in public, and after it schemed and plotted to form a party in her
favor. A rumor was spread that the czarina's brother had seized the
throne and that Ivan had been murdered. The people of Moscow rose, and
the streltsi marched to the kremlin where the appearance of Natalia
with the two children made the mob hesitate. Unfortunately Prince
Dolgorouki addressed the men in violent language; they seized him on
their pikes and killed him. They then stabbed the czarina's foster
father, Matveef, in her presence, and sacked the palace, murdering
many of its inmates. One of Natalia's brothers was thrown out of a
window and caught on the points of the lances of the streltsi who (p. 146)
were waiting below. Natalia's father and brother were taken from her;
Cyril, the father, was sent to a monastery and her brother Ivan was
tortured and cut to pieces, although the czarina went on her knees
begging for his life. The streltsi acted under authority from Sophia
when they committed these outrages. After this rioting had continued
seven days, the streltsi sent their commandant Khovanski to the douma,
to demand that there should be two czars, Ivan, with Peter as his
assistant. The douma did not fancy the idea,--but there were the
streltsi with their pikes, and they carried the day.

From this time it was Sophia who was the real czar. She reigned in
name of the two half-brothers, and showed herself in public, insisting
upon being present on every occasion. The Russians as a rule are not
fond of new fashions; they did not like this, and objected so strongly
that Sophia was forced to give way. Thereafter the two young czars sat
in public on the throne, but it was constructed in such a manner that
Sophia could hear and see without being visible.

She shocked every Russian by her manners until the streltsi began to
speak of her as "the scandalous person." They hated her when she
persecuted the _raskolnik_ or Old Believers, that is, the men who
objected to the reforms of Nicon. At last she thought that it was not
safe for her to remain at Moscow; she fled to the strong convent at
Troitsa, taking with her the czarina and the two little tsars, and
there summoned the men-at-arms whom she could trust. Khovanski, the
commandant of the streltsi, was summoned before her; he was arrested
on the way, and put to death with his son. The streltsi were (p. 147)
considering another revolt, when they were seized with a panic;
instead of marching upon T