uffered
at the contemplation of an object so fitted to excite compassion; they
were also convinced that the only measure we could take to succor the
unfortunate prince was to leave him where we found him, and to procure
him all the comforts and conveniences his situation would admit of. We
accordingly gave our orders for this purpose, though the state he was
in prevented his perceiving the marks of our humanity or being
sensible of our attention and care; for he knew nobody, could not
distinguish between good and evil, nor did he know the use that might
be made of reading, to pass the time with less weariness and disgust.
On the contrary, he sought pleasure in objects that discovered with
sufficient evidence the disorder of his imagination."

Soon after this poor Ivan was cruelly assassinated. An officer in the
Russian army, named Mirovitch, conceived an absurd plan of liberating
Ivan from his captivity, restoring him to the throne, and consigning
Catharine II. to the dungeon the prince had so long inhabited.
Mirovitch had command of the garrison at Schlusselburg, where Ivan was
imprisoned. Taking advantage of the absence of the empress, on a
journey to Livonia, he proceeded to the castle, with a few soldiers
whose cooeperation he had secured through the influence of brandy and
promises, knocked down the commandant of the fortress with the butt
end of a musket, and ordered the officers who had command of the
prisoner to bring him to them. These officers had received the secret
injunction that should the rescue of the prince ever be attempted,
they were to put him to death rather than permit him to be carried
off. They accordingly entered his cell, and though the helpless
captive made the most desperate resistance, they speedily cut him down
with their swords.

History has few narratives so extraordinary as the fate of Ivan. A
forced marriage was arranged that a child might be generated to
inherit the Russian throne. When this child was but a few days old he
was declared emperor of all the Russias, and received the
congratulations of the foreign embassadors. When thirteen months of
age he was deposed, and for the crime of being a king, was thrown into
captivity. To prevent others from using him as the instrument of their
purposes, he was thrown into a dungeon, and excluded from all human
intercourse, so that like a deaf child he could not even acquire the
power of speech. For him there was neither clouds nor sunshine,