by
your ancestors, binds you not to raise your arms against the khan? But
we, your metropolitan bishop, and all the other bishops,
representatives of Jesus Christ, absolve you from that oath, extorted
by force; we all give you our benediction, and conjure you to march
against Akhmet, who is but a brigand and an enemy of God.

"God is a Father full of tenderness for his children. He knows when to
punish and when to pardon. And if formerly he submerged Pharaoh to
save the children of Israel, he will, in the same manner, save you and
your people, if you purify your heart by penitence, for you are a man
and a sinner. The penitence of a monarch is his sacred obligation to
obey the laws of justice, to cherish his people, to renounce every act
of violence, and grant pardon even to the guilty. It is thus that God
will elevate you among us, as formerly he elevated Moses, Joshua and
the other liberators of Israel, that Russia, a new Israel, may be
delivered by you from the impious Akhmet, that other Pharaoh.

"I pray you, grand prince, do not censure me for my feeble words, for
it is written, 'Give instruction to a wise man and he will be yet
wiser.'[5] So may it be. Receive our benediction, you and your
children, all the nobles and chieftains, and all your brave warriors,
children of Jesus Christ. Amen."

[Footnote 5: Proverbs of Solomon, ix. 9.]

This letter, instead of giving the king offense, inspired him with new
zeal and courage. He immediately abandoned all idea of peace. A
fortnight had now passed in comparative inaction, the Russians and
Tartars menacing each other from opposite sides of the stream. The
cold month of November had now come, and a thin coating of ice began
to spread over the surface of the stream. It was evident that Akhmet
was only waiting for the river to be frozen over, and that, in a few
days, he would be able to cross at any point. The grand prince, seeing
that the decisive battle could not much longer be deferred, ordered
his troops, in the night, to make a change of position, that he might
occupy the plains of Borosk as a field more favorable for his troops.
But the Russian soldiers, still agitated by the fears which their
sovereign had not been able to conceal, regarded this order as the
signal for retreat. The panic spread from rank to rank, and, favored
by the obscurity of the night, soon the whole host, in the wildest
confusion, were in rapid flight. No efforts of the officers could
arrest