CHAPTER V.
Boris Godounov.—The Church in Poland.—Peter Mogila.—Liberation of Russia from the Poles.—Philaret.— Alexis.—Nikon and his Reforms.—Dissent.
Boris Godounov was now at the height of his power, screened by the arm of the Church and strong in his sovereign's affection. Dimitri, last heir to the throne, was secretly assassinated by his orders, and Feodor's daughter died in infancy. All obstacles thus removed, he waited patiently for the feeble tsar's death to seize upon the crown.
A successful campaign against the Crimean Tatars added the glory of a warrior to his fame as administrator. He drove the invaders from the walls of Moscow, while the monkish prince prostrated himself before the altar with sublime confidence in the efficacy of prayer. "Have no fears," he prophiesied to the aged men and weeping women who remained within the beleaguered city, "to-morrow not a Tatar shall be in sight."[1]
The singular piety of the monarch greatly endeared him to his devout and superstitious people. He lost all chance of election to the throne of Poland by his unswerving Orthodoxy, and declined the pope's proposals for union of the Churches in a general crusade against the Turks.
Under his fostering care the Church increased enormously in wealth and influence. Moscow became a
- ↑ Karamsin, vol. x., p. 206.
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