d the
traveler, "all the Christian countries and all the kings, and I
wished, also, to see Russia and the grand prince."

The lords at Moscow had no faith in these words, and were persuaded
that he was a spy sent by their enemy, the King of Poland. Though they
watched him narrowly, he was not incommoded, and left the kingdom
after having satisfied his desire to see all that was remarkable. His
report to the German emperor was such that, two years after, he
returned, in the quality of an embassador from Frederic III., with a
letter to Ivan III., dated Ulm, December 26th, 1488. The nobles now
received Poppel with great cordiality. He said to them:

"After having left Russia, I went to find the emperor and the princes
of Germany at Nuremburg. I spent a long time giving them information
respecting your country and the grand prince. I corrected the false
impression, conceived by them, that Ivan III. was but the vassal of
Casimir, King of Poland. 'That is impossible,' I said to them. 'The
monarch of Moscow is much more powerful and much richer than the King
of Poland. His estates are immense, his people numerous, his wisdom
extraordinary.' All the court listened to me with astonishment, and
especially the emperor himself, who often invited me to dine, and
passed hours with me conversing upon Russia. At length, the emperor,
desiring to enter into an alliance with the grand prince, has sent me
to the court of your majesty as his embassador."

He then solicited, in the name of Frederic III., the hand of Ivan's
daughter, Helen, for the nephew of the emperor, Albert, margrave of
Baden. The proposition for the marriage of the daughter of the grand
prince with a mere margrave was coldly received. Ivan, however, sent
an embassador to Germany with the following instructions:

"Should the emperor ask if the grand prince will consent to the
marriage of his daughter with the margrave of Baden, reply that such
an alliance is not worthy of the grandeur of the Russian monarch,
brother of the ancient emperors of Greece, who, in establishing
themselves at Constantinople, ceded the city of Rome to the popes.
Leave the emperor, however, to see that there is some hope of success
should he desire one of our princesses for his son, the King
Maximilian."

The Russian embassador was received in Germany with the most
flattering attentions, even being conducted to a seat upon the throne
by the side of the emperor. It is said that Maximilian, who