s before him, and
in a threatening tone sternly accused them of their misdeeds. "There
are among you many guilty ones," he said, "but this time I am
satisfied with making one example." He ordered the guards to seize
Andrew Chouiski, and had him then and there torn to pieces by dogs.
After this terrible punishment, he ordered the arrest of the most
disobedient nobles, who were transported to distant places.

[Illustration: Ivan IV]

The thirteen-year-old boy then assumed the government, relying chiefly
upon his mother's relations, the Glinskis. In 1547, at the age of
seventeen, he directed the Metropolitan to crown him, not as Grand
Duke but as Czar. In a Bible printed in the Slavonic language, he had
read of the _Czar_ Nebuchadnezzar, the _Czar_ Pharaoh, David, _Czar_
of Israel, etc. He knew, besides, that the former masters of the (p. 114)
grand dukes, the khans, had been addressed by that title. Perhaps it
was because he wished it to be known that he considered himself the
equal of any Tartar ruler; perhaps because he desired to have a title
superior to that of the nobles who descended from former grand dukes,
and who inherited the rank without the power; at any rate Ivan IV was
crowned as the first Czar.

Young as he was, and since his thirteenth year beyond control, Ivan's
life had been the reverse of good. But when, soon after the
coronation, he married Anastasia Romanof, he made an earnest effort to
reform. The relatives of his mother and of his wife, the Glinskis and
the Romanofs, enjoyed his favor at this time.

There was much suppressed dissatisfaction among the nobles, and many
plots were hatched against him. In the year of his coronation, a fire
swept wooden Moscow, and about 1,700 people perished in the flames.
Ivan ordered an investigation, and withdrew to Vorobief. Crowds
gathered in the thoroughfares, when mysterious persons appeared among
them declaring that the Glinskis had set the city on fire. Soon after
shouts were heard, "It is the Princess Anne Glinski who, with her two
sons, has bewitched the city; she has taken human hearts, plunged them
in water, and with this water has sprinkled the houses. This is the
cause of the destruction of Moscow!" A mob collected and made for the
palace of the Glinskis and one of them, George, was stabbed. They went
on to Vorobief, where they demanded the life of Ivan's uncle. The
czar's own life was in danger and the mob had to be dispersed by
force.

Ivan did