a man of peculiar address and capacity, with ability both to conceive and execute the greatest undertakings, soon attained supremacy over the mind of the feeble monarch. The nameof this noble, who became renowned in Russian annals, was BorisGudenow. He had the rare faculty of winning the favor of all whom heapproached. With rapid strides he attained the posts of primeminister, commander-in-chief and co-regent of the empire. A Polishembassador at this time visited Moscow, and, witnessing the extremefeebleness of Feodor, sent word to his ambitious master, StephenBathori, that nothing would be easier than to invade Russiasuccessfully; that Smolensk could easily be taken, and that thence thePolish army might find an almost unobstructed march to Moscow. Butdeath soon removed the Polish monarch from the labyrinths of war anddiplomacy. 

Boris was now virtually the monarch of Russia, reigning, however, inthe name of Feodor. We have before mentioned that Poland was anelective monarchy. Immediately upon the death of a sovereign, thenobles, with their bands of retainers, often eighty thousand innumber, met upon a large plain, where they spent many days inintrigues and finally in the election of a new chieftain. BorisGudenow now roused all his energies in the endeavor to unite Polandand Russia under one monarchy by the election of Feodor as sovereignof the latter kingdom. The Polish nobles, proud and self-confident, and apprised of the incapacity of Feodor, were many of them in favorof the plan, as Boris had adroitly intimated to them that they mightregard the measure rather as the annexing Russia to Poland than Polandto Russia. All that Boris cared for was the fact accomplished. He waswilling that the agents of his schemes should be influenced by anymotives which might be most efficacious. 

The Polish diet met in a stormy session, and finally, a majority ofits members, instead of voting for Feodor, elected Prince Sigismond, ason of John, King of Sweden. This election greatly alarmed Russia, asit allied Poland and Sweden by the most intimate ties, and mighteventually place the crown of both of those powerful kingdoms upon thesame brow. These apprehensions were increased by the fact that theCrimean Tartars soon again began to make hostile demonstrations, andit was feared that they were moving only in accordance withsuggestions which had been sent to them from Poland and Sweden, andthat thus a triple alliance was about to desolate the empire. TheTartars commenced their march. But Boris met them with such energythat they were driven back in utter discomfiture. 

The northern portion of Asia consisted of a vast, desolate, thinly-peopled country called Siberia. It was bounded by the Caucasianand Altai mountains on the south, the Ural mountains on the west, thePacific Ocean on the east, and the Frozen Ocean on the north. Most ofthe region was within the limits of the frozen zone, and the mostsouthern sections were cold and inhospitable, enjoying but a gleam ofsummer sunshine. This country, embracing over four millions of squaremiles, being thus larger than the whole of Europe, contained but abouttwo millions of inhabitants. It was watered by some of the mostmajestic rivers on the globe, the Oby, Enisei and the Lena. Thepopulation consisted mostly of wandering Mohammedan Tartars, in a verylow state of civilization. At that time there were but two importanttowns in this region, Tura and Tobolsk. Some of the barbarians of thisregion descended to the shores of the Volga, in a desolating, predatory excursion. A Russian army drove them back, pursued them totheir homes, took both of these towns, erected fortresses, andgradually brought the whole of Siberia under Russian sway. This greatconquest was achieved almost without bloodshed. 

Boris Gudenow now exercised all the functions of sovereign authority. His energy had enriched Russia with the accession of Siberia. He nowresolved to lay aside the feeble prince Feodor, who nominally occupiedthe throne, and to place the crown upon his own brow. It seemed to himan easy thing to appropriate the emblems of power, since he alreadyenjoyed all the prerogatives of royalty. Under the pretense ofrewarding, with important posts of trust, the most efficient of thenobles, he removed all those whose influence he had most to dread, todistant provinces and foreign embassies. He then endeavored, by manyfavors, to win the affections of the populace of Moscow. 

The young prince Dmitri had now attained his ninth year, and wasresiding, under the care of his tutors, at the city of Uglitz, abouttwo hundred miles from Moscow. Uglitz, with its dependencies, had beenassigned to him for his appanage. Gudenow deemed it essential, to hissecure occupancy of the throne, that this young prince should be putout of the way. He accordingly employed a Russian officer, by thepromise of immense rewards, to assassinate the child. And then, thedeed having been performed, to prevent the possibility of his agencyin it being divulged, he caused another low-born murderer to track thepath of the officer and plunge a dagger into his bosom. Both murderswere successfully accomplished. 

The news of the assassination of the young prince soon reached Moscow, and caused intense excitement. Gudenow was by many suspected, thoughhe endeavored to stifle the report by clamorous expressions of horrorand indignation, and by apparently making the most strenuous effortsto discover the murderers. As an expression of his rage, he senttroops to demolish the fortress of Uglitz, and to drive theinhabitants from the city, because they had, as he asserted, harboredthe assassins. Soon after this Feodor was suddenly taken ill. Helingered upon his bed for a few days in great pain, and then died. When the king was lying upon this dying bed, Boris Gudenow, who, itwill be recollected, was the father of the wife of Feodor, succeededin obtaining from him a sort of bequest of the throne, and immediatelyupon the death of the king, he assumed the state of royalty as a dutyenjoined upon him by this bequest. The death of Feodor terminated thereign of the house of Ruric, which had now governed Russia for morethan seven hundred years. 

Not a little artifice was still requisite to quell the indignantpassions which were rising in the bosoms of the nobles. But Gudenowwas a consummate master of his art, and through the intrigues of yearshad the programme of operations all arranged. According to custom, sixweeks were devoted to mourning for Feodor. Boris then assembled thenobility and principal citizens of Moscow, in the Kremlin, and, to theunutterable surprise of many of them, declared that he could notconsent to assume the weighty cares and infinite responsibilities ofroyalty; that the empire was unfortunately left without a sovereign, and that they must proceed to designate the one to whom the crownshould be transferred; that he, worn down with the toils of State, haddecided to retire to a monastery, and devote the remainder of his daysto poverty, retirement and to God. He immediately took leave of theastonished and perplexed assembly, and withdrew to a convent aboutthree miles from Moscow. 

The partisans of Boris were prepared to act their part. They statedthat intelligence had arrived that the Tartars, with an immense army, had commenced the invasion of Russia; that Boris alone was familiarwith the condition and resources of the empire, and with the detailsof administration--that he was a veteran soldier, and that hismilitary genius and vigorous arm were requisite to beat back the foe. These considerations were influential, and a deputation was chosen tourge Boris, as he loved his country, to continue in power and acceptthe scepter, which, as prime minister, he had so long successfullywielded. Boris affected the most extreme reluctance. The populace ofMoscow, whose favor he had purchased, surrounded the convent incrowds, and with vehemence, characteristic of their impulsive, childish natures, threw themselves upon the ground, tore their hair, beat their breasts, and declared that they would never return to theirhomes unless Boris would consent to be their sovereign. 

Pretending, at last, to be overcome by these entreaties, Borisconsented to raise and lead an army to repel the Tartars, and hepromised that should Providence prosper him in this enterprise, hewould regard it as an indication that it was the will of Heaven thathe should ascend the throne. He immediately called all his tremendousenergies into exercise, and in a few months collected an army, of thenobles and of the militia, amounting to five hundred thousand men. With great pomp he rode through the ranks of this mighty host, receiving their enthusiastic applause. In that day, as neithertelegraphs, newspapers or stage-coaches existed, intelligence wastransmitted with difficulty, and very slowly. The story of the Tartarinvasion proved a sham. Boris had originated it to accomplish hispurposes. He amused and conciliated the soldiers with magnificentparades, intimating that the Tartars, alarmed by his vastpreparations, had not dared to advance against him. A year's pay wasordered for each one of the soldiers. The nobles received gratuitiesand were entertained by the tzar in festivals, at which parties of tenthousand, day after day, were feasted, during an interval of sixweeks. Boris then returned to Moscow. The people met him several milesfrom the city, and conducted him in triumph to the Kremlin. He wascrowned, with great pomp, Emperor of Russia, on the 1st of September, 1577. 

Boris watched, with an eagle eye, all those who could by anypossibility disturb his reign or endanger the permanence of the newdynasty which he wished to establish. Some of the princes of the oldroyal family were forbidden to marry; others were banished to Siberia. The diadem, thus usurped, proved indeed a crown of thorns. That whichis founded in crime, can generally by crime alone be perpetuated. Themanners of the usurper were soon entirely altered. He had beenaffable, easy of access, and very popular. But now he became haughty, reserved and suspicious. Wishing to strengthen his dynasty by royalalliances, he proposed the marriage of his daughter to Gustavus, sonof Eric XIV. , King of Sweden. He accordingly invited Gustavus toMoscow, making him pompous promises. The young prince was receivedwith magnificent display and loaded with presents. But there was soona falling out between Boris and his intended son-in-law, and the youngprince was dismissed in disgrace. He however succeeded in establishinga treaty of peace with the Poles, which was to continue twenty years. He also was successful in contracting an alliance for his daughterAxinia, with Duke John of Denmark. The marriage was celebrated inMoscow in 1602 with great splendor. But even before the marriagefestivities were closed, the duke was taken sick and died, to theinexpressible disappointment of Boris. 

The Turks from Constantinople sent an embassy to Moscow with richpresents, proposing a treaty of friendship and alliance. But Borisdeclined the presents and dismissed the embassadors, saying that hecould never be friendly to the Turks, as they were the enemies ofChristianity. Like many other men, he could trample upon the preceptsof the gospel, and yet be zealous of Christianity as a doctrinal codeor an institution. 

A report was now circulated that the young Dmitri was still alive, that his mother, conscious of the danger of his assassination, hadplaced the prince in a position of safety, and that another child hadbeen assassinated in his stead. This rumor overwhelmed the guilty soulof Boris with melancholy. His fears were so strongly excited, thatseveral nobles, who were supposed to be in the interests of the youngprince, were put to the rack to extort a confession. But no positiveinformation respecting Dmitri could be gained. The mother of Dmitriwas banished to an obscure fortress six hundred miles from Moscow. 

The emissaries of Boris were everywhere busy to detect, if possible, the hiding place of Dmitri. Intelligence was at length brought to theKremlin that two monks had escaped from a convent and had fled toPoland, and that it was apprehended that one of them was the youngprince in disguise; it was also said that Weisnowiski, prince of Kief, was protector of Dmitri, and, in concert with others, was preparing amovement to place him upon the throne of his ancestors. Boris wasthrown into paroxysms of terror. Not knowing what else to do, hefranticly sent a party of Cossacks to murder Weisnowiski; but theprince was on his guard, and the enterprise failed. 

The question, "Have we a Bourbon among us?" has agitated the whole ofthe United States. The question, "Have we a Dmitri among us?" thenagitated Russia far more intensely. It was a question of the utmostpractical importance, involving civil war and the removal of the newdynasty for the restoration of the old. Whether the person said to beDmitri were really such, is a question which can now never be settled. The monk Griska Utropeja, who declared himself to be the young prince, sustained his claim with such an array of evidence as to secure thesupport of a large portion of the Russians, and also the coöperationof the court of Poland. The claims of Griska were brought up beforethe Polish diet and carefully examined. He was then acknowledged bythem as the legitimate heir to the crown of Russia. An army was raisedto restore him to his ancestral throne. Sigismond, the King of Poland, with ardor espoused his cause. 

Boris immediately dispatched an embassy to Warsaw to remind Sigismondof the treaty of alliance into which he had entered, and to insistupon his delivering up the pretended Dmitri, dead or alive. A threatwas added to the entreaty: "If you countenance this impostor, " saidBoris, "you will draw down upon you a war which you may have cause torepent. "

Sigismond replied, that though he had no doubt that Griska was trulythe Prince Dmitri, and, as such, entitled to the throne of Russia, still he had no disposition personally to embark in the advocacy ofhis rights; but, that if any of his nobles felt disposed to espousehis claims with arms or money, he certainly should do nothing tothwart them. The Polish nobles, thus encouraged, raised an army offorty thousand men, which they surrendered to Griska. He, assuming thename of Dmitri, placed himself at their head, and boldly commenced amarch upon Moscow. As soon as he entered the Russian territories manynobles hastened to his banners, and several important cities declaredfor him. 

Boris was excessively alarmed. With characteristic energy he speedilyraised an army of two hundred thousand men, and then was in the utmostterror lest this very army should pass over to the ranks of his foes. He applied to Sweden and to Denmark to help him, but both kingdomsrefused. Dmitri advanced triumphantly, and laid siege to Novgorod onthe 21st of December, 1605. For five months the war continued withvarying success. Boris made every attempt to secure the assassinationof Griska, but the wary chieftain was on his guard, and all suchendeavors were frustrated. Griska at length decided to resort to thesame weapons. An officer was sent to the Kremlin with a feignedaccount of a victory obtained over the troops of Dmitri. This officersucceeded in mingling poison with the food of Boris. The drug was sodeadly that the usurper dropped and expired almost without a struggleand without a groan. 

As soon as Boris was dead, his widow, a woman of great ambition andenergy, lost not an hour in proclaiming the succession of her son, Feodor. The officers of the army were promptly summoned to take theoath of allegiance to the new sovereign. Feodor was but fifteen yearsof age, a thoroughly spoilt boy, proud, domineering, selfish andcruel. There was now a revolt in the army of the late tzar. Several ofthe officers embraced the cause of Griska, declaring their fullconviction that he was the Prince Dmitri, and, they carried over tohis ranks a large body of the soldiers. 

The defection of the army caused great consternation at court. Thecourtiers, eager to secure the favor of the prince whose star was soevidently in the ascendant, at once abandoned the hapless Feodor andhis enraged mother; and the halls of the Kremlin and the streets ofMoscow were soon resounding with the name of Dmitri. A proclamationwas published declaring general amnesty, and rich rewards to all whoshould recognize and support the rights of their legitimate prince, but that his opponents must expect no mercy. The populace immediatelyrose in revolt against Feodor. They assailed the Kremlin. In aresistless inundation they forced its gates, seized the young tzar, with his mother, sister and other relatives, and hurried them all toprison. 

Dmitri was at Thula when he received intelligence of this revolution. He immediately sent an officer, Basilius Galitzan, to Moscow toreceive the oath of fidelity of the city, and, at the same time, hediabolically sent an assassin, one Ivan Bogdanoff, with orders tostrangle Feodor and his mother in the prison, but with directions notto hurt his sister. Bogdanoff reluctantly executed his mission. On the15th of July, 1605, Dmitri made his triumphal entry into Moscow. Hewas received with all the noisy demonstrations of public rejoicing, and, on the 29th of July, was crowned, with extraordinary grandeur, Emperor of all the Russias. 

The ceremonies of the triumphal entrance are perhaps worthy of record. A detachment of Polish horse in brilliant uniform led the procession, headed by a numerous band of trumpeters. Then came the gorgeous coachof Dmitri, empty, drawn by six horses, richly caparisoned, andpreceded, followed and flanked by dense columns of musqueteers. Nextcame a procession of the clergy in their ecclesiastical robes, andwith the banners of the church. This procession was led by thebishops, who bore effigies of the Virgin Mary and of St. Nicholas, thepatron saint of Russia. Following the clergy appeared Dmitri, mountedon a white charger, and surrounded by a splendid retinue. He proceededfirst to the church of Notre Dame, where a Te Deum was chanted, andwhere the new monarch received the sacrament. He then visited the tombof Ivan IV. , and kneeling upon it, as the tomb of his father, imploredGod's blessing. Perceiving that the body of Boris Gudenow had receivedinterment in the royal cemetery, he ordered his remains, with those ofhis wife and son, all three of whom Dmitri had caused to beassassinated, to be removed to a common churchyard without the city. 

Either to silence those who might doubt his legitimacy or being trulythe son of Ivan IV. , he sent two of the nobles, with a brilliantretinue, to the convent, more than six hundred miles from Moscow, towhich Boris had banished the widow of Ivan. They were to conduct thequeen dowager to the capital. As she approached the city, Dmitri wentout to receive her, accompanied by a great number of his nobles. Assoon as he perceived her coach, he alighted, went on foot to meet hisalleged mother, and threw himself into her arms with everydemonstration of joy and affection, which embraces she returned withequal tenderness. Then, with his head uncovered, and walking by theside of her carriage, he conducted her to the city and to the Kremlin. He ever after treated her with the deference due to a mother, andreceived from her corresponding proofs of confidence and affection. 

But Dmitri was thoroughly a bad man, and every day became moreunpopular. He debauched the young sister of Feodor, and then shut herup in a convent. He banished seventy noble families who were accusedof being the friends of Boris, and gave their estates and dignities tohis Polish partisans. A party was soon organized against him, whobusily circulated reports that he was an impostor, and a conspiracywas formed to take his life. Perplexities and perils now gatheredrapidly around his throne. He surrounded himself with Polish guards, and thus increased the exasperation of his subjects. 

To add to his perplexities, another claimant of the crown appeared, who declared himself to be the son of the late tzar, Feodor, son ofIvan IV. This young man, named Peter, was seventeen years of age. Hehad raised his standard on the other side of the Volga, and hadrallied four thousand partisans around him. In the meantime, Dmitrihad made arrangements for his marriage with Mariana Meneiski, a Polishprincess, of the Roman church. This princess was married to the tzarby proxy, in Cracow, and in January, 1606, with a numerous retinue setout on her journey to Moscow. She did not reach the capital of Moscowuntil the 1st of May. Her father's whole family, and several thousandarmed Polanders, by way of guard, accompanied her. Many of the Polishnobles also took this opportunity of visiting Russia, and a multitudeof merchants put themselves in her train for purposes of traffic. 

The tzarina was met, at some distance from Moscow, by the royal guard, and escorted to the city, where she was received with ringing ofbells, shoutings, discharge of cannons and all the ordinary andextraordinary demonstrations of popular joy. On the 8th of May, theceremony of blessing the marriage was performed by the patriarch, andimmediately after she was crowned tzarina with greater pomp thanRussia had ever witnessed before. But the appearance of this immensetrain of armed Poles incensed the Russians; and the clergy, who werejealous of the encroachments of the church of Rome, were alarmed inbehalf of their religion. An intrepid noble, Zuski, now resolved, bythe energies of a popular insurrection, to rid the throne of Dmitri. With great sagacity and energy the conspiracy was formed. The tzarinawas to give a grand entertainment on the evening of the 17th of May, and the conspirators fixed upon that occasion for the consummation oftheir plan. Twenty thousand troops were under the orders of Zuski, andhe had led them all into the city, under the pretense of having themassist in the festival. 

At six o'clock in the morning of the appointed day these troops, accompanied by some thousands of the populace, surrounded the palaceand seized its gates. A division was then sent in, who commenced theindiscriminate massacre of all who were, or who looked like Polanders. It was taken for granted that all in the palace were either Poles ortheir partisans. The alarm bells were now rung, and Zuski traversedthe streets with a drawn saber in one hand and a cross in the other, rousing the ignorant populace by the cry that the Poles had taken uparms to murder the Russians. Dmitri, in his chamber, hearing thecries of the dying and the shrieks of those who fled before theassassins, leaped from his window into the court yard, and, by hisfall, dislocated his thigh. He was immediately seized, conveyed intothe grand hall of audience, and a strong guard was set over him. 

The murderers ransacked the palace, penetrating every room, killingevery Polish man and treating the Polish ladies with the utmostbrutality. They inquired eagerly for the tzarina, but she was nowhereto be found. She had concealed herself beneath the hoop of an elderlylady whose gray hairs and withered cheek had preserved her fromviolence. Zuski now went to the dowager tzarina, the widow of IvanIV. , and demanded that she should take her oath upon the Gospelswhether Dmitri were her son. He reported that, thus pressed, sheconfessed that he was an impostor, and that her true son had perishedmany years before. The conspirators now fell upon Dmitri and his bodywas pierced with a thousand dagger thrusts. His mangled remains werethen dragged through the streets and burned. Mariana was soon afterarrested and sent to prison. It is said that nearly two thousand Polesperished in this massacre. 

Even to the present day opinion is divided in Russia in regard toDmitri, whether he was an impostor or the son of Ivan IV. Respectinghis character there is no dispute. All that can be said in his favoris that he would not commit an atrocious crime unless impelled to itby very strong temptation. There was now no one who seemed to have anylegitimate title to the throne of Russia. 

The nobles and the senators who were at Moscow then met to proceed tothe election of a new sovereign. It was an event almost without aparallel in Russian history. The lords, though very friendly in theirdeliberations, found it difficult to decide into whose hands tointrust the scepter. It was at last unanimously concluded to make anappeal to the people. Their voice was for Zuski. He was accordinglydeclared tzar and was soon after crowned with a degree of unanimitywhich, though well authenticated, seems inexplicable. 

The Poles were exasperated beyond measure at the massacre of so manyof their nobles and at the insult offered to Mariana, the tzarina. ButPoland was at that time distracted by civil strife, and the king foundit expedient to postpone the hour of vengeance. Zuski commenced hisreign by adopting measures which gave him great popularity with theadjoining kingdoms, while they did not diminish the favorable regardsof the people. But suddenly affairs assumed a new aspect, so strangethat a writer of fiction would hardly have ventured to imagine it. Anartful man, a schoolmaster in Poland, who could speak the Russianlanguage, declared that he was Dmitri; that he had escaped from themassacre in his palace, and that it was another man, mistaken for him, whom the assassins had killed. Poland, inspired by revenge, eagerlyembraced this man's cause. Mariana, who had been liberated fromprison, was let into the secret, and willing to ascend again to thegrandeur from which she had fallen, entered with cordial coöperationinto this new intrigue. The widowed tzarina and the Polish adventurercontrived their first meeting in the presence of a large concourse ofnobles and citizens. They rushed together in a warm embrace, whiletears of affected transport bedewed their cheeks. The farce was soadmirably performed that many were deceived, and this new Dmitri andthe tzarina occupied for several days the same tent in the Polishencampment, apparently as husband and wife. 

CHAPTER XVII. 

A CHANGE OF DYNASTY. 

From 1608 to 1680. 

Conquests by Poland. --Sweden in Alliance with Russia. --Grandeur ofPoland. --Ladislaus Elected King of Russia. --Commotions andInsurrections. --Rejection of Ladislaus and Election of Michael FeodorRomanow. --Sorrow of His Mother. --Pacific Character of Romanow. --Choiceof a Bride. --Eudochia Streschnew. --The Archbishop Feodor. --Death ofMichael and Accession of Alexis. --Love in the Palace. --SuccessfulIntrigue. --Mobs in Moscow. --Change in the Character of theTzar. --Turkish Invasions. --Alliance Between Russia and Poland. 

This public testimonial of conjugal love led men, who had beforedoubted the pretender, to repose confidence in his claims. The King ofPoland took advantage of the confusion now reigning in Russia toextend his dominions by wresting still more border territory from hisgreat rival. In this exigence, Zuski purchased the loan of an army offive thousand men from Sweden by surrendering Livonia to the Swedes. With these succors united to his own troops, he marched to meet thepretended Dmitri. There was now universal confusion in Russia. The twohostile armies, avoiding a decisive engagement, were maneuvering andengaging in incessant petty skirmishes, which resulted only inbloodshed and misery. Thus five years of national woe lingered away. The people became weary of both the claimants for the crown, and thenobles boldly met, regardless of the rival combatants, and resolved tochoose a new sovereign. 

Poland had then attained the summit of its greatness. As an energeticmilitary power, it was superior to Russia. To conciliate Poland, whoseaggressions were greatly feared, the Russian nobles chose, for theirsovereign, Ladislaus, son of Sigismond, the King of Poland. Theyhoped thus to withdraw the Polish armies from the banners of thepretended Dmitri, and also to secure peace for their war-blastedkingdom. 

Ladislaus accepted the crown. Zuski was seized, deposed, shaved, dressed in a friar's robe and shut up in a convent to count his beads. He soon died of that malignant poison, grief. Dmitri made a show ofopposition, but he was soon assassinated by his own men, who wereconvinced of the hopelessness of his cause. His party, however, lastedfor many years, bringing forward a young man who was called his son. At one time there was quite an enthusiasm in his favor, crowds flockedto his camp, and he even sent embassadors to Gustavus IX. , King ofSweden, proposing an alliance. At last he was betrayed by some of hisown party, and was sent to Moscow, where he was hanged. 

Sigismond was much perplexed in deciding whether to consent to hisson's accepting the crown of Russia. That kingdom was now in such astate of confusion and weakness that he was quite sanguine that hewould be able to conquer it by force of arms and bring the wholeempire under the dominion of his own scepter. His armies were alreadybesieging Smolensk, and the city was hourly expected to fall intotheir hands. This would open to them almost an unobstructed march toMoscow. The Poles, generally warlike and ambitious of conquest, represented to Sigismond that it would be far more glorious for him tobe the conqueror of Russia than to be merely the father of its tzar. 

Sigismond, with trivial excuses, detained his son in Poland, while, under various pretexts, he continued to pour his troops into Russia. Ten thousand armed Poles were sent to Moscow to be in readiness toreceive the newly-elected monarch upon his arrival. Their general, Stanislaus, artfully contrived even to place a thousand of thesePolish troops in garrison in the citadel of Moscow. These foreignsoldiers at last became so insolent that there was a general risingof the populace, and they were threatened with utter extermination. The storm of passion thus raised, no earthly power could quell. Theawful slaughter was commenced, and the Poles, conscious of theirdanger, resorted to the horrible but only measure which could savethem from destruction. They immediately set fire to the city in manydifferent places. The city then consisted of one hundred and eightythousand houses, most of them being of wood. As the flames rose, sweeping from house to house and from street to street, theinhabitants, distracted by the endeavor to save their wives, theirchildren and their property, threw down their arms and dispersed. Whenthus helpless, the Poles fell upon them, and one of the most awfulmassacres ensued of which history gives any record. A hundred thousandof the wretched people of Moscow perished beneath the Polish cimeters. For fifteen days the depopulated and smouldering capital wassurrendered to pillage. The royal treasury, the churches, the conventswere all plundered. The Poles, then, laden with booty, but leaving agarrison in the citadel, evacuated the ruined city and commenced theirmarch to Poland. 

These horrors roused the Russians. An army under a heroic general, Zachary Lippenow, besieged the Polish garrison, starved them into asurrender, and put them all to death. The nobles then met, declaredthe election of Ladislaus void, on account of his not coming to Moscowto accept it, and again proceeded to the choice of a sovereign. Afterlong deliberation, one man ventured to propose a candidate verydifferent from any who had before been thought of. It was MichaelFeodor Romanow. He was a studious, philosophic young man, seventeenyears of age. His father was archbishop of Rostow, a man of exaltedreputation, both for genius and piety. Michael, with his mother, wasin a convent at Castroma. It was modestly urged that in this young manthere were centered all the qualifications essential for thepromotion of the tranquillity of the State. There were but threemales of his family living, and thus the State would avoid the evil ofhaving numerous relatives of the prince to be cared for. He wasentirely free from embroilments in the late troubles. As his fatherwas a clergyman of known piety and virtue, he would counsel his son topeace, and would conscientiously seek the best good of the empire. 

The proposition, sustained by such views, was accepted with generalacclaim. There were several nobles from Castroma who testified thatthough they were not personally acquainted with young Romanow, theybelieved him to be a youth of unusual intelligence, discretion andmoral worth. As the nobles were anxious not to act hastily in a matterof such great importance, they dispatched two of their number toCastroma with a letter to the mother of Michael, urging her to repairimmediately with her son to Moscow. 

The affectionate, judicious mother, upon the reception of this letter, burst into tears of anguish, lamenting the calamity which wasimpending. 

"My son, " she said, "my only son is to be taken from me to be placedupon the throne, only to be miserably slaughtered like so many of thetzars who have preceded him. "

She wrote to the electors entreating them that her son might beexcused, saying that he was altogether too young to reign, that hisfather was a prisoner in Poland, and that her son had no relationscapable of assisting him with their advice. This letter, on the whole, did but confirm the assembly of nobles in their conviction that theycould not make a better choice than that of the young Romanow. Theyaccordingly, with great unanimity, elected Michael Feodor Romanow, sovereign of all the Russias; then, repairing in a body to thecathedral, they proclaimed him to the people as their sovereign. Theannouncement was received with rapturous applause. It was thus thatthe house of Romanow was placed upon the throne of Russia. It retainsthe throne to the present day. 

Michael, incited by singular sagacity and by true Christianphilanthropy, commenced his reign by the most efficient measures tosecure the peace of the empire. As soon as he had notified hiselection to the King of Poland, his father, archbishop of Rostow, wasset at liberty and sent home. He was immediately created by his sonpatriarch of all Russia, an office in the Greek church almostequivalent to that of the pope in the Romish hierarchy. While thesescenes were transpiring, Charles IX. Died, and Gustavus Adolphussucceeded to the throne of Sweden. Gustavus and Michael both desiredpeace, the preliminaries were soon settled, and peace was establishedupon a basis far more advantageous to the Swedes than to the Russians. By this treaty, Russia ceded to Sweden territory, which deprivedRussia of all access to the Baltic Sea. Thus the only point now uponwhich Russia touched the ocean, was on the North Sea. No enemiesremained to Russia but the Poles. Here there was trouble enough. Ladislaus still demanded the throne, and invaded the empire with animmense army. He advanced, ravaging the country, even to the gates ofMoscow. But, finding that he had no partisans in the kingdom, and thatpowerful armies were combining against him, he consented to a trucefor fourteen years. 

Russia was now at peace with all the world. The young tzar, aided bythe counsels of his excellent father, devoted himself with untiringenergy to the promotion of the prosperity of his subjects. It wasdeemed a matter of much political importance that the tzar should beimmediately married. According to the custom of the empire, all themost beautiful girls were collected for the monarch to make hischoice. They were received in the palace, and were lodged separatelythough they all dined together. The tzar saw them, either incognito orwithout disguise, as suited his pleasure. The day for the nuptialswas appointed, and the bridal robes prepared when no one knew uponwhom the monarch's choice had been fixed. On the morning of thenuptial day the robes were presented to the empress elect, who then, for the first time, learned that she had proved the successfulcandidate. The rejected maidens were returned to their homes ladenwith rich presents. 

The young lady selected, was Eudocia Streschnew, who chanced to be thedaughter of a very worthy gentleman, in quite straitenedcircumstances, residing nearly two hundred miles from Moscow. Themessenger who was sent to inform him that his daughter was Empress ofRussia, found him in the field at work with his domestics. The goodold man was conducted to Moscow; but he soon grew weary of thesplendors of the court, and entreated permission to return again tohis humble rural home. Eudocia, reared in virtuous retirement, provedas lovely in character as she was beautiful in person, and she soonwon the love of the nation. The first year of her marriage, she gavebirth to a daughter. The three next children proved also daughters, tothe great disappointment of their parents. But in the year 1630, a sonwas born, and not only the court, but all Russia, was filled withrejoicing. In the year 1634, the tzar met with one of the greatest ofafflictions in the loss of his father by death. His reverence for thevenerable patriarch Feodor, had been such that he was ever hisprincipal counselor, and all his public acts were proclaimed in thename of the tzar and his majesty's father, the most holy patriarch. 

"As he had joined, " writes an ancient historian, "the miter to thesword, having been a general in the army before he was anecclesiastic, the affable and modest behaviour, so becoming theministers of the altar, had tempered and corrected the fire of thewarrior, and rendered his manners amiable to all that came near him. "

The reign of Michael proved almost a constant success. His wisdom andprobity caused him to be respected by the neighboring States, whilethe empire, in the enjoyment of peace, was rapidly developing all itsresources, and increasing in wealth, population and power. His courtwas constantly filled with embassadors from all the monarchies ofEurope and even of Asia. The tzar, rightly considering peace as almostthe choicest of all earthly blessings, resisted all temptations todraw the sword. There were a few trivial interruptions of peace duringhis reign; but the dark clouds of war, by his energies, were soondispelled. This pacific prince, one of the most worthy who ever satupon any throne, died revered by his subjects on the 12th of July, 1645, in the forty-ninth year of his age and the thirty-third of hisreign. He left but two children--a son, Alexis, who succeeded him, anda daughter, Irene, who a few years after died unmarried. 

Alexis was but sixteen years of age when he succeeded to the throne. To prevent the possibility of any cabals being formed, in consequenceof his youth, he was crowned the day after his father's death. In oneweek from that time Eudocia also died, her death being hastened bygrief for the loss of her husband. An ambitious noble, Moroson, supremely selfish, but cool, calculating and persevering, attained thepost of prime minister or counselor of the young tzar. The greatobject of his aim was to make himself the first subject in the empire. In the accomplishment of this object there were two leading measuresto which he resorted. The first was to keep the young tzar as much aspossible from taking any part in the transactions of state, byinvolving him in an incessant round of pleasures. The next step was tosecure for the tzar a wife who would be under his own influence. Thelove of pleasure incident to youth rendered the first measure notdifficult of accomplishment. Peculiar circumstances seemed remarkablyto favor the second measure. There was a nobleman of high rank but ofsmall fortune, strongly attached to Moroson, who had two daughters ofmarvelous beauty. Moroson doubted not that he could lead his ardentyoung monarch to marry one of these lovely sisters, and he resolvedhimself to marry the other. He would thus become the brother-in-law ofthe emperor. Through his wife he would be able to influence hersister, the empress. The family would also all feel that they wereindebted to him for their elevation. The plan was triumphantlysuccessful. 

The two young ladies were invited to court, and were decorated to makethe most impressive display of their loveliness. With the young tzar, a boy of sixteen, it was love at first sight, and that very day hetold Moroson that he wished to marry Maria, the eldest of thebeauties. Rich presents were immediately lavished upon the wholefamily, so that they could make their appearance at court withsuitable splendor. The tzar and Maria were immediately betrothed, andin just eight days the ardent lover led his bride from the altar. Atthe end of another week Moroson married the other sister. Moroson andMiloslouski, the father of the two brides, now ruled Russia, while thetzar surrendered himself to amusements. 

The people soon became exasperated by the haughtiness and insolence ofthe duumvirate, and murmurs growing deeper and louder, ere long led toan insurrection. On the 6th of July, 1648, the tzar, engaged in somecivic celebration, was escorted in a procession to one of themonasteries of Moscow. The populace assembled in immense numbers tosee him pass. On his return the crowd broke through the attendantguards, seized the bridle of his horse, and entreated him to listen totheir complaints concerning the outrages perpetrated by his ministers. The tzar, much alarmed by their violence, listened impatiently totheir complaints and promised to render them satisfaction. The peoplewere appeased, and were quietly retiring when the partisans of theministers rode among them, assailing them with abusive language, crowding them with their horses, and even striking at them with theirwhips. The populace, incensed, began to pelt them with stones, andthough the guard of the tzar came to their rescue, they escaped withdifficulty to the palace. The mob was now thoroughly aroused. Theyrushed to the palace of Moroson, burst down the doors, and sackedevery apartment. They even tore from the person of his wife herjewels, throwing them into the street, but in other respects treatingher with civility. They then passed to the palace of Miloslauski, treating it in the same manner. The mob had now possession of Moscow. Palace after palace of the partisans of the ministers was sacked, andseveral of the most distinguished members of the court were massacred. 

The tzar, entirely deficient in energy, remained trembling in theKremlin during the whole of the night of the 6th of July, onlyentreating his friends to strengthen the guards and to secure thepalace from the outrages of the populace. Afraid to trust the Russiantroops, who might be found in sympathy with the people, Alexis sentfor a regiment of German troops who were in his employ, and stationedthem around the palace. He then sent out an officer to disperse thecrowd, assuring them that the disorders of which they complainedshould be redressed. They demanded that the offending ministers shouldbe delivered to them, to be punished for the injuries they hadinflicted upon the empire. Alexis assured them, through his messenger, upon his oath, that Moroson and Miloslauski had escaped, but promisedthat the third minister whom they demanded, a noble by the name ofPlesseon, who was judge of the supreme court of judicature of Moscow, should be brought out directly, and that those who had escaped shouldbe delivered up as soon as they could be arrested. The guilty, wretched man, thus doomed to be the victim to appease the rage of themob, in a quarter of an hour was led out bareheaded by the servants ofthe tzar to the market-place. The mob fell upon him with clubs, beathim to the earth, dragged him over the pavements, and finally cut offhis head. Thus satiated, about eleven o'clock in the morning theydispersed and returned to their homes. 

In the afternoon, however, the reign of violence was resumed. The citywas set on fire in several places, and the mob collected for plunder, making no effort to extinguish the flames. The fire spread with suchalarming rapidity that the whole city was endangered. At length, however, after terrible destruction of property and the loss of manylives, the fury of the conflagration was arrested. The affrighted tzarnow filled the important posts of the ministry with men who had areputation for justice, and the clergy immediately espousing the causeof order, exhorted the populace to that respect and obedience to thehigher powers which their religion enjoined. Alexis personallyappeared before the people and addressed them in a speech, in which hemade no apology for the outrages which had been committed by thegovernment, but, assuming that the people were right in their demands, promised to repeal the onerous duties, to abolish the obnoxiousmonopolies, and even to increase the privileges which they hadformerly enjoyed. The people received this announcement with greatapplause. The tzar, taking advantage of this return to friendliness, remarked, "I have promised to deliver up to you Moroson and his confederates inthe government. Their acts I admit to have been very unjust, but theirpersonal relations to me renders it peculiarly trying for me tocondemn them. I hope the people will not deny the first request I haveever made to them, which is, that these men, whom I have displaced, may be pardoned. I will answer for them for the future, and assure youthat their conduct shall be such as to give you cause to rejoice atyour lenity. "

The people were so moved by this address, which the tzar pronouncedwith tears, that, as with one accord, they shouted, "God grant hismajesty a long and happy life. The will of God and of the tzar bedone. " Peace was thus restored between the government and the people, and great good accrued to Russia from this successful insurrection. 

During the early reign of Alexis, there were no foreign wars of anynote. The Poles were all the time busy in endeavors to beat back theTurks, who, in wave after wave of invasion, were crossing the Danube. Upon the death of Ladislaus, King of Poland, Alexis, who had then afine army at his command, offered to march to repel the Turks, if thePoles would choose him King of Poland. But at the same time Francemade a still more alluring offer, in case they would choose JohnCasimir, a prince in the interests of France, as their sovereign. Thechoice fell upon John Casimir. The provinces of Smolensk, Kiof andTchernigov were then in possession of the Poles, having been, informer wars, wrested from Russia. The Poles had conquered them bytaking advantage of internal troubles in Russia, which enabled themwith success to invade the empire. 

Alexis now thought it right, in his turn, to take advantage of theweakness of Poland, harassed by the Turks, to recover these lostprovinces. He accordingly marched to the city of Smolensk, andencamped before it with an army of three hundred thousand men. Smolensk was one of the strongest places which military art had thenbeen able to rear. The Poles had received sufficient warning of theattack to enable them to garrison the fortifications to their utmostcapacity and to supply the town abundantly with all the materials ofwar. The siege was continued for a full year, with all the usualaccompaniments of carnage and misery which attend a beleagueredfortress. At last the city, battered into ruins, surrendered, and thevictorious Russians immediately swept over Lithuanian Poland, meetingno force to obstruct its march. Another army, equally resistless, swept the banks of the Dnieper, and recovered Tchernigov and Kiof. 

Misfortunes seemed now to be falling like an avalanche upon Poland. While the Turks were assailing them on the south, and the Russianswere wresting from them opulent and populous provinces on the north, Charles Gustavus of Sweden, was crossing her eastern frontiers withinvading hosts. The impetuous Swedish king, in three months, overrannearly the whole of Poland, threatening the utter extinction of thekingdom. This alarmed the surrounding kingdoms, lest Sweden shouldbecome too powerful for their safety. Alexis immediately entered intoa truce with Poland, which guaranteed to him the peaceable possessionof the provinces he had regained, and then united his armies withthose of his humiliated rival, to arrest the strides of the Swedishconqueror. 

Sieges, cannonades and battles innumerable ensued, over hundreds ofleagues of territory, bordering the shores of the Baltic. For severalyears the maddened strife continued, producing its usual fruits ofgory fields, smouldering cities, desolated homes, with orphanage, widowhood, starvation, pestilence, and every conceivable form of humanmisery. At length, all parties being exhausted, peace was concluded onthe 2d of June, 1661. 

The great insurrection in Moscow had taught the tzar Alexis a goodlesson, and he profited by it wisely. He was led to devote himselfearnestly to the welfare of his people. His recovery of the lostprovinces of Russia was considered just, and added immeasurably to hisrenown. Conscious of the imperfection of his education, he engagedearnestly in study, causing many important scientific treatises to betranslated into the Russian language, and perusing them with diligenceand delight. He had the laws of the several provinces collected andpublished together. Many new manufactures were introduced, particularly those of silk and linen. Though rigidly economical in hisexpenses, he maintained a magnificent court and a numerous army. Hetook great interest in the promotion of agriculture, bringing manydesert wastes into cultivation, and peopling them with the prisonerstaken in the Polish and Swedish wars. It was the custom in thosebarbaric times to drive, as captives of war, the men, women andchildren of whole provinces, to be slaves in the territory of theconqueror. Often they occupied the position of a vassal peasantry, tilling the soil for the benefit of their lords. With singularforesight, Alexis planned for the construction of a fleet both on theCaspian and the Black Sea. With this object in view, he sent for shipcarpenters from Holland and other places. 

All Europe was now trembling in view of the encroachments of theTurks. Several very angry messages had passed between the sultan andthe tzar, and the Turks had proved themselves ever eager to combinewith the Tartars in bloody raids into the southern regions of theempire. Alexis resolved to combine Christian Europe, if possible, in awar of extermination against the Turks. To this end he sentembassadors to every court in Christendom. As his embassador waspresented to Pope Clement X. , the pope extended his foot for thecustomary kiss. The proud Russian drew back, exclaiming, "So ignoble an act of homage is beneath the dignity of the prince whomI have the honor to serve. "

He then informed the pope that the Emperor of Russia had resolved tomake war against the Turks, that he wished to see all Christianprinces unite against those enemies of humanity and religion, that forthat purpose he had sent embassadors to all the potentates of Europe, and that he exhorted his holiness to place himself at the head of aleague so powerful, so necessary for the protection of the church, andfrom which every Christian State might derive the greatest advantages. Foolish punctilios of etiquette interfered with any efficientarrangements with the court of Rome, and though the embassadors ofother powers were received with the most marked respect, these powerswere all too much engrossed with their own internal affairs to enlistin this enterprise for the public good. The Turks were, however, alarmed by these formidable movements, and, fearing such an alliance, were somewhat checked in their career of conquest. 

On the 10th of November, 1674, the King of Poland died, and againthere was an attempt on the part of Russia to unite Poland and theempire under the same crown. All the monarchies in Europe wereinvolved in intrigues for the Polish crown. The electors, however, chose John Sobieski, a renowned Polish general, for their sovereign. The tzar was very apprehensive that the Poles would make peace withthe Turks, and thus leave the sultan at liberty to concentrate all histremendous resources upon Russia. Alexis raised three large armies, amounting in all to one hundred and fifty thousand men, which he sentinto the Ukraine, as the frontier country, watered by the lowerDnieper, was then called. 

The Turkish army, which was spread over the country between the Danubeand the Dniester, now crossed this latter stream, and, in solidbattalions, four hundred thousand strong, penetrated the Ukraine. Theyimmediately commenced the fiend-like work of reducing the wholeprovince to a desert. The process of destruction is swift. Flames, ina few hours, will consume a city which centuries alone have reared. Asquadron of cavalry will, in a few moments, trample fields of grainwhich have been slowly growing and ripening for months. In less than afortnight nearly the whole of the Ukraine was a depopulated waste, thetroops of the tzar being shut up in narrow fortresses. The King ofPoland, apprehensive that this vast Turkish army would soon turn withall their energies of destruction upon his own territories, resolvedto march, with all the forces of his kingdom, to the aid of theRussians. One hundred thousand Polish troops immediately besieged thegreat city of Humau, which the Turks had taken, midway between theDnieper and the Dniester. 

John Sobieski, the newly-elected King of Poland, was a veteran soldierof great military renown. He placed himself at the head of otherdivisions of the army, and endeavored to distract the enemy and todivide their forces. At the same time, Alexis himself hastened to thetheater of war that he might animate his troops by his presence. TheTurks, finding themselves unable to advance any further, sullenlyreturned to their own country by the way of the Danube. Upon theretirement of the Turks, the Russians and the Poles began to quarrelrespecting the possession of the Ukraine. Affairs were in thiscondition when the tzar Alexis, in all the vigor of manhood, was takensick and died. He was then in the forty-sixth year of his age. Hisfirst wife, Maria Miloslouski, had died several years before him, leaving two sons and four daughters. His second wife, NataliaNariskin, to whom he was married in the year 1671, still lived withher two children, a son, Peter, who was subsequently entitled theGreat, as being the most illustrious monarch Russia has known, and adaughter Natalia. 

Alexis, notwithstanding the unpropitious promise of his youth, provedone of the wisest and best princes Russia had known for years. He wasa lover of peace, and yet prosecuted war with energy when it wasforced upon him. His oldest surviving son, Feodor, who was buteighteen years of age at the time of his father's death, succeeded tothe crown. Feodor, following the counsel which his father gave him onhis dying bed, soon took military possession of nearly all of theUkraine. The Turks entered the country again, but were repulsed withsevere loss. Apprehensive that they would speedily return, the tzarmade great efforts to secure a friendly alliance with Poland, in whichhe succeeded by paying a large sum of money in requital for theprovinces of Smolensk and Kiof which his arms had recovered. 

In the spring of 1678, the Turks again entered the Ukraine with astill more formidable army than the year before. The campaign wasopened by laying siege to the city Czeherin, which was encompassed bynearly four hundred thousand men, and, after a destructive cannonade, was carried by storm. The garrison, consisting of thirty thousandmen, were put to the sword. The Russian troops were so panic-strickenby this defeat, that they speedily retreated. The Turks pursued them along distance, constantly harassing their rear. But the Turks, intheir turn, were compelled to retire, being driven back by famine, afoe against whom their weapons could make no impression. 

The Ottoman Porte soon found that little was gained by waging war withan empire so vast and sparsely settled as Russia, and that theirconquest of the desolated and depopulated lands of the Ukraine, was byno means worth the expenses of the war. The Porte was thereforeinclined to make peace with Russia, that the Turkish armies might fallupon Poland again, which presented a much more inviting field ofconquest. The Poles were informed of this through their embassador atConstantinople, and earnestly appealed to the tzar of Russia, and toall the princes in Christendom to come to their aid. The selfishnesswhich every court manifested is humiliating to human nature. Eachcourt seemed only to think of its own aggrandizement. Feodor consentedto aid them only on condition that the Poles should renounce allpretension to any places then in possession of Russia. To this thePolish king assented, and the armies of Russia and Poland were againcombined to repel the Turks. 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

THE REGENCY OF SOPHIA. 

From 1680 to 1697. 

Administration of Feodor. --Death of Feodor. --Incapacity ofIvan. --Succession of Peter. --Usurpation of Sophia. --Insurrection ofthe Strelitzes. --Massacre in Moscow. --Success of theInsurrection. --Ivan and Peter Declared Sovereigns under the Regency ofSophia. --General Discontent. --Conspiracy against Sophia. --Her Flightto the Convent. --The Conspiracy Quelled. --New Conspiracy. --Energy ofPeter. --He Assumes the Crown. --Sophia Banished to aConvent. --Commencement of the Reign of Peter. 

Feodor, influenced by the wise counsels of his father, devoted muchattention to the beautifying of his capital, and to developing theinternal resources of the empire. He paved the streets of Moscow, erected several large buildings of stone in place of the old woodenstructures. Commerce and arts were patronized, he even loaning, fromthe public treasury, sums of money to enterprising men to encouragethem in their industrial enterprises. Foreigners of distinction, bothscholars and artisans, were invited to take up their residence in theempire. The tzar was particularly fond of fine horses, and was verysuccessful in improving, by importations, the breed in Russia. 

Feodor had always been of an exceedingly frail constitution, and itwas evident that he could not anticipate long life. In the year 1681he married a daughter of one of the nobles. His bride, OpimiaRoutoski, was also frail in health, though very beautiful. Six monthshad hardly passed away ere the youthful empress exchanged her bridalrobes and couch for the shroud and the tomb. The emperor himself, grief-stricken, was rapidly sinking in a decline. His ministers almostforced him to another immediate marriage, hoping that, by the birthof a son, the succession of his half brother Peter might be prevented. The dying emperor received into his emaciate, feeble arms the newbride who had been selected for him, Marva Matweowna, and after a fewweeks of languor and depression died. He was deeply lamented by hissubjects, for during his short reign of less than three years he haddeveloped a noble character, and had accomplished more for the realprosperity of Russia than many a monarch in the longest occupation ofthe throne. 

Feodor left two brothers--Ivan, a brother by the same mother, Eudocia, and Peter, the son of the second wife of Alexis. Ivan was very feeblein body and in mind, with dim vision, and subject to epileptic fits. Feodor consequently declared his younger brother Peter, who was butten years of age, his successor. The custom of the empire allowed himto do this, and rendered this appointment valid. It was generally thedoom of the daughters of the Russian emperors, who could seldom find amatch equal to their rank, to pass their lives immured in a convent. 

Feodor had a sister, Sophia, a very spirited, energetic woman, ambitious and resolute, whose whole soul revolted against such amoping existence. Seeing that Feodor had but a short time to live, sheleft her convent and returned to the Kremlin, persisting in herresolve to perform all sisterly duties for her dying brother. Ivan, her own brother, was incapable of reigning, from his infirmities. Peter, her half-brother, was but a child. Sophia, with wonderfulenergy, while tending at the couch of Feodor, made herself familiarwith the details of the administration, and, acting on behalf of thedying sovereign, gathered the reins of power into her own hands. 

As soon as Feodor expired, and it was announced that Peter wasappointed successor to the throne, to the exclusion of his elderbrother Ivan, Sophia, through her emissaries, excited the militia ofthe capital to one of the most bloody revolts Moscow had everwitnessed. It was her intention to gain the throne for the imbecileIvan, as she doubted not that she could, in that event, govern theempire at her pleasure. Peter, child as he was, had already developeda character of self-reliance which taught Sophia that he wouldspeedily wrest the scepter from her hands. 

The second day after the burial of Feodor, the militia, or_strelitzes_ as they were called, a body of citizen soldiers inMoscow, corresponding very much with the national guard of Paris, surrounded the Kremlin, in a great tumult, and commenced complainingof nine of their colonels, who owed them some arrears of pay. Theydemanded that these officers should be surrendered to them, and theirdemand was so threatening that the court, intimidated, was compelledto yield. The wretched officers were seized by the mob, tied to theground naked, upon their faces, and whipped with most terribleseverity. The soldiers thus overawed opposition, and became a powerwhich no one dared resist. Sophia was their inspiring genius, incitingand directing them through her emissaries. Though some have denied hercomplicity in these deeds of violence, still the prevailing voice ofhistory is altogether against her. 

Sophia, having the terrors of the mob to wield, as her executivepower, convened an assembly of the princes of the blood, the generals, the lords, the patriarch and the bishops of the church, and even ofthe principal merchants. She urged upon them that Ivan, by right ofbirth, was entitled to the empire. The mother of Peter, NataliaNariskin, now empress dowager, was still young and beautiful. She hadtwo brothers occupying posts of influence at court. The family of theNariskins had consequently much authority in the empire. Sophiadreaded the power of her mother-in-law, and her first efforts ofintrigue were directed against the Nariskins. Her agents wereeverywhere busy, in the court and in the army, whispering insinuationsagainst them. It was even intimated that they had caused the death ofFeodor, by bribing his physician to poison him, and that they hadattempted the life of Ivan. At length Sophia gave to her agents a listof forty lords whom they were to denounce to the insurgent soldiery asenemies to them and to the State. 

This was the signal for their massacre. Two were first seized in thepalace of the Kremlin, and thrown out of the window. The soldiersreceived them upon their pikes, and dragged their mutilated corpsesthrough the streets to the great square of the city. They then rushedback to the palace, where they found Athanasius Nariskin, one of thebrothers of the queen dowager. He was immediately murdered. They soonafter found three of the proscribed in a church, to which they hadfled as a sanctuary. Notwithstanding the sacredness of the church, theunhappy lords were instantly hewn to pieces by the swords of theassassins. Thus frenzied with blood, they met a young lord whom theymistook for Ivan Nariskin, the remaining brother of the mother ofPeter. He was instantly slain, and then the assassins discovered theirerror. With some slight sense of justice, perhaps of humanity, theycarried the bleeding corpse of the young nobleman to his father. Thepanic-stricken, heartbroken parent dared not rebuke them for themurder, but thanked them for bringing to him the corpse of his child. The mother, more impulsive and less cautious, broke out into bitterand almost delirious reproaches. The father, to appease her, said toher, in an under tone, "Let us wait till the hour shall come when weshall be able to take revenge. "

Some one overheard the imprudent words, and reported them to the mob. They immediately returned, dragged the old man down the stairs of hispalace by the hair, and cut his throat upon his own door sill. Theywere now searching the city, in all directions, for Von Gaden theGerman physician of the late tzar, who was accused of administering tohim poison. They met in the streets, the son of the physician, anddemanded of him where his father was. The trembling lad replied thathe did not know. They cut him down. Soon they met another Germanphysician. 

"You are a doctor, " they said. "If you have not poisoned our sovereignyou have poisoned others, and deserve death. "

He was immediately murdered. At length they discovered Von Gaden. Hehad attempted to disguise himself in a beggar's garb. The worthy oldman, who, like most eminent physicians, was as distinguished forhumanity as for eminent medical skill, was dragged to the Kremlin. Theprincesses themselves came out and mingled with the crowd, begging forthe life of the good man, assuring them that he had been a faithfulphysician and that he had served their sovereign with zeal. Thesoldiers declared that he deserved to die, as they had positive proofthat he was a sorcerer, for, in searching his apartments, they hadfound the skin of a snake and several reptiles preserved in bottles. Against such proof no earthly testimony could avail. 

They also demanded that Ivan Nariskin, whom they had been seeking fortwo days, should be delivered up to them. They were sure that he wasconcealed somewhere in the Kremlin, and they threatened to set fire tothe palace and burn it to the ground unless he were immediatelydelivered to them. It was evident that these threats would be promptlyput into execution. Firing the palace would certainly insure hisdeath. There was the bare possibility of escape by surrendering him tothe mob. The empress herself went to her brother in his concealmentand informed him of the direful choice before him. The young princesent for the patriarch, confessed his sins, partook of the Lord'sSupper, received the sacrament of extreme unction in preparation fordeath, and was then led out, by the patriarch himself, dressed in hispontifical robes and bearing an image of the Virgin Mary, and wasdelivered by him to the soldiers. The queen and the princessesaccompanied the victim, surrounding him, and, falling upon their kneesbefore the soldiers, they united with the patriarch in pleading forhis life. But the mob, intoxicated and maddened, dragged the youngprince and the physician before a tribunal which they had constitutedon the spot, and condemned them to what was expressively called thepunishment of "ten thousand slices. " Their bodies were speedily cutinto the smallest fragments, while their heads were stuck upon theiron spikes of the balustrade. 

