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Rh was averted by the tumult; although the deliberations of the assembly continued for many days, Alexis and Nikon parted then never to meet again.

The primate's condemnation was a foregone conclusion; he was sentenced to be degraded from his rank to the condition of a simple monk, and to do penance in a distant monastery for the remainder of his life. Alexis refused to witness his humiliation, and the council assembled, for the last time, in a small church, beyond the precincts of the palace. When summoned to hear its decision, Nikon still maintained his proud and lofty bearing; "Why," said he, "do you degrade me in this little chapel, without the presence of the tsar, and not in the cathedral, where he and you implored me to ascend the throne?" He reproached the Eastern patriarchs for their mean subserviency to power, in expectation of reward; "Take these," said he, stripping pearls from his vestments, which they removed in pursuance of the sentence; "they will help support you under Turkish oppression; get you home; better stay there than go wandering like beggars about the world."

It was midwinter, and the place of his banishment was far distant; the tsar sent him money and furs for the journey, and asked his forgiveness and blessing; but the indomitable prelate sternly refused all gifts, and withheld his benediction. "He loveth not blessing, and therefore it shall be far from him," was his reply. To a noble, who mockingly swept up the dust he shook from his feet, he said, pointing to a comet then flaming in the sky—the broom-star, as it is called in Russian—"God's besom shall sweep you all away."

To the people, who, in spite of prejudices against his reforms, reverenced him for the holiness and austerity of his life, and, pressing round, urgently besought his bless-