UNIVERSITY OF N.C. AT CHAPEL HILL 
 
 00022093850 
 
-■ 
 
PETER BAAS IN THE DOCKYARD. 
 
THE HISTORY 
 
 OF 
 
 PETER THE GREAT, 
 
 CZAR OF RUSSIA 
 
 BT 
 
 SARAH H. BRADFORD. 
 
 AT7THOE OF THE " STOKT OP COLUMBUS," " LEWTE," " THE 6ILVEB LAKE 
 STOEIES," ETC., ETC. ■*, 
 
 1 To a great man nothing is little." 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 
 D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, 
 
 346 & 348 BROADWAY. 
 
 V 
 
 1858. \ 
 
Enteeed, according to Act of Congress, in tho year 1857, by 
 
 D. APPLETON & CO., 
 
 In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the 
 Southern District of New York. 
 
t&xtixtxon. 
 
 TO THE EEV. THOMAS C. REED, D. D., 
 
 To whose kind counsel and interest I am much indebted 
 in the prosecution of my feeble attempts to make history inte- 
 resting to the young, I dedicate this little work, which is spe- 
 cially designed for a class of youth in whom he is particularly 
 interested. 
 
 As " Columbus" and Peter the Great " go out together to 
 the children of the land, it will be very pleasant to me to see 
 upon their pages the names of two good friends of my own and 
 of each other ; the one of whom in doing, and the other in 
 doing and in suffering, are working good for themselves, and 
 for all who come within the range of their influence. 
 
 S. H. B. 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2012 with funding from 
 
 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hil 
 
 http://archive.org/details/historyofpetergrOObra 
 
PEEFACE 
 
 TO THOSE FOR WHOM THIS BOOK WAS WRITTEN. 
 
 My dear Young Friends: — I suppose it is 
 hardly necessary to tell you that I never had any 
 personal acquaintance with Peter the Great, Czar 
 of Russia. All I know of him I have gathered 
 from books ; and you will agree with me that it 
 has not been an easy task to write the memoir of 
 this great man, when I tell you that different au- 
 thors have given entirely different accounts of him, 
 according to the different points of view from 
 which they beheld him. 
 
 There is a rugged coast upon an island far 
 away, where a bold headland of rock juts out into 
 the sea. Approach this rock from one side, and 
 you see the profile of a man ; from the other, and 
 you behold the similitude of a bear. So with the 
 subject of our story. 
 
6 PREFACE. 
 
 Some looking at but one side of his character, 
 have seen only the great hero ; others taking the 
 opposite view, have beheld only a great bear or 
 savage. I think before we get through with him 
 we shall see a little of both. 
 
 If those who looked at only one side had gone 
 round to the other, they would have seen the 
 bear; and if these had taken their places, they 
 would have looked upon the man, rough and rug- 
 ged it may be, but strong and bold, pushing him- 
 self out from the barbarism of his times, breasting 
 with unchanged front the troubled sea which 
 lashed against him, and saying to its angry waves, 
 " Thus far shalt thou go, and no farther." 
 
 From the different histories, memoirs, and let- 
 ters of the time of Peter the Great, I have gath- 
 ered those accounts which agree, and which seem 
 to be well authenticated, and placed them together 
 in a continued story, for such' of my young friends 
 as may not be acquainted with the history of one 
 of the greatest monarchs that ever reigned. 
 
 It has not been possible to make this story as 
 simple as that of " Columbus ; " and I can only say 
 that if any of my younger readers come across 
 words of which they do not understand the mean- 
 ing, they must go at once to that never impatient 
 friend of young inquirers, the Dictionary, and then 
 they will be learning in more ways than one. 
 
 There is many a hard name in the Russian, 
 Swedish, and Polish languages. As in the " Colum- 
 bus," whenever it was possible, I have left these 
 
PREFACE. V 
 
 out, and many a brave man has sunk in this little 
 work to the insignificance of " a Polish officer," " a 
 Swedish gentleman," or "a Russian nobleman," 
 just because of his unpronounceable name. 
 
 Now if you come to some names which make 
 your jaws ache, and others which you cannot man- 
 age except by " three sneezes and a ski ; " please 
 do not blame me ; I am sure if I had had the 
 naming of the gentlemen, I should have done bet- 
 ter by them. 
 
 One word more as to names of places and per- 
 sons mentioned in this book. Since the time of 
 Peter the Great, there has been an entire altera- 
 tion in the spelling of many of these, so that if you 
 read the names of places as they were then spelled, 
 and look for them on a modern map, you will 
 hardly recognize them. Thus I find the town of 
 Kiau spelled in four different ways, till it has new 
 become Kiev. 
 
 My principal authorities in writing this little 
 work have been, Voltaire's Peter the Great, and 
 Charles Twelfth, Barrow's Memoirs of Peter the 
 Great, which book is little else than a compilation 
 from other authors, and Middleton's History and 
 Geography, an old and valuable book, for which I 
 am indebted to the kindness of a clerical friend. 
 This book was exceedingly interesting and useful 
 to me, as it contained maps of the time, and views 
 of the places as they appeared at the time of which 
 I have written. 
 
 Wishing you, my dear young Mends, more 
 
8 PEEFACE. 
 
 pleasure in reading the book than I have had in 
 preparing it for you ; and hoping you will be as 
 much interested in it as the story itself, however 
 told, deserves, I say farewell for the present. 
 
 Your friend, 
 
 S. H. B. 
 
CONTENT'S 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Eussia before the time of Peter the Great— Its extent— The Czar 
 Alexis — Eude state of the people — Splendor of the Court — Eeligion— 
 Plans of Alexis — Curious custom attending the choico of a wife for 
 the Czar— Story of the Czar's second marriage 13 
 
 CHAPTEE II. 
 
 Children of the Czar Alexis— Defects of Theodore and John — "What be- 
 came of the daughters — Ambitious plans of Sophia — Death of Theo- 
 dore — Peter appointed successor — Eevolt of the Strelitzes — Deeds of 
 blood and horror — Sophia becomes Eegent — Her plans as to Peter — 
 Peter asserts his right to the throne— Plot to murder him— How over- 
 thrown—Punishment of Sophia— Death of John. ... 22 
 
 CHAPTEE III. 
 
 The Title of Czar— Peter's Personal Appearance— Habits — Dread of 
 Water— The Old Bark — Beginning of the Eussian Navy— The Czar a 
 Sailor — His efforts to raise a Disciplined Army— The Czar a Soldier — 
 Le Fort— His Influence over the Czar .33 
 
 CHAPTEE IV. 
 
 The Pastry cook's boy— The poisoning plot discovered — Peter's separa- 
 tion from his wife — The siege of Azof— The traitor Jacob — The tri- 
 umphal procession— A conspiracy— How defeated— A strange plan of 
 the Czar— The Czar in Holland— The curiosity he excited— His dread 
 of a crowd — His rage at the authorities of Zaandam. ... 44 
 
 1* 
 
10 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Peter Bas in the dock-yard at Zaandam— He earns a pair of shoes— His 
 curiosity — The sound tooth extracted— He goes to England — Learns 
 various trades— Annoyed hy the crowd— His private habits— Saye's 
 court— How the Czar left it— The call at the palace — The rough 
 ruby. 55 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 The Czar inquires as to different religious sects— The Burgomaster's wig 
 — The rebellion in Russia— Its causes— The Czar's appearance in 
 Russia— Defeat and punishment of the rebels— Various improve- 
 ments—The dock-yard at Voronitz— Death of Le Fort— Peter a 
 laborer. 66 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Peter the Great as a warrior— Charles Twelfth — Dangers that threatened 
 Sweden — Charles in a new character — Causes of quarrel between 
 Sweden and the other countries— Battle of Narva — Its result— How 
 Peter bore his defeat— New improvements— Victories of Scherematof. 
 
 75 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 The siege of Marienburg— The young widow— Her eventful story— Change 
 of fortune for the Czar — The " Key City " —Triumphal entry into 
 Moscow 86 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Building of the City of St. Petersburg— Trouble and sickness— The 
 miracle of the "Weeping Virgin — Ships visit the new city — New pro- 
 jects of the Czar— Battles— Affairs in Poland— St. Petersburg threat- 
 ened by a Swedish fleet — Battles and sieges — The Czar unfortunate, 
 but not discouraged. 94 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Tidings of the approach of Charles the Twelfth— Battle of Grodno— The 
 disgraceful course of Augustus— The story of General Patkul— His 
 imprisonment and death— Indignation of the Czar— The throne of 
 Poland declared vacant — Designs of Stanislaus and Charles. . 105 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 Charles advances towards Russia— The peasants and their ambassador— 
 
CONTENTS. 11 
 
 Escape of the Czar at Grodno — A terrible march — The passage of the 
 river Berezine— Battle at another stream— Mysterious change in the 
 plans of Charles 115 
 
 CHAPTEE XII. 
 
