doors, and sacked every apartment.  They even tore from the person of his wife her jewels, throwing them into the street, but in other respects treating her with civility.  They then passed to the palace of Miloslauski, treating it in the same manner.  The mob had now possession of Moscow.  Palace after palace of the partisans of the ministers was sacked, and several of the most distinguished members of the court were massacred.

The tzar, entirely deficient in energy, remained trembling in the Kremlin during the whole of the night of the 6th of July, only entreating his friends to strengthen the guards and to secure the palace from the outrages of the populace.  Afraid to trust the Russian troops, who might be found in sympathy with the people, Alexis sent for a regiment of German troops who were in his employ, and stationed them around the palace.  He then sent out an officer to disperse the crowd, assuring them that the disorders of which they complained should be redressed.  They demanded that the offending ministers should be delivered to them, to be punished for the injuries they had inflicted upon the empire.  Alexis assured them, through his messenger, upon his oath, that Moroson and Miloslauski had escaped, but promised that the third minister whom they demanded, a noble by the name of Plesseon, who was judge of the supreme court of judicature of Moscow, should be brought out directly, and that those who had escaped should be delivered up as soon as they could be arrested.  The guilty, wretched man, thus doomed to be the victim to appease the rage of the mob, in a quarter of an hour was led out bareheaded by the servants of the tzar to the market-place.  The mob fell upon him with clubs, beat him to the earth, dragged him over the pavements, and finally cut off his head.  Thus satiated, about eleven o’clock in the morning they dispersed and returned to their homes.

In the afternoon, however, the reign of violence was resumed.  The city was set on fire in several places, and the mob collected for plunder, making no effort to extinguish the flames.  The fire spread with such alarming rapidity that the whole city was endangered.  At length, however, after terrible destruction of property and the loss of many lives, the fury of the conflagration was arrested.  The affrighted tzar now filled the important posts of the ministry with men who had a reputation for justice, and the clergy immediately espousing the cause of order, exhorted the populace to that respect and obedience to the higher powers which their religion enjoined.  Alexis personally appeared before the people and addressed them in a speech, in which he made no apology for the outrages which had been committed by the government, but, assuming that the people were right in their demands, promised to repeal the onerous duties, to abolish the obnoxious monopolies, and even to increase the privileges which they had formerly enjoyed.  The people received this announcement with great applause.  The tzar, taking advantage of this return to friendliness, remarked,