England was, at that time, far beyond the bounds of the political horizon of Russia.  In fact, the Russians hardly knew that there was such a nation.  Great Britain was not, at that time, a maritime power of the first order.  Spain, Portugal, Venice and Genoa were then the great monarchs of the ocean.  England was just beginning to become the dangerous rival of those States whom she has already so infinitely surpassed in maritime greatness.  She had then formed the project of opening a shorter route to the Indies through the North Sea, and, in 1553, during the reign of Edward VI., had dispatched an expedition of three vessels, under Hugh Willoughby, in search of a north-east passage.  These vessels, separated by a tempest, were unable to reunite, and two of them were wrecked upon the icy coast of Russian Lapland in the extreme latitude of eighty degrees north.  Willoughby and his companions perished.  Some Lapland fishermen found their remains in the winter of the year 1554.  Willoughby was seated in a cabin constructed upon the shore with his journal before him, with which he appeared to have been occupied until the moment of his death.  The other ship, commanded by Captain Chanceller, was more fortunate.  He penetrated the White Sea, and, on the 24th of August, landed in the Bay of Dwina at the Russian monastery of St. Nicholas, where now stands the city of Archangel.  The English informed the inhabitants, who were astonished at the apparition of such a ship in their waters, that they were bearers of a letter to the tzar from the King of England, who desired to establish commercial relations with the great and hitherto almost unknown northern empire.  The commandant of the country furnished the mariners with provisions, and immediately dispatched a courier to Ivan at Moscow, which was some six hundred miles south of the Bay of Dwina.

Ivan IV. wisely judged that this circumstance might prove favorable to Russian commerce, and immediately sent a courier to invite Chanceller to come to Moscow, at the same time making arrangements for him to accomplish the journey with speed and comfort.  Chanceller, with some of his officers, accepted the invitation.  Arriving at Moscow, the English were struck with astonishment in view of the magnificence of the court, the polished address and the dignified manners of the nobles, the rich costume of the courtiers, and, particularly, with the jeweled and golden brilliance of the throne, upon which was seated a young monarch decorated in the most dazzling style of regal splendor, and in whose presence all observed the most respectful silence.  Chanceller presented to Ivan IV. the letter of Edward VI.  It was a noble letter, worthy of England’s monarch, and, being translated into many languages, was addressed generally to all the sovereigns of the East and the North.  The letter was dated, “London, in the year 5517 of the creation, and of our reign the 17.”  The English were honorably received, and were invited to dine with the tzar in the royal palace, which furnished them with a new occasion of astonishment from the sumptuousness which surrounded the sovereign.  The guests, more than a hundred in number, were served on plates of gold.  The goblets were of the same metal.  The servants, one hundred and fifty in number, were also in livery richly decorated with gold lace.