Russia in 1839 -Empire of the Czar: A Journey Through Eternal Russia

man to console him in his last moments, — and waa seen to fly, uttering a scream of horror.

Thus died Ivan IV. in the Kremlin ; and, though it be difficult to believe, he was long mourned by the nation, the great and the little, the laity and the clergy, as though he had been the best of princes.

These marks of sympathy, whether spontaneous or not, arc, it must be owned, any thing but encouraging to virtuous sovereigns. Let us, however, draw this lesson from the history: Unlimited despotism has upon the human mind the effect of an intoxicating drink; the madness of the tyrant is communicable to the slave; and, which is yet more astonishing, the victims become the zealous accomplices of their executioners.

A detailed and veracious history of this country would, perhaps, be one of the most instructive books that could be furnished for human meditation, but it would be impossible to compile. Karumsin attempted the work, and flattered his models, but he stopped before the accession of the Iíomanows. The faint and abridged sketch that I have traced will suffice to give an idea of the events and the men with whom the mind, in spite of itself, associates the terror-clad walls of the Kremlin.