These outrages were terminated by a proclamation from the soldierythat Ivan and Peter should be joint sovereigns under the regency ofSophia. The regent rewarded her partisans liberally for theirefficient and successful measures. Upon the leaders she conferred theconfiscated estates of the proscribed. A monument of shame was reared, upon which the names of the assassinated were engraved as traitors totheir country. The soldiers were rewarded with double pay. 

Sophia unscrupulously usurped all the prerogatives and honors ofroyalty. All dispatches were sealed with her hand. Her effigy wasstamped upon the current coin. She took her seat as presiding officerat the council. To confer a little more dignity upon the character ofher imbecile brother, Ivan, she selected for him a wife, a young ladyof extraordinary beauty whose father had command of a fortress inSiberia. It was on the 25th of June, 1682, that Sophia assumed theregency. In 1684 Ivan was married. The scenes of violence which hadoccurred agitated the whole political atmosphere throughout theempire. There was intense exasperation, and many conspiracies wereformed for the overthrow of the government. The most formidable ofthese conspiracies was organized by Couvanski, commander-in-chief ofthe strelitzes. He was dissatisfied with the rewards he had received, and, conscious that he had placed Sophia upon the throne through theenergies of the soldiers he commanded, he believed that he might justas easily have placed himself there. Having become accustomed toblood, the slaughter of a few more persons, that he might place thecrown upon his own brow, appeared to him a matter of but littlemoment. He accordingly planned to murder the two tzars, the regentSophia and all the remaining princes of the royal family. Then, bylavishing abundant rewards upon the soldiers, he doubted not that hecould secure their efficient coöperation in maintaining him on thethrone. 

The conspiracy was discovered upon the eve of its accomplishment. Sophia immediately fled with the two tzars and the princes, to themonastery of the Trinity. This was a palace, a convent and a fortress. The vast pile, reared of stone, was situated thirty-six miles fromMoscow, and was encompassed with deep ditches, and massive rampartsbristling with cannon. The monks were in possession of the wholecountry for a space of twelve miles around this almost impregnablecitadel. From this safe retreat Sophia opened communications with therebel chief. She succeeded in alluring him to come half way to meether in conference. A powerful band of soldiers, placed in ambush, seized him. He was immediately beheaded, with one of his sons, andthirty-seven strelitzes who had accompanied him. 

As soon as the strelitzes in Moscow, numbering many thousands, heardof the assassination of their general and of their comrades, they flewto arms, and in solid battalions, with infantry, artillery andcavalry, marched to the assault of the convent. The regent rallied hersupporters, consisting of the lords who were her partisans, and theirvassals, and prepared for a vigorous defense. Russia seemed now uponthe eve of a bloody civil war. The nobles generally espoused the causeof the tzars under the regency of Sophia. Their claims seemed those oflegitimacy, while the success of the insurrectionary soldiers promisedonly anarchy. The rise of the people in defense of the government wasso sudden and simultaneous, that the strelitzes were panic-stricken, and soon, in the most abject submission, implored pardon, which waswisely granted them. Sophia, with the tzars, surrounded by an army, returned in triumph to Moscow. Tranquillity was thus restored. 

Sophia still held the reins of power with a firm grasp. The imbecilityof Ivan and the youth of Peter rendered this usurpation easy. Veryadroitly she sent the most mutinous regiments of the strelitzes onapparently honorable missions to the distant provinces of the Ukraine, Kesan, and Siberia. Poland, menaced by the Turks, made peace withRussia, and purchased her alliance by the surrender of the vastprovince of Smolensk and all the conquered territory in the Ukraine. In the year 1687, Sophia sent the first Russian embassy to France, which was then in the meridian of her splendor, under the reign ofLouis XIV. Voltaire states that France, at that time, was sounacquainted with Russia, that the Academy of Inscriptions celebratedthis embassy by a medal, as if it had come from India. [10] The CrimeanTartars, in confederacy with the Turks, kept Russia, Poland, Hungary, Transylvania, and the various provinces of the German empire inperpetual alarm. Poland and Russia were so humiliated, that forseveral years they had purchased exemption from these barbaric foraysby paying the Tartars an annual tribute amounting to fifty thousanddollars each. Sophia, anxious to wipe out this disgrace, renewed theeffort, which had so often failed, to unite all Europe against theTurks. Immense armies were raised by Russia and Poland and sent to theTauride. For two years a bloody war raged with about equal slaughterupon both sides, while neither party gained any marked advantage. 

[Footnote 10: "La France n'avait eu encore aucune correspondance avecla Russie; on ne le connaissait pas; et l'Académie des Inscriptionscélébra par une médaille cette ambassade, comme si elle fut venue desIndes. "--_Histoire de l'Empire de Russie, sous Pierre le Grand_, page93. ]

Peter had now attained his eighteenth year, and began to manifestpretty decisively a will of his own. He fell in love with a beautifulmaiden, Ottokesa Lapuchin, daughter of one of his nobles, and, notwithstanding all the intriguing opposition of Sophia, persisted inmarrying her. This marriage increased greatly the popularity of theyoung prince, and it was very manifest that he would soon thrustSophia aside, and with his own vigorous arm, wield the scepter alone. 

The regent, whose hands were already stained with the blood ofassassination, now resolved to remove Peter out of the way. The youngprince, with his bride, was residing at his country seat, a few milesout from Moscow. Sophia, in that corrupt, barbaric age, found nodifficulty in obtaining, with bribes, as many accomplices as shewanted. Two distinguished generals led a party of six hundredstrelitzes out of the city, to surround the palace of Peter and tosecure his death. The soldiers had already commenced their march, whenPeter was informed of his danger. The tzar leaped upon a horse, andspurring him to his utmost speed, accompanied by a few attendants, escaped to the convent of the Trinity, to which we have before alludedas one of the strongest fortresses of Russia. The mother, wife andsister of the tzar, immediately joined him there. 

The soldiers were not aware of the mission which their leaders wereintending to accomplish. When they arrived at the palace, and it wasfound that the tzar had fled, and it was whispered about that he hadfled to save his life, the soldiers, by nature more strongly attachedto a chivalrous young man than to an intriguing, ambitious woman, whose character was of very doubtful reputation, broke out into openrevolt, and, abandoning their officers, marched directly to themonastery and offered their services to Peter. The patriarch, whosereligious character gave him almost unbounded influence with thepeople, also found that he was included as one of the victims of theconspiracy; that he was to have been assassinated, and his placeconferred upon one of the partisans of Sophia. He also fled to theconvent of the Trinity. 

Sophia now found herself deserted by the soldiery and the nation. Sheaccordingly, with the most solemn protestations, declared that she hadbeen accused falsely, and after sending messenger after messenger toplead her cause with her brother, resolved to go herself. She had notadvanced more than half way, ere she was met by a detachment ofPeter's friends who informed her, from him, that she must go directlyback to Moscow, as she could not be received into the convent. Thenext day Peter assembled a council, and it was resolved to bring thetraitors to justice. A colonel, with three hundred men, was sent tothe Kremlin to arrest the officers implicated in the conspiracy. Theywere loaded with chains, conducted to the Trinity, and in accordancewith the barbaric custom of the times were put to the torture. Inagony too dreadful to be borne, they of course made any confessionwhich was demanded. 

Peter was reluctant to make a public example of his sister. Thereensued a series of punishments of the conspirators too revolting to benarrated. The mildest of these punishments was exile to Siberia, there, in the extremest penury, to linger through scenes of woe solong as God should prolong their lives. The executions beingterminated and the exiles out of sight, Sophia was ordered to leavethe Kremlin, and retire to the cloisters of Denitz, which she wasnever again to leave. Peter then made a triumphal entry into Moscow. He was accompanied by a guard of eighteen thousand troops. His feeblebrother Ivan received him at the outer gate of the Kremlin. Theyembraced each other with much affection, and then retired to theirrespective apartments. The wife and mother of Peter accompanied him onhis return to Moscow. 

Thus terminated the regency of Sophia. From this time Peter was thereal sovereign of Russia. His brother Ivan took no other share in thegovernment than that of lending his name to the public acts. He livedfor a few years in great seclusion, almost forgotten, and died in1696. Peter was physically, as well as intellectually, a remarkableman. He was tall and finely formed, with noble features lighted upwith an extremely brilliant eye. His constitution was robust, enablinghim to undergo great hardship, and he was, by nature, a man of greatactivity and energy. His education, however, was exceedinglydefective. The regent Sophia had not only exerted all her influence tokeep him in ignorance, but also to allure him into the wildestexcesses of youthful indulgence. Even his recent marriage had notinterfered with the publicity of his amours, and all distinguishedforeigners in Moscow were welcomed by him to scenes of feasting andcarousing. 

Notwithstanding these deplorable defects of character, for which muchallowance is to be made from the neglect of his education and hispeculiar temptations, still it was manifest to close observers eventhen, that the seeds of true greatness were implanted in his nature. When five years of age, he was riding with his mother in a coach, andwas asleep in her arms. As they were passing over a bridge where therewas a heavy fall of water from spring rains, the roar of the cataractawoke him. The noise, with the sudden aspect of the rushing torrent, created such terror that he was thrown into a fever, and, for years, he could not see any standing water, much less a running stream, without being thrown almost into convulsions. To overcome thisweakness, he resolutely persisted in plunging into the waves until hisaversion was changed into a great fondness for that element. 

Ashamed of his ignorance, he vigorously commenced studying German, and, notwithstanding all the seductions of the court, succeeded inacquiring such a mastery of the language as to be able both to speakand write it correctly. Peter's father, Alexis, had been anxious toopen the fields of commerce to his subjects. He had, at great expense, engaged the services of ship builders and navigators from Holland. Afrigate and a yacht had been constructed, with which the Volga hadbeen navigated to its mouth at Astrachan. It was his intention to opena trade with Persia through the Caspian Sea. But, in a revolt atAstrachan, the vessels were seized and destroyed, and the captainkilled. Thus terminated this enterprise. The master builder, however, remained in Russia, where he lived a long time in obscurity. 

One day, Peter, at one of his summer palaces of Ismaelhof, saw uponthe shore of the lake the remains of a pleasure boat of peculiarconstruction. He had never before seen any boat but such as waspropelled by oars. The peculiarity of the structure of this arrestedhis attention, and being informed that it was constructed for sails aswell as oars, he ordered it to be repaired, that he might make trialof it. It so chanced that the shipwright, Brandt, from Holland, whohad built the boat, was found, and the tzar, to his great delight, enjoyed, for the first time in his life, the pleasures of a sail. Heimmediately gave directions for the boat to be transported to thegreat lake near the convent of the Trinity, and here he ordered twofrigates and three yachts to be built. For months he amused himselfpiloting his little fleet over the waves of the lake. Like many aplebeian boy, the tzar had now acquired a passion for the sea, and helonged to get a sight of the ocean. 

With this object in view, in 1694 he set out on a journey of nearly athousand miles to Archangel, on the shores of the White Sea. Takinghis shipwrights with him, he had a small vessel constructed, in whichhe embarked for the exploration of the Frozen Ocean, a body of waterwhich no sovereign had seen before him. A Dutch man-of-war, whichchanced to be in the harbor at Archangel, and all the merchant fleetthere accompanied the tzar on this expedition. The sovereign himselfhad already acquired much of the art of working a ship, and on thistrip devoted all his energies to improvement in the science andpractical skill of navigation. 

While the tzar was thus turning his attention to the subject of anavy, he at the same time was adopting measures of extraordinary vigorfor the reorganization of the army. Hitherto the army had beencomposed of bands of vassals, poorly armed and without discipline, ledby their lords, who were often entirely without experience in the artsof war. Peter commenced, at his country residence, with a company offifty picked men, who were put through the most thorough drill byGeneral Gordon, a Scotchman of much military ability, who had securedthe confidence of the tzar. Some of the sons of the lords were chosenas their officers, but these young nobles were all trained by the samemilitary discipline, Peter setting them the example by passing throughall the degrees of the service from the very lowest rank. Heshouldered his musket, and commencing at the humblest post, served assentinel, sergeant and lieutenant. No one ventured to refuse to followin the footsteps of his sovereign. This company, thus formed anddisciplined, was rapidly increased until it became the royal guard, most terrible on the field of battle. When this regiment numbered fivethousand men, another regiment upon the same principle was organized, which contained twelve thousand. It is a remarkable fact stated byVoltaire, that one third of these troops were French refugees, drivenfrom France by the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. 

One of the first efforts of the far-sighted monarch was to consolidatethe army and to bring it under the energy of one mind, by breakingdown the independence of the nobles, who had heretofore acted as pettysovereigns, leading their contingents of vassals. Peter was thuspreparing to make the influence of Russia felt among the armies ofEurope as it had never been felt before. 

The Russian empire, sweeping across Siberian Asia, reached downindefinitely to about the latitude of fifty-two degrees, where it wasmet by the Chinese claims. Very naturally, a dispute arose respectingthe boundaries, and with a degree of good sense which seems almostincredible in view of the developments of history, the twohalf-civilized nations decided to settle the question by conferencerather than by war. A place of meeting, for the embassadors, wasappointed on the frontiers of Siberia, about nine hundred miles fromthe great Chinese wall. Fortunately for both parties, there were someChristian missionaries who accompanied the Chinese as interpreters. Probably through the influence of these men of peace a treaty was soonformed. Both parties pledged themselves to the observance of thetreaty in the following words, which were doubtless written by themissionaries:

"If any of us entertain the least thought of renewing the flames ofwar, we beseech the supreme Lord of all things, who knows the heart ofman, to punish the traitor with sudden death. "

Two large pillars were erected upon the spot to mark the boundariesbetween the two empires, and the treaty was engraved upon each ofthem. Soon after, a treaty of commerce was formed, which commerce, with brief interruptions, has continued to flourish until the presentday. Peter now prepared, with his small but highly disciplined army, to make vigorous warfare upon the Turks, and to obtain, if possible, the control of the Black Sea. Early in the summer of 1695 the Russianarmy commenced its march. Striking the head waters of the Don, theydescended the valley of that river to attack the city of Azov, animportant port of the Turks, situated on an island at the mouth of theDon. 

The tzar accompanied his troops, not as commander-in-chief, but avolunteer soldier. Generals Gordon and Le Fort, veteran officers, hadthe command of the expedition. Azov was a very strong fortress and wasdefended by a numerous garrison. It was found necessary to invest theplace and commence a regular siege. A foreign officer from Dantzic, bythe name of Jacob, had the direction of the battering train. For someviolation of military etiquette, he had been condemned to ignominiouspunishment. The Russians were accustomed to such treatment, butJacob, burning with revenge, spiked his guns, deserted, joined theenemy, adopted the Mussulman faith, and with great vigor conducted thedefense. 

Jacob was a man of much military science, and he succeeded inthwarting all the efforts of the besiegers. In the attempt to stormthe town the Russians were repulsed with great loss, and at lengthwere compelled to raise the siege and to retire. But Peter was not aman to yield to difficulties. The next summer he was found beforeAzov, with a still more formidable force. In this attempt the tzar wassuccessful, and on the 28th of July the garrison surrendered withoutobtaining any of the honors of war. Elated with success Peterincreased the fortifications, dug a harbor capable of holding largeships, and prepared to fit out a strong fleet against the Turks; whichfleet was to consist of nine sixty gun ships, and forty-one of fromthirty to fifty guns. While the fleet was being built he returned toMoscow, and to impress his subjects with a sense of the great victoryobtained, he marched the army into Moscow beneath triumphal arches, while the whole city was surrendered to all the demonstrations of joy. Characteristically Peter refused to take any of the credit of thevictory which had been gained by the skill and valor of his generals. These officers consequently took the precedency of their sovereign inthe triumphal procession, Peter declaring that merit was the only roadto military preferment, and that, as yet, he had attained no rank inthe army. In imitation of the ancient Romans, the captives taken inthe war were led in the train of the victors. The unfortunate Jacobwas carried in a cart, with a rope about his neck, and after beingbroken upon the wheel was ignominiously hung. 

CHAPTER XIX. 

PETER THE GREAT. 

From 1697 to 1702. 

Young Russians Sent to Foreign Countries. --The Tzar Decides Upon aTour of Observation. --His Plan of Travel. --Anecdote. --Peter's Mode ofLife in Holland. --Characteristic Anecdotes. --The Presentation of theEmbassador. --The Tzar Visits England. --Life at Deptford. --IllustriousForeigners Engaged in His Service. --Peter Visits Vienna. --The Game ofLandlord. --Insurrection in Moscow. --Return of the Tzar, and Measuresof Severity. --War with Sweden. --Disastrous Defeat of Narva. --Effortsto Secure the Shores of the Baltic. --Designs Upon the Black Sea. 

It was a source of mortification to the tzar that he was dependentupon foreigners for the construction of his ships. He accordingly sentsixty young Russians to the sea-ports of Venice and Leghorn, in Italy, to acquire the art of ship-building, and to learn scientific andpractical navigation. Soon after this he sent forty more to Hollandfor the same purpose. He sent also a large number of young men toGermany, to learn the military discipline of that warlike people. 

He now adopted the extraordinary resolve of traveling himself, _incognito_, through most of the countries of Europe, that he mightsee how they were governed, and might become acquainted with theprogress they had made in the arts and sciences. In this European tourhe decided to omit Spain, because the arts there were but littlecultivated, and France, because he disliked the pompous ceremonials ofthe court of Louis XIV. His plan of travel was as ingenuous as it wasodd. An extraordinary embassage was sent by him, as Emperor of Russia, to all the leading courts of Europe. These embassadors received minuteinstructions, and were fitted out for their expedition with splendorwhich should add to the renown of the Russian monarchy. Peterfollowed in the retinue of this embassage as a private gentleman ofwealth, with the servants suitable for his station. 

Three nobles of the highest dignity were selected as embassadors. Their retinue consisted of four secretaries, twelve gentlemen, twopages for each embassador, and a company of fifty of the royal guard. The whole embassage embraced two hundred persons. The tzar was lost toview in this crowd. He reserved for himself one valet de chambre, oneservant in livery, and a dwarf. "It was, " says Voltaire, "a thingunparalleled in history, either ancient or modern, for a sovereign, offive and twenty years of age, to withdraw from his kingdoms, only tolearn the art of government. " The regency, during his absence, wasentrusted to two of the lords in whom he reposed confidence, who wereto consult, in cases of importance, with the rest of the nobility. General Gordon, the Scotch officer, was placed in command of fourthousand of the royal troops, to secure the peace of the capital. 

The embassadors commenced their journey in April, 1697. Passingdirectly west from Moscow to Novgorod, they thence traversed theprovince of Livonia until they reached Riga, at the mouth of theDwina. Peter was anxious to examine the important fortifications ofthis place, but the governor peremptorily forbade it, Riga thenbelonging to Sweden. Peter did not forget the affront. Continuingtheir journey, they arrived at Konigsburg, the capital of the feebleelectorate of Brandenburg, which has since grown into the kingdom ofPrussia. The elector, an ambitious man, who subsequently took thetitle of king, received them with an extravagant display of splendor. At one of the bacchanalian feasts, given on the occasion, the bad andgood qualities of Peter were very conspicuously displayed. Heated withwine, and provoked by a remark made by La Fort, who was one of hisembassadors, he drew his sword and called upon La Fort to defendhimself. The embassador humbly bowed, folded his hands upon hisbreast, and said, "Far be it from me. Rather let me perish by the hand of my master. "The tzar, enraged and intoxicated, raised his arm to strike, when oneof the retinue seized the uplifted hand and averted the blow. Peterimmediately recovered his self-possession, and sheathing his swordsaid to his embassador, "I ask your pardon. It is my great desire to reform my subjects, andyet I am ashamed to confess that I am unable to reform myself. "

From Konigsburg they continued their route to Berlin, and thence toHamburg, near the mouth of the Elbe, which was, even then, animportant maritime town. They then turned their steps towardsAmsterdam. As soon as they reached Emmeric, on the Rhine, the tzar, impatient of the slow progress of the embassage, forsook hiscompanions, and hiring a small boat, sailed down the Rhine andproceeded to Amsterdam, reaching that city fifteen days before theembassy. "He flew through the city, " says one of the annalists ofthose days, "like lightning, " and proceeded to a small but activesea-port town on the coast, Zaandam. The first person they saw herewas a man fishing from a small skiff, at a short distance from theshore. The tzar, who was dressed like a common Dutch skipper, in a redjacket and white linen trowsers, hailed the man, and engaged lodgingsof him, consisting of two small rooms with a loft over them, and anadjoining shed. Strangely enough, this man, whose name was Kist, hadbeen in Russia working as a smith, and he knew the tzar. He wasstrictly enjoined on no account to let it be known who his lodger was. 

A group soon gathered around the strangers, with many questions. Petertold them that they were carpenters and laborers from a foreigncountry in search of work. But no one believed this, for theattendants of the tzar still wore the rich robes which constituted thecostume of Russia. With sympathy as beautiful as it is rare, Petercalled upon several families of ship carpenters who had worked for himand with him at Archangel, and to some of these families he gavevaluable presents, which he said that the tzar of Russia had sent tothem. He clothed himself, and ordered his companions to clothethemselves, in the ordinary dress of the dockyard, and purchasingcarpenters' tools they all went vigorously to work. 

The next day was the Sabbath. The arrival of these strangers, sopeculiar in aspect and conduct, was noised abroad, and when Peterawoke in the morning he was greatly annoyed by finding a large crowdassembled before his door. Indeed the rumor of the Russian embassage, and that the tzar himself was to accompany it, had already reachedAmsterdam, and it was shrewdly suspected that these strangers were insome way connected with the expected arrival of the embassadors. Oneof the barbers in Amsterdam had received from a ship carpenter inArchangel a portrait of the tzar, which had been for some time hangingin his shop. He was with the crowd around the door. The moment his eyerested upon Peter, he exclaimed, with astonishment, "_that is thetzar!_" His form, features and character were all so marked that hecould not easily be mistaken. 

No further efforts were made at concealment, though Peter was oftenvery much annoyed by the crowds who followed his footsteps and watchedall his actions. He was persuaded to change his lodgings to moresuitable apartments, though he still wore his workman's dress andtoiled in the ship-yard with energy, and also with skill which no onecould surpass. The extraordinary rapidity of his motions astonishedand amused the Dutch. "Such running, jumping and clambering over theshipping, " they said, "we never witnessed before. " To the patriarch inMoscow he wrote, "I am living in obedience to the commands of God, which were spoken tofather Adam: '_In the sweat of thy brow shalt thou eat thy bread. _'"

Very many anecdotes are related of Peter during this portion of hislife, which, though they may be apochryphal, are very characteristicof his eccentric nature. At one time he visited a celebrated ironmanufactory, and forged himself several bars of iron, directing hiscompanions to assist him in the capacity of journeymen blacksmiths. Upon the bars he forged, he put his own mark, and then he demanded ofMuller, the proprietor, payment for his work, at the same rate he paidother workmen. Having received eighteen _altins_, he said, looking atthe patched shoes on his feet, "This will serve me to buy a pair of shoes, of which I stand in greatneed. I have earned them well, by the sweat of my brow, with hammerand anvil. "

When the embassadors entered Amsterdam, Peter thought it proper totake a part in the procession, which was arranged in the highest styleof magnificence. The three embassadors rode first, followed by a longtrain of carriages, with servants in rich livery on foot. The tzar, dressed as a private gentleman, was in one of the last carriages inthe train of his embassadors. The eyes of the populace searched forhim in vain. From this fête he returned eagerly to his work, with saw, hammer and adz, at Zaandam. He persisted in living like the rest ofthe workmen, rising early, building his own fire, and often cookinghis own meals. One of the inhabitants of Zaandam thus describes hisappearance at that time:

"The tzar is very tall and robust, quick and nimble of foot, dexterousand rapid in all his actions. His face is plump and round; fierce inhis look, with brown eyebrows, and short, curly hair of a brownishcolor. He is quick in his gait, swinging his arms, and holding in oneof them a cane. "

The Dutch were so much interested in him, that a regular diary waskept in Zaandam of all he said and did. Those who were in dailyintercourse with him preserved a memorandum of all that occurred. Hewas generally called by the name of Master Peter. While hard at workin the ship-yard, he received intelligence of troubles in Poland. Therenowned king, John Sobieski, died in 1696. The electors were dividedin the choice of a successor. Augustus II. , Elector of Saxony, bymeans of bribes and his army, obtained the vote. But there was greatdissatisfaction, and a large party of the nation rallied around theprince of Conti, the rival candidate. Peter, learning these facts, immediately sent word, from his carpenter's shop, to Augustus, offering to send an army of thirty thousand men to his assistance. Hefrequently went from Zaandam to Amsterdam, to attend the anatomicallectures of the celebrated Ruisch. His thirst for knowledge appearedto be universal and insatiable. He even performed, himself, severalsurgical operations. He also studied natural philosophy under Witsen. Most minds would have been bewildered by such a multiplicity ofemployments, but his mental organization was of that peculiar classwhich grasps and retains all within its reach. He worked at the forge, in the rope-walks, at the sawing mills, and in the manufactures forwire drawing, making paper and extracting oil. 

While at Zaandam, Peter finished a sixty gun ship, upon which he hadworked diligently from the laying of the keel. As the Russians thenhad no harbor in the Baltic, this ship was sent to Archangel, on theshores of the White Sea. Peter also engaged a large number of Frenchrefugees, and Swiss and German artists, to enter his service and sentthem to Moscow. Whenever he found a mechanic whose work testified tosuperior skill, he would secure him at almost any price and send himto Moscow. To geography he devoted great attention, and even thendevised the plan of uniting the Caspian and the Black Sea by a shipcanal. 

Early in January, 1698, Peter, having passed nine months at Zaandam, left for the Hague. King William III. Sent his yacht to the Hague, toconvey the tzar to England, with a convoy of two ships of war. Peterleft the Hague on the 18th of January, and arrived in London on the21st. Though he attempted here no secrecy as to his rank, herequested to be treated only as a private gentleman. A large mansionwas engaged for him, near the royal navy yard at Deptford, a smalltown upon the Thames, about four miles from London. The LondonPostman, one of the leading metropolitan journals of that day, thusannounces this extraordinary visit:

"The tzar of Muscovy, desiring to raise the glory of his nation, andavenge the Christians of all the injuries they have received from theTurks, has abrogated the wild manners of his predecessors, and havingconcluded, from the behavior of his engineers and officers, who weresent him by the Elector of Brandenburg, that the western nations ofEurope understood the art of war better than others, he resolved totake a journey thither, and not wholly to rely upon the relationswhich his embassadors might give him; and, at the same time, to send agreat number of his nobility into those parts through which he did notintend to travel, that he might have a complete idea of the affairs ofEurope, and enrich his subjects with the arts of all other Christiannations; and as navigation is the most useful invention that ever wasyet found out, he seems to have chosen it as his own part in thegeneral inquiry he is about. His design is certainly very noble, anddiscovers the greatness of his genius. But the model he has proposedhimself to imitate is a convincing proof of his extraordinaryjudgment; for what other prince, in the world, was a fitter patternfor the great Emperor of Muscovy, than William the Third, King ofGreat Britain?"[11]

[Footnote 11: Postman, No. 417. ]

In London and Deptford Peter followed essentially the same mode oflife which he had adopted in Amsterdam. There was not a single articlebelonging to a ship, from the casting of a cannon to the making ofcables, to which he did not devote special attention. He also devotedsome time to watch making. A number of English artificers, and alsoseveral literary and scientific gentlemen from England, were takeninto his service. He made arrangements with a distinguished Scotchgeometrician and two mathematicians from Christ Church hospital, toremove to Moscow, who laid the foundation in Russia of the MarineAcademy. To astronomy, the calculation of eclipses, and the laws ofgravitation he devoted much thought, guided by the most scientific menEngland could then produce. Perry, an English engineer, was sent toRussia to survey a route for a ship canal from the ocean to theCaspian and from the Caspian to the Black Sea. A company of merchantspaid the tzar seventy-five thousand dollars for permission to importtobacco into Russia. The sale of this narcotic had heretofore beendiscouraged in Russia, by the church, as demoralizing in its tendencyand inducing untidy habits. Peter was occasionally induced to attendthe theater, but he had no relish for that amusement. He visited thevarious churches and observed the mode of conducting religious worshipby the several sects. 

Before leaving England the tzar was entertained by King William withthe spectacle of a sham sea fight. In this scene Peter was in hiselement, and in the excess of his delight he declared that an Englishadmiral must be a happier man than even the tzar of Russia. HisBritannic majesty made his guest also a present of a beautiful yacht, called the Royal Transport. In this vessel Peter returned to Holland, in May, 1698, having passed four months in England. He took with himquite a colony of emigrants, consisting of three captains of men ofwar, twenty-five captains of merchant ships, forty lieutenants, thirtypilots, thirty surgeons, two hundred and fifty gunners, and threehundred artificers. These men from Holland sailed in the RoyalTransport to Archangel, from whence they were sent to different placeswhere their services were needed. The officers whom the tzar sent toItaly, also led back to Russia many artists from that country. 

From Holland the Emperor of Russia, with his suite, repaired to Viennato observe the military discipline of the Germans, who had then thereputation of being the best soldiers in Europe. He also wished toenter into a closer alliance with the Austrian court as his naturalally against the Turks. Peter, however, insisted upon laying aside allthe ceremonials of royalty, and, as a private person, held aninterview with the Emperor Leopold. 

Nothing of especial interest occurred during the brief residence ofPeter in Vienna. The Emperor of Germany paid the tzar every possibleattention which could be conferred upon one who had the strongestreluctance to be gazed upon, or to take part in any parade. For theamusement of the tzar the emperor revived the ancient game oflandlord. The royal game is as follows. The emperor is landlord, theempress landlady, the heir apparent to the throne, the archdukes andarchduchesses are generally their assistants. They entertain people ofall nations, dressed after the most ancient fashion of theirrespective countries. The invited guests draw lots for tickets, oneach of which is written the name or the nation of the character theyare to represent. One is a Chinese mandarin, another a Persian mirza, another a Roman senator. A queen perhaps represents a dairy maid or anursery girl. A king or prince represents a miller, a peasant or asoldier. Characteristic amusements are introduced. The landlord andlandlady, with their family, wait upon the table. 

On this occasion the emperor's eldest son, Joseph, who was the heirapparent, represented, with the Countess of Traun, the ancientEgyptians. His brother, the Archduke Charles, and the Countess ofWalstein appeared as Flemings in the reign of Charles V. His sisterMary and Count Fraun were Tartars. Josephine, another daughter ofLeopold, with the Count of Workla, represented Persians. Marianne, athird daughter, and Prince Maximilian of Hanover were North Hollandpeasants. Peter presented himself as a Friesland boor, a character, weregret to say, which the tzar could personify without making theslightest change in his usual habits, for Peter was quite a strangerto the graces of the polished gentleman. 

This game seems to have been quite a favorite in the Austrian court. Maria Antoinette introduced it to Versailles. The tourist is stillshown the dairy where that unhappy queen made butter and cheese, themill where Louis XVI. Ground his grist, and the mimic village tavernwhere the King and Queen of France, as landlord and landlady, receivedtheir guests. 

Peter was just leaving Vienna to go to Venice when he receivedintelligence that a rebellion had broken out in Moscow. His ambitioussister Sophia, who had been placed with a shaven head in the cloistersof a monastery, took advantage of the tzar's absence to make anotherattempt to regain the crown. She represented that the nation was indanger of being overrun with foreigners, that their ancient customswould all be abolished, and that their religion would be subverted. She involved several of the clergy in her plans, and a band of eightthousand insurgents were assembled, who commenced their march towardsMoscow, hoping to rouse the metropolis to unite with them. GeneralGordon, whom Peter had left in command of the royal guard, met them, and a battle ensued in which a large number of the insurgents wereslain, and the rest were taken prisoners and conducted to the capital. Hearing these tidings Peter abandoned all plans for visiting Italy, and set out impetuously for Moscow, and arrived at the Kremlin beforeit was known that he had left Germany. 

Peter was a rough, stern man, and he determined to punish the abettorsof this rebellion with severity, which should appall all thediscontented. General Gordon, in the battle, had slain three thousandof the insurgents and had taken five thousand captive. These prisonershe had punished, decimating them by lot and hanging every tenth man. Peter rewarded magnificently the royal guard, and then commenced theterrible chastisement of all who were judged guilty of sympathizing inthe conspiracy. Some were broken on the wheel and then beheaded. Others were hung in chains, on gibbets near the gates of the city, andleft, frozen as solid as marble, to swing in the wind through the longmonths of winter. Stone monuments were erected, on which were engravedthe names, the crimes and the punishment of the rebels. A large numberwere banished to Siberia, to Astrachan, and to the shores of the Seaof Azof. The entire corps of the _strelitzes_ was abolished, and theirplace supplied by the new guard, marshaled and disciplined on themodel of the German troops. The long and cumbersome robes which hadbeen in fashion were exchanged for a uniform better adapted for rapidmotion. The sons of the nobles were compelled to serve in the ranks ascommon soldiers before they could be promoted to be officers. Many ofthe young nobles were sent to the tzar's fleet in the Sea of Azof toserve their apprenticeship for the navy. The revenue of the empire hadthus far been raised by the payment of a stipulated sum from eachnoble according to his amount of land. The noble collected this sumfrom his vassals or bondmen; but they often failed of paying in theamount demanded. Peter took now the collection of the revenue into hisown hands, appointing officers for that purpose. 

Reforms in the church he also undertook. The patriarch, Adrian, whowas the pope of the Greek church, dying about this time, Peterdeclared that he should have no successor. Virtually assuming theauthority of the head of the church, he gathered the immense revenuesof the patriarchal see into the royal treasury. Though professedlyintrusting the government of the church to the bishops, he controlledthem with despotism which could brook no opposition. Anxious topromote the population of his vast empire, so sparsely inhabited, hecaused a decree to be issued, that all the clergy, of every, grade, should be married; and that whenever one of the clergy lost a wife hisclerical functions should cease until he obtained another. Regardingthe monastic vow, which consigned young men and young women to a lifeof indolence in the cloister, as alike injurious to morality and tothe interests of the State, he forbade any one from taking that vowuntil after the age of fifty had been passed. This salutary regulationhas since his time been repealed. 

The year, in Russia, had for ages commenced with the 1st of September. Peter ordered that, in conformity with the custom in the rest ofEurope, the year should commence with the 1st of January. Thisalteration took place in the year 1700, and was celebrated with themost imposing solemnities. The national dress of the Russians was along flowing robe, which required no skill in cutting or making. Razors were also scarce, and every man wore his beard. The tzarordered long robes and beards to be laid aside. No man was admitted tothe palace without a neatly shaven face. Throughout the empire apenalty was imposed upon any one who persisted in wearing his beard. Asmooth face thus became in Russia, and has continued, to the presentday, the badge of culture and refinement. Peter also introduced socialparties, to which ladies with their daughters were invited, dressed inthe fashions of southern Europe. 

Heretofore, whenever a Russian addressed the tzar, he always said, "Your _slave_ begs, " etc. Peter abolished this word, and ordered_subject_ to be used instead. Public inns were established on thehighways, and relays of horses for the convenience of travelers. Conscious of the power of splendor to awe the public mind, he addedvery considerably to the magnificence of his court, and instituted anorder of knighthood. In all these measures Peter wielded the energiesof an unrelenting despotism, and yet of a despotism which wasconstantly devoted, not to his own personal aggrandizement, but to thewelfare of his country. 

The tzar established his great ship-yard at Voronise, on the Don, fromwhich place he could float his ships down to the Sea of Azof, hopingto establish there a fleet which would soon give him the command ofthe Black Sea. In March, 1699, he had thirty-six ships launched andrigged, carrying each from thirty to sixty guns; and there were thentwenty more ships on the stocks. There were, also, either finished orin process of construction, eighteen large galleys, one hundredsmaller brigantines, seven bomb ships and four fire ships. At the sametime Peter was directing his attention to the Volga and the Caspian, and still more vigorously to the Baltic, upon whose shores he hadsucceeded in obtaining a foothold. 

And now the kingdom of Sweden came, with a rush, into the politicalarena. Poland had ceded to Sweden nearly the whole of Livonia. TheLivonians were very much dissatisfied with the administration of thegovernment under Charles XI. , and sent a deputation to Stockholm topresent respectful remonstrances. The indignant king consigned all ofthe deputation, consisting of eight gentlemen, to prison, andcondemned the leader, John Patgul, to an ignominious death. Patgulescaped from prison, and hastening to Poland, urged the new sovereign, Augustus, to reconquer the province of Livonia, which Poland had lost, assuring him the Livonians would aid with all their energies to throwoff the Swedish yoke. Patgul hastened from Poland to Moscow, and urgedPeter to unite with Augustus, in a war against Sweden, assuring himthat thus he could easily regain the provinces of Ingria and Carelia, which Sweden had wrested from his ancestors. Denmark also, under itsnew sovereign, Frederic IV. , was induced to enter into the alliancewith Russia and Poland against Sweden. Just at that time, Charles XI. Died, and his son, Charles XII. , a young man of eighteen, ascended thethrone. The youth and inexperience of the new monarch encouraged theallies in the hope that they might make an easy conquest. 

Charles XII. , a man of indomitable, of maniacal energy, and whospeedily infused into his soldiers his own spirit, came down uponDenmark like northern wolves into southern flocks and herds. In lessthan six weeks the war was terminated and the Danes thoroughlyhumbled. Then with his fleet of thirty sail of the line and a vastnumber of transports, he crossed the Baltic, entered the Gulf ofFinland, and marching over ice and snow encountered the Russians atNarva, a small town about eighty miles south-west of the present siteof the city of St. Petersburg. The Russians were drawn up eightythousand strong, behind intrenchments lined with one hundred andforty-five pieces of artillery; Charles XII. Had but nine thousandmen. Taking advantage of one of the fiercest of wintry storms, whichblew directly into the faces of the Russians, smothering them withsnow and sleet mingled with smoke, and which concealed both thenumbers and the movements of the Swedes, Charles XII. Hurled hisbattalions with such impetuosity upon the foe, that in less than anhour the camp was taken by storm. One of the most awful routs known inthe annals of war ensued. The Swedes toiled to utter exhaustion incutting down the flying fugitives. Thirty thousand Russians perishedon that bloody field. Nearly all of the remainder were taken captive, with all their artillery. Disarmed and with uncovered heads, thirtythousand of these prisoners defiled before the victorious king. [12]

[Footnote 12: These are the numbers as accurately as they can now beascertained by the most careful sifting of the contradictory accounts. The forces of the Russians have been variously estimated at from fortythousand to one hundred thousand. That the Swedes had but ninethousand is admitted on all hands. ]

Peter, the day before this disastrous battle, had left theintrenchments at Narva to go to Novgorod, ostensibly to hasten forwardthe march of some reinforcements. When Peter was informed of theannihilation of his army he replied, with characteristic coolness, "I know very well that the Swedes will have the advantage of us for aconsiderable time; but they will teach us, at length, to beat them. "

He immediately collected the fragments of his army at Novgorod, andrepairing to Moscow issued orders for a certain proportion of thebells of the churches and convents throughout the empire to be castinto cannon and mortars. In a few months one hundred pieces of cannonfor sieges, and forty-two field pieces, with twelve mortars andthirteen howitzers, were sent to the army, which was rapidly beingrendezvoused at Novgorod. 

Charles XII. , having struck this terrific blow, left the tzar torecover as best he could, and turned his attention to Poland, resolvedto hurl Augustus from the throne. Peter himself hurried to Poland toencourage Augustus to the most vigorous prosecution of the war, promising to send him speedily twenty thousand troops. In the midst ofthese disasters and turmoil, the tzar continued to prosecute his plansfor the internal improvement of his empire, and commenced the vastenterprise of digging a canal which should unite the waters of theBaltic with the Caspian, first, by connecting the Don with the Volga, and then by connecting the Don with the Dwina, which empties into theBaltic near Riga. 

War continued to rage very fiercely for many months between the Swedeson one side, and Russia and Poland on the other, Charles XII. Gainingalmost constant victories. The Swedes so signally proved theirsuperiority in these conflicts, that when, on one occasion, eightthousand Russians repulsed four thousand Swedes, the tzar said, "Well, we have at last beaten the Swedes, when we were two to oneagainst them. We shall by and by be able to face them man to man. "

In these conflicts, it was the constant aim of Peter to get a footholdupon the shores of the Baltic, that he might open to his empire theadvantages of commerce. He launched a large fleet upon Lake Ladoga, alarge inland sea, which, by the river Neva, connects with the Gulf ofFinland. The fleets of Sweden penetrated these remote waters, and formonths their solitudes resounded with the roar of naval conflicts. Wecan not refrain from recording the heroic conduct of ColonelSchlippenbuch, the Swedish commander of the town of Notteburg, on thislake. The town was invested by a large Russian army. For a month theRussians battered the town night and day, until it presented theaspect of a pile of ruins, and the garrison was reduced to one hundredmen. Yet, so indomitable was this little band, that, standing in thebreaches, they extorted honorable terms of capitulation from theirconqueror. They would not surrender but on condition of being allowedto send for two Swedish officers, who should examine their remainingmeans of defense, and inform their master, Charles XII. , that it wasimpossible for them any longer to preserve the town. 

Peter was a man of too strong sense to be elated and vainglorious inview of such success. He knew full well that Charles XII. , since thebattle of Narva, looked with utter contempt upon the Russian soldiers, and he was himself fully conscious of the vast superiority of theSwedish troops. But while Charles XII. , with a monarch's energies, wasbattering down the fortresses and cutting to pieces the armies ofPoland, Peter had gained several victories over small detachments ofSwedish troops left in Russia. To inspire his soldiers with moreconfidence, he ordered a very magnificent celebration of thesevictories in Moscow. It was one of the most gorgeous fête days themetropolis had ever witnessed. The Swedish banners, taken in severalconflicts on sea and land, were borne in front of the procession, while all the prisoners, taken in the campaign, were marched inhumiliation in the train of the victors. 

While thus employed, the stern, indefatigable tzar was pressingforward the building of his fleet on the Don for the conquest of theBlack Sea, and was unwearied in his endeavors to promote the elevationof his still semi-barbaric realms, by the introduction of thesciences, the arts, the manufactures and the social refinements ofsouthern Europe. 

CHAPTER XX. 

CONQUESTS AND ACHIEVEMENTS OF PETER THE GREAT. 

From 1702 TO 1718. 

Peter takes Lake Lagoda and the Neva. --Foundation of St. Petersburg. --Conquest of Livonia. --Marienburg Taken by Storm. --TheEmpress Catharine. --Extraordinary Efforts in Building St. Petersburg. --Threat of Charles XII. --Deposition ofAugustus. --Enthronement of Stanislaus. --Battle of Pultowa. --Flight ofCharles XII. To Turkey. --Increased Renown of Russia. --DisastrousConflict with the Turks. --Marriage of Alexis. --His Character. --Deathof his Wife. --The Empress Acknowledged. --Conquest of Finland. --Tourof the Tzar to Southern Europe. 

Charles XII. , despising the Russians, devoted all his energies to thehumiliation of Augustus of Poland, resolving to pursue him until hehad driven him for ever from his throne. Peter was thus enabled to getthe command of the lake of Ladoga, and of the river Neva, whichconnects that lake with the Baltic. He immediately laid thefoundations of a city, St. Petersburg, to be his great commercialemporium, at the mouth of the Neva, near the head of the Gulf ofFinland. The land was low and marshy, but in other respects thelocation was admirable. Its approaches could easily be defendedagainst any naval attack, and water communications were opened withthe interior through the Neva and lake Ladoga. 

Livonia was a large province, about the size of the State of Maine, nearly encircled by the Gulf of Riga, the Baltic, the Gulf of Finlandand Lake Tchude. The possession of this province, which contained somefive hundred thousand inhabitants, was essential to Peter in theprosecution of his commercial enterprises. During the prosecution ofthis war the small town of Marienburg, on the confines of Livonia, situated on the shores of a lake, was taken by storm. The town wasutterly destroyed and nearly all the inhabitants slain, a few onlybeing taken prisoners. The Russian commanding officer saw among thesecaptives a young girl of extraordinary beauty, who was weepingbitterly. Attracted by such rare loveliness and uncontrollable griefhe called her to him, and learned from her that she was born in avillage in the vicinity on the borders of the lake; that she had neverknown her father, and that her mother died when she was but threeyears of age. The protestant minister of Marienburg, Dr. Gluck, chancing to see her one day, and ascertaining that she was left anorphan and friendless, received her into his own house, and cherishedher with true parental tenderness. 

The very evening before the town of Marienburg was assaulted and takenby storm, she was married to a young Livonian sergeant, a veryexcellent young man, of reputable family and possessing a littleproperty. In the horrors of the tempest of war which immediatelysucceeded the nuptial ceremonies, her husband was slain, and as hisbody could never be found, it probably was consumed in the flames, which laid the town in ashes. General Boyer, moved with compassion, took her under his protection. He ascertained that her character hadalways been irreproachable, and he ever maintained that she continuedto be a pattern of virtue. She was but seventeen years of age whenPeter saw her. Her beauty immediately vanquished him. His wife he hadrepudiated after a long disagreement, and she had retired to aconvent. Peter took the lovely child, still a child in years, underhis own care, and soon privately married her, with how much sacrednessof nuptial rites is not now known. Such was the early history ofCatharine, who subsequently became the recognized and renowned Empressof Russia. 

"That a poor stranger, " says Voltaire, "who had been discovered amidthe ruins of a plundered town, should become the absolute sovereignof that very empire into which she was led captive, is an incidentwhich fortune and merit have never before produced in the annals ofthe world. "

The city of Petersburg was founded on the 22d of May, 1703, on adesert and marshy spot of ground, in the sixtieth degree of latitude. The first building was a fort which now stands in the center of thecity. Though Peter was involved in all the hurry and confusion of war, he devoted himself with marvelous energy to the work of rearing animperial city upon the bogs and the swamps of the Neva. It requiredthe merciless vigor of despotism to accomplish such an enterprise. Workmen were marched by thousands from Kesan, from Astrachan, from theUkraine, to assist in building the city. No difficulties, no obstacleswere allowed to impede the work. The tzar had a low hut, built ofplank, just sufficient to shelter him from the weather, where hesuperintended the operations. This hut is still preserved as one ofthe curiosities of St. Petersburg. In less than a year thirty thousandhouses were reared, and these were all crowded by the many thousandsPeter had ordered to the rising city, from all parts of the empire. Death made terrible ravages among them; but the remote provincesfurnished an abundant supply to fill the places of the dead. Exposure, toil, and the insalubrity of the marshy ground, consigned one hundredthousand to the grave during this first year. 

The morass had to be drained, and the ground raised by bringing earthfrom a distance. Wheelbarrows were not in use there, and the laborersconveyed the earth in baskets, bags and even in the skirts of theirclothes, scooping it up with their hands and with wooden paddles. Thetzar always manifested great respect for the outward observances ofreligion, and was constant in his attendance upon divine service. Aswe have mentioned, the first building the tzar erected was a fort, thesecond was a church, the third a hotel. In the meantime privateindividuals were busily employed, by thousands, in putting up shopsand houses. The city of Amsterdam was essentially the model upon whichSt. Petersburg was built. The wharves, the canals, the bridges and therectangular streets lined with trees were arranged by architectsbrought from the Dutch metropolis. When Charles XII. Was informed ofthe rapid progress the tzar was making in building a city on the banksof the Neva, he said, "Let him amuse himself as he thinks fit in building his city. I shallsoon find time to take it from him and to put his wooden houses in ablaze. "

Five months had not passed away, from the commencement of operationsupon these vast morasses at the mouth of the Neva, ere, one day, itwas reported to the tzar that a large ship under Dutch colors was infull sail entering the harbor. Peter was overjoyed at this realizationof the dearest wish of his heart. With ardor he set off to meet thewelcome stranger. He found that the ship had been sent by one of hisold friends at Zaandam. The cargo consisted of salt, wine andprovisions generally. The cargo was landed free from all duties andwas speedily sold to the great profit of the owners. To protect hiscapital, Peter immediately commenced his defenses at Cronstadt, aboutthirty miles down the bay. From that hour until this, Russia has beenat work upon those fortifications, and they can now probably biddefiance to all the navies of the world. 

Charles XII. , sweeping Poland with fire and the sword, drove Augustusout of the kingdom to his hereditary electorate of Saxony, and then, convening the Polish nobles, caused Stanislaus Leszczynski, one of hisown followers, to be elected sovereign, and sustained him on thethrone by all the power of the Swedish armies. [13] The Swedish warriornow fitted out a fleet for the destruction of Cronstadt andPetersburg. The defense of the province was intrusted to Menzikoff. This man subsequently passed through a career so full of vicissitudesthat a sketch of his varied life thus far seems important. He was theson of one of the humblest of the peasants living in the vicinity ofMoscow. When but thirteen years of age he was taken into the serviceof a pastry cook to sell pies and cakes about the streets, and he wasaccustomed to attract customers by singing jocular songs. The tzarchanced to hear him one day, and, diverted by his song and struck byhis bright, intelligent appearance, called for the boy, and offered topurchase his whole stock, both cakes and basket. 

[Footnote 13: See Empire of Austria, page 382. ]

The boy replied, "It is my business to sell the cakes, and I have no right to sell thebasket without my master's permission. Yet, as every thing belongs toour prince, your majesty has only to give the command, and it is myduty to obey. "

This adroit, apt answer so pleased the tzar that he took the lad intohis service, giving him at first some humble employment. But beingdaily more pleased with his wit and shrewdness, he raised him, step bystep, to the highest preferment. Under the tuition of General Le Fort, he attained great skill in military affairs, and became one of thebravest and most successful of the Russian generals. 

Early in the spring of 1705 the Swedish fleet, consisting oftwenty-two ships of war, each carrying about sixty guns, besides sixfrigates, two bomb ketches and two fire ships, approached Cronstadt. At the same time a large number of transports landed a strong body oftroops to assail the forts in the rear. This was the most formidableattack Charles XII. Had yet attempted in his wars. Though the Swedesalmost invariably conquered the Russians in the open field, Menzikoff, from behind his well-constructed redoubts, beat back his assailants, and St. Petersburg was saved. The summer passed away with many butundecisive battles, until the storms of the long northern winterseparated the combatants. The state of exasperation was now such thatthe most revolting cruelties were perpetrated on both sides. 

The campaign of 1706 opened most disastrously to Russia. In foursuccessive pitched battles the forces of the tzar had been defeated. Augustus was humbled to the dust, and was compelled to write a letterto Stanislaus congratulating him upon his accession to the throne. Healso ignominiously consented to deliver up the unfortunate Livoniannoble, Patgul, whose only crime was his love for the rights andprivileges of his country. Charles XII. Caused this unhappy noble tobe broken upon the wheel, thus inflicting a stain upon his owncharacter which can never be effaced. The haughty Swedish monarchseemed now to be sovereign over all of northern Europe exceptingRussia. Augustus, driven from the throne of Poland, was permitted tohold the electorate of Saxony only in consequence of his abjectsubmission to Charles XII. Stanislaus, the new Polish sovereign, wasmerely a vassal of Sweden. And even the Emperor Joseph of Germany paidimplicit obedience to the will of a monarch who had such terriblearmies at his command. 

Under these circumstances some of the powers endeavored to securepeace between Sweden and Russia. The French envoy at the court ofSweden introduced the subject. Charles XII. Proudly replied, "I shalltreat with the tzar in the city of Moscow. "

Peter, being informed of this boast and threat, remarked, "My brotherCharles wants to act the part of Alexander, but he shall not find inme a Darius. "

Charles XII. , from his triumphant invasion of Saxony, marched with anarmy of forty-five thousand men through Poland, which was utterlydesolated by war, and crossing the frontiers of Russia, directed hismarch to Moscow. Driving all opposition before him, he arrived uponthe banks of the Dnieper, and without much difficulty effected thepassage of the stream. Peter himself, with Menzikoff, now hastened tothe theater of conflict, and summoned his mightiest energies to repelthe foe. Battle after battle ensued with varying results. But thesituation of the Swedish conqueror was fast growing desperate. He wasfar from home. His regiments were daily diminishing beneath theterrible storms of war, while recruits were pouring in, from alldirections, to swell the ranks of the tzar. It was the month ofDecember. The villages had been all burned and the country turned intoa desert. The cold was so intense that on one particular march twothousand men dropped down dead in their ranks. The wintry storms soonbecame so severe that both parties were compelled to remain for sometime in inaction. Every poor peasant, within fifty miles, was robbedby detachments of starving soldiers. 

The moment the weather permitted, both armies were again in action. Charles XII. Had taken a circuitous route towards Moscow, through theUkraine, hoping to rouse the people of this region to join hisstandards. This plan, however, proved an utter failure. About themiddle of June the two armies, led by their respective sovereigns, metat Pultowa, upon the Worskla, near its point of junction with theDnieper, about four hundred miles south of Moscow. Several days werepassed in maneuvering and skirmishing in preparation for a decisivestruggle. It was evident to all Europe that the great battle to ensuewould decide the fate of Russia, Poland and Sweden. Thirty thousandwar-worn veterans were marshaled under the banners of Charles XII. Thetzar led sixty thousand troops into the conflict. Fully aware of thesuperiority of the Swedish troops, he awaited the attack of hisformidable foe behind his redoubts. In one of the skirmishes, two daysbefore the great battle, a bullet struck Charles XII. , shattering thebone of his heel. It was an exceedingly painful wound, which wasfollowed by an equally painful operation. Though the indomitablewarrior was suffering severely, he caused himself to be borne in alitter to the head of his troops, and led the charge. The attack uponthe intrenchments was made with all the characteristic impetuosity ofthese demoniac fighters. Notwithstanding the storm of grape shotwhich was hurled into their faces, covering the ground with themangled and the dead, two of the redoubts were taken, and shouts ofvictory ran along the lines of the Swedes. 

The action continued with fiend-like ferocity for two hours. CharlesXII. , with a pistol in his hand, was borne on his litter from rank torank, animating his troops, until a cannon ball, striking down one ofhis bearers, also shattered the litter into fragments, and dashed thebandaged monarch to the ground. With as much calmness as though thiswere an ordinary, everyday occurrence, Charles ordered his guardsimmediately to make another litter with their pikes. He was placedupon it, and continued to direct the battle, paying no more attentionto bullets, balls and bombshells, than if they had been snow flakes. 