 Mazeppa — An explanation of the conduct of King Charles — Difficulties 
 of the march— Mazeppa appears, and how— The Czar attacks the 
 Swedes under Lewenhaupt — A three days' battle, and its result. 122 
 
 CHAPTEE XIII. 
 
 Sad plight of Charles and his army— Obstinacy of the King — The Czar's 
 offer to Mazeppa— Pultowa— The siege and the battle — Accident to 
 King Charles— The dinner in the Czar's tent— The way the Czar 
 • treated his " masters in the art of war." . . . 133 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Changes effected by the battle of Pultowa— Charles Twelfth at Bender— 
 His application to the Sultan— The Turks determine on war— Catha- 
 rine declared Empress — Her innuence'over the Czar— The toilsome 
 march towards the Pruth. ...... 143 
 
 CHAPTEE XV. 
 
 The Grand Yizier's invitation to Charles, and his answer — Battle of the 
 Pruth — The Czar in convulsions — Catharine's mediation— A treaty 
 of peace, and its conditions — Contemptible offer of Charles— His 
 insult to the Grand Vizier — The Czar goes to Carlsbad — The Prince 
 Alexis. 154 
 
 CHAPTEE XVI. 
 
 The marriage of Alexis— His character— Celebration of the Czar's old 
 wedding— Eomantic story of the brother of Catharine— The war car- 
 ried into Sweden — Triumphal procession — Promotion of Eear Admi- 
 ral Peter 163 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 The Royal prisoners in Turkey— Return of Charles— Siege of Stralsund 
 — Anecdote of Charles— Success of the Czar— Entertainments at the 
 Court of Russia— New travels of the Czar — High price of eggs — Recep- 
 tion at Amsterdam. ....... 175 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 Peter's reception at Zaandam— His visit to the hut where he once re- 
 
12 CONTENTS. 
 
 sided— Eelics exhibited there — Peter's emotion on revisiting this 
 place — His visit to the shipbuilder's house — Anecdote of his son — The 
 Czar's visit to France— Death of the wife of Alexis— Birth of a 
 Prince. ......... 185 
 
 CHAPTEE XIX. 
 
 The conduct of the unhappy son of Peter the Great — The promise of the 
 young Prince to his father — His flight to the court of Charles Sixth — 
 Takes refuge in Naples— Is persuaded to return to Eussia— The Czar's 
 declaration — The act of renunciation — The trial of Alexis. . . 193 
 
 CHAPTEE XX. 
 
 Opinion of the Clergy — Last examination of Prince Alexis — His Condem- 
 nation — Eeports as to Catharine's influence in the matter — Testimony 
 of others on the subject — Death of Alexis — Opinions of some persons, 
 as to the Manner of his Death — The Czar turns his attention once more 
 to Internal Improvements 206 
 
 CHAPTEE XXL 
 
 The War with Sweden draws to a close — Plans proposed for the Eecon- 
 ciliation of the two great Monarchs — The designs of Charles Twelfth 
 upon Norway — His Power of Endurance — A random Shot and its 
 Consequences — Peace proclaimed — Peter receives the title of "Em- 
 peror and Father of his Country " — Expedition against Persia- 
 Coronation of Catharine — Story of Moens and his Sister. . . 215 
 
 CHAPTEE XXII. 
 
 Last illness of the Czar — His dsath— Griei of the Nation— Opinions of, 
 other nations with regard to Peter— Last honors paid to the Czar — 
 His Epitaph. ..... , 226 
 
PETER THE GREAT 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Eussia before the time of Peter the Great— Its extent— The Czar 
 Alexis — Eude state of the people — Splendor of the Court — Keligion — 
 Plans of Alexis — Curious custom attending the choice of a wife for 
 the Czar— Story of the Czar's second marriage. 
 
 Before we begin the story of the wonderful man of 
 whom this book will tell you, it is necessary that you 
 should know something of the history of Russia, at the 
 time he became Czar of that great empire. Look 
 on the map, and trace the boundaries of the Russian 
 Empire in Europe and Asia, and you will see a 
 country of vast extent, borderiDg on Poland and the 
 Frozen Sea, or, as it is now called, the White Sea, 
 and joining Sweden on the one hand, and China on 
 the other. 
 
 It is greater in extent than all the rest of Europe. 
 It is by far the largest empire in the world. While 
 
14 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 the people on its western shores are busy at noonday, 
 about their daily work, those in the eastern part of 
 the empire are sleeping, at midnight. 
 
 This country was for a time called Muscovy, from 
 the name of its capital, Moscow, and its people were 
 called Muscovites, but now if is again every where 
 known by its ancient name of Russia. Of late you 
 have heard much of this country of Russia, and your 
 eyes have often turned to one little spot on the map 
 called the Crimea, where bloody battles have been 
 fought, and thousands of brave men have died upon 
 the field. 
 
 In the time of Peter the Great, this Crimea was 
 called Crim Tartary, and the Sea of Azof was the 
 Palus Maeotis. 
 
 "We shall not go farther back into the history of 
 Russia than the time of the father of Peter the Great, 
 the Czar Alexis, who was one of the best princes that 
 had ever reigned over Russia Indeed, he did more 
 for that country than the admirers of Peter the 
 Great are willing to allow, and began many of the 
 improvements which his son carried out and com- 
 pleted. 
 
 Peter was great enough, as you will see in reading 
 his history, without taking from the merit due to his 
 father, and heaping it all upon him. At the time 
 Alexis became Czar of Russia, the people were little 
 
PETER THE GREAT. 15 
 
 else than barbarians. The private houses were only 
 wooden huts, with scarcely any furniture, and the 
 Boyards, or noblemen, slept upon boards or benches, 
 with only the skins of animals under them. There 
 were no pavements in the streets, nothing convenient 
 or agreeable, very few workmen, and those very awk- 
 ward and rude. 
 
 There were magnificent palaces, however, even 
 then in the city of Moscow, and on public days, the 
 Court appeared in great splendor. The Earl of Car- 
 lisle, who was then ambassador from England to the 
 Czar Alexis, says that on such occasions he could see 
 nothing but gold and precious stones on the robes of 
 the Czar and his courtiers. These elegant dresses, 
 however, were not made in Russia. 
 
 The established religion of Russia was that of 
 the Greek Catholic Church, in distinction from the 
 Latin. The Patriarch, or head of this Church, 
 seemed to rank in power even above the Czar himself. 
 Once or twice a year, on some great occasions, the 
 Czar walked bareheaded before the Patriarch, lead- 
 ing his horse by the bridle, and the Patriarch insisted 
 upon sitting by the side of the Czar in the Senate, 
 and pretended that war or peace could not be made 
 without his consent. 
 
 At length, in the time of Alexis, the Patriarch 
 became so insolent, that the Czar, finding he had no 
 
16 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 power himself to put him down, called together all 
 the Bishops, and had a formal trial of the Patriarch, 
 for receiving money from the Poles. He was con- 
 victed, turned out of office, and shut up for the rest 
 of his life in a monastery, and another Patriarch 
 chosen in his stead. ' 
 
 But though the Greek Catholic was the established 
 religion, there were a great number of Mohammedan 
 and pagan provinces. All Siberia was in a state of 
 idolatry, and many provinces had no religion of any 
 kind. 
 
 One thing which tended to keep the Russians in 
 ignorance, was a law which prevented any Russian 
 from leaving his country on pain of death. So there 
 they remained, shut up within their own boundaries, 
 knowing nothing of the world beyond, and like the 
 Chinese, fancying themselves the most powerful people 
 on earth. 
 
 Alexis seems to have formed the design of raising 
 his country from the state of ignorance and barbarism 
 in which it was sunk, and of making it more like the 
 civilized countries of the globe, of which he had 
 heard, from those who came to his country. 
 
 He began the establishment of manufactories, 
 altered and improved the laws, tried to introduce 
 regular discipline into the army, by bringing in foreign 
 generals to train his soldiers ; and formed plans for 
 
PETER THE GREAT. 17 
 
 the building of ships to sail on the Black Sea and the 
 Caspian, for this country at that time did not own a 
 single ship, and the people had never seen such an 
 object. 
 
 But these plans of the Czar Alexis failed from the 
 dislike of his people to foreigners, and improvements 
 of every kind. They were contented with the old 
 way of doing things, and did not like the idea of 
 change. 
 
 Alexis also tried to introduce silk and cotton 
 manufactures, by means of some Germans and Italians, 
 but in this he did not succeed, through the obstinacy of 
 the barbarous natives. This prince was twice married. 
 His second wife, the mother of Peter the Great, was 
 a beautiful young lady of the family of Nariskin. 
 It was the custom for the Czar to marry only among 
 his own subjects, and the ceremonies attending his 
 choice of a wife were very curious. 
 
