b o o k princefs of confummate beauty and winning addrefs; who,
to all the fofter graces of her fex added a vigorous and
manly fpirit; and who, while ilie infufed into her hufband
a tafte for the arts of peace, animated him to thofe glorious
enterprizes which tended to the aggrandizement of his
.country.
Ivan the Great died in 1-505, in the 67th year of his age:
on each fide of his remains are depofited thofe of his father
Vaflili Vaffilievitch, furnamed The Blind * ; and of his fou
Vaffili Ivanovitch, who fucceeded him in the throne, and
expired in 1 5 3 3 .
In a fmall chapel adjoining to thefe tombs is the fepulehre
of Ivan Vaffilievitch II. t fon and fucceflor of Vaffili Ivanovitch.
This fovereign is branded by many writers with the
name of tyrant, and reprefented as the moft odious monfter
that ever difgraced human nature. In delineating, however,
his general character, they are fometimes guilty of falfe-
hood j:, and often of exaggeration, and feem totally to forget
many
•f- Called, by the Engliih writers,'John
Bafilovitz.
X Thus fome writers aflert, that when he
walked out, or made a progrefs through his
dominions, i f he met any o n e whofe mien
difpleafed him, he would order his head to
be ilruck off, or do it himfelf.
Others as abfurdly relate, that he would
order bears to be let loofe upon a croud of
people aflembled in the ftreets o f Mofcow,
and diverted himfelf with the cries and ago*
nies o f the perfons devoured by thofe ferocious
animals.
Olearius informs us, that Ivan wantonly
commanded the eyes o f the architect, who
built the church o f the Holy Trinity at
Mofcow, to be put out, that he m i g h t never
conftruft any building o f fuperior beauty.
Thefe idle tales confute themfelves; but
the following report we are able to .contra-
dicf from our own hiftory. Ivan is laid to
T h e latter is faid to have negotiated her
.marriage with the great-duke,.- and even to
have beftowed her portion, in hopes o f
procuring, through her influence, great advantages
to the Roman catholic religion in
Ruflia. But thefe hopes were fruilrated ;
for Sophia, immediately upon her marriage
in 1482, embraced the Greek religion. She
encouraged her huiband in ihaking off the
Tar tar yoke ; and probably aflifted him in
procuring the ableft architects from Italy.
See Herberftein. in Rer. Mof. -Comm. p. 7.
all'o Pan. Jovii De Leg. Mof.— Ibid. p. 129.
* He received the appellation o f The
Blind, becaufe his eyes had been put out by
order o f his uncle, who, having formerly
depofed him, praCtifed this cruel expedient
in order to difqualify him from re-afcending
the throne. He was afterwards, however,
re-inflated in the fovereignty by the.affec*
tiop o f his fubjeCts.
many great qualities wiucb he certainly poflefied. Though CHAP
we ihould not give implicit credit to many idle reports which •
are related of his favagenefs and inhumanity; yet it would
be equally as abfurd, and contrary to hiftorical evidence, to-
deny or attempt to apologife for many cruelties R actually
committed by this monarch, who, no more than Peter the
Great, reckoned clemency among the number of his virtues.
But while we regard the ferocity and implacability of his •
temper with abhorrence,, we. cannot refufe the tribute of
admiration to his political character. He raifed the fuper-
ftrudure of the Ruffian grandeur, of which his grandfather
had laid the foundation. Inftead of a defultory militia, col-
le&ed in hafte,,and always impatient to diiband, he inftituted:
a Handing army ; he aboliihed the ufe of the bow, hitherto
the principal weapon among the Ruffians ", he trained them-
to fire-arms, and accuftomed them to a more regular difci-
pline. By means-of. this formidable body, he extended h-isdominionson
all fides,.and particularly conquered the k ing --
doms o f Gafan and. Aftrachan, and rendered the Ruffiatr
name refpetftable to the diftant powers of Europe. He gave
tohis fnbje&s-the fir ft code :of'written laws;: he invited foreign
artifts i to-Mofcow he.introduced printing into Ruf-
fia; he promoted commerce, and regulated the. duties of.
export and import;. he. permitted Engli (h merchant s. to eftahkve
ordered 'the hat o f the -Ehglifh'embaf.-' in the 6th chap. o f this Book, and the ad
Jaaor, Sir, Jerome Bowes, to be naiteAto his- o f Book IV.
head, becaufe he refuied to take it off in + Above three hundred.art,ills of.all.pro-»-
eTV ar s Peefeueu- feffions, namely, painters,, feulptors, archi-:
this report was occafioned by the exag- teits, jvatpb.makers,' .callers; o f ,bells, m i.
gerated account o f a mifunderftanding be- ners, armourers, , ftatiooers,- mafons, & C-.
ween the tzar and Sir Jerome. Bowes, have already- arrived at Lubee in their wav to '
ralatf ? ln, ,h i eu'haffaddr’s dif- Mdfcow, but were prevented from proceed- .
i e . V t a S Colteaion o f V °y - )ne by the intrigues o f the inhabitants o f ■/
¿ y, 'o , Lubee, and the -natives- o f Livonia. . See,-
mitances o f which the reader wili.find Bachmeifteris Eflai fur.la Bib, &c. p. 32,
•5-: biiflbti