raft; sorcerers were
burned alive in a cage. Ivan, although in advance of his age, was not
free from superstition. The art of medicine was, of course, still in
its infancy, and those who practiced it were in constant danger (p. 126)
of their lives, because if they did not cure a patient, they might
suffer for it.

Both the nobles and the people were addicted to the vice of
drunkenness. No one paid any attention when a person, rich or poor,
young or old, fell down in the street from the effects of drink. This
is what the priests said of this vice: "My brethren, what is worse
than drunkenness? You lose memory and reason like a madman who does
not know what he is doing. The drunkard is senseless; he lies like a
corpse. If you speak to him he does not answer. Think of his poor soul
which grows foul in its vile body which is its prison.... To drink is
lawful and is to the glory of God, who has given us wine to make us
rejoice."

The Metropolitan of Moscow, until a Patriarch was appointed, was
supposed to be the head of the Church, but the czar held the real
power. There were two classes of priests: The Black Clergy lived as
monks in monasteries, some of which were exceedingly wealthy; they
were forbidden to marry, and the bishops were appointed from among
them. The White Clergy lived among the people and were compelled to
marry. Most of them were grossly ignorant. The same Englishman quoted
before, Mr. Fletcher, says of these priests: "As for exhorting or
instructing their flock, they have neither the habit of it nor the
talent for it, for all the clergy are as profoundly ignorant of the
Word of God as of all other learning."

The revenues of the Empire consisted of a tax on every sixty measures
of corn; of a house-tax, or tax on every fire; the customhouse (p. 127)
dues, and what remained of the municipal taxes after paying expenses;
of a tax on public baths; the farming out of lands belonging to the
crown; the fines and confiscations in the "Court of the Brigands;" and
finally of the tribute paid by thirty-six towns and their landed
possessions "belonging to the Crown."

The Courts of Justice belonged to the Middle Ages; tortures were
applied similar to those employed by the Spanish Inquisition. A wife
who murdered her husband "was buried alive up to her neck." Heretics
were burned at the stake; sorcerers were burned in an iron cage, and
coiners had liquid metal poured down their throats. A noble who killed
a