THE REIGN OF IVAN IV.
From 1546 to 1552.
The Title of Tzar.--marriage of Ivan IV.--Virtues of His
Bride.--Depraved Character of the Young Emperor.--Terrible
Conflagrations.--Insurrections.--The Rebuke.--Wonderful Change in the
Character of Ivan IV.--Confessions of Sin and Measures of
Reform.--Sylvestre and Alexis Adachef.--The Code of Laws.--Reforms in
the Church.--Encouragement To Men of Science and Letters.--The
Embassage of Schlit.--War With Kezan.--Disasters and
Disgrace.--Immense Preparation For the Chastisement of the Horde.--The
March.--Repulse of the Tauredians.--Siege of Kezan.--Incidents of the
Siege.
Though the monarchs of Russia, in all their relations with foreign
powers, took the title of Tzar or Emperor, they also retained that of
Grand Prince which was consecrated by ancient usage. And now the
envoys of Ivan IV. were traversing Russia in all directions to find,
among the maidens of noble blood, one whose beauty would render her
worthy of the sovereign. The choice at last fell upon Anastasia, the
daughter of a lady of illustrious rank, who was a widow. Language is
exhausted, by the Russian annalists, in describing the perfections of
her person, mind and heart. All conceivable social and moral
excellences were in her united with the most brilliant intellectual
gifts 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 every
virtue. But those virtues which should especially distinguish you, are
the love of truth and of benevolence. Prince, love and honor your
spouse. Princess, truly Christian, be submissive to your husband; for
as the Redeemer is the head of the church, so is man the head of the
woman."
For many days Moscow was surrendered to festivity and rejoicings. The
emperor devoted his attention to the rich, the empress to the poor.
Anastasia, since the death of her father, had lived remote from the
capital, in the most profound rural seclusion. Suddenly, and as by
magic, she found herself transported to the scenes of the highest
earthly grandeur, but still she maintained the same beautiful
simplicity of character which she had developed in the saddened home
of her widowed mother. Ivan IV. was a man of ungovernable passions,
and accustomed only to idleness, he devoted himself to the most gross
and ignoble pleasures. Mercilessly he confiscated the estates of those
who displeased him, and with caprice equal to his mercilessness, he
conferred their possessions upon his favorites. He seemed to regard
this arbitrary conduct as indicative of his independence and grandeur.
The situation of Russia was perhaps never more deplorable than at the
commencement 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 the
murmurs which despotism, the most atrocious, extorted from every
portion of the empire. The inhabitants of Pskof, oppressed beyond
endurance by an infamous governor, sent seventy of their most
influential citizens to Moscow to present their grievances to the
emperor. Ivan IV. raved like a madman at what he called the insolence
of his subjects, in complaining of their governor. Almost choking with
rage, he ordered the seventy deputies to be put to death by the most
cruel tortures.
Anastasia wept in anguish over these scenes, and her prayers were
incessantly ascending, that God would change the heart of her husband.
Her prayers were heard and answered. The same power which changed
Saul of Tarsus into Paul the Apostle, seemed to renew the soul of Ivan
IV. History is full of these marvelous transformations--a mental
phenomenon only to be explained by the scriptural doctrine of
regeneration. In Ivan's case, as in that of thousands of others,
afflictions were instruments made available by the Holy Spirit for the
heart's renewal.
Moscow was at this time a capital of vast extent and of great
magnificence. As timber was abundant and easily worked, most of the
buildings, even the churches and the palaces, were constructed of
wood. Though almost every house was surrounded by a garden, these
enclosures were necessarily not extensive, and the city was peculiarly
exposed 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 human
power. The store-houses of commerce, the magazines of the crown, the
convent of Epiphany and a large number of dwellings, extending from
the 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 an
avalanche into the river, completely filling up its channel, adding
the destruction of a deluge to that of the fire.
