s. This force was commanded by General
Gordon, the officer whom Peter had made general-in-chief of the army
before he set out on his tour.

General Gordon came up with the rebels about forty miles from Moscow. As
soon as he came near to them he halted, and sent forward a deputation
from his camp to confer with the leaders, in the hope of coming to some
amicable settlement of the difficulty. This deputation consisted of
Russian nobles of ancient and established rank and consideration in the
country, who had volunteered to accompany the general in his expedition.
General Gordon himself was one of the hated foreigners, and of course his
appearance, if he had gone himself to negotiate with the rebels, would
have perhaps only exasperated and inflamed them more than ever.

The deputation held a conference with the leaders of the Guards, and made
them very conciliatory offers. They promised that if they would return
to their duty the government would not only overlook the serious offense
which they had committed in leaving their posts and marching upon Moscow,
but would inquire into and redress all their grievances. But the Guards
refused to be satisfied. They were determined, they said, to march to
Moscow. They wished to ascertain for themselves whether Peter was dead
or alive, and if alive, what had become of him. They therefore were
going on, and, if General Gordon and his troops attempted to oppose them,
they would fight it out and see which was the strongest.

In civil commotions of this kind occurring in any of the ancient
non-Protestant countries in Europe, it is always a question of the utmost
moment which side the Church and the clergy espouse. It is true that the
Church and the clergy do not fight themselves, and so do not add any
thing to the physical strength of the party which they befriend, but they
add enormously to its moral strength, that is, to its confidence and
courage. Men have a sort of instinctive respect and fear for constituted
authorities of any kind, and, though often willing to plot against them,
are still very apt to falter and fall back when the time comes for the
actual collision. The feeling that, after all, they are in the wrong in
fighting against the government of their country, weakens them extremely,
and makes them ready to abandon the struggle in panic and dismay on the
first unfavorable turn of fortune. But if they have the Church and the
clergy on their side, this state of t