Peter was equally prodigal of danger. Death in that hour was moredesirable to him than defeat, for Charles XII. , victorious, wouldmarch direct to Moscow, and Russia would share the fate of Poland. Thetzar was conspicuous at every point where the battle raged mostfiercely. Several bullets pierced his clothes; one passing through hishat just grazed the crown of his head. At length, the Swedes, overpowered by numbers, gave way, and fled in great confusion. Charles, though agonized by his wound, was compelled to mount onhorseback as the only means of escape from capture. The black hour ofwoe came, which sooner or later meets almost every warrior, howeversuccessful for a time his career may be. The blow was fatal to CharlesXII. More than nine thousand of the Swedes were left dead upon thefield of battle. Eighteen thousand were taken prisoners. The Swedishking, with a few hundred troops in his retinue, cut off from hisretreat towards Sweden, crossed the Dnieper and fled to Turkey. Peterdid not pursue him, but being informed of his desperate resolve toseek refuge in the territory of the Turks, he magnanimously wrote aletter to him, urging him not to take so perilous a step, assuringhim, upon his honor, that he would not detain him as a prisoner, butthat all their difficulties should be settled by a reasonable peace. Aspecial courier was dispatched with this letter, but he could notovertake the fugitives. When the courier arrived at the river Boy, which separates the deserts of Ukraine from the territories of theGrand Seignor, the Swedes had already crossed the river. In thecharacter of Peter there was a singular compound of magnanimity and ofthe most brutal insensibility and mercilessness. He ordered all theSwedish generals, who were his captives, to be introduced to him, returned to them their swords and invited them to dine. With agracefulness of courtesy rarely surpassed, he offered as a toast thesentiment, "To the health of my masters in the art of war. " And yet, soon after, he consigned nearly all these captives to the horrors ofSiberian exile. 

This utter defeat of Charles XII. Produced a sudden revolution inPoland, Sweden and Saxony. Peter immediately dispatched a large bodyof cavalry, under Menzikoff, to Poland, to assist Augustus inregaining his crown. Soon after, he followed himself, at the head ofan army, and entering Warsaw in triumph, on the 7th of October, 1709, replaced Augustus upon the throne from which Charles XII. Had ejectedhim. The whole kingdom acknowledged Peter for their protector. Peterthen marched to the electorate of Brandenburg, which had recently beenelevated into the kingdom of Prussia, and performing the functions ofhis own embassador, entered into a treaty with Frederic I. , grandfather of Frederic the Great. He then returned with all eagernessto St. Petersburg, and pressed forward the erection of new buildingsand the enlargement of the fleet. 

A magnificent festival was here arranged in commemoration of the greatvictory of Pultowa. Nine arches were reared, beneath which theprocession marched, in the most gorgeous array of civic and militarypageantry. The artillery of the vanquished, their standards, theshattered litter of the king, and the vast array of captives, soldiersand officers, all on foot, followed in the train of the triumphalprocession, while the ringing of bells, the explosion of an hundredpieces of artillery, and the shouts of an innumerable multitude, addedto the enthusiasm which the scene inspired. 

The battle of Pultowa gave Peter great renown throughout Europe, andadded immeasurably to the reputation of Russia. An occurrence hadtaken place in London which had deeply offended the tzar, who, wielding himself the energies of despotism, could form no idea of thatgovernment of law which was irrespective of the will of the sovereign. The Russian embassador at the court of Queen Anne had been arrested atthe suit of a tradesman in London, and had been obliged to give bailto save himself from the debtor's prison. Peter, regarding this as apersonal insult, demanded of Queen Anne satisfaction. She expressedher regret for the occurrence, but stated, that according to the lawsof England, a creditor had a right to sue for his just demands, andthat there was no statute exempting foreign embassadors from beingarrested for debt. Peter, who had no respect for constitutionalliberty, was not at all satisfied with this declaration, but postponedfurther action until his conflict with Sweden should be terminated. 

Now, in the hour of victory, he turned again to Queen Anne anddemanded reparation for what he deemed the insult offered to hisgovernment. He threatened, in retaliation, to take vengeance upon allthe merchants and British subjects within his dominions. This was anappalling menace. Queen Anne accordingly sent Lord Whitworth on aformal embassy to the tzar, with a diplomatic lie in his mouth. Addressing Peter in the flattering words of "most high and mightyemperor, " he assured him, that the offending tradesman had beenpunished with imprisonment and rendered infamous, and that an act ofParliament should be passed, rendering it no longer lawful to arresta foreign embassador. The offender had not been punished, but the actwas subsequently passed. 

The acknowledgment, accompanied by such flattering testimonials ofrespect, was deemed satisfactory. The tzar had demanded the death ofthe offender. Every Englishman must read with pride the declaration ofQueen Anne in reference to this demand. 

"There are, " said she, "insuperable difficulties with respect to theancient and fundamental laws of the government of our people, which wefear do not _permit_ so severe and rigorous a sentence to be given, asyour imperial majesty first seemed to expect in this case. And wepersuade ourselves that your imperial majesty, who are a prince famousfor clemency and exact justice, will not require us, who are the_guardian and protector of the laws_, to inflict a punishment on oursubjects which the law does not empower us to do. "

The whole of Livonia speedily fell into the hands of the tzar and wasreannexed to Russia. Pestilence, which usually follows in the train ofwar, now rose from the putridity of battle fields, and sweeping, likethe angel of death, over the war-scathed and starving inhabitants ofLivonia, penetrated Sweden. Whole provinces were depopulated, and inStockholm alone thirty thousand perished. The war of the SpanishSuccession was now raging, and every nation in Europe was engaged inthe work of destruction and butchery. Spain, Portugal, Italy, France, the German empire, England, Holland, Denmark, Sweden, Poland, were allin arms, and hundreds of millions of men were directly or indirectlyemployed in the work of mutual destruction. The fugitive king, CharlesXII. , was endeavoring to enlist the energies of the Ottoman Porte inhis behalf, and the Grand Seignor had promised to throw his armiesalso, two hundred thousand strong, into the arena of flame and blood, and to march for the conquest of Russia. 

Peter, conscious of the danger of an attack from Turkey, raised anarmy of one hundred and twenty-five thousand men, when he was informedthat the Turks, with a combined army of two hundred and ten thousandtroops, were ravaging the province of Azof. Urging his troopsimpetuously onward, he crossed the Pruth and entered Jassi, thecapital of Moldavia. The grand vizier, with an army three times morenumerous, crossed the Danube and advanced to meet him. For three daysthe contending hosts poured their shot into each other's bosoms. Thetzar, outnumbered and surrounded, though enabled to hold his positionbehind his intrenchments, saw clearly that famine would soon compelhim to surrender. His position was desperate. 

Catharine had accompanied her husband on this expedition, and, at herearnest solicitation, the tzar sent proposals of peace to the grandvizier, accompanied with a valuable present of money and jewels. TheTurk, dreading the energies which despair might develop in so powerfula foe, was willing to come into an accommodation, and entered into atreaty, which, though greatly to the advantage of the Ottoman Porte, rescued the tzar from the greatest peril in which he had ever beenplaced. The grand vizier good-naturedly sent several wagons ofprovisions to the camp of his humbled foes, and the Russians returnedto their homes, having lost twenty thousand men. 

Alexis, the oldest son of Peter, had ever been a bad boy, and he hadnow grown up into an exceedingly dissolute and vicious young man. Indolent, licentious, bacchanalian in his habits, and overbearing, hisfather had often threatened to deprive him of his right of succession, and to shave his crown and consign him to a convent. Hoping to improvehis character, he urged his marriage, and selected for him a beautifulprincess of Wolfenbuttle, as the possessions of the dukes of Brunswickwere then called. The old ducal castle still stands on the banks ofthe Oka about forty miles south-east of Hanover. The princess ofWolfenbuttle, who was but eighteen years of age, was sister to theEmpress of Germany, consort of Charles VI. The young Russian princewas dragged very reluctantly to this marriage, for he wished to beshackled by no such ties. He was the son of Peter's first wife, not ofthe Empress Catharine, whom the tzar had now acknowledged. Peter andCatharine attended these untoward nuptials, which were celebrated inthe palace of the Queen of Poland, in which a princess as lovely incharacter as in person was sacrificed to one who made the fewremaining months of her life a continued martyrdom. But little morethan a year had passed after their marriage ere she was brought to bedof a son. Her heart was already broken, and she was quite unpreparedfor the anguish of such an hour. Though the sweetness of herdisposition and the gentleness of her manners had endeared her to allher household, her husband treated her with the most brutal neglectand cruelty. Unblushingly he introduced into the palace hismistresses, and the saloons ever resounded with the uproar of hisdrunken companions. The woe-stricken princess, then but twenty yearsof age, covered her face with the bed clothes, and, weeping bitterly, refused to take any nourishment, and begged the physicians to permither to die in peace. Intelligence was immediately sent to the tzar ofthe confinement of his daughter in-law, and of her dangeroussituation. He hastened to her chamber. The interview was short, but soaffecting that the tzar, losing all self-control, burst into an agonyof grief and wept like a child. The dying princess commended to hiscare her babe and her servants, and, as the clock struck the hour ofmidnight, her spirit departed, we trust to that world "where thewicked cease from troubling and the weary are at rest. " The orphanbabe was baptized as Peter Alexis, and subsequently, on the death ofthe Empress Catharine, became Emperor of Russia. 

On the 20th of February, 1712, Peter, who had previously acknowledgedhis private marriage with Catharine, had the marriage publiclysolemnized at St. Petersburg with the utmost pomp. Soon after this, tothe inexpressible joy of both parents, Catharine gave birth to a son. The war with Sweden still continued, notwithstanding Charles XII. Wasa fugitive in Turkey unable to return to his own country. Finland, avast realm containing one hundred and thirty-five thousand squaremiles and almost embraced by the Gulfs of Bothnia and of Finland, thenbelonged to Sweden. Peter fitted out an expedition from St. Petersburgfor the conquest of that country. With three hundred ships, conveyingthirteen thousand men, he effected a landing in the vicinity of Abonotwithstanding the opposition of the Swedish force there, and, establishing his troops in redoubts with ample supplies, he returnedto St. Petersburg for reinforcements. He soon returned, and, with anarmy augmented to twenty thousand foot and four thousand horse, with apowerful train of artillery, commenced a career of conquest. The cityof Abo, on the coast, the capital of Finland, fell unresistingly intohis hands with a large quantity of provisions. There was a flourishinguniversity here containing a valuable library. Peter sent the books toSt. Petersburg, and they became the foundation of the present royallibrary in that place. 

The tzar, leaving the prosecution of the war to his generals, returnedto St. Petersburg. Many and bloody battles were fought in thosenorthern wilds during the summer, in most of which the Russians hadthe advantage, gaining citadel after citadel until winter drove thecombatants from the field. 

With indefatigable zeal Peter pressed forward in his plan to givesplendor and power to his new city of Petersburg. One thousandfamilies were moved there from Moscow. Very flattering offers weremade to induce foreigners to settle there, and a decree was issueddeclaring Petersburg to be the only port of entry in the empire. Heordered that no more wooden houses should be built, and that allshould be covered with tile; and to secure the best architects fromEurope, he offered them houses rent free, and entire exemption fromtaxes for fourteen years. The campaign of another summer, that of1714, rendered the tzar the master of the whole province of Finland. 

In the autumn of this year, Charles XII. , escaped from Turkey, wherehe had performed pranks outrivaling Don Quixote, and had finally beenheld a prisoner. He traversed Hungary and Germany in disguise, andtraveling day and night, in such haste that but one of his attendantscould keep up with him, arrived, exhausted and haggard, in Sweden. Hewas received with the liveliest demonstrations of joy, and immediatelyplaced himself again at the head of the Swedish armies. 

The tzar, however, conscious that he now had not much to fear fromSweden, left the conduct of the desultory war with his generals, andset out on another tour of observation to southern Europe. The lovelyCatharine, who, with the fairy form and sylph-like grace of a girl ofseventeen, had won the love of Peter, was now a staid and worthymatron of middle life. She had, however, secured the abiding affectionof the tzar, and he loved to take her with him on all his journeys. Catharine, though on the eve of again becoming a mother, accompaniedher husband as far as Holland. Through Stralsund, Mecklenburg andHamburg, they proceeded to Rostock, where a fleet of forty-fivegalleys awaited him. The emperor took the command, and hoisting hisflag, sailed to Copenhagen. Here he was entertained for two monthswith profuse hospitality by the King of Denmark, during which time hestudied, with sleepless vigilance, the institutions and the artisticattainments of the country. 

About the middle of December he arrived at Amsterdam. The city gavehim a splendid reception, and he was welcomed by the Earl of Albemarlein a very complimentary speech, pompous and flowery. The uncourteoustzar bluntly replied, "I thank you heartily, though I don't understand much of what yousay. I learned my Dutch among ship-builders, but the sort of languageyou have spoken I am sure I never learned. "

Some of his old companions, who were ship-builders, and had acquiredwealth, invited him to dine. They addressed him as "your majesty. "Peter cut them short, saying, "Come, brothers, let us converse like plain and honestship-carpenters. "

A servant brought him some wine. "Give me the jug, " said he laughing, "and then I can drink as much as I please, and no one can tell howmuch I have taken. "

He hastened to Zaandam, where he was received with the utmost joy byhis old friends from whom he had parted nineteen years before. An oldwoman pressed forward to greet him. 

"My good woman, " said the tzar, "how do you know who I am?"

"I am the widow, " she said, "of Baas Pool, at whose table your majestyso often sat nineteen years ago. "

The emperor kissed her upon the forehead and invited her to dine withhim that very day. One of his first visits was to the little cottage, or rather hut, which he had occupied while residing there. The cottageis still carefully preserved, having been purchased in 1823 by thesister of the Emperor Alexander, and enclosed in another building withlarge arched windows. The room was even then regarded as sacred. Inthe center stood the oaken table and the three wooden chairs whichconstituted the furniture when Peter occupied it. The loft wasascended by a ladder which still remains. 

With all the roughness of Peter's exterior, he had always been a manof deep religious feelings, and through all his life was in habits ofdaily prayer. This loft had been his place of private devotion towhich he daily ascended. Upon entering the cottage and finding everything just as he had left it, the tzar was for a moment muchaffected. He ascended the ladder to his closet of prayer in the loft, and there remained alone with his God for a full half hour. Eventfulindeed and varied had his life been since there, a young man oftwenty-five, he had daily sought divine guidance. 

CHAPTER XXI. 

THE TRIAL AND CONDEMNATION OF ALEXIS AND DEATHOF THE TZAR. 

From 1718 to 1725. 

The Tzar's Second Visit to Holland. --Reception in France. --Descriptionof Catharine. --Domestic Grief. --Conduct of Alexis. --Letters from HisFather. --Flight To Germany. --Thence to Naples. --Envoys Sent to BringHim Back. --Alexis Excluded from the Succession. --His Trial forTreason. --Condemnation and Unexpected Death. --New Efforts of the Tzarfor the Welfare of Russia. --Sickness of Peter. --His Death. --Successionof the Empress Catharine. --Epitaph to the Emperor. 

From Holland the tzar went to Paris. Great preparations were madethere for his reception, and apartments in the Louvre were gorgeouslyfitted up for the accommodation of him and his suite. But Peter, annoyed by parade, declined the sumptuous palace, and, the veryevening of his arrival, took lodgings at the Hotel de Lesdiguieres. Tothose who urged his acceptance of the saloons of the Louvre hereplied, "I am a soldier. A little bread and beer satisfy me. I prefer smallapartments to large ones. I have no desire to be attended with pompand ceremony, nor to give trouble to so many people. "

Every hour of his stay in Paris was employed in studying theinstitutions of the realm, and the progress made in the arts andsciences. Standing by the tomb of Richelieu, which is one of thefinest pieces of sculpture in Europe, he exclaimed, "Thou great man! I would have given thee one half of my dominions tolearn of thee how to govern the other half. "

All the trades and manufactures of the capital he examined with thegreatest care, and took back with him to St. Petersburg a large numberof the most skillful artists and mechanics. Leaving France he returnedto Amsterdam, where he rejoined Catharine, and proceeded with her toBerlin. A haughty German lady, piqued, perhaps, that a woman not ofnoble birth should be an empress, thus describes the appearance ofCatharine at that time:

"The tzarina is short and lusty, remarkably coarse, without grace andanimation. One need only see her to be satisfied of her low birth. Atthe first blush one would take her for a German actress. Her clotheslooked as if bought at a doll shop; every thing was so old fashionedand so bedecked with silver and tinsel. She was decorated with a dozenorders, portraits of saints, and relics, which occasioned such aclatter that when she walked one would suppose that an ass with bellswas approaching. The tzar, on the contrary, was tall and well made. His countenance is handsome, but there is something in it so rude thatit inspires one with dread. He was dressed like a seaman, in a frock, without lace or ornament. "[14]

[Footnote 14: Memoires de la Margrave de Bareith. ]

On Peter's return to Russia, he was compelled to meet and grasp atrouble which for fifteen years had embittered his life. His son, Alexis, had ever been a thorn in his father's side. He was not onlyindolent and dissipated, but he was utterly opposed to all hisfather's measures for reform, and was continually engaged in underhandmeasures to head a party against him. Upon the death of the unhappyprincess of Wolfenbuttle, wife of this worthless prince, the grievedand indignant father wrote to him as follows:

"I shall wait a little while longer to see if there be any hopes ofyour reform. If not, I shall cut you off from the succession as onelops off a dead branch. Do not think that I wish to intimidate you;and do not place too much reliance upon the fact that you are my onlyson. [15] If I am willing to lay down my own life for Russia, do youthink that I shall be willing to sacrifice my country for you? I wouldrather transmit the crown to an entire stranger worthy of the trust, than to my own child unworthy of it. "

[Footnote 15: The empress gave birth to a son shortly after thisletter was written. ]

This letter produced no effect upon the shameless debauchee. Hecontinued unchecked in his career of infamy. In acknowledging thereceipt of his father's letter, he contemptuously replied that he hadno wish for the crown, and that he was ready at any time to take anoath that he would renounce it for ever. Matters were in this positionwhen the tzar left for Denmark. He had hardly arrived in Copenhagenwhen he received dispatches informing him that his son was gatheringaround him all the disaffected, and was seriously endangering thetranquillity of the State. Once more the anxious father wrote to himin these words:

"I observe in your letter that you say not a word of the afflictionyour conduct has caused me for so many years. A father's admonitionsseem to produce no impression upon you. I have prevailed on myself towrite you once more, and for the last time. Those _bushy beards_ bindyou to their purposes. They are the persons whom you trust, who placetheir hopes in you; and you have no gratitude to him who gave youlife. Since you were of age have you ever aided your father in histoils? Have you not opposed every thing I have done for the good of mypeople? Have I not reason to believe that should you survive me youwill destroy all that I have accomplished? Amend your life. Renderyourself worthy of the succession, or turn monk. Reply to this eitherin person or in writing. If you do not I shall treat you as acriminal. "

The reply of Alexis, was laconic indeed. It consisted of just fourlines, and was as follows:

"Your letter of the 19th I received yesterday. My illness prevents mefrom writing at length. I intend to embrace the monastic life, and Irequest your gracious consent to that effect. "

Seven months passed away, during which the tzar heard nothingdirectly from his son, though the father kept himself informed of hisconduct. As Peter was returning from France he wrote to his sonreproaching him for his long silence, and requesting him, if he wishedto amend his ways and secure his father's favor, to meet him atCopenhagen; but that if, on the contrary, he preferred to enter aconvent, which was the only alternative, he should inform him by thereturn courier, that measures might be adopted to carry the planimmediately into effect. 

This brought matters to a crisis. The last thing the bloated debaucheewished was to enter a convent. He was equally averse to a sober life, and dared not meet his father lest he should be placed under arrest. He consequently made no reply, but pretending that he was to set outimmediately for Copenhagen, he secured all the treasure he could layhis hands upon and fled to Germany, to the court of the EmperorCharles VI. , who, it will be remembered, was his brother-in-law, having married a sister of his deceased wife. Here he told adeplorable story of the cruelty of his father, of the persecutions towhich he was exposed, and that to save his life he had been compelledto flee from Russia. 

The emperor, knowing full well that the young man was an infamousprofligate, was not at all disposed to incur the displeasure of Peterby apparently espousing the cause of the son against the father. Heconsequently gave the miscreant such a cold reception that he foundthe imperial palace any thing but a pleasant place of residence, andagain he set out on his vagabond travels. The next tidings his fatherheard of him were that he was in Naples, spending, as ever, hissubstance in riotous living. A father's heart still yearned over themiserable young man, and compassion was blended with disappointmentand indignation. He immediately dispatched two members of his court, M. Romanzoff, captain of the royal guards, and M. Toltoi, a privycounselor, to Naples, to make a last effort to reclaim his misguidedson. They found the young man in the chateau of Saint Elme, andpresented to him a letter from his father. It was dated Spa, July 1, 1717, and contained the following words:

"I write to you for the last time. Toltoi and Romanzoff will makeknown to you my will. If you obey me, I assure you, and I promisebefore God, that I will not punish you, but if you will return to me Iwill love you better than ever. But if you will not return to me, Ipronounce upon you, as your father, in virtue of the power I havereceived from God, my eternal malediction; and, as your sovereign, Iassure you that I shall find means to punish you, in which I trust Godwill assist me. "

It required the most earnest persuasion, and even the intervention ofthe viceroy of Naples, to induce Alexis to return to Russia. Themiserable man had a harem of abandoned women with him, with whom heset out on his return. They arrived in Moscow the 13th of February, 1718, and on that very day Peter had an interview with his son. No oneknows what passed in that interview. The rumor of the arrival ofAlexis spread rapidly through the city, and it was supposed that areconciliation had taken place. But the next morning, at the earliestdawn, the great bell of Moscow rang an alarm, the royal guards weremarshaled and the privy counselors of the emperor were summoned to theKremlin. 

Alexis was led, without his sword and as a prisoner, into the presenceof his father. At the same time, all the high ecclesiastics of thechurch were assembled, in solemn conclave, in the cathedral church. Alexis fell upon his knees before his father, confessed his faults, renounced all claim to the succession and entreated only that his lifemight be spared. The tzar led his son into an adjoining room, wherethey for some time remained alone. He then returned to his privycouncil and read a long statement, very carefully drawn up, minutelyrecapitulating the conduct of Alexis, his indolence, his shamelesslibertinism, his low companionship, his treasonable designs, andexhibiting his utter unfitness, in all respects, to be entrusted withthe government of an empire. This remarkable document was concludedwith the following words:

"Now although our son, by such criminal conduct, merits the punishmentof death, yet our paternal affection induces us to pardon his crimesand to exempt him from the penalty which is his due. But consideringhis unworthiness, as developed in the conduct we have described, wecan not, in conscience, bequeath to him the throne of Russia, foreseeing that, by his vicious courses, he would degrade the glory ofour nation, endanger its safety and speedily lose those provinceswhich we have recovered from our foes with so much toil and at so vastan expense of blood and treasure. To inflict upon our faithfulsubjects the rule of such a sovereign, would be to expose them to acondition worse than Russia has ever yet experienced. We do therefore, by our paternal authority, in virtue of which, by the laws of ourempire, any of our subjects may disinherit a son and give hissuccession to such other of his sons as he pleases, and, in quality ofsovereign prince, in consideration of the safety of our dominions, wedo deprive our son, Alexis, for his crimes and unworthiness, of thesuccession after us to our throne of Russia, and we do constitute anddeclare successor to the said throne after us our second son, Peter. 

"We lay upon our said son, Alexis, our paternal curse if ever, at anytime, he pretends to, or reclaims said succession, and we desire ourfaithful subjects, whether ecclesiastics or seculars, of all ranks andconditions, and the whole Russian nation, in conformity to this, ourwill, to acknowledge our son Peter as lawful successor, and to confirmthe whole by oath before the holy altar upon the holy gospel, kissingthe cross. And all those who shall ever oppose this, our will, andshall dare to consider our son, Alexis, as successor, we declaretraitors to us and to their country. We have ordered these presentsto be everywhere promulgated, that no person may pretend ignorance. Given at Moscow, February 3d, 1718. "

This document was then taken to the cathedral, where all the higherecclesiastics had been assembled, and was read to them. Nothing wasomitted which could invest the act with solemnity, There is everyevidence that the heart of the father was rent with acutest anguish inall these proceedings. Nothing could have been more desirable to himthan to transmit the empire his energies had rendered so illustrious, to his own son to carry on the enterprises his father had commenced. But to place eighteen millions of people in the hands of one who hadproved himself so totally unworthy, would have been the greatestcruelty. The exclusion of Alexis from the succession was the noblestact of Peter's life. 

But new facts were soon developed which rendered it impossible for theunhappy father to stop even here. Evidence came to light that Alexishad been plotting a conspiracy for the dethronement of his father, andfor the seizure of the crown by violence. His mother, whom the tzarhad repudiated, and his energetic aunt, Mary, both of whom were in aconvent, were involved in the plot. He had applied to hisbrother-in-law, the Emperor of Germany, for foreign troops to aid him. There were many restless spirits in the empire, turbulent anddepraved, the boon companions of Alexis, who were ready for any deedsof desperation which might place Alexis on the throne. The second sonof the emperor, the child of Catharine, was an infant of but a fewmonths old. The health of Peter was infirm and his life doubtful. Itwas manifest that immediately upon the death of the tzar, Alexis wouldrally his accomplices around him, raise the banner of revolt againstthe infant king, and that thus the empire would be plunged into allthe horrors of a long and bloody civil war. 

Peter having commenced the work of self-sacrifice for the salvation ofRussia, was not disposed to leave that work half accomplished. Allknew that the infamous Alexis would shrink from no crime, and therewas ample evidence of his treasonable plots. The father nowdeliberately resolved to arraign his son for high treason, a crimewhich doomed him to death. Aware of the awful solemnity of such amoment, and of the severity with which his measures and his motiveswould be sifted by posterity, he proceeded with the greatest, circumspection. A high court of justice was organized for the trial, consisting of two chambers, the one ecclesiastical, the other secular. On the 13th of June, 1718, the court was assembled, and the tzarpresented to them the documentary evidence, which had been carefullyobtained, of his son's treasonable designs, and thus addressed them:

"Though the flight of Alexis, the son of the tzar, and a part of hiscrimes be already known, yet there are now discovered such unexpectedand surprising attempts, as plainly show with what baseness andvillainy he endeavored to impose on us, his sovereign and father, andwhat perjuries he hath committed against Almighty God, all which shallnow be laid before you. Though, according to all laws, civil anddivine, and especially those of this empire, which grant fathersabsolute jurisdiction over their children, we have full power to judgeour son according to our pleasure, yet, as men are liable to prejudicein their own affairs, and as the most eminent physicians rely not ontheir own judgment concerning themselves, but call in the advice ofothers, so we, under the awful fear of displeasing God, make known ourdisease, and apply to you for a cure. As I have promised pardon to myson in case he should declare to me the truth, and though he hasforfeited this promise by concealing his rebellious designs, yet, thatwe may not swerve from our obligation, we pray you to consider thisaffair with seriousness, and report what punishment he deserveswithout favor or partiality either to him or me. Let not thereflection that you are passing sentence on the son of your princehave any influence on you, but administer justice without respect ofpersons. Destroy not your own souls and mine, by doing any thingwhich may injure our country or upbraid our consciences in the greatand terrible day of judgment. "

The evidence adduced against the young prince, from his ownconfession, and the depositions which had been taken, were verycarefully considered, nearly a month being occupied in the solemnitiesof deliberation. A verdict was finally rendered in the form of areport to the emperor. It was a long, carefully-worded document, containing a statement of the facts which the evidence substantiatedagainst the culprit. The conclusion was as follows:

"It is evident, from the whole conduct of the son of the tzar, that heintended to take the crown from the head of his father and place itupon his own, not only by a civil insurrection, but by the assistanceof a foreign army which he had actually requested. He has thereforerendered himself unworthy of the clemency promised by the emperor;and, since all laws, divine, ecclesiastical, civil and military, condemn to death, without mercy, not only those who attempt rebellionagainst their sovereign, but those who are plotting such attempts, what shall be our judgment of one who has conspired for the commissionof a crime almost unparalleled in history--the assassination of hissovereign, who was his own father, a father of great indulgence, whoreared his son from the cradle with more than paternal tenderness, who, with incredible pains, strove to educate him for government, andto qualify him for the succession to so great an empire? How much moreimperatively does such a crime merit death. 

"It is therefore with hearts full of affliction, and eyes streamingwith tears, that we, as subjects and servants, pronounce this sentenceagainst the son of our most precious sovereign lord, the tzar. Nevertheless, it being his pleasure that we should act in thiscapacity, we, by these presents, declare our real opinion, andpronounce this sentence of condemnation with a pure conscience as wehope to answer at the tribunal of Almighty God. We submit, however, this sentence to the sovereign will and revisal of his imperialmajesty, our most merciful sovereign. "

This sentence was signed by all the members of the court, one hundredand eighty in number; and on the 6th of July it was read to the guiltyprince in the castle where he was kept confined. The miserable youngman, enfeebled in body and mind by debaucheries, was so overwhelmedwith terror, as his death warrant was read, that he was thrown intoconvulsions. All the night long fit succeeded fit, as, delirious withwoe, he moaned upon his bed. In the morning a messenger was dispatchedto the tzar to inform him that his son was seriously sick; in an houranother messenger was sent stating that he was very dangerously sick;and soon a third messenger was dispatched with the intelligence thatAlexis could not survive the day, and was very anxious to see hisfather. Peter, scarce less wretched than his miserable son, hastenedto his room. The dying young man, at the sight of his father, burstinto tears, confessed all his crimes, and begged his father's blessingin this hour of death. Tears coursed down the cheeks of the sternemperor, and he addressed his dying child in terms so pathetic, and sofervently implored God's pardon for him, that the stoutest hearts weremoved and loud sobbings filled the room. 

It was midday of the 7th of July, 1718. The prince was confined in alarge chamber of a stone castle, which was at the same time a palaceand a fortress. There lay upon the couch the dying Alexis, bloated bythe excesses of a life of utter pollution, yet pale and haggard withterror and woe. The iron-hearted father, whose soul this sublimetragedy had-melted, sat at his side weeping like a child. The guardswho stood at the door, the nobles and ecclesiastics who hadaccompanied the emperor, were all unmanned, many sobbing aloud, overwhelmed by emotions utterly uncontrollable. This scene stamps theimpress of almost celestial greatness upon the soul of the tzar. Heknew his son's weakness, incompetency and utter depravity, and even inthat hour of agony his spirit did not bend, and he would not sacrificethe happiness of eighteen millions of people through parentaltenderness for his debauched and ruined child. 

About six o'clock in the evening the wretched Alexis breathed hislast, and passed from the tribunals of earth to the judgment-seat ofGod. The emperor immediately seemed to banish from his mind everyremembrance of his crimes, and his funeral was attended with all thecustomary demonstrations of affection and respect. Peter, fully awarethat this most momentous event of his life would be severelycriticised throughout the world, sent a statement of the facts to allthe courts of Europe. In his letter, which accompanied thesestatements, he says:

"While we were debating in our mind between the natural emotions ofpaternal clemency on one side, and the regard we ought to pay to thepreservation and the future security of our kingdom on the other, andpondering what resolution to take in an affair of so great difficultyand importance, it pleased the Almighty God, by his especial will andhis just judgment, and by his mercy to deliver us out of thatembarrassment, and to save our family and kingdom from the shame andthe dangers by abridging the life of our said son Alexis, after anillness with which he was seized as soon as he had heard the sentenceof death pronounced against him. 

"That illness appeared at first like an apoplexy; but he afterwardsrecovered his senses and received the holy sacraments; and havingdesired to see us, we went to him immediately, with all our counselorsand senators; and then he acknowledged and sincerely confessed all hissaid faults and crimes, committed against us, with tears and all themarks of a true penitent, and begged our pardon, which, according toChristian and paternal duty, we granted him; after which on the 7thof July, at six in the evening, he surrendered his soul to God. "

The tzar endeavored to efface from his memory these tragic scenes byconsecrating himself, with new energy, to the promotion of theinterests of Russia. Utterly despising all luxurious indulgence, helived upon coarse fare, occupied plainly-furnished rooms, dressed inthe extreme of simplicity and devoted himself to daily toil withdiligence, which no mechanic or peasant in the realm could surpass. The war still continued with Sweden. On the night of the 29th ofNovember, of this year, 1718, the madman Charles XII. Was instantlykilled by a cannon ball which carried away his head as he was leaningupon a parapet, in the siege of Fredericshall in Norway. The death ofthis indomitable warrior quite changed the aspect of European affairs. New combinations of armies arose and new labyrinths of intrigue werewoven, and for several years wars, with their usual successes anddisasters, continued to impoverish and depopulate the nations ofEurope. At length the tzar effected a peace with Sweden, that kingdomsurrendering to him the large and important provinces of Livonia, Esthonia, Ingria and Carelia. This was an immense acquisition forRussia. 

With the utmost vigilance the tzar watched the administration of allthe internal affairs of his empire, punishing fraud, wherever found, with unrelenting severity. The enterprise which now, above all others, engaged his attention, was to open direct communication, by means ofcanals, between St. Petersburg and the Caspian Sea. The most skillfulEuropean engineers were employed upon this vast undertaking, by whichthe waters of Lake Ladoga were to flow into the Volga, so that theshores of the Baltic and distant Persia might be united in maritimecommerce. The sacred Scriptures were also, by command of the emperor, translated into the Russian language and widely disseminatedthroughout the empire. The Russian merchants were continuallyreceiving insults, being plundered and often massacred by thebarbaric tribes on the shores of the Caspian. Peter fitted out a grandexpedition from Astrachan for their chastisement, and went himself tothat distant city to superintend the important operations. A war oftwelve months brought those tribes into subjection, and extended theRussian dominion over vast and indefinite regions there. 

Catharine, whom he seemed to love with all the fervor of youth, accompanied him on this expedition. Returning to St. Petersburg in1724, Peter resolved to accomplish a design which he for some time hadmeditated, of placing the imperial crown upon the brow of his belovedwife. Their infant son had died. Their grandson, Peter, the son ofAlexis, was still but a child, and the failing health of the tzaradmonished him that he had not many years to live. Reposing greatconfidence in the goodness of Catharine and in the wisdom of thosecounselors whom, with his advice, she would select, he resolved totransmit the scepter, at his death, to her. In preparation for thisevent, Catharine was crowned Empress on the 18th of May, 1724, withall possible pomp. 

The city of Petersburg had now become one of the most importantcapitals of Europe. Peter was not only the founder of this city, but, in a great measure, the architect. An observatory for astronomicalpurposes was reared, on the model of that in Paris. A valuable librarywas in the rapid progress of collection, and there were severalcabinets formed, filled with the choicest treasures of nature and art. There were now in Russia a sufficient number of men of genius and ofhigh literary and scientific attainment to form an academy of the artsand sciences, the rules and institutes of which the emperor drew upwith his own hand. 

While incessantly engaged in these arduous operations, the emperor wasseized with a painful and dangerous sickness--a strangury--whichconfined him to his room for four months. Feeling a little better oneday, he ordered his yacht to be brought up to the Neva, opposite hispalace, and embarked to visit some of his works on Lake Ladoga. Hisphysicians, vainly remonstrating against it, accompanied him. It wasthe middle of October. The weather continuing fine, the emperorremained upon the water, visiting his works upon the shore of the lakeand of the Gulf of Finland, until the 5th of November. The exposuresof the voyage proved too much for him, and he returned to Petersburgin a state of debility and pain which excited the greatestapprehensions. 

The disease made rapid progress. The mind of the emperor, as heapproached the dying hour, was clouded, and, with the inarticulatemutterings of delirium, he turned to and fro, restless, upon his bed. His devoted wife, for three days and three nights, did not leave hisside, and, on the 28th of January, 1725, at four o'clock in theafternoon, he breathed his last, in her arms. 

Before the dethronement of his reason, the tzar had assembled aroundhis bed the chief dignitaries of the empire, and had requested them, as soon as he should be dead, to acknowledge the Empress Catharine astheir sovereign. He even took the precaution to exact from them anoath that they would do this. Peter died in the fifty-third year ofhis age. None of the children whom he had by his first wife survivedhim. Both of the sons whom he had by the Empress Catharine were alsodead. Two daughters still lived. After the Empress Catharine, the nextheir to the throne was his grandson, Peter, the orphan child of theguilty Alexis. 

Immediately upon the death of the emperor, the senate assembled andunanimously declared Catharine Empress of Russia. In a body, theywaited upon Catharine with this announcement, and were presented toher by Prince Menzikoff. The mourning for the tzar was universal andheartfelt. The remains were conveyed to the tomb with all thesolemnities becoming the burial of one of the greatest monarchs earthhas ever known. Over his remains the empress erected a monumentsculptured by the most accomplished artists of Italy, containing thefollowing inscription:

 HERE LIETH ALL THAT COULD DIE OF A MAN IMMORTAL, PETER ALEXOUITZ;

 IT IS ALMOST SUPERFLUOUS TO ADD GREAT EMPEROR OF RUSSIA; A TITLE WHICH, INSTEAD OF ADDING TO HIS GLORY, BECAME GLORIOUS BY HIS WEARING IT. LET ANTIQUITY BE DUMB, NOR BOAST HER ALEXANDER OR HER CÆSAR. HOW EASY WAS VICTORY TO LEADERS WHO WERE FOLLOWED BY HEROES, AND WHOSE SOLDIERS FELT A NOBLE DISDAIN AT BEING THOUGHT LESS VIGILANT THAN THEIR GENERALS! BUT HE, WHO IN THIS PLACE FIRST KNEW REST, FOUND SUBJECTS BASE AND INACTIVE, UNWARLIKE, UNLEARNED, UNTRACTABLE, NEITHER COVETOUS OF FAME NOR FEARLESS OF DANGER-CREATURES WITH THE NAMES OF MEN, BUT WITH QUALITIES RATHER BRUTAL THAN RATIONAL YET EVEN THESE HE POLISHED FROM THEIR NATIVE RUGGEDNESS, AND, BREAKING OUT LIKE A NEW SUN TO ILLUMINE THE MINDS OF A PEOPLE, DISPELLED THEIR NIGHT OF HEREDITARY DARKNESS, AND, BY FORCE OF HIS INVINCIBLE INFLUENCE, TAUGHT THEM TO CONQUER EVEN THE CONQUERORS OF GERMANY. OTHER PRINCES HAVE COMMANDED VICTORIOUS ARMIES; THIS COMMANDER CREATED THEM. EXULT, O NATURE! FOR THINE WAS THIS PRODIGY. BLUSH, O ART! AT A HERO WHO OWED THEE NOTHING;

CHAPTER XXII. 

THE REIGNS OF CATHARINE I. ANNE, THE INFANT IVANAND ELIZABETH. 

From 1725 to 1162. 

Energetic Reign of Catharine. --Her Sudden Death. --Brief Reign of PeterII. --Difficulties of Hereditary Succession. --A RepublicContemplated. --Anne, Daughter of Ivan. --The Infant Ivan ProclaimedKing--His Terrible Doom. --Elizabeth, Daughter of Peter the GreatEnthroned. --Character of Elizabeth. --Alliance with MariaTheresa. --Wars with Prussia. --Great Reverses of Frederic ofPrussia. --Desperate Condition of Frederic. --Death ofElizabeth. --Succession of Peter III. 

The new empress, Catharine I. , was already exceedingly popular, andshe rose rapidly in public esteem by the wisdom and vigor of heradministration. Early in June her eldest daughter, Anne, was marriedwith much pomp to the Duke of Holstein. It was a great novelty to theRussians to see a woman upon the throne; and the neighboring Statesseemed inspired with courage to commence encroachments, thinking thatthey had but little to apprehend from the feeble arm of a queen. Poland, Sweden and Denmark were all animated with the hope that thetime had now come in which they could recover those portions ofterritory which, during past wars, had been wrested from them byRussia. 

Catharine was fully aware of the dangers thus impending, and adoptedsuch vigorous measures for augmenting the army and the fleet asspeedily to dispel the illusion. Catharine vigorously prosecuted themeasures her husband had introduced for the promotion of thecivilization and enlightenment of her subjects. She took great care ofthe young prince Peter, son of the deceased Alexis, and endeavored inall ways to educate him so that he might be worthy to succeed herupon the throne. This young man, the grandson of Peter the Great, wasthe only prince in whose veins flowed the blood of the tzars. 

The academy of sciences at St. Petersburg, which Peter had founded, was sedulously fostered by Catharine. The health of the empress wasfeeble when she ascended the throne, and it rapidly declined. She, however, continued to apply herself with great assiduity to publicaffairs until the middle of April, when she was obliged to take herbed. There is no "royal road" to death. After four weeks of sufferingand all the humbling concomitants of disease and approachingdissolution, the empress breathed her last at nine o'clock in theevening of the 16th of May, 1727, after a reign of but little morethan two years, and in the forty-second year of her age. 

Upon her death-bed Catharine declared Peter II. , the son of Alexis, her successor; and as he was but twelve years of age, a regency wasestablished during his minority. Menzikoff, however, the illustriousfavorite of Peter the Great, who had been appointed by Catharinegeneralissimo of all the armies both by land and sea, attained suchsupremacy that he was in reality sovereign of the empire. During thereign, of Catharine Russia presented the extraordinary spectacle ofone of the most powerful and aristocratic kingdoms on the globegoverned by an empress whose origin was that of a nameless girl foundweeping in the streets of a sacked town--while there rode, at the headof the armies of the empire, towering above grand dukes and princes ofthe blood, the son of a peasant, who had passed his childhood theapprentice of a pastry cook, selling cakes in the streets of Moscow. Such changes would have been extraordinary at any period of time andin any quarter of the world; but that they should have occurred inRussia, where for ages so haughty an aristocracy had dominated, seemsalmost miraculous. Menzikoff; elated by the power which the minorityof the king gave him, assumed such airs as to excite the most bitterspirit of hostility among the nobles. They succeeded in working hisruin; and the boy emperor banished him to Siberia and confiscated hisimmense estates. The blow was fatal. Sinking into the most profoundmelancholy, Menzikoff lingered for a few months in the dreary regionof his exile, and died in 1729. Peter the Second did not long survivehim. But little more than two years elapsed after the death ofCatharine, when he, being then a lad of but fourteen years of age, wasseized with the small-pox and died the 19th of January, 1730. Onedaughter of Peter the Great and of Catharine still survived. 

Some of the principal of the nobility, seeing how many difficultiesattended hereditary succession, which at one time placed the crownupon the brow of a babe in the cradle, again upon a semi-idiot, andagain upon a bloated and infamous debauchee, conferred upon thesubject of changing the government into a republic. But Russia was notprepared for a reform so sudden and so vast. After much debate it wasdecided to offer the crown to Anne, Duchess of Courland, who wassecond daughter of the imbecile Ivan, who, for a short time, hadnominally occupied the throne, associated with his brother Peter theGreat. She had an elder sister, Catharine, who was married to the Dukeof Mecklenburg. So far as the right of birth was concerned, Catharinewas first entitled to the succession. But as the Duke of Mecklenburg, whose grand duchy bordered upon the Baltic, and which was equal toabout one half the State of Massachusetts, was engaged in a kind ofcivil war with his nobles, it was therefore thought best to pass herby, lest the empire should become involved in the strife in which herhusband was engaged. As Ivan was the elder brother, it was thoughtthat his daughters should have the precedence over those of Peter. 

Another consideration also influenced the nobles who took the lead inselecting Anne. They thought that she was a woman whom they couldmore easily control than Catharine. These nobles accordingly framed anew constitution for the empire, limiting the authority of the queento suit their purposes. But Anne was no sooner seated upon the throne, than she grasped the scepter with vigor which astounded all. Shebanished the nobles who had interfered with the royal prerogatives, and canceled all the limitations they had made. She selected a veryable ministry, and gave the command of her armies to the mostexperienced generals. While sagacity and efficiency marked her shortadministration, and Russia continued to expand and prosper, no eventsof special importance occurred. She united her armies with those ofthe Emperor of Germany in resisting the encroachments of France. Shewaged successful war against the Turks, who had attempted to recoverAzof. In this war, the Crimean Tartars were crushed, and Russianinfluence crowded its way into the immense Crimean peninsula. Theenergies of Anne caused Russia to be respected throughout Europe. 

As the empress had no children, she sent for her niece and namesake, Anne, daughter of her elder sister, Catharine, Duchess of Mecklenburg, and married her to one of the most distinguished nobles of her court, resolved to call the issue of this marriage to the succession. On the12th of August, 1740, this princess was delivered of a son, who wasnamed Ivan. The empress immediately pronounced him her successor, placing him under the guardianship of his parents. The health of theempress was at this time rapidly failing, and it was evident to allthat her death was not far distant. In anticipation of death, sheappointed one of her favorites, John Ernestus Biron, regent, duringthe minority of the prince. Baron Osterman, high chancellor of Russia, had the rank of prime minister, and Count Munich, a soldier ofdistinguished reputation, was placed in the command of the armies, with the title of field marshal. These were the last administrativeacts of Anne. The king of terrors came with his inevitable summons. After a few weeks of languor and suffering, the queen expired inOctober, 1740. 

A babe, two months old, was now Emperor of Russia. The senateimmediately met and acknowledged the legitimacy of his claims. Theforeign embassadors presented to him their credentials, and theMarquis of Chetardie, the French minister, reverentially approachingthe cradle, made the imperially majestic baby a congratulatory speech, addressing him as Ivan V. , Emperor of all the Russias, and assuringhim of the friendship of Louis XV. , sovereign of France. 

The regent, as was usually the case, arrogating authority andsplendor, soon became excessively unpopular, and a conspiracy of thenobles was formed for his overthrow. On the night of the 17th ofNovember the conspirators met in the palace of the grand duchess, Anne, mother of the infant emperor, unanimously named her regent ofthe empire, arrested Biron, and condemned him to death, which sentencewas subsequently commuted to Siberian exile. 

Elizabeth, the daughter of Peter, was now thirty-eight years of age. Though very beautiful, she was unmarried, and resided in the palace ina state of splendid captivity. A party now arose who secretlyconspired to overthrow the regency of Anne, and to depose the infantIvan and place Elizabeth upon the throne. The plot being fullymatured, on the night of the 5th of December a body of armed menrepaired to the palace, where they met Elizabeth, who was ready toreceive them, and marched, with her at their head, to the barracks, where she was enthusiastically received by the soldiers. The spirit ofher father seemed at once to inspire her soul. With a voice ofauthority, as if born to command, she ordered the regiments to marchto different quarters of the city and to seize all the prominentofficers of the government. Then leading, herself, a regiment to thepalace, she took possession of the infant emperor and of his mother, the regent. They were held in captivity, though, at first, treatedwith all the consideration which became their birth. 

This revolution was accepted by the people with the loudestdemonstrations of joy. The memory of Peter the Great was enshrined inevery heart, and all exulted in placing the crown upon his daughter'sbrow. The next morning, at the head of the royal guards and all theother troops of the metropolis, Elizabeth was proclaimed Empress ofRussia. In one week from this time, the deposed infant emperor, Ivan, who was then thirteen months old, was sent, with his parents, fromPetersburg to Riga, where they were for a long time detained in acastle as prisoners. Two efforts which they made for escape werefrustrated. 

This conspiracy, which was carried to so successful a result, wasmainly founded in the hostility with which the Russians regarded theforeigners who had been so freely introduced to the empire by Peterthe Great, and who occupied so many of the most important posts in theState. Thus the succession of Elizabeth was, in fact, a counterrevolution, arresting the progress of reform and moving Russia backagain toward the ancient barbarism. But Elizabeth soon expended herparoxysm of energy, and surrendered herself to luxury and to sensualindulgence unsurpassed by any debauchee who ever occupied a throne. Jealous of sharing her power, she refused to take a husband, thoughmany guilty favorites were received to her utmost intimacy. 

The doom of the deposed Ivan and his parents was sad, indeed. Theywere removed for safe keeping to an island in the White Sea, fiftymiles beyond Archangel, a region as desolate as the imagination canwell conceive. Here, after a year of captivity, the infant Ivan wastorn from his mother and removed to the monastery of Oranienburg, where he was brought up in the utmost seclusion, not being allowed tolearn either to read or write. The bereaved mother, Anne, lingered acouple of years until she wept away her life, and found the repose ofthe grave in 1746. Her husband survived thirty years longer, and diedin prison in 1775. It was an awful doom for one who had committed nocrime. The whole course of history proves that in this life we see butthe commencement of a divine government, and that "after death comeththe judgment. "

A humane monk, taking pity upon the unfortunate little Ivan, attemptedto escape with him. He had reached Smolensk, when he was arrested. Theunhappy prince was then conveyed to the castle of Schlusselburg, wherehe was immersed in a dungeon which no ray of the sun could everpenetrate. A single lamp burning in his cell only revealed itshorrors. The prince could not distinguish day from night, and had nomeans of computing the passage of the hours. Food was left in hiscell, and the attendants, who occasionally entered, were prohibitedfrom holding any conversation with the child. This treatment, absolutely infernal, soon reduced the innocent prince to a statealmost of idiocy. 

Twice Elizabeth ordered him to be brought to Petersburg, where sheconversed with him without letting him know who she was; but she didnothing to alleviate his horrible doom. After the death of Elizabeth, her successor, Peter III. , made Ivan a visit, without making himselfknown. Touched with such an aspect of misery, he ordered an apartmentto be built in an angle of the fortress, for Ivan, who had nowattained the age of manhood, where he could enjoy air and light. Thesudden death of Peter defeated this purpose, and Ivan was left in hismisery. Still weary years passed away while the prince, dead tohimself as well as to the world, remained breathing in his tomb. Catharine II. , after her accession to the throne, called to see Ivan. She thus describes her visit:

"After we had ascended the throne, and offered up to Heaven our justthanksgivings, the first object that employed our thoughts, inconsequence of that humanity which is natural to us, was the unhappysituation of that prince, who was dethroned by divine Providence, andhad been unfortunate ever since his birth; and we formed theresolution of alleviating his misfortunes as far as possible. 

"We immediately made a visit to him in order to judge of hisunderstanding and talents, and to procure him a situation suitable tohis character and education. But how great was our surprise to find, that in addition to a defect in his utterance, which rendered itdifficult for him to speak, and still more difficult to be understood, we observed an almost total deprivation of sense and reason. Those whoaccompanied us, during this interview, saw how much our heart sufferedat the contemplation of an object so fitted to excite compassion; theywere also convinced that the only measure we could take to succor theunfortunate prince was to leave him where we found him, and to procurehim all the comforts and conveniences his situation would admit of. Weaccordingly gave our orders for this purpose, though the state he wasin prevented his perceiving the marks of our humanity or beingsensible of our attention and care; for he knew nobody, could notdistinguish between good and evil, nor did he know the use that mightbe made of reading, to pass the time with less weariness and disgust. On the contrary, he sought pleasure in objects that discovered withsufficient evidence the disorder of his imagination. "

Soon after this poor Ivan was cruelly assassinated. An officer in theRussian army, named Mirovitch, conceived an absurd plan of liberatingIvan from his captivity, restoring him to the throne, and consigningCatharine II. To the dungeon the prince had so long inhabited. Mirovitch had command of the garrison at Schlusselburg, where Ivan wasimprisoned. Taking advantage of the absence of the empress, on ajourney to Livonia, he proceeded to the castle, with a few soldierswhose coöperation he had secured through the influence of brandy andpromises, knocked down the commandant of the fortress with the buttend of a musket, and ordered the officers who had command of theprisoner to bring him to them. These officers had received the secretinjunction that should the rescue of the prince ever be attempted, they were to put him to death rather than permit him to be carriedoff. They accordingly entered his cell, and though the helplesscaptive made the most desperate resistance, they speedily cut him downwith their swords. 

History has few narratives so extraordinary as the fate of Ivan. Aforced marriage was arranged that a child might be generated toinherit the Russian throne. When this child was but a few days old hewas declared emperor of all the Russias, and received thecongratulations of the foreign embassadors. When thirteen months ofage he was deposed, and for the crime of being a king, was thrown intocaptivity. To prevent others from using him as the instrument of theirpurposes, he was thrown into a dungeon, and excluded from all humanintercourse, so that like a deaf child he could not even acquire thepower of speech. For him there was neither clouds nor sunshine, daynor night, summer nor winter. He had no employment, no amusement, nofood for thought, absolutely nothing to mark the passage of the wearyhours. The mind became paralyzed and almost idiotic by such enormouswoe. Such was his doom for twenty-four years. He was born in 1740, andassassinated under the reign of Catharine II. , in 1764. The father ofIvan remained in prison eleven years longer until he died. 

From this tragedy let us turn back to the reign of Elizabeth. It wasthe great object of this princess to undo all that her illustriousfather had done, to roll back all the reforms he had commenced, and torestore to the empire its ancient usages and prejudices. The hostilityto foreigners became so bitter, that the queen's guard formed aconspiracy for a general massacre, which should sweep them all fromthe empire. Elizabeth, conscious of the horror such an act wouldinspire throughout Europe, was greatly alarmed, and was compelled toissue a proclamation, in defense of their lives. 

"The empress, " she said in this proclamation, "can never forget howmuch foreigners have contributed to the prosperity of Russia. Andthough her subjects will at all times enjoy her favors in preferenceto foreigners, yet the foreigners in her service are as dear to her asher own subjects, and may rely on her protection. "

In the mean time, Elizabeth was prosecuting with great vigor thehereditary war with Sweden. Russia was constantly gaining in thisconflict, and at length the Swedes purchased peace by surrendering tothe Russians extensive territories in Finland. The favor of Russia wasstill more effectually purchased by the Swedes choosing for theirking, Adolphus Frederic, Duke of the Russian province of Holstein, andkinsman of Elizabeth. The boundaries of Russia were thus enlarged, andSweden became almost a tributary province of the gigantic empire. 

Maria Theresa was now Empress of Austria, and she succeeded inenlisting the coöperation of Elizabeth in her unrelenting warfare withFrederic of Prussia. Personal hostility also exasperated Elizabethagainst the Prussian monarch, for in some of his writings he hadspoken disparagingly of the humble birth of Elizabeth's mother, Catharine, the wife of Peter the First; and a still more unpardonableoffense he had committed, when, flushed with wine, at a table wherethe Russian embassador was present, he had indulged in witticisms inreference to the notorious gallantries of the empress. A woman whocould plunge, into the wildest excesses of licentiousness, still hadsensibility enough to resent the taunts of the royal philosopher. In1753, Elizabeth and Maria Theresa entered into an agreement to resist_all further augmentation_ of the Prussian power. In the bloody SevenYears' War between Frederic and Maria Theresa, the heart of Elizabethwas always with the Austrian queen, and for five of those years theirarmies fought side by side. In the year 1759, Elizabeth sent an armyof one hundred thousand men into Prussia. They committed every outragewhich fiends could perpetrate; and though victorious over the armiesof Frederic, they rendered the country so utterly desolate, thatthrough famine they were compelled to retreat. Burning villages andmangled corpses marked their path. 