 A number of the most beautiful women of the 
 kingdom were sent for to Court. They were received 
 by a lady whose business it was to entertain them at 
 her house, during their stay at the capital. The 
 Czar paid them visits, sometimes in his real character, 
 and sometimes in disguise. The wedding-day was 
 fixed, but no one knew on whom the choice had fallen. 
 
 On the appointed day all assembled at the palace, 
 when the Czar made known his choice. The bride 
 
18 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 elect was presented with a rich wedding suit, and 
 other dresses were given to the rest of the fair candi- 
 dates, who then returned home. 
 
 In this manner the Czar Michael, grandfather to 
 Peter the Great, married the daughter of a poor man, 
 who was ploughing his grounds with his servants, 
 when a messenger came from the Czar, bringing him 
 presents, and telling him that his daughter was placed 
 on the throne of Russia. 
 
 The second marriage of the Czar Alexis was after 
 this fashion. The Boyard Matveof, minister of foreign 
 affairs, was a particular friend of the Czar. The 
 latter going one evening to his house, without attend- 
 ants, as was frequently his custom, found the table 
 covered, and said to Matveof in a familiar way, 
 " Your supper looks so inviting, that it tempts me 
 to partake of it, but it must be on condition that 
 nothing be altered on my account." 
 
 He was scarcely seated when the wife of Matveof 
 made her appearance, followed by her only son and a 
 young lady. The Czar insisted on their sitting down, 
 though contrary to the usual custom, and the young 
 lady was placed opposite the royal guest. 
 
 He observed her with great attention, and then 
 said: "I thought your son was your only child." 
 "Your majesty," said the minister, "is right; this 
 young lady is the daughter of Kyrilla Nariskin, a 
 
.'HE CZAR CHOOSING A WIFE. 
 
PETER THE GREAT. 19 
 
 relation and friend, who lives on his own estate ; my 
 wife has undertaken her education, and, with the 
 blessing of Grod, we hope to settle her honorably in 
 the world." 
 
 The family having retired, the Czar observed to 
 the minister that he ought to think of a suitable 
 match for the young lady. The minister replied that, 
 although endowed with good and amiable qualities, 
 she was far from being rich, and that his own circum- 
 stances would not allow him to give her any consider- 
 able portion. 
 
 Some days after this, the Czar returned to the sub- 
 ject of the young lady, and told Matveof he had found 
 a gentleman who probably might be agreeable to her ; 
 one not destitute of merit, and who, besides, needed 
 no fortune with his wife; " One," he added, " who is 
 already in love with your ward, and wishes to marry, 
 and make her happy." Matveof, of course, was anxious 
 to know who this suitor might be ; and after some 
 further discourse on the subject, the Czar said : " Well 
 Matveof, you may tell the young lady it is / who am 
 in love with her, and am determined to make her my 
 wife." 
 
 The minister, thunderstruck at so unexpected a 
 declaration, fell at the feet of the Czar, and entreated 
 his majesty, for the love of God, not to think of it ; 
 adding, that he had many enemies at court, who 
 
20 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 already beheld with envious eyes the particular marlcs 
 of kindness with which his majesty deigned to honor 
 him ; that their jealousy would be increased if, to 
 the mortification of all the noble families, his majesty 
 should condescend to marry so humble a girl, who 
 was under his care. The Czar told him he had nothing 
 to fear ; that his determination was taken, and would 
 not be altered. 
 
 " Since, then, it is so," said Matveof, " I have one 
 favor to beg, as well for the sake of Natalia, as for 
 myself; which is, that you will not carry your wishes 
 into execution without conforming to the usual custom 
 of the country, and thus saving appearances; assemble 
 at your court the daughters of the most distinguished 
 families, among whom Natalia will be present, and 
 let your majesty's choice be made in public." The 
 Czar approved his minister's advice, and promised 
 to follow it. 
 
 A few weeks after this, Alexis declared before 
 his assembled ministers, and to the heads of the 
 clergy, his intention of making a second marriage, 
 and ordered them to call together the unmarried 
 daughters of the principal nobility, in order that he 
 might make his choice. 
 
 About sixty young ladies of high birth and great 
 beauty were assembled, adorned, as may well be sup- 
 posed, in great splendor of dress and decoration, but 
 
PETER THE GREAT. 21 
 
 Natalia Nariskin was the lady selected, and raised at 
 once to the throne. 
 
 This event took place at Moscow, in September, 
 1670. * 
 
 * Staehlins' Original Anecdotes. 
 
22 THE HISTORY OP 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Children of the Czar Alexis — Defects of Theodore and John — "What be- 
 came of the daughters— Ambitious plans of Sophia — Death of Theo- 
 dore — Peter appointed successor — Eevolt of the Strelitzes — Deeds of 
 blood and horror — Sophia becomes Eegent — Her plans as to Peter — 
 Peter asserts his right to the throne— Plot to murder him— How over- 
 thrown — Punishment of Sophia — Death of John. 
 
 The death of the Czar Alexis, in 1677, left the affairs 
 of the empire in great confusion. He left two sons, 
 Theodore and Iwan or John, and four daughters by 
 his first wife. The oldest of these daughters, Sophia, 
 is the only one of which I shall have much occasion 
 to speak. 
 
 By his second wife, of whose marriage I have just 
 told you, he left one son, Peter, the hero of our story, 
 and one daughter, whose name was Natalia. 
 
 Theodore, the oldest son, became Czar of Russia 
 at the age of fifteen. He was a weak and sickly 
 prince, but of a mind far superior to his body. The 
 second son, Iwan or John, was, as Voltaire says, still 
 worse treated by nature than his brother Theodore, 
 
PEEER THE GREAT. 23 
 
 being almost blind and dumb, very infirm, and fre- 
 quently attacked with convulsions. 
 
 It was a rare thing for the daughters of the Czar 
 to marry, but they were generally sent to pass their 
 lives in a monastery. A retirea life like this, how- 
 ever, had no claims for the Princess Sophia, who was 
 ambitious and fond of power, and determined, if pos- 
 sible, to leave the convent, and place herself at the 
 head of the Government. 
 
 She saw that both of her elder brothers were weak 
 and sickly, and supposed that neither of them would 
 live long, and that if they did they would be unable 
 to govern the empire • and to the young half-brother, 
 Peter, she gave no thought, for the children of second 
 marriages were of little account in Russia, and no 
 one dreamed that Peter would ever come to the 
 throne. 
 
 In order to carry out her plan, she sent an earnest 
 message to the ministers, telling them of her great 
 anxiety about her brother Theodore, to whom she 
 pretended to be strongly attached, and begging to be 
 allowed to leave the convent, and take her place be- 
 side his sick bed, that she might nurse him as only a 
 sister could. 
 
 The request was granted. She left the convent, 
 and immediately set herself to work, by every art she 
 could employ, to raise herself to the throne. She 
 
24 THE HISTORY OP 
 
 showed the utmost tenderness and affection to her suf- 
 fering brother, she treated all persons about the Court 
 with great attention, and so conducted as to make her- 
 self a universal favorite. 
 
 To aid her in her ambitious views, she chose a 
 man as artful and cunning as herself, for the head of 
 her party. This was the Prince Galitzin ; and these 
 two persons actually governed the empire during the 
 reign of Theodore, whose life of suffering was ended 
 in 1682, in the twenty-second year of his age. 
 
 Knowing that his brother Iwan, or John, was 
 utterly unfit to reign, Theodore was advised to appoint 
 as his successor, his young brother Peter, who, though 
 only ten years of age, had already showed himself to 
 be possessed of a strong mind and manly character. 
 
 At this Sophia was greatly enraged, her hope 
 having been that John would have been appointed 
 successor to Theodore, in which case she knew that 
 she could continue sovereign of the empire, as she 
 now was in every thing but name. Sophia now set 
 about raising an insurrection among the Strelitzes, or 
 Guards, an undisciplined body of thirty thousand 
 soldiers, who kept the Czars in subjection, and as 
 Yoltaire says, were more formidable to their masters 
 than their neighbors. 
 
 She engaged in her services the General Couvan- 
 ski, who was at the head of the Strelitzes, and in 
 
PETER THE GREAT. 25 
 
 order to enrage the people, she took care to have the 
 story spread about that the Czar Theodore had come 
 to his death by poison. The Strelitzes were called 
 together, speeches were made to excite them to fury, 
 and two days after Theodore was laid in his grave, 
 the city of Moscow was a scene of riot and bloodshed. 
 
