Page:The Boy Travellers in the Russian Empire.djvu/224

218 he was one of the most cruel rulers that ever governed a people, and seems to have rivalled the brutalities of the Mongols. Here are some of his cruelties that are recorded in history:

"He hated Novgorod on account of the independent spirit of its people, and for this reason he put more than sixty thousand of its inhabitants to death, many of them with torture. Novgorod had maintained an independent government, quite distinct from that of the Grand-duchy of Moscow Ivan III. and his son, Vassili, made war upon Novgorod and the other independent principality of Pskov, and Ivan IV. ('The Terrible') brought them to complete submission. The slaughter of the people of Novgorod was the closing act of the conquest.

"We will change Ivan to its English equivalent, John, and henceforth speak of this monster as John the Terrible. He was only four years old when he became Czar. During his infancy the government was conducted by his mother, under the direction of the House of Boyards (noblemen). When he was thirteen years of age a political party which was opposed to the Bovards suggested that he could rule without any assistance, and he at once took the control of affairs. Very soon he terrified those who had placed him on the throne, and they would have been gladly rid of him if they could.

"An English ambassador came to Moscow bringing the answer to a letter in which John had proposed marriage to Queen Elizabeth. The Queen rejected his offer, but in such a diplomatic manner as not to offend the sanguinary Czar. Her ambassador incurred the monarch's ill-will by neglecting to uncover before him, and it was accordingly ordered that the envoy's hat should be nailed to his head. Foreigners were better treated than were the subjects of John, and the ambassador was not harmed, though he was afterwards imprisoned. "For his amusement John the Terrible used to order a number of people to be sewed up in bear-skins, and then torn to .death by bear-hounds. For tearing prisoners to pieces he ordered the tops of several trees to be bent down so that they came together; the limbs of the unfortunate victim were fastened to these tops, each limb to a different tree. When they were thus tied up, the release of the trees performed the work intended by the cruel Czar."

"Isn't John's name connected with the Church of St. Basil at Moscow?" Fred asked.

"Yes," answered Frank; "it was built in his reign, and is considered one of the finest in the city. When it was finished John sent for the architect and asked if he could build another like it.