The next year, 1758, another Russian army invaded Prussia, overrannearly the whole kingdom, and captured Konigsburg. The victoriousRussians thinking that all of Prussia was to be annexed to theirdominions, began to treat the Prussians tenderly and as countrymen. Anorder was read from the churches, that if any Prussian had cause ofcomplaint against any Russian, he should present it at the militarychancery at Konigsburg, where he would infallibly have redress. Theinhabitants of the conquered realm were all obliged to swear fealty tothe Empress of Russia. The Prussian army was at this time in Silesia, struggling against the troops of Maria Theresa. The warlike Fredericsoon returned at the head of his indomitable hosts, and attacking theRussians about six miles from Kustrin, defeated them in one of themost bloody battles on record, and drove the shattered battalions, humiliated and bleeding, out of the territory. 

The summer of 1759 again found the Russian troops spread over thePrussian territory. In great force the two hostile armies soon met onthe banks of the Oder. The Russians, posted upon a line of commandingheights, numbered seventy thousand. Frederic fiercely assailed themthrough the most formidable disadvantages, with but thirty thousandmen. The slaughter of the Prussians was fearful, and Frederic, afterlosing nearly eight thousand of his best troops in killed and woundedand prisoners, sullenly retired. The Russian troops were nowstrengthened by a reinforcement of twelve thousand of the choicest ofthe Austrian cavalry, and still presenting, notwithstanding theirlosses, a solid front of ninety thousand men. Frederic, bringing everynerve into action, succeeded in collecting and bringing again into thefield fifty thousand troops. [16] Notwithstanding the disparity innumbers, it seemed absolutely necessary that the King of Prussiashould fight, for the richest part of his dominions was in the handsof the allied Prussians and Austrians, and Berlin was menaced. Thefield of battle was on the banks of the Oder, near Frankfort. 

[Footnote 16: Some authorities give the Russians eighty thousand andthe Prussians forty thousand. ]

On the 12th of June, 1759, at two o'clock in the morning, the King ofPrussia formed his troops in battle array, behind a forest whichconcealed his movements from the enemy. The battle was commenced witha fierce cannonade; and in the midst of the thunderings and carnage ofthis tempest of war, solid columns emerged from the ranks of thePrussians and pierced the Russian lines. The attack was too impetuousto be resisted. From post to post the Prussians advanced, driving thefoe before them, and covering the ground with the slain. For six hoursof almost unparalleled slaughter the victory was with the Prussians. Seventy-two pieces of cannon fell into the hands of the victors, andat every point the Russians were retreating. Frederic, in hisexultation, scribbled a note to the empress, upon the field of battle, with the pommel of his saddle for a tablet, and dispatched it to herby a courier. It was as follows:

 "Madam: we have beat the Russians from their entrenchments. In two hours expect to hear of a glorious victory. "

But in less than two hours the tide of victory turned. The day was oneof excessive heat. An unclouded sun poured its burning rays upon thefield, and at midday the troops and the horses, having been engagedfor six hours in one of the severest actions which was ever known, were utterly beat out and fainting with exhaustion. Just then thewhole body of the Russian and Austrian cavalry, some fourteen thousandstrong, which thus far had remained inactive, came rushing upon theplain as with the roar and the sweep of the whirlwind. The foe fellbefore them as the withered grass before the prairie fire. Fredericwas astounded by this sudden reverse, and in the anguish of his spiritplunged into the thickest of the conflict. Two horses were shotbeneath him. His clothes were riddled with balls. Another courier wasdispatched to the empress from the sanguinary field, in the hottestspeed. The note he bore was as follows:

 "Remove from Berlin with the royal family. Let the archives be carried to Potsdam, and the capital make conditions with the enemy. "

As night approached, Frederic assembled the fragments of his army, exhausted and bleeding, upon some heights, and threw up redoubts fortheir protection. Twenty thousand of his troops were left upon thefield or in the hands of the enemy. Every cannon he had was taken. Scarcely a general or an inferior officer escaped unwounded, and alarge number of his most valuable officers were slain. It was an awfuldefeat and an awful slaughter. 

Fortunately for Frederic the losses of the Russians had also been soterrible that they did not venture to pursue the foe. Early the nextmorning the Prussian king crossed the Oder; and the Russians, encumbered with the thousands of their own mutilated and dying troops, thought it not prudent to march upon Berlin. The war still ragedfuriously, the allies being inspirited by hope and Frederic bydespair. At length the affairs of Prussia became quite hopeless, andthe Prussian monarch was in a position from which no earthly energy orsagacity could extricate him. The Russians and Austrians, inresistless numbers, were spread over all his provinces exceptingSaxony, where the great Frederic was entirely hemmed up. 

The Prussian king was fully conscious of the desperation of hisaffairs, and, though one of the most stoical and stern of men, heexperienced the acutest anguish. For hours he paced the floor of histent, absorbed in thought, seldom exchanging a word with his generals, who stood silently by, having no word to utter of counsel orencouragement. Just then God mysteriously interposed and saved Prussiafrom dismemberment, and the name of her monarch from ignominy. TheEmpress of Russia had been for some time in failing health, and theyear 1762 had but just dawned, when the enrapturing tidings wereconveyed to the camp of the despairing Prussians that Elizabeth wasdead. This event dispelled midnight gloom and caused the sun to shinebrightly upon the Prussian fortunes. 

The nephew of the empress, Peter III. , who succeeded her on herthrone, had long expressed his warm admiration of Frederic of Prussia, had visited his court at Berlin, where he was received with the mostflattering attentions, and had enthroned the warlike Frederic in hisheart as the model of a hero. He had even, during the war, secretlywritten letters to Frederic expressive of his admiration, and hadcommunicated to him secrets of the Russian cabinet and their plans ofoperation. The elevation of Peter III. To the throne was the signal, not only for the withdrawal of the Russian troops from the Austrianalliance, but for the direct marching of those troops as allies intothe camp of the Prussians. Thus sudden are the mutations of war; thusinexplicable are the combinations of destiny. 

Elizabeth died in the fifty-second year of her age, after a reign oftwenty years. She was during her whole reign mainly devoted to sensualpleasure, drinking intoxicating liquors immoderately, and surrenderingherself to the most extraordinary licentiousness. Though ever refusingto recognize the claims of marriage, she was the mother of severalchildren, and her favorites can not easily be enumerated. Herministers managed the affairs of State for her, in obedience to hercaprices. She seemed to have some chronic disease of the humanefeelings which induced her to declare that not one of her subjectsshould during her reign be doomed to death, while at the same time, with the most gentle self complacency, she could order the tongues ofthousands to be torn out by the roots, could cut off the nostrils withred hot pincers, could lop off ears, lips and noses, and could twistthe arms of her victims behind them, by dislocating them at theshoulders. There were tens of thousands of prisoners thus horridlymutilated. 

The empress was fond of music, and introduced to Russia the opera andthe theater. She was as intolerent to the Jews as her father had been, banishing them all from the country. She lived in constant fear ofconspiracies and revolutions, and, as a desperate safeguard, established a secret inquisitorial court to punish all who shouldexpress any displeasure with the measures of government. Spies andinformers of the most worthless character filled the land, andmultitudes of the most virtuous inhabitants of the empire, falselyaccused, or denounced for a look, a shrug, or a harmless word, wereconsigned to mutilation more dreadful and to exile more gloomy thanthe grave. 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

PETER III. AND HIS BRIDE. 

From 1728 to 1762. 

Lineage of Peter III. --Chosen by Elizabeth as Her Successor. --TheBride Chosen for Peter. --Her Lineage. --The Courtship. --TheMarriage. --Autobiography of Catharine. --Anecdotes of Peter. --HisNeglect of Catharine and His Debaucheries. --Amusements of the RussianCourt. --Military Execution of a Rat. --Accession of Peter III. To theThrone. --Supremacy of Catharine. --Her Repudiation Threatened. --TheConspiracy. --Its Successful Accomplishment. 

Peter the Third was grandson of Peter the Great. His mother, Anne, theeldest daughter of Peter and Catharine, married the Duke of Holstein, who inherited a duchy on the eastern shores of the Baltic containingsome four thousand square miles of territory and about three hundredthousand inhabitants. Their son and only child, Peter, was born in theducal castle at Kiel, the capital of the duchy, in the year 1728. Theblood of Peter the Great of Russia, and of Charles the Twelfth ofSweden mingled in the veins of the young duke, of which fact he wasexceedingly proud. Soon after the birth of Peter, his mother, Anne, died. The father of Peter was son of the eldest sister of CharlesXII. , and, as such, being the nearest heir, would probably havesucceeded to the throne of Sweden had not the king's sudden death, bya cannon ball, prevented him from designating his successor. Thewidowed father of Peter, thus disappointed in his hopes of obtainingthe crown of Sweden, which his aunt Ulrica, his mother's sister, successfully grasped, lived in great retirement. The idea had notoccurred to him that the crown of imperial Russia could, by anychance, descend to his son, and the education of Peter was conductedto qualify him to preside over his little patrimonial duchy. 

When young Peter was fourteen years of age, the Empress Elizabeth, hismaternal aunt, to the surprise and delight of the family, summoned theyoung prince to St. Petersburg, intimating her intention to transmitto him her crown. But Peter was a thoroughly worthless boy. Allignoble qualities seemed to be combined in his nature without anyredeeming virtues. Elizabeth having thus provided twenty millions ofpeople with a sovereign, looked about to find for that sovereign asuitable wife. Upon the banks of the Oder there was a small_principality_, as it was called, containing some thirteen hundredsquare miles, about the size of the State of Rhode Island. ChristianAugustus, the prince of this little domain, had a daughter, Sophia, achild rather remarkable both for beauty and vivacity. She was one yearyounger than Peter, and Elizabeth fixed her choice upon Sophia as thefuture spouse of her nephew. Peter was, at this time, with the empressin Moscow, and Sophia was sent for to spend some time in the Russiancapital before the marriage, that she might become acquainted with theRussian language and customs. 

Both of these children had been educated Protestants, but they wererequired to renounce the Lutheran faith and accept that of the Greekchurch. Children as they were, they did this, of course, as readily asthey would have changed their dresses. With this change of religionSophia received a new name, that of Catharine, and by this name shewas ever afterward called. When these children, to whom the governmentof the Russian empire was to be intrusted, first met, Peter wasfifteen years of age and Catharine fourteen. Catharine subsequentlycommenced a minute journal, an autobiography of these her youthfuldays, which opens vividly to our view the corruptions of the Russiancourt. Nothing can be more wearisome than the life there developed. Nothought whatever seemed to be directed by the court to the interestsof the Russian people. They were no more thought of than the jadedhorses who dragged the chariots of the nobles. It is amazing that theindignation of the millions can have slumbered so long. 

Catharine, in her memoirs, naively describes young Peter, when shefirst saw him, as "weak, ugly, little and sickly. " From the age of tenhe had been addicted to intoxicating drinks. It was the 9th ofFebruary, 1744, when Catharine was taken to Moscow. Peter, or, as hewas then called, the grand duke, was quite delighted to see the prettygirl who was his destined wife, and began immediately to entertainCatharine, as she says, "by informing me that he was in love with oneof the maids of honor to the empress, and that he would have been veryglad to have married her, but that he was resigned to marry meinstead, as his aunt wished it. "

The grand duke had the faculty of making himself excessivelydisagreeable to every one around him, and the affianced _haters_ werein a constant quarrel. Peter could develop nothing but stupidmalignity. Catharine could wield the weapons of keen and cuttingsarcasm, which Peter felt as the mule feels the lash. Catharine'smother had accompanied her to Moscow, but the bridal wardrobe, for aprincess, was extremely limited. 

"I had arrived, " she writes, "in Russia very badly provided for. If Ihad three or four dresses in the world, it was the very outside, andthis at a court where people changed their dress three times a day. Adozen chemises constituted the whole of my linen, and I had to use mymother's sheets. "

Soon after Catharine's arrival, the grand duke was taken with thesmall-pox, and his natural ugliness was rendered still more revoltingby the disfigurement it caused. On the 10th of February, 1745, whenCatharine had been one year at Moscow, the grand duke celebrated hisseventeenth birthday. In her journal Catharine writes that Peterseldom saw her, and was always glad of any excuse by which he couldavoid paying her any attention. Though Catharine cared as little forhim, still, with girlish ambition, she was eager to marry him, as shevery frankly records, in consideration of the crown which he wouldplace upon her brow, and her womanly nature was stung by his neglect. 

"I fully perceived, " she writes, "his want of interest, and how littleI was cared for. My self-esteem and vanity grieved in silence; but Iwas too proud to complain. I should have thought myself degraded hadany one shown me a friendship which I could have taken for pity. Nevertheless I shed tears when alone, then quietly dried them up, andwent to romp with my maids. 

"I labored, however, " writes Catharine, "to gain the affection ofevery one. Great or small I neglected no one, but laid it down tomyself as a rule to believe that I stood in need of every one, and soto act, in consequence, as to obtain the good will of all, and Isucceeded in doing so. "

The 21st of August of this year was fixed for the nuptial day. Catharine looked forward to it with extreme repugnance. Peter wasrevolting in his aspect, disgusting in manners, a drunkard, andlicentious to such a degree that he took no pains to conceal hisamours. But the crown of Russia was in the eyes of Catharine soglittering a prize, though then she had not entered her sixteenthyear, that she was willing to purchase it even at the price ofmarrying Peter, the only price at which it could be obtained. She wasfully persuaded that Peter, with a feeble constitution and wallowingin debauchery, could not live long, and that, at his death, she wouldbe undisputed empress. 

"As the day of our nuptials approached, " she writes, "I became moreand more melancholy. My heart predicted but little happiness; ambitionalone sustained me. In my inmost soul there was something which led menever to doubt, for a single moment, that sooner or later I shouldbecome sovereign empress of Russia in my own right. "

The marriage was celebrated with much pomp; but a more cold andheartless union was perhaps never solemnized. Catharine verydistinctly intimates that her husband, who was as low in his tastesand companionship as he was degraded in his vices, left her at thealtar, to return to his more congenial harem. 

"My beloved spouse, " she writes, "did not trouble himself in theslightest degree about me; but was constantly with his valets, playingat soldiers, exercising them in his room, or changing his uniformtwenty times a day. I yawned and grew weary, having no one to speakto. "

Again she writes, "A fortnight after our marriage he confessed to methat he was in love with Mademoiselle Carr, maid of honor to herimperial majesty. He said that there was no comparison between thatlady and me. Surely, said I to myself, it would be impossible for menot to be wretched with such a man as this were I to give way tosentiments of tenderness thus requited. I might die of jealousywithout benefit to any one. I endeavored to master my feelings so asnot to be jealous of the man who did not love me. I was naturallywell-disposed, but I should have required a husband who had commonsense, which this one had not. "

For amusement, the grand duke played cruelly with dogs in his room, pretending to train them, whipping them from corner to corner. Whentired of this he would scrape execrably on a violin. He had manylittle puppet soldiers, whom, hour after hour, he would marshal on thefloor in mimic war. He would dress his own servants and the maids ofCatharine in masks, and set them dancing, while he would dance withthem, playing at the same time on the fiddle. 

"With rare perseverance, " writes Catharine, "the grand duke trained apack of dogs, and with heavy blows of his whip, and cries like thoseof the huntsmen, made them fly from one end to the other of his tworooms, which were all he had. Such of the dogs as became tired, or gotout of rank, were severely punished, which made them howl still more. On one occasion, hearing one of these animals howl piteously and for along time, I opened the door of my bed-room, where I was seated, andwhich adjoined the apartment in which this scene was enacted, and sawhim holding this dog by the collar, suspended in the air, while a boy, who was in his service, a Kalmuck by birth, held the animal by thetail. It was a poor little King Charles spaniel, and the duke wasbeating him with all his might with the heavy handle of a whip. Iinterceded for the poor beast; but this only made him redouble hisblows. Unable to bear so cruel a scene, I returned to my room withtears in my eyes. In general, tears and cries, instead of moving theduke to pity, put him in a passion. Pity was a feeling that waspainful and even insupportable in his mind. "

At one time there was a little hunchback girl in the court, upon whomthe duke fixed his vagrant desires, and she became his unconcealedfavorite. The duke was ever in the habit of talking freely withCatharine about his paramours and praising their excellent qualities. 

"Madame Vladisma said to me, " writes Catharine, "that every one wasdisgusted to see this little hunchback preferred to me. 'It can not behelped, ' I said, as the tears started to my eyes. I went to bed;scarcely was I asleep, when the grand duke also came to bed. As he wastipsy and knew not what he was doing, he spoke to me for the purposeof expatiating on the eminent qualities of his favorite. To check hisgarrulity I pretended to be fast asleep. He spoke still louder inorder to wake me; but finding that I slept, he gave me two or threerather hard blows in the side with his fist, and dropped asleephimself. I wept long and bitterly that night, as well on account ofthe matter itself and the blows he had given me, as on that of mygeneral situation, which was, in all respects, as disagreeable as itwas wearisome. "

One of the ridiculous and disgraceful amusements of the vulgar men andwomen collected in the court of Elizabeth, was what was calledmasquerade balls, in which all the men were required to dress aswomen, and all the women as men, and yet no masks were worn. 

"The men, " Catharine writes, "wore large whaleboned petticoats, withwomen's gowns, and the head-dresses worn on court days, while thewomen appeared in the court costume of men. The men did not like thesereversals of their sex, and the greater part of them were in the worstpossible humor on these occasions, because they felt themselves to behideous in such disguises. The women looked like scrubby little boys, while the more aged among them had thick short legs which were anything but ornamental. The only woman who looked really well, andcompletely a man, was the empress herself. As she was very tall andsomewhat powerful, male attire suited her wonderfully well. She hadthe handsomest leg I have ever seen with any man, and her foot wasadmirably proportioned. She danced to perfection, and every thing shedid had a special grace, equally so whether she dressed as a man or awoman. "

Enervating and degrading pleasure and ambitious or revengeful wars, engrossed the whole attention of the Russian court during the reign ofElizabeth. The welfare of the people was not even thought of. Thefollowing anecdote, illustrative of the character of Peter III. , isworthy of record in the words of Catharine:

"One day, when I went into the apartments of his imperial highness, Ibeheld a great rat which he had hung, with all the paraphernalia of anexecution. I asked what all this meant. He told me that this rat hadcommitted a great crime, which, according to the laws of war, deservedcapital punishment. It had climbed the ramparts of a fortress ofcard-board, which he had on a table in his cabinet, and had eaten twosentinels, made of pith, who were on duty in the bastions. His setterhad caught the criminal, he had been tried by martial law andimmediately hung; and, as I saw, was to remain three days exposed asa public example. In justification of the rat, " continues Catharine, "it may at least be said, that he was hung without having beenquestioned or heard in his own defense. "

It is not surprising that a woman, young, beautiful and vivacious, living in a court where corruption was all around her, where anunmarried empress was rendering herself notorious by her gallantries, stung to the quick by the utter neglect of her husband, insulted bythe presence of his mistresses, and disgusted by his unmitigatedboobyism, should have sought solace in the friendship of others. Andit is not strange that such friendships should have ripened into love, and that one thus tempted should have fallen. Catharine in her memoirsdoes not deny her fall, though she can not refrain from allowing anoccasional word to drop from her pen, evidently intended inextenuation. Much which is called virtue consists in the absence oftemptation. 

Catharine's first son, Paul, was born on the 20th of September, 1753. He was unquestionably the son of Count Sottikoff, a nobleman alikedistinguished for the graces of his person and of his mind. Through athousand perils and cunning intrigues, Catharine and the countprosecuted their amour. Woe was, as usual, to both of them the result. The empress gives a very touching account of her sufferings, in bothbody and mind, on the occasion of the birth of her child. 

"As for me, " she writes, "I did nothing but weep and moan in my bed. Ineither could or would see anybody, I felt so miserable. I buriedmyself in my bed, where I did nothing but grieve. When the forty daysof my confinement were over, the empress came a second time into mychamber. My child was brought into my room; it was the first time Ihad seen him since his birth. "

One day Peter brought into his wife's room, for her amusement, aletter which he had just received from one of his mistresses, MadameTeploff. Showing the letter to Catharine, he said, "Only think! she writes me a letter of four whole pages, and expectsthat I should read it, and, what is more, answer it also; I, who haveto go to parade, then dine, then attend the rehearsal of an opera, andthe ballet which the cadets will dance at. I will tell her plainlythat I have not time, and, if she is vexed, I will quarrel with hertill next winter. "

"That will certainly be the shortest way, " Catharine coolly replied. "These traits, " she very truly adds in her narrative, "arecharacteristic, and they will not therefore be out of place. "

Such was the man and such the woman who succeeded to the throne ofRussia upon the death of the Empress Elizabeth. She had hardly emittedher last breath, ere the courtiers, impatiently awaiting the event, rushed to the apartments of the grand duke to congratulate him uponhis accession to the crown. He immediately mounted on horseback andtraversed the streets of St. Petersburg, scattering money among thecrowd. The soldiers gathered around him exclaiming, "Take care of usand we will take care of you, " Though the grand duke had been veryunpopular there was no outburst of opposition. The only claim PeterIII. Had to the confidence of the nation was the fact that he wasgrandson of Peter the Great. Conspiracies were, however, immediatelyset on foot to eject him from the throne and give Catharine his seat. Catharine had a high reputation for talent, and being veryaffectionate in her disposition and cordial in her manners, had troopsof friends. Indeed, it is not strange that public sentiment should notonly have extenuated her faults, but should almost have applaudedthem. Forgetting the commandments of God, and only remembering thather brutal husband richly merited retaliation, the public almostapplauded the spirit with which she conducted her intrigues. The samesentiment pervaded England when the miserable George IV. Goaded hiswife to frenzy, and led her, in uncontrollable exasperation, to payhim back in his own coin. 

Fortunately for the imbecile Peter, he had enough sense to appreciatethe abilities of Catharine; and a sort of maudlin idea of justice, ifit were not, perhaps, utter stupidity, dissuaded him from resentingher freedom in the choice of favorites. Upon commencing his reign, heyielded himself to the guidance of her imperial mind, hoping to obtainsome dignity by the renown which her measures might reflect upon him. Catharine advised him very wisely. She caused seventeen thousandexiles to be recalled from Siberia, and abolished the odious secretcourt of chancery--that court of political inquisition which, foryears, had kept all Russia trembling. 

For a time, Russia resounded with the praises of the new sovereign, and when Peter III. Entered the senate and read an act permitting thenobility to bear arms, or not, at their own discretion, and to visitforeign countries whenever they pleased, a privilege which they hadnot enjoyed before, the gratitude of the nobles was unbounded. Itshould, however, be recorded that this edict proved to be but a deadletter. It was expected that the nobles, as a matter of courtesy, should always ask permission to leave, and this request was frequentlynot granted. The secret tribunal, to which we have referred, exposedpersons of all ranks and both sexes to be arrested upon the slightestsuspicion. The accused was exposed to the most horrible tortures tocompel a confession. When every bone was broken and every jointdislocated, and his body was mangled by the crushing wheel, if hestill had endurance to persist in his denial, the accuser was, in histurn, placed upon the wheel, and every nerve of agony was tortured toforce a recantation of the charge. 

Though Peter III. Promulgated the wise edicts which were placed in hishands, he had become so thoroughly imbruted by his dissolute life thathe made no attempt to tear himself away from his mistresses and hisdrunken orgies. 

Peter III. Was quite infatuated in his admiration of Frederic ofPrussia. One of his first acts upon attaining the reins of governmentwas to dispatch an order forbidding the Russian armies any longer tocoöperate with Austria against Prussia. This command was speedilyfollowed by another, directing the Russian generals to hold themselvesand their troops obedient to the instructions of Frederic, and tocoöperate in every way with him to repel their former allies, theAustrians. It was the caprice of a drunken semi-idiot which thusrescued Frederic the Great from disgrace and utter ruin. The Emperorof Prussia had sufficient sagacity to foresee that Peter III. Wouldnot long maintain his seat upon the throne. He accordingly directedhis minister at St. Petersburg, while continuing to live in greatintimacy with the tzar, to pay the most deferential attention to theempress. 

There was no end to the caprices of Peter the drunkard. At one time hewould leave the whole administration of affairs in the hands ofCatharine, and again he would treat her in the most contemptuous andinsulting manner. In one of the pompous ceremonials of the court, whenthe empress, adorned with all the marks of imperial dignity, sharedthe throne with Peter, the tzar called one of his mistresses to theconspicuous seat he occupied with the empress, and made her sit downby his side. Catharine immediately rose and retired. At a publicfestival that same evening, Peter, half drunk, publicly and loudlylaunched at her an epithet the grossest which could be addressed to awoman. Catharine was so shocked that she burst into tears. Thesympathy of the spectators was deeply excited in her behalf, and theirindignation roused against the tzar. 

While Peter III. Was developing his true character of brute andbuffoon, gathering around him the lowest profligates, and reveling inthe most debasing and vulgar vices, Catharine, though guilty andunhappy, was holding her court with dignity and affability, whichcharmed all who approached her. She paid profound respect to theexternal observances of religion, daily performing her devotions inthe churches, accosting the poor with benignity, treating the clergywith marked respect, and winning all hearts by her kindness andsympathy. 

One of the mistresses of Peter III. , the Countess Vorontzof, hadgained such a boundless influence over her paramour, that she hadextorted from him the promise that he would repudiate Catharine, marryher, and crown her as empress. Elated by this promise, she had theimprudence to boast of it. Her father and several of the courtierswhose fortunes her favor would secure, were busy in paving her way tothe throne. The numerous friends of Catharine were excited, and wereequally active in thwarting the plans of the tzar. Peter took no painsto conceal his intentions, and gloried in proclaiming the illegitimacyof Paul, the son of the empress. Loathsome as his own life was, heseemed to think that his denunciations of Catharine, whose purity hehad insulted and whose heart he had crushed, would secure for him themoral support of his subjects and of Europe. But he was mistaken. Thesinning Catharine was an angel of purity compared with the beastlyPeter. 

It was necessary for Peter to move with caution, for Catharine hadability, energy, innumerable friends, and was one of the last women inthe world quietly to submit to be plunged into a dungeon, and then tobe led to the scaffold, and by such a man as her despicable spouse. Peter III. Was by no means a match for Catharine. About twelve milesfrom St. Petersburg, on the southern shore of the Bay of Cronstadt, and nearly opposite the renowned fortresses of Cronstadt which commandthe approaches to St. Petersburg, was the imperial summer palace ofPeterhof, which for some time had been the favorite residence ofCatharine. A few miles further down the bay, which runs east and west, was the palace of Oranienbaum, in the decoration of which manysucceeding monarchs had lavished large sums. This was Peter'sfavorite resort, and its halls ever echoed with the carousings of theprince and his boon companions. Every year, on the 8th of July, thereis a grand festival at Peterhof in honor of Peter and Paul, the patronsaints of the imperial house. This was the time fixed upon byCatharine and her friends for the accomplishment of their plans. Thetzar, on the evening of the 8th of July, was at Oranienbaum, surrounded by a bevy of the most beautiful females of his court. Catharine was at Peterhof. It was a warm summer's night, and the queenlodged in a small _cottage orné_ called Montplaisir, which wassituated in the garden. They had not intended to carry their plot intoexecution that night, but an alarm precipitated their action. At twoo'clock in the morning Catharine was awoke from a sound sleep, by someone of her friends entering her room, exclaiming, "Your majesty has not a moment to lose. Rise and follow me!"

Catharine, alarmed, called her confidential attendant, dressedhurriedly in disguise, and entered a carriage which was waiting forher at the garden gate. The horses were goaded to their utmost speedon the road to St. Petersburg, and so inconsiderately that soon one ofthem fell in utter exhaustion. They were still at some distance fromthe city, and the energetic empress alighted and pressed forward onfoot. Soon they chanced to meet a peasant, driving a light cart. CountOrloff, who was a reputed lover of Catharine, and was guiding in thismovement, seized the horse, placed the empress in the cart, and droveon. These delays had occupied so much time that it was seven o'clockin the morning before they reached St. Petersburg. The empress, withher companions, immediately proceeded to the barracks, where most ofthe soldiers were quartered, and whose officers had been gained over, and threw herself upon their protection. 

"Danger, " she said to the soldiers, "has compelled me to fly to youfor help. The tzar had intended to put me to death, together with myson. I had no other means of escaping death than by flight. I throwmyself into your arms!"

Such an appeal from a woman, beautiful, beloved and imploringprotection from the murderous hands of one who was hated and despised, inspired every bosom with indignation and with enthusiasm in herbehalf. With one impulse they took an oath to die, if necessary, inher defense; and cries of "Long live the empress" filled the air. Intwo hours Catharine found herself at the head of several thousandveteran soldiers. She was also in possession of the arsenals; and thegreat mass of the population of St. Petersburg were clamorouslyadvocating her cause. 

Accompanied by a numerous and brilliant suite, the empress thenrepaired to the metropolitan church, where the archbishop and a greatnumber of ecclesiastics, whose coöperation had been secured, receivedher, and the venerable archbishop, a man of imposing character andappearance, dressed in his sacerdotal robes, led her to the altar, andplacing the imperial crown upon her head, proclaimed her sovereign ofall the Russias, with the title of Catharine the Second. A _Te Deum_was then chanted, and the shouts of the multitude proclaimed thecordiality with which the populace accepted the revolution. Theempress then repaired to the imperial palace, which was thrown open toall the people, and which, for hours, was thronged with the masses, who fell upon their knees before her, taking their oath of allegiance. 

The friends of Catharine were, in the meantime, everywhere busy inputting the city in a state of defense, and in posting cannon to sweepthe streets should Peter attempt resistance. The tzar seemed to beleft without a friend. No one even took the trouble to inform him ofwhat was transpiring. Troops in the vicinity were marched into thecity, and before the end of the day, Catharine found herself at thehead of fifteen thousand men; the most formidable defenses werearranged, strict order prevailed, and not a drop of blood had beenshed. The manifesto of the empress, which had been secretly printed, was distributed throughout the city, and a day appointed when theforeign embassadors would be received by Catharine. The revolutionseemed already accomplished without a struggle and almost without aneffort. 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

THE CONSPIRACY; AND ACCESSION OF CATHARINE II. 

From 1762 to 1765. 

Peter III. At Oranienbaum. --Catharine at Peterhof. --The SuccessfulAccomplishment of the Conspiracy. --Terror of Peter. --His Vacillatingand Feeble Character. --Flight to Cronstadt. --Repulse. --Heroic Counselof Munich. --Peter's Return to Oranienbaum. --His Suppliant Letters toCatharine. --His Arrest. --Imprisonment. --Assasination. --Proclamation ofthe Empress. Her Complicity in the Crime. --Energy of Catharine'sAdministration. --Her Expansive Views and SagaciousPolicy. --Contemplated Marriage with Count Orlof. 

It was the morning of the 19th of July, 1762. Peter, at Oranienbaum, had passed most of the night, with his boon companions and hisconcubines, in intemperate carousings. He awoke at a late hour in themorning, and after breakfast set out in a carriage, with several ofhis women, accompanied by a troop of courtiers in other carriages, forPeterhof. The gay party were riding at a rapid rate over the beautifulshore road, looking out upon the Bay of Cronstadt, when they were metby a messenger from Peterhof, sent to inform them that the empress hadsuddenly disappeared during the night. Peter, upon receiving thissurprising intelligence, turned pale as ashes, and alighting, conversed for some time anxiously with the messenger. Entering hiscarriage again, he drove with the utmost speed to Peterhof, and withcharacteristic silliness began to search the cupboards, closets, andunder the bed for the empress. Those of greater penetration foresawwhat had happened, but were silent, that they might not add to hisalarm. 

In the meantime some peasants, who had come from St. Petersburg, related to a group of servants rumors they had heard of theinsurrection in that city. A fearful gloom oppressed all, and Peterwas in such a state of terror that he feared to ask any questions. Asthey were standing thus mute with confusion and dismay, a countrymanrode up, and making a profound bow to the tzar, presented him with anote. Peter ran his eyes hastily over it, and then read it aloud. Itcommunicated the appalling intelligence which we have just recorded. 

The consternation into which the whole imperial party was thrown nolanguage can describe. The women were in tears. The courtiers couldoffer not a word of encouragement or counsel. One, the king'schancellor, with the tzar's consent, set off for St. Petersburg toattempt to rouse the partisans of the tzar; but he could find nonethere. The wretched Peter was now continually receiving corroborativeintelligence of the insurrection, and he strode up and down the walksof the garden, forming innumerable plans and adhering to none. 

The tzar had a guard of three thousand troops at his palace ofOranienbaum. At noon these approached Peterhof led by their veterancommander, Munich. This energetic officer urged an immediate marchupon St. Petersburg. 

"Believe me, " said Munich, "you have many friends in the city. Theroyal guard will rally around your standard when they see itapproaching; and if we are forced to fight, the rebels will make but ashort resistance. "

While he was urging this energetic measure, and the women and thecourtiers were trying to dissuade him from the step, and wereentreating him to go back to Oranienbaum, news arrived that the troopsof the empress, twenty thousand in number, were on the march to arresthim. 

"Well, " said Munich to the tzar, "if you wish to decline a battle, itis not wise at any rate to remain here, where you have no means ofdefense. Neither Oranienbaum nor Peterhof can withstand a siege. ButCronstadt offers you a safe retreat. Cronstadt is still under yourcommand. You have there a formidable fleet and a numerous garrison. From Cronstadt you will find it easy to bring Petersburg back toduty. "

The fortresses of Cronstadt are situated on an island of the samename, at the mouth of a bay which presents the only approach to St. Petersburg. This fortress, distant about thirty miles west of St. Petersburg, may be said to be impregnable. In the late war with Russiait bade defiance to the combined fleets of France and England. As wehave before mentioned, Peterhof and Oranienbaum were pleasure-palaces, situated on the eastern shore of the Bay of Cronstadt, but a few milesfrom the fortress and but a few miles from each other. The gardens ofthese palaces extend to the waters of the bay, where there are everriding at anchor a fleet of pleasure-boats and royal yachts. 

The advice of Munich was instantly adopted. A boat was sent offconveying an officer to take command of the fortress, while, in themeantime, two yachts were got ready for the departure of the tzar andhis party. Peter and his affrighted court hastened on board, continually looking over their shoulders fearing to catch a sight ofthe troops of the queen, whose appearance they every momentapprehended. But the energetic Catharine had anticipated thismovement, and her emissaries had already gained the soldiers of thegarrison, and were in possession of Cronstadt. 

As the two yachts, which conveyed Peter and his party, entered theharbor, they found the garrison, under arms, lining the coast. Thecannons were leveled, the matches lighted, and the moment the foremostyacht, which contained the emperor, cast anchor, a sentinel cried out, "Who comes there?"

"The emperor, " was the answer from the yacht. 

"There is no emperor, " the sentinel replied. 

Peter III. Started forward upon the deck, and, throwing back hiscloak, exhibited the badges of his order, exclaiming, "What! do you not know me?"

"No!" cried a thousand voices; "we know of no emperor. Long live theEmpress Catharine II. "

They then threatened immediately to sink the yacht unless the tzarretired. 

The heroic Munich urged the tzar to an act of courage of which he wastotally incapable. 

"Let us leap on shore, " said he; "none will dare to fire on you, andCronstadt will still be your majesty's. "

But Peter, in dismay, fled into the cabin, hid himself among hiswomen, and ordered the cable instantly to be cut, and the yacht to bepulled out to sea by the oars. They were soon beyond the reach of theguns. It was now night, serene and beautiful; the sea was smooth asglass, and the stars shone with unusual splendor in the clear sky. Thepoltroon monarch of all the Russias had not yet ventured upon deck, but was trembling in his cabin, surrounded by his dismayed mistresses, when the helmsman entered the cabin and said to the tzar, "Sire, to what port is it your majesty's pleasure that I should takethe vessel?"

Peter gazed, for a moment, in consternation and bewilderment, and thensent for Munich. 

"Field marshal, " said he, "I perceive that I was too late in followingyour advice. You see to what extremities I am reduced. Tell me, Ibeseech you, what I ought to do. "

About two hundred miles from where they were, directly down the Gulfof Finland, was the city of Revel, one of the naval depots of Russia. A large squadron of ships of war was riding at anchor there. Munich, as prompt in council as he was energetic in action, replied, "Proceed immediately to join the squadron at Revel. There take aship, and go on to Pomerania. [17] Put yourself at the head of yourarmy, return to Russia, and I promise you that in six weeks Petersburgand all the rest of the empire will be in subjection to you. "

[Footnote 17: Pomerania was one of the duchies of Prussia, where theRussian army, in coöperation with the King of Prussia, was assembled. Frederic might, perhaps, have sent his troops to aid Peter in therecovery of his crown. ]

The women and the courtiers, with characteristic timidity, remonstrated against a measure so decisive, and, believing that theempress would not be very implacable, entreated the tzar to negotiaterather than fight. Peter yielded to their senseless solicitations, andordered them to make immediately for Oranienbaum. They reached thedock at four o'clock in the morning. Peter hastened to his apartment, and wrote a letter to the empress, which he dispatched by a courier. In this letter he made a humble confession of his faults, and promisedto share the sovereign authority with Catharine if she would consentto reconciliation. The empress was, at this time, at the head of herarmy within about twenty miles of Oranienbaum. During the night, shehad slept for a few hours upon some cloaks which the officers of hersuite had spread for her bed. Catharine, knowing well that perjury wasone of the most trivial of the faults of the tzar, made no reply, butpressed forward with her troops. 

Peter, soon receiving information of the advance of the army, orderedone of his fleetest horses to be saddled, and dressed himself indisguise, intending thus to effect his escape to the frontiers ofPoland. But, with his constitutional irresolution, he soon abandonedthis plan, and, ordering the fortress of Oranienbaum to be dismantled, to convince Catharine that he intended to make no resistance, he wroteto the empress another letter still more humble and sycophantic thanthe first. He implored her forgiveness in terms of the most abjecthumiliation. He assured her that he was ready to resign to herunconditionally the crown of Russia, and that he only askedpermission to retire to his native duchy of Holstein, and that theempress would graciously grant him a pension for his support. 

Catharine read the letter, but deigning no reply, sent back thechamberlain who brought it, with a verbal message to her husband thatshe could enter into no negotiations with him, and could only accepthis unconditional submission. The chamberlain, Ismailof, returned toOranienbaum. The tzar had with him there only his Holstein guardconsisting of six hundred men. Ismailof urged the tzar, as the onlymeasure of safety which now remained, to abandon his troops, who couldrender him no defense, and repair to the empress, throwing himselfupon her mercy. For a short time the impotent mind of the degradedprince was in great turmoil. But as was to be expected, he surrenderedhimself to the humiliation. Entering his carriage, he rode towardsPeterhof to meet the empress. Soon he encountered the battalions onthe march for his capture. Silently they opened their ranks andallowed him to enter, and then, closing around him, they stunned himwith shouts of, "Long live Catharine. "

The miserable man had the effrontery to take with him, in hiscarriage, one of his mistresses. As she alighted at the palace ofPeterhof, some of the soldiers tore the ribbons from her dress. Thetzar was led up the grand stair-case, stripped of the insignia ofimperial power, and was shut up, and carefully guarded in one of thechambers of the palace. Count Panin then visited him, by order of theempress, and demanded of him the abdication of the crown, informinghim that having thus abdicated, he would be sent back to his nativeduchy and would enjoy the dignity of Duke of Holstein for theremainder of his days. Peter was now as pliant as wax. Aided by thecount, he wrote and signed the following declaration:

"During the short space of my absolute reign over the empire ofRussia, I became sensible that I was not able to support so great aburden, and that my abilities were not equal to the task of governingso great an empire, either as a sovereign or in any other capacitywhatever. I also foresaw the great troubles which must thence havearisen, and have been followed with the total ruin of the empire, andmy own eternal disgrace. After having therefore seriously reflectedthereon, I declare, without constraint, and in the most solemn manner, to the Russian empire and to the whole universe, that I for everrenounce the government of the said empire, never desiring hereafterto reign therein, either as an absolute sovereign, or under any otherform of government; never wishing to aspire thereto, or to use anymeans, of any sort, for that purpose. As a pledge of which I swearsincerely before God and all the world to this present renunciation, written and signed this 29th day of June, O. S. 1762. "[18]

[Footnote 18: By the Gregorian Calendar or New Style, adopted by PopeGregory XIII. In 1582, ten days were dropped after the 4th of October, and the 5th was reckoned as the 15th. Thus the 29th of June, O. S. Would be July 8, N. S. ]

Peter III. , having placed this abdication in the hands of Count Panin, seemed quite serene, fancying himself safe, at least from bodily harm. In the evening, however, an officer, with a strong escort, came andconveyed him a prisoner to Ropscha, a small imperial palace aboutfifteen miles from Peterhof. Peter, after his disgraceful reign of sixmonths, was now imprisoned in a palace; and his wife, whom he hadintended to repudiate and probably to behead, was now sovereignEmpress of Russia. In the evening, the thunderings of the cannon uponthe ramparts of St. Petersburg announced the victory of Catharine. Shehowever slept that night at Peterhof, and in the morning received thehomage of the nobility, who from all quarters flocked around her togive in their adhesion to her reign. 

Field Marshal Munich, who with true fealty had stood by Peter III. Tothe last, urging him to unfurl the banner of the tzar and fightheroically for his crown, appeared with the rest. The noble old manwith an unblushing brow entered the presence of Catharine. As soon asshe perceived him she called aloud, "Field marshal, it was you, then, who wanted to fight me?"

"Yes, madam, " Munich answered, in a manly tone; "could I do less forthe prince who delivered me from captivity? But it is henceforth myduty to fight for you, and you will find in me a fidelity equal tothat with which I had devoted my services to him. "[19]

[Footnote 19: Marshal Munich was eighty-two years of age. Elizabethhad sent him to Siberian exile. Peter liberated him. Upon his returnto Moscow, after twenty years of exile, he found one son living, andtwenty-two grandchildren and great grandchildren whom he had neverseen. When the heroic old man presented himself before the tzardressed in the sheep-skin coat he had worn in Siberia, Peter said, "I hope, notwithstanding your age, you may still serve me. "

Munich replied, "Since your majesty has brought me from darkness tolight, and called me from the depths of a cavern, to admit me to thefoot of the throne, you will find me ever ready to expose my life inyour service. Neither a tedious exile nor the severity of a Siberianclimate have been able to extinguish, or even to damp, the ardor Ihave formerly shown for the interests of Russia and the glory of itsmonarch. "]

In the afternoon, the empress returned to St. Petersburg. She enteredthe city on horseback, accompanied by a brilliant retinue of nobles, and followed by her large army of fifteen thousand troops. All thesoldiers wore garlands of oak leaves. The immense crowds in the cityformed lines for the passage of the empress, scattered flowers in herpath, and greeted her with constant bursts of acclaim. All the streetsthrough which she passed were garlanded and spanned with triumphalarches, the bells rang their merriest peals, and military salutesbellowed from all the ramparts. As the high ecclesiastics crowded tomeet her, they kissed her hand, while she, in accordance with Russiancourtesy, kissed their cheeks. 

Catharine summoned the senate, and presided over its deliberationswith wonderful dignity and grace. The foreign ministers, confident inthe stability of her reign, hastened to present their congratulations. Peter found even a few hours in the solitude of the palace of Ropschaexceedingly oppressive; he accordingly sent to the empress, solicitingthe presence of a negro servant to whom he was much attached, andasking also for his dog, his violin, a Bible and a few novels. 

"I am disgusted, " he wrote, "with the wickedness of mankind, and amresolved henceforth to devote myself to a philosophical life. "

After Peter had been six days at Ropscha, one morning two nobles, whohad been most active in the revolution which had dethroned the tzar, entered his apartment, and, after conversing for a time, brandy wasbrought in. The cup of which the tzar drank was poisoned! He was soonseized with violent colic pains. The assassins then threw him upon thefloor, tied a napkin around his neck, and strangled him. Count Orlof, the most intimate friend of the empress, and who was reputed to be herparamour, was one of these murderers. He immediately mounted hishorse, and rode to St. Petersburg to inform the empress that Peter wasdead. Whether Catharine was a party to this assassination, or whetherit was perpetrated entirely without her knowledge, is a question whichnow can probably never be decided. It is very certain that the griefshe manifested was all feigned, and that the assassins were rewardedfor their devotion to her interests. She shut herself up for a fewdays, assuming the aspect of a mourner, and issued to her subjects adeclaration announcing the death of the late tzar. When one entersupon the declivity of crime, the descent is ever rapid. The innocentgirl, who, but a few years before, had entered the Russian court fromher secluded ancestral castle a spotless child of fifteen, was nowmost deeply involved in intrigues and sins. It is probable, indeed, that she had not intended the death of her husband, but had designedsending him to Holstein and providing for him abundantly, for the restof his days, with dogs and wine, and leaving him to his ownindulgences. It is certain, however, that the empress did not punish, or even dismiss from her favor, the murderers of Peter. She announcedto the nation his death in the following terms:

"_By the Grace of God, Catharine II. , Empress of all the Russias, toour loving Subjects, Greeting:_

"The seventh day after our accession to the throne of all the Russias, we received information that the late emperor, Peter III. , wasattacked with a most violent colic. That we might not be wanting inChristian duty, or disobedient to the divine command by which we areenjoined to preserve the life of our neighbor, we immediately orderedthat the said Peter should be furnished with every thing that might bejudged necessary to restore his health by the aids of medicine. But, to our great regret and affliction, we were yesterday evening apprisedthat, by the permission of the Almighty, the late emperor departedthis life. We have therefore ordered his body to be conveyed to themonastery of Nefsky, in order to its interment in that place. At thesame time, with our imperial and maternal voice, we exhort ourfaithful subjects to forgive and forget what is past, to pay the lastduties to his body, and to pray to God sincerely for the repose of hissoul, wishing them, however, to consider this unexpected and suddendeath as an especial effect of the providence of God, whoseimpenetrable decrees are working for us, for our throne, and for ourcountry things known only to his holy will. 

"Done at St. Petersburg, July 7th (N. S. , July 18th), 1762. "

The news of the revolution soon spread throughout Russia, and thenobles generally acquiesced in it without a murmur. The masses of thepeople no more thought of expressing or having an opinion than didthe sheep. One of the first acts of the empress was to send an embassyto Frederic of Prussia, announcing, "That she was resolved to observe inviolably the peace recentlyconcluded with Prussia; but that nevertheless she had decided to bringback to Russia all her troops in Silesia, Prussia and Pomerania. "

All the sovereigns of Europe acknowledged the title of Catharine II. , and some sent especial congratulations on her accession to the throne. Maria Theresa, of Austria, was at first quite delighted, hoping thatCatharine would again unite the Russian troops with hers in hostilityto her great rival, Frederic. But in this expectation she was doomedto bitter disappointment. The King of Prussia, in a confidential noteto Count Finkenstein, wrote of Catharine and the new reign as follows:

"The Emperor of Russia has been dethroned by his consort. It was to beexpected. That princess has much good sense, and the same friendlyrelations towards us as the deceased. She has no religion, but actsthe devotee. The chancellor Bestuchef is her greatest favorite, and, as he has a strong propensity to _guinées_ I flatter myself that Ishall be able to retain the friendship of the court. The poor emperorwanted to imitate Peter I. , but he had not the capacity for it. "

The empress, taking with her her son Paul, and a very brilliant andnumerous suite of nobles, repaired to Moscow, where she was crownedwith unusual splendor. By marked attention to the soldiers, providingmost liberally for their comfort, she soon secured the enthusiasticattachment of the army. By the most scrupulous observance of all theexternal rites of religion, she won the confidence of the clergy. Inevery movement Catharine exhibited wonderful sagacity and energy. Itwas not to be supposed that the partisans of Peter III. Would beejected from their places to give room for others, without makingdesperate efforts to regain what they had lost. A very formidableconspiracy was soon organized, and the friends of Catharine werethrown into the greatest state of alarm. But her courage did not, forone moment, forsake her. 

"Why are you alarmed?" said she. "Think you that I fear to face thisdanger; or rather do you apprehend that I know not how to overcome it?Recollect that you have seen me, in moments far more terrible thanthese, in full possession of all the vigor of my mind; and that I cansupport the most cruel reverses of fortune with as much serenity as Ihave supported her favors. Think you that a few mutinous soldiers areto deprive me of a crown that I accepted with reluctance, and only asthe means of delivering the Russian nation from their miseries? Theycause me no alarm. That Providence which has called me to reign, willpreserve me for the glory and the happiness of the empire. Thatalmighty arm which has hitherto been my defense will now confound myfoes!"

The revolt was speedily quelled. The celebrity of her administrationsoon resounded from one end of Europe to the other. She presided overthe senate; assisted at all the deliberations of the council; read thedispatches of the embassadors; wrote, with her own hand, or dictatedthe answers, and watched carefully to see that all her orders werefaithfully executed. She studied the lives of the most distinguishedmen, and was emulous of the renown of those who had been friends andbenefactors of the human race. There has seldom been a sovereign onany throne more assiduously devoted to the cares of empire than wasCatharine II. In one of her first manifestoes, issued the 10th ofAugust of this year, she uttered the words, which her conduct provedto be essentially true, "Not only all that we have or may have, but also our life itself, wehave devoted to our dear country. We value nothing on our own account. We serve not ourself. But we labor with all pains, with all diligenceand care for the glory and happiness of our people. "

Catharine found corruption and bribery everywhere, and she engaged inthe work of reform with the energies of Hercules in cleansing theAugean stables. She abolished, indignantly the custom, which hadexisted for ages, of attempting to extort confession of crime bytorture. It is one of the marvels of human depravity that intelligentminds could have been so imbruted as to tolerate, for a day, sofiend-like a wrong. The whole system of inquisitorial investigations, in both Church and State, was utterly abrogated. Foreigners wereinvited to settle in the empire. The lands were carefully explored, that the best districts might be pointed out for tillage, for forestand for pasture. The following proclamation, inviting foreigners tosettle in Russia, shows the liberality and the comprehensive viewswhich animated the empress:

 "Any one who is destitute shall receive money for the expenses of his journey, and shall be forwarded to these free lands at the expense of the crown. On his arrival he shall receive a competent assistance, and even an advance of capital, free of interest, for ten years. The stranger is exempted from all service, either military or civil, and from all taxes for a certain time. In these new tracts of land the colonists may live according to their own good-will, under their own jurisdiction for thirty years. All religions are tolerated. "

Thus encouraged, thousands flocked from Germany to the fresh andfertile acres on the banks of the Volga and the Samara. The emigrationbecame so great that several of the petty German princes issuedprohibitions. In the rush of adventurers, of the indolent, theimprovident and the vicious, great suffering ensued. Desert wildswere, however, peopled, and the children of the emigrants succeeded tohomes of comparative comfort. Settlers crowded to these lands evenfrom France, Poland and Sweden. Ten thousand families emigrated to thedistrict of Saratof alone. 

"The world, " said Catharine one day to the French minister, "will notbe able properly to judge of my administration till after five years. It will require at least so much time to reduce the empire to order. In the mean time I shall behave, with all the princes of Europe, likea finished coquette. I have the finest army in the world. I have agreater taste for war than for peace; but, I am restrained from war byhumanity, justice and reason. I shall not allow myself, likeElizabeth, to be pressed into a war. I shall enter upon it when itwill prove advantageous to me, but never from complaisance to others. "

A large number of the nobles, led by the chancellor of the empire, nowpresented a petition to Catharine, urging her again to marry. After aglowing eulogium on all the empress had done for the renown andprosperity of Russia, they reminded her of the feeble constitution ofher son Paul, of the terrible calamity a disputed succession mightimpose upon Russia, and entreated her to give an additional proof ofher devotion to the good of her subjects, by sacrificing her ownliberty to their welfare, in taking a spouse. This advice was quite inharmony with the inclinations of the empress. Count Orlof, one of themost conspicuous nobles of the court, and the prime actor in theconspiracy which had overthrown and assassinated Peter III. , was therecognized favorite of Catharine. But Count Orlof had assumed suchhaughty airs, regarding Catharine as indebted to him for her crown, that he had rendered himself extremely unpopular; and so muchdiscontent was manifested in view of his elevation to the throne, thatCatharine did not dare to proceed with the measure. It is generallysupposed, however, that there was a sort of private marriageinstituted, of no real validity, between Catharine and Orlof, by whichthe count became virtually the husband of the empress. 

Catharine was now firmly established on the throne. The beneficialeffects of her administration were daily becoming more apparent in allparts of Russia. Nothing which could be promotive of the prosperity ofthe empire escaped her observation. With questions of commerce, finance and politics she seemed equally familiar. On the 11th ofAugust, 1673, she issued an imperial edict written by her own hand, inwhich it is said, "On the whole surface of the earth there is no country better adapted for commerce than our empire. Russia has spacious harbors in Europe, and, overland, the way is open through Poland to every region. Siberia extends, on one side, over all Asia, and India is not very remote from Orenburg. On the other side, Russia seems to touch on America. Across the Euxine is a passage, though as yet unexplored, to Egypt and Africa, and bountiful Providence has blessed the extensive provinces of our empire with such gifts of nature as can rarely be found in all the four quarters of the world. "

CHAPTER XXV. 

REIGN OF CATHARINE II. 

From 1765 to 1774. 

Energy of Catharine's Administration. --Titles of Honor Decreed toHer. --Code of Laws Instituted. --The Assassination of the EmpressAttempted. --Encouragement of Learned Men. --Catharine Inoculated forthe Small-Pox. --New War with Turkey. --Capture of Crimea. --Sailing ofthe Russian Fleet. --Great Naval Victory. --Visit of the Prussian PrinceHenry. --The Sleigh Ride. --Plans for the Partition of Poland. --TheHermitage. --Marriage of the Grand Duke Paul. --Correspondence withVoltaire and Diderot. 

