R U S 
boor might remove to another, master or the master dismiss 
the boor that did not suit him. 
During the troubles and dissensions in which the empire 
had been involved, since the death of Feodor Ivanovitch, 
the chief men of the state were divided into several parties. 
Of these, one sought to elevate to the throne a Polish prince, 
while another rather favoured the succession of a Swede. 
A third, and by far the strongest party, were desirous to 
place upon the throne a native Russian; and they soon 
turned their eyes on Mikhail Romanof, a distant relation of 
the ancient family of the tzars, whose father was metropoli¬ 
tan of Rostof. The clergy seemed particularly interested in 
this choice, as they justly concluded, that a Russian, born 
and brought up in the orthodox Greek faith, would most 
effectually prevent the poison of Catholic opinions or Pro¬ 
testant heresy, the introduction of which was to be feared 
from the accession of a Polish or a Swedish monarch. Ac¬ 
cordingly, the voice of a single ecclesiastic decided the 
electors in favour of Mikhail. A metropolitan declared in 
the hall of election, that it had been announced to him by 
divine revelation, that the young Romanof would prove the 
most fortunate and prosperous of all the tzars who had 
tilled the Russian throne. This revelation had an immediate 
effect on the electors, as their reverence for the superior 
clergy was so great, that none could presume to doubt the 
veracity of a person of such exalted rank and sacred function. 
The revelation once made public, the people too expressed 
so decidedly their desire to have the young Romanof for 
their sovereign, that all soon united in their choice. The 
young man himself, however, refused the proffered hononr, 
and his mother, dreading the fate that might arise from so 
dangerous an elevation, with tears implored the deputies to 
depart. The modest refusal of Mikhail served only to 
persuade the people, that he was the most worthy object on 
which they could fix their choice; and at length the de¬ 
puties returned to Moscow, bringing with them the consent 
of the monarch elect. The coronation took place on the 
11th of June, 1613, and thus the views of Poland and of 
Sweden, as well as the designs of Marina, the widow of the 
first pretender Dimitri, who still contrived to keep a party 
in her favour, were entirely frustrated. 
At the accession of Mikhail, the Swedes and Poles were 
in possession of several parts of the empire; and to dislodge 
these invaders was the first object of the new tzar. Aware 
of the difficulty of contending at once with both these 
formidable enemies, he began by negociating a treaty of 
peace with Sweden. This was not effected without con¬ 
siderable sacrifices. Mikhail agreed to give up Ingria and 
ICarilia, and to evacuate Esthonia and Livonia. Thus freed 
from his most dangerous enemy, Mikhail prepared to oppose 
the Poles, of whom a numerous body had entered Russia, 
to support the claims of their king’s son, Vladislaf. Mikhail 
proceeded, however, in a very wary manner, and instead of 
opposing the invaders in the open field, he entrapped them 
by ambuscades, or allured them into districts already deso¬ 
lated, where they suffered so much from cold and hunger, 
that in 1619 they agreed to a cessation of hostilities for 
fourteen years and a half, on condition that the Russians 
should cede to Poland the government of Smolensk. 
Thus freed from external enemies on terms which, though 
not very honourable, were the best that the posture of 
his affairs admitted, Mikhail set himself to arrange the 
internal affairs of his empire. He began by placing his 
father at the head of the church, by conferring on him the 
dignity of patriarch, which had become vacant. The coun¬ 
sels of this venerable man were of great advantage to Mik¬ 
hail, and contributed to preserve that peace and tranquillity 
by which the reign of this monarch was in general distin¬ 
guished. The tzar’s next step was to form treaties of alliance 
with the principal commercial states of Europe. He accord¬ 
ingly sent ambassadors to England, Denmark, Holland, 
and the German empire; and Russia, which had hitherto 
been considered rather as an Asiatic than a European power, 
became so respectable in the eyes of her northern neigh- 
S 1 A. 467 
bours, that they vied with each other in forming with her 
commercial treaties. 
Mikhail also began those improvements of the laws which 
we shall presently see more fully executed by his son and suc¬ 
cessor ; but the tide of party ran so high, that he could do but 
little in the way of reformation. His death happened in 1645. 
Mikhail was succceeded by his son Alexei; but as the 
young prince was only 15 years of age at his father’s death, 
a nobleman named Morosof had been appointed his go¬ 
vernor, and regent of the empire. This man possessed all 
the ambition, without the prudence and address of Boris; 
and in attempting to raise himself and his adherents to the 
highest posts in the state, he incurred the hatred of all ranks 
of people. Though Morosof, by properly organizing the 
army, provided for the defence of the empire against ex¬ 
ternal enemies, he shamefully neglected internal policy, 
and connived at the most flagrant enormities in the 
administration of justice. These abuses went so far, that 
the populace once stopped the tzar as he was returning 
from church to his palace, calling aloud for righteous judges. 
Though Alexei promised to make strict inquiry into the 
nature and extent of their grievances, and to inflict de¬ 
served punishment on the guilty, the people had not 
patience to await this tardy process, and proceeded to plunder 
the houses of those nobles who were most obnoxious to 
them. They were at length pacified, however, on condition 
that the author of their oppression should be brought to 
condign punishment. One of the most nefarious judges 
was put to death; and the principal magistrate of Moscow 
fell a victim to their rage. The life of Morosof was spared 
at the earnest entreaty of the tzar, who engaged for his future 
good behaviour. 
The war with Poland was occasioned by Alexei’s sup¬ 
porting the Kozaks, a military horde, who had left the 
northern shores of the Dnieper, and retired further to the 
south. Here they had established a military democracy, 
and during the dominion of the Tartars in Russia, had been 
subjects to the khan of those tribes; but after the expulsion 
or subjugation of the Tartars, the Kozaks had put them¬ 
selves under the guardianship of Poland, to which kingdom 
they formerly belonged. As the Polish clergy, however, 
attempted to impose on them the Greek faith, they threw off 
their allegiance to the king of Poland, and claimed the 
patronage of Russia. Alexei, who seems to have sought 
for a pretext to break with Poland, gladly received them as 
his subjects, as he hoped, with their assistance, to recover 
the territories that had been ceded to Poland by his father, 
He began by negociation, and sent an embassy to the king 
of Poland, complaining of some Polish publications, in 
which reflections had been cast on the honour of his father 
and demanding that, by way of compensation, the Russian 
territories formerly ceded to Poland should be restored. The 
king of Poland of course refused this arrogant demand, 
and both parties prepared for war. The Russians, assisted 
by the Kozaks, were so successful in this contest, that the 
king of Sweden became jealous of Alexei’s good fortune, 
and apprehensive of an attack. He therefore determined 
to take an active part in the war, especially as the Lithuanians, 
who were extremely averse to the Russian dominion, had 
sought his protection. The war with Sweden commenced 
in 1656, and continued for two years, without any im¬ 
portant advantage being gained by either party. ' A truce 
was concluded in 1658, for three years, and at the term ina- 
of this period, a solid peace was established. In the mean 
time the war with Poland continued, but was at length 
terminated by an armistice, which was prolonged from time 
to time, during the remainder of Alexei’s reign. 
The reign of this monarch is as remarkable for turbulence, 
as that of his predecessor had been for tranquillity. No 
sooner was peace established with the neighbouring states 
than fresh commotions shook the empire from within. The 
Don Kozaks, who now formed a part of the Russian popu¬ 
lation, felt themselves aggrieved by the rigour with which 
one of their officers had been treated, and placing at their 
head 