 The Strelitzes began, as an excuse for their insur- 
 rection, by accusing nine of their colonels of keeping 
 back their pay, and insisted upon having these nine 
 men delivered up to them. A sort of Lynch Law 
 now ruled among this savage gang, and after holding 
 a pretended court, they sentenced these officers to 
 suffer the Battogues or knout. 
 
 This was a cruel and terrible punishment, the suf- 
 ferer being thrown upon his breast, and fastened in that 
 position, while his bare back was beaten with rods, till, 
 when it seemed likely that the man could endure no 
 more, he was released ; and (which must have added 
 greatly to his indignation) he was then obliged to 
 rise, and with his back ' bleeding and sore from the 
 beating he had received, humbly thank those who had 
 been so kind as to inflict the punishment upon him. 
 
 And now, blood having begun to flow, the people 
 seemed like thirsty tigers, seeking in all directions 
 for objects upon which to exercise their cruelty. 
 Physicians were seized and murdered, and if they 
 declared that they had not been near the Czar Theo- 
 2 
 
26 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 dore, the reply was, " Well, you are a physician, and 
 if you did not poison our master Theodore, you have 
 poisoned others, and therefore merit death." 
 
 At length they found a Dutch physician, who had 
 been accused by the party of Sophia of poisoning 
 the Czar. He was attempting to escape, disguised as 
 a beggar, but being recognized, he was dragged before 
 the palace. 
 
 The young princesses, Theodore's sisters, loved 
 this good man, and gathering around him, they 
 begged the Strelitzes to spare his life. " He is a 
 good man," they said, " and a wise physician, and he 
 took the best possible care of our brother Theodore." 
 
 But the guards replied that he deserved to die, as 
 a physician, and also as a sorcerer, for they had found 
 the skin of a serpent, and a great dried toad in his 
 house ; and thus he was put to death before the eyes 
 of the young princesses. 
 
 And now the enraged mob began to search every 
 where for the family of Nariskin, to whom the mother 
 of Peter belonged, as this family were much hated by 
 the Princess Sophia, who was determined on their 
 destruction. 
 
 The whole family, including John and Peter, fled 
 to the Trinity Convent, which was about fifteen 
 leagues from Moscow, and was at the same time, a 
 convent, a palace, and a fortress. To this place they 
 
PETER THE GREAT. 27 
 
 were followed by the bloodthirsty soldiers, some of 
 whom dashed after them into the convent. 
 
 Peter and his mother took refuge near the altar, 
 where two of the soldiers found them. One of these 
 raised his sword to strike Peter down, when his com- 
 panion stayed his hand, exclaiming, " Comrade ! not 
 before the altar ! " and thus because of the man's 
 religious prejudices, rather than because of any feel- 
 ings of mercy or humanity, the life of Peter was 
 saved. 
 
 But the work of death and destruction went on. 
 All who were marked out as not in favor with Sophia 
 were seized. Several officers of the Court were thrown 
 from the balustrade or windows of the palace, and 
 received on the pikes of the soldiers. For some time 
 they searched in vain for John Nariskin, the uncle of 
 Peter, upon whose death Sophia was determined, 
 
 At length, they found that he was really in the 
 palace, and demanded that he should be brought out to 
 them, or they would burn the palace to the ground. 
 The sister of Nariskin, who was the mother of Peter, 
 and the other princesses, terrified nearly to death by the 
 violent conduct of the soldiers, went to John, in the 
 place where he was concealed, and told him of the 
 threats of the mob, upon hearing which he determined 
 to deliver himself up to their power. 
 
 The Patriarch was sent for, who recived his con- 
 
28 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 fession, and administered the last rites of his religion, 
 as he would to a dying person, and then, placing in 
 his hand an image of the Virgin, he led him forth to 
 the cruel and savage mob. 
 
 The princesses in tears gathered round him, fall- 
 ing on their knees before the soldiers, and begging 
 for the life of their relative ; but the wretches dragged 
 him from them, to the foot of the stairs, where they 
 held a kind of mock trial, and condemned him to the 
 death of the " ten thousand slices." This terribly 
 cruel mode of torture is inflicted by first cutting 
 off the hands and feet, and then gradually cutting the 
 body into small pieces. 
 
 After ihus brutally slaying Nariskin, before the 
 eyes of the princesses, they placed his head, hands 
 and feet, together with those of the Dutch physician 
 who had attended the Czar, upon the iron points of 
 the balustrade. 
 
 In the mean time the work of death was going on 
 in other places, but the heart sickens in describing 
 these scenes of blood and horror. Suffice it to say 
 that all who were hated by Sophia were put to death, 
 and in the end, the two princes, John and Peter, were 
 declared sovereigns of Russia, and Sophia Regent, by 
 which title she actually reigned over the empire. 
 
 Her first act was to reward the murderers who 
 had put those she hated out of the way, by giving 
 
PETER THE GEEAT. 29 
 
 them the estates of their victims, and publicly thank- 
 ing them for their zeal and fidelity in her service. 
 
 The end of this wicked woman was now obtained ; 
 and seated between an idiot and a child, she enjoyed 
 all the honors of a sovereign. Her bust was stamped 
 on all the public coin, she held the first place at the 
 council, and enjoyed power without control. She 
 was a woman of great understanding, and some wit ; 
 made verses in the Russian language, and both spoke 
 and wrote extremely well, added to which her ap- 
 pearance and manners were very agreeable. 
 
 After these troubles were quieted, the General 
 Couvanski, whom Sophia had used as her instrument 
 in raising the insurrection among the Strelitzes, not 
 finding her as grateful as he could wish, formed a plot 
 to destroy the whole royal family. It is said by 
 some that he wished to marry Sophia, (who, he knew, 
 would oppose this plan,) and determined to murder 
 all her family but herself : by others it is said, that 
 as she would not marry him, or reward him as he 
 wished, he intended to murder her with the rest. 
 
 All agree, however, that the whole family fled 
 once more to the Convent of the Trinity, where, after 
 they were safely concealed, Sophia managed to decoy 
 Couvanski within the walls, when he was immediately 
 seized and beheaded, with all the ofiicers who accom- 
 panied him. 
 
30 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 Now the Strelitzes flew to arms and marched to 
 attack the convent, threatening to destroy every thing 
 that came in their way. The Imperial family, with 
 the Boyards, and many gentlemen who flocked into 
 the fortress, stood upon their defence. The Strelitzes 
 now having lost their leader, and seeing so strong a 
 force opposed to them, became frightened, and laid 
 down their arms, and their fury changed into the most 
 abject terror. 
 
 Three thousand seven hundred of this body of 
 men, followed by their wives and children, with ropes 
 tied round their necks, went in procession to the Con- 
 vent of the Trinity, which they had just before threat- 
 ened to burn to the ground. 
 
 Before the gate of the convent these frightened 
 wretches presented themselves, walking two by two, 
 one carrying a block and another an axe, and throw- 
 ing themselves upon the ground waited for their sen- 
 tence. To their surprise they were pardoned, and re- 
 turned back to Moscow blessing their sovereigns. 
 " And still disposed," as Voltaire remarks, " though 
 unknown to themselves, to commit the same crime 
 upon the very first opportunity." 
 
 The only other events of any importance that I 
 find to have happened while Sophia ruled the em- 
 pire as Regent, are an expedition against the Tartars 
 of the Crimea, headed by Galitzin, which, in conse- 
 
PETER THE GREAT. 31 
 
 quence of the ill- regulated state of his army, utterly 
 failed, and the plot against the life of the young Czar, 
 of which I will presently tell you. 
 
 Peter was now seventeen years of age, and began 
 to show the intention of taking upon himself the real 
 sovereignty of the empire. This, of course, Sophia 
 was determined to prevent, if possible. According 
 to most historians of that time, her plans had all been 
 laid with reference to keeping her young brother in 
 ignorance, and making him as wicked as possible. 
 
 It is said that she kept him surrounded by a set 
 of the lowest and most wicked young men in the 
 kingdom, who led him into every excess, and that his 
 time was spent in idleness, in drinking, and without 
 instruction or good influences around him. Others 
 deny this, and say that he was under the guardian- 
 ship of his mother, while Sophia contented herself 
 with the training of her brother John. 
 
 At the age of seventeen Peter married, in opposi- 
 tion to the wishes of Sophia. This enraged her be- 
 yond all bounds, and now, with the aid of Galitzin, 
 she formed a plot to murder her brother, and engaged 
 six hundred of the Strelitzes to seize on his person. 
 Again Peter fled to the Convent of the Trinity, and 
 so large and powerful a body of followers gathered 
 round him, that the party of Sophia were completely 
 subdued, and from this time her power over the em- 
 pire was gone. 
 
