The joy of the Treasurer was immense at having discovered a son of the
late Czar; he kissed the hands of the astounded prince, wished him
every happiness, and placed all that could be wished for at his
disposal. The joyous tidings spread in every direction; a courier was
at once despatched to Vladislas the Fourth, who was then King of
Poland, and the young man's claims bruited about everywhere.
Vladislas, only too glad of an opportunity to annoy Alexis, the then
Czar of Moscovy, sent at once for the young claimant to come to his
court at Warsaw, and on his arrival awarded him an equipage suited to
his presumed dignity. When the pseudo Czarewitch appeared at court,
decked out in all his newly-acquired finery, he excited favourable
attention by his handsome looks and kindly behaviour. He contracted a
firm friendship with the nephew of the Grand Khan of Tartary, who,
having been ousted from his possessions by an uncle, had sought and
found an asylum in the Polish court. An apparent similarity of
misfortune drew them together, and Vladislas, doubtlessly finding it
suit his policy to encourage their pretensions, treated the two young
men with every kindness, protested that he regarded them as sons, he
not having any of his own, and declared that he would not leave
anything undone to replace them upon their respective thrones.
Intelligence of the arrival and friendly reception of Demetrius at the
Polish court was not long in travelling to Moscow; the Czar was greatly
enraged when he heard of what had occurred, and sent an envoy to
Vladislas to demand that the person of the _soi disant_ Czarewitch
should be given up to him. The Latin address which the Moscovite
ambassador delivered to the Polish King when he made his demand is
still preserved, and is chiefly remarkable for the hundred and one
titles by which the Russian monarch was designated. Vladislas
responded to the wearisome harangue in the same language, to the effect
that no consideration would induce him to hand Prince Demetrius over to
his rival Alexis, and he took no pains to conceal from the envoy that
he meant to support the claims of his guest as far as lay in his power.
The fruitlessness of this mission gave great uneasiness to the Czar,
and caused him to seek out every possible alliance. Fate soon assisted
him.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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