The friends and the foes of Catharine are alike lavish in theirencomiums upon her attempts to elevate Russia in prosperity and innational greatness. Under her guidance an assembly was convened toframe a code of laws, based on justice, and which should be supremethroughout all Russia. The assembly prosecuted its work with greatenergy, and, ere its dissolution, passed a resolution decreeing to theempress the titles of "Great, Wise, Prudent, and Mother of theCountry. "

To this decree Catharine modestly replied, "If I have rendered myselfworthy of the first title, it belongs to posterity to confer it uponme. Wisdom and prudence are the gifts of Heaven, for which I dailygive thanks, without presuming to derive any merit from them myself. The title of _Mother of the Country_ is, in my eyes, the most dear ofall, --the only one I can accept, and which I regard as the most benignand glorious recompense for my labors and solicitudes in behalf of apeople whom I love. "

The code of laws thus framed is a noble monument to the genius andhumanity of Catharine II. The principles of enlightened philanthropypervades the code, which recognizes the immutable principles of right, and which seems designed to undermine the very foundations ofdespotism. In the instructions which Catharine drew up for theguidance of the assembly, she wrote, "Laws should be framed with the sole object of conducting mankind tothe greatest happiness. It is our duty to mitigate the lot of thosewho live in a state of dependence. The liberty and security of thecitizens ought to be the grand and precious object of all laws; theyshould all tend to render life, honor and property as stable andsecure as the constitution of the government itself. It isincomparably better to prevent crimes than to punish them. The use oftorture is contrary to sound reason. Humanity cries out against thispractice, and insists on its being abolished. "

The condition of the peasantry, heavily taxed by the nobles, excitedher deepest commiseration. She wished their entire enfranchisement, but was fully conscious that she was not strong enough to undertake sosweeping a measure of reform. She insisted, however, "that laws shouldbe prescribed to the nobility, obliging them to act more circumspectlyin the manner of levying their dues, and to protect the peasant, sothat his condition might be improved and that he might be enabled toacquire property. "

A ruffian attempted to assassinate Catharine. He was arrested in thepalace, with a long dagger concealed in his dress, and withouthesitation confessed his design. Catharine had the assassin broughtinto her presence, conversed mildly with him, and seeing that therewas no hope of disarming his fanaticism, banished him to Siberia. Butthe innocent daughter of the guilty man she took under her protection, and subsequently appointed her one of her maids of honor. In the year1767, she sent a delegation of scientific men on a geological surveyinto the interior of the empire, with directions to determine thegeographical position of the principal places, to mark theirtemperature, their productions, their wealth, and the manners andcharacters of the several people by whom they were inhabited. Russiawas then, as now, a world by itself, peopled by innumerable tribes ornations, with a great diversity of climates, and with an infinitevariety of manners and customs. A large portion of the country wasimmersed in the profoundest barbarism, almost inaccessible to thetraveler. In other portions vagrant hordes wandered without any fixedhabitations. Here was seen the castle of the noble with all itsimposing architecture, and its enginery of offense and defense. Themud hovels of the peasants were clustered around the massive pile; andthey passed their lives in the most degrading bondage. 

From all parts of Europe the most learned men were invited to thecourt of Catharine. The renowned mathematician, Euler, was lured fromBerlin to St. Petersburg. The empress settled upon him a large annualstipend, and made him a present of a house. Catharine was fullyconscious that the glory of a country consists, not in its militaryachievements, but in advancement in science and in the useful andelegant arts. The annual sum of five thousand dollars was assigned toencourage the translation of foreign literary works into the Russianlanguage. The small-pox was making fearful ravages in Russia. Theempress had heard of inoculation. She sent to England for a physician, Dr. Thomas Dimsdale, who had practiced inoculation for the small-poxwith great success in London. Immediately upon his arrival the empresssent for him, and with skill which astonished the physician, questioned him respecting his mode of practice. He was invited to dinewith the empress; and the doctor thus describes the dinner party:

"The empress sat singly at the upper end of a long table, at whichabout twelve of the nobility were guests. The entertainment consistedof a variety of excellent dishes, served up after the French manner, and was concluded by a dessert of the finest fruits and sweetmeats, such as I little expected to find in that northern climate. Most ofthese luxuries were, however, the produce of the empress's owndominions. Pineapples, indeed, are chiefly imported from England, though those of the growth of Russia, of which we had one that day, are of good flavor but generally small. Water-melons and grapes arebrought from Astrachan; great plenty of melons from Moscow; and applesand pears from the Ukraine. 

"But what most enlivened the whole entertainment, was the unaffectedease and affability of the empress herself. Each of her guests had ashare of her attention and politeness. The conversation was kept upwith freedom and cheerfulness to be expected rather from persons ofthe same rank, than from subjects admitted to the honor of theirsovereign's company. "

The empress after conversing with Dr. Dimsdale, decided to introducethe practice of small-pox inoculation[20] into Russia, and heroicallyresolved that the experiment should first be tried upon herself. Dr. Dimsdale, oppressed by the immense responsibility thus thrown uponhim, for though the disease, thus introduced, was generally mild, innot a few cases it proved fatal, requested the assistance of the courtphysicians. 

[Footnote 20: Vaccination, or inoculation with the cow-pox, was notintroduced to Europe until many years after this. The celebratedtreatise of Jenner, entitled _An inquiry into the causes and effectsof Variolæ Vaccinæ_, was published in 1798. ]

"It is not necessary, " the empress replied; "you come wellrecommended. The conversation I have had increases my confidence inyou. It is impossible that my physicians should have much skill inthis operation. My life is my own, and with the utmost cheerfulness Ientrust myself to your care. I wish to be inoculated as soon as youjudge it convenient, and desire to have it kept a secret. "

The anxious physician begged that the experiment might first be triedby inoculating some of her own sex and age, and, as near as possible, of her own constitutional habits. The empress replied, "The practice is not novel, and no doubt remains of its generalsuccess. It is, therefore, not necessary that there should be anydelay on that account. "

Catharine was inoculated on the 12th of October, 1768, and wentimmediately to a secluded private palace at some distance from thecity, under the pretense that she wished to superintend some repairs. She took with her only the necessary attendants. Soon, however, several of the nobility, some of whom she suspected had not had thesmall-pox, followed. As a week was to elapse after the operationbefore the disease would begin to manifest itself, the empress said toDr. Dimsdale, "I must rely on you to give me notice when it is possible for me tocommunicate the disease. Though I could wish to keep my inoculation asecret, yet far be it from me to conceal it a moment when it maybecome hazardous to others. "

In the mean time she took part in every amusement with her wontedaffability and without the slightest indication of alarm. She dinedwith the rest of the company, and enlivened the whole court with thoseconversational charms for which she was distinguished. The diseaseproved light, and she was carried through it very successfully. Soonafter, she wrote to Voltaire, "I have not kept my bed a single instant, and I have received companyevery day. I am about to have my only son inoculated. Count Orlof, that hero who resembles the ancient Romans in the best times of therepublic, both in courage and generosity, doubting whether he had everhad the small-pox, has put himself under the hands of our Englishman, and, the next day after the operation, went to the hunt in a very deepfall of snow. A great number of courtiers have followed his example, and many others are preparing to do so. Besides this, inoculation isnow carried on at Petersburg in three seminaries of education, and inan hospital established under the protection of Dr. Dimsdale. "

The empress testified her gratitude for the benefits Dr. Dimsdale hadconferred upon Russia by making him a present of fifty thousanddollars, and settling upon him a pension of one thousand dollars ayear. On the 3d of December, 1768, a thanksgiving service wasperformed in the chapel of the palace, in gratitude for the recoveryof her majesty and her son Paul from the small-pox. 

The Turks began now to manifest great apprehensions in view of therapid growth of the Russian empire. Poland was so entirelyovershadowed that its monarchs were elected and its governmentadministered under the influence of a Russian army. In truth, Polandhad become but little more than one of the provinces of Catharine'sempire. The Grand Seignior formed an alliance with the disaffectedPoles, arrested the Russian embassador at Constantinople, and musteredhis hosts for war. Catharine II. Was prepared for the emergency. Earlyin 1769 the Russian army commenced its march towards the banks of theCuban, in the wilds of Circassia. The Tartars of the Crimea were thefirst foes whom the armies of Catharine encountered. The Sea of Azof, with its surrounding shores, soon fell into the possession of Russia. One of the generals of Catharine, General Drevitch, a man whose namedeserves to be held up to eternal infamy, took nine Polish gentlemenas captives, and, cutting off their hands at the wrist, sent themhome, thus mutilated, to strike terror into the Poles. AlreadyFrederic of Prussia and Catharine were secretly conferring upon aunited attack upon Poland and the division of the territory betweenthem. 

Frederic sent his brother Henry to St. Petersburg to confer withCatharine upon this contemplated robbery, sufficiently gigantic incharacter to be worthy of the energies of the royal bandits. Catharinereceived Henry with splendor which the world has seldom seen equaled. One of the entertainments with which she honored him was a moonlightsleigh ride arranged upon a scale of imperial grandeur. The sleighwhich conveyed Catharine and the Prussian prince was an immense parlordrawn by sixteen horses, covered and inclosed by double glasses, which, with numberless mirrors, reflected all objects within andwithout. This sledge was followed by a retinue of two thousand others. Every person, in all the sledges, was dressed in fancy costume, andmasked. When two miles from the city, the train passed beneath atriumphal arch illuminated with all conceivable splendor. At thedistance of every mile, some grand structure appeared in a blaze oflight, a pyramid, or a temple, or colonnades, or the most brilliantdisplays of fireworks. Opposite each of these structures ball roomshad been reared, which were crowded with the rustic peasantry, amusingthemselves with music, dancing and all the games of the country. Eachof the spacious houses of entertainment personated some particularRussian nation, where the dress, music and amusements of that nationwere represented. All sorts of gymnastic feats were also exhibited, such as vaulting, tumbling and feats upon the slack and tight rope. 

Through such scenes the imperial pleasure party rode, until a highmountain appeared through an avenue cut in the forest, representingMount Vesuvius during an eruption. Vast billows of flame were rollingto the skies, and the whole region was illumined with a blaze oflight. The spectators had hardly recovered from the astonishment whichthis display caused, when the train suddenly entered a Chinesevillage, which proved to be but the portal to the imperial palace ofTzarkoselo. The palace was lighted with an infinite number of waxcandles. For two hours the guests amused themselves with dancing. Suddenly there was a grand discharge of cannon. The candles wereimmediately extinguished, and a magnificent display of fireworks, extending along the whole breadth of the palace, converted night intoday. Again there was a thundering discharge of artillery, when, as byenchantment, the candles blazed anew, and a sumptuous supper wasserved up. After the entertainment, dancing was renewed, and wascontinued until morning. 

The empress had a private palace at St. Petersburg which she calledher Hermitage, where she received none but her choicest friends. Thissumptuous edifice merits some minuteness of description. It consistedof a suite of apartments containing every thing which the mostvoluptuous and exquisite taste could combine. The spacious buildingwas connected with the imperial palace by a covered arch. It wouldrequire a volume to describe the treasures of art and industry withwhich it abounded. Here the empress had her private library and herprivate picture gallery. Raphael's celebrated gallery in the Vaticanat Rome was exactly repeated here with the most accurate copies of allthe paintings, corner pieces and other ornaments of the same size andin the same situations. Medals, engravings, curious pieces of art, models of mechanical inventions and collections of specimens ofminerals and of objects of natural history crowded the cabinets. Chambers were arranged for all species of amusements. A pleasuregarden was constructed upon arches, with furnaces beneath them inwinter, that the plants might ever enjoy genial heat. This garden wascovered with fine brass wire, that the birds from all countries, singing among the trees and shrubs, or hopping along the grass plotsand gravel walks, and which the empress was accustomed to feed withher own hand, might not escape. While the storms of a Russian winterwere howling without, the empress here could tread upon verdant lawnsand gravel walks beneath luxuriant vegetation, listening to bird songsand partaking of fruits and flowers of every kind. 

In this artificial Eden the empress often received Henry, the Prussianprince, and matured her plan for the partition of Poland. Thefestivities which dazzled the eyes of the frivolous courtiers werehardly thought of by Catharine and Henry. Mr. Richardson, an Englishgentleman who was in the family of Lord Cathcart, then the Britishembassador at the Russian court, had sufficient sagacity to detectthat, beneath this display of amusements, political intrigues of greatmoment were being woven. He wrote from St. Petersburg, on the 1st ofJanuary, 1771, as follows:

 "This city, since the beginning of winter, has exhibited a continued scene of festivities; feasts, balls, concerts, plays, and masquerades in continued succession; and all in honor of, and to divert his royal highness, Prince Henry of Prussia, the famous brother of the present king. Yet his royal highness does not seem to be much diverted. He looks at them as an old cat looks at the gambols of a young kitten; or as one who has higher sport going on in his mind than the pastime of fiddling and dancing. He came here on pretense of a friendly visit to the empress; to have the happiness of waiting on so magnanimous a princess, and to see, with his own eyes, the progress of those immense improvements, so highly celebrated by Voltaire and those French writers who receive gifts from her majesty. 

 "But do you seriously imagine that this creature of skin and bone should travel through Sweden, Finland and Poland, all for the pleasure of seeing the metropolis and the empress of Russia? Other princes may pursue such pastime; but the princes of the house of Brandenburg fly at a nobler quarry. Or is the King of Prussia, as a tame spectator, to reap no advantage from the troubles in Poland and the Turkish war? What is the meaning of his late conferences with the Emperor of Germany? Depend upon it these planetary conjunctions are the forerunners of great events. A few months may unfold the secret. You will recollect the signs when, after this, you shall hear of changes, usurpations and revolutions. "

In one of these interviews, in which the dismemberment of Poland wasresolved on, Catharine said, "I will frighten Turkey and flatter England. Do you take it upon yourself to buy over Austria, and amuse France. "

Though the arrangements for the partition were at this time all made, the portion which was to be assigned to Austria agreed upon, and theextent of territory which each was to appropriate to itself settled, the formal treaty was not signed till two years afterwards. 

The war still continued to rage on the frontiers of Turkey. After tenmonths of almost incessant slaughter, the Turkish army was nearlydestroyed. The empress collected two squadrons of Russian men-of-warat Archangel on the White Sea, and at Revel on the Baltic, and sentthem through the straits of Gibraltar into the Mediterranean. AllEurope was astonished at this wonderful apparition suddenly presentingitself amidst the islands of the Archipelago. The inhabitants of theGreek islands were encouraged to rise, and they drove out theirMussulman oppressors with great slaughter. Catharine was alikevictorious on the land and on the sea; and she began very seriously tocontemplate driving the Turks out of Europe and taking possession ofConstantinople. Her land troops speedily overran the immense provincesof Bessarabia, Moldavia and Wallachia, and annexed them to the Russianempire. 

The Turkish fleet encountered the Russians in the narrow channel whichseparates the island of Scio from Natolia. In one of the fiercestnaval battles on record, and which raged for five hours, the Turkishfleet was entirely destroyed. A courier was instantly dispatched toSt. Petersburg with the exultant tidings. The rejoicings in St. Petersburg, over this naval victory, were unbounded. The empress wasso elated that she resolved to liberate both Greece and Egypt from thesway of the Turks. The Turks were in a terrible panic, and resorted tothe most desperate measures to defend the Dardanelles, that theRussian fleet might not ascend to Constantinople. At the same time theplague broke out in Constantinople with horrible violence, a thousanddying daily, for several weeks. 

The immense Crimean peninsula contains fifteen thousand square miles, being twice as large as the State of Massachusetts. The isthmus ofPerikop, which connects it with the mainland, is but five miles inwidth. The Turks had fortified this passage by a ditch seventy-twofeet wide, and forty-two feet deep, and had stationed along this linean army of fifty thousand Tartars. But the Russians forced thebarrier, and the Crimea became a Russian province. The victoriousarmy, however, soon encountered a foe whom no courage could vanquish. The plague broke out in their camp, and spread through all Russia, with desolation which seems incredible, although well authenticated. In Moscow, not more than one fourth of the inhabitants were leftalive. More than sixty thousand died in that city in less than a year. For days the dead lay in the streets where they had fallen, there notbeing carts or people enough to carry them away. The pestilencegradually subsided before the intensity of wintry frosts. 

The devastations of war and of the plague rendered both the Russiansand Turks desirous of peace. On the 2d of August, 1772, the Russianand Turkish plenipotentiaries met under tents, on a plain aboutnineteen miles north of Bucharest, the capital of Wallachia. TheRussian ministers approached in four grand coaches, preceded byhussars, and attended by one hundred and sixty servants in livery. TheTurkish ministers came on horseback, with about sixty servants, alldressed in great simplicity. The two parties, however, could notagree, and the conference was broken up. The negotiations were soonresumed at Bucharest, but this attempt was also equally unsuccessfulwith the first. 

The plot for the partition of Poland was now ripe. Russia, Prussiaand Austria had agreed to march their armies into the kingdom anddivide a very large portion of the territory between them. It was ashigh-handed a robbery as the world ever witnessed. There is someconsolation, however, in the reflection, that the masses of the peoplein Poland were quite unaffected by the change. They were no moreoppressed by their new despots than they had been for ages by theirold ones. By this act, Russia annexed to her territory the enormousaddition of three thousand four hundred and forty square leagues, sparsely inhabited, indeed, yet containing a population of one millionfive hundred thousand. Austria obtained less territory, but nearlytwice as many inhabitants. Prussia obtained the contiguous provincesshe coveted, with about nine hundred thousand inhabitants. They stillleft to the King of Poland, in this first partition, a small fragmentof his kingdom. The King of Prussia removed from his portion the firstyear twelve thousand families, who were sent to populate theuninhabited wilds of his hereditary dominions. All the young men wereseized and sent to the Prussian army. The same general course waspursued by Russia. That the Polish population might be incorporatedwith that of Russia, and all national individuality lost, the Poleswere removed into ancient Russia, while whole provinces of Russianswere sent to populate Poland. 

The vast wealth which at this time the Russian court was able toextort from labor, may be inferred from the fact, that while theempress was carrying on the most expensive wars, her disbursements tofavorites, generals and literary men--in encouraging the arts, purchasing libraries, pictures, statues, antiques and jewels, vastlyexceeded that of any European prince excepting Louis XIV. A diamond ofvery large size and purity, weighing seven hundred and seventy-ninecarats, was brought from Ispahan by a Greek. Catharine purchased itfor five hundred thousand dollars, settling at the same time apension of five thousand dollars for life, upon the fortunate Greek ofwhom she bought it. 

The war still raged fiercely in Turkey with the usual vicissitudes ofbattles. The Danube at length became the boundary between the hostilearmies, its wide expanse of water, its islands and its wooded shoresaffording endless opportunity for surprises, ambuscades, flight andpursuit. Under these circumstances war was prosecuted with an enormousloss of life; but as the wasting armies were continually beingreplenished, it seemed as though there could be no end to the strife. 

Catharine had for some time been meditating a marriage for her son, the Grand Duke Paul. There was a grand duchy in Germany, on the Rhine, almost equally divided by that stream, called Darmstadt. It containedthree thousand nine hundred square miles, being about half the size ofthe State of Massachusetts, and embraced a population of nearly amillion. The Duke of Darmstadt had three very attractive daughters, either one of whom, Catharine thought, would make a very suitablematch for her son. She accordingly invited the three young ladies, with their mother, to visit her court, that her son might, after acareful scrutiny, take his pick. The brilliance of the prospectivematch with the tzar of all the Russias outweighed every scruple, andthe invitation was eagerly accepted. Paul was cold as an iceberg, stubborn as a mule and crack-brained, but he could place on the browof his spouse the crown of an empress. Catharine received her guestswith the greatest magnificence, loaded them with presents, and finallychose one of them, Wilhelmina, for the bride of Paul. The marriage wassolemnized on the 10th of November, 1773, with all the splendor withwhich the Russian court could invest the occasion, the festivitiesbeing continued from the 10th to the 21st of the month. 

Catharine, with her own hand, kept up a regular correspondence withmany literary and scientific men in other parts of Europe, particularly with Voltaire and Diderot, the illustrious philosophersof France. Several times she sent them earnest invitations to visither court. Diderot accepted her invitation, and was received withconfiding and friendly attentions which no merely crowned head couldhave secured. Diderot sat at the table of the empress, and daily heldlong social interviews with her, conversing upon politics, philosophy, legislation, freedom of conscience and the rights of nations. Catharine was charmed with the enthusiasm and eloquence of her guest, but she perfectly appreciated the genius and the puerility combined inhis character. 

"Diderot, " said she, "is a hundred years old in many respects, but inothers he is no more than ten. "

The following letter from Catharine to Diderot, written with all thefreedom of the most confidential correspondence, gives a clearer viewof the character of Catharine's mind, and of her energy, than anydescription could give. 

"Now we are speaking of haughtiness, I have a mind to make a generalconfession to you on that head. I have had great successes during thiswar; that I am glad of it, you will very naturally conclude. I findthat Russia will be well known by this war. It will be seen howindefatigable a nation it is; that she possesses men of eminent merit, and who have all the qualities which go to the forming of heroes. Itwill be seen that she is deficient in no resources, but that she candefend herself and prosecute a war with vigor whenever she is unjustlyattacked. 

"Brimful of these ideas, I have never once thought of Catharine, who, at the age of forty-two, can increase neither in body nor in mind, but, in the natural order of things, ought to remain, and will remain, as she is. Do her affairs go on well? she says, so much the better. Ifthey prosper less, she would employ all her faculties to put them in abetter train. 

"This is my ambition, and I have none other. What I tell you, is thetruth. I will go further, and say that, for the sparing of humanblood, I sincerely wish for peace. But this peace is still a long wayoff, though the Turks, from different motives, are ardently desirousof it. Those people know not how to go about it. 

"I wish as much for the pacification of the unreasonable contentionsof Poland. I have to do there with brainless heads, each of which, instead of contributing to the common peace, on the contrary, throwsimpediments in the way of it by caprice and levity. My embassador haspublished a declaration adapted to open their eyes. But it is to bepresumed that they will rather expose themselves to the last extremitythan adopt, without delay, a wise and consistent rule of conduct. Thevortices of Descartes never existed anywhere but in Poland. Thereevery head is a vortex turning continually around itself. It isstopped by chance alone, and never by reason or judgment. 

"I have not yet received your _Questions_, [21] or your watches fromFerney. I have no doubt that the work of your artificers is perfect, since they work under your eyes. Do not scold your rustics for havingsent me a surplus of watches. The expense of them will not ruin me. Itwould be very unfortunate for me if I were so far reduced as not tohave, for sudden emergencies, such small sums whenever I want them. Judge not, I beseech you, of our finances by those of the other ruinedpotentates of Europe. Though we have been engaged in war for threeyears, we proceed in our buildings, and every thing else goes on as ina time of profound peace. It is two years since any new impost waslevied. The war, at present, has its fixed establishment; that onceregulated, it never disturbs the course of other affairs. If wecapture another Kesa or two, the war is paid for. 

[Footnote 21: Questions sur l'Encyclopedie. ]

"I shall be satisfied with myself whenever I meet with yourapprobation, monsieur. I likewise, a few weeks ago, read over againmy instructions for the code, because I then thought peace to benearer at hand than it is, and I found that I was right in composingthem. I confess that this code will give me a considerable deal oftrouble before it is brought to that degree of perfection at which Iwish to see it. But no matter, it must be completed. 

"Perhaps, in a little time, the khan of the Crimea will be brought tome in person. I learn, this moment, that he did not cross the sea withthe Turks, but that he remained in the mountains with a very smallnumber of followers, nearly as was the case with the Pretender, inScotland, after the defeat at Culloden. If he comes to me, we will tryto polish him this winter, and, to take my revenge of him, I will makehim dance, and he shall go to the French comedy. 

"Just as I was about to fold up this letter, I received yours of the10th of July, in which you inform me of the adventure that happened tomy 'Instruction'[22] in France. I knew that anecdote, and even theappendix to it, in consequence of the order of the Duke of Choiseul. Iown that I laughed on reading it in the newspapers, and I found that Iwas amply revenged. "

[Footnote 22: Her majesty's instruction for a code of laws. ]

CHAPTER XXVI. 

REIGN OF CATHARINE II. 

From 1774 to 1781. 

Peace with Turkey. --Court of Catharine II. --Her Personal Appearanceand Habits. --Conspiracy and Rebellion. --Defeat of theRebels. --Magnanimity of Catharine II. --Ambition of the Empress. --CourtFavorite. --Division of Russia into Provinces. --InternalImprovements. --New Partition of Poland. --Death of the Wife ofPaul. --Second Marriage of the Grand Duke. --Splendor of the RussianCourt. --Russia and Austria Secretly Combine to Drive the Turks out ofEurope. --The Emperor Joseph II. 

In 1774 peace was concluded with Turkey, on terms which added greatlyto the renown and grandeur of Russia. By this treaty the Crimea wassevered from the Ottoman Porte, and declared to be independent. Russiaobtained the free navigation of the Black Sea, the Bosporus and theDardanelles. Immense tracts of land, lying on the Euxine, were cededto Russia, and the Grand Seignior also paid Catharine a large sum ofmoney to defray the expenses of the war. No language can describe theexultation which this treaty created in St. Petersburg. Eight dayswere devoted, by order of the empress, to feasts and rejoicings. Thedoors of the prisons were thrown open, and even the Siberian exileswere permitted to return. 

The court of Catharine II. At this period was the most brilliant inEurope. In no other court was more attention paid to the most polishedand agreeable manners. The expenditure on her court establishmentamounted to nearly four millions of dollars a year. In personalappearance the empress was endowed with the attractions both of beautyand of queenly dignity. A cotemporary writer thus describes her:

"She is of that stature which is necessarily requisite to perfectelegance of form in a lady. She has fine large blue eyes, witheyebrows and hair of a brownish color. Her mouth is well-proportioned, chin round, with a forehead regular and open. Her hands and arms areround and white, and her figure plump. Her bosom is full, her neckhigh, and she carries her head with peculiar grace. 

"The empress never wears rich clothes except on solemn festivals, whenher head and corset are entirely set with brilliants, and she wears acrown of diamonds and precious stones. Her gait is majestic; and, inthe whole of her form and manner there is something so dignified andnoble, that if she were to be seen without ornament or any outwardmarks of distinction, among a great number of ladies of rank, shewould be immediately esteemed the chief. She seems born to command, though in her character there is more of liveliness than of gravity. She is courteous, gentle, benevolent and outwardly devout. "

Like almost every one who has attained distinction, Catharine was verysystematic in the employment of her time. She usually rose at aboutfive o'clock both in summer and winter; and what seems mostremarkable, prepared her own simple breakfast, as she was not fond ofbeing waited upon. But a short time was devoted to her toilet. Fromeight to eleven in the forenoon she was busy in her cabinet, signingcommissions and issuing orders of various purport. The hour, fromeleven to twelve, was daily devoted to divine worship in her chapel. Then, until one o'clock, she gave audience to the ministers of thevarious departments. From half past one till two she dined. She thenreturned to her cabinet, where she was busily employed in cares ofstate until four o'clock, when she took an airing in a coach orsledge. At six she usually exhibited herself for a short time to hersubjects at the theater, and at ten o'clock she retired. Court ballswere not unfrequently given, but the empress never condescended todance, though occasionally she would make one at a game of cards. She, however, took but little interest in the game, being much morefond of talking with the ladies, generals and ministers who surroundedher. Even from these court balls the very sensible empress usuallyretired, by a side door, at ten o'clock. 

The empress informed herself minutely of every thing which concernedthe administration of government. Her ministers were merelyinstruments in her hands executing her imperial will. All mattersrelating to the army, the navy, the finances, the punishment of crimeand to foreign affairs, were reported to her by her ministers, andwere guided by her decisions. 

There must always be, in every government, an opposition party--thatis, a party who wish to eject from office those in power, that theythemselves may enjoy the loaves and fishes of governmental favor. Thisis peculiarly the case in an empire where a large class of haughtynobles are struggling for the preëminence. Many of the bigoted clergywere exasperated by the toleration which the empress enjoined, andthey united with the disaffected lords in a conspiracy for arevolution. The clergy in the provinces had great influence over theunlettered boors, and the conspiracy soon assumed a very threateningaspect. The first rising of rebellion was by the wild populationscattered along the banks of the Don. The rebellion was headed by animpostor, who declared that he was Peter III. , and that, havingescaped from those who had attempted his assassination, he hadconcealed himself for a long time, waiting for vengeance. Thisbarbaric chieftain, who was called Pugatshef, very soon found himselfat the head of fourteen thousand fierce warriors, and commencedravaging oriental Russia. For a season his march was a constantvictory. Many thousand Siberian exiles escaped from their gloomyrealms and joined his standards. So astonishing was his success, thateven Catharine trembled. Pugatshef waged a war of exterminationagainst the nobles who were the supporters of Catharine, in cold bloodbeheading their wives and children, and conferring their titles andestates upon his followers. The empress found it necessary to rouseall her energies to meet this peril. She issued a manifesto, which wascirculated through all the towns of the empire, and raised a largearmy, which was dispatched to crush the rebellion. Battle after battleensued, until, at last, in a decisive conflict, the hosts of Pugatshefwere utterly cut up. 

Still, this indefatigable warrior soon raised another army from theuntamed barbarians of the Don, and, rapidly descending the Volga, attacked, by surprise, some Russian regiments encamped upon its banks, and routed them with fearful slaughter. The astronomer, Lovitch, amember of the imperial academy of sciences at St. Petersburg, was, atthat time, under the protection of these regiments, surveying theroute for a canal between the Don and the Volga. Pugatshef ordered hisdragoons to thrust their pikes into the unfortunate man, and raise himupon them into the air, "in order, " said he, "that he may be nearerthe stars. " They did this, and then cut him to pieces with theirsabers. 

The troops of Catharine pursued the rebels, encountered them in someintricate passes of the mountains, whence escape was impossible, andoverwhelmed them with destruction. Their vigorous leader, leaping fromcrag to crag, escaped, swam the Volga, crossed, in solitude, vastdeserts, and made new attempts to rally partisans around him. But hislast hour was sounded. Deserted by all, he was wandering from place toplace, pursued like a wild beast, when some of his own confederates, basely betraying him, seized him, after a violent struggle, put him inirons, and delivered him to one of the officers of the Russian army. The wretched man, preserving impenetrable silence, was conveyed toMoscow in an iron cage. Refusing to eat, food was forced down hisstomach. The empress immediately appointed a commission for the trialof the rebel. She instructed the court to be satisfied with whatevervoluntary confession of his crime he might make, forbidding them toapply the torture, or to require him to name his accomplices. Theculprit was sentenced to have his hands and feet cut off, and then tobe quartered. By order of the empress, however, he was first beheaded. Eight of his accomplices were also executed, eighteen underwent theknout, and were then exiled to Siberia. Thus terminated a rebellionwhich cost the lives of more than a hundred thousand men. 

Over those wide regions, whose exact boundaries are even now scarcelyknown, numerous nations are scattered, quite distinct in language, religion and customs, and so separated by almost impassable deserts, that they know but little of each other. These wilds, peopled bywar-loving races, afford the most attractive field for militaryadventures. The energy and sagacity with which Catharine crushed thisformidable rebellion added greatly to her renown. Tranquillity beingrestored, the empress, in order to crown a general pardon, forbade anyfurther allusion whatever to be made to the rebellion, consigning allits painful events to utter oblivion. She even forbade the publicationof the details of the trial, saying, "I shall keep the depositions of Pugatshef secret, that they may notaggravate the disgrace of those who spurred him on. "

The empress was ambitious to make her influence felt in every Europeanmovement, and she was conscious that, in order to command the respectof other courts, she must ever have a formidable army at her disposal. In all the great movements of kings and courts this wonderful womanperformed her part with dignity which no monarch, male or female, hasever surpassed. It is strange that it has taken so many centuries forthe nations to learn that peace, not war, enriches realms. Had Russiaabstained from those wars in which she has unnecessarily engaged, shemight now have been the most wealthy and powerful nation on the globe. Admitting that there have been many wars which, involving her nationalexistence, she could not have avoided, still she has squanderedcountless millions of money and of lives in battles which were quiteunnecessary. Russia, like the United States, is safe from all attacksfrom without. Had Russia employed the yearly earnings of the empire incultivating the fields, rearing towns, and in extending the arts ofindustry and refinement, infinitely more would have been accomplishedfor her happiness and renown than by the most brilliant conquests. ButCatharine, in her high ambition, seemed to be afraid that Europe mightforget her, and she was eager to have her voice heard in thedeliberations of every cabinet, and to have her banners unfurled inthe march of every army. 

There was an office, in the court of the empress, sanctioned by timein Russia, which has not existed in any other court in Europe. Itperhaps originated from the fact that for about three fourths of acentury Russia was almost exclusively governed by women. The courtfavorite was not merely the prime minister, but the confidentialfriend and companion of the empress. On the day of his installation hereceived a purse containing one hundred thousand dollars, and a salaryof twelve thousand dollars a month. A marshal was also commissioned toprovide him a table of twenty-four covers, and to defray all theexpenses of his household. The twelve thousand dollars a month werefor what the ladies call _pin money_. The favorite occupied in thepalace an apartment beneath that of the empress, to which itcommunicated by a private stair-case. He attended the empress on allparties of amusement, at the opera, the theater, balls, promenades andexcursions of pleasure, and he was not allowed to leave the palacewithout express permission. It was also understood that he should payno attention to any lady but the empress. 

The year 1775 dawned upon Russia with peace at home and abroad. Catharine devoted herself anew to the improvement of her subjects ineducation and all physical comforts. Prince Gregory Orlof had been formany years the favorite of the empress, but he was now laid aside, andCount Potemkin took his place. 

Catharine now divided her extensive realms into forty-three greatprovinces, over each of which a governor was appointed. Theseprovinces embraced from six to eight hundred thousand inhabitants. There was then a subdivision into districts or circles, as they werecalled. There were some ten of these districts in each province, andthey contained from forty to sixty thousand inhabitants. An entiresystem of government was established for each province, with its lawsand tribunals, that provision might be made for every thing essentialto the improvement and embellishment of the country. The governors ofthese provinces were invested with great dignity and splendor. Thegubernatorial courts, if they may so be called, established centers ofelegance and refinement, which it was hoped would exert a powerfulinfluence in polishing a people exceedingly rude and uncultivated. There were also immense advantages derived from the uniformadministration of justice thus established. This new division of theempire was the most comprehensive reform Russia had yet experienced. Thus the most extensive empire on the globe, with its geographicaldivisions so vast and dissimilar, was cemented into one homogeneousbody politic. 

Until this great reform the inhabitants of the most distant provinceshad been compelled to travel to Petersburg and Moscow in their appealsto the tribunals of justice. Now there were superior courts in all theprovinces, and inferior courts in all the districts. In all importantcases there was an appeal to the council of the empress. Russianships, laden with the luxuries of the Mediterranean, passed throughthe Dardanelles and the Bosporus, and landed their precious freightsupon the shores of Azof, from whence they were transported into theheart of Russia, thus opening a very lucrative commerce. 

The Polish nobles, a very turbulent and intractable race of men, wereoverawed by the power of Catharine, and the masses of the Polishpeople were doubtless benefited by their transference to new masters. Russia was far more benignant in its treatment of the conqueredprovinces, than were her banditti accomplices, Prussia and Austria. 

The road to China, traversed by caravans, was long and perilous, through pathless and inhospitable wilds, where, for leagues, noinhabitant could be seen, and yet where a fertile soil and a genialclime promised, to the hand of industry, all the comforts and luxuriesof life. All along this road she planted villages, and, by the mostalluring offers, induced settlers to establish themselves on allportions of the route. Large sums of money were expended in renderingthe rivers navigable. 

In the year 1776, the grand duchess, consort of Paul, who was heir tothe throne, died in childbirth, and was buried in the same grave withher babe. About the same time Prince Henry of Prussia visited theRussian court to confer with Catharine upon some difficulties whichhad arisen in the demarcations of Poland. It will be remembered thatin the division which had now taken place, the whole kingdom had notbeen seized, but a remnant had been left as the humble patrimony ofPoniatowski, the king. In this interview with the empress, PrinceHenry said, "Madam, I see one sure method of obviating all difficulty. It mayperhaps be displeasing to you on account of Poniatowski. [23] But youwill nevertheless do well to give it your approbation, sincecompensations may be offered to that monarch of greater value to himthan the throne which is continually tottering under him. Theremainder of Poland must be partitioned. "

[Footnote 23: Poniatowski had been formerly a favorite of theempress. ]

The empress cordially embraced the plan, and the annihilation ofPoland was decreed. It was necessary to move slowly and with cautionin the execution of the plan. In the meantime, as the grand duchesshad died, leaving no heir to the empire, the empress deemed it amatter of the utmost moment to secure another wife for the Grand DukePaul, lest Russia should be exposed to the perils of a disputedsuccession. Natalia was hardly cold in her grave ere the empressproposed to Prince Henry, that his niece, the princess of Wirtemberg, should become the spouse of the grand duke. The princess was alreadybetrothed to the hereditary prince of Hesse Darmstadt, but both Henryand his imperial brother, Frederic of Prussia, deemed the marriage oftheir niece with the prospective Emperor of Russia a match far toobrilliant to be thwarted by so slight an obstacle. Frederic himselfinformed the prince of the exalted offer which had been made to hisbetrothed, and without much difficulty secured his relinquishment ofhis contemplated bride. Frederic deemed it a matter of infinite momentthat the ties subsisting between Russia and Prussia should be moreclosely drawn. He wrote to his brother Henry of his success, and bythe same courier invited the Grand Duke Paul to visit Berlin that hemight see the new spouse designed for him. He also expressed his ownardent desire to become acquainted with the grand duke. 

Catharine, highly gratified with this success, placed a purse of fiftythousand dollars in the hands of her son to defray the expenses of hisjourney. It was at the close of the summer of 1776 when the grand dukeleft the palaces of St. Petersburg to visit those of Berlin. Hismother, who made all the arrangements, dispatched her son on thisvisit in a style of regal splendor. When the party reached Riga, acourier overtook them with the following characteristic letter, written by the empress's own hand to Prince Henry:

"June 11, 1776. 

"I take the liberty of transmitting to your royal highness the fourletters of which I spoke to you, and which you promised to take careof. The first is for the king, your brother, and the others for theprince and princesses of Wirtemberg. I venture to pray you, that if myson should bestow his heart on the Princess Sophia, as I have no doubtbut what he will, to deliver the three letters according to theirdirections, and to support the contents of them with that persuasiveeloquence with which God has endowed you. 

"The convincing and reiterated proofs which you have given me of yourfriendship, the high esteem which I have conceived for your virtues, and the extent of the confidence which you have taught me to repose inyou, leave me no doubt on the success of a business which I have somuch at heart. Was it possible for me to place it in better hands?

"Your royal highness is surely an unique in the art of negotiation. Pardon me that expression of my friendship. But I think that there hasnever been an affair of this nature transacted as this is; which isthe production of the most intimate friendship and confidence. 

"That princess will be the pledge of it. I shall not be able to seeher without recollecting in what manner this business was begun, continued and terminated, between the royal house of Prussia and thatof Russia. May it perpetuate the connections which unite us!

"I conclude by very tenderly thanking your royal highness for all thecares and all the troubles you have given yourself; and I beseech youto be assured that my gratitude, my friendship, my esteem, and thehigh consideration which I have for you, will terminate only with mylife. 

"Catharine. "

The Grand Duke Paul was received in Berlin with all the honors due hisrank as heir to the imperial throne of Russia. The great Frederic evencame to the door of his apartment to greet his guest. The grand dukewas escorted into the city with much pomp. Thirty-four trumpeters, winding their bugles, preceded him, all in rich uniform. Then came astrong array of soldiers. These were followed by a civic procession, in brilliant decorations. Three superb state coaches, containing thedignitaries of Berlin, came next in the train, followed by adetachment of the life-guards, who preceded the magnificent chariot ofthe duke, which chariot was regarded as the most superb which had thenever been seen, and which was drawn by eight of the finest horsesPrussia could produce. This carriage conveyed Paul and Prince Henry. Ahundred dragoons, as a guard of honor, closed the procession. At thegates of the city the magistracy received Paul beneath a triumphalarch, where seventy beautiful girls, dressed like nymphs andshepherdesses, presented the grand duke with complimentary verses, andcrowned him with a garland of flowers. The ringing of bells, thepealing of cannon, strains of martial music, and the acclamations ofthe multitude, greeted Paul from the time he entered the gates untilhe reached the royal palace. 

"Sire, " exclaimed Paul, as he took the hand of the King of Prussia, "the motives which bring me from the extremities of the North to thesehappy dominions, are the desire of assuring your majesty of thefriendship and alliance to subsist henceforth and for ever betweenRussia and Prussia, and the eagerness to see a princess destined toascend the throne of the Russian empire. By my receiving her at yourhands, I assure you that she will be more dear to myself and to thenation over which she is to reign. It has also been one of the mostardent aspirations of my soul to contemplate the greatest of heroes, the admiration of our age and the astonishment of posterity. "

Here the king interrupted him, replying, "Instead of which, you behold a hoary-headed valitudinarian, who couldnever have wished for a superior happiness than that of welcomingwithin these walls the hopeful heir of a mighty empire, the only sonof my best friend, Catharine. "

After half an hour's conversation, the grand duke was led into theapartment of the queen, where the court was assembled. Here he wasintroduced to his contemplated bride, Sophia, Princess of Wirtemberg, and immediately, in the name of the Empress of Russia, demanded her inmarriage of the grand duke. The marriage contract was signed the sameday. The whole company then supped with the queen in greatmagnificence. Feasts and entertainments succeeded for many dayswithout interruption. 

On the 3d of August, Paul returned to St. Petersburg, where hisaffianced bride soon joined him. As he took leave, the King of Prussiapresented him with dessert service and a coffee service, with tenporcelain vases of Berlin manufacture, a ring, containing the king'sportrait, surmounted with a diamond valued at thirty thousand crowns, and also a stud of Prussian horses and four pieces of rich tapestry. Upon the arrival of the princess, she was received into the Greekchurch, assuming the name of Maria, by which she was ever aftercalled. The marriage soon took place, and from this marriage arose thetwo distinguished emperors, Alexander and Nicholas. 

The empress was exceedingly gratified by the successful accomplishmentof this plan. With energy which seemed never to tire, she urgedforward her plans for national improvements, establishing schools allover the empire, which were munificently supported at the imperialexpense. The splendor of the Russian court, during the reign ofCatharine, surpassed all ordinary powers of description. Almostboundless wealth was lavished upon gorgeous dresses--lords and ladiesglittering alike in most costly jewelry. Many courtiers appearedalmost literally covered with diamonds. They sparkled, in most lavishprofusion, upon their buttons, their buckles, the scabbards of theirswords, their epaulets, and many even wore a triple row as a bandaround the hat. Frequently eight thousand tickets were given out for aball at the palace, and yet there was no crowd, for twenty saloons, ofmagnificent dimensions, brilliantly lighted, afforded room for all. Her majesty usually entered the saloons about seven o'clock, andretired about ten. 

The empress never ceased to look with a wistful eye upon the regionswhich the Turks had wrested from the Christians. The commercialgreatness of Russia, in her view, imperiously required thatConstantinople and its adjacent shores should be in her possession. InMay, 1780, Catharine had an interview with Joseph II. , Emperor ofGermany, at Mohilef. Both sovereigns traveled with great pomp to meetat this place. After several confidential interviews, they agreed tounite their forces to drive the Turks out of Europe, and to share thespoil between them. It was also agreed to reëstablish the ancientrepublics of Greece. The emperor, Joseph II. , received an earnestinvitation to visit Moscow, which he accepted, but, withcharacteristic eccentricity, refused to travel with the queen, as hewas excessively annoyed by the trammels of etiquette and ceremonialpomp. The empress, consequently, returned to St. Petersburg, andJoseph II. Set out for Moscow in the following fashion:

Leaving his carriages with his suite to follow, he proceeded alone, _incognito_, on horse-back, as the _avant courier_. At each station hewould announce that his master the emperor, with the imperialcarriages, was coming on, and that dinner, supper or lodgings must beprovided for so many persons. Calling for a slice of ham and a cup ofbeer, he would throw himself upon a bench for a few hours' repose, constantly refusing to take a bed, as the expedition he must makewould not allow this indulgence. 

At Mohilef, the empress had provided magnificent apartments, in thepalace, for the emperor; but he insisted upon taking lodgings at anordinary inn. At St. Petersburg, notwithstanding the emperor'srepugnance to pomp, Catharine received him with entertainments of thegreatest magnificence. Joseph, however, took but little interest insuch displays, devoting his attention almost exclusively to usefulestablishments and monuments of art. He was surprised to find at Tula, manufactories of hardware unsurpassed by those of Sheffield andBirmingham. He expressed his surprise, on his return home, at themixture of refinement and barbarism Russia had presented to his view. 

The empress, seeing that so many princes visited foreign countries, decided to send her son Paul, with Maria, to make the tour of Europe. Obedient to the maternal commands, they commenced their travelsthrough Poland and Austria to Italy, and returned to St. Petersburg, through France and Holland, after an absence of fourteen months. Theempress had a confidential agent in their company, who kept herinformed, minutely, of every event which transpired. A courier wasdispatched every day to inform her where they were and how they wereemployed. 

The relations between Turkey and Russia were continually growing morethreatening. Turkey had been compelled to yield the Crimea, and alsoto surrender the navigation of the Euxine, with the Bosporus and theDardanelles, to her powerful rival. Galled by these concessions, whichhad been forced upon her by bullet and bayonet, the Ottoman Porte wasever watching to regain her lost power. Russia, instead of beingsatisfied with her acquisitions, was eagerly grasping at more. TheGreek Christians also, throughout the Turkish empire, hating theirMussulman oppressors, were ever watching for opportunities when theycould shake off the burden and the insult of slavery. Thus peacebetween Russia and Turkey was never more than an armistice. The twopowers constantly faced each other in a hostile attitude, ever readyto appeal to arms. 

CHAPTER XXVII. 

TERMINATION OF THE REIGN OF CATHARINE II. 

From 1781 to 1786. 

Statue of Peter the Great. --Alliance between Austria andRussia. --Independence of the Crimea. --The Khan of the Crimea. --VastPreparations for War. --National Jealousies. --Tolerant Spirit ofCatharine. --Magnificent Excursion to the Crimea. --Commencement ofHostilities. --Anecdote of Paul. --Peace. --New Partition ofPoland. --Treaty with Austria and France. --Hostility to Liberty inFrance. --Death of Catharine. --Her Character. 

Catharine found time, amidst all the cares of empire, to devotespecial attention to the education of her grandchildren Alexander andConstantine, who had been born during the five years which had nowelapsed since the marriage of Paul and Maria. For their instruction asthey advanced in years, she wrote several historical and moral essaysof no small merit. The "Tales of Chlor, Son of the Tzar, " and "TheLittle Samoyede, " are beautiful compositions from her pen, alikeattractive to the mature and the youthful mind. The histories andessays she wrote for these children have since been collected andprinted in French, under the title of "Bibliotheque des grands-ducsAlexandre et Constantin. "

The empress, about this time, resolved to erect, in St. Petersburg, astatue of Peter the Great, which should be worthy of his renown. AFrench artist, M. Falconet, was engaged to execute this importantwork. He conceived the design of having, for a pedestal, a ruggedrock, to indicate the rude and unpolished character of the people towhom the emperor had introduced so many of the arts of civilization. Immediate search was made to find a suitable rock. About eight milesfrom the city a huge boulder was discovered, forty-two feet long, thirty-four feet broad, and twenty-one feet high. It was found, bygeometric calculation, that this enormous mass weighed three millionstwo hundred thousand pounds. It was necessary to transport it overheights and across morasses to the Neva, and there to float it down tothe place of its destination. The boulder lay imbedded a few feet inthe ground, absolutely detached from all other rock, and with nosimilar substance anywhere in the vicinity. 

It would seem impossible that a mass so stupendous could be moved. Butdifficulties only roused the energies of Catharine. In the firstplace, a solid road was made for its passage. After four months'labor, with very ingenious machinery, the rock was so far raised as toenable them to slip under it heavy plates of brass, which rested uponcannon balls five inches in diameter, and which balls ran in groovesof solid metal. Then, by windlasses, worked by four hundred men, itwas slowly forced along its way. Having arrived at the Neva, it wasfloated down the river by what are called camels, that is immensefloating fabrics constructed with air chambers so as to render themvery buoyant. 

This statue as completed is regarded as one of the grandest everexecuted. The tzar is represented as on horseback, ascending a steeprock, the summit of which he is resolved to attain. In an Asiaticdress and crowned with laurel, he is pointing forward with his righthand, while with his left he holds the bridle of the magnificentcharger on which he is mounted. The horse stands on his hind feetbounding forward, trampling beneath a brazen serpent, emblematic ofthe opposition the monarch encountered and overcame. It bears thesimple inscription, "To Peter the First, by Catharine the Second, 1782. " The whole expense of the statue amounted to over four hundredthousand dollars, an immense sum for that day, when a dollar was worthmore than many dollars now. 

At the close of the year 1782, the Emperor of Germany and CatharineII. Entered into an alliance for the more energetic prosecution of thewar against the Turks. They issued very spirited proclamationsenumerating their grievances, and immediately appeared on the Turkishfrontiers with vast armies. The attention of Catharine was constantlydirected towards Constantinople, the acquisition of which city, withthe Bosporus and the Dardanelles, was the object which, of all others, was the nearest to her heart. On the banks of the Dnieper, eighteenhundred miles from St. Petersburg, she laid the foundations of Khersonas a maritime port, and in an almost incredibly short time a city rosethere containing forty thousand inhabitants. From its ship-yardsvessels of war were launched which struck terror into the Ottomanempire. 

By previous wars, it will be remembered, the Crimea had been wrestedfrom the Turks and declared to be independent, remaining nominally inthe hands of the Tartars. Catharine II. Immediately took the Tartarkhan of the Crimea under her special protection, loaded him withfavors, and thus assumed the guidance of his movements. He becameenervated by luxury, learned to despise the rude manners of hiscountrymen, engaged a Russian cook, and was served from silver plate. Instead of riding on horseback he traveled in a splendid chariot, andeven solicited a commission in the Russian army. Catharine contrivedto foment a revolt against her protegé the khan, and then, verykindly, marched an army into the Crimea for his relief. She then, without any apology, took possession of the whole of the Crimea, andreceived the oath of allegiance from all the officers of thegovernment. Indeed, there appears to have been no opposition to thismeasure. The Tartar khan yielded with so much docility that he soonissued a manifesto in which he abdicated his throne, and transferredthe whole dominion of his country to Catharine. Turkey, exasperated, prepared herself furiously for war. Russia formed an alliance with theEmperor of Germany, and armies were soon in movement upon a scalesuch as even those war-scathed regions had never witnessed before. TheDanube, throughout its whole course, was burdened with the barges ofthe Emperor of Germany, heavily laden with artillery, military storesand troops. More than a hundred thousand men were marched down to thetheater of conflict from Hungary. Fifteen hundred pieces of artillerywere in the train of these vast armies of the German emperor. TheRussian force was equally efficient, as it directed its march throughthe plains of Poland, and floated down upon the waters of the Don andthe Dnieper. The Turkish sultan was not wanting in energy. From allhis wide-spread domains in Europe and Asia, he marshaled his hosts, and engaged from other nations of Europe, and particularly fromFrance, the most skillful officers and engineers, to introduce intohis armies European discipline and improvements in weapons of war. 

The Ottoman Porte issued a manifesto, which was a very remarkabledocument both in vigor of style and nobility of sentiment. Afterseverely denouncing the enormous encroachments of Russia, extendingher dominions unscrupulously in every direction, the sultan askedindignantly, "What right can Russia have to territories annexed for ages to thedominions of the Porte? Should the Porte make such claims on anyportion of the Russian dominions, would they not be repulsed? And canit be presumed that the Sublime Porte, however desirous of peace, willacquiesce in wrong which, however it may be disguised, reason andequity must deem absolute usurpation? What northern power has thePorte offended? Whose territories have the Ottoman troops invaded? Inthe country of what prince is the Turkish standard displayed? Contentwith the boundaries of empire assigned by God and the Prophet, thewishes of the Porte are for peace; but if the court of Russia bedetermined in her claim, and will not recede without the acquisitionof territories which do not belong to her, the Sublime Porte, appealing to the world for the justice of its proceedings, mustprepare for war, relying on the decrees of Heaven, and confident inthe interposition of the Prophet of prophets, that he will protect hisfaithful followers in the hour of every difficulty. "

No Mohammedan pen could have produced so vigorous a document. It waswritten by the English minister at Constantinople, Sir Robert Ainslie. Catharine II. , apprehensive that, while all her armies were engaged onthe banks of the Euxine, Sweden might attack her on the shores of theBaltic, decided to form a new treaty of peace with Gustavus III. Aninterview was arranged to take place at Frederiksham, a small butstrongly fortified town upon the Gulf of Finland, the last townoccupied by the Russians towards the frontiers of Sweden. The empressrepaired thither in a yacht the 29th of June, 1783. Gustavus III. , with his suite, met her at the appointed hour. Two contiguous houseswere prepared, furnished with the utmost splendor, and connected by agallery, so that, during the four days these sovereigns remained atFrederiksham, they could meet and converse at any time. There is stilla picture existing, painted by order of Catharine, representing theempress and the Swedish monarch in one of their most confidentialinterviews. Catharine II. Promised Gustavus that if he wouldfaithfully remain neutral during her war with Turkey she would, at itsclose, aid Sweden in gaining possession of Norway. The two sovereigns, having exchanged rich presents, separated, mutually delighted witheach other. 

The empress had now seventy thousand men on the frontiers of theCrimea, and a reserve of forty thousand on the march to strengthenthem. A third army of great power was rendezvoused at Kief. A largesquadron of ships of war was ready for battle in the Sea of Azof, andanother squadron was prepared to sail from the Baltic for theMediterranean. England, alarmed by the growth of Russia, did everything in her power to stimulate the Turks to action. But the Porte, overawed by the force brought against her, notwithstanding the bravemanifesto it had been induced to issue, sued for peace. Yielding toall the demands of Russia a treaty was soon signed. Catharine gainedundisputed possession of the Crimea, large portions of Circassia, thewhole of the Black Sea, and also the free passage of the Dardanelles. Thus, without firing a gun, Russia gained several thousand squaremiles of territory, and an addition of more than a million and a halfof inhabitants, with commercial privileges which added greatly to thewealth of the empire. 

Catharine's fleet now rode triumphantly upon the Caspian, and sheresolved to extend her dominions along the western shores of thatinland sea. These vast regions were peopled by warlike tribes, everengaged in hostilities against each other. Slowly but surely sheadvanced her conquests and reared her fortresses through thosebarbaric wilds. At the same time she was pushing her acquisitions withequal sagacity and success along the shores of Kamtschatka. With greatvigor she encouraged her commercial caravans to penetrate China, andeven opened relations with Japan, obtaining from that jealous peoplepermission to send a trading ship to their coast every year. 

