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with their friends , who , on their side , acting without concert , were everywhere defeated . Their men , too , were worn out by incessant fatigue and constant alarms . Metscherinof , instigated by the fears of a cruel punishment , lost no opportunity of pushing his advantages . Lavish in his bribes , he was kept au courant , and knowing the precise moment when the opposition had exhausted itself , resolved at length to strike a decisive blow .
This was the more easy to him , as he now commanded an army of 15 , 000 men , while Solofski was defended by 250 only ; the sad remains of the heroic phalanx . He remained the whole of the winter of 1673-4 under the walls of the monastery which he invested and bombarded according to all the rules of war . He also several times
attempted to carry it by assault , but unsuccessfully . Esaie Yoronine fell on the walls . Samuel de Berne , the sole surviving chief , swore to perish in the ruins rather than surrender . Metscherinof was almost on the point of abandoning the siege of a place defended by a scanty garrison , sustained only by an ardent conviction of the justice of their cause .
A monk at length told the bo'iare the secret of a subterranean passage , of which the besieged themselves were ignorant . It was entirely blocked up with rubbish ; but Metscherinof had it cleared out and prepared for the passage of . his soldiers during the long winter nights .
On January 29 th , 1674 , after a hot attack in the morning , repulsed once more by Samuel , Metscherinof , favoured by the darkness , introduced 2 , 000 Strelitz into the secret passage . They gained the interior courts of the monastery , reaching the principal gate without being perceived , and blew it up with a petard . The explosion roused the besieged , worn out by the toils of the day : they flew to arms ,
and a fearful combat ensued , in the terrors of a stormy night ; it lasted till daybreak . The Strelitz were everywhere victorious , bearing down their opponents by force of numbers . They had taken possession of the chapel , the towers , the walls . The insurgents shut themselves into one of the wings ; here 130 still fought , and perished , one by one , but not without a desperate defence . A . thousand Strelitz
lay dying around them , and forming a hideous rampart . In another part , 66 had sought a refuge , and a brisk firing was kept up against them , unreturned on their part—their powder was exhausted . They were bound and ranged , all more or less wounded , around the court . A few monks , who came with ready acclamations , received Metscherinof : they alone welcomed the triumphant boiare .
The same day , the conqueror , after a copious breakfast , proceeded to do judgment on the prisoners . The first whom they brought before him was the hetmann , Samuel de Beme . Metscherinof would
have questioned him ; his only answer was to spit in his face . He perished in the most horrible tortures . The Archimandrite Nikanore ' s turn came next . Metscherinof again summoned the torturer . " You . may treat me as you will , " said the lioly man to his executioners ; " 1 fear neither your tortures nor the death that awaits me . Shame
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Untitled Article
with their friends , who , on their side , acting without concert , were everywhere defeated . Their men , too , were worn out by incessant fatigue and constant alarms . Metscherinof , instigated by the fears of a cruel punishment , lost no opportunity of pushing his advantages . Lavish in his bribes , he was kept au courant , and knowing the precise moment when the opposition had exhausted itself , resolved at length to strike a decisive blow .
This was the more easy to him , as he now commanded an army of 15 , 000 men , while Solofski was defended by 250 only ; the sad remains of the heroic phalanx . He remained the whole of the winter of 1673-4 under the walls of the monastery which he invested and bombarded according to all the rules of war . He also several times
attempted to carry it by assault , but unsuccessfully . Esaie Yoronine fell on the walls . Samuel de Berne , the sole surviving chief , swore to perish in the ruins rather than surrender . Metscherinof was almost on the point of abandoning the siege of a place defended by a scanty garrison , sustained only by an ardent conviction of the justice of their cause .
A monk at length told the bo'iare the secret of a subterranean passage , of which the besieged themselves were ignorant . It was entirely blocked up with rubbish ; but Metscherinof had it cleared out and prepared for the passage of . his soldiers during the long winter nights .
On January 29 th , 1674 , after a hot attack in the morning , repulsed once more by Samuel , Metscherinof , favoured by the darkness , introduced 2 , 000 Strelitz into the secret passage . They gained the interior courts of the monastery , reaching the principal gate without being perceived , and blew it up with a petard . The explosion roused the besieged , worn out by the toils of the day : they flew to arms ,
and a fearful combat ensued , in the terrors of a stormy night ; it lasted till daybreak . The Strelitz were everywhere victorious , bearing down their opponents by force of numbers . They had taken possession of the chapel , the towers , the walls . The insurgents shut themselves into one of the wings ; here 130 still fought , and perished , one by one , but not without a desperate defence . A . thousand Strelitz
lay dying around them , and forming a hideous rampart . In another part , 66 had sought a refuge , and a brisk firing was kept up against them , unreturned on their part—their powder was exhausted . They were bound and ranged , all more or less wounded , around the court . A few monks , who came with ready acclamations , received Metscherinof : they alone welcomed the triumphant boiare .
The same day , the conqueror , after a copious breakfast , proceeded to do judgment on the prisoners . The first whom they brought before him was the hetmann , Samuel de Beme . Metscherinof would
have questioned him ; his only answer was to spit in his face . He perished in the most horrible tortures . The Archimandrite Nikanore ' s turn came next . Metscherinof again summoned the torturer . " You . may treat me as you will , " said the lioly man to his executioners ; " 1 fear neither your tortures nor the death that awaits me . Shame