intoxicate as well as brutalise. The career of most tyrants will be found to be marked by absurdities not less startling than their crimes were enormous. The wretched Ivan, proceeding in his career of wickedness, indulged in unimaginable extravagances, and the horrid was frequently found associated with the ridiculous. The select legion, which was to have consisted of a thousand persons of birth and importance, was increased to six thousand, and in this fearful body the lowest and most infamous of the mob were freely admitted. They were encouraged to commit every sort of excess. More than ten thousand householders were driven from their dwellings that the Strelitzes might be well lodged. They plundered with impunity, and brought forward charges which were wholly false, to gain an order for wholesale confiscation. To render their appearance more striking, a dog's head and a broom were ordered to be suspended from their saddle bows, to indicate that it was their province to worry the enemies of their master, and to sweep them from the face of the earth.

The magnificent Kremlin was not sufficient to satisfy the despot's pride, and by his command a new palace was built outside its limits, which was provided with bulwarks like a fortress. Its aspect was most formidable, and by commanders of that period it was pronounced to be impregnable; but fear, which uniformly pursues guilt, whispered to Ivan that within its walls, he was not secure. To Alexandrovsky, to which he had withdrawn on the occasion of his threatened abdication, he determined to return. There palaces, churches, and houses, were soon seen in the course of erection, and the humble vil lage was changed into a large town. The church of Our Lady was a splendid object. It was painted outside of the most dazzling colours, and enriched with gold and silver, while every brick presented a representation of the cross. Never was that religion which breathes "Peace upon earth and goodwill to men more outrageously mocked than it was by this fiend in human form. While Ivan reposed in a splendid palace, defended by a ditch and a rampart, and while all persons were prohibited from leaving or entering the town without his express permission, and patrols constantly surrounded it to enforce this mandate, and while the most abominable sensuality was indulged in from day to day, Ivan affected to establish a monastery, and styled his favourite companions in riot and dissipation monks, and himself their abbot. Nor was this merely an irreverent jest; he made the brothers, as his Bacchanalian crew were called, go through the most solemn exercises of the church, and Prince Skuratof received the title of Sacristan.

It was his pleasure that this new order should be most splendid in its appearance, and for that purpose habits embroidered with fur and gold were provided, and at the same time he was as strict in his observances as if the most fervent piety had animated his bosom. It would almost seem as if the sacrilegious monster had cheated himself into a belief that the sins against reason and humanity, in the perpetration of which he was daily engaged, were to be atoned for by the solemnities he practised. At three o'clock in the morning he left his bed and repaired with his children and the sacristan to the church, in order to ring the bell, which was to call the brothers to matins. Any monk who dared to absent himself was punished with imprisonment for a week. Prayers were then read, and a service, which lasted from three to four hours, was performed. Ivan engaged in it with the zeal of a pious enthusiast, whose every thought was fixed on the glories of a better world. He sung and prayed, and repeatedly prostrated himself on the floor, and that with such energy that his forehead was often severely bruised. At eight o'clock the farce was resumed, and mass was celebrated, At ten the fraternity sat down to table, with the exception of Ivan, who remained standing, and read to them from some pious book, to assist, even while they were feasting, the progress of their souls in grace. They fared sumptuously, and the remains of their repast were sent to the market place and given to the poor. To mark his humility, the abbot dined after the rest of the fraternity, and then he would converse with them on spiritual affairs, and on the steps proper to be taken with a view to the salvation of their immortal part, in order "to make their calling and election sure."

Few readers will be prepared for what was to follow these devout exercises. His prayers ended, the Czar descended into the dungeons of his prison, to see the torture inflicted on the wretches who languished there. His ingenuity assisted the ministers of his wrath, and, prompted by him, the tormenters often succeeded in causing the unhappy captives to experience a more awful thrill of intolerable agony than their own unaided labours would have inflicted. From this scene, which might have appalled a demon, he withdrew, apparently much cheered by what he had witnessed. The sufferings of the victims furnished him with mirthful themes to heighten the gaiety of his evening, which, as might be expected with one who rose so early, was short. Vespers were read at eight o'clock, and shortly after he retired to his bed chamber, where three blind men, skilled in the art of story-telling, attended to lull him to repose; but com

monly he directed that he should be roused from his slumbers at midnight, in order that he might commence the new day by humbling himself before the mighty being, his Creator, whom he lived but to outrage.

