the oldest
of the three, died after a brief reign, leaving no heirs to the throne.
Ivan, the second son, was an imbecile, nearly blind, and subject to
epileptic fits. The clergy and grandees, in consequence, looked upon
Peter as the most promising successor to the throne. But he was still
only a child, not yet ten years of age.

The czar Alexis had left also several daughters; but in those days the
fate of princesses of the blood was a harsh one. They were not permitted
to marry, and were consigned to convents, where they knew nothing of
what was passing in the busy world without. One of the daughters, Sophia
by name, had escaped from this fate. At her earnest request she was
taken from the convent and permitted to nurse her sickly brother
Theodore.

She was a woman of high intelligence, bold and ambitious by nature, and
during her residence in court learned much of the politics of the empire
and took some part in its government. After the death of Theodore she
contrived to have herself named regent for her two brothers, Ivan being
plainly unfit to rule, and Peter too young.

There are many stories told about her, of which probably the half are
not true. It is said that she kept her young brother at a distance from
Moscow, where she surrounded him with ministers of evil, whose business
it was to encourage him in riot and dissipation, to the end that he
might become a moral monster, odious and insupportable to the nation at
large. Such a course had been pursued with Ivan the Terrible, and to it
was largely due his incredible iniquity.

If Sophia had really any such purpose in view, she was playing with
edge-tools. She quite mistook the character of her young brother, and
forgot that the same rule may work differently in different cases. The
steps taken to make the boy base, if really so intended, aided to make
him great. His morals were corrupted, his health was impaired, and his
heart hardened by the excesses of his youth, but his removal from the
palace atmosphere of flattery and effeminacy tended to make him
self-reliant, while his free life in the country and the activity which
it encouraged helped to develop the native energy of his character.

It is probable that Sophia had no such intention to corrupt the nature
of the child, for she showed no ill will against him. It was apparently
to his mother, rather than to his sister, that his residence in the
country was due, and he was obliged to go frequently to Mosc