No persons are so jealous of the encroachments of others as those whoare least scrupulous in regard to the encroachments which theythemselves make. The English government, whose boast it is that thesun, in its circuit of the globe, never ceases to shine on theirdomains, watches with an eagle eye lest any other government on theglobe should venture upon the most humble act of annexation. So it waswith Catharine. Though adding to her vast dominions in every quarter;though appropriating, alike in peace and in war, all the territory shecould lay her hands upon, she could inveigh against the inordinateambition of other nations with the most surprising volubility. 

The increasing fame and power of Frederic II. Had for some timedisturbed her equanimity, and she manifested great anxiety lest heshould be guilty of the impropriety of annexing some petty duchy tohis domains. Since he had united with Catharine and Austria in thebanditti partition of Poland, he had continually been making all theencroachments in his power; adding acres to his domains as Catharineadded square leagues to hers. In precisely the same spirit, England, who was grasping at all the world, protested, with the most edifyingdevotion to the claims of justice and humanity, against the ambitiousspirit of Russia. The "beam" did not exclude the vision of the "mote. "Catharine, offended by the opposition of England, retaliated byentering into a treaty of commerce with France, which deprived Englandof an important part of the Russian trade. 

The spirit of toleration manifested by Catharine is worthy of allpraise. During the whole of her reign she would not allow any one tobe persecuted, in the slightest degree, on account of religiousopinions. All the conquered provinces were protected in the freeexercise of their religion. Lutherans, Calvinists, Moravians, Papists, Mohammedans, and Pagans of all kinds, not only enjoyed freedom ofopinion and of worship, but could alike aspire to any post, civil ormilitary, of which they could prove themselves worthy. At one time, when urged by the hateful spirit of religious bigotry to frown uponsome heresy, she replied smiling, "Poor wretches! since we know that they are to suffer so much and solong in the world to come, it is but reasonable that we shouldendeavor, by all means, to make their situation here as comfortable aswe can. "

Though Catharine II. Had many great defects of character, she had manyvirtues which those who have denounced her most severely might do wellto imitate. Her crowning vice, and the one which, notwithstanding hervirtues, has consigned her name to shame, was that she had a constantsuccession of lovers who by secret and very informal nuptial riteswere bound to her for a season, each one of whom was exchanged foranother as caprice incited. The spirit of national aggrandizementwhich influenced Catharine, was a spirit possessed, to an equalextent, at that time, by every cabinet in Christendom. It was thegreat motive power of the age. Dismembered Poland excites oursympathy; but Poland was as eager to share in the partition of otherStates as she was reluctant to submit to that operation herself. Inpersonal character Catharine was humane, tolerant, self-denying, andearnestly devoted to the welfare of her empire. Religious teachers, ofall denominations, freely met at her table. This Christian liberality, thus encouraged in the palace, spread through the realm, producing themost beneficial results. On the occasion of a celebrated festival, Catharine gave a grand dinner party to ecclesiastics of all communionsat the palace. This entertainment she called the "Dinner ofToleration. " The representatives of eight different forms of worshipmet around this hospitable board. 

The instruction of the masses of the people occupied much of theattention of this extraordinary woman. She commenced with foundingschools in the large towns; and then proceeded to the establishment ofthem in various parts of the country. Many normal schools wereestablished for the education of teachers. The empress herselfattended the examinations and questioned the scholars. On one of theseoccasions, when a learned German professor of history was giving alecture to some pupils, gathered from the tribes of Siberia, theempress proposed an objection to some views he advanced. The courtierswere shocked at the learned man's presumption in replying to theobjection in the most conclusive manner. The empress, ever eager inthe acquisition of knowledge, admitted her mistake, and thanked theprofessor for having rectified it with so much ability. 

She purchased, at a high price, the libraries of D'Alembert, and ofVoltaire, immediately after the death of those illustrious men. Shealso purchased the valuable cabinet of natural curiosities collectedby Professor Pallas. The most accomplished engineers she could obtainwere sent to explore the mountains of Caucasus, and even to thefrontiers of China. When we consider the trackless deserts to beexplored, the inhospitable climes and barbarous nations to beencountered, these were enterprises far more perilous than thecircumnavigation of the globe. The scientific expedition to China wasescorted by a corps of eight hundred and ten chosen men, led by onehundred and seven distinguished officers. The _savans_ were providedwith every thing which could be thought of to promote their comfortand to aid them in their explorations, and three years were alloted asthe probable term of service required by the mission. At the same timea naval expedition was fitted out to explore the northern seas, andascertain the limits of the Russian empire. But the greatest work ofCatharine's reign was the completion of the canal which united thewaters of the Volga and the Neva, and thus established an inlandnavigation through all the countries which lie between the Caspian Seaand the Baltic. 

In the year 1786 the empress announced her intention of making amagnificent journey to the Crimea, in order to be crowned sovereign ofher new conquests. This design was to be executed in the highest styleof oriental pomp, as the empress was resolved to extend her sway overall the nations of the Tartars. But the Tartars of those unmeasuredrealms, informed of the contemplated movement, were alarmed, andimmediately combined their energies for a determined resistance. TheGrand Seignior was also goaded to the most desperate exertions, forthe empress had formed the design, and the report was universallypromulgated, of placing her second grandchild, Constantine, on thethrone of Constantinople. 

The empress set out on her triumphal journey to the Crimea, on the18th of January, 1787, accompanied by a magnificent suite. Thesledges, large, commodious and so lined with furs as to furnishluxurious couches for repose, traveled night and day. Relays ofhorses were collected at all the stations and immense bonfires blazedat night all along the road. Twenty-one days were occupied in thejourney to Kief, where the empress was met by all the nobles of thatportion of the empire. Here fifty magnificent galleys, upon the ice ofthe Dnieper, awaited the arrival of the empress and the opening of theriver. On the 6th of May the ice was gone, the barges were afloat, andthe empress with her suite embarked. The King of Poland, who had nowassumed his old name of Count Poniatowski, here met, in the barge ofthe empress, his rival, Stanislaus Augustus. 

The passage down the river, in this lovely month of spring, was like afairy scene. The banks of the Dnieper were lined with villagesconstructed for the occasion. Peasants, in the most picturesquecostumes, tended their flocks, or attended to various industrial artsas the flotilla drifted by. The Emperor of Germany, Joseph II. , metthe empress at Kaidak, from whence they proceeded together, by land, to Kherson. Here Catharine lodged in a palace where a throne had beenerected for the occasion which cost fourteen thousand dollars. Thewhole expense of this one journey exceeded seven millions of dollars. From Kherson the empress proceeded to the inland part of the Crimeanpeninsula. Her body guard consisted of an army of one hundred andfifty thousand men, stationed at but a short distance from her. Theentertainments in the Crimea were of the most gorgeous character, andwere arranged without any regard to expense. On the return of theempress she reached St. Petersburg the end of July, having been absentsix months and four days. All Europe was surprised at the supinenesswhich the sultan had manifested in allowing Catharine to prosecute herjourney unobstructed; but Turkey was not then prepared for thecommencement of hostilities. 

A squadron of thirty ships of war soon sailed from Constantinople andentered the Euxine. The Turks were apprehensive that the Greeks mightrise and disarmed them all before commencing the campaign. The empresshad equipped, at Azof and Kherson, eight ships of the line, twelvefrigates, and two hundred gun-boats. She had, in addition, a largesquadron at Cronstadt, ready to sail for the Mediterranean. Eightythousand soldiers were also on the march from Germany to Moldavia. Every thing indicated that the entire overthrow of the Ottoman empirewas at hand. 

The thunders of battle soon commenced on the sea and on the land. Bothparties fought with desperation. Russia and Austria endeavored tounite France with them, in the attempt to dismember the Turkish empireas Poland had been partitioned, but France now stood in dread of thegigantic growth both of Russia and of Austria, and was by no meansdisposed to strengthen those powers. England was also secretly aidingthe Turks and sending them supplies. Influenced by the same jealousyagainst Russia, Sweden ventured to enter into an alliance with theTurks, while Prussia, from the same motive, secretly lent GustavusIII. Money, and England sent him a fleet. Thus, all of a sudden, newand appalling dangers blazed upon Russia. So many troops had been sentto the Crimea that Catharine was quite unprepared for an attack fromthe Swedish frontier. 

The Grand Duke Paul begged permission of his mother that he might jointhe army against the Turks. The empress refused her consent. 

"My intention, " wrote again the grand duke, "of going to fight againstthe Ottomans is publicly known. What will Europe say, in seeing that Ido not carry it into effect?"

"Europe will say, " Catharine replied, "that the grand duke of Russiais a dutiful son. "

The appearance of the powerful Swedish fleet in the Baltic rendered itnecessary for Catharine to recall the order for the squadron atCronstadt to sail for the Mediterranean. The roar of artillery nowreverberated alike along the shores of the Baltic and over the wavesof the Euxine. Denmark and Norway were brought into the conflict, andall Europe was again the theater of intrigues and battles. It would bea weary story to relate the numerous conflicts, defeats and victorieswhich ensued. Famine and pestilence desolated the regions where theTurkish and Russian armies were struggling. Army after army wasdestroyed until men began to grow scarce in the Russian empire. Eventhe wilds of Siberia were ransacked for exiles, and many of them werebrought back to replenish the armies of the empress. At length, aftera warfare of two years, with about equal success on both sides, Catharine and Gustavus came to terms, both equally glad to escape theblows which each gave the other. This peace enabled Russia toconcentrate her energies upon Turkey. 

The Turks now fell like grass before the scythe. But the Russiangenerals and soldiers were often as brutal as demons. NominalChristianity was no more merciful than was paganism. Count Potemkin, the leader of the Russian army, was one of the worst specimens of theold aristocracy, which now, in many parts of Europe, have gone downinto a grave whence, it is to be hoped, there can be no resurrection. The Turkish town of Ismael was taken in September, 1790, afterenormous slaughter. The French Revolution was at this time in rapidprogress, and several Frenchmen were in the Russian army. To one ofthese, Colonel Langeron, Potemkin said, "Colonel, your countrymen are a pack of madmen. I would require onlymy grooms to stand by me, and we should soon bring them to theirsenses. "

Langeron replied, "Prince, I do not think you would be able to do itwith all your army!"

These words so exasperated the Russian general that he rose in a rage, and threatened to send Langeron to Siberia. Conscious of his peril theFrench colonel fled, and entered into the service of the Austrians. 

Emissaries of Catharine were sent through all the Greek isles, tourge the Greeks to rise against the enemies of the cross and restoretheir country to independence. Many of the Greeks rose, andConstantinople was in consternation. A Grecian embassage waited uponCatharine, imploring her aid for the enfranchisement of their country, and that she would give them her grandson Constantine for a sovereign. On the 20th of February, 1790, Joseph II. , Emperor of Austria, died, and was succeeded by Leopold II. , who, yielding to the influence ofPrussia, concluded a separate peace with the Porte, and left Catharineto contend alone with the Ottomans. The empress now saw that, notwithstanding her victories, Russia was exhausted, and that shecould not hope for the immediate accomplishment of her ambitiousprojects, and she became desirous of peace. Through the mediation ofEngland terms of peace were proposed, and acceded to in January, 1792. In this war it is estimated that Russia lost two hundred thousand men, Austria one hundred and thirty thousand, and Turkey three hundred andthirty thousand. Russia expended in this war, beneficial to none andruinous alike to all, two hundred millions of dollars. 

The empress, thwarted in her designs upon Turkey, now turned toPoland. War was soon declared, and her armies were soon sweeping overthat ill-fated territory. Kosciusko fought like a hero for hiscountry, but his troops were mercilessly butchered by Russian andPrussian armies. In triumph the allies entered the gory streets ofWarsaw, sent the king, Stanislaus Augustus, to exile on a smallpension, and divided the remainder of Poland between them. Catharinenow entered into the coalition of the European powers againstrepublican France. She consented to a treaty with England and Austria, by which she engaged to furnish an army of eighty thousand men tocrush the spirit of French liberty, on condition that those two powersshould consent to her driving Turks out of Europe. Catharine washighly elated with this treaty. It was drawn up and was to be signedon the 6th of November, 1796. 

On the morning of that day the empress, in her usual health andspirits, rose from the breakfast table, and retired to her closet. Notreturning as soon as usual, some of her attendants entered and foundher on the floor senseless. She had fallen in a fit of apoplexy, anddied at ten o'clock in the evening of the next day without regainingconsciousness or uttering a word, in the sixty-seventh year of herage, and after a reign of thirty-five years. 

Paul, who was at his country palace, being informed of his mother'sdeath, and of his accession to the throne, hastened to St. Petersburg. He ordered the tomb of Peter III. To be opened and placed the coffinby the side of that of the empress, with a true love knot reachingfrom one to the other, containing the inscription, under thecircumstances supremely ridiculous, "divided in life--united indeath. " They were both buried together with the most sumptuous funeralhonors. 

The character of Catharine II. Is sufficiently portrayed in hermarvelous history. The annals of past ages may be searched in vain forher parallel. Two passions were ever predominant with her, love andambition. Her mind seemed incapable of exhaustion, and notwithstandingthe number of her successive favorites, with whom she entered into themost guilty connections, no monarch ever reigned with more dignity orwith a more undisputed sway. Under her reign, notwithstanding thedesolating wars, Russia made rapid advances in power and civilization. She protected commerce, excited industry, cultivated the arts, encouraged learning, promoted manufactures, founded cities, dugcanals, and developed in a thousand ways the wealth and resources ofthe country. She had so many vices that some have consigned her nameto infamy, and so many virtues, that others have advocated hercanonization. 

By the most careful calculation it is estimated that during thethirty five years of the reign of Catharine, she added over fourhundred thousand square miles to the territory of Russia, and sixmillions of inhabitants. It would be difficult to estimate themultitude of lives and the amount of treasure expended in herambitious wars. We know of no more affecting comment to be made uponthe history of our world, than that it presents such a bloody tragedy, that even the career of Catharine does not stand out in any peculiarprominence of atrocity. God made man but little lower than the angels. He is indeed fallen. 

CHAPTER XXVIII. 

THE REIGN OF PAUL I. 

From 1796 to 1801. 

Accession of Paul I. To the Throne. --Influence of the HereditaryTransmission of Power. --Extravagance of Paul. --His Despotism. --TheHorse Court Martialed. --Progress of the French Revolution. --Fears andViolence of Paul I. --Hostility to Foreigners. --Russia Joins theCoalition against France. --March of Suwarrow. --Character ofSuwarrow. --Battle on the Adda. --Battle of Novi. --Suwarrow Marches tothe Rhine. --His Defeat and Death. --Paul Abandons the Coalition andJoins France. --Conspiracies at St. Petersburg. 

Few sovereigns have ever ascended the throne more ignorant of affairsof state than was Paul I. Catharine had endeavored to protract hischildhood, entrusting him with no responsibilities, and regulatingherself minutely all his domestic and private concerns. He wascarefully excluded from any participation in national affairs and wasnot permitted to superintend even his own household. Catharine tookhis children under her own protection as soon as they were born, andthe parents were seldom allowed to see them. Paul I. Had experienced, in his own person, all the burden of despotism ere he ascendedRussia's despotic throne. Naturally desirous to secure popularity, hecommenced his reign with acts which were much applauded. He introducedeconomy into the expenditures of the court, forbade the depreciationof the currency and the further issue of paper money, and withdrew thearmy which Catharine had sent to Persia on a career of conquest. 

Paul I. Did not love his mother. He did not believe that he was herlegitimate child. Still, as his only title to the throne was foundedon his being the reputed child of Peter III. , he did what he could torescue the memory of that prince from the infamy to which it had beenvery properly consigned. He had felt so humiliated by the domineeringspirit of Catharine, that he resolved that Russia should not againfall under the reign of a woman, and issued a decree that henceforththe crown should descend in the male line only, and from father toson. The new emperor manifested his hostility to his mother, byendeavoring in various ways to undo what she had done. 

The history of Europe is but a continued comment upon the folly of thelaw of the hereditary descent of power, a law which is more likely toplace the crown upon the brow of a knave, a fool or a madman, thanupon that of one qualified to govern. Russia soon awoke to theconsciousness that the destinies of thirty millions of people were inthe hands of a maniac, whose conduct seemed to prove that his onlyproper place was in one of the wards of Bedlam. The grossestcontradictions followed each other in constant succession. Today hewould caress his wife, to-morrow place her under military arrest. Atone hour he would load his children with favors, and the next endeavorto expose them publicly to shame. 

Though Paul severely blamed his mother for the vast sums she lavishedupon her court, these complaints did not prevent him from surpassingher in extravagance. The innumerable palaces she had reared andembellished with more than oriental splendor, were not sufficient forhim. Neither the Winter palace, nor the Summer palace, nor the palaceof Anitschkoff, nor the Marble palace, nor the Hermitage, whosefairy-like gorgeousness amazed all beholders, nor a crowd of otherroyal residences, too numerous to mention, and nearly allworld-renowned, were deemed worthy of the residence of the newmonarch. Pretending that he had received a celestial injunction toconstruct a new palace, he built, reckless of expense, the chateau ofSt. Michael. 

The crown of Catharine was the wonder of Europe, but it was not richenough for the brow of Paul. A new one was constructed, and hiscoronation at Moscow was attended with freaks of expenditure whichimpoverished provinces. Boundless gifts were lavished upon hisfavorites. But that he might enrich a single noble, ten thousandpeasants were robbed. The crown peasants were vassals, enjoying veryconsiderable freedom and many privileges. The peasantry of the nobleswere slaves, nearly as much so as those on a Cuban plantation, withthe single exception that custom prevented their being sold exceptwith the land. Like the buildings, the oaks and the elms, they wereinseparably attached to the soil. The emperor, at his coronation, gaveaway eighty thousand families to his favorites. Their laborhenceforth, for life, was all to go to enrich their masters. Thesecourtiers, reveling in boundless luxury, surrendered their slaves tooverseers, whose reputation depended upon extorting as much aspossible from the miserable boors. 

The extravagance of Catharine II. Had rendered it necessary for her totriple the capitation, or, as we should call it, the poll-tax, imposedupon the peasants. Paul now doubled this tax, which his mother hadalready tripled. The King of Prussia had issued a decree that nosubject should fall upon his knees before him, but that every manshould maintain in his presence and in that of the law the dignity ofhumanity. Paul, on the contrary, reëstablished, in all its rigor, theoriental etiquette, which Peter I. And Catharine had allowed to passinto disuse, which required every individual, whether a citizen or astranger, to fall instantly upon his knees whenever the tzar made hisappearance. Thus, when Paul passed along the streets on horseback orin his carriage, every man, woman and child, within sight of the royalcortege, was compelled to kneel, whether in mud or snow, until thecortege had passed. No one was exempted from the rule. Strangers andcitizens, nobles and peasants, were compelled to the degrading homage. Those on horseback or in carriages were required instantly todismount and prostrate themselves before the despot. 

A noble lady who came to St. Petersburg in her carriage, in greathaste, to seek medical aid for her husband, who had been suddenlytaken sick, in her trouble not having recognized the imperial livery, was dragged from her carriage and thrust into prison. Her fourservants, who accompanied her, were seized and sent to the army, although they plead earnestly that, coming from a distance, they wereignorant of the law, the infraction of which was attributed to them asa crime. The unhappy lady, thus separated from her sick husband, andplunged into a dungeon, was so overwhelmed with anguish that she wasthrown into a fever. Reason was dethroned, and she became a hopelessmaniac. The husband died, being deprived of the succor his wife hadattempted to obtain. 

The son of a rich merchant, passing rapidly in his sleigh, muffled infurs, did not perceive the carriage of the emperor which he met, untilit had passed. The police seized him; his sleigh and horses wereconfiscated. He was placed in close confinement for a month, and then, after receiving fifty blows from the terrible knout, was delivered tohis friends a mangled form, barely alive. 

A young lady, by some accident, had not thrown herself upon her kneesquick enough at the appearance of the imperial carriage in the streetsof Moscow. She was an orphan and resided with an aunt. They were bothimprisoned for a month and fed upon bread and water; the young ladyfor failing in respect to the emperor, and the aunt for not havingbetter instructed her niece. How strange is this power of despotism, by which one madman compels forty millions of people to tremble beforehim!

One of the freaks of this crazy prince was to court-martial his horse. The noble steed had tripped beneath his rider. A council was convened, composed of the equerries of the palace. The horse was proved guiltyof failing in respect to his majesty, and was condemned to receivefifty blows from a heavy whip. Paul stood by, as the sentence wasexecuted, counting off the blows. [24]

[Footnote 24: Memoires Secret, tome i. , page 334. ]

Twelve Polish gentlemen were condemned, for being "wanting in respectto his majesty, " to have their noses and ears cut off, and were thensent to perpetual Siberian exile. When any one was admitted to anaudience with the tzar, it was necessary for him to fall upon hisknees so suddenly and heavily that his bones would ring upon the floorlike the butt of a musket. No gentle genuflexion satisfied the tzar. Aprince Gallatin was imprisoned for "kneeling and kissing the emperor'shand too negligently. " This contempt for humanity soon rendered Paulvery unpopular. He well knew that his legitimacy was doubted, and thatif an illegitimate child he had no right whatever to the throne. Heseemed to wish to prove that he was the son of Peter III. By imitatingall the silly and cruel caprices of that most contemptible prince. 

The French Revolution was now in progress, the crushed people of thatkingdom endeavoring to throw off the yoke of intolerable oppression. All the despots in Europe were alarmed lest popular liberty in Franceshould undermine their thrones. None were more alarmed than Paul. Hewas so fearful that democratic ideas might enter his kingdom that heforbade the introduction into his realms of any French journal orpamphlet. All Frenchmen in his kingdom were also ordered immediatelyto depart. All ships arriving were searched and if any French subjectswere on board, men or women, they were not permitted to land, but wereimmediately sent out of the kingdom. Merchants, who had left theirfamilies and their business for a temporary absence, were notpermitted again to set foot in the kingdom. The suffering which thiscruel edict occasioned was very great. 

Day after day new decrees were issued, of ever increasing violence. The tzar became suspicious of all strangers of whatever nation, andendeavored to rear a wall of separation around his whole kingdom whichshould exclude it from all intercourse with other parts of Europe. TheGerman universities were all declared to be tainted with superstition, and all Russians were prohibited, under penalty of the confiscation oftheir estates, from sending their sons to those institutions. Noforeigner, of whatever nation, was allowed to take part in any civilor ecclesiastical service. The young Russians who were already in theGerman universities, were commanded immediately to return to theirhomes. 

Apprehensive that knowledge itself, by whomsoever communicated, mightmake the people restless under their enormous wrongs, Paul suppressednearly all the schools which had been founded by Catharine II. , reserving only a few to communicate instruction in the military art. All books, but those issued under the surveillance of the government, were interdicted. The greatest efforts were made to draw a broad lineof distinction between the people and the nobles, and to place abarrier there which no plebeian could pass. Some one informed Paulthat in France the revolutionists wore the chapeau, or three-corneredhat, with one of the corners in front. The tzar immediately issued adecree that in Russia the hat should be worn with the corner behind. 

We have said that Paul was bitterly hostile to all foreigners. Theemigrants, however, who fled from France, with arms in their hands, imploring the courts of Europe to crush republican liberty in France, he welcomed with the greatest cordiality and loaded with favors. Theprinces and nobles of the French court received from Paul largepensions, while, at the same time, he ignobly made them feel that hewas their master and they were his slaves. His dread of French libertywas so great, that with all his soul he entered into the wide-spreadEuropean coalition which the genius of Pitt had organized againstFrance, and which embraced even Turkey. And now for the first time thespectacle was seen of the Russian and Turkish squadrons combiningagainst a common foe. Paul sent an army of one hundred thousand men tocoöperate with the allies. Republican France gathered up her energiesto resist Europe in arms. The young Napoleon, heading a heroic band ofhalf-famished soldiers, turned the Alps and fell like a thunderboltinto the Austrian camp upon the plains of Italy. In a series ofvictories which astounded the world he swept the foe before him, andcompelled the Austrians to sue for peace. The embassadors of Franceand Germany met at Rastadt, in congress, and after spending manymonths in negotiations, the congress was dissolved by the Emperor ofGermany, in April, 1799. The French embassadors set out to return, andwere less than a quarter of a mile from the city, when a troop ofAustrian hussars fell upon them, and two of their number, Roberjeotand Bonnier, were treacherously assassinated. The third, Delry, thoughleft for dead, revived so far as to be able, covered with wounds andblood, to crawl back to Rastadt. [25]

[Footnote 25: "Our plenipotentiaries were massacred at Rastadt, andnotwithstanding the indignation expressed by all France at thatatrocity, vengeance was still very tardy in overtaking the assassins. The two Councils were the first to render a melancholy tribute ofhonor to the victims. Who that saw that ceremony ever forgot itssolemnity? Who can recollect without emotion the religious silencewhich reigned throughout the hall and galleries when the vote was put?The president then turned towards the curule chairs of the victims, onwhich lay the official costume of the assassinated representatives, covered with black crape, bent over them, pronounced the names ofRoberjeot and Bonnier, and added, in a voice, the tone of which wasalways thrilling, _Assassinated at the Congress of Rastadt_. Immediately all the representatives responded, _May their blood beupon the heads of their murderers_. "--_Duchess of Abrantes_, p. 206. ]

Napoleon was at this time in Egypt, endeavoring to assail England, themost formidable foe of France, in India, the only vulnerable pointwhich could be reached. Fifty thousand Russians, in a single band, were marching through Germany to coöperate with the Austrians on theFrench frontiers. The more polished Germans were astonished at thebarbaric character of their allies. A Russian officer, in a freak ofpassion, shot an Austrian postilion, and then took out his purse andenquired of the employer of the postilion what damage was to be paid, as coolly as if he had merely killed a horse or a cow. Even German lawwas compelled to wink at such outrages, for an ally so essential asRussia it was needful to conciliate at all hazards. Paul deemedhimself the most illustrious monarch of Europe, and resolved that nonebut a Russian general should lead the allied armies. The Germans, onthe contrary, regarded the Russians as barbarians of wolfish courageand gigantic strength, but far too ignorant of military science to beentrusted with the plan of a campaign. After much contention theEmperor of Austria was compelled to yield, and an old Russian general, Suwarrow, was placed in command of the armies of the two most powerfulempires then on the globe. 

And who was Suwarrow? Behold his portrait. Born in a village of theUkraine, the boy was sent by his father, an army officer, to themilitary academy at St. Petersburg, whence he entered the army as acommon soldier, and ever after, for more than sixty years, he lived inincessant battles in Sweden, Turkey, Poland. In the storm of Ismael, forty thousand men, women and, children fell in indiscriminatemassacre at his command. In the campaign which resulted in thepartition of Poland, twenty thousand Poles were cut down by hisdragoons. A stranger to fear, grossly illiterate, and with no humansympathies, he appears on the arena but as a thunderbolt of war. Nextto the emperor Paul, he was perhaps the most fantastic man on thecontinent. In a war with the Turks he killed a large number with hisown hands, and brought, on his shoulders, a sackful of heads, which herolled out at the feet of his general. This was the commencement ofhis reputation. [26] His whole military career was in accordance withthis act. He had but one passion, love of war. He would often, even inmid-winter, have one or two pailsful of cold water poured upon him, as he rose from his bed, and then, in his shirt, leap upon anunsaddled horse and scour the camp with the speed of the wind. Sometimes he would appear, in the early morning, at the door of histent, stark naked, and crow like a cock. This was a signal for thetented host to spring to arms. Occasionally he would visit thehospital, pretending that he was a physician, and would prescribemedicine for those whom he thought sick, and scourgings for those whomhe imagined to be feigning sickness. Sometimes he would turn all thepatients out of the doors, sick and well, saying that it was notpermitted for the soldiers of Suwarrow to be sick. He was as mercilessto himself as he was to his soldiers. Hunger, cold, fatigue, seemed tohim to be pleasures. Hardships which to many would render life a sceneof insupportable torture, were to him joys. He usually traveled in acoarse cart, which he made his home, sleeping in it at night, with butthe slightest protection from the weather. Whenever he lodged in ahouse, his _aides_ took the precaution to remove the windows from hisroom, as he would otherwise inevitably smash every glass. 

[Footnote 26: Histoire Philosophique et Politique de Russie. Tomecinquième, p. 233. ]

Notwithstanding this ostentatious display of his hatred of all luxury, he was excessively fond of diamonds and other precious stones. He wasalso exceedingly superstitious, ever falling upon his knees beforewhatever priest he might meet, and imploring his benediction. Such mengenerally feel that the observance of ceremonial rites absolves themfrom the guilt of social crimes. With these democratic mannersSuwarrow utterly detested liberty. The French, as the mostliberty-loving people of Europe, he abhorred above all others. Hefoamed with rage when he spoke of them. In the sham fights with whichhe frequently exercised the army, when he gave the order to "_chargethe miserable French_, " every soldier was to make two thrusts of thebayonet in advance, as if twice to pierce the heart of the foe, and athird thrust into the ground, that the man, twice bayoneted, might bepinned in death to the earth. Such was the general whom Paul sent "todestroy the impious government, " as he expressed it, "which dominatedover France. "

With blind confidence Suwarrow marched down upon the plains ofLombardy, dreaming that in those fertile realms nothing awaited himbut an easy triumph over those who had been guilty of the crime ofabolishing despotism. The French had heard appalling rumors of theprowess and ferocity of these warriors of the North, and awaited theshock with no little solicitude. [27] The two armies met on the banksof the Adda, which flows into the northern part of the Lake of Como. Suwarrow led sixty thousand Russians and Austrians. The Frenchgeneral, Moreau, to oppose them, had the wreck of an army, consistingof twenty-five thousand men, disheartened by defeat. On the 17th ofApril, 1799, the first Russian regiment appeared in sight of thebridge of Lecco. The French, indignant at the interference of theRussians in a quarrel with which they had no concern, dashed upon themwith their bayonets, and repulsed them with great carnage. But thehosts of Russia and Austria came pouring on in such overwhelmingnumbers, that Moreau, with his forces reduced to twenty thousand men, was compelled to retreat before an army which could concentrate ninetythousand troops in line of battle. Pressed by the enemy, he retreatedthrough Milan to Turin. Suwarrow tarried in Milan to enjoy a triumphaccorded to him by the priests and the nobles, the creatures ofAustria. 

[Footnote 27: "Suwarrow was a genuine barbarian, fortunatelyincapable of calculating the employment of his forces, otherwise therepublic might perhaps have succumbed. His army was like himself. Ithad a bravery that was extraordinary and bordered on fanaticism, butno instruction. It was expert only at the use of the bayonet. Suwarrow, extremely insolent to the allies, gave Russian officersto the Austrians to teach them the use of the bayonet. Fortunatelyhis brutal energy, after doing a great deal of mischief, had toencounter the energy of skill and calculation, and was foiled by thelatter. "--_Thiers' History French Revolution_, vol. Iv. , p. 346. ]

Moreau entrenched himself at Alexandria, awaiting the arrival ofGeneral Macdonald with reinforcements. Suwarrow approached with anarmy now exceeding one hundred thousand men. Again Moreau wascompelled to retreat, pursued by Suwarrow, and took refuge on thecrest of the Apennines, in the vicinity of Genoa. By immense exertionshe had assembled forty thousand men. Suwarrow came thundering upon himwith sixty thousand. The French army was formed in a semicircle on theslopes of the Monte Rotundo, about twenty miles north of Genoa. TheAustro-Russian army spread over the whole plain below. At five o'clockin the morning of the 15th of August, 1799, the fierce battle of Novicommenced. Suwarrow, a fierce fighter, but totally unacquainted withthe science of strategy, in characteristic words gave the order ofbattle. "Kray, " said he, "will attack the left--the Russians thecenter--Melas the right. " To the soldiers he said, "God wills, theemperor orders, Suwarrow commands, that to-morrow the enemy beconquered. " Dressed in his usual costume, in his shirt down to thewaist, he led his troops into battle. Enormous slaughter ensued;numbers prevailing against science, and the French, driven out ofItaly, took refuge along the ridges of the Apennines. 

Suwarrow, satisfied with his dearly-bought victory, for he had lostten thousand men in the conflict, did not venture to pursue theretiring foe, but with his bleeding and exhausted army fell back toConi; and thence established garrisons throughout Piedmont andLombardy. Paul was almost delirious with joy at this great victory. Heissued a decree declaring Suwarrow to be the greatest general "of alltimes, of all peoples and of all quarters of the globe. " In his pridehe declared that republican France, for the crime of rebelling againstlegitimate authority, should receive punishment which should warn allnations against following her example. The Russian squadron combinedwith that of the Turks, formed a junction with the victorious fleet ofNelson, and sailing from the bay of Aboukir, swept the French fleetfrom the Mediterranean. 

The Austrians and Russians, thus victorious, now marched to assailMassena at Zurich on the Rhine, intending there to cross the streamand invade France. For a month, in September and October, 1799, therewas a series of incessant battles. But the republican armies weretriumphant. The banners of France struggled proudly through manyscenes of blood and woe, and the shores of Lake Zurich and thefastnesses of the Alps, were strewed with the dead bodies of theRussians. In fourteen days twenty thousand Russians and six thousandAustrians were slain. Suwarrow, the intrepid barbarian, with but tenthousand men saved from his proud army, retreated overwhelmed withconfusion and rage. Republican France was saved. The rage whichSuwarrow displayed is represented as truly maniacal. He foamed at themouth and roared like a bull. As a wounded lion turns upon hispursuers, from time to time he stopped in his retreat, and rushed backupon the foe. He was crushed in body and mind by this defeat. Havingwearied himself in denouncing, in unmeasured terms, all his generalsand soldiers, he became taciturn and moody. Secluding himself from hisfellow-men he courted solitude, and surrendered himself to a fantasticand superstitious devotion. Enveloped in a cloak, and with his eyesfixed upon the ground, he would occasionally pass through the camp, condescending to notice no one. 

Paul had also sent an army into Holland, against France, which hadbeen utterly repulsed by General Brune, with the loss of many slainand taken prisoners. The tidings of these disasters roused, in thebosom of Paul, fury equal to that which Suwarrow had displayed. Hebitterly cursed his allies, England and Austria, declaring that they, in the pursuit of their own selfish interests, had abandoned hisarmies to destruction. Suwarrow, deprived of further command, andoverwhelmed with disgrace, retired to one of his rural retreats wherehe soon died of chagrin. 

The Austrian and English embassadors at the court of St. Petersburg, Paul loaded with reproaches and even with insults. His conduct becameso whimsical as to lead many to suppose that he was actually insane. He had long hated the French republicans, but now, with a new and afresher fury, he hated the allies. The wrecks of his armies wereordered to return to Russia, and he ceased to take an active part inthe prosecution of the war, without however professing, in any way, towithdraw from the coalition. Neither the Austrian nor the Englishembassador could obtain an audience with the emperor. He treated themwith utter neglect, and, the court following the example of thesovereign, these embassadors were left in perfect solitude. They couldnot even secure an audience with any of the ministry. 

Paul had been very justly called the Don Quixote of the coalition, andthe other powers were now not a little apprehensive of the course hemight adopt, for madman as he was, he was the powerful monarch of someforty millions of people. Soon he ordered the Russian fleet, which incoöperation with the squadrons of the allies was blockading Malta, towithdraw from the conflict. Then he recalled his ministers from Londonand Vienna, declaring that neither England nor Austria was contendingfor any principle, but that they were fighting merely for their ownselfish interests. England had already openly declared her intentionof appropriating Malta to herself. 

Napoleon had now returned from Egypt and had been invested with thesupreme power in France as First Consul. There were many Frenchprisoners in the hands of the allies. France had also ten thousandRussian prisoners. Napoleon proposed an exchange. Both England andAustria refused to exchange French prisoners for Russians. 

"What, " exclaimed Napoleon, "do you refuse to liberate the Russians, who were your allies, who were fighting in your ranks and under yourcommanders? Do you refuse to restore to their country those men towhom you are indebted for your victories and conquests in Italy, andwho have left in your hands a multitude of French prisoners whom theyhave taken? Such injustice excites my indignation. "

With characteristic magnanimity he added, "I will restore them to thetzar without exchange. He shall see how I esteem brave men. "

These Russian prisoners were assembled at Aix la Chapelle. They wereall furnished with a complete suit of new clothing, in the uniform oftheir own regiments, and were thoroughly supplied with weapons of thebest French manufacture. And thus they were returned to their homes. Paul was exactly in that mood of mind which best enabled him toappreciate such a deed. He at once abandoned the alliance, and withhis own hand wrote to Napoleon as follows:

"Citizen First Consul, --I do not write to you to discuss the rights ofmen or of citizens. Every country governs itself as it pleases. Whenever I see, at the head of a nation, a man who knows how to ruleand how to fight, my heart is attracted towards him. I write toacquaint you with my dissatisfaction with England, who violates everyarticle of the law of nations and has no guide but her egotism and herinterest. I wish to unite with you to put an end to the unjustproceedings of that government. "

Friendly relations were immediately established between France andRussia, and they exchanged embassadors. Paul had conferred an annualpension of two hundred thousand rubles (about $150, 000) upon the Countof Provence, subsequently Louis XVIII. , and had given him an asylum atMittau. He now withdrew that pension and protection. He induced theKing of Denmark to forbid the English fleet from passing the Sound, which led into the Baltic Sea, engaging, should the English attempt toforce the passage, to send a fleet of twenty-one ships to assist theDanes. The battle of Hohenlinden and the peace of Luneville detachedAustria from the coalition, and England was left to struggle aloneagainst the new opinions in France. 

The nobles of Russia, harmonizing with the aristocracy of Europe, were quite dissatisfied with this alliance between Russia and France. Though the form of the republic was changed to that of the consulate, they saw that the principles of popular liberty remained unchanged inFrance. The wife of Paul and her children, victims of the inexplicablecaprice of the tzar, lived in constant constraint and fear. Theempress had three sons--Alexander, Constantine and Nicholas. The heirapparent, Alexander, was watched with the most rigorous scrutiny, andwas exposed to a thousand mortifications. The suspicious father becamethe jailer of his son, examining all his correspondence, andsuperintending his mode of life in its minutest details. The mostwhimsical and annoying orders were issued, which rendered life, in thevicinity of the court, almost a burden. The army officers wereforbidden to attend evening parties lest they should be too weary formorning parade. Every one who passed the imperial palace, even in themost inclement weather, was compelled to go with head uncovered. Theenforcement of his arbitrary measures rendered the intervention of thetroops often necessary. The palace was so fortified and guarded as toresemble a prison. St. Petersburg, filled with the machinery of war, presented the aspect of a city besieged. Every one was exposed toarrest. No one was sure of passing the night in tranquillity, therewere so many domiciliary visits; and many persons, silently arrested, disappeared without it ever being known what became of them. Spiesmoved about everywhere, and their number was infinite. Paul thusenlisted against himself the animosity of all classes of hissubjects--his own family, foreigners, the court, the nobles and thebourgeois. Such were the influences which originated the conspiracywhich resulted in the assassination of the tzar. 

CHAPTER XXIX. 

ASSASSINATION OF PAUL AND ACCESSION OF ALEXANDER. 

From 1801 to 1807. 

Assassination of Paul I. --Implication of Alexander in theConspiracy. --Anecdotes. --Accession of Alexander. --The FrenchRevolution. --Alexander Joins Allies Against France. --State ofRussia. --Useful Measures of Alexander. --Peace of Amiens. --Renewal ofHostilities. --Battle of Austerlitz. --Magnanimity of Napoleon. --NewCoalition. --Ambition of Alexander. --Battles of Jena and Eylau. --Defeatof the Russians. 

We have before mentioned that Paul I. Had three sons--Alexander, Constantine and Nicholas. The eldest of these, Alexander, was a verypromising young man, of popular character, twenty-three years of age. His father feared his popularity and treated him with the greatestseverity, and was now threatening him and his mother withimprisonment. General Pahlen, governor of St. Petersburg, obtained theconfidence of the young prince, and urged upon him, as a necessarymeasure of self-defense, that he should place himself at the head of aconspiracy for the dethronement of his insane father. The sufferingsof the young prince were so severe and his perils so great, and thedesire for a change so universal throughout the empire, that it wasnot found difficult to enlist him in the enterprise. Alexanderconsented to the dethronement of his father, but with the expresscondition that his life should be spared. He might perhaps haveflattered himself with the belief that this could be done; but theconspirators knew full well that the dagger of the assassin was theonly instrument which could remove Paul from the throne. Theconspiracy was very extensive, embracing nearly all the functionariesof the government at St. Petersburg, the entire senate, and thediplomatic corps. All the principal officers of the royal guard, withtheir colonel at their head, were included in the plot. The hour forthe execution of the conspiracy was fixed for the night of the 23d ofMarch, 1801. 

A regiment devoted to the conspirators was that night on guard at thepalace. The confederates who were to execute the plot, composed of themost distinguished men in the court and the army, met at the house ofPrince Talitzin ostensibly for a supper. With wine and wassail theynerved themselves for the desperate deed. Just at midnight a selectnumber entered the garden of the palace, by a private gate, andstealing silently along, beneath the trees, approached a portal whichwas left unbarred and undefended. One of the guardians of the palaceled their steps and conducted them to an apartment adjoining that inwhich the tzar slept. A single hussar guarded the door. He wasinstantly struck down, and the conspirators in a body rushed into theroyal chamber. 

Paul sprang from his bed, and seizing his sword, endeavored to escapeby another door than that through which the conspirators entered. Foiled in this attempt, in the darkness, for all lights had beenextinguished, he hid himself behind a movable screen. He was howeversoon seized, lights were brought in, and an act of abdication was readto him which he was required to sign. The intrepid tzar sprang atZoubow, who was reading the act, and cuffed his ears. A struggleimmediately ensued, and an officer's sash was passed around the neckof the monarch, and after a desperate resistance he was strangled. Thedress of one of the conspirators caused him to be mistaken, by theemperor, for his son Constantine, and the last words which thewretched sovereign uttered were, "And you too, Constantine. "

The two grand dukes, Alexander and Constantine, were in the roombelow, and heard all the noise of the struggle in which their fatherwas assassinated. It was with much difficulty that these young princeswere induced to give their consent to the conspiracy, and theyyielded only on condition that their father's life should be spared. But self-defense required some vigorous action on their part, for Paulhad threatened to send Alexander to Siberia, to immure Constantine ina convent, and the empress mother in a cloister. 

The conspirators having accomplished the deed, descended into theapartment, where the grand dukes were awaiting their return. Alexanderenquired eagerly if they had saved his father's life. The silence ofthe conspirators told the melancholy tale. The grief manifested byboth Alexander and Constantine was apparently sincere and intense. Inpassionate exclamations they gave vent to sorrow and remorse. ButPahlen, the governor, who had led the conspiracy, calm and collected, represented that the interests of the empire demanded a change ofpolicy, that the death of Paul was a fatality, and that nothing nowremained but for Alexander to assume the reins of government. 

"I shall be accused, " exclaimed Alexander bitterly, "of being theassassin of my father. You promised me not to attempt his life. I amthe most unhappy man in the world. "

The dead body of the emperor was placed upon a table, and an Englishphysician, named Wylie, was called in to arrange the features so thatit should appear that he had died of apoplexy. The judgment of theworld has ever been and probably ever will be divided respecting thenature of Alexander's complicity in this murder. Many suppose that hecould not have been ignorant that the death of his father was theinevitable end of the conspiracy, and that he accepted that result asa sad necessity. Certain it is that the conspirators were all rewardedrichly, by being entrusted with the chief offices of the state; andthe new monarch surrounded his throne with counselors whose hands wereimbrued in his father's blood. A lady at St. Petersburg wrote toFouché on the occasion of some ceremony which soon ensued, "The young emperor walked preceded by the assassins of hisgrandfather, followed by those of his father, and surrounded by hisown. "

"Behold, " said Fouché, "a woman who speaks Tacitus. "

At St. Helena, O'Meara enquired of Napoleon if he thought that Paulhad been insane. "Latterly, " Napoleon replied, "I believe that he was. At first he was strongly prejudiced against the Revolution, and everyperson concerned in it; but afterwards I had rendered him reasonable, and had changed his opinions altogether. If Paul had lived the Englishwould have lost India before now. An agreement was made between Pauland myself to invade it. I furnished the plan. I was to have sentthirty thousand good troops. He was to send a similar number of thebest Russian soldiers, and forty thousand Cossacks. I was to subscribeten millions for the purchase of camels and other requisites forcrossing the desert. The King of Prussia was to have been applied toby both of us to grant a passage for my troops through his dominions, which would have been immediately granted. I had, at the same time, made a demand to the King of Persia for a passage through his country, which would also have been granted, although the negotiations were notentirely concluded, but would have succeeded, as the Persians weredesirous of profiting by it themselves. "[28]

[Footnote 28: "Napoleon at St. Helena, " p. 534. ]

On another occasion, speaking upon this same subject, Napoleon said toLas Casas, "Paul had been promised Malta the moment it was takenpossession of by the English. Malta reduced, the English ministersdenied that they had promised it to him. It is confidently statedthat, on the reading of this shameful falsehood, Paul felt soindignant that, seizing the dispatch in full council, he ran his swordthrough it, and ordered it to be sent back, in that condition, by wayof answer. If this be a folly, it must be allowed that it is the follyof a noble soul. It is the indignation of virtue, which was incapableuntil then of suspecting such baseness. 

"At the same time the English ministers, treating with us for theexchange of prisoners, refused to include the Russian prisoners takenin Holland, who were in the actual service and fought for the solecause of the English. I had hit upon the bent of Paul's character. Iseized time by the forelock. I collected these Russians. I clothedthem and sent them back without any expense. From that instant thatgenerous heart was altogether devoted to me, and, as I had no interestin opposition to Russia, and should never have spoken or acted butwith justice, there is no doubt that I should have been enabled, forthe future, to dispose of the cabinet of St. Petersburg. Our enemieswere sensible of the danger, and it has been thought that thisgood-will of Paul proved fatal to him, It might well have been thecase, for there are cabinets with whom nothing is sacred. "

The death of Paul brought the enemies of France and the friends ofEngland into power at St. Petersburg. The new emperor, the first dayafter his accession to the throne, issued a proclamation declaring hisintention to follow in the footsteps of his grandmother, Catharine. Heliberated all the English sailors whom Paul had taken from the shipslaid under sequestration. All the decrees against the free importationof English merchandise were abolished; and the young emperor soonwrote, with his own hand, a letter to the King of England, expressinghis earnest desire again to establish friendly relations between thecourts of Russia and England. This declaration was received in Londonwith shouts of joy. 

Alexander was twenty-three years of age when he ascended the throne. ASwiss, by the name of Laharpe, a man of great intelligence and loftyspirit, and a republican in principle, had been for many years theprominent tutor of the young prince, and had obtained a great controlover his mind. The instructions of Laharpe, who wished to make aWashington of his pupil, were much counteracted by the despoticlessons he had received from Catharine, and by the luxury, servilityand corruption which crowded the Russian court. Naturally amiable, and possessed of by no means a strong character, the young monarch waseasily moulded by the influences which surrounded him. He evidentlycommenced his reign with the best intentions, resolved, in every way, to promote the prosperity of his subjects. It is painful to observethe almost inevitable tendency of power to deprave the soul. Historyis filled with the records of those sovereigns who have fallen fromvirtue to vice. 

The commencement of the reign of Alexander was hailed with generaljoy. All his first proclamations breathe the spirit of benevolence, ofgenerosity, of the desire to ameliorate the condition of the oppressedmillions. The ridiculous ordinances which Paul had issued werepromptly abrogated. By a special edict all Russians were permitted todress as they pleased, to wear twilled waistcoats and pantaloons, instead of short clothes, if they preferred them. They were permittedto wear round hats, to lead dogs with a leash, and to fasten theirshoes with strings instead of buckles. A large number of exiles, whomPaul had sent to Siberia, were recalled, and many of the mostburdensome requirements of etiquette, in the court, were annulled. 

Though Alexander was an absolute monarch, who could issue any decree, subject to no restraint, he conferred upon the senate the power torevise these decrees, and to suggest any amendment; and he alsocreated a legislature who were permitted to advise respecting anyregulations which they might think promotive of the interests of theempire. The will of the emperor was, however, absolute and unchecked. Still the appointment of these deliberative and advising bodies wasconsidered an immense stride towards constitutional freedom. Thecensorship of the press was greatly mitigated, and foreign books andjournals were more freely introduced to the empire. 

Two new ministries were established by Alexander, with extensiveresponsibilities--the Ministry of the Interior, and that of PublicInstruction. All the officers of government were rendered accountableto the senate, and responsible to the sovereign. These elements ofaccountability and of responsibility had hitherto been almost unknownin Russia. Charitable institutions were established, and schools ofdifferent grades, for the instruction of all classes of the people. Ambitious of rendering the Russian court as brilliant in all theappliances of luxury and art as any court in Europe, the emperor wasindefatigable in the collection of paintings, statuary, medals and allartistic curiosities. The contrast thus became very marked between thesemi-barbarism of the provinces and the enlightenment andvoluptuousness of the capital. 

It is worthy of remark that when Alexander ascended the throne theredid not exist in all Russia, not even in St. Petersburg, a singlebook-store. [29] The Russian sovereigns had wished to take fromcivilization only that which would add to their despotic power. Desiring to perpetuate the monopoly of authority, they sought toretain in their own hands the privileges of instruction. The impulsewhich Alexander had given to the cause of education spread throughoutthe empire, and the nobles, in the distant provinces, interestedthemselves in establishing schools. These schools were, however, veryexclusive in their character, admitting none but the children of thenobles. The military schools which Catharine had established, with somuch care, Alexander encouraged and supported with the utmostassiduity. 

[Footnote 29: _Histoire Philosophique et Politique de Russie, Depuisles Temps les Plus Reculés jusqu'au nos Jours. Par J. Esneaux etChenechot. Tome cinquième, p. 293. _]

As Catharine II. Had endeavored to obliterate every trace of thegovernment of her murdered husband, Peter III. , so Alexander strove toefface all vestiges of his assassinated father, Paul. He entered intothe closest alliance with England, and manifested much eagerness inhis desire to gratify all the wishes of the cabinet of St. James. Heeven went so far as to consent to pay a sum of eight hundred thousandrubles ($600, 000), as an indemnity to England for the loss the Englishmerchants had incurred by the embargo placed by Paul upon their ships. Every day the partiality of the young emperor for England became moremanifest. In the meantime Napoleon was unwearied in his endeavors tosecure the good-will of a monarch whose sword would have so importantan influence in settling the quarrel between aristocracy and democracywhich then agitated Europe. Napoleon was so far successful that, onthe 8th of October, 1801, a treaty of friendly alliance was signed atParis between France and Russia. The battle of Marengo had compelledAustria to withdraw from the coalition against France; and the peaceof Luneville, which Napoleon signed with Austria in February, 1801, followed by peace with Spain and Naples in March, with the pope inJuly, with Bavaria in August and with Portugal in September, leftEngland to struggle alone against those republican principles which inthe eyes of aristocratic Europe seemed equally obnoxious whethermoulded under the form of the republic, the consulate or the empire. 

The English cabinet, thus left to struggle alone, was compelled, though very reluctantly, by the murmurs of the British people, toconsent to peace with France; and the treaty of Amiens, which restoredpeace to entire Europe, was signed in March, 1802. A few days afterthis event, peace was signed with Turkey, and thus through thesagacity and energy of Napoleon, every hostile sword was sheathed inEurope and on the confines of Asia. But the treaty of Amiens was asore humiliation to the cabinet of St. James, and hardly a year hadelapsed ere the British government, in May, 1803, again drew thesword, and all Europe was again involved in war. It was a war, saidWilliam Pitt truly, "of armed opinions. "

The Russian embassador at Paris, M. Marcow, who under Catharine II. Had shown himself bitterly hostile to the French republic, wasdeclared to be guilty of entering into intrigues to assist theEnglish, now making war upon France, and he was ordered immediately toleave the kingdom. Alexander did not resent this act, so obviouslyproper, but rewarded the dismissed minister with an annual pension oftwelve thousand rubles ($9, 000). 

During this short interval of peace Alexander was raising an army offive hundred thousand men, to extend and consolidate his dominions onthe side of Turkey. His frontiers there were dimly defined, and hisauthority but feebly exerted. He pushed his armies into Georgia andtook firm possession of that vast province extending between the BlackSea and the Caspian, and embracing some eighteen thousand squaremiles. At the same time the blasts of his bugles were heardreverberating through the defiles of the Balkan, and his fortresseswere reared and his banners planted there. The monarchs of Russia, formany generations, had fixed a wistful eye upon Constantinople, but noone had coveted the possession of that important city so intensely asnow did Alexander. "Constantinople, " said he often, "is the key of myhouse. "

The arrest of the Duke d'Enghien, in the territory of the Duke ofBaden, and his execution as a traitor for being in arms against hisown country, excited the indignation of Alexander. Napoleon, immediately after the arrest, had made an apology to the Duke of Badenfor the violation of a neutral territory, and this apology wasaccepted by the duke as satisfactory. Nevertheless, Alexander throughhis embassador, sent the following message to the court of the FirstConsul:

"The Emperor Alexander, as mediator and guarantee of the continentalpeace, has notified the States of the German empire that he considersthe action of the First Consul as endangering their safety andindependence, and that he does not doubt that the First Consul willtake prompt measures to reassure those governments by givingsatisfactory explanations. "

Napoleon regarded this interference of Alexander as impertinent, andcaused his minister to reply, "What would Alexander have said if the First Consul had imperiouslydemanded explanations respecting the murder of Paul I. , and hadpretended to constitute himself an avenger? How is it, that when thesovereign of the territory, which it is said has been violated, makesno complaint; when all the princes, his neighbors and his allies, aresilent--how is it that the Emperor of Russia, least of all interestedin the affair, raises his voice alone? Does it not arise fromcomplicity with England, that machinator of conspiracies against thepower and the life of the First Consul? Is not Russia engaged insimilar conspiracies at Rome, at Dresden and at Paris? If Russiadesires war, why does she not frankly say so, instead of endeavoringto secure that end indirectly?"

In May of 1804, Napoleon assumed the imperial title. Alexander, denying the right of the people to elect their own sovereign, refusedto recognize the empire. Hence increasing irritation arose. England, trembling in view of the camp at Boulogne, roused all her energies torally Europe to strike France in the rear. In this effort she wassignally successful. Russia, Sweden, Austria, Turkey and Rome, wereengaged in vigorous coöperation with England against France. Holland, Switzerland and Bavaria ranged themselves on the side of Napoleon. 

