brother Alexander, who also declining to accept it, offered it to a third, that acted after the same manner. The fourth took it, only to present it to a knez, who was not related to the family, and who also refused it. Theodore, therefore, to whom it was now returned, flung it on the floor, saying, "let him be emperor who picks it up." Boris Gudenow then stepped forward, and took it, to the great dissatisfaction of all the Russian nobility, and a considerable part of the nation. It has been suspected, and not without reason, that his brother-in-law, tired of seeing Theodore reign so much longer than he expect ed, administered to him a slow poison. The czarina seemed so well convinced of this cir cumstance, that she reproached Boris with the murder of her husband, and refused to see or speak to him during Theodore's illness.

In this prince terminated the family of Ruric, which had governed Russia upwards of seven hundred years.

CHAP. III.

From the Extinction of the Lineage of Ruric to the Accession of the present reigning Family of Romanow.

THEN the six weeks of mourning

W for the death of Theodore had

A. D.

1597.

expired, Boris assembled the nobility and principal citizens of Moscow, and thus addressed them: "I restore to you the sceptre of the late "czar. After the trial which I have made, I can

"not

"not consent to bear the burden of a crown.

Ι

quit the throne; and do you fill it with whom you please." Having thus spoken, he withdrew, and retired to a monastry at the distance of three miles, leaving the astonished assembly in the utmost perplexity, relative to the manner in which they were to act. Some of his creatures observed, that the present meeting was scarcely sufficiently numerous for determining so important an affair, and that it would be proper and necessary to convene deputies from all the cities and provinces of the empire.

This advice was approved and followed, and, after some debates, Boris was nominated to succeed to the vacant throne; but he artfully refused the crown, and caused a report to be spread by his emissaries, that he was about to seclude himself entirely from the world, and to assume the monastic habit; whilst others of them published a rumour, that the khan of the Tartars was advancing at the head of an innumerable army, to invade Russia when destitute of a sovereign. At this alarming intelligence, the people ran in crowds to the convent, tearing their hair, and beating their breasts, like men frantic with despair, and vowing that they would never quit the place, till Boris should have promised to become their czar. Pretending to be overcome by their prayers and intreaties, he accepts the crown, saying, "Well then, I will "be your sovereign, since providence so or"dains."

At the same time, he ordered all the nobles and the soldiers to meet him at Zirpokow, on the frontiers of the empire, whither he repaired at the appointed time, and where he found an

army

army of five hundred thousand men assembled, and ready to receive his commands. With this immense force he took the field, in order to repel the Tartars, who had no idea of committing the slighest act of hostility. Instead, therefore, of meeting the numerous enemies that had been expected, the only Tartars that appeared was a single ambassador, accompanied by a small train of attendants, who was going to Moscow to propose an alliance with Boris. Counterfeiting, however, great surprise and astonishment, he exhibited to the ambassador the spectacle of his army drawn out in battle array, of a mock engagement, of a military entertainment, and dismissed him loaded with presents. On the nobles and the soldiers he bestowed great largesses, which procured for him a new oath of allegiance. He then displayed his magnificence and liberality, by regaling, during six weeks successively, ten thousand chosen men under rich and sumptuous pavilions, where they were treated with the most exquisite viands, furnished in large profusion.

In the mean time, confidential persons were sent to Moscow, who announced that the Tartars, intimidated by the prudence, and the formidable preparations of the new czar, had not dared to advance. The people, believing this report, walked forth in crowds to meet the pacific conqueror, whom they conducted in triumph into Moscow, where he caused himself to be crowned by the patriarch. During that ceremony, the humane and compassionate Boris made a vow not to shed any blood for five years, nor to condemn criminals to any severer doom than banishment. In consequence, a great num

ber

ber of nobles, who were not in the interest of Boris, were soon sent into exile under various pretexts. Those, who might seem to have any claim to the crown, were prohibited to marry; and Theodore Nikititz Romanow, to whom the late czar had offered his sceptre, was thrown into prison, and separated from his wife. They were afterwards compelled to enter into different convents, to take monastic vows, and to change their names. Theodore assumed that of Philaretus.

A. D.

In the midst, however, of these suc1601. cesses, the bosom of Boris became corroded by chagrin. A terrible famine reduced Moscow, and the adjacent country, to such extremity of distress, that the most shocking cruelties were committed, by the nearest relations upon each other; and, in many families, the fattest persons were killed to supply food for the rest. Even parents devoured their own children, and children their parents; and an ocular witness attests, that a number of assembled women having decoyed a peasant into one of their houses, killed and eat both him and his horse. This dreadful calamity continued for a great length of time; and, notwithstanding the efforts of the emperor to alleviate the general distress, there perished five hundred thousand persons in the city of Moscow only.

To this scourge was added the inquietude excited in the mind of Boris, by the resurrection of Demetrius, whom he had ordered to be murdered. It will be recollected, that a report had been propagated, that the mother of Demetrius, in lieu of her son, had substituted another child, whom she delivered to the assassins, and who,

suffered

suffered in his stead. Whether this Demetrius was the person he pretended to be, or an impostor, is a point difficult to be ascertained. By some means, the report of his being alive, reached the ear of Boris, who, being extremely uneasy at the rumour, employed every possible method to know the truth. Many persons were interrogated, and several questioned by torture. Others were banished; and the mother of Demetrius was removed to an obscure place, six hundred miles from Moscow, where she was strictly confined. At length, however, Boris receiyed certain intelligence, that two mouks had eloped from a convent and escaped into Poland; one of whom was supposed, from his age and figure, to be the person who was the object of his inquiry. The czar tried every means to have Demetrius delivered up to him; but finding his efforts ineffectual for that purpose, he sent a party of Cossacs to murder him, which however, they could not perform. This conduct of Boris naturally confirmed the belief, that this was the real Demetrius, and that the czar was not free from a conviction, that another child had been put to death in his stead.

By a concurrence of extraordinary circumstances, the young fugitive friar, whom we shall henceforward call Demetrius, obtained the confidence and friendship of a Lithuanian nobleman, who recommended him to the palatine of Sandomir. The palatine received him with great kindness, and promised him all the assistance in his power in restoring him to the throne of his ancestors. Through his recommendation, the republic of Poland entered strongly into the interest of Demetrius. The proofs VOL. XXII. F offered