32 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 Dreadful punishments were inflicted upon those of 
 her party who were seized. Some were condemned to 
 suffer by the knout or battogues ; others had their 
 tongues cut out ; some were banished, and Sophia her- 
 self was sent back to a monastary at Moscow, where 
 she remained shut up till the time of her death, fifteen 
 years afterwards. This must have been the worst 
 punishment that could have been inflicted upon one 
 so fond of admiration and power as the Princess So- 
 phia. 
 
 The weak and sickly Prince John did not pretend 
 to have any thiog to do with the Government, but 
 spent his short life in retirement, and died in 1696, 
 some years before the death of his sister Sophia. 
 
PETER THE GREAT. 33 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 The Title of Czar— Peter's Personal Appearance — Habits— Dread of 
 Water— The Old Bark— Beginning of the Russian Navy — The Czar a 
 Sailor — His efforts to raise a Disciplined Army — The Czar a Soldier — 
 Le Port — His Influence over the Czar. 
 
 Peter the First was now Czar of Russia. This 
 title of Czar, as I should have mentioned before, was 
 first assumed by one of the Emperors of Russia in 
 the Sixteenth century, upon his conquering the king- 
 dom of Casan, now in the Eastern part of Russia, the 
 Princes of that kingdom having been distinguished by 
 the title of Czar. 
 
 The Pope of Rome, it is said, strongly objected 
 to this title being taken by the Emperor of Russia, 
 as it sounded rather too much like Ccesar, the name 
 of the Roman Emperors. But it seems the opinions 
 of the Pope on that subject made little difference. 
 
 Peter is said to have been tall and finely formed, 
 with a handsome face and piercing eyes. He was, 
 when in a pleasant mood, lively, cheerful, and sociable, 
 
34 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 but if any thing happened to excite his anger, he was 
 extremely violent, and the expression of his face be- 
 came disagreeable from its severity. 
 
 He had a strong frame and a constitution of iron, 
 which fitted him for all manner of toil and hardship. 
 Through the greater part of his life he was fond of 
 eating and drinking to excess, but in his latter years 
 he entirely conquered these bad habits, and became 
 exceedingly plain and simple in his diet. 
 
 Even Voltaire, who in every thing seems to look on 
 the bright side of the character of Peter, makes this 
 acknowledgment : " The pleasures of the table, in 
 which he indulged himself rather too freely with for- 
 eigners, who had been invited to Moscow by Prince 
 Gralitzin, seemed not to presage that he would one 
 day become the reformer of his country ; however, in 
 spite of bad examples, and even the allurements of 
 pleasure, he applied himself to the arts of war and 
 government, which even then showed that he had the 
 seeds of greatness in him." 
 
 His dread of water in the early part of his life 
 was extreme, and its effects much like those of hydro- 
 phobia, throwing him into cold sweats, and sometimes 
 into convulsions, when obliged to cross even a small 
 stream or brook. The cause of this horrorjof water 
 is said to have been this : 
 
 One day, when he was four or five years old, he was 
 
PETER THE GREAT. 35 
 
 lying asleep in his mother's lap in a carriage, and 
 when they were crossing a bridge, the sound of a wa- 
 ter-fall suddenly woke the child, and its rushing noise 
 had such an effect upon him as to throw him almost 
 into convulsions, and afterwards into a fever. It was 
 probably owing to this cause that he was subject 
 through life to twitchings and contortions of the face, 
 and when much excited was thrown into convulsions. 
 It is quite remarkable that one who had such a 
 dread of water, should have become one of the best 
 seamen of his time. The strength of his character is 
 shown in his determination to conquer this fear, and 
 great as the effort must have been, he began by 
 plunging into the water, till at length he overcame 
 his fear, and became very fond of it. 
 
 There is a river which runs through the City of 
 Moscow, upon which Peter saw at one time, a little, 
 old, neglected bark, which had been built by a Dutch- 
 man by the name of Brandt ; whom the Czar Alexis, 
 the Father of Peter, had invited into Russia. Peter 
 noticed that this bark was very different from the flat 
 pontoons, the only kind of boats he had ever seen, 
 and inquired of Timmerman, one of his teachers, 
 " Why it was so unlike other vessels ? " 
 
 The answer was, that it was built to go with sails 
 and oars, and to sail against the wind. There was 
 something new in this, and the curiosity of the young 
 
36 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 Czar was always excited by any thing new or strange. 
 He immediately sent for Brandt, the builder of the 
 boat, and desired him to repair and rig this little 
 vessel, and teach him to sail her on the Yausa; a 
 river on the outskirts of Moscow. Peter was perfect- 
 ly delighted at seeing the vessel sail, and soon learned 
 to manage her himself. 
 
 He now had his little boat removed to a great 
 lake near the Convent of the Trinity ; and for a while 
 delighted in sailing her there : but soon the limits of 
 this lake were too small for him, and he longed to see 
 a ship sail on the wide Ocean. Nothing would con- 
 tent him now, but to remove to the port of Archangel, 
 where he had another small vessel, built by the same 
 Brandt, and embarked upon the frozen sea, which no 
 monarch but himself had ever seen. 
 
 This was the small beginning of the Russian 
 Navy. Soon after this, Peter ordered Brandt to 
 build two more frigates, and three yachts, which he 
 piloted himself. His delight in sailing became a per- 
 fect passion, and he often exposed himself to great 
 danger. When the storms raged, and the waves 
 broke over his vessel, and his crew became frightened, 
 he would say to them, " Never fear, the Czar Peter 
 cannot be drowned. Did you ever hear of a Russian 
 Czar having perished on the water ? " 
 
 At Archangel, Peter became intimate with a Dutch 
 
PETER THE GREAT. 37 
 
 skipper of the name of Musch, and frequently went 
 to sea in his vessel. One day he told Musch that he 
 wished to begin at the lowest grade, and go through 
 all the steps necessary to make a good seaman. Musch 
 thought the Czar must be in jest ; but he assured him 
 that so far from that, he wished to go to sea with him 
 the very next day, and begin and go through every 
 duty of the sailor's life. 
 
 It must have been a strange sight to see the Caar 
 of Russia, laboring first as zwabber, or common drudge 
 —sweeping the cabin, and washing the decks. Then 
 when ordered to the post of servant, lighting and 
 keeping up the fire — attending to the skipper's pipe, 
 and brushing his clothes ; and then as cabin-boy, wait- 
 ing on table, and mixing the grog. 
 
 Now having served in all these lower capacities, 
 he was prepared to begin the duties of seamanship. 
 He first began here as Tong Matroos or Young 
 Sailor, and when ordered by the captain, went aloft, 
 loosed, or reefed the sails, and did whatever he was 
 ordered to do. Musch was now greatly frightened 
 when he saw the young Czar running up the shrouds, 
 lest he should fall and break his neck. 
 
 It must have been an amusing sight to see this 
 poor Captain Musch, obliged by the Czar to order 
 him to perform these duties of a common sailor, and 
 
38 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 then standing in fear and trembling to see him execute 
 those orders. 
 
 In all this Peter's object was to teach his officers, 
 who were as ignorant as himself of all the arts of 
 navigation, that it was necessary to begin at the lowest 
 grade, in order to understand it well ; and to prevent 
 complaining, and murmuring, he set them the example, 
 by taking the lowest rank himself. 
 
 The skipper Musch died shortly after this, and 
 Peter sent his widow a present of a handsome sum of 
 money for her support. Another anecdote told of the 
 Czar, shows him in an amiable point of view ; and 
 on all such stories I am glad to seize and repeat them 
 to you, as I shall have enough hard things to tell of 
 Peter by-and-by. 
 
 One day when out at sea in a terrible storm, Peter 
 became unusually anxious, and thinking that he could 
 manage the vessel better than the pilot, he tried to 
 take hold of the tiller, and teach him how to steer. 
 The pilot was vexed at this, and exclaimed angrily : 
 " Stand out of my way ! I must know better than 
 you, how to steer the vessel ! " 
 
 He piloted the vessel safely through a dangerous 
 pass among the rocks, and then remembering how he 
 had spoken to the Czar, he was overwhelmed with 
 confusion, and falling at his feet he humbly begged 
 forgiveness for his madness. 
 
PETER THE GREAT. 39 
 
 " There is nothing to forgive," replied Peter; " I 
 owe you my thanks, not alone for my rescue from 
 danger, but also for the proper rebuke you gave me." 
 
 He then made the pilot a present, and settled on 
 him a small pension. 
 
 Peter saw the necessity of placing a fleet upon 
 the river Volga, to keep the Tartars and Turks in 
 awe on the South, and another on Lake Ladoga, and 
 the Gulf of Finland, to protect his territories from 
 his powerful neighbors the Swedes. He, therefore, 
 kept up this passion for sailing as much from necessity 
 as choice. 
 