A week had hardly passed ere the cry of fire again was raised, and, in
a few hours, the whole section of the city on the other side of the
Yaouza was in ashes. This region was mostly occupied by mechanics and
manufacturers, and immense suffering ensued. Six weeks elapsed, and
the inhabitants were just beginning to recover from their
consternation, and were sweeping away the ashes to rebuild, when on
the 20th of June, the wind at the time blowing a gale, the fearful cry
of fire again rang through the streets. The palaces of the nobles
were now in flames. The palace of the Kremlin itself, the gorgeous
streets which surrounded it, and the whole of the grand faubourg in a
few moments were glowing like a furnace. God had come with flaming
fire as his minister of vengeance, and resistance was unavailing. The
whole city was now in ashes, and presented the aspect of an immense
funeral pile, over which was spread a pall of thick and black smoke.
The wooden edifices disappeared entirely. Those of stone and brick
presented a still more gloomy aspect, with only portions of their
walls standing, crumbling and blackened. The howling of the tempest,
the roar of the flames, the crash of falling buildings, and the
shrieks of the inhabitants, were all frequently overpowered by the
explosions of the powder magazines in the arsenals of the Kremlin.
To many of the people it seemed that the day of judgment had actually
arrived, that the trump of the archangel was sounding, and that the
final conflagration had arrived. The palace of the emperor, his
treasures, his precious things, his arms, his venerated images and the
archives of the kingdom, all were devoured. The destruction of the
city was almost as entire and as signal a proof of the divine
displeasure as that of Sodom and Gomorrah. Even the metropolitan
bishop, who was in the church of the Assumption, pleading for divine
interposition, was with great difficulty rescued. Smothered, and in a
state almost of insensibility, he was conveyed through billows of
flame and smoke. Seventeen hundred adults, besides uncounted children,
perished in the fire.
For many days the wretched inhabitants were seen wandering about, in
the fields and among the ruins, searching for their children, their
friends or any articles of furniture which might, by chance, have
escaped the flames. Many became maniacs, and their cries arose in all
directions like the howlings of wild beasts. The emperor and the
nobles, to avoid the spectacle of so much misery, retired to the
village of Vorobeif, a few miles from Moscow. The whole population of
Moscow, 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 the
indignation of Heaven.
Several of the higher clergy, in coöperation with some of the princes
and nobles, resolved to arouse the energies of the populace to effect
a change in the government. The Glinskys were the advisers and
instigators of the king. Against them the fury of the populace was
easily directed. These doomed minions of despotism were pursued with
fury energized by despair. Ivan IV. was quite unable to protect them.
The Glinskys, with their numerous partisans, had returned to Moscow to
make arrangements for the rebuilding of the Kremlin when the mob fell
upon 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 no
one thought of offering him any harm.
Ivan IV., astounded by this outbreak, was trembling in his palace at
Vorobeif, and his truly pious wife, Anastasia, was, with tears,
pleading with Heaven, when one of the clergy, an extraordinary man
named Sylvestre, endowed with the boldness of an ancient prophet,
entered the presence of the emperor. He was venerable in years, and
his gray locks fell in clusters upon his shoulders. The boy king was
overawed by his appearance. One word from that capricious king would
cause the head of Sylvestre to fall from the block. But the intrepid
Christian, with the solemnity of an embassador from God, with pointed
finger 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 to
the king those divinely-inspired precepts which are alike applicable
to monarchs and peasants, and, in tones subdued by sadness, urged the
king to follow these sacred lessons. The warning was heeded, and Ivan
became "a new creature." Whatever explanations philosophy may attempt
of the sudden and marvelous change of the character of Ivan IV., the
fact remains one of the marvels of history. He appears to have been
immediately overwhelmed with a sense of his guilt; with tears he
extended his hand to the courageous monitor, asked imploringly what he
could do to avert the wrath and secure the favor of Heaven, and placed
himself at once under the guidance of his new-found friend.
Sylvestre, a humble, world-renouncing Christian, sought nothing for
himself, and would accept neither riches nor honors, but he remained
near the throne to strengthen the young monarch in his good
resolutions. There was a young man, Alexis Adachef, connected with the
court who possessed a character of extraordinary nobleness and
loveliness. He was of remarkable personal beauty, and his soul was
pure and sensitive. Entirely devoted to the good of others, without
the least apparent mixture of sordid motives, he engaged in the
service of the tzar, and became to him a friend of priceless value.
Alexis, mingling freely with the people, was acquainted with all their
wants and griefs, and he coöperating with Sylvestre, inspired the
emperor with a heart to conceive and energy to execute all good
things.
