ilovitch
Kurbsky was almost his equal in rank, and more than his equal in
importance from a literary point of view. Ivan the Terrible's writings
show the influence of his epoch, his oppressed and agitated childhood,
his defective education; and like his character, they are the perfectly
legitimate expression of all that had taken place in the kingdom of
Moscow.

The most striking characteristic of Ivan's writings is his malicious,
biting irony, concealed beneath an external aspect of calmness; and it
is most noticeable in his principal works, his "Correspondence with
Prince Kurbsky," and his "Epistle to Kozma, Abbot of the
Kirillo-Byelozersk Monastery." They display him as a very well-read man,
intimately acquainted with the Scriptures, and the translations from the
Fathers of the Church, and the Russian Chronicles, as well as with
general history. Abbot Kozma had complained to the Tzar concerning the
conduct of certain great nobles who had become inmates of his monastery,
some voluntarily, others by compulsion, as exiles from court, and who
were exerting a pernicious influence over the monks. Ivan seized the
opportunity thus presented to him, to pour out all the gall of his irony
on the monks, who had forsaken the lofty, spiritual traditions of the
great holy men of Russia.

Of much greater importance, as illustrating Ivan's literary talent, is
his "Correspondence with Prince Kurbsky" (1563-1579), a warrior of birth
as good as Ivan's own, a former favorite of his, who, in 1563, probably
in consequence of the profound change in Ivan's conduct, which had taken
place, and weighed so heavily upon the remainder of his reign, fled to
Ivan's enemy, the King of Poland. The abuses of confidence and power,
with the final treachery of Priest Sylvester (Ivan's adviser in
ecclesiastical affairs), and of Adasheff (his adviser in temporal
matters), had changed the Tzar from a mild, almost benevolent,
sovereign, into a raging despot. On arriving in Poland, Prince Kurbsky
promptly wrote to Ivan announcing his defection, and plainly stating the
reasons therefor. When Ivan received this epistle--the first in the
celebrated and valuable historical correspondence which ensued--he
thrust his iron-shod staff through the foot of the bearer, at the bottom
of the Red (or Beautiful) Staircase in the Kremlin, and leaning heavily
upon it, had the letter read to him, the messenger making no sign of his
suffering the while. Kurbsky asserted the ri