lict with his nobility. For this purpose a _Sobor_, or
States-General, was summoned by him, and met at long intervals
thereafter until the time of Peter the First.

Of the two sons left to Ivan by his wife Anastasia, only one now
remained. In a paroxysm of rage he had struck the Tsarevitch with his
iron staff. He did not intend to kill him, but the blow was mortal.
Great and fierce was the sorrow of the Tsar when he found he had slain
his beloved son--the one thing he loved upon earth, and there remained
to inherit the fruit of his labors and his crimes only another child
(Feodor) enfeebled in body and mind, and an infant (Dmitri), the son of
his seventh wife. His death, hastened by grief, took place three years
later, in 1584.

CHAPTER XII

SERFDOM CREATED--THE FIRST ROMANOFF

Occasionally there arises a man in history who, without distinction of
birth or other advantages, is strong enough by sheer ability to grasp
the opportunity, vault into power, and then stem the tide of events.
Such a man was Godwin, father of Harold, last Saxon King; in England;
and such a man was Boris Godunof, a _boyar_, who had so faithfully
served the terrible Ivan that he leaned upon him and at last confided
to him the supervision of his feeble son Feodor, when he should succeed
him. The plans of this ambitious usurper were probably laid from the
time of the tragic death of Ivan's son, the Tsarevitch. He brought
about the marriage of his beautiful sister Irene with Feodor, and from
the hour of Ivan's death was virtual ruler. Dmitri, the infant son of
the late Tsar, aged five years, was prudently placed at a distance--and
soon thereafter mysteriously died (1591). There can be no doubt that
the unexplained tragedy of this child's death was perfectly understood
by Boris; and when Feodor also died, seven years later (1598), there
was not one of the old Muscovite line to succeed to the throne. But so
wise had been the administration of affairs by the astute Regent that a
change was dreaded. A council offered him the crown, which he feigned
a reluctance to accept, preferring that the invitation should come from
a source which would admit of no question as to his rights in the
future. Accordingly, the States-General or _Sobor_ was convened, and
Boris Godunof was chosen by acclamation.

The work of three reigns was undone. A _boyar_ was Tsar of Russia--and
a _boyar_ not in the line of Rurik and with Tatar blood in his veins!