d
sister, you ought not in the future to enter into relationships of
friendship with Mussulman princes, nor to help them in any way,
whether with men or money; but on the contrary should desire and
insist that all the great Christian potentates should have a good
understanding, union, and strong friendship, and unite against the
Mussulmans, till the hand of the Christian rise and that of the
Mussulman is abased." Judging from Elizabeth's character, it is likely
that she shrugged her shoulders as she read this sermon. During the
period of Russia's internal troubles, and owing to the vacancy of the
throne, the relations with Europe were again suspended.

XVI--MICHAEL FEODOROVITCH OR MICHAEL, THE SON OF THEODORE, THE FIRST
ROMANOF. (p. 137)

Fifteen years of anarchy left Russia in disorder. The boyards had done
as they pleased since there was no one to control them. The peasants
who asked for nothing but a simple existence, had seen their crops
trampled under foot, and their homes laid in ruins. It needed a strong
hand to restore order; more than could be expected from a
fifteen-year-old boy, who had neither the iron will of Ivan the
Terrible, nor the advantage of having grown up with the conviction
that he was the Master. Besides, although his election had been
regular, the Don Cossacks and others refused to recognize him as the
czar. On the other hand, the patriots stood by him. But the conditions
were such that a foreigner in Moscow wrote at the time: "Oh that God
would open the eyes of the czar as He opened those of Ivan, otherwise
Muscovy is lost!"

There was no money in the treasury, and the men-at-arms demanded pay
because they received no revenues from their ruined estates. The czar
and the clergy wrote to the Russian towns begging them for money and
for troops to help the government, and a generous response was (p. 138)
made. The people of the provinces, anxious to see law and order
restored, rose in favor of the czar, and Astrakhan sent a rebel chief
to prison. He was shortly afterwards tried and executed.

While the people were thus aiding the government, no time was lost in
dealing with the foreign enemy. In 1614, Michael sent envoys to
Holland to request help in men and money. The Dutch gave a small sum,
regretting that they could do no more as they had just ended a war
that had lasted forty-one years (1568-1609); they promised that they