 At one time he invited a party of foreign ministers 
 to accompany him in his yacht on a water party to 
 Cronstadt to see his fleet, then ready for sea, when a 
 sudden and violent thunder-storm arose, and the 
 waves dashed furiously against the little vessel. 
 
 The ministers were terribly frightened, and begged 
 Peter to put back, or at least to run into some port 
 and allow them to land. Peter appeared perfectly 
 calm, and stood directing the pilot and other oflicers 
 how to work the vessel. 
 
 One of the ministers now approached him, saying, 
 "I beg your majesty, for the love of God, to return 
 to St. Petersburg, or to land me somewhere, and not 
 to forget that my court did not send me to Russia to 
 be drowned. If I should perish here, which in all 
 
40 THE HISTOKY OF 
 
 likelihood I shall, your majesty will have to answer 
 to the king, my master." 
 
 Though really surrounded by dangers, the Czar 
 could not help smiling, as he answered : 
 
 " Sir, if you are drowned, we shall also share the 
 same fate, and then no one will be left to answer for 
 your excellency." 
 
 After the same manner that he had adopted in 
 forming a navy, did Peter endeavor to raise a well- 
 disciplined body of troops, on whom he might depend 
 on land. This, like his first efforts in sailing on the 
 lake, near Trinity Convent, was looked upon only as 
 an idle amusement of the Czar. It happened during 
 the time that Sophia was regent, and had she sus- 
 pected his real object, he might not have been allowed 
 to go on so successfully as he did, with his plans for 
 raising an army. 
 
 In these attempts he was aided by Mr. Francis 
 Le Fort, who was the son of a merchant of Geneva, 
 Switzerland. In his youth he had been a cadet, and 
 had served in the army. He accompanied a German 
 colonel to Russia, with a small body of troops which 
 he had raised in the Netherlands and brought to Arch- 
 angel, having been requested to do so by the Czar 
 Alexis, the father of Peter. 
 
 When they arrived there, however, Alexis was 
 dead; the Government of Russia was changed, and 
 
PETER THE GREAT. 41 
 
 every thing was in confusion. The Governor of Arch- 
 angel allowed this whole troop to remain a long time 
 in the utmost poverty and distress, and even threat- 
 ened to send them into the extremity of Siberia, upon 
 which every man was obliged to take care of himself. 
 
 Le Fort, in great poverty and want, found his way 
 to Moscow, where he called upon the Danish resident, 
 named De Horn, who made him his secretary. In 
 company with De Horn, Peter saw and was much 
 delighted with Le Fort, whom he immediately took 
 into his own service, giving him the command of a 
 company of foot. 
 
 The Czar had formed the design of breaking up 
 and scattering that undisciplined gang of men the 
 Strelitzes, by means of a powerful and well-drilled 
 army which he hoped to raise, and this secret he con- 
 fided to Le Fort. 
 
 Peter had a country-seat, which was called Preob- 
 baazinski, and here he began by forming a company of 
 fifty of his youngest servants ; and some young gentle- 
 men, the sons of Boyards, or noblemen, were chosen 
 for their officers. But in order that these officers 
 should be properly trained, Peter set them an example 
 which he made them follow, of beginning at the very 
 lowest rank, and going through the different grades, 
 as he had done in the navy. 
 
 Behold Peter, the Czar of Kussia, then, acting as 
 
42 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 drummer to the regiment, and then as private soldier, 
 and afterwards as corporal, sergeant, and ensign. 
 When did the world ever before, or since, behold a 
 monarch, who thus laid aside his greatness, and de- 
 meaned himself so far as rank was concerned, for the 
 good of his country. 
 
 Thus in a short time the Czar found himself sup- 
 ported by a body of five thousand disciplined troops, 
 in whom he knew he could trust. These were trained 
 by General Patrick Grordon, an able officer from Scot- 
 land. Le Fort undertook to raise another body of 
 twelve thousand men, which he accomplished, and was 
 rewarded by being appointed their General. 
 
 In order to keep these troops occupied, and in 
 proper training in time of peace, Peter caused them 
 to be exercised in sham fights, and other warlike exer- 
 cises. A fort was erected, which one party was to 
 besiege and the other to defend. But the men became 
 so much engaged in these encounters that they forgot 
 it was only a play, and fought with so much zeal that 
 several were wounded on both sides, and Le Fort 
 himself received a severe wound. 
 
 All this time the Czar had by no means forgotten 
 his navy, but was employing foreigners in building 
 vessels with which he intended to attack Azof, then 
 in possession of the Tartars of the Crimea. Means 
 were taken too, to raise money to defray all these in- 
 
PETER THE GREAT. ' 43 
 
 creased expenses of the army and navy ; and by fol- 
 lowing the advice of Le Fort, this was accomplished. 
 
 The influence of this man, Le Fort, over the 
 Czar was most wonderful. He could do with him 
 what no other man could. Often when some of the 
 Boyards or noblemen were condemned to suffer by 
 the knout, or to lose their heads, as often was done 
 for very slight offences, Le Fort would present him- 
 self before the Czar, and beg that he would wait, and 
 think the matter over in a cooler moment. If this 
 did not succeed, he would beg him to strike the blow 
 upon himself, rather than let the innocent person 
 suffer. 
 
 In this way many a life was spared, and many a 
 poor man was saved severe and undeserved punish- 
 ment. Of course Le Fort became a great favorite 
 with the Russians, who seemed to forget that he 
 was a foreigner, and looked upon him as one of their 
 own countrymen. 
 
44 THE HISTOBT OF 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 The Pastry cook's boy— The poisoning plot discovered — Peter's separa- 
 tion from his wife — The siege of Azof — The traitor Jacob — The tri- 
 umphal procession — A conspiracy — How defeated — A strange plan of 
 the Czar— The Czar in Holland— The curiosity he excited— His dread 
 of a crowd— His rage at the authorities of Zaandam. 
 
 There was a poor family living on the banks of the 
 Volga, of the name of Menzikoff. A young boy 
 belonged to this family, who seemed to be of a most 
 enterprising disposition; and not being able to enjoy 
 even the advantages of a common school education at 
 home, he determined to set out for Moscow, and try 
 and make his own way in the world. 
 
 He found occupation at first in the shop of a 
 pastry cook, and daily walked the streets of Moscow 
 with a basket of cakes and pies upon his arm, singing 
 in a clear sweet voice, and to a tune of his own com- 
 posing, as he offered his cakes and pies for sale. 
 
 He was a handsome boy, and of pleasant manners, 
 and was usually surrounded by a crowd, who soon 
 emptied his basket. He was one day noticed by 
 
PETER THE GREAT. 45 
 
 General Le Fort, who called hiin into his house, and 
 asked him if he would sell his pies and his basket. 
 
 " It is my business to sell pies, sir," answered the 
 boy pleasantly, " but the basket is my master's, and I 
 cannot sell it without his leave." The General was 
 so delighted with the appearance and manner of the 
 boy, that he took him into his service, and soon 
 called the attention of the Czar to him. Peter was 
 equally delighted with the boy, and begged that he 
 might enter his service as page. 
 
 He soon became a very great favorite with his 
 master, who took him on all his journeys, and em- 
 ployed him often on his secret business. There is a 
 story told, that to this boy (at the time he was in the 
 service of the pastry cook) the Czar owed his life. 
 
 Peter, it is said, dined one day with one of the 
 discontented Boyards, who had determined to poison 
 him. Young Menzikoff, happening to be in the 
 kitchen, saw a white powder put into a particular 
 dish. He took care to let the' Czar know what he had 
 seen. At the table, when Peter was urged to partake 
 of this dish, he refused, but asked the nobleman who 
 had invited him, to try it himself. 
 
 He declined, saying that it was not proper for the 
 servant to eat with his master. The dish was then 
 set on the floor, and a dog who was near was called to 
 eat of it, which he did, and immediately died in con- 
 
46 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 vulsions. The Boyard was seized, but was soon found 
 dead in his bed, having probably put an end to him- 
 self. 
 
 This pastry cook's boy was afterwards Prince 
 Alexander Menzikoff, and rose to riches, honor and 
 power. 
 
 Peter was not happy in his first marriage, into 
 which he had been forced at the age of seventeen, by 
 the principal men of his party. His wife and all her 
 family had a great horror of foreigners, and opposed 
 all the improvements Peter wished to make, thus en- 
 couraging the party who were in opposition to the 
 Czar. 
 
 Before he was twenty years old, he had sent her 
 from him, and ordered her to be strictly confined in a 
 convent. She was allowed, however, to retain the 
 guardianship of her little boy, Alexis; and it is sup- 
 posed that the misfortunes of his after life were 
 owing to the training he received, and the sentiments 
 he imbibed from his mother. 
 
