mer was a true Christian at heart, or if he were
influenced simply by political considerations. It is sufficient for us
to state that, after having embraced that divine religion, Vlademer
appears to have been sanctified by it, and he developed a totally
different character from that which he exhibited when involved in the
darkness of paganism."

One of the sons of Vlademer, whose name was Sviatopolk, chanced to be
at Kief at the time of his father's death. He resolved to usurp the
throne and to cause the assassination of all the brothers from whom he
could fear any opposition. Three of his brothers speedily fell victims
to his bloody perfidy. Yaroslaf, who had been entrusted with the
feudal government of Novgorod, being informed of the death of his
father, of the usurpation of Sviatopolk and of the assassination of
three of his brothers, raised an army of forty thousand men and
marched upon Kief. Sviatopolk, informed of his approach, hastened,
with all his troops to meet him. The two armies encountered each other
upon the banks of the Dnieper about one hundred and fifty miles above
Kief. The river separated them, and neither dared to attempt to cross
in the presence of the other. Several weeks passed, the two camps thus
facing each other, without any collision.

At length Yaroslaf, with the Novgorodians, crossed the stream
stealthily and silently in a dark night, and fell fiercely upon the
sleeping camp of Sviatopolk. His troops, thus taken by surprise,
fought for a short time desperately. They were however soon cut to
pieces or dispersed, and Sviatopolk, himself, saved his life only by
precipitate flight. Yaroslaf, thus signally victorious, continued his
march, without further opposition, to Kief, and entered the capital in
triumph. Sviatopolk fled to Poland, secured the cooeperation of the
Polish king, whose daughter he had married, returned with a numerous
army, defeated his brother in a sanguinary battle, drove him back to
Novgorod, and again, with flying banners, took possession of Kief. The
path of history now leads us through the deepest sloughs of perfidy
and crime. Two of the sisters of Yaroslaf were found in Kief. One of
them had previously refused the hand of the king of Poland. The
barbarian in revenge seized her as his concubine. Sviatopolk, jealous
of the authority which his father-in-law claimed, and which he could
enforce by means of the Polish army, administered poison in the food
of the troops. A ter