On the 8th of September, 1805, the armies of Austria and Russia wereon the march for France, and the Austrian troops, in overwhelmingnumbers, invaded Bavaria. Napoleon was prepared for the blow. The campat Boulogne was broken up, and his troops were instantly on the marchtowards the Rhine. In the marvelous campaign of Ulm the Austrian armywas crushed, almost annihilated, and the victorious battalions ofNapoleon marched resistlessly to Vienna. Alexander, with a vast army, was hurrying forward, by forced marches, to assist his Austrian ally. At Olmutz he met the Emperor of Austria on the retreat with thirtythousand men, the wreck of that magnificent army with which he hadcommenced his march upon France. Here the two armies formed ajunction--seventy thousand Russians receiving into their ranks thirtythousand Austrians. The two emperors, Alexander and Francis, rode atthe head of this formidable force. 

On the 1st of December, Napoleon, leading an army of seventy thousandmen, encountered these, his combined foes, on the plains ofAusterlitz. "To-morrow, " said he, "before nightfall, that army shallbe mine!" A day of carnage, such as war has seldom seen, ensued. Froman eminence the Emperors of Russia and Austria witnessed thedestruction of their hosts. No language can describe the tumult whichpervaded the ranks of the retreating foe. The Russians, wild withdismay, rent the skies with their barbaric shouts, and wreaked theirvengeance upon all the helpless villages they encountered in theirpath. 

Francis, the Emperor of Austria, utterly ruined, sought an interviewwith his conqueror, and implored peace. Napoleon, as ever, wasmagnanimous, and was eager to sheathe the sword which he had onlydrawn in self-defense. Francis endeavored to throw the blame of thewar upon England. 

"The English, " said he, "are a nation of merchants. To secure forthemselves the commerce of the world they are willing to set thecontinent in flames!"

The Austrian monarch, having obtained very favorable terms forhimself, interceded for Alexander. "The Russian army, " Napoleonreplied, "is surrounded. Not a man can escape me. If, however, yourmajesty will promise me that Alexander shall immediately return toRussia, I will stop the advance of my columns. "

The pledge was given, and Napoleon then sent General Savary to thehead-quarters of Alexander, to inquire if he would ratify thearmistice. 

"I am happy to see you, " said the emperor to the envoy. "The occasionhas been very glorious for your arms. That day will take nothing fromthe reputation your master has earned in so many battles. It was myfirst engagement. I confess that the rapidity of his maneuvers gave meno time to succor the menaced points. Everywhere you were at leastdouble the number of our forces. "

"Sire, " Savary replied, "our force was twenty-five thousand less thanyours. And even of that the whole was not very warmly engaged. But wemaneuvered much, and the same division combated at several differentpoints. Therein lies the art of war. The emperor, who has seen fortypitched battles, is never wanting in that particular. He is stillready to march against the Archduke Charles, if your majesty does notaccept the armistice. "

"What guarantee does your master require, " continued Alexander, "andwhat security can I have that your troops will not prosecute theirmovements against me?"

"He asks only your word of honor, " Savary replied. "He has instructedme the moment it is given to suspend the pursuit. "

"I give it with pleasure, " rejoined the emperor, "and should it everbe your fortune to visit St. Petersburg, I hope that I may be able torender my capital agreeable to you. "

Hostilities immediately ceased, and the broken columns of the Russiantroops returned to their homes. The Austro-Russian army, in thedisastrous day of Austerlitz, lost in killed, wounded and prisoners, over forty thousand men. It is stated that Alexander, when flying fromthe bloody field with his discomfited troops, his path being strewedwith the wounded and the dead, posted placards along the route, withthe inscription, "I commend my unfortunate soldiers to the generosity of the EmperorNapoleon!"

Alexander, young and ambitions, was very much chagrined by this utterdiscomfiture. Austerlitz was his first battle; and instead of coveringhim with renown it had overwhelmed him with disgrace. He was anxiousfor an opportunity to wipe away the stain. A new coalition was soonformed against France, consisting of England, Russia, Prussia andSweden. Alexander eagerly entered into this coalition, hoping for anopportunity to acquire that military fame which, in this lost world, has been ever deemed so essential to the reputation of a sovereign. The remonstrance of Napoleon, with Russia, was noble and unanswerable. 

"Why, " said he, "should hostilities arise between France and Russia?Perfectly independent of each other, they are impotent to inflictevil, but all-powerful to communicate benefits. If the Emperor ofFrance exercises a great influence in Italy, the tzar exerts a stillgreater influence over Turkey and Persia. If the cabinet of Russiapretends to have a right to affix limits to the power of France, without doubt it is equally disposed to allow the Emperor of theFrench to prescribe the bounds beyond which Russia is not to pass. Russia has partitioned Poland. Can she then complain that Francepossesses Belgium and the left banks of the Rhine? Russia has seizedupon the Crimea, the Caucasus, and the northern provinces of Persia. Can she deny that the right of self-preservation gives France a rightto demand an equivalent in Europe?

"Let every power begin by restoring the conquests which it has madeduring the last fifty years. Let them reëstablish Poland, restoreVenice to its senate, Trinidad to Spain, Ceylon to Holland, the Crimeato the Porte, the Caucasus and Georgia to Persia, the kingdom ofMysore to the sons of Tippoo Saib, and the Mahratta States to theirlawful owners; and then the other powers may have some title to insistthat France shall retire within her ancient limits. It is the fashionto speak of the ambition of France. Had she chosen to preserve herconquests, the half of Austria, the Venetian States, the States ofHolland and Switzerland and the kingdom of Naples would have been inher possession. The limits of France are, in reality, the Adige andthe Rhine. Has it passed either of these limits? Had it fixed on theSolza and the Drave, it would not have exceeded the bounds of itsconquests. "

In September, 1806, the Prussian army, two hundred thousand strong, commenced their march for the invasion of France. Alexander had alsomarshaled his barbarian legions and was eagerly following, with twohundred thousand of the most highly disciplined Russian troops in histrain. Napoleon contemplated with sorrow the rising of this new stormof war and woe; but with characteristic vigor he prepared to meet it. As he left Paris for the campaign, in a parting message to the senatehe said, "In so just a war, which we have not provoked by any act, by anypretense, the true cause of which it would be impossible to assign, and where we only take arms to defend ourselves, we depend entirelyupon the support of the laws, and upon that of the people whomcircumstances call upon to give fresh proofs of their devotion andcourage. "

In the battle of Jena, which took place on the 14th of October, thePrussian army was nearly annihilated, leaving in a few hours more thanforty thousand men in killed, wounded and prisoners. In less than amonth the conquest of entire Prussia was achieved, and Napoleon waspursuing Frederic William, who, with the wreck of the Prussian armywas hastening to take refuge in the bosom of the Russian hosts whichwere approaching. December had now come with its icy blasts, andNapoleon, leading his victorious troops to the banks of the Vistula, more than a thousand miles from France, established them in winterquarters, waiting until spring for the renewal of the campaign. 

Alexander, terrified by the destruction of his Prussian allies, haltedhis troops upon the other side of the Vistula, and from his vastrealms collected recruits. For a few weeks the storms of wintersecured a tacit armistice. 

In February, 1807, Alexander assumed the offensive and endeavored tosurprise Napoleon in his encampment. But Napoleon was on the alert. Aseries of terrific battles ensued, in which the French were invariablythe victors. The retreating Russians, hotly pursued, at last ralliedon the field of Eylau. Napoleon had already driven them two hundredand forty miles from his encampment on the Vistula. 

"It was the 7th of February, 1807. The night was dark and intenselycold as the Russians, exhausted by the retreat of the day, took theirpositions for the desperate battle of the morrow. There was a gentleswell of land extending two or three miles, which skirted a vast, bleak, unsheltered plain, over which the wintry gale drifted the snow. Upon this ridge the Russians in double lines formed themselves inbattle array. Five hundred pieces of cannon were ranged in battery, tohurl destruction into the bosoms of their foes. They then threwthemselves upon the icy ground for their frigid bivouac. A fiercestorm had already risen, which spread over the sleeping host itsmantle of snow. "

Napoleon came also upon the field, in the darkness of the night and ofthe storm, and placed his army in position for the battle which thedawn would usher in. Two hundred pieces of artillery were planted toreply to the Russian batteries. There were eighty thousand Russians onthe ridge, sixty thousand Frenchmen on the plain, and separated by adistance of less than half a cannon shot. The sentinels of either armycould almost touch each other with their muskets. 

The morning had not yet dawned when the cannonade commenced. The earthshook beneath its roar. A storm of snow at the same time swept overthe plain blinding and smothering assailants and assailed. The smokeof the battle blended with the storm had spread over the contendinghosts a sulphurous canopy black as midnight. Even the flash of theguns could hardly be discerned through the gloom. All the day long, and until ten o'clock at night, the battle raged with undiminishedfury. One half of the Russian army was now destroyed, and theremainder, unable longer to endure the conflict, sullenly retreated. Napoleon remained master of the field, which exhibited such a scene ofmisery as had never before met even his eye. When congratulated uponhis victory by one of his officers he replied sadly, "To a father who loses his children, victory has no charms. When theheart speaks, glory itself is an illusion. "

CHAPTER XXX. 

REIGN OF ALEXANDER I. 

From 1807 to 1825. 

The Field of Eylau. --Letter to the King of Prussia. --Renewal of theWar--Discomfiture of the Allies. --Battle of Friedland. --The Raft atTilsit. --Intimacy of the Emperors. --Alexander's Designs uponTurkey. --Alliance between France and Russia. --Object of theContinental System. --Perplexities of Alexander. --Driven by the Noblesto War. --Results of the Russian Campaign. --Napoleon Vanquished. --LastDays of Alexander. --His Sickness and Death. 

From the field of Eylau, the Russians and Prussians retreated to theNiemen. Napoleon remained some days upon the field to nurse thewounded, and, anxious for peace, wrote to the King of Prussia in thefollowing terms:

"I desire to put a period to the misfortunes of your family, and toorganize, as speedily as possible, the Prussian monarchy. I desirepeace with Russia, and, provided that the cabinet of St. Petersburghas no designs upon the Turkish empire, I see no difficulty inobtaining it. I have no hesitation in sending a minister to Memil totake part in a congress of France, England, Sweden, Russia, Prussiaand Turkey. But as such a congress may last many years, which wouldnot suit the present condition of Prussia, your majesty will, I ampersuaded, be of the opinion that I have taken the simplest method, and one which is most likely to secure the prosperity of yoursubjects. At all events I entreat your majesty to believe in mysincere desire to reëstablish amicable relations with so friendly apower as Prussia, and that I wish to do the same with Russia andEngland. "

These advances were haughtily rejected by both Prussia and Russia;and Napoleon returned to the Vistula to wait until the opening ofspring, when the question was again to be referred to the arbitramentof battle. Both parties made vigorous preparations for the strife. Alexander succeeded in gathering around him one hundred and fortythousand soldiers. But Napoleon had assembled one hundred and sixtythousand whom he could rapidly concentrate upon any point between theVistula and the Niemen. 

In June the storm of war commenced with an assault by the allies. Field after field was red with blood as the hosts of France drovetheir vanquished foes before them. On the 10th of June, Alexander, with Frederic William riding by his side, had concentrated ninetythousand men upon the plains of Friedland, on the banks of the Aller. Here the Russians were compelled to make a final stand and await adecisive conflict. As Napoleon rode upon a height and surveyed hisfoes, caught in an elbow of the river, he said energetically, "We havenot a moment to lose. One does not twice catch an enemy in such atrap. " He immediately communicated to his aides his plan of attack. Grasping the arm of Ney, he pointed to the dense masses of theRussians clustered before the town of Friedland, and said, "Yonder is the goal. March to it without looking about you. Break intothat thick mass whatever it costs. Enter Friedland; take the bridgesand give yourself no concern about what may happen on your right, yourleft or your rear. The army and I shall be there to attend to that. "

The whole French line now simultaneously advanced. It was one of themost sublime and awful of the spectacles of war. For a few hours therewas the gleam and the roar of war's most terrific tempest and theRussian army was destroyed. A frightful spectacle of ruin wasexhibited. The shattered bands rushed in dismay into the stream, wherethousands were swept away by the current, while a storm of bulletsfrom the French batteries swept the river, and the water ran red withblood. It was in vain for Alexander to make any further assaults. Inten days Napoleon had taken one hundred and twenty pieces of cannon, and had killed, wounded or taken prisoners, sixty thousand Russians. 

Alexander now implored peace. It was all that Napoleon desired. TheNiemen alone now separated the victorious French and the routedRussians. A raft was moored in the middle of the stream upon which atent was erected with magnificent decorations, and here the two youngemperors met to arrange the terms of peace. Alexander, like Francis ofAustria, endeavored to throw the blame of the war upon England. Almosthis first words to Napoleon were, "I hate the English as much as you do. I am ready to second you in allyour enterprises against them. "

"In that case, " Napoleon replied, "every thing will be easily arrangedand peace is already made. "

The interview lasted two hours, and Alexander was fascinated by thegenius of Napoleon. "Never, " he afterwards said, "did I love any manas I loved that man. " Alexander was then but thirty years of age, andapparently he became inspired with an enthusiastic admiration ofNapoleon which had never been surpassed. At the close of theinterview, he crossed to the French side of the river, and took up hisresidence with Napoleon at Tilsit. Every day they rode side by side, dined together, and passed almost every hour in confidingconversation. It was Napoleon's great object to withdraw Alexanderfrom the English alliance. In these long interviews the fate of Turkeywas a continual topic of conversation. Alexander was ready to makealmost any concession if Napoleon would consent that Russia shouldtake Constantinople. But Napoleon was irreconcilably opposed to this. It was investing Russia with too formidable power. He was willing thatthe emperor should take the provinces on the Danube, but could notconsent that he should pass the Balkan and annex the proud city ofConstantine to his realms. 

One day when the two emperors were closeted together with the map ofEurope spread out before them, Napoleon placed his finger uponConstantinople, and was overheard by Meneval to say, with greatearnestness, "Constantinople! never! It is the empire of the world. "

"All the Emperor Alexander's thoughts, " said Napoleon at St. Helena, "are directed to the conquest of Turkey. We have had many discussionsabout it. At first I was pleased with his proposals, because I thoughtit would enlighten the world to drive these brutes out of Egypt. Butwhen I reflected upon its consequences and saw what a tremendousweight of power it would give to Russia, on account of the number ofGreeks in the Turkish dominions who would naturally join the Russians, I refused to consent to it, especially as Alexander wanted to getConstantinople, which I would not allow, as it would destroy theequilibrium of power in Europe. "

For three weeks the emperors remained together at Tilsit, and thenthey separated devoted friends. Turkey had for some time been disposedto regard France as its protector against the encroachments of Russia, and was disposed to enter into friendly alliance. By the treaty ofTilsit, Russia consented to make peace with Turkey, and also to exertall her influence to promote peace between France and England. Theefforts of Alexander not being successful in this respect, he brokeoff his connection with Great Britain, and became still moreintimately allied with France. The British ambassador, Lord Gower, wasinformed that his presence was no longer desired at St. Petersburg. The second bombardment of Copenhagen, and the seizure of the Danishfleet gave occasion for Alexander to declare war against England. Thewar, however, which ensued between the two countries, amounted chieflyto a cessation of trade. England, protected by her fleet, wasinvulnerable; and Napoleon and Alexander both agreed that the onlypossible way of compelling England to assent to peace, was to shuther out from commerce with the rest of Europe. This was the origin ofthe famous continental system, by which it was endeavored to force thebelligerent islanders to peace by cutting off their trade. 

Alexander called upon Sweden to unite in this confederacy againstEngland. The Swedes declined. Alexander overran the whole of Finlandwith his troops, and in 1809 it was permanently annexed to the Russianempire. Just before this event, in September, 1808, Napoleon andAlexander held another interview at Erfurth. The loss of Britishcommerce was almost as great a calamity to Russia as to England, andthe Russian people murmured loudly. England wished to arrest theprogress of democratic ideas in France by restoring the rejectedBourbons to the throne. In these views the nobles of Russiasympathized cordially, and they were exasperated that Alexander shouldallow personal friendship for Napoleon to interfere with the commerceof their country, and with the maintenance of aristocratic privilegein Europe. The Russian nobles had nothing to gain by the establishmentof free institutions in France, and the discontent with the measuresof Alexander became so general and so loudly expressed that he beganto waver. 

The only hope of Napoleon was in combining Europe in a league whichshould starve England into peace. He watched the vacillating spirit ofAlexander with alarm, and arranged the interview at Erfurth that hemight strengthen him in his friendly purposes. Alexander was by themost solemn pledges bound to be faithful to this alliance. He hadattacked Napoleon and had been conquered; and the southern provincesof Russia were at the mercy of the conqueror. Under thesecircumstances the treaty of Tilsit was made, in which Alexander, inconsideration of benefits received, agreed to coöperate with Napoleonin that continental system which seemed vital to the safety of France. Napoleon was well aware of the immense pressure which was brought tobear upon the mind of the Russian tzar to induce him to swerve fromhis agreement. Hence the conference at Erfurth. During thedeliberations at Erfurth it appears that Alexander consented thatNapoleon should place the crown of Spain upon the brow of his brotherJoseph, in consideration of Napoleon consenting that Russia shouldtake possession of the two Turkish provinces of Moldavia andWallachia. And again the most strenuous efforts were made by theunited emperors to induce inflexible England to sheathe the sword. Allthe nations on the continent were at peace. England alone wasprosecuting the war. But the English aristocracy felt that they couldnot remain firm in their possessions while principles of democraticfreedom were dominant in France. The fundamental principle of thegovernment of the empire was honor to _merit_, not to _birth_. The twoemperors wrote as follows to the King of England, imploring peace:

"Sire--The present situation of Europe has brought us together atErfurth. Our first wish is to fulfill the desire of all nations, and, by a speedy pacification with your majesty to take the most effectualmeans of relieving the sufferings of Europe. The long and bloody warwhich has convulsed the continent is at an end, and can not berenewed. Many changes have taken place in Europe; many governmentshave been destroyed. The cause is to be found in the uneasiness andthe sufferings occasioned by the stagnation of maritime commerce. Greater changes still may take place, and all will be unfavorable tothe politics of England. Peace, therefore, is at the same time thecommon cause of the nations of the continent and of Great Britain. Weunite in requesting your majesty to lend an ear to the voice ofhumanity, to suppress that of the passions, to reconcile contendinginterests, and to secure the welfare of Europe and of the generationsover which Providence has placed us. "

The only notice taken of this letter was in a communication to theministers of France and Russia, in which it was stated that the"English ministers could not reply to the two sovereigns, since one ofthem was not recognized by England. " A new coalition was soon formed, and Austria commenced another march upon France, which led to thecampaign of Wagram, in which Austria was humbled as never before. Austria was now compelled, in conjunction with France and Russia, andmost of the other European powers, to take part in the continentalblockade. Alexander, shackled by his nobles, had not been able torender Napoleon the assistance he had promised in this war. Loudmurmurs and threats of assassination were rising around him, andinstead of rigorously enforcing the exclusion of English goods, heallowed them to be smuggled into the country. This was ruinous toNapoleon's system. Remonstrances and recriminations ensued. At lengthEnglish goods were freely introduced, provided they entered underAmerican colors. Napoleon, to put a stop to this smuggling, which thelocal authorities pretended they could not prevent, seized several ofthe principal ports of northern Germany, and incorporated thepossessions of the Duke of Oldenburg, a near relative of Alexander, with France. [30]

[Footnote 30: Colonel Napier, in his "Peninsular War, " very justlyobserves, "The real principle of Napoleon's government, and secret ofhis popularity, made him the people's monarch, not the sovereign ofthe aristocracy. Hence Mr. Pitt called him 'the child and the championof democracy, ' a truth as evident as that Mr. Pitt and his successors'were the children and the champions of aristocracy. ' Hence also the_privileged_ classes of Europe consistently turned their natural andimplacable hatred of the French Revolution to his person; for they sawthat in him innovation had found a protector; that he alone, havinggiven preëminence to a system so hateful to them, was really what hecalled himself, _The State_. The treaty of Tilsit, therefore, althoughit placed Napoleon in a commanding situation with regard to thepotentates of Europe, unmasked the real nature of the war, and broughthim and England, the respective champions of Equality and Privilege, into more direct contact. Peace could not be between them while theywere both strong, and all that the French emperor had hitherto gainedonly enabled him to choose his field of battle. "]

These measures increased the alienation between France and Austria. In the mean time Alexander was waging war with Turkey, and was pushinghis conquests rapidly on towards the city of Constantine. Theseencroachments France contemplated with alarm. By the peace ofBucharest, signed May 28th, 1812, the whole of Bessarabia was annexedto Russia, and the limits of the empire were extended from the Dnieperto the Pruth. The Russian nobles were all eager to join the Europeanaristocracy in a war against democratic France, and it was now evidentthat soon a collision must take place between the cabinet of theTuileries and that of St. Petersburg. It was almost impossible forAlexander to resist the pressure which urged him to open his ports tothe English. The closing of those ports was Napoleon's only hope ofcompelling England to sheathe the sword. Hence war became a fatality. 

Russia, in anticipation of a rupture, began to arm, and ordered a levyof four men out of every hundred. In preparation for war she madepeace with Persia and Turkey, and entered into an alliance withSweden. England was highly gratified by this change, and was soon onmost friendly terms with the Russian cabinet. A treaty was speedilyformed by England, with both Russia and Sweden, by which these latterpowers agreed to open their ports for free commercial relations withEngland, and they entered into an alliance offensive and defensivewith that power. As England was still in arms against France, this wasvirtually a declaration of war. This violation also of the treaty ofTilsit was the utter ruin of Napoleon's plans. To compel Russia toreturn to the continental system, Napoleon prepared for that Russiancampaign which is one of the most awful tragedies of history. Theworld is so full of the narratives of that sublime drama, that thestory need not be repeated here. It is just to say that Napoleonexhausted all the arts of diplomacy to accomplish his purpose beforehe put his armies in motion. 

The Emperor Alexander followed the French in their retreat fromMoscow, and with all the powers of Europe allied, crossed the Rhine, and on the 31st of March, 1814, at the head of an allied army of halfa million of men entered Paris a conqueror. His sympathies were warmlyenlisted in behalf of his fallen friend Napoleon. In the negotiationswhich ensued he exerted himself strongly in his favor. It was only byassuming the most energetic attitude against England, Austria andPrussia, that he succeeded in obtaining for Napoleon the sovereigntyof Elba. Alexander was very magnanimous, but his voice was lost in theclamor of the sovereigns who surrounded him. 

Napoleon retired to Elba. The Bourbons reascended the throne ofFrance. Alexander, with the King of Prussia, visited England, where hewas received with great distinction. Returning to Russia he devotedhimself to the welfare of his kingdom in the vain attempt to reconcilepopular progress with political despotism. Alexander was evidentlysaddened by the fate of Napoleon, and on his return to St. Petersburgpersistently refused to accept the public rejoicings which wereproffered him. 

Napoleon escaped from Elba, where the influence of Alexander hadplaced him, and again was on the throne of France. Alexander hesitatedwhether again to march against him. He yielded, however, to thesolicitations of his associated sovereigns, and at the head of an armyof one hundred and sixty thousand men, was again on the march forParis. He was apprehensive that the dismemberment of the Frenchempire, which was contemplated, might render Austria and Prussia toopowerful for the repose of Europe. Upon the second capitulation ofParis, after the battle of Waterloo, Alexander insisted that Franceshould at least retain the limits she had in 1790. Upon this basis thenew treaty was concluded. 

It is an interesting fact that the celebrated Juliana, Baroness ofKrudoner, was mainly instrumental in the organization of the HolyAlliance, which was at this time formed. She had wealth, wit andbeauty, and had been supremely devoted to pleasure, shining among themost brilliant ornaments of St. Petersburg, Paris and Vienna. Weary ofa life of gayety, she seems to have turned to religion and to havebecome a devout and earnest Christian. Her enthusiasm was roused withthe idea of putting a stop to war, and of truly Christianizing Europe. She hastened to Paris, when the allied sovereigns were there, andobtained an interview with the Russian tzar. Alexander was by natureof a devotional turn of mind, and the terrific scenes through which hehad passed had given him a meditative and pensive spirit. He listenedeagerly to the suggestions of Madame Krudoner, and, aided by her, sketched as follows the plan of the Holy Alliance:

"In the name of the sacred and invisible Trinity, their majesties, theEmperor of Austria, the King of Prussia, and the Emperor of Russia, considering the momentous events which have occured in Europe duringthe last three years, and especially the blessing which it has pleasedProvidence to confer on those States which trust in him, and beingfully convinced of the necessity of taking, as the rule of life, inall their affairs, the sublime truths which the holy religion of ourSaviour teaches us, "Declare solemnly that the present act has no other object than toproclaim to the whole world their unalterable resolution to take, astheir only guide, both in the internal administration of theirrespective States, and in their political relations with othergovernments, those principles of justice, Christian charity and peace, which, far from being exclusively applicable to private individuals, should have an immediate influence upon the counsels of princes, andshould regulate all their measures, as being the only means ofconsolidating human institutions and remedying their imperfections. Consequently their majesties have agreed upon the followingresolutions:

"Article I. In conformity with the declaration of the holyScriptures, which command all men to regard each other as brothers, the three contracting monarchs will remain united to each other by theties of sincere and indissoluble fraternity. Regarding themselves asprivate individuals, they will render each other, at all times, and inall places, aid and assistance; and considering themselves, in respectto their people and armies, as fathers of families, they will rule inthe same spirit of fraternity, that religion, peace and justice may beprotected. 

"Article II. Also the only obligation of rigor, whether it be betweenthese governments or their subjects, shall consist in rendering eachother all sorts of service, and of testifying towards each other thatunalterable benevolence and that mutual affection which shall leadthem to guard one another as members of one and the same Christianfamily. The three allied princes, regarding themselves as delegated byProvidence to govern three branches of this family, Austria, Prussiaand Russia, recognize that the Christian world, of which they andtheir people compose a part, can have, in reality, no other sovereignthan him to whom belongs all power, because in him alone are thetreasures of love, of science and of infinite wisdom--that is to say, God, our divine Saviour, the word of the Most High, the word of life. Consequently their majesties recommend to their people, with thegreatest solicitude, and as the only means of enjoying that peacewhich springs from a good conscience, and which alone is durable, tostrengthen themselves daily more and more in the exercise of thoseduties taught to the human family by the divine Saviour. 

"Article III. All the powers who believe that they ought solemnly toprofess the principles which have dictated this act, and who recognizehow important it is for the welfare of nations, too long agitated, that these truths should hereafter exercise over the destinies of thehuman family that influence which they ought to exert, shall bereceived, with the same ardor and affection, into this Holy Alliance. Done at Paris, in the year of our Lord, 1814, September 25, andsigned, Francis, Frederic William and Alexander. "

Such was the bond of the Holy Alliance. It was drawn up in thehand-writing of Alexander. Subsequently it was signed by the Kings ofEngland and France, and by nearly all the sovereigns of Europe. Thepope declined signing, as it was not consistent with his dignity to bea member of a confederacy of which he was not the head. Theseprinciples, apparently so true and salutary, became vitiated by theunderlying of principles which gave them all their force. The alliancebecame in reality a conspiracy of the crowned heads of Europe againstthe liberties of their subjects; and thus despotism sat enthroned. Theliberal spirit, which was then breaking out all over the continent ofEurope, was thus, for a time, effectually crushed. It can hardly besupposed that Alexander intended the Holy Alliance to accomplish thework which it subsequently performed. 

Alexander, on his return to Russia, devoted himself energetically tothe government of his vast realms, taking long and fatiguing journeys, and manifesting much interest in the elevation of the serfs tofreedom. The latter years of Alexander were clouded with sorrow. Hewas not on good terms with his wife, and the death of all his childrenrendered his home desolate. His health failed and some deep griefseemed ever to prey upon his spirits. It is supposed that themelancholy fate of Napoleon, dying in a hut at St. Helena, and of whomhe had said, "Never did I love a man as I have loved that man!"weighed heavily upon him. He was constantly haunted by fears of arising of the oppressed people, and to repel that danger was becomingcontinually more despotic. 

In the year 1825, Alexander, sick, anxious and melancholy, took a longjourney, with his wife, to Tanganroy, a small town upon the Sea ofAzof, fifteen hundred miles from St. Petersburg. He had for some timelooked forward with dread to his appearance before the bar of God. Asense of sin oppressed him, and he had long sought relief with prayersand tears. His despondency led him to many forebodings that he shouldnot live to return from this journey. 

The morning before he left St. Petersburg, at the early hour of fouro'clock, he visited the monastery where the remains of his childrenwere entombed, and at their grave spent some time in prayer. Wrappedin his cloak, in unbroken silence he listened to the "chant for thedead, " and then commenced his journey. No peasant whom he met on theway had a heavier heart than throbbed in the bosom of the sovereign. For hours he sat in the carriage with the empress, with whom in griefhe had become reconciled, and hardly a word was uttered. At lengththey arrived upon the shores of Azof. The emperor took a rapid tourthrough these provinces, visiting among other places Sevastopol, whichhe had long been fortifying. He was so much struck with themagnificence of this place that he remarked, "Should I ever resign thereins of government, I should wish to retire to this city, that Imight here terminate my career!"

Returning to his wife at Tanganroy, he was seized with a fever, probably caused by care and toil. The disease was so rapid in itsprogress as to lead many to suppose that he was falling a victim topoison. On the approach of death, perceiving that he was dying, herequested that he might be raised upon his pillow, that he might oncemore behold the light of the sun. He simply remarked, "How beautifulis the day!" and fell back upon his pillow to die. The empress wasweeping by his side. He took her hand, pressed it tenderly as ifbidding her an eternal adieu, and died. It was the 1st of December, 1825. 

The empress Elizabeth in this sad hour forgot all her wrongs; for theemperor had by no means been to her a faithful husband. She wrote toher friends, "Our angel is in heaven; and, as for me, I still lingeron earth: but I hope soon to be reunited with him in the skies!"

The cry immediately resounded through Europe that Alexander had fallenby poison. As the emperor had no children living, the crown, byhereditary descent, passed to his next brother, Constantine. Alexanderhad long been conscious that Constantine did not possess suitablequalifications to govern, and Constantine himself, frivolous andpleasure-loving, was not at all emulous of imperial power. When a mereboy he had been married to a German princess, but fifteen years ofage. They endured each other through the angry strifes of four yearsand then separated. Constantine became enamored of the daughter of aPolish count, and sought a divorce. Alexander consented to thisarrangement on condition that Constantine would resign all right tothe throne. The terms were gladly accepted, and Constantine signed thefollowing renunciation, which was kept secret until the occasionshould arise for it to be promulgated. 

"Conscious that I do not possess the genius, the talents or thestrength necessary to fit me for the dignity of a sovereign, to whichmy birth would give me a right, I entreat your imperial majesty totransfer that right to him to whom it belongs after me, and thusassure for ever the stability of the empire. As to myself, I shalladd, by this renunciation, a new guarantee and a new force to theengagements which I spontaneously and solemnly contracted on theoccasion of my divorce from my first wife. All the circumstances inwhich I find myself strengthen my determination to adhere to thisresolution, which will prove to the empire and to the whole world thesincerity of my sentiments. "

Another document had also been prepared which declared Alexander'ssecond brother, Nicholas, heir to the empire. Napoleon, at St. Helena, speaking of the King of Prussia and of Alexander, said, "Frederic William, as a private character, is an honorable, good andworthy man, but in his political capacity he is naturally disposed toyield to necessity. He is always commanded by whoever has power on hisside, and is about to strike. 

"As to the Emperor of Russia, he is a man infinitely superior toFrederic William or Francis. He possesses wit, grace, information, andis fascinating, but he is not to be trusted. He is devoid of candor, atrue _Greek of the Lower Empire_. At the same time he is not withoutideology, real or assumed; after all it may only be a smattering, derived from his education and his preceptor. Would you believe what Ihad to discuss with him? He maintained that _inheritance_ was an abusein monarchy, and I had to spend more than an hour, and employ all myeloquence and logic in proving to him that this right constituted thepeace and happiness of the people. It may be too that he wasmystifying, for he is cunning, false, adroit and hypocritical. Irepeat it, he is a Greek of the Lower Empire. 

"If I die here he will be my real heir in Europe. I alone was able tostop him with his deluge of Tartars. The crisis is great, and willhave lasting effects upon the continent of Europe, especially uponConstantinople. He was solicitous with me for the possession of it. Ihave had much coaxing upon this subject, but I constantly turned adeaf ear to it. The Turkish empire, shattered as it appeared, wouldconstantly have remained a point of separation between us. It was themarsh which prevented my right from being turned. 

"As to Greece it is another matter. Greece awaits a liberator. Therewill be a brilliant crown of glory. He will inscribe his name for everwith those of Homer, Plato and Epaminondas. I perhaps was not far fromit. When, during my campaign in Italy, I arrived on the shores of theAdriatic, I wrote to the Directory, that I had before my eyes thekingdom of Alexander. Still later I entered into engagements with AliPacha; and when Corfu was taken, they must have found thereammunition, and a complete equipment for an army of forty or fiftythousand men. I had caused maps to be made of Macedonia, Servia, Albania. Greece, the Peloponnesus at least, must be the lot of theEuropean power which shall possess Egypt. It should be ours; and thenan independent kingdom in the north, Constantinople, with itsprovinces, to serve as a barrier to the power of Russia, as they havepretended to do with respect to France, by creating the kingdom ofBelgium. "

CHAPTER XXXI. 

NICHOLAS. 

From 1825 to 1855. 

Abdication of Constantine. --Accession of Nicholas. --InsurrectionQuelled. --Nicholas and the Conspirator. --Anecdote. --The Palace ofPeterhoff. --The Winter Palace. --Presentation at Court. --Magnitude ofRussia. --Description of the Hellespont and the Dardanelles. --TheTurkish Invasion. --Aims of Russia. --Views of England and France. --Warsof Nicholas. --The Polish Insurrection. --War of the Crimea. --Jealousiesof the Leading Nations. --Encroachments. --Death of Nicholas. --Accessionof Alexander II. 

Constantine was at Warsaw when the news arrived of the death of hisbrother. The mother of Alexander was still living. Even Nicholaseither affected not to know, or did not know, that his wild, eccentricbrother Constantine had renounced the throne in his favor, for heimmediately, upon the news of the death of Alexander, summoned theimperial guard into the palace chapel, and, with them, took the oathof allegiance to his older brother, the Grand Duke Constantine. On hisreturn, his mother, who is represented as being quite frantic in herinconsolable grief, exclaimed, "Nicholas, what have you done? Do you not know that there is adocument which names you presumptive heir?"

"If there be one, " Nicholas replied, "I do not know it, neither doesany one else. But this we all know, that our legitimate sovereign, after Alexander, is my brother Constantine. We have therefore done ourduty, come what may. "

Nicholas was persistent in his resolution not to take the crown untilhe received from his brother a confirmation of his renunciation of thethrone. Three weeks elapsed before this intelligence arrived. It thencame full and decisive, and Nicholas no longer hesitated, though theinterval had revealed to him that fearful dangers were impending. Hewas informed by several of his generals that a wide-spread conspiracyextended throughout the army in favor of a constitutional government. Many of the officers and soldiers, in their wars against Napoleon andin their invasion of France, had become acquainted with thoseprinciples of popular liberty which were diffused throughout France, and which it was the object of the allies to crush. Upon their returnto Russia, the utter despotism of the tzar seemed more than everhateful to them. Several conspiracies had been organized for hisassassination, and now the plan was formed to assassinate the wholeimperial family, and introduce a republic. 

Nicholas was seriously alarmed by the danger which threatened, thoughhe was fully conscious that his only safety was to be found in courageand energy. He accordingly made preparation for the administration ofthe oath of allegiance to the army. "I shall soon, " said he, "be anemperor or a corpse. " On the morning when the oath was to beadministered, and when it was evident that the insurrection wouldbreak out, he said, "If I am emperor only for an hour, I will showthat I am worthy of it. "

The morning of the 25th of December dawned upon St. Petersburg intumult. Bands of soldiers were parading the streets shouting, "Constantine for ever. " The insurrection had assumed the mostformidable aspect, for many who were not republicans, were led tobelieve that Nicholas was attempting to usurp the crown which, ofright, belonged to Constantine. Two generals, who had attempted toquell the movement, had already been massacred, and vast mobs, led bythe well-armed regiments, were, from all quarters of the city, pressing toward the imperial palace. Nicholas, who was thentwenty-nine years of age, met the crisis with the energy of Napoleon. Placing himself at the head of a small body of faithful guards, herode to encounter his rebellious subjects in the stern strife of war. Instead of meeting a mob of unarmed men, he found marshaled againsthim the best disciplined troops in his army. 

A terrible conflict ensued, in which blood flowed in torrents. Theemperor, heading his own troops, exposed himself, equally with them, to all perils. As soon as it was evident that he would be compelled tofire upon his subjects, he sent word to his wife of the cruelnecessity. She was in the palace, surrounded by the most distinguishedladies of the court, tremblingly awaiting the issue. When the thunderof the artillery commenced in the streets, she threw herself upon herknees, and, weeping bitterly, continued in prayer until she wasinformed that the revolt was crushed, and that her husband was safe. The number slain is not known. That it might be concealed, the bodieswere immediately thrust through holes cut in the ice of the Neva. 

Though the friends of liberty can not but regret that free principleshave obtained so slender a foothold in Russia, it is manifest thatthis attempt could lead only to anarchy. The masses of the nobles werethoroughly corrupt, and the masses of the people ignorant and debased. The Russian word for constitution, _constitutsya_, has a femininetermination. Many of the people, it is reported, who were shouting, "Constantine and the constitution for ever, " thought that theconstitution was the wife of Constantine. It must be admitted thatsuch ignorance presents but a poor qualification for republicaninstitutions. 

At the close of this bloody day, one of the leading conspirators, ageneral of high position in the army was led a captive into thepresence of Nicholas. The heroic republican met, without quailing, theproud eye of his sovereign. 

"Your father, " said Nicholas sternly, "was a faithful servant, but hehas left behind him a degenerate son. For such an enterprise as yourslarge resources were requisite. On what did you rely?"

"Sire, " replied the prisoner, "matters of this kind can not be spokenof before witnesses. "

Nicholas led the conspirator into a private apartment, and for a longtime conversed with him alone. Here the tzar had opened before him, inthe clearest manner, the intolerable burdens of the people, theoppression of the nobles, the impotency of the laws, the venality ofthe judges, the corruption which pervaded all departments of thegovernment, legislative, executive and judiciary. The nobleconspirator, whose mind was illumined with those views of human rightswhich, from the French Revolution, were radiating throughout Europe, revealed all the corruptions of the State in the earnest and honestlanguage of a man who was making a dying declaration. Nicholaslistened to truths such as seldom reach the ears of a monarch; andthese truths probably produced a powerful impression upon him in hissubsequent career. 

Many of the conspirators, in accordance with the barbaric code ofRussia, were punished with awful severity. Some were whipped to death. Some were mutilated and exiled to Siberia, and many perished on thescaffold. Fifteen officers of high rank were placed together beneaththe gibbet, with ropes around their necks. As the drop fell, the ropeof one broke, and he fell to the ground. Bruised and half stunned herose upon his knees, and looking sadly around exclaimed, "Truly nothing ever succeeds with me, not even death. "

Another rope was procured, and this unhappy man, whose words indicatedan entire life of disappointment and woe, was launched into the worldof spirits. 

We have before spoken of the palace of Peterhoff, a few miles from St. Petersburg, on the southern shores of the bay of Cronstadt. It is nowthe St. Cloud of Russia, the favorite rural retreat of the Russiantzars. This palace, which has been the slow growth of ages, consistsof a pile of buildings of every conceivable order of architecture. Itis furnished with all the appliances of luxury which Europe or Asiacan produce. The pleasure grounds, in their artistic embellishments, are perhaps unsurpassed by any others in the world. Fountains, groves, lawns, lakes, cascades and statues, bewilder and delight thespectator. 

There is an annual fête on this ground in July, which assembles allthe elite of Russian society. The spacious gardens are by nightilluminated with almost inconceivable splendor. The whole forestblazes with innumerable torches, and every leaf, twig and drop ofspray twinkles with colored lights. Here is that famous artificialtree which has so often been described. It is so constructed withroot, trunk and branch, leaf and bud as to deceive the most practicedeye. Its shade, with an inviting seat placed beneath it, lures theloiterer, through these Eden groves, to approach and rest. The momenthe takes his seat he presses a spring which converts the tree into ashower bath, and from every twig jets of water in a cloud of spray, envelops the astonished stranger. 

The Winter Palace at St. Petersburg is also a palace of unsurpassedsplendor. More than a thousand persons habitually dwell beneath theimperial roof. No saloons more sumptuous in architecture and adornmentare probably to be found in the world; neither are the exactions ofcourt etiquette anywhere more punctiliously observed. In entering thispalace a massive gateway ushers one into a hall of magnificentdimensions, so embellished with shrubs and flowers, multiplied bymirrors, that the guest is deceived into the belief that he issauntering through the walks of a spacious flower garden. A flight ofmarble stairs conducts to an apartment of princely splendor, calledthe hall of the Marshals. Passing through this hall, one enters asuite of rooms, apparently interminable, all of extraordinary grandeurand sumptuousness, which are merely antechambers to the grand audiencesaloon. 

In this grand saloon the emperor holds his court. Presentation dayexhibits one of the most brilliant spectacles of earthly splendor andluxury. When the hour of presentation arrives some massive foldingdoors are thrown open, revealing the imperial chapel thronged withthose who are to take part in the ceremony. First, there enters fromthe chapel a crowd of army officers, often a thousand in number, intheir most brilliant uniform, the vanguard of the escort of the tzar. They quietly pass through the vast apartment and disappear amidst therecesses of the palace. Still the almost interminable throng, glittering in gala dresses, press on. At length the grand master ofceremonies makes his appearance announcing the approach of the emperorand empress. 

The royal pair immediately enter, and bow to the representatives ofother courts who may be present, and receive those who are honoredwith a presentation. No one is permitted to speak to their majestiesbut in reply to questions which they may ask. The Emperor Nicholas wasvery stately and reserved in his manners, and said but little. Theempress, more affable, would present her ungloved hand to her guest, who would receive it and press it with fervor to his lips. 

The Emperor Nicholas, during his reign, was supposed to have someninety millions of the human family subject to his sway. With astanding army of a million of men, two hundred thousand of whom werecavalry, he possessed power unequaled by that of any other singlekingdom on the globe. In the recent struggle at Sevastopol all theenergies of England, France and Turkey were expended against Russiaalone, and yet it was long doubtful whose banners would be victorious. 

It is estimated that the territory of Russia now comprises one seventhof the habitable globe, extending from the Baltic Sea across the wholebreadth of Europe and of Asia to Behring's Straits, and from theeternal ices of the north pole, almost down to the sunny shores of theMediterranean. As the previous narrative has shown, for many ages thisgigantic power has been steadily advancing towards Constantinople. TheRussian flag now girdles the Euxine Sea, and notwithstanding therecent check at Sevastopol, Russia is pressing on with resistlessstrides towards the possession of the Hellespont. A brief sketch ofthe geography of those realms will give one a more vivid idea of thenature of that conflict, which now, under the title of the eastern orTurkish question, engrosses the attention of Europe. 

The strait which connects the Mediterranean Sea with the Sea ofMarmora was originally called the Hellespont, from the fabulous legendof a young lady, named Helle, falling into it in attempting to escapefrom a cruel mother-in-law. At the mouth of the Hellespont there arefour strong Turkish forts, two on the European and two on the Asiaticside. These forts are called the Dardanelles, and hence, from them, the straits frequently receive the name of the Dardanelles. Thisstrait is thirty-three miles long, occasionally expanding in width tofive miles, and again being crowded by the approaching hills into anarrow channel less than half a mile in breadth. Through theserpentine navigation of these straits, with fortresses frowning uponevery headland, one ascends to the Sea of Marmora, a vast inland bodyof water one hundred and eighty miles in length and sixty miles inbreadth. Crossing this sea to the northern shore, you enter thebeautiful straits of the Bosporus. Just at the point where theBosporus enters the Sea of Marmora, upon the western shore of thestraits, sits enthroned upon the hills, in peerless beauty, theimperial city of Constantine with its majestic domes, arrowy minaretsand palaces of snow-white marble glittering like a fairy visionbeneath the light of an oriental sun. 

The straits of the Bosporus, which connect the Sea of Marmora with theBlack Sea, are but fifteen miles long and of an average width of butabout one fourth of a mile. In natural scenery and artisticembellishments this is probably the most beautiful reach of water uponthe globe. It is the uncontradicted testimony of all tourists that thescenery of the Bosporus, in its highly-cultivated shores, its gracefulsweep of hills and mountain ranges, in its gorgeous architecture, itsatmospheric brilliance and in its vast accumulations of the costumesand customs of all Europe and Asia, presents a scene which can nowhereelse be paralleled. 

On the Asiatic shore, opposite Constantinople, lies Scutari, abeautiful city embowered in the foliage of the cyprus. An arm of thestrait reaches around the northern portion of Constantinople, andfurnishes for the city one of the finest harbors in the world. Thisbay, deep and broad, is called the Golden Horn. Until within a fewyears, no embassador of Christian powers was allowed to contaminatethe Moslem city by taking up his residence in it. The little suburb ofPera, on the opposite side of the Golden Horn, was assigned to theseembassadors, and the Turk, on this account, denominated it _Theswine's quarter_. 

Passing through the Bosporus fifteen miles, there expands before youthe Euxine, or Black Sea. This inland ocean, with but one narrowoutlet, receives into its bosom the Danube, the Dniester, the Dnieper, the Don and the Cuban. These streams, rolling through unmeasuredleagues of Russian territory, open them to the commerce of the world. This brief sketch reveals the infinite importance of the Dardanellesand the Bosporus to Russia. This great empire, "leaning against thenorth pole, " touches the Baltic Sea only far away amidst the ices ofthe North. St. Petersburg, during a large portion of the year, isblockaded by ice. Ninety millions of people are thus excluded from allthe benefits of foreign commerce for a large portion of the yearunless they can open a gateway to distant shores through the Bosporusand the Dardanelles. 

America, with thousands of miles of Atlantic coast, manifests thegreatest uneasiness in having the island of Cuba in the hands of aforeign power, lest, in case of war, her commerce in the Gulf shouldbe embarrassed. But the Dardanelles are, in reality, the only gatewayfor the commerce of nearly all Russia. All her great navigablerivers, without exception, flow into the Black Sea, and thence throughthe Bosporus, the Marmora and the Hellespont, into the Mediterranean. And yet Russia, with her ninety millions of population--three timesthat of the United States--can not send a boat load of corn into theMediterranean without bowing her flag to all the Turkish forts whichfrown along her pathway. And in case of war with Turkey her commerceis entirely cut off. Russia is evidently unembarrassed with any verytroublesome scruples of conscience in reference to reclaiming thosebeautiful realms, once the home of the Christian, which the Turk hasso ruthlessly and bloodily invaded. In assailing the Turk, the Russianfeels that he is fighting for his religion. 

The tzar indignantly inquires, "What title deed can the Turk show tothe city of Constantine?" None but the dripping cimeter. The annals ofwar can tell no sadder tale of woe than the rush of the barbaric Turkinto Christian Greece. He came, a merciless robber with gory hands, plundering and burning. Fathers and mothers were butchered. Christianmaidens, shrieking with terror, were dragged to the Moslem harems. Christian boys were compelled to adopt the Mohammedan faith, and then, crowded into the army, were compelled to fight the Mohammedan battles. For centuries the Christians, thus trampled beneath the heel ofoppression, have suffered every conceivable indignity from their crueloppressors. Earnestly have they appealed to their Christian brethrenof Russia for protection. 

It is so essential to the advancing civilization of Russia that sheshould possess a maritime port which may give her access to commerce, that it is not easy for us to withhold our sympathies from her in herendeavor to open a gateway to and from her vast territories throughthe Dardanelles. When France, England and Turkey combined to batterdown Sevastopol and burn the Russian fleet, that Russia might still bebarred up in her northern wilds by Turkish forts, there was aninstinct in the American heart which caused the sympathies of thiscountry to flow in favor of Russia, notwithstanding all the eloquentpleadings of the French and English press. 

The cabinet of St. James regards these encroachments of Russia withgreat apprehension. The view England takes of the subject may be seenin the following extracts from the _Quarterly Review_:

"The possession of the Dardanelles would give to Russia the means ofcreating and organizing an almost unlimited marine. It would enableher to prepare in the Black Sea an armament of any extent, without itsbeing possible for any power in Europe to interrupt her proceedings, or even to watch or discover her designs. Our naval officers, of thehighest authority, have declared that an effective blockade of theDardanelles can not be maintained throughout the year. Even supposingwe could maintain permanently in those seas a fleet capable ofencountering that of Russia, it is obvious that, in the event of awar, it would be in the power of Russia to throw the whole weight ofher disposable forces on any point in the Mediterranean, without anyprobability of our being able to prevent it, and that the power ofthus issuing forth with an overwhelming force, at any moment, wouldenable her to command the Mediterranean Sea for a limited timewhenever it might please her so to do. Her whole southern empire wouldbe defended by a single impregnable fortress. The road to India wouldthen be open to her, with all Asia at her back. The finest materialsin the world for an army destined to serve in the East would be at herdisposal. Our power to overawe her in Europe would be gone, and byeven a demonstration against India she could augment our nationalexpenditure by many millions annually, and render the government ofthat country difficult beyond all calculation. "

Such is the view which England takes of this subject. The statesmenof England and France contemplate with alarm the rapid growth ofRussia, and yet know not how to arrest its progress. They see theRussian tzars, year after year, annexing new nations to theirterritory, and about all they can do is to remonstrate. All agree thatthe only effectual measure to check the growth of Russia is to preventher from taking possession of the Dardanelles. To accomplish this, England and France are endeavoring to bind together the crumbling anddiscordant elements of Ottoman power, to infuse the vigor of youthinto the veins of an old man dying of debauchery and age. But thecrescent is inevitably on the wane. The doom of the Moslem is sealed. 

There are four great nations now advancing with marvelous strides inthe appropriation of this globe to themselves. Russia has alreadytaken possession of one seventh of the world's territory, and sheneeds now but to annex Turkey in Europe and Turkey in Asia to completeher share. France is spreading her influence throughout southernEurope, and, with a firm grasp, is seizing the provinces of northernAfrica. England claims half of the islands of the ocean, boasts thatthe sun never sets upon her dominions, and _has_ professed that theocean is her private property. Her armies, invincible, sweep theremotest plains of Asia, removing and setting down landmarks at herpleasure. Her advances are so gigantic that the annexation of a fewthousand leagues, at any time, hardly attracts attention. America islooking with a wistful eye upon the whole of North and South America, the islands of the Caribbean Sea and the groups of the Pacific. [31]

[Footnote 31: The jealousy of the leading nations in regard to theirmutual encroachments is amusingly illustrated in an interview betweenSenator Douglas and Sir Henry Bulwer in reference to theClayton-Bulwer treaty. An article was inserted in this treaty by theEnglish government, binding both England and America not to colonize, annex or exercise any dominion over any portion of Central America. Sir Henry argued that the pledge was fair and just since it wasreciprocal, England asking no more than she was ready herself togrant. 

"To test your principle, " said Senator Douglas, "I would propose anamendment of simply two words. Let the article read, 'Neither Englandnor the United States will ever colonize any part of Central America_or Asia_. '"

The British minister exclaimed, in surprise, "But you have no coloniesin Asia. "

"True, " replied the United States Senator, "neither have you anycolonies in Central America. "

"But, " rejoined Sir Henry, "you can never establish your governmentthere, in Asia. "

"No, " Mr. Douglas replied, "neither do we intend that you shall plantyour government here, in Central America. "]

Immediately after the accession of Nicholas to the throne, war brokeout with Persia. It was of short duration. The Persian monarch, utterly discomfited, was compelled to cede to Russia large provincesin the Caucasus, and extensive territory on the south-western shore ofthe Caspian, and to pay all the expenses of the war. Immediately afterthis, on the 7th of May, 1828, war was declared against Turkey. TheRussian army, one hundred and sixty thousand strong, flushed withvictory, crossed the Pruth and took possession of the entire left bankof the Danube, for some hundreds of miles from its mouth, with all itsfertile fields and populous cities. They then crossed the river, andoverran the whole region of Bulgaria. The storms of winter, however, compelled a retreat, which the Russians effected after most terrificconflicts, and, recrossing the Danube, they established themselves inwinter quarters on its left banks, having lost in the campaign onehalf of their number. The Turks took possession of the right bank, andremained, during the winter, in face of their foes. In the spring of1829 the Russians, having obtained a reinforcement of seventy thousandmen, opened the campaign anew upon the land, while a fleet offorty-two vessels, carrying fifteen hundred guns, coöperated on theBlack Sea. 

Through fields of blood, where the Turks, with the energies ofdespair, contested every step, the victorious Russians advanced nearlythree hundred miles. They entered the defiles of the Balkan mountains, and forced the passage. Concentrating their strength at the base ofthe southern declivities, the path was open before them toConstantinople. Pushing rapidly forward, they entered Adrianople intriumph. They were now within one hundred and fifty miles ofConstantinople. The consternation in the Turkish capital wasindescribable, and all Europe was looking for the issue with wonder. The advance guard of the Russian army was already within eighty milesof the imperial city when the sultan, Mahmoud IV. , implored peace, andassented to the terms his victor extorted. 

By this treaty, called the treaty of Adrianople, Turkey paid Russiatwenty-nine millions of dollars to defray the expenses of the war, opened the Dardanelles to the free navigation of all Russian merchantships, and engaged not to maintain any fortified posts on the north ofthe Danube. 

In July, 1830, the Poles rose in a general insurrection, endeavoringto shake off the Russian yoke. With hurricane fury the armies ofNicholas swept the ill-fated territory, and Poland fell to rise nomore. The vengeance of the tzar was awful. For some time the roads toSiberia were thronged with noble men driven into exile. 

In the year 1833, Constantinople was imperiled by the armies ofMohammed Ali, the energetic pacha of Egypt. The sultan implored aid ofRussia. Nicholas sent an army and a fleet, and drove Mohammed Ali backto Egypt. As compensation for this essential aid, the sultan enteredinto a treaty, by which both powers were bound to afford succor incase either was attacked, and Turkey also agreed to close theDardanelles against any power with whom Russia might be at war. 