 General Le Fort was given the rank of Admiral 
 by sea, as well as General of the land forces, and was 
 sent to hasten the building of the vessels which were 
 to sail down the river Don, to attack Azof, of which 
 place the Czar was determined to get possession if 
 possible, and by that means to drive the Tartars from 
 the Crimea. 
 
PETER THE GREAT. 47 
 
 The place was attacked by General Gordon, with 
 five thousand men, Le Fort with twelve thousand, 
 and other companies formed from the Strelitzes and 
 Cossacks. The expected vessels which were to attack 
 Azof by sea did not reach the place in time, but the 
 Russians were too impatient to wait. They besieged 
 the place, but were driven back and defeated, owing, 
 it is said, to the desertion and treachery of one of the 
 Czar's lower officers. 
 
 This man, whose name was Jacob, having been 
 punished by his General for some fault, determined 
 on revenge. He therefore in the night spiked the 
 guns of the Russians, and then deserted to the enemy, 
 and was active in defending the fortress he had come 
 to attack. 
 
 The Czar, though beaten, was not discouraged, and 
 the next spring he brought a large force by sea and 
 land against Azof, and succeeded in taking the 
 city. Peter was well pleased to find the traitor 
 Jacob in the city. It would seem that those to whom 
 he deserted were not very grateful for his services, for 
 the Governor made no objection to delivering him up 
 to the Czar, with the rest of the prisoners. 
 
 The Turks and Tartars being now subdued, Peter 
 thought it best to allow his people the pleasure of a 
 triumphal show. As for himself, he seems to have 
 had no fondness for such things, but kept in the back- 
 
48 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 ground, and took rank only as an inferior officer in the 
 procession. 
 
 The army entered Moscow, under triumphal 
 arches, in the midst of superb fireworks, and the 
 firing of cannon, and ringing of bells ; and feasting, 
 fireworks and illuminations were kept up for several 
 days throughout the city. 
 
 In the rear of the grand procession, came the 
 captives at Azof, and last of all, in a cart, the traitor 
 Jacob, with an executioner on each side, and a gal- 
 lows over his head. He was first broken on the 
 wheel, and then hung, with a label on his breast, 
 saying, "This wretch has five times changed his reli- 
 gion, and is a traitor to G-od and man." 
 
 The changes which the Czar was constantly intro- 
 ducing into the kingdom, and the favor shown to for- 
 eigners, so enraged the party already opposed to him, 
 particularly the officers of the Strelitzes, that a num- 
 ber of them now entered into a conspiracy to put the 
 Czar to death. 
 
 The plan was to set fire to a building in the Krem- 
 lin (a palace in Moscow) at night, and when, as was 
 certain to be the case, the Czar appeared upon the 
 spot, two of these men were to seize and stab him. 
 The plan was all ready for execution when the courage 
 of two of the conspirators gave out, and they went to 
 the Czar and made known the whole plot. 
 
PETER THE GREAT. 49 
 
 With a few followers he immediately started for 
 the house where the conspirators were assembled, 
 seized them, had them executed, and fixed their heads 
 on spikes of iron, as a warning to all traitors. 
 
 Peter was by no means satisfied to think that all 
 his vessels in the sea of Azof had been built by for- 
 eigners ; he wished his own people to learn the art of 
 ship building, as well as other arts, and determined to 
 send great numbers of young men into other coun- 
 tries, to learn to build and sail large vessels; and 
 others to serve in the land forces, that they might be- 
 come good and distinguished soldiers. 
 
 This was considered a terrible thing by the party 
 who were opposed to all changes. It was a new thing 
 for a Russian to leave his country, and the priests in 
 particular made a great outcry against this overthrow 
 of former customs. 
 
 But the Czar Peter now determined to do another 
 thing, which caused all Russia to open its eyes in as- 
 tonishment. 
 
 This was to leave his dominions, and go himself 
 into other countries to see what was to be seen, and to 
 learn those arts of which his own people were igno- 
 rant. And moreover, he intended to learn these arts 
 by working with his own hands as a day laborer, in 
 the ship-yards, and docks, and manufactories of other 
 countries. 
 
 3 
 
50 THE HISTORY OP 
 
 " Now surely our Czar has gone crazy ! " said the 
 people, and the priests exclaimed that for the Czar to 
 go into barbarous parts, (as they supposed all foreign 
 countries to be,) was an abomination before the Lord, 
 and had been since the time of Moses, and was con- 
 trary to their holy religion. 
 
 All this had little influence with Peter, whose 
 mind was made up, and in the same year, 1697, an 
 embassy of two hundred persons, headed by three 
 ambassadors, General Le Fort, the Governor of Si- 
 beria, and the Secretary of State, set out to visit other 
 countries, and in the first place, Holland. 
 
 In this company, as a private gentlemen, travelled 
 the Czar, attended by a valet, a livery servant and a 
 dwarf, for without one of these little creatures the 
 embassy would have been incomplete. The favorite, 
 Menzikoff, was also in the train. As they passed 
 through Riga, which then belonged to Sweden, the 
 Czar requested to look at the fortifications of the 
 place. 
 
 This request was rudely refused by Count D'Al- 
 berg, the Governor, who treated the embassy with 
 contempt and insult. This was never forgotten by 
 Peter, and you will see he afterwards made it one ex- 
 cuse for his war upon the Swedes. 
 
 At other places they were treated with great hos- 
 pitality, and while in Germany there was nothing but 
 
PETER THE GEEAT. 51 
 
 feasting and carousing. The tables were attended 
 with trumpets and music, and the eating and drinking 
 were excessive. 
 
 While excited by wine, at one of these feasts, the 
 Czar, in a sudden fit of passion, drew his sword upon 
 Le Fort and told him to defend himself. " Far be it 
 from me," replied Le Fort, " let me rather perish by 
 the hand of my master." Peter was immediately 
 overcome with shame, and asked pardon of his kind 
 and useful friend for having so far forgotten himself. 
 
 " My great desire is to reform my subjects," said 
 he, " and yet, I am ashamed to say, I cannot govern 
 myself." 
 
 The Czar was so anxious to reach the village of 
 Zaandam, or Zaardam as it is now called (the town 
 from which the skipper Musch had gone), and where 
 he expected to learn the art of ship building, that he 
 left the embassy, and hastened on with six of his fol- 
 lowers, reaching that place fifteen days before the rest 
 of the party. 
 
 It is strange that the first person seen by the Czar 
 was a man of the name of Kist, who was fishing in a 
 little boat, and who had worked as a smith in Russia. 
 This man was at once recognized by some of the Czar's 
 party, who called him to come to them. 
 
 The man came, wondering who these strangers 
 might be, and we can well imagine his astonishment 
 
52 THE HISTOEY OF 
 
 when lie found that one dressed like a Dutch skipper, 
 in a red jacket and white trowsers, was the Czar of 
 Russia. Peter told the man he wanted to take lodg- 
 ings, and would like to take them with him. 
 
 The poor man did not know what to say, for his 
 house was a small and poor one, and he would have 
 been glad to excuse himself. He, however, found a 
 poor widow woman, who had a small house back of 
 his own, and who consented to remove to an adjoining 
 hut, and let the Czar have hers. Peter's lodgings 
 now were two small rooms, with a loft over them, and 
 a shed adjoining. 
 
 Kist promised to keep the secret as to who his 
 new neighbors were, and when a crowd collected 
 around them, asking curious questions, the Czar, who 
 could speak Dutch, replied that they were all carpen- 
 ters and workmen from another country, who had 
 come to Zaandam in search of work. 
 
 This was a likely story, especially as some of the 
 Czar's followers did not relish the idea of passing for 
 poor day laborers, and so kept on their own rich Rus- 
 sian dresses. Peter, as soon as he arrived, went to 
 find the widows and families of some Dutch ship 
 builders and sailors who had died in Russia, repre- 
 senting himself as a fellow workman of their relations. 
 
 The wife of the skipper Musch was very glad to 
 see this friend of her dead husband, and begged him, 
 
PETER THE GEEAT. 53 
 
 if he should ever see the Czar of Russia, to thank 
 him for his kindness in sending her the money, 
 of which she had been much in need. Peter prom- 
 ised that the Czar should certainly receive her mes- 
 
 And now the Czar was ready to set to work, and 
 he insisted that all his followers should clothe them- 
 selves in the common dress of the ship docks. On 
 Sunday crowds would come from Amsterdam, which 
 was not far off, to see these strangers, who, wherever 
 they went, were followed by curious eyes. 
 
 This was very annoying to the Czar, who had al- 
 ways a horror of a crowd, and particularly disliked 
 being stared at. His secret had got out, however, 
 through letters written from Dutchmen who 'were in 
 Russia, and now, wherever Peter went he was pointed 
 at, and one said to another, " Dat is der Czar ! " 
 
 It would have been annoying to any one to find, 
 whenever he looked out from his door on Sundays or 
 holidays, crowds of people collected about, filling all 
 the windows and house tops, and patiently waiting to 
 get a look at him. The poor Czar was obliged at such 
 times to shut himself up in his little hut, till the 
 crowd, becoming discouraged, went away. 
 
