painted Peter in
blacker colors than he deserves.

In the end the corps of the Strelitz was abolished, their houses and
lands in Moscow were taken from the survivors, and all were exiled into
the country, where they became simple villagers.

_THE CRUSADE AGAINST BEARDS AND CLOAKS._

The return of Peter the Great from his European journey was marked by
other events than his cruel revenge upon the rebellious Strelitz. That
had affected only a few thousand people; the reforms he sought to
introduce affected the nation at large. The Russians were then more
Oriental than European in style, wearing the long caftan or robe of
Persia and Turkey, which descended to their heels, while their beards
were like those of the patriarchs, the man deeming himself most in honor
who had the longest and fullest crop of hair upon his face.

[Illustration: PETER THE GREAT.]

To Peter, fresh from the West, and strongly imbued with European views,
all this was ridiculous, if not abominable. He determined to reform it
all, and at once set to work in his impetuous way, which could not brook
a day's delay, to deprive the Russians of their beards and the tails of
their coats. He had scarcely arrived before the boyars and leading
citizens of Moscow, who flocked to congratulate him on his return, were
taken aback by the edict that whiskers were condemned, and that the
razor must be set at work without delay upon their honorable chins.

This edict was like a thunder-clap from a clear sky. The Russians
admired and revered their beards. They were time-honored and sacred in
their eyes. To lose them was like losing their family trees and patents
of nobility. But Peter was without reverence for the past, and his word
was law. He had ordered a mowing and reaping of hair, and the harvest
must be made, or worse might come. General Shein, commander-in-chief of
the army, was the first to yield to the imperative edict and submit his
venerable beard to the indignity of the razor's edge. The old age seemed
past and the new age come when Shein walked shamefacedly into court with
a clean chin.

The example thus set was quickly followed. Beards were tabooed within
the precincts of the court. All shared the same fate, none being left to
laugh at the rest. The patriarch, it is true, was exempted, through awe
for his high office in the Church, while reverence for advanced years
reprieved Prince Tcherkasy, and Tikhon Streshnef was excused out of
honor for