Andre, having thus terminated the strife with Novgorod by the peace which he loved, turned his attention to Kief, and with characteristic humanity, gratified the wishes of the inhabitants by allowing them to accept Roman, prince of Smolensk, as their chieftain.  Roman entered the city, greeted by the most flattering testimonials of the joy of the inhabitants, while they united with him in the oath of allegiance to Andre as the sovereign of Russia.  Andre, who was ever disposed to establish his sovereign power, not by armies but by equity and moderation, and who seems truly to have felt that the welfare of Russia required that all its provinces should be united under common laws and a common sovereign, turned his attention again to Novgorod, hoping to persuade its inhabitants to relinquish their independence and ally themselves with the general empire.

Rurik, the brother of Andre, who had been appointed prince of Novgorod, proved unpopular, and was driven from his command.  Andre, instead of endeavoring to force him back upon them by the energies of his armies, with a wise spirit of conciliation acquiesced in their movement, and sent to them his young son, George, as a prince, offering to assist them with his counsel and to aid them with his military force whenever they should desire it.  Thus internal peace was established throughout the empire.  By gradual advances, and with great sagacity, Andre, from his humble palace in Moscow, extended his influence over the remote provinces, and established his power.

The princes of Kief and its adjacent provinces became jealous of the encroachments of Andre, and hostile feelings were excited.  The king at length sent an embassador to them with very imperious commands.  The embassador was seized at Kief, his hair and beard shaven, and was then sent back to Moscow with the defiant message,

“Until now we have wished to respect you as a father; but since you do not blush to treat us as vassals and as peasants—­since you have forgotten that you speak to princes, we spurn your menaces.  Execute them.  We appeal to the judgment of God.”

This grievous insult of word and deed roused the indignation of the aged monarch as it had never been roused before.  He assembled an army of fifty thousand men, who were rendezvoused at Novgorod, and placed under the command of the king’s son, Georges.  Another army, nearly equal in number, was assembled at Tchernigof, collected from the principalities of Polotsk, Tourof, Grodno, Pinsk and Smolensk.  The bands of this army were under the several princes of the provinces.  Sviatoslaf, grandson of the renowned Oleg, was entrusted with the supreme command.  These two majestic forces were soon combined upon the banks of the Dnieper.  All resistance fled before them, and with strides of triumph they marched down the valley to Kief.  The princes who had aroused this storm of war fled to Vouoychegorod, an important fortress further down