Such was the singular construction of this man's mind! But that his deeds were so unequivocally atrocious that charity cannot regard them as anything less than monstrous crimes, they would almost have been supposed to proceed from inspirations, or at least from virtuous error. But, alas! while singing the matin song, while in the very act of claiming mercy from above, he would issue his orders for remorseless butchery on earth. To torture and murder his fellow men, with the amusement of bear-hunting, were the great delights of his life. The former luxury never seemed to cloy. He went forward As if increase of appetite

Had grown on what it fed on." His fatal orders were issued from Alexandrovsky; havock was the word, and princes, nobles, and substantial citizens fell in every direction. The ferocious Strelitzes, from day to day growing bolder under his protection, increased the number of their victims. Not fewer than twenty per diem are said thus to have perished, and, to gratify Ivan and his unworthy favourites, the unburied bodies were left as decorations of the streets and squares through which they occasionally passed, till decomposition had more than commenced.

Against these appalling deeds Philip, the new metropolitan, who had been compelled by the Czar to quit a desert island which he had chosen for his residence, was the only man who had the courage and the virtue to remonstrate. He ventured to point out to the despot the evil consequences which they were likely to produce here, as well as the tremendous punishment which might be expected to meet them in the world to come. For this the good man was thrown into prison, and treated with great severity. The morose tyrant, far from profiting by the sage council which had been given, now determined to extend the scale of his operations, and, not satisfied with shedding the blood of individuals, he aspired to signalize himself by destroying a whole community. At a fair held at Torjek, a quarrel occurred between a few of the select legion and some of the townsmen, and for this the whole of the inhabitants were denounced as traitors. The six thousand Strelitzes were let loose. Many of the people were inhumanly tortured, and many more were drowned. At Kolomna similar scenes were acted, and the ladies doomed to die were first stripped naked, exposed to the gaze of the populace, and then shot. This

wanton barbarity was not confined to the place which has been named. In Moscow the wife of an obnoxious boyard was often compelled, when he passed in procession, to appear in a state of nudity. Scenes equally offensive to decorum marked the pageants of the monarchs of France in the preceding century, but these were not inflictions on women of character. If disorderly females for pastime or pay appeared in several public scenes, their attendance was always voluntary.

In the year 1569 a native of Volhynia, named Peter, who for gross misconduct had been punished by the authorities of Novgorod, panting for revenge, determined to make the suspicious Czar believe that those who had incurred his hatred were in correspondence with the King of Poland, and contemplated putting themselves under his protection. He forged a letter to that monarch, purporting to be written by the Archbishop of Novgorod in the name of the inhabitants. He contrived to get it placed behind the figure of the Virgin in the church of St Sophia, and in due time the paper was found, and the Czar informed of all the particulars of the pretended conspiracy. This was enough for Ivan. Sentence was pronounced against the whole city, and on the 29th December, 1569, he left Alexandrovsky, accompanied by his son and the select legion, in order to execute the scheme of hellish vengeance which he had resolved to carry into effect against the inhabitants. Not to lose time, he exterminated the whole population of one or two towns on his way, and at Twer, where the metropolitan lately deposed resided in a monastery, Ivan's confident and mock secretary, Skuratof, saw the unhappy ecclesiastic, and strangled him in his cell.

Ivan did not himself enter Twer, but established himself at a neighbouring monastery, where he remained five or six days. His soldiers, however, pillaged the town, and in resentment of the admonition their master had received from the metropolitan, their fury was especially directed against the clergy. A catalogue of horrors is now presented to us, which the eye shudders to look upon, which have the air of being too extravagant for romance, though unhappily they are well attested as forming part of real history. Not only was property of every kind seized and carried away, but the ferocious Strelitzes made torturing and hanging the helpless inhabitants their daily pastime. The Polish prisoners who were there confined were brought out and slaughtered in cold blood; some were shot, some cut in pieces, and others drowned in the Volga, and all this was but the prologue to the memorable tragedy which remained to be acted at Moscow.

(To be continued.)

RELICS OF CHARLES THE FIRST. THE Counterpane which covered the bed of Charles I at St James's Palace, the night before his execution, and which is made of a thick blue satin, embroidered with gold and silver, in a deep border, was used by the family of Champneys, of Orchardleigh, near Frome, Somersetshire, as a christening mantle, from the period it came into their possession, by marriage with the sole heiress of the Chandlers of Camon's hall, near Fareham, in Hampshire-a family connected with Cromwell. The Sword-belt of the unfortunate king is also at Orchardleigh house.