From this conjunction is to be dated the commencement of the glory of
the reign of Ivan IV. The first endeavor of the reformed monarch was
to quell the tumult among the people. Three days after the
assassination of the Glinskys, a mob from Moscow rushed out to the
village of Vorobeif, surrounded the palace and demanded one of the
aunts of the emperor and another of the nobles who had become
obnoxious to them. The king immediately opened a fire upon mob and
dispersed them. This decisive act restored order. Ivan IV. immediately
devoted all his energies to preparing dwellings for the houseless poor
and in relieving their necessities. His whole soul seemed aroused to
promote the happiness of his subjects, both temporal and spiritual,
and all selfish considerations were apparently obliterated from his
mind. In order to consolidate, by the aids of religion, the happy
change effected in the government and in his own heart, the young
sovereign shut himself up for several days in solitude, and, in the
exercises of self-examination, fasting and prayer, made the entire
consecration of himself to his Maker. He then assembled the bishops in
one of the churches, and, in their presence, with touching words and
tearful eyes, made confession of his faults, implored divine
forgiveness, and then, with the calmness of a soul relieved of the
burden of sin, received the sacrament of the Lord's Supper.
With true nobility of soul, he wished his penitence to be as
conspicuous as his sins had been. He resolved to humble himself before
his Maker in the presence of all Russia, that his subjects universally
might understand the new principles which animated his heart, and the
new desires which would enlist his energies. Every city in the empire
received orders to send deputies to Moscow, chosen from all the ranks
of society, to attend to matters of the utmost importance to the
country. The Sabbath morning after their arrival, they were all
assembled, an immense multitude, in one of the public squares of the
city. The czar, accompanied by the clergy and the nobles, left the
palace of the Kremlin to meet the deputies. The solemnity of the
Sabbath hallowed the scene, and the people received their sovereign in
profound 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 are
well known to me; aid me in my good intentions. I lost, while an
infant, my parents, and the nobles, who sought only their own
aggrandizement, neglected entirely my education, and have usurped, in
my name, wealth and power. They have enriched themselves by injustice,
and have crushed the poor without any one daring to check their
ambition. I was, as it were, both deaf and dumb in my deplorable
ignorance, for I heard not the lamentations of the poor, and my words
solaced them not in their sorrows. Who can tell the tears which have
been shed, the blood which has flowed? For all these things the
judgment of God is to be feared."
Bowing then on all sides to the people, the monarch continuing, thus
addressed them:
"O, you my people, whom the All-powerful has entrusted to my care, I
invoke this day, in my behalf, both your religion and the love you
have for me. It is impossible to repair past faults, but I will
hereafter be your protector from oppression and all wrong. Forget
those griefs which shall never be renewed. Lay aside every subject of
discord, and let Christian love fraternize your hearts. From this day
I will be your judge and your defender."
Religious ceremonies, simple yet imposing, closed this scene. Alexis
Adachef was appointed minister of justice, receiving special
instructions to watch the empire with a vigilant eye, that the poor
especially should be subject to no oppression. From that moment all
the actions of the sovereign were guided by the counsels of Sylvestre
and Adachef. Ivan IV. assembled around him a council of his wisest and
best men, and ever presided in person over their meetings. With great
energy he entered upon the work of establishing a code of laws, which
should be based upon the love of justice and good order. In the year
1550 this important code was promulgated, which forms almost the basis
of Russian civilization.
On the 23d of February, 1551, a large convention of the clergy, of the
nobles and of the principal citizens of the empire, was assembled at
the Kremlin, and the emperor presented to them, for their own
consideration and approval, the code of laws which had been framed.
The mind of Ivan IV. expanded rapidly under these noble toils, and in
a speech of great eloquence he urged them to examine these laws, to
point out any defects and to coöperate with him in every endeavor for
the prosperity of Russia.
After having thus settled the affairs of the State, the monarch turned
his attention to those of the Church, urging the clergy to devote
themselves to the work of ecclesiastical reform; to add simplicity to
the ceremonies of religion, to prepare books of piety for the people,
to train up a thoroughly instructed clergy for the pulpits, to
establish rules for the decorous observance of divine worship, to
abolish useless monasteries, to purify the convents of all immorality,
and to insist that ecclesiastics, of every grade, should be patterns
of piety for their flocks. The clergy eagerly engaged in this plan of
reform, and vied with their Christian monarch in their efforts for the
public weal.
