er of magnanimity and fraternity which
greatly augmented the renown of the reign of Ivan IV., and which was a
signal proof of the sagacity of his administration. How beautiful are
the records of peace when contrasted with the hideous annals of war!

The merchants of the other nations of southern and western Europe were
not slow to profit by the discovery that the English had made. Ships
from Holland, freighted with the goods of that ingenious and
industrious people, were soon coasting along the bays of the great
empire, and penetrating her rivers, engaged in traffic which neither
Russia or England seemed disposed to disturb. While the tzar was
engaged in those objects which we have thus rapidly traced, other
questions of immense magnitude engrossed his mind. The Tartar horde in
Tauride terrified by the destruction of the horde in Kezan, were
ravaging southern Russia with continual invasions which the tzar found
it difficult to repress. Poland was also hostile, ever watching for an
opportunity to strike a deadly blow, and Sweden, under Gustavus Vasa,
was in open war with the empire.

CHAPTER XV.

THE ABDICATION OF IVAN IV.

From 1557 to 1582.

Terror of the Horde in Tauride.--War with Gustavus Vasa of
Sweden.--Political Punctilios.--The Kingdom of Livonia Annexed to
Sweden.--Death of Anastasia.--Conspiracy Against Ivan.--His
Abdication.--His Resumption of the Crown.--Invasion of Russia by the
Tartars and Turks.--Heroism of Zerebrinow.--Utter Discomfiture of the
Tartars.--Relations Between Queen Elizabeth of England, and
Russia.--Intrepid Embassage.--New War with Poland.--Disasters of
Russia.--The Emperor Kills His Own Son.--Anguish of Ivan IV.

The entire subjugation of the Tartars in Kezan terrified the horde in
Tauride, lest their turn to be overwhelmed should next come. Devlet
Ghirei, the khan of this horde, was a man of great ability and
ferocity. Ivan IV. was urged by his counselors immediately to advance
to the conquest of the Crimea. The achievement could then doubtless
have been easily accomplished. But it was a journey of nearly a
thousand miles from Moscow to Tauride. The route was very imperfectly
known; much of the intervening region was an inhospitable wilderness.
The Sultan of Turkey was the sovereign master of the horde, and Ivan
feared that all the terrible energies of Turkey would be roused
against him. There was, moreover, another enemy nearer at home whom
Ivan had greater cause to fear.