em, not fellow-countrymen but "_tcherne_" "black
people." The khans, with true political instinct looking to the
perpetuation of this condition, gained the friendship of the Church,
as they had that of the dukes. In 1313, the Khan Uzbeck, at the
request of the Metropolitan or head of the Church of Moscow, ordered
that the Church should retain its privileges, and that it should not
be deprived of its property, because, he says, "these possessions are
sacred, as they belong to men whose prayers preserve our lives and
strengthen our armies." The churches and convents grew enormously
rich. They received gifts of land, and the priests, so bribed, allied
themselves with the heathen masters, and aided further in oppressing
the people.

The descendants of the dukes and drujinas lost the large and generous
impulses of the old Norsemen, to make way for the Asiatic deformities
of treachery, cruelty, cunning, and disregard of honor. Whatever came
in the way of their own interests, was trampled under foot by fair
means or foul. The boyards, too, were tainted by the example of the
chiefs. The vast extent of the country, the sparsity of the
population, the difficulties in the way of communication, and above
all the general ignorance, prevented the appearance of a patriot who
might have raised a truly national banner, and shaken off the yoke of
the servile lackeys of the Tartars.

[Illustration: Moscow] (p. 078)

IX--LITHUANIA AND MOSCOW. (p. 079)

We have seen that the Tartar invasion stopped short of Novgorod, and
turned southeast, thus leaving northwest Russia free. What are now
known as the Baltic Provinces, was at that time covered with dense
forests, inhabited by the Finns or Suomi, the Tchouds, Jmouds, and
Lithuanians, all of the same race and speaking the same language, but
constantly at war with one another. In the 13th century a chief named
Mindvog, after killing his brothers and sons, united the tribes, and
made himself master of Lithuania. He then invaded Russia whose dukes,
suffering under the Tartar yoke, were unable to withstand him. He
captured Grodno and Novogredek, when he was confronted by Alexander
Nevsky and Daniel of Volhynia in front, and by the Knights of Livonia
in his rear. In this extremity Mindvog sent to the Pope promising that
he would be converted in return for his good services. Pope Innocent
IV replied by se