shed with victory, was collecting
his forces for the invasion of the Italian peninsula, and his vaunt,
_that he would feed his horse from the altar of St. Peters_, had
thrilled the ear of Catholic Europe. The pope, Paul II., anxious to
rouse all the Christian powers against the Turks, wished to make the
marriage of the Grecian princess promotive of his political views. Her
beauty, her genius and her exalted birth rendered her a rare prize.

Rumors had reached Rome of the vast population and extraordinary
wealth of Russia; nearly all the great Russian rivers emptied into the
Black Sea, and along these channels the Russian flotillas could easily
descend upon the conquerors of Constantinople; Russia was united with
Greece by the ties of the same religion, and the recent victory over
the Tartars had given the grand prince great renown. These
considerations influenced the pope to send an embassador to Moscow,
proposing to Ivan III. the hand of Sophia. To increase the apparent
value of the offer, the embassador was authorized to state that the
princess had refused the hand of the King of France, and also of the
Duke of Milan, she being unwilling, as a member of the Greek church,
to ally herself with a prince of the Latin religion.

Nothing could have been more attractive to Ivan III., and his nobles,
than this alliance. "God himself," exclaimed a bishop, "must have
conferred the gift. She is a shoot from an imperial tree which
formerly overspread all orthodox Christians. This alliance will make
Moscow another Constantinople, and will confer upon our sovereign the
rights of the Grecian emperors."

The grand prince, not deeming it decorous to appear too eager, and yet
solicitous lest he might lose the prize, sent an embassador, with a
numerous suite, to Rome, with a letter to the pope, and to report more
particularly respecting the princess, not forgetting to bring him her
portrait. This embassage was speedily followed by another, authorized
to complete the arrangements. The embassadors were received with
signal honors by Sextus IV., who had just succeeded Paul II., and at
length it was solemnly announced, in a full conclave of cardinals, on
the 22d of May, 1472, that the Russian prince wished to espouse
Sophia. Some of the cardinals objected to the orthodoxy of Ivan III.;
but the pope replied that it was by condescension and kindness alone
that they could hope to open the eyes of one spiritually blind; a
sentiment which it