Among the number of projects truly worthy of the grand prince, we must
not neglect particular mention of his attempt to enrich Russia by
encouraging the emigration, from other lands, of men distinguished in
the arts and sciences. A distinguished German, named Schlit, being in
Moscow in 1547, informed the tzar of the rapid progress Germany was
making in civilization and enlightenment. Ivan IV. listened
attentively, and after many interviews and protracted questionings,
proposed that he should return to Germany as an envoy from Russia, and
invite, 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 the
Emperor Charles V. was then presiding over a diet. Schlit presented to
him a letter from Ivan IV. relative to this business. Charles was a
little doubtful as to the expediency of allowing illustrious men from
his empire to emigrate and thus add to the consideration and power of
a rival kingdom. Nevertheless, after a long deliberation with the
assembled States, he consented to gratify the tzar, on consideration
that he would engage, by oath, not to allow any of the artists or the
literati to pass from Russia into Turkey, and that he would not employ
their talents in any manner hurtful to the German empire. Turkey was
at that time assuming an attitude so formidable, that it was deemed
expedient to increase the power of Russia, as that kingdom might thus
more effectually aid as a barrier against the Turks; while, at the
same time, it was deemed a matter of the utmost moment that Turkey
should receive no aid whatever from Christian civilization.
Charles V. accordingly gave Schlit a written commission to raise his
corps of emigrants. He soon assembled one hundred and twenty
illustrious men at Lubeck, where they were to embark for Russia. But,
in the mean time, the opposition had gained ground, and even Charles
V. 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, and
consequently disheartened, soon dispersed. Several months passed away
before Ivan IV. received intelligence of the sad fate of his envoy.
Though the plan thus failed, nevertheless, quite a number of these
German artists, notwithstanding the prohibition of the emperor,
effected their escape from Germany, secretly entered Russia, and
engaged in the service of the tzar, were they were very efficient in
contributing to Russian civilization.
The barbarian horde at Kezan still continued to annoy Russia with very
many incursions. Some were mere petty forays, others were extended
invasions, but all were alike merciless and bloody. In February, 1550,
Ivan IV., then but twenty two years of age, placed himself at the head
of a large army to descend the Volga and punish the horde. The
monarch was young and totally inexperienced in war. A series of
terrible disasters from storms and floods thinned his ranks, and the
monarch in great dejection returned to Moscow to replenish his forces.
Again, early in December, he hastened to meet his army which had been
rendezvoused at Nigni Novgorod, on the Volga, about three hundred
miles west of Moscow. In the early spring they descended the river,
and in great force encamped before the walls of Kezan. The walls were
of wood. The Russians were sixty thousand strong, and were aided with
several batteries of artillery. The assault was immediately commenced,
and for one whole day the battle raged with equal valor on the part of
the assailants and the defendants. The next day a storm arose, the
rain falling abundantly and freezing as it touched the ground. The
encampment was flooded, and the assailants, unable to make any
progress, were again compelled to beat a retreat. These reverses
mortified the young tzar, though he succeeded in effecting a treaty
with the barbarians, which in some degree covered his disgrace.
But the horde, entirely disorganized, paid no regard to treaties and
continued their depredations. Again, in the year 1552, the tzar
prepared another expedition to check their ravages. He announced to
the council, in a very solemn session, that the time had arrived when
it 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 I
wish to secure the repose of my people. How shall I be able in the day
of judgment to say to the Most High, 'Behold me and the subjects thou
hast entrusted to my care,' if I do not shelter them from the eternal
enemies of Russia, from these barbarians from whom one can have
neither peace nor truce?"
The lords endeavored to persuade the emperor to remain at Moscow, and
to entrust the expedition to his experienced generals, but he
declared that he would not expose his army to perils and fatigues
which he was not also ready and willing to share. Though many were in
favor of a winter's campaign, as Kezan was surrounded with streams and
lakes which the ice would then bridge, yet Ivan decided upon the
summer as more favorable for the transportation of his army down the
rivers. By the latter part of May the waters of the Volga and the Oka
were covered with bateaux laden with artillery and with military
stores, and the banks of those streams were crowded with troops upon
the march. Nigni Novgorod, where the Oka empties into the Volga, was
as usual the appointed place of rendezvous. The 16th of June Ivan took
leave of the Empress Anastasia. Her emotion at parting was so great
that she fell fainting into the arms of her husband.
