s another man, mistaken for him,
whom the assassins had killed. Poland, inspired by revenge, eagerly
embraced this man's cause. Mariana, who had been liberated from
prison, was let into the secret, and willing to ascend again to the
grandeur from which she had fallen, entered with cordial cooeperation
into this new intrigue. The widowed tzarina and the Polish adventurer
contrived their first meeting in the presence of a large concourse of
nobles and citizens. They rushed together in a warm embrace, while
tears of affected transport bedewed their cheeks. The farce was so
admirably performed that many were deceived, and this new Dmitri and
the tzarina occupied for several days the same tent in the Polish
encampment, apparently as husband and wife.

CHAPTER XVII.

A CHANGE OF DYNASTY.

From 1608 to 1680.

Conquests by Poland.--Sweden in Alliance with Russia.--Grandeur of
Poland.--Ladislaus Elected King of Russia.--Commotions and
Insurrections.--Rejection of Ladislaus and Election of Michael Feodor
Romanow.--Sorrow of His Mother.--Pacific Character of Romanow.--Choice
of a Bride.--Eudochia Streschnew.--The Archbishop Feodor.--Death of
Michael and Accession of Alexis.--Love in the Palace.--Successful
Intrigue.--Mobs in Moscow.--Change in the Character of the
Tzar.--Turkish Invasions.--Alliance Between Russia and Poland.

This public testimonial of conjugal love led men, who had before
doubted the pretender, to repose confidence in his claims. The King of
Poland took advantage of the confusion now reigning in Russia to
extend his dominions by wresting still more border territory from his
great rival. In this exigence, Zuski purchased the loan of an army of
five thousand men from Sweden by surrendering Livonia to the Swedes.
With these succors united to his own troops, he marched to meet the
pretended Dmitri. There was now universal confusion in Russia. The two
hostile armies, avoiding a decisive engagement, were maneuvering and
engaging in incessant petty skirmishes, which resulted only in
bloodshed and misery. Thus five years of national woe lingered away.
The people became weary of both the claimants for the crown, and the
nobles boldly met, regardless of the rival combatants, and resolved to
choose a new sovereign.

Poland had then attained the summit of its greatness. As an energetic
military power, it was superior to Russia. To conciliate Poland, whose
aggressions were greatly feared, the Russian nobles c