r destination at the other end
of the empire as an exile,--which it may have been. Two hundred
deserted and made their way back to Moscow and their families; they
were promptly hunted down. When they returned to their regiments, they
brought with them a secret proclamation from Sophia. "You suffer," she
declared, "but it will grow worse still. March on Moscow! What are you
waiting for? There is no news of the czar!" There was a rumor that
Peter was dead and that his son Alexis had been murdered by the
boyards. Four regiments revolted and left the ranks. Generals Gordon
and Schein went after them with the regular troops, and after
overtaking the mutineers, tried to bring them to reason. In reply they
stated their grievances and persisted in their determination not to
return to duty. The government troops then fired and scattered the
streltsi. A number of them were arrested, tortured, and executed.

At this time Peter returned, furious at what had happened. He was
determined to strike at the head of the opposition, the Russians who
openly denounced innovations. He ordered that the face must be shaved.
This was hitting every adult Russian in a tender spot, because the
shaving of the face was considered in the light of a blasphemy. He
began to enforce his orders at his court, sometimes acting as a barber
himself, when he was none too gentle. A number of gibbets erected on
the Red Square, reminded the bearded noble that the choice lay between
losing the beard or the head. The Patriarch appealed to Peter, a (p. 157)
holy eikon of the Virgin in his hand. "Why did you bring out the holy
eikon?" asked the czar. "Withdraw and restore it to its place. Know
that I venerate God and His mother as much as you do, but know also
that it is my duty to protect the people and to punish the rebels."

The gibbets did not stand as an idle threat. The Austrian Minister
Korb was a witness of the executions, which he describes thus: "Five
rebel heads had been sent into the dust by blows from an ax wielded by
the noblest hand in Russia." Thus Peter did not hesitate to be his own
executioner. It was like him to do his own work, regardless of what
the people might think. A thousand men were sent to a gory grave, by
the highest officers of the court; the executions lasted a week. The
funeral of the executed was forbidden. Bodies were seen dangling from
the walls of the kremlin for five months, and for the same length of
time, the corpses of some