From his palace Ivan proceeded to the church of the Assumption, where
the blessing of Heaven was implored, and then issuing orders that the
bishops, all over the empire, should offer prayers daily for the
success of the expedition, he mounted his horse, and accompanied by
the cavalry of his guard, took the route to Kolumna, a city on the
Oka, about a hundred miles south of Moscow.
It will be remembered that the Tartar horde existed in several vast
encampments. One of these encampments occupied Tauride, as the region
north of the Crimea, and including that peninsula, was then called.
These barbarians, thinking that the Russian army was now five hundred
miles west of Moscow at Kezan, and that the empire was thus
defenseless, with a vast army of invasion were on the eager march for
Moscow. Ivan at Kolumna heard joyfully of their approach, for he was
prepared to meet them and to chastise them with merited severity. On
the 22d of July, the horde, unconscious of their danger, surrounded
the 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, banners
and a large number of prisoners. They were pursued a long distance as
in wild rout they fled back to their own country.
This brilliant success greatly elated the army. Ivan IV., sending his
trophies to Moscow, as an encouragement to the capital, again put his
army in motion towards Kezan. The relation which existed between the
sovereign and his pastor, the faithful metropolitan bishop, may be
inferred from the following communications which passed between them,
equally worthy of them both.
"May the soul of your majesty," wrote the metropolitan, "remain pure
and chaste. Be humble in prosperity and courageous in adversity. The
piety of a sovereign saves and blesses his empire." The tzar replied,
"Worthy pastor of the church, we thank you for your Christian
instructions. We will engrave them on our heart. Continue to us your
wise counsels, and aid us also with your prayers. We advance against
the enemy. May the Lord soon enable us to secure peace and repose to
the Christians."
On the 13th of August, with his assembled army, he reached Viask on
the Volga, about fifty miles above Kezan. Here he encamped to
concentrate and rest his troops after so long a march. Barges
freighted with provisions, merchandise and munitions of war, were
incessantly arriving from the vast regions watered by the Volga and
the 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 could
reach.
While resting here, Ivan IV. sent an embassy to Kezan, saying that the
tzar 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 might
live in peace under the paternal government of the tzar. To this
message a contemptuous and defiant response was returned by the Tartar
khan. The answer was closed with these words: "We are anxiously
awaiting your arrival, and are all ready to commence our festivities."
That very day, the Russian army, amounting to one hundred and fifty
thousand men, arrived within sight of Kezan. A prairie four miles in
width, carpeted with flowers, extended from the Volga to the range of
mountains at the base of which the city stood. The Tartars, abounding
in wealth, by the aid of engineers and architects from all lands, had
surrounded the city with massive walls defended with towers, ramparts
and bastions in the most formidable strength of military art as then
known. Within the walls rose the minarets of innumerable mosques and
the turrets of palaces embellished with all the gorgeousness of
oriental wealth and taste. The horde, relying upon the strength of
their fortification, remained behind their walls, where they prepared
for a defense which they doubted not would be successful. Two days
were employed in disembarking the artillery and the munitions of war.
While thus engaged, a deserter escaped from the city and announced to
the tzar that the fortress was abundantly supplied with artillery,
provisions and all means of defense; that the garrison consisted of
thirty-two thousand seven hundred veteran soldiers; that a numerous
corps of cavalry had been detached to scour the surrounding country
and raise an army of cavalry and infantry to assail the besiegers in
flank and rear, while the garrisons should be prepared to sally from
their entrenchments.
On the 23d of August, at the dawn of day, the army, advancing from the
river, approached the city. The moment the sun appeared in the
horizon, at the sound of innumerable trumpets, the whole army arrested
their steps and the sacred standard was unfurled, presenting the
effigy of Jesus Christ, our Saviour, surmounted by a golden cross.