The Prayer Book of King Charles, and used by him on the morning of his execution, was sold by auction, May 17, 1825, by Mr Thomas, of King street, Covent garden: it was printed partly in black letter, of folio size, bound in russia, originally purple, but very much faded, with arms on the cover in gold, of the Elector Palatine, afterwards King of Bohemia, empaling the arms of his wife, Princess Elizabeth, daughter of James I, and sister of Charles I. The title-page was wanting. On the leaf of the preface was written, "King Charles the First's own prayer book;" and "Ex Libris Biblioth. presby. Dumf. Ex dono Joan Hutton, M.D., 1714." On the titlepage of the Psalter was "Carolus R." supposed to have been the autograph of Charles. This book is reported to have been given by the king to Dr Juxon, who attended him on the scaffold. It was sold to a Mr Slator, for one hundred pounds.

The Chair used by Charles I during his Trial. This attractive curiosity was also placed for the king's accommodation upon the scaffold at Whitehall. It has a long seat and high back, and is covered with deep crimson velvet, a footstool being attached to it of corresponding style and material. It was exhibited at the Birmingham Mechanics' Institution, February, 1840.

The Pocket Handkerchief of Charles I was purchased some years since by a silversmith of Bath, at the sale of the effects of W. M. Pitt, Esq., of Dorchester; it was of fine white cambric, and neatly marked with the imperial crown and the initials "C. R." It was accompanied by the following certificates :-"This was King Charles the First's Handkerchief that he had on the scaffold when he was beheaded, January ye 30th, 1648.-From my cousin Anne Foyle, 1733."-"Certificate by me, July 25, 1828-W. M. Pitt:-as to the authenticity of the fact, I can only state that I was informed by my father, that Mrs Anne Foyle was a cousin of his mother's, whose father was much attached to the king; was present at his death, and obtained by some means or other, this handkerchief; from her father she obtained it,

and gave it to my grandmother, Lora Pitt, as is stated on the cover herein inclosed: the endorsement was written ninety years after the event took place, and my grandmother was born in the reign of Charles the Second. I myself know that that endorsement is the handwriting of my grandmother, who evidently believed it to be true; and this I write ninety years also after the writing of that endorsement by my grandmother."

The Satin Cap worn by Charles I at the time of his Execution. It appears that this melancholy relic, after having been in the possession of Bishop Juxon, came into that of Sir — Hungerford, standard bearer to Charles I, and afterwards into the family of the Innocents, of Great Newport street, Leicester square, London, who, it is said, retained it for upwards of one hundred years. It next became the property of General Crewe, who gave 70l. for it; and, lastly, that of the Rev. Edward Leigh, of Painton, whose executors offered it for sale, 1843. There was an old written paper fastened to the cap, stating it to be the identical one worn by Charles at his execution.

The Watch and Shirt* belonging to Charles I came into the possession of the Hon. Bertram Ashburnham, who, by his will, dated 16th June, 1733, bequeathed them to the church of Ashburnham, Sussex, as appears by the following extract: "And I desire and direct my executor or executors, soon after my decease, to deliver the watch and shirt which are now in my custody, and formerly belonged to his Majesty, King Charles I, to the minister of the church of Ashburnham aforesaid, in order to be deposited among the plate and linen belonging to the said church, where I desire and direct the same may remain for ever." They were deposited accordingly in the chancel of the church; but, some rogue contriving to steal the outward case of the watch, they can only be seen now through the medium of a glass

case.

The Linen Chest of Charles I is in the possession of the writer of this memoir : the inside is lined with pink silk, and the

On the morning of his execution, Charles Herbert who was lying by the side of his master's awaking, after four hours' sound sleep, called bed, saying to him: "This is my second weddingday: I would be as trim as may be." He then appointed what clothes he would wear. "Let me have

a shirt on more than ordinary by reason the season is so sharp, as probably may make me shake, t which some observers may imagine proceeds from fear. I would have no such imputation."-Herbert's Memoirs, p. 127, 8vo. 1702.

As the shirt in Ashburnham church has the stain

of blood on it, most probably it was the one worn

over the under-shirt.

+ Whilst Bailly, the mayor of Paris, was ascending the steps of the scaffold to be executed (1793), a soldier accosted him, saying, "You tremble!" "No, my friend," replied Bailly, "I only shake with cold."