on those who were worthy of
the trust. No solicitations or views of self-interest could induce him
to swerve from this resolve. Intemperance he especially abominated,
and frowned upon the degrading vice alike in prince or peasant. He
conferred an inestimable favor upon Russia by causing a compilation,
for the use of his subjects, of a body of laws, which was called "The
Book of Justice." This code was presented to the judges, and was
regarded as authority in all law proceedings.

The historians of those days record that his memory was so remarkable
that he could call all the officers of his army by name, and could
even remember the name of every prisoner he had taken, numbering many
thousands. In those days of dim enlightenment, when the masses were
little elevated above the animal, the popular mind was more easily
impressed by material than intellectual grandeur. It was then deemed
necessary, among the unenlightened nations of Europe, to overawe the
multitude by the splendor of the throne--by scepters, robes and
diadems glittering with priceless jewels and with gold. The crown
regalia of Russia were inestimably rich. The robe of the monarch was
of purple, embroidered with precious stones, and even his shoes
sparkled with diamonds of dazzling luster.

When he sat upon his throne to receive foreign embassadors, or the
members of his own court, he held in his right hand a globe, the
emblem of universal monarchy, enriched with all the jeweled splendor
which art could entwine around it. In his left hand he held a scepter,
which also dazzled the eye by its superb embellishments. His fingers
were laden with the most precious gems the Indies could afford.
Whenever he appeared in public, the arms of the empire, finely
embroidered upon a spread eagle, and magnificently adorned, were borne
as a banner before him; and the masses of the people bowed before
their monarch, thus arrayed, as though he were a god.

Ivan IV. left two sons, Feodor and Dmitri. Feodor, who succeeded his
father, was twenty years of age, weak, characterless, though quite
amiable. In his early youth his chief pleasure seemed to consist in
ringing the bells of Moscow, which led his father, at one time, to say
that he was fitter to be the son of a sexton than of a prince. Dmitri
was an infant. He was placed, by his father's will, under the tutelage
of an energetic, ambitious noble, by the name of Bogdan Bielski. This
aspiring nobleman, conscious of the incapa