Sylvestre, a humble, world-renouncing Christian, sought nothing for himself, and would accept neither riches nor honors, but he remained near the throne to strengthen the young monarch in his good resolutions.  There was a young man, Alexis Adachef, connected with the court who possessed a character of extraordinary nobleness and loveliness.  He was of remarkable personal beauty, and his soul was pure and sensitive.  Entirely devoted to the good of others, without the least apparent mixture of sordid motives, he engaged in the service of the tzar, and became to him a friend of priceless value.  Alexis, mingling freely with the people, was acquainted with all their wants and griefs, and he cooeperating with Sylvestre, inspired the emperor with a heart to conceive and energy to execute all good things.

From this conjunction is to be dated the commencement of the glory of the reign of Ivan IV.  The first endeavor of the reformed monarch was to quell the tumult among the people.  Three days after the assassination of the Glinskys, a mob from Moscow rushed out to the village of Vorobeif, surrounded the palace and demanded one of the aunts of the emperor and another of the nobles who had become obnoxious to them.  The king immediately opened a fire upon mob and dispersed them.  This decisive act restored order.  Ivan IV. immediately devoted all his energies to preparing dwellings for the houseless poor and in relieving their necessities.  His whole soul seemed aroused to promote the happiness of his subjects, both temporal and spiritual, and all selfish considerations were apparently obliterated from his mind.  In order to consolidate, by the aids of religion, the happy change effected in the government and in his own heart, the young sovereign shut himself up for several days in solitude, and, in the exercises of self-examination, fasting and prayer, made the entire consecration of himself to his Maker.  He then assembled the bishops in one of the churches, and, in their presence, with touching words and tearful eyes, made confession of his faults, implored divine forgiveness, and then, with the calmness of a soul relieved of the burden of sin, received the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper.

With true nobility of soul, he wished his penitence to be as conspicuous as his sins had been.  He resolved to humble himself before his Maker in the presence of all Russia, that his subjects universally might understand the new principles which animated his heart, and the new desires which would enlist his energies.  Every city in the empire received orders to send deputies to Moscow, chosen from all the ranks of society, to attend to matters of the utmost importance to the country.  The Sabbath morning after their arrival, they were all assembled, an immense multitude, in one of the public squares of the city.  The czar, accompanied by the clergy and the nobles, left the palace of the Kremlin to meet the deputies.  The solemnity of the Sabbath hallowed the scene, and the people received their sovereign in profound silence.