es of
the courtiers. They all began to think that, if they wished to obtain
any favor of the emperor, it was essential that they should stand well
with the princess. Thus every one, finding how fast she was rising in
influence, wished to have the credit of being her earliest and most
devoted friend; so they all vied with each other in efforts to aid in
aggrandizing her.

Things went on in this way very prosperously for a time; but at length,
as might have been anticipated, suspicions and jealousies began to arise,
and, after a time, the elements of a party opposed to the princess began
to be developed. These consisted chiefly of the old nobles of the
empire, the heads of the great families who had been accustomed, under
the emperors, to wield the chief power of the state. These persons were
naturally jealous of the ascendency which they saw that the princess was
acquiring, and they began to plot together in order to devise means for
restricting or controlling it.

But, besides these nobles, there was another very important power at the
imperial court at this time, namely, the army. In all despotic
governments, it is necessary for the sovereign to have a powerful
military force under his command, to maintain him in his place; and it is
necessary for him to keep this force as separate and independent as
possible from the people. There was in Russia at this time a very
powerful body of troops, which had been organized by the emperors, and
was maintained by them as an imperial guard. The name of this body of
troops was the Strelitz; but, in order not to encumber the narrative
unnecessarily with foreign words, I shall call them simply the Guards.

Of course, a body of troops like these, organized and maintained by a
despotic dynasty for the express purpose, in a great measure, of
defending the sovereign against his subjects, becomes in time a very
important element of power in the state. The officers form a class by
themselves, separate from, and jealous of the nobles of the country; and
this state of things has often led to very serious collisions and
outbreaks. The guards have sometimes proved too strong for the dynasty
that created them, and have made their own generals the real monarchs of
the country. When such a state of things as this exists, the government
which results is called a military despotism. This happened in the days
of the Roman empire. The army, which was originally formed by the
regular au