Ivan IV. and his staff alighted from their horses, and, beneath the
shadow of the banner, with prayers and other exercises of devotion,
received the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. The monarch then rode
along the ranks, and, in an impassioned harangue, roused the soldiers
to the noblest enthusiasm. Exalting the glory of those who might fall
in the defense of religion, he assured them in the name of Russia that
their wives and their children should never be forgotten, but that
they should be the objects of his special care and should ever enjoy
protection and abundance. In conclusion, he assured them that he was
determined to sacrifice his own life, if necessary, to secure the
triumph of the cross. These words were received with shouts of
acclaim. The chaplain of Ivan, elevated in the view of the whole army,
pronounced a solemn benediction upon the sovereign and upon all the
troops, 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 conducted
before the walls of the city. Every thing there seemed abandoned and
in profound silence and solitude. Not the slightest movement could be
perceived. Not an individual appeared upon the walls. Many of the
Russians began to rejoice, imagining that the tzar of Kezan, struck
with terror, had fled with all his army into the forest. But the
generals, more experienced, suspected a snare, and regarded the aspect
of affairs as a motive for redoubled prudence. With great caution they
made their dispositions for commencing the siege. As a division of
seven thousand troops were crossing a bridge which they had thrown
over a ditch near the walls, suddenly a violent uproar succeeded the
profound silence which had reigned in the city. The air was filled
with cries of rage. The massive gates rolled open upon their hinges,
and fifteen thousand mounted Tartars, armed to the teeth, rushed upon
the little band with a shock utterly resistless, and, in a few
moments, the Russians were cut to pieces in the presence of the whole
army. The victorious Tartars, having achieved this signal exploit,
swept back again into the city and the gates were closed. This event
taught the Russians prudence.
Anticipating a long siege, a city of tents was reared, with its
streets and squares, beyond the reach of the guns from the walls.
Three churches of canvas were constructed, where worship was daily
held. Day after day, the siege was conducted with the usual events
witnessed around a beleaguered fortress. There were the thunderings of
artillery, the explosion of mines, fierce and bloody sorties, the
shrieks of the combatants, and the city ever burning by flames
enkindled by red hot shot thrown over the walls. The Russian batteries
grew every day more and more formidable, and the ramparts crumbled
beneath their blows. The Russian army was so numerous that the
soldiers relieved themselves at the batteries, and the bombardment was
continued day and night. At length a Tartar army was seen descending
the distant mountains and hastening to the relief of the garrison.
Ivan dispatched one half his army to meet them. The Tartars, after a
sanguinary conflict, were cut to pieces. As the division returned
covered 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 these
words to the besieged:
"Ivan promises you life, liberty and pardon for the past, if you will
submit yourselves to him."
The response returned was,
"We had rather die by our own pure hands, than perish by those of
miserable 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 from
destruction, and to avoid the effusion of blood, directed a German
engineer to sink a mine under an important portion of the walls. The
miners proceeded until they could hear the footsteps of the Kezanians
over their heads. Eleven tons of powder were placed in the vault. On
the 5th of September the match was applied. The explosion was awful.
Large portions of the wall, towers, buildings, rocks, the mutilated
bodies of men, were thrown hundreds of feet into the air and fell upon
the city, crushing the dwellings and the inhabitants. The besieged
were seized with mortal terror, not knowing to what to attribute so
dire a calamity. The Russians, who were prepared for the explosion,
waving their swords, with loud outcries rushed in at the breach. But
the Kezanians, soon recovering from their consternation, with their
breasts and their artillery presented a new rampart, and beat back the
foe. Thus, day after day, the horrible carnage continued. Within the
city and without the city, death held high carnival. There were famine
and pestilence and misery in all imaginable forms within the walls. In
the camp of the besiegers, there were mutilation, and death's agonies
and despair. Army after army of Tartars came to the help of the
besieged, but they were mown down mercilessly by Russian sabers, and
trampled beneath Russian hoofs.
Ivan, morning and evening, with his generals, entered the church to
implore the blessing of God upon his enterprise. In no other way could
he rescue Russia from the invasion of these barbarians, than by thus
appealing to the energies of the sword. In the contemplation of such a
tragedy, the mind struggles in bewilderment, and can only say, "Be
still and know that I am God."