The revolution in Paris of 1848, which expelled Louis Philippe fromthe throne, excited the hopes of the republican party all over Europe. The Hungarians rose, under Kossuth, in the endeavor to shake off theAustrian yoke. Francis Joseph appealed to Russia for aid. Nicholasdispatched two hundred thousand men to crush the Hungarians, and theywere crushed. Nicholas asked no remuneration for these services. Hefelt amply repaid in having arrested the progress of constitutionalliberty in Europe. 

Various circumstances, each one trivial in itself, conspired to leadNicholas in 1853 to make a new and menacing demonstration of power inthe direction of Constantinople. An army was marshaled on thefrontiers, and a large fleet assembled at Odessa and Sevastopol. England and France were alarmed, and a French fleet of observationentered the waters of Greece, while the English fleet at Maltastrengthened itself for any emergence. The prominent questionprofessedly at issue between Russia and Turkey was the protectionwhich should be extended to members of the Greek church residingwithin the Turkish domains. The sultan, strengthened by the secretsupport of France and England, refused to accede to the terms whichRussia demanded, and the armies of Nicholas were put on the march forConstantinople. England and France dispatched their fleets for theprotection of Turkey. In the campaign of Sevastopol, with which ourreaders are all familiar, Russia received a check which will, for afew years, retard her advances. 

During the progress of the campaign of Sevastopol, the emperorNicholas, in February, 1855, was suddenly seized with the influenza. The disease made rapid progress. He could not sleep at night, and anincessant cough racked his frame. On the 22d, notwithstanding theintense severity of the weather, he insisted upon reviewing sometroops who were about to set out for the seat of war. 

"Sire, " said one of his physicians, "there is not a surgeon in thearmy who would permit a common soldier to leave the hospital in thestate in which you are, for he would be sure that his patient wouldreenter it still worse. "

"'Tis well, gentlemen, " said the emperor, "you have done your duty, and I shall do mine. "

Then wrapping his cloak about him, he entered his sledge. It was ableak winter's day. Pale, languid and coughing incessantly, he rodealong the lines of his troops. He returned in a profuse perspiration, and was soon seized with a relapse, which was aggravated by thedisastrous tidings he was receiving from Sevastopol. He rapidlyfailed, and the empress, anxious as to the result, suggested that heshould receive the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. 

"No!" the emperor replied. "I can not approach so solemn a mysteryundressed and in bed. It will be better when I can do it in a suitablemanner. "

The empress, endeavoring to conceal her tears, commenced therepetition of the Lord's prayer, in a low tone of voice. As sheuttered the words "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven, " hefervently added, "For ever, for ever, for ever. " Observing that hiswife was in tears he inquired, "Why do you weep? Am I in danger?" She, afraid to utter the truth, said, "No. " He added, "You are greatlyagitated and fatigued. You must retire and take some rest. "

A few hours after three o'clock in the morning, Dr. Mandt entered. "Tell me candidly, " said the emperor, "what my disease is. You know Ihave always forewarned you to inform me in time if I fell seriouslyill, in order that I might not neglect the duties of a Christian. "

"I can not conceal from your majesty, " the physician replied, "thatthe disease is becoming serious. The right lung is attacked. "

"Do you mean to say that it is threatened with paralysis?" enquiredthe emperor. The doctor replied, "If the disease do not yield to ourefforts, such may indeed be the result; but we do not yet observe it, and we still have some hope of seeing you restored. "

"Ah, " said the emperor, "I now comprehend my state and know what Ihave to do. " Dismissing his physician he summoned his eldest son, Alexander, who was to succeed him upon the throne; calmly informed himthat he deemed his condition hopeless and that the hour of death wasapproaching. "Say nothing, " he continued, "to your mother which mayalarm her fears; but send immediately for my confessor. "

The archpriest Bajanof soon entered, and commenced the prayers whichprecede confession. The prayers being finished, the emperor crossedhimself and said, "Lord Jesus, receive me into thy bosom. " He thenpartook of the sacrament of the Lord's Supper with the empress and hisson Alexander. The remaining members of the imperial family were thensummoned into the chamber. He announced with firmness his approachingend, and gave to each his particular blessing. The empress, overwhelmed with anguish, cried out, "Oh, God! can I not die withhim?"

"You must live for our children, " said the emperor; and then turningto his son Alexander, he added, "You know that all my anxiety, all myefforts had for their object the good of Russia. My desire was tolabor until I could leave you the empire thoroughly organized, protected from all danger from without, and completely tranquil andhappy. But you see at what a time and under what circumstances I die. Such, however, seems to be the will of God. Your burden will beheavy. "

Alexander, weeping, replied, "If I am destined to lose you, I have thecertainty that in heaven you will pray to God for Russia and for usall. And you will ask His aid that I may be able to sustain the burdenwhich He will have imposed upon me. "

"Yes, " the emperor replied, "I have always prayed for Russia and foryou all. There also will I pray for you. " Then speaking to the wholeassembled group, he added, "Remain always, as hitherto, closely unitedin family love. "

Several of the important officers of the State were then introduced. The emperor thanked them for their faithful services and trieddevotion, and recommended them to his son as worthy of all trust, gavethem his benediction and bade them farewell. At his request hisdomestic servants were then brought into the room. To one, who wasespecially devoted to the empress, he said, "I fear that I have not sufficiently thanked you for the care whichyou took of the empress when she was last ill. Be to her for thefuture what you have been in my life-time, and salute my beautifulPeterhoff, the first time you go there with her. "

These interviews being closed, he addressed his son and Countd'Adelberg respecting his obsequies. He selected the room in which hisremains were to be laid out, and the spot for his tomb in thecathedral of the Apostles Peter and Paul. "Let my funeral, " said he, "be conducted with the least possible expense or display, as all theresources of the empire are now needed for the prosecution of thewar. " While conversing, news came that dispatches had arrived fromSevastopol. The emperor deeming that he had already abdicated, declined perusing them, saying, "I have nothing more to do withearth. " Alexander sat for several hours at the bed side, receiving thelast directions of his father. 

On the 2d of March the emperor remained upon his bed, unable toarticulate a word, and with difficulty drawing each breath. At noon herevived a little and requested his son, in his name, to thank thegarrison at Sevastopol for their heroism. He then sent a message tothe King of Prussia, whose sister he had married. "Say to Fredericthat I trust he will remain the same friend of Russia he has everbeen, and that he will never forget the dying words of our father. "

The agony of death was now upon him, and he was speechless. Hisconfessor repeated the prayers for the dying. At twenty minutes pasttwelve he expired, holding, till the last moment, the hand of theempress and of his son Alexander. 

Alexander II. , who now occupies the throne, was born the 29th ofApril, 1818. He is a young man of noble character and very thoroughlyeducated. At the age of sixteen, according to the laws of the empire, he was declared to be of age and took the oath of allegiance to thethrone. From that time he lived by his father's side in the cabinetand in the court. His fare was frugal, his bed hard, and his dutiesarduous in the extreme. In April, 1841, he married the princess Maria, daughter of the Grand Duke of Darmstadt. She is reported to be a ladyof many accomplishments and of the most sincere and unaffected piety. He is himself a man of deep religious feeling, and many who know him, esteem him to be a sincere and spiritual Christian. What character thetemptations of the throne may develop, time only can determine. He isnow struggling, against the opposition of the nobles, to emancipatethe boors from the slavery of serfdom, being ambitious of elevatingall his subjects to the highest manhood. The temporal welfare ofperhaps ninety millions of men is placed in the hands of this onemonarch. An indiscreet act may plunge all Russia into the horrors of acivil war, or kindle flames of strife through Europe which no powerbut that of God can quench. The eyes of Europe are fixed upon him, andthe friends of the Redeemer, the world over, watch his movements withsolicitude and with prayer. 

INDEX. 

A. 

Adachef, (Alexis) appointed minister of justice, 223. 

Adrianople, Treaty of, 513. 

Akhmet, Defiant reply of, to Ivan, 178. 

Alains, character and life of the, 19. 

Alexander succeeds Yaroslaf over Novgorod, 127. Ordered to attend Bati, 127. Appointed King of Southern Russia, 128. His reply to the Pope, 128. Conciliates Berki, 128. 

Alexander (Nevsky) puts down a rebellion headed by his son, 129. Death of, 129. Yaroslaf of Tiver succeeds, 130. 

Alexander (son of Michel) ascends the throne, 141. Outlawed by Usbeck, 142. Flight and death of, 142. 

Alexander I. , grief of, on the assassination of Paul, 471. Re-establishes friendly relations with England, 473. Regulations of, 474. Message of, to Napoleon, 477. Defeat of, at Austerlitz, 479 his interview with the embassador of Napoleon, 480. Defeat at Eylau, 484. Implores peace, 487. His admiration for Napoleon, 487. Forced to turn against Napoleon, 492. Magnanimity towards Napoleon, 493. Death of, 497. 

Alexander II. Succeeds Nicholas on the throne, 517. Character of, 518. 

Alexis succeeds Romanow, 291. Marriage of, 292. His concessions to the mob, 294. His conquests in Poland, 295. Good works of, 296. Death of, 299. 

Alexis (son of Peter the Great) bad character of, 343. Marriage of, 344. Letters from, to his father, 351. Flight of, 352. Disinherited by his father, 354. Plots against the crown, 355. Condemned to death, 358. Death of, 359. 

America, discovery of, by the Normans, 23

Amiens, treaty of, 476. 

Anastasia, death of, 255. 

André (of Souzdal) usurps the Russian throne, 88. Moderation of, 92. Submission of, 95. Homage of Russia to, 95. Assassination of, 96. Sword of, 96. Abolishes appanages, 111. 

André (of Gorodetz) dethrones his brother Dmitri, 133. Succeeds Dmitri as sovereign, 134. Death of, 135. 

Anne (of Constantinople) forced to marry Vladimir, 55. Christian influence of, over her husband, 57. Death of, 58. 

Anne (of England) letter of, to Peter the Great. 342. 

Anne (Duchess of Courland) offered the throne, 366. Energy of, 367. Death of, 368. 

Anecdote of the preservation of the Greek libraries, 19. Of the love of Igor, 32. Of the Tartar's theology, 127. Of Vassili and the Greek physician, 201. Of Peter the Great, 311. Of Peter the Great, 320. Of Peter III. , 385. 

Appanages abolished by André, 111. 

Ascolod and Dir, enterprise and conquests of, 29. Conversion of, 29. Assassination of, 31. 

Astrachan added to Russia, 244. 

Athens taken by the Goths, 19. 

Attila the king of the Huns, conquests of, 21. 

Avars, conquests of the, 22. 

Aristocracy, gradual rise of an, 25. 

B. 

Bajazet II. , letter of Ivan to, 186. Reply of, 188. 

Baptism of the Russian nation in a day, 56. In Lithuania, 155. 

Barbarians, punishment of the, 87. 

Bathori (Stephen) elected King of Poland, 262. 

Bati given the command of the Tartar horde, 119. Depopulates Rezdan, 119. Captures Moscow, 120. Takes and burns Vladimir, 122. Disastrous course of, 123. Plunders Kief, 124. Possessions of, 125. Orders Yaroslaf to appear before him, 125. Summons Alexander, 127. Death of, 128. Berki succeeds, 128. 

Bayadour, chief of the Mogols, 113. 

Beards ordered to be removed, 327. 

Belsky (Ivan) elected regent of Russia, 209. Reforms of, 209. Assassination of, 212. 

Bielo (Ozero Sineous) establishes his court at, 27. 

Bielski (Bogdan) his attempt to grasp the throne, 270. His exile, 271. 

"Black Death, " ravages of the, 144. 

Bohemia, aid from, to Ysiaslaf, 80. 

Bokhara burned by the Tartars, 116. 

Boleslas, (King of Poland) assists Sviatopolk to defeat Yaroslaf, 59. Seizes the sister of Yaroslaf as his concubine, 59. Attempt to poison, 59. Forced to fly from Kief, 59. 

Boleslas II. (of Poland) reception of Ysiaslaf by, 63. Robs Ysiaslaf and expels him, 63. Refunds the treasure, 65. 

Bosporus, the Greeks plant their colonies along the shore of the, 17. 

Bulgaria conquered by Sviatoslaf, 46. The capital conveyed from Kief to, 48. Conquered by Georges, 72. Condition of, 100; expedition against, 101. 

C. 

Caucasus, the eagles of the Russians planted on the, 18. 

Catharine I. , first appearance of, 333. Public marriage of, with Peter, 345. Crowned empress, 361. Assumes the government, 364. Death of, 365. 

Catharine II. , early life of, 380. Autobiography of, 381. Seizes the throne, 392. Manifesto of, on the death of Peter III. , 403. Her labors and reforms, 404. Administration of, 405. Urged by her ministers to marry, 407. Numerous titles of, 409. 

Catharine II. , attempt to assassinate, 410. Inoculation of, 413. Entertainments of, 415. Her schemes with Henry, Prince of Prussia, 417. Conquers the Turks, 418. Correspondence of, 422. Peace with Turkey effected by, 425. Personal appearance of, 426. Conspiracy against, 427. Interview of, with Joseph II. , 437. Her education of her children, 439. Erection of the statue to Peter the Great by, 439. Seizes the Crimea, 441. Secures peace with Turkey, 444. Toleration of, 445. Her journey to the Crimea, 448. Makes war on Poland. 451. Death of, 452. Character of, 453. 

Chanceller (Captain) voyage of, 245. 

Charles XII. (of Sweden) ascends the throne, 328. Conquers the Russians, 329. Drives Augustus from Poland, 335. Wounded, 338. Utter defeat of, 339. Escape of, from Turkey, 346. Death of, 360. 

Chemyaka, see Dmitri. 

Cherson, church built at, in commemoration of the baptism of Vladimir, 55. 

Children, the female allowed to be killed, 24. 

China, irruption of the Tartars into, 115. 

Christians, persecution of the, by the Tartars, 136. 

Christianity, its entrance into Russia, 29. Diffusion of, into Souzdal, 83. Attempts of André to extend, 96. 

Chronology of Russia: Rurik, Sineous and Truvor jointly rule over Russia, 27. Rurik succeeds Sineous and Truvor, 28. Ascolod and Dir reign over a portion of Russia, 29. Oleg succeeds Ascolod and Dir, 31. Igor succeeds Oleg, 38. Olga succeeds Oleg, 42. Sviatoslaf succeeds Olga, 45. Yaropolk succeeds Olga, 50. Vladimir succeeds Yaropolk, 52. Sviatopolk succeeds Vladimir, 59. Yaroslaf succeeds Sviatopolk, 60. Vseslaf succeeds Yaroslaf, 62. Ysiaslaf succeeds Vseslaf, 63. Vsevolod succeeds Ysiaslaf, 66. Sviatopolk succeeds Vsevolod, 69. Monomaque succeeds Sviatopolk, 71. Mstislaf succeeds Monomaque, 75. Vladimirovitch succeeds Mstislaf, 77. Vsevolod succeeds Vladimirovitch, 77. Igor succeeds Vsevolod, 78. Ysiaslaf succeeds Igor, 78. Rostislaf succeeds Ysiaslaf, 81. Georges succeeds Rostislaf, 81. Davidovitch succeeds Georges, 82. Rostislaf succeeds Davidovitch, 83. Georgievitch succeeds Rostislaf, 84. Mstislaf Ysiaslavitch succeeds Georgievitch, 86. André succeeds Mstislaf, 89. Michel succeeds André, 97. Vsevolod succeeds Michel, 100. Georges succeeds Vsevolod, 104. Octai succeeds Georges, 125. Bati succeeds Octai, 127. Dmitri of Moscow secures the throne, 146. Tamerlane succeeds Dmitri, 155. Ivan III. Throws off the Mogol power, 172. Vassili succeeds Ivan III. , 191. Hélène (as regent) succeeds Vassili, 205. Schouisky (as regent) succeeds Hélène, 208. Ivan Belsky (as regent) succeeds Schouisky, 209. Ivan IV. Seizes his throne, 214. Feodor succeeds Ivan IV. , 270. Boris succeeds Feodor, 275. Feodor II. Succeeds Boris, 279. Dmitri succeeds Feodor II. , 280. Zuski succeeds Dmitri, 283. Michel Feodor Romanow elected king, 287. Alexis succeeds Romanow, 291. Feodor succeeds Alexis, 299. Sophia (as regent) succeeds Feodor, 303. Peter I. Succeeds Sophia, 310. Catharine succeeds Peter I. , 364. Peter II. Succeeds Catharine, 365. Anne succeeds Peter II. , 367. Ivan V. Succeeds Anne, 368. Elizabeth succeeds Ivan V. , 369. Peter III. Succeeds Elizabeth, 387. Catharine II. Succeeds Peter III, 403. Paul I. Succeeds Catharine II. , 454. Alexander succeeds Paul I. , 471. Nicholas succeeds Alexander I. , 502. Alexander II. Succeeds Nicholas, 517. During the Tartar reign, only the Tartar conqueror is usually given. 

Church built at Cherson, 55. Built on the site of the idol of Péroune, 56. 

Civilization, the Russians indebted to the Greeks for their, 168. 

Commerce of Russia, 113. Between England and Russia, 247. Increase of, 249. 

Constantine (prince of Yaroslavle) claims the throne, 104. Turns Kostroma, 104. Ascends the imperial throne, 108. Effeminacy of, 108. Death of, 109. 

Constantine resigns his right to the throne, 498. 

Constantinople, the city of, 168. 

"Court Favorite" office of the, 430. 

Crimea, taken possession of by Vladimir, 54. 

Crusaders driven from the imperial city, 103. 

Cyrille (bishop of Novgorod) effects a treaty between Novgorod and the Tartars, 131. 

D. 

Dacia, the countries forming the province of, 19. Conquered and divided by Trajan, 19. 

Daniel (of Gallicia) attempts of, to emancipate Russia, 126. Crowned emperor, 126. 

Daniel (prince of Moscow) declares independence, 134. 

Davidovitch (of Tchernigof) invited to seize the throne of Russia, 82. Driven from the throne by Rostislaf, 83. Flight of, to Moscow, 83. 

Danielovitch (Jean) appointed Grand Prince by the Tartars, 142. Reign and death of, 143. 

Diana, temple of, burned at Ephesus, 19. 

Diderot, Visit of, to Catharine, and her correspondence with him, 423. 

Dimsdale (Dr. Thomas) introduces inoculation, 411. 

Discoveries during the reign of Ivan, 190. 

Dnieper, baptism of the nation in the, 56. Plunder of the commerce on the, 86. 

Dimitri ascends the throne, 133. Drives André from Novgorod, 133. Disasters and death of, 134. 

Dimitri (son of Michel) assassinates Georges, 140. Execution of, 141. 

Dmitri (of Souzdal) accession of, to the throne, 146. Deposed, 146. 

Dmitri (of Moscow) crowned sovereign, 146. Conquers the Tartars, 147. Wounded, 152. Death of, 156. 

Dmitri Chemyaka assumes the government, 166; death of, 166. 

Dmitri (prince, son of Ivan IV. ) assassination of, 274. Griska claims to be, 278. See Griska. 

Dmitry declines the throne, 131. 

Drevliens, debasement of the tribe of, 25. Revolt of the, against Igor, 38. Their punishment and enthusiasm of, for Olga, 42. 

Droutsk burned by Yaropolk, 73. 

E. 

Eastern Question, the cause of the present war of the, 507. 

Ecclesiastical Council called to rectify evils in the church, 132. 

Elizabeth (daughter of Peter the Great) conspiracy of, 368. Seizes the throne, 369. Victories of, over Frederic of Prussia, 375. Death of, 377. Character of, 378. 

Embassador of André insulted, 92. The first from Russia, 248. 

Emigration of Russians to the mouth of the Volga, 97. 

Emperors, see Russia and Chronology. 

England, influence of, in Europe, 244. Amicable arrangement of Russia with, 249. Friendship between Russia and, 248. 

Entertainment, description of a royal, 415. 

Etiquette, laws of, as to young ladies, 203. 

Eylau, battle of, 483. 

F. 

Famine in Russia, 105. 

Feodor (son of Ivan IV. ) ascends the throne, 270. His incapacity, 273. Death of, 274. 

Feodor (son of Alexis) ascends throne, 299. Makes peace with Poland, 300. Marriage of, 301. Death of, 302. 

Feudal System, implanting of the, 28. 

G. 

Genghis Khan, pretended divine authority of, 115. Irruption into China, 115. Burns Bokhara, 116. Recalls his troops from Russia, 118. Death of, 118. Nominates Octai as his successor, 118. See Temoutchin. 

George (son of André) sent embassador to Novgorod, 92. Returns to Moscow, 94. 

Georges (son of Monomaque) expedition of, to Bulgaria, 72. 

Georges (of Moscow) assists Sviatoslaf, 79. Enters Kief in triumph, 80. Drives Rostislaf from the throne, 81. Death of, 81. 

Georges I. (brother of Vsevolod) ascends the Russian throne, 104. Burns Rostof, 104. Defeated by Mstislaf, 106. Surrenders himself to Mstislaf, and exiled, 108. Disappears from history, 108. 

Georges II. Ascends throne of Russia, 109. Attacks Ochel, 109. Founds Nijni Novgorod, 110. Death of, 122. 

Georges III (of Moscow) obtains assistance from the Tartars, 136. Defeated by Michel, 137. Secures the throne, 140. Assassination of, 140. 

Georgievitch (of Souzdal) Davidovitch seeks aid from, 83. His system of government, 84. 

Ghirei (Devlet) character of, 251. 

Gleb (prince of Minsk) takes Sloutsk, 73. Capture and death of, 73. 

Gleb left in possession of Kief; flight of, 89. 

Gordon (General) entrusted with the royal troops, 317. 

Gostomysle raises an embassy to visit the Normans, 27. 

Goths, devastation of the, 19. Empire of the, 20. Suicide of Hermanric, king of the, 20. 

Greece, overrun by the Avars, 22. Invaded by Monomaque, 72. 

Greek Church, declared to be the best, 53. 

Greeks, colonies of the, on the Bosporus, 17. Coalesce with the Bulgarians and expel Sviatoslaf, 48. 

Gregory VII. , see Pope. 

Griska assumes to be prince Dmitri, and invades Russia, 278. Crowned emperor, 280. Perplexities of, 281. Marriage of, by proxy, 281. Death of, 283. Polish adventurer claims to be, 284. Hung at Moscow, 286. 

Gudenow (Boris) his supremacy over Feodor, 271. Assassinates Dmitri, 274. His subterfuge to obtain the throne, 275. Crowned emperor, 276. 

Gustavus III. , interview of Catharine with, 443. 

Gyda, wife of Monomaque, 75. 

H. 

Hélène appointed regent of Ivan IV. , 204. Despotic atrocities of, 204. Death of, 207. 

Hellespont, origin of the name, 507. 

Henry IV. (of Germany) solicited to aid Ysiaslaf, 63. 

Henry (prince of Prussia) visits Catharine, 414. Schemes of, with Catharine, 417. 

Hereditary Descent the cause of war, 112. 

Hermanric, suicide of king, 20. 

Hermitage, description of the, 416. 

Herodotus, his account of the interior of Russia, 17. 

Holy Alliance, formation of the, 493. 

Hungary, aid from, sent to Ysiaslaf, 80. Alliance of, with Russia, 183. Revolt of, against Austria, 513. 

Huns, Russia devastated by the, 20. Revolting appearance of the, 20. 

Huns, Attila, king of the, 21. Disappearance of the, 21. 

I. 

Idols, the Greek and Sclavonian, 26. Destruction of the, in Russia, 55. 

Igor, assumes the government of Russia under the guardianship of Oleg, 30. Fears to claim his crown, 32. His love and marriage, 33. Assumes the government of Russia, 38. Attack on Constantinople, 39. His defeat by the Greeks, 39. Second attack on Constantinople, 40. Concludes treaty with the Greeks, 40. Death of, 41. 

Igor II. Receives throne of Russia, 78. Made prisoner, 78. Enters a convent, 78. Assassination of, 79. 

Ilmen, army on the shores of the lake of, 80. 

Impostor, see Griska. 

Inventions during the reign of Ivan III. , 190. 

Ivan III. Ascends the throne, 168. Early marriage of, 168. Captures Kezan, 170. Affianced to Sophia of Greece, 174. Marriage of, 175. His reforms, 176. Letter of Vassian to, 179. Proposals for the marriage of his daughter, 185. Letter of, to Sultan Bajazet II. , 186. Letter of the Sultan to, 188. Death of the wife of, 189. Marriage of the son of, 189. Death of, 189. Discoveries and inventions during the reign of, 190. 

Ivan IV. Acknowledged as tzar, 204. Asserts claim to the throne, 213. Coronation of, 214. Marriage of, 216. Change in the character of, 221. His address to the people, 223. Defeat of, by the Tartars, 226. Capture of Kezan by, 235. Enthusiastic reception of, 237. Serious illness of, 240. Rebuke of, to Sweden, 252. Attaches Livonia, to Russia, 253. Death of the wife of, 255. Matrimonial projects with Poland, 255. Abdication of, 256. Petitioned to resume the throne, 257. Good will of England to, 259. Flight of, 261. Strives to be umpire in Poland, 263. Defiant demands of Poland on, 264. Unpopularity of, 266. Death of his son, depression at, 267. Death of, 268. His sons, 270. 

Ivan V. Succeeds to the throne, 368. Deposed by Elizabeth. 368. Imprisonment and sufferings of, 370. Assassination of, 371. 

Ivan (brother of Peter I. ) seclusion and death of, 310. 

Ivanovitch (Jean, of Moscow) reign and death of, 146. 

J. 

Jacob (General) deserts the Russians and defends Azov, 315. Captured and hung, 315. 

Jean, base flattery of, to Machmet, 162. 

Jean Danielovitch, see Danielovitch. 

Jena, battle of, 482. 

Jews, attempt of André to convert the, 96. 

Joseph II. (of Germany) eccentricity of, 437. Visit to St. Petersburg, 438. 

K. 

Kavgadi, taken possession of by Michel, 137. 

Kezan, captured by Ivan III. , 170. Siege of, 229. Capture of, 235. Insurrection in, 240. 

Khan see Genghis. 

Khozars, the, conquered by Sviatoslaf, 46. 

Kief, beauty of the city of, 28. The Norman adventurers Ascolod and Dir remain there, 29. Taken by Oleg, 31. The capital of Russia transferred from, to Bulgaria, 48. Captured by Vladimir, 52. Decoration of, by Yaroslaf, 61. Punishment of, by Ysiaslaf, 63. Destruction of the citizens of, 66. Government offered to Monomaque, 70. Festival in honor of the new reign, 71. The inhabitants of, invite Vladimirovitch to ascend the throne of, 76. Triumphal entrance of Georges into, 80. Roman appointed prince of, 92. Plundered by the Tartars, 124. 

Kolomna, emigration from Moscow to, 163. 

Kostroma, burned by Constantine, 104. 

Kothian (prince of Polovtsi) retreats to Hungary, 123. 

Koulikof, battle of, 149. 

Kouria (chief of the Petchénègues) defeats Sviatoslaf and makes a drinking cup of his skull, 49. 

L. 

Ladislaus elected emperor, 286. His election declared void, 287. 

Laharpe, efforts of, for the education of Alexander, 473. 

Leczinsky (Stanislaus) placed on the Polish throne, 335. 

Leon (of Constantine) imbecility of, 35. 

Library, foundation of the royal, of St. Petersburg, 345. 

Lippenow (Zachary) puts the Polish garrison to death, 287. 

London, Peter the Great's visit to, 322. 

London Postman, extract from the, 322. 

M. 

Macedon, see Philip of. 

Machmet, flattery of Jean to, 162. 

Mahomet II. , wars with Genghis Khan, 116. Death of, 116. 

Marcow (Russian embassador) ordered to leave France, 476. 

Maria (wife of Vsevolod III. ) character of, 102. 

Marriage, singular customs in, 289. 

Martyrs, Ivan and Theodore, the first Christians, 53. 

Menzikoff, sketch of the life of, 336. Banished by Frederic II. , 366. Death of, 366. 

Michael III. (of Constantinople), 29. 

Michel (of Tchernigof, son of Monomaque) offered the throne of Russia, 97. His reign and death, 98. 

Michel (of Tver) succeeds André on the throne of Russia, 136. Presents himself before the Tartar horde, 138. Execution of, 140. 

Missionaries sent through Russia to teach Christianity, 56. 

Mogols, character of the, 113. Civilization of the, 143. 

Moldavia, the inhabitants of, 83. 

Monarchy, recapitulation of the Russian, 110; see Chronology. 

Monomaque offered the Russian crown, 70. He declines it, 71. Goes to the rescue of Kief, 71. His expeditions to extend the empire, 72. Sons of, 72. Conquers the invaders from the Caspian Sea, 72. Expedition against Greece, 72. "golden bonnet" of, 73. Death of, 73. Parting letter of, to his children, 74. Wife of, 75. 

Moroson, ambitious schemes of, 291. Marriage of, 292. 

Moscow, first historical mention of, 79. Supremacy of, 83. Capture of, 89. Burned, 98. Captured by Bati, 120. Flight of Georges II. From, 121. Becomes the capital, 142. Burned by the Tartars, 154. Appearance of, in 1520, 202. Destroyed by fire, 218. Grand fête at, 239. Destroyed by the Tartars, 261. Burned by the Poles, 287. 

Mstislaf (son of Monomaque) his expeditions and victories, 72. Succeeds his father, 75. Death of, 76. 

Mstislaf Ysiaslavitch, succeeds Rostislaf over Russia, 86. Proclamation of, 87. Flight of, from Kief, 89. Return to Kief, 89. Death of, 90. 

Mstislaf (son of André) ambition of, 90. Summoned Novgorod to surrender, 91. Defeat of, 91. 

Mstislaf (prince of Galitch) appears in public, 105. Aids Constantine, 105. Defeats Georges, 106. Beaten by the Tartars, 117. 

Munich (General) advice of, to Peter, 395. Appearance of, before Catharine, 401. 

N. 

Napoleon, victories of, 465. Returns Russian prisoners, 467. 

Napoleon, remarks of, on Paul I. , 472. Reply of, to Alexander, 478. Victorious at Austerlitz, 479. Letter of, to king of Prussia, 485. Exiled to Elba, 493. Signs the "Holy Alliance, " 496. 

Nepeia, the first Russian embassador, 248. His reception in London, 248. 

Nestor, record of, of the Christians in Constantinople, 41. 

Nicholas, takes oath of allegiance to Constantine, 501. Ascends the throne, 502. Puts down the rebellion, 503. Power of, 506. Assists Turks against Egypt, 513. Crushes Hungarian revolt, 513. Defeated at Sevastopol, 514. Death of, 517. 

Nijni Novgorod, Georges II. Founds the city of, 110. 

Noble, requisite for becoming a, 25. 

Normans, at first called Scandinavians, 23. Early power and discoveries of, 23. Superior civilization of the, 26. 

Notre Dame, burial of Ysiaslaf in, 66. 

Novgorod, Rurik establishes his court at, 27. Annexed by Georgievitch, 84. Successful defense of, 91. Rurik appointed prince of, 92. George sent to, to adjust the difficulties in, 92. 

O. 

Octai succeeds Genghis Khan, 118. Letter of, to the king of France, 127

Oleg, the guardian of Igor, 30. Assassinates Ascolod and Dir, 31. Dominion of, 31. Attempts a march upon Constantinople, 33. The expedition, 35. His treaty with the Greeks, 36. Death of, 37. His popularity and labors for Russia, 38. (son of Sviatoslaf) receives the government of the Drevliens, 48. Defeated by Yaropolk, 49. Death of, 50. Bones of, disinterred and baptised, 61. 

Olga (wife of Igor) assumes the regency, 42. She punishes the Drevliens, 42. Conversion of, to Christianity, 43. Baptised by the name of Helen, 44. Death of, 46. 

Orlof (count) haughty behavior of, 407. 

Ottoman Porte, manifesto of the, 442. 

P. 

Paganism in Russia demolished at a blow, 56. 

Paul I. (son of Catharine) marriage of, 421. Death of his wife, 432. Visit of, to Frederick, 433. Marriage of, 436. Travels of, 438. Ignorance of, 454. Extravagance of, 455. Reëstablishment of ancient etiquette, 456. A horse court-martialed by, 457. Reason for his caprices, 458. Fury of, on learning his defeat, 465. Letter of, to Napoleon, 467. Surrounding influences of, 468. Conspiracy against, 469. Assassination of, 470. 

Pekin burned by the Tartars, 115. 

Pereaslavle, the territory of, given to Vsevolod, 61. 

Peregeslavetz, reconquered, and made the capital by Sviatoslaf, 48. 

Periaslavle, battle of the city of, 80. 

Péroune, one of the gods of the Russians, 41. The idol of, destroyed, 55. 

Petchénègues, Igor purchases peace with the, 39. Sviatoslaf defeated by the, 49. 

Peter I. (the Great) marriage of, 309. Attempted assassination of, 309. His return to Moscow, 310. Indications of greatness, 311. His passion for the ocean, 312. Settles Chinese difficulties, 314. Captures Azof, 315. Resolves to travel incognito, 316. His attack on La Fort, 317. His residence at Zaandam, 318 his recognition, 319. Anecdotes of, 320. His thirst for knowledge, 321. Visit to London, 322. Return to Moscow, 325. His reforms in the church, 326. Change of the calendar, 327. Troubles of, with Sweden, 328. Coolness on hearing of the defeat of his army, 329. Founds St. Petersburg, 332. Captures Marienburg, 333. Meets Catharine and privately marries her, 333. Defeats Charles XII. , 339. Demands of, on Queen Anne, 341. Reply of Anne to, 342. Captures Livonia, 342. Desperate condition of, 343. Public marriage of, 345. Journeys of, 346. Residence in Paris, 349. Letters of, to Alexis, 351. Arraigns his son for high treason, 356. Effects a peace with Sweden, 360. Causes coronation of Catharine, 361. Death of, 362. Inscription on the tomb of, 368. Statue erected to, 440. 

Peter II. , regency of, 365. Death of, 366. 

Peter III. , succeeds Elizabeth, 377. Early life of, and acquaintance with Catharine, 380. Determines to repudiate Catharine, 390. Alarm of, on the escape of Catharine, 395. Abject humiliation of, 398. Abdication of, 399. Assassination of, 402. 

Peterhoff, the palace of, 504. 

Philip (of Macedon) conquers the Scythians, 18. 

Plague, devastations of the, 419. 

Poland, aid from, to Ysiaslaf, 80. Stephen Bathori elected king, 261. Demands of, on Russia, 264. Conquests of, 255. Conquests of Alexis in, 295. Death of the king of, 298. John Sobieski chosen king of, 298. Stanislaus Leczinsky placed on the throne of, 335. Degeneration of, 414. Sliced by Russia, Austria and Prussia, 420. Rebellion in, 513. 

Poles, rise of the, 513. 

Polotsk, captured by Vlademer, 52. 

Polovtsi, the nation of, 123. 

Pope (Gregory VII. ) promises to assist Ysiaslaf, 64. Letter of, to Ysiaslaf, 64. Letter of, to the king of Poland, 65. 

Pope (Innocent III. ) his letter to the Russian clergy, 102. 

Poppel (Nicholas) visit of, to Russia, 184. Solicits the daughter of Ivan for Albert of Baden, 184. 

Porphyrogenete, the emperor of Constantinople, 43. 

Pugatshef, conspiracy of, 427. Execution of, 429. 

Pultowa, battle of, 339. Festival, 346. 

R. 

Religion of the Sclavonians, 26. 

Republicanism, first indication of, 131. 

Rogneda, refusal of, to marry Vlademer, 51. Forced to marry Vlademer, 52. 

Roman (prince of Smolensk) appointed prince of Novgorod, 92. 

Romanow (Michael Feodor) elected emperor, 287. Marriage of, 290. Prosperous reign, and death, 291. 

Rome purchases peace of the Sarmatians, 18. 

Romish Church, its dominion over the Greek church, 102

Rostislaf succeeds to the throne of Russia, 18. Driven from the throne by Georges, 82. Expels Davidovitch from the throne, 83. Death of, 86. 

Rostof burned by Georges, 104. 

Rovgolod (governor of Polotsk) his daughter demanded by Vlademer, 51. Death of, 52. 

Rurik, Sineous, and Truvor, consent to govern Scandinavia, 27. Unites the territories of his brothers to his own, 28. Death of, 30. His crown descends to Igor, his son, 30. 

Rurik (brother of André) appointed prince of Novgorod, 92. 

Russia, history of, 17. After disappearance of the Huns, 21. Earliest reliable information of, 23. Sudden rise of, from the Sclavonians, 26. Derivation of the name of, 27. Confusion of, in consequence of the death of Sviatoslaf, 49. United under Yaropolk, 50. Years of pence under Vlademer, 57. Division of the empire of, 57. Calamity to, by the death of Yaroslaf, 62. Death penalty abolished in, 66. Misery and suffering in, 66. Vsevolod succeeds Ysiaslaf in the government of, 66. Sviatopolk assumes crown of, 59. Abandoned to destruction, 69. Monomaque offered crown of, 70. Invaded by the Caspian hordes, 72. Mstislaf becomes emperor of, 75. Famine and pestilence in, 76. Throne of, seized by Viatcheslaf, 77. Throne of, seized by Vsevolod, 77. Throne of, demised to Igor, 78. Varied fortunes of, 81. Rostislaf succeeds Ysiaslaf in the government of, 81. Georges secures the throne of, 82. Mstislaf Ysiaslavitch succeeds Rostislaf as emperor of, 86. Union of the princes of, 87. Old feuds in, revived, 88. Fall of the capital of, 89. André succeeds Mstislaf Ysiaslavitch as emperor of, 89. André becomes monarch of, 95. Michel offered the throne of, 97. Michel's reign over, 98. Accession of Vsevelod III. , 98. Georges ascends the throne of, 104. Famine in, 105. Constantine ascends throne of, 108. Georges II. Ascends throne of, 109. Recapitulation of the establishment of the monarchy of, 110. Subdivision of, 111. Yaroslaf, prince of Kief, ascends the throne of, 123. In the power of Bati, 125. Annihilated as a kingdom, 126. Dmitri ascends the throne of, 133. André ascends the throne of, 133. Ceases to be a monarchy, 135. Evils to, resulting from the death of André, 136. Michel succeeds André, 136. Georges of Moscow succeeds Michel, 140. Alexander succeeds Georges, 141. Jean Danielovitch succeeds Alexander, 142. Simeon succeeds Danielovitch, 143. Accession of Ivanovitch, 146. Accession of Dmitri of Souzdal, 146. Accession of Dmitri of Moscow, 146. Again brought under Tartar rule, 155. Vassali ascends the throne of, 156. Vassali Vassalievitch ascends the throne of, 162. Ivan III. Ascends the throne of, 168. Rise of, in estimation of Europe, 172. Invaded by the Mogols, 177. Alliance of, with Hungary, 183. Vassili ascends the throne of, 191. Splendor of the court of, 199. Invaded by Sigismond, 205. Hélène assumes the regency of, 204. Vassali Schouisky succeeds Hélène in, 208. Ivan Schouisky succeeds Vassali, 208. Ivan Belsky chosen regent of, 209. Ivan IV. Ascends the throne of, 214. News of the discovery of, arrives in England, 246. Commerce with England, 247. The first embassador from, 248. Livonia attached to, 253. Peril of, 265. Feodor ascends the throne of, 270. Boris Gudenow crowned, 276. Griska crowned king of, 280. Zuski elected emperor of, 283. Ladislaus elected king of, 285. Romanow elected emperor of, 287. Alexis succeeds Romanow, 291. Feodor succeeds Alexis, 299. Sophia, as regent for Ivan, succeeds Feodor, 303. Peter succeeds Sophia, 310. Catharine I. Succeeds Peter I. , 364. Peter II. Succeeds Catharine I. , 365. Anne succeeds Peter II. , 367. Ivan V. Succeeds Anne, 368. Elizabeth succeeds Ivan V. , 369. Peter III. Succeeds Elizabeth, 377. Catharine II. , accession of, 403. Desolation of, by the Plague, 419. Vast wealth of the court of, 420. Judicial divisions of, 431. Difficulties between Turkey and, 438. Paul I. Succeeds Catharine II. , 454 Alexander succeeds Paul I. , 471. Absence of bookstores in, 475. Treaty between France and, 476. Nicholas succeeds Alexander I. , 502. Extent of the territory of, 506. Alexander II. Succeeds Nicholas, 517. 

Russians, description of the early, 23. Their mode of warfare, 23. Retreat of the, before Akhmet, 181. 

"Russian Justice, " the code called, drawn by Yaroslaf, 62. 

S. 

Samarcande destroyed by the Tartars, 116. 

Sarmatia, Scythian name changed to, 18. 

Scandinavians, called also Normans, 23. See also Normans. 

Schevkal conquered by the Tverians, 141. 

Schlippenbuch (Col. ), heroism of, 331. 

Schlit sent to induce emigration of illustrious men, 224. Arrested by Charles V. , 225. 

Schouisky (Vassali) declares himself Tzar; death of, 208. 

Schouisky (Ivan) succeeds his brother Vassali, 208. Dismissal of, 209. Assassinates Belsky and secures the regency, 212. 

Sclavonians, conquests of the, 22. Early religion of the, 26. Send to the Normans to demand a king, 26. 

Schools introduction of, 57. Character of the, 475. 

Scythians, irruption of the, into Russia, 17. Character of the, 18. Name changed to "Sarmatians, " 18. 

Sevastopol, siege of, 514. 

Siberia, position and character of, 273. 

Sigismond (of Poland) invades Russia, 205. 

Simeon (son of Danielovitch) ascends the throne, 143 (son of Jean) acquires the title of the Superb, 144. Death of, 145. 

Sineous, Rurik, and Truvor, consent to govern Scandinavia, 27. Death of, 28. 

Slave, the use of the word abolished, 327

Slavery in Russia, 202. 

Slave Trade, argument used for the, 100. 

Sloutsk, burned by Gleb, 73. 

Smolensk, Truvor establishes his court near, 27. Gains territory of Viatcheslaf, 61. Flight of, Ysiaslaf to, 80. 

Sophia instigates a massacre, 304. Appointed as regent, 306. Quells an insurrection, 307. Returns to Moscow, 308. Sends first embassador to France, 308. Attempts to assassinate Peter, 309. Termination of the regency of, 310. Insurrection headed by, 325. 

Souzdal increasing civilization of, 83. Sympathy of the people of, for Sviatoslaf, 79. The country of, desolated, 80. 

Staradoub, siege of, 206. 

St. Petersburg, founding of, 334. Arrival of first ship at, 335. Swedes driven from, 336. The winter palace of, 505. 

St. Sophia, burial of Vsevolod in the church of, 68. 

Succession, the Russian right of, 112. 

Suwarrow (Gen. ), character and origin of, 461. His hatred of the French, 462. Vanquishes Moreau, 464. Utter defeat of, 465. 

Sviatopolk (the Miserable) seizes Russia and kills his brothers, 58. Defeated by Yaroslaf, 59. Drives Yaroslaf from Kief, 59. Poisons the Polish army, 59. Driven from Kief, 59. Raises an army of Petchénègues, 59. Flight and death of, 60. 

Sviatopolk assumes the government of Russia, 69. Defeat and flight of, 69. Character and death of, 70. 

Sviatoslaf, son of Igor, 42. His opposition to embracing Christianity, 44. Assumes the crown, 45. His character and ambition, 45. Conquers the Khozars, 46. Annexes Bulgaria, 46. Indulgencies of, 47. Transfers his capital from Kief to Bulgaria, 48. The sons of, 48. Reconquers Peregeslavetz, 48. Driven from Bulgaria, 48. Personal appearance of, 49. Defeat of, by the Petchénègues, and death of, 49. Tchernigof given to, 61. Death of, 65. 

Sviatoslaf, (grandson of Oleg) given the command of the troops of André, 93. Defeated at Vouoychegorod, 94. 

Sviatoslaf (prince of Tchernigof) marches against Vsevelod, 99. Establishes his court at Novgorod, 99. Treaty of, with Vsevelod, 100. Marriage of, 100. 

Sviatosolaf (brother of Igor) attempts to recover the throne for Igor, 78. Conquered by Ysiaslaf, 79. 

Sylvestre, bold address of, to Ivan IV. , 221

T. 

Tamerlane invades Russia, 153. History of, 157. 

Tartars, reign of the, 113. Plunder Kief, 124. Embrace Mahommedanism, 131. Defeat of the, by Dmitri, 151. Panic and retreat of the, 181. 

Tchanibek assassinates his brother and assumes the Tartar rule, 144. 

Tchernigof, the territory of, given to Sviatoslaf, 61. 

Tchoudes, the, conquered by Mstislaf, 76. 

Temoutchin rise of, 114. Assumes the name of Genghis Khan, 115. See Genghis Khan. 

Theology, the Tartars, 127. 

Tilsit, peace of, 487. 

Toleration in religion granted by Oleg, 33. Of Vladimir, 56. 

Trajan, province of Dacia conquered by, 19. 

Treaty of Oleg with the Greeks, 86. 

Tribute exacted by the Tartars, 129. 

Truvor, Rurik, and Sineous, consent to govern Scandinavia, 27. Death of, 28. 

Turkey overrun by the Russians, 419. Peace with, 425. Treaty between, and Russia, 513. 

Turkish Question, see Eastern Question. 

Tzars, see Chronology and Russia. 

U. 

Usbeck (king of the Tartars) great hunting expedition of, 138. Appoints Alexander, son of Michel, to the throne of Russia, 141. Death of, 144. 

V. 

Vassali, succeeds Yaroslaf, 132. Death of, 132. Dmitri succeeds, 133. Ascends the throne, 155. Death of, 161. 

Vassalievitch ascends the throne, 162. Deposed by Youri, 163. Returns to Moscow, 164. Capture of, 165. His eyes torn out, 165. Re-captures Moscow, 166. Change in character of, 166 death of, 167. 

Vassian (archbishop of Moscow) letter of, to Ivan III. , 179. Honor and death of, 183. (of Kolumna) advice of, to Ivan IV. , 242. 

Vassili (son of Ivan III. ) marriage of, 189. Ascends the throne, 191. Treaty of, with the Tartars, 192. Embassage from, to the Turks, 193. Embassage from the Turks to, 194. Embassage from Germany to, 194. Unites with Poland against the Turks, 197. Death of, 198. 

Viatcheslaf, the territory of, given to Smolensk, 61. 

Viatcheslaf seizes the throne of Kief, 77. Surrender of, to Vsevolod, 77. 

Vlademer (illegitimate son of Sviatoslaf) receives command of Novgorod, 48. Flight of, 50. He demands the daughter of Rovgolod, 51. Reply of Rogneda to, 51. The mother of, 51. Captures Polotsk, kills Rovgolod and marries Rogneda, 52. Captures Kief, 52. Assassinates Yaropolk, 52. Sacrifices children to idols, 53. Conversion of, to Christianity, 53. Demands Anne of Constantinople as his bride, 54. Marriage of, 55. His efforts to expel paganism, 55. Toleration of, 56. Excessive benevolence of, 57. Death of, 57. Sviatopolk succeeds him, 58. Surrenders his crown to Sviatopolk, 69. 

Vladimir captured, 122. 

Vladimirovitch invited to take the throne of Russia, 76. Death of, 77. 

Voltaire, library of, purchased by Catharine, 446. 

Vouoychegorod, heroic defense of the fortress of, 93. 

Vseslaf proclaimed king, 62. 

Vsevolod, the territory of Pereaslavle given to, 61. Succeeds Ysiaslaf, 66. Character of, 67. Death of, 68. 

Vsevolod III. , accession of, to the Russian throne, 98. Seizes the embassadors of Sviatoslaf, 99. Seizes Novgorod, 100. Treaty with Sviatoslaf, 100. Expedition against Bulgaria, 101. Death of; wife of, 102. 

Vsevolod (son of Monomaque) expedition of, to Finland, 72. Establishes himself on the throne at Kief, 77. Death of 78. 

W. 

Woman, indignities to which she was subjected, 24. 

Y. 

Yaropolk (son of Sviatoslaf) receives the government of Kief, 48. Conquers Oleg, 49. Russia united under him, 50. The betrothed of, 51. Assassinated, 52. The bones of, disinterred and baptized, 61. (son of Monomaque), expedition to the Don, 72. Conquered by beauty, 72, marriage of, 72. Captures Gleb, burns Droutsk, 73. 

Yaroslaf, march of, against his brother Sviatopolk, 58. Defeats Sviatopolk, 59. Driven from Kief, 59. Drives Sviatopolk from Kief, 59. Conquers him on the banks of the Alta, 59. Secures the government of Russia, 60. Prosperity of Russia under the rule of, 60. Attempts of, to educate the Russians, 60. Letter of, to his children, and bequests of, 61. Death of, 61. Works of, 61. 

Yaroslaf (prince of Kief) ascends the Russian throne, 123. Energy and nobility of, 123. Commanded to appear before Bati, 125. Sent to Octai, 125. Death of, 126. 

Yaroslaf (of Tiver) succeeds Alexander, 130. Accused by the people, 130. Humiliation of, and exile, 131. Sends embassadors to the Tartars; death of, 131. Vassali succeeds, 132. 

Youri captures Moscow and deposes Vassili, 163. Death of, 164. 

Ysiaslaf I. (son of Yaroslaf) nominated emperor of Russia by his father, 61. Troubles and flight of, 62. His reception in Poland, 63. His punishment of Kief, 63. Flight of, to Germany, 63. Implores aid of the Pope, 64. Recovers his kingdom, 65. Death of, 65. 

Ysiaslaf II. Seizes the throne of Russia, 78. Conquers Sviatoslaf, 77. His address to the Novgorodians, 79. Conquered by Georges, 80. Flight of, to Smolensk, 80. Varied fortunes of, 81. Death of, 82. 

Z. 

Zerebrinow, routs the Turks at Azof, 259. 

Zuski heads an insurrection, 282. Elected emperor by the people, 283. Death of, 286. 

Transcriber's Notes:

Many place names are spelled differently in different locations in thisbook; in most cases, these variations in spelling have been retained. 

There is a long list of corrections made to typos and spelling(to make the spelling of names consistent throughout the book):

Table of Contents Chapter VI title: "GHENGHIS KAHN" corrected to "GENGHIS KHAN". Table of Contents Chapter VI description - "Ghenghis" corrected to "Genghis" twice. Table of Contents and Chapter heading - Chapter XIV: "Conquest of Astruchan" corrected to "Conquest of Astrachan". (city is spelled Astrachan consistently in the text. )Table of Contents and Chapter heading - Chapter XV: Changed "Zebrinow" to "Zerebrinow". (as spelled in body text and index. )Chapter II Heading - "Flight of Vladimer" - name corrected to "Vlademer". Page 38: Tribe "Drevlians" mis-spelled "Drevolians". Page 39: "generel" corrected to "general". Chapter III Heading (Page 51), and Page 52: "Valdemer" corrected to "Vlademer". Page 64: "consideraiton" corrected to "consideration", also "Sain" to "Saint". Page 94: "assasinated" corrected to "assassinated". Page 96: "incribed" corrected to "inscribed". Page 104: "Yaroslave" corrected to "Yaroslavle". Page 144: "Pope Beniot XII" corrected to "Benoit". Page 190: "Guttenberg" corrected to "Gutenberg". Page 197: "neccessity" changed to "necessity". Page 206: "sufficent" changed to "sufficient". Page 209: "forgotton" corrected to "forgotten". Page 237: "Ghengis Khan" corrected to "Genghis". Page 246: "apppointed" corrected to "appointed". Page 276: "Erie XIV" corrected to "Eric" (King of Sweden). Page 335: "Stanislaus Leczinsky" corrected to "Leszczynski". Page 359: "difficuly" corrected to "difficulty". Page 373: "Adolpus Frederic" corrected to "Adolphus Frederic" (King of Sweden). Page 421: "acceptd" corrected to "accepted". Page 427: "slide door" corrected to "side door". Page 440: "is" corrected to "it", in phrase "it was floated down the river". Page 445: "Cathraine" corrected to "Catharine". Page 472: "desirious" corrected to "desirous". Page 486: "aids" corrected to "aides". Page 493: "aginst" corrected to "against". Page 498: "promulated" corrected to "promulgated". Page 502: "allgiance" corrected to "allegiance". Page 510: "Mediteranean" corrected to "Mediterranean". 

Corrections made to the Index:

1. Alexis (son of Peter the Great), flight of, should be page 352, not p. 252. 2. Ysiaslaf succeeds Igor, believe it should be page 78, not p. 77. 3. Nicholas defeated at Sevastopol, should be page 514, not p. 574. 4. Ladislaus elected king of Russia, should be page 285, not p. 275. 5. Vsevolod, the territory of Pereaslavle given to, name of territory was mis-spelled "Pereaslable". 6. Catherine mis-spelled and corrected to Catharine, 4 places. A) Catherine I succeeds Peter I in Russia, history of. B) Next line, Peter II succeds Catherine I. C) Several lines below #2, acension of Catherine II. D) Several lines below #3, Paul I succeeds Catherine II. 7. Dimsdale (Dr. Thomas) introduces inoculation, 411. Was mis-spelled "Dinsdale". 8. Dmitry declines the throne, 131. Was mis-spelled "Dimitry". 9. Peter I captures Marienburg; corrected from "Marienberg". 10. Chronolgy of Russia: Early ruler "Rurik" misspelled "Rurick" here; corrected twice. 11. Bulgaria conquered by Sviataslaf, 46. Corrected to "Sviatoslaf". 12. "Alexander (Nevski) puts down a rebellion. . . " corrected to Nevsky. 13. "Droutsk burned by Yaropolok" corrected to Yaropolk. 14. "Gleb (prince of Muisk)" corrected to Minsk. 15. "Oleg defeated by Yarpolk, 46" corrected to Yaropolk, and page 49. 16. Peter I. , his residence at Zaardam, 318 corrected to Zaandam. 17. Poland, Stanislaus Seczinsky placed on the throne of, 335. Corrected to Leczinsky. 18. Russia, united under Yarpolk, 50. Changed to Yaropolk. 19. Russia, Rostislaf succeeds Ysiaslas in the government of, 81. Corrected to Ysiaslaf. 20. Russia, Mistislaf Ysiaslavitch succeeds Rostislaf as emperor of, 86. Corrected to Mstislaf (2 places). 21. Russia, Vassali Schouski succeeds Helene in, 208; also Ivan Schouski succeeds Vassali, 208. In both cases, corrected to Schouisky. 22. Sviatosolf (brother of Igor) attempts to recover the throne for Igor, 78. Corrected to Sviatosolaf. 23. Instances of "Helene" corrected to Hélène. 24. Instances of "Petchenegues" corrected to Petchénègues.