b o o k . i t broke out ■againft him. At length his marriage with a
» / , “ 'foreign lady clofed the fcene; and it would have been a
“ wonder if he.had continued any longer upon the throne.’’
Having in Poland betrothed himfelf to Marina, the
• daughter of the palatine Mnifchek, he difpatched a fplendid
embaffy into that country to demand her in marriage: the
efpoufals were performed at Cracow 4 and the bride, having
made her entry into Mofcow, accompanied with a large fuite
•of Poles,-was lodged in a nunnery until the folemnization of
the nuptials : during this interval he diftufhed the devotion
of the holy fifterhood with repeated feafts, concerts, and balls,
•whereby he excited publick horror, as the facrilegious violator
of religious difcipline. By this infatuated behaviour
he inflamed the difaffe&ion of his fubjedls to fuch a degree,
that a regular confpiracy was concerted againft him. The
leader of this confpiracy was prince Vaflililvanovitch Shuiiki,
the fame perfon who had owed his life to the lenity of Demetrius
; and on whom this a£t of clemency had no other
effe£t than to render him more cautious in his fubfequent
.machinations againft his benefactor. Demetrius had frequently
received intimations from different quarters of a
projected infurredtion. The popular odium 'betrayed itfelf
by the moft alarming fymptoms. Perfons were heard crying
in the ftreets, “ The tzar is an heretic worfe than aTurk, and
•“ not the ion of Ivan Vaffilievitch.” But, either from natural
magnanimity that braved all danger, or from the inconsiderate
levity of his charafter, which would not attend to
it, he was infenfible to all thefe prognoftics; and by obfti-
•fnpported by the foppofed confeilion o f two i t to have been a calumny, invented by Vaf-
Poliih nobles, to whom Demetrius is faid to fili Shuiiki, to render the memory of his
have revealed it a day or two before bis af- rival more odious. See S. R. G. vol. V.
faffinat-ian ; but we may more juftly believe 342— 346.,
nately
nately perfevering i n his obnoxious and unpopular mode of c h a p .
condutft, feemed almoft to invite the deftruchon which v_™_-
awaited him. ‘
; The infurreclion broke out early in the morning on the
27 th of May. The confpirators poiTefled themfelves of the
principal avenues leading to the city ; the great bell in the
Kremlin, the common fignal of alarm, was tolled ; and a
confufed cry was fpread among the people that the Poles
were preparing to malTacre the inhabitants. Vaflili Shuiiki
who had fecretly fomented and inflamed the public difcon-
tents, led the way to the palace, bearing a crofs in one
hand, and a fabre in the other, accompanied by a vaft multitude
armed with the firft weapons which chance prefented.
This party, having overpowered the guards, burft open thé
gates of the palace, and ruihed towards the apartment of
Demetrius. The latter, awakened by the tumult, fummoned
the few guards who were immediately about his perfon, and
tallying, without a moment’s deliberation, againft his aflhil-
ants, hewed down feveral of the foremoft : being foon overborn
by numbers, he attempted to retreat into the interior
Part of the palace; but, clofely prefled by his purfuers, he
precipitated himfelf from a window into a court, and diflo-
cated his thigh with the. fall.
Being difcovered in this deplorable condition, he was conveyed
back to the palace, and brought before Vaffili Shuiiki
who loaded him with reproaches for his impofture. Not
dhmayed, however, with the menaces of his enemy, he perv
H *n maintainiHS himfelf to be the real fon of Ivan
affihevitch II. and, as a proof of the truth of his affertion,
« S I ïhat h . rn j Ü °0nVeat t0 ob' a!n w l tzarin. ’s d« la ra -
but à is certatn mp lîre: Wh“ hiS °Wn “ “ S’®“ » would have
wife „ . Cer,td n ‘ hat„ he d,d not 5 other- be“ M b fufficieut i
,» why did Vaffili Shuiiki repair to
° L‘ C c c appealed