Otrepief had now attained the summit of his ambi tious hopes, and made his entry into Moscow with the utmost magnificence, attended by his Russian adherents and his Polish friends. He is said to have caused the death of the dethroned Pheodor, as well as that of his sister by strangulation. The new tsar, though he possessed abilities, lost the hearts of the Russians by his extreme imprudence, and at length turned them against him. The populace, incensed by the clergy, declaimed against Dmitrii as an heretic, and Shuiskii, a nobleman, who had been condemned to death by the tsar, but had afterwards been par doned, put himself at the head of the enraged mob, and attacked the tsar's palace. Dmitrii, as well as his closest adherents, were killed. By interest, cun ning, and intrigue, Vassilii Shuiskii secured his elec tion, as the Russian historians affect to call it, to the vacant throne. His reign was short, uninteresting, and greatly disturbed by factions, and by the preten sions of other two factitious Dmitriis, who successively declared themselves to be either the late tsar, or the prince whom he had caused to be assassinated. While the country was in confusion, and quite distracted, Russia was invaded by the Poles, who deposed Shuis kii, made him prisoner, and sent him to Poland, where he died in the year 161:2. His fate excited little regret, because of the false part he had acted towards Otrepiel, who had saved his life, although himself an usurper.
The state of Russia at the beginning of the seven teenth century, was at first most melancholy, but after wards most glorious. One usurper followed another. Shuiskii was deposed and a prisoner; Moscow without a sovereign, was pillaged, and occupied by the Poles; the great Novgorod was seized by the Swedes; and the whole kingdom was in a state of anarchy and con fusion. Nothing seemed to be anticipated but the final partition, or the entire annihilation of the empire, when suddenly and unexpectedly her liberators appear ed. Kosma Minin, a butcher of Nijnii Nuvgarod, roused by the highest patriotism, resolved to deliver his country from her enemies, or to sacrifice his all in the attempt. Ile inspired his countrymen with the same sentiments, who immediately contributed their property to bear the general charge, or act for the general good. The old gave their benediction to the young; wives received the oaths of their husbands and children to conquer or die for their country; females, old and young, divested themselves of their ornaments, their pearls, and precious stones; and the citizens transported their most valuable effects to a general depot. Prince Pojarskii, who had distin guished himself during the reign of the Tsar Shuiskii, was chosen as commander of numerous troops, which were rapidly assembled. He conducted them to Mos cow, vanquished the Poles, in various engagements, and liberated Russia front the thraldom of her ene mies. A splendid monument has been lately erected at Moscow by the Emperor Alexander, in commemo ration of these heroic achievements, on which is the following inscription: '' To citizen Minin and Prince Pojarskii, grateful Russia. 1818." Of the events of this disturbed period, a minute account is given by Dr. Lyall, whose work contains a view of the said monu ment.* Though there had been divisions among the nobles es to the choice of a sovereign, especially whether they should have a Polish or a Swedish prince, the most powerful party were desirous of elevating to the throne a native Russian, a distant relation of the an dent family of the Tsars, whose father Philaretes, was metropolitan of RostOf. This young noble at first declined the high destiny, but at length ascended the throne, with almost general consent, and was the first of the present family and dynasty, Romanof, whose descendants have raised the empire to a state of grandeur and importance unequalled in any former period.
Assisted by the sage councils of his venerable father, Michail Phoedorovitch, he avoided those disasters which had overwhelmed his immediate predecessors, and acquired the affection and love of his subjects. He formed useful treaties of alliance with the principal commercial states of Europe. His reign of thirty-two years was prosperous for his country and glorious to himself. Under his sway Russia acquired a hitherto unknown importance in the scale of nations. At his death in 1645 or 1646, he was succeeded by one of the most distinguished princes of the present dynasty, the Tsar, Alexei Michailovitch, who was only fifteen years of age. Morosol, a nobleman of consequence, had been appointed his governor and regent of the empire; but by neglecting his duties, he became very unpopu lar, and, hut for the special entreaty of the Tsar, he would have fallen a sacrifice to the rage of the multi tude. Alexei increased and strengthened the empire, by introducing a more regular discipline into the army, and by revising, amending, and new-modelling the code of laws, the Soodebnik, compiled by Ivan Vas silievitch, IV., which was now known under the name of Ullojenive (or code of laws). He invited foreign officers into his service, and procured ship-builders from Amsterdam, who were employed in constructing vessels for the Caspian sea, and greatly encouraged commerce. He waged war with the Poles. and with the Swedes, which terminated in peace. He also led his army against the Turks, and left the prosecution of the war to his successor. His merits have been much overlooked, and especially by the adulators of Peter the Great; for it cannot be doubted, by the impartial re cords of Russian history, that some of the improve ments, attributed to Peter, originated with his grand father, Alexei. When he was removed by death from the throne, he left behind him three sons and six daughters. Two of the sons, Pheodor and Ivan, were by a first marriage; the third, Peter, was by a second. Pheodor, the eldest son, who ascended the throne, was a prince of a feeble constitution, and it is generally al lowed, also of a weak mind. His administration, how ever, was useful to his country; and it is supposed that all the beneficial acts Gf it are to be ascribed to the influence of his sister, Sophia, and the able prime min ister, Galitsin. At his death, in the year 1682, he no minated his half brother, Peter, his successor; but this arrangement was powerfully opposed. His brother, Ivan Alexievitch, a prince who was debilitated by epi leptic fits both in body and mind, if he reigned alone at all, it was only for a very short time. Indeed, it can only be said that he nominally reigned, as Peter the Great, and his sister Sophia, were the real admin istrators of the government. After some disturbances Ivhn and Peter were crowned joint Emperors of all the Russias, while Sophia was nominated their copartner in the government. In the Museum of Moscow is preserved the double throne in which they usually sat in state, and which contains a secret place behind for Sophia, from which she dictated the minor speeches and answers of the sovereigns.* As the principal events in the life of Peter the Great are already detail ed under his life (vide Peter the Great,) we shall here only give a few short notices of the most important transactions, so as to keep up the connexion of our pre sent history.