" The
people of Pskof thought otherwise. "Do not go to the Horde, my lord,"
said they; "whatever happens, we will die with you." Alexander refused
to obey the summons, and the people of Pskof began to construct a
new fort. Ivan Kalita, the Grand Duke of Moscow, persuaded the (p. 086)
Metropolitan to place Alexander and Pskof under the ban of the Church,
which was done. We see here a Christian prince persecuting a relative,
and a Christian priest excommunicating a Christian people,--all to
please an infidel conqueror! Still the people of Pskof refused to
yield, but Alexander left the city and took refuge in Lithuania. Then
Pskof informed Ivan of his departure, saying, "Alexander is gone; all
Pskof swears it, from the smallest to the greatest, popes,[10] monks,
nuns, orphans, women, and children." (1329.)

[Footnote 10: Priests.]

Some years afterwards an attempt was made by Alexander to recover
Tver. He went to Sarai with some of his boyards. There he made
submission. "Lord, all-powerful Czar," he said, "if I have done
anything against you, I have come hither to receive of you life or
death. Do as God inspires you; I am ready for either." Uzbeck pardoned
him and Alexander returned to Tver. This did not please Ivan Kalita,
who knew that he was hated everywhere, and that his enemies only
needed a leader. He went to Sarai where he told Uzbeck that Alexander
was a very dangerous enemy to the Tartars. Alexander was summoned to
appear and when he complied, he was arrested, condemned to death, and
beheaded.

X--DECLINE OF THE TARTAR POWER. (p. 087)

DMITRI DONSKOI.

Crafty and unscrupulous, the grand dukes of Moscow were feared by
their neighbors. Ivan Kalita, as farmer of the poll-tax, grew
immensely wealthy. He collected a double tax from Novgorod, which the
republic, although allied with Lithuania, dared not refuse. He bought
several towns, besides land in the neighborhood of Vladimir, Rostof,
and Kostroma. His title was still Grand Duke of Vladimir, but Moscow
was the real capital. Ivan took very good care to stand well with the
Church. He built convents and churches, and never went out without an
alms-bag or _kalita_ to give money to the poor; hence his surname. The
seat of the Metropolitan was still at Vladimir, but he often came to
Moscow, and finally moved there; so that it became also the capital of
the Church. It is reported that the Metropolitan