 Peter now began to work in earnest, by purchas- 
 ing a small yacht, and fitting a new bowsprit to her 
 with his own hands. The other workmen looked on 
 
54 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 with astonishment, to see so great a person working 
 till the sweat ran from his face. 
 
 He spent many hours a day in sailing, and the 
 quickness of his movements much astonished the 
 Dutch, who said they had never seen such " loopen, 
 springen, en klauteren over de schepen" — running, 
 jumping, and clambering over the shipping. 
 
 Some of the officers and distinguished gentlemen 
 of the town one day politely waited on the Czar, to 
 request him to honor them by his presence to witness 
 the dragging of a ship over a dam. No doubt Peter 
 would have been glad to witness this sight, as he was 
 very curious to see all things new or strange, but 
 seeing a great crowd he exclaimed, " te veel volks, 
 te veel -volks," — " too many people" — and slammed 
 the door, and immediately fell into one of those con- 
 vulsion fits to which he was subject when in a violent 
 passion. 
 
PETER THE GEEAT. 55 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Peter Bas in the dock-yard at Zaandam— He earns a pair of shoes— His 
 curiosity — The sound tooth extracted — He goes to England — Learns 
 various trades — Annoyed by the crowd — His private habits — Saye's 
 court — How the Czar left it — The call at the palace — The rough 
 ruby. 
 
 Let us enter the dock-yard in the little town of 
 Zaandam, as did many others out of mere curiosity in 
 the days of which I am writing. Men are busy on 
 all sides, working with all manner of tools, on the 
 different parts of vessels. But the most active person 
 in the yard is " a tall and robust man, quick and nim- 
 ble of foot, and rapid in his actions ; his face is plump 
 and round ; he is fierce in his look, and has brown eye- 
 brows and short, curling hair, of a brownish color. 
 His gait is quick, he swings his arms as he walks, and 
 always holds in one of them a cane." 
 
 This cane he is apt to use rather too freely upon 
 any one who is in his way, or whose conduct does not 
 please him. But to his overseers he is perfectly re- 
 
56 THE HISTOEY OF 
 
 spectful and obedient, doing his work exactly as he is 
 ordered to do it. If any one wishes to speak to him 
 on any matter of importance, he leaves his work, and, 
 with his adze in his hand, goes and sits down on a 
 rough log of timber while he talks, but seems impa- 
 tient to return to his work again. 
 
 This man is known in the dock-yard as Peter Zim- 
 mermann, or Peter Bas, (Master Peter.) He lends a 
 helping hand in every part of the work that is going 
 on, whether it be ropemaking, sailmaking, or smith's 
 work. 
 
 One day a great English Duke came into the 
 dock-yard, and asked the master to point out to him 
 quietly the Czar, as he wished to see him at his work. 
 A number of men were just then earring a heavy 
 beam by the spot where Peter had sat down for a mo- 
 ment to rest. 
 
 " Peter Zimmermann ! " called out the master, 
 " why don't you assist those men ? " Peter rose at 
 once, and placing his shoulder under the beam, helped 
 to carry it to its place. 
 
 Whenever he went where labor of any kind was 
 going on, he insisted upon taking hold and doing part 
 of the work with his own hands. Thus in a manu- 
 factory at Istia, he forged several bars of iron, 
 making his Russian followers blow the bellows, stir 
 the fire, carry coals, and do the work of the journey- 
 
PETER THE GREAT. 57 
 
 man blacksmiths. All this they did not much relish, 
 but pretended that it was only play. Peter was the 
 only one who worked in earnest. 
 
 When his work was finished, Peter went to the 
 master and demanded his pay. "When he received it, 
 he said, " This will buy me a pair of shoes, of which I 
 am much in need," showing his shoes that had already 
 been mended. He took his money, and went and 
 bought a pair of shoes, in which he took great pleas- 
 ure, as having been earned by his own toil. 
 
 " See my new shoes," he would say to his compan- 
 ions, " I have earned them by the sweat of my brow, 
 with hammer and anvil." 
 
 His followers often begged off from work, com- 
 plaining of their sore hands, and one got tired, com- 
 plained of being sick, and returned to Russia. 
 
 When the ambassadors from Russia reached Am- 
 sterdam, Peter thought it right to leave his work and 
 take his place in the procession, which was a very 
 magnificent one. 
 
 First came the three ambassadors, followed by a 
 long train of carriages, with richly-dressed livery ser- 
 vants on foot; but Peter, in the simple dress of a 
 gentleman, came in one of the last carriages, which, in 
 Holland, was not the place of honor. 
 
 All this pomp and show were very disagreeable to 
 him, and he was doubtless longing to return to the 
 
58 THE HISTOEY OF 
 
 axe and saw, which lie did the moment the ceremony 
 was ended. Having learned the art of ship-building, 
 he went through Holland, determined to see every 
 thing that was new. 
 
 Now he is to "be found upon the Greenland fishing 
 ships, a hundred of which are in the harbor of Texel 
 at once. Here he goes from one part of the ship to 
 another, asking numberless questions as to the manner 
 of catching the whales, boiling the oil, taking out the 
 whalebone, and every thing else belonging to the 
 whale-fishery. Now in the manufactories, the wind- 
 mills, the markets, always asking questions, and never 
 satisfied till he knows how every thing is done. 
 
 The moment his eye lights on any new object, 
 comes the eager question, " Wat is dat?" and when 
 he is told, he exclains "Dat wil ik zien " — "I will 
 see that." In his curiosity, he sometimes went too 
 near the machinery, and one day became nearly en- 
 tangled, and drawn into some dangerous machine. 
 Another time, he mounted upon an immense crane on 
 a wharf at Amsterdam, when his foot slipped to the 
 ground, severely injuring his leg. 
 
 Now he is to be found in the hospitals, learning 
 to draw teeth, to let blood, and to dissect bodies. 
 Anxious to try his hand at some of these surgical 
 operations, he performed upon a poor woman who had 
 the dropsy. As might have been expected, she died, 
 
PETER THE GEE AT. 59 
 
 and the Czar consoled the mourning husband, by pay- 
 ing him the honor of attending the funeral. 
 
 Peter always carried with him a case of instru- 
 ments, and was rather more ready to operate upon 
 those about him for the purpose of showing his skill, 
 than was to them agreeable. One day he saw his 
 valet sitting with a sad countenance, and asked him 
 what was the matter; 
 
 " Nothing, sire," he answered, " except that my 
 wife is suffering with the toothache, and refuses to 
 have it out." Now the fact was that the poor woman 
 had not the toothache at all, but the valet, having 
 become angry with her for some cause, wished to be 
 revenged, and knowing that the Czar would never be 
 satisfied if there was a tooth to be drawn, till his 
 pincers were upon it, he took this means of having 
 her put to the torture. 
 
 " If she has the toothache," said the Czar, " I 
 will soon cure her." So he ordered the poor woman 
 to sit down, she all the time insisting that she had 
 no aching tooth. 
 
 " Ah ! that is always the way with her," said the va- 
 let, " as soon as the doctor comes ; and when he is gone, 
 she is whining and crying again with the toothache." 
 
 " Well, we'll soon cure her," said the Czar, " you 
 hold her head and arms ; " and putting the pincers in 
 her mouth, he pulled out a perfectly sound tooth. 
 
60 THE HISTORY OP 
 
 Peter did not relish the idea of having a trick 
 played upon him more than any one else would ; and 
 when he heard how his valet had deceived him, he 
 was much vexed, and called him, and gave him a good 
 whipping with his own hands, which we will all agree 
 the man deserved. 
 
 While Peter was in Holland, he was cheered by 
 hearing that his troops at home had gained a victory 
 over the Tartars near Azof, and had also beaten a 
 body of Turkish troops, sent by the Sultan to the 
 assistance of the Tartars. 
 
 Having now seen and learned all the knowledge 
 that Holland had to offer, the Czar next turned his face 
 towards England, still travelling as a private gentle- 
 man, in the train of his ambassador. King William 
 the Third sent his own yacht to meet him, and also 
 two ships of war. This was in the year 1698. 
 
 In England, as at Zaandam, he took a room near 
 the dockyard, that he might be able to give his whole 
 time to gaining instruction in the English manner of 
 ship-building. He soon made himself quite perfect 
 in this business, so that he gave lessons to others, and 
 began to build a ship after the English method, which 
 proved to be a first-rate sailer. 
 
 He next took a fancy to learn the art of watch- 
 making, of which, in a short time, he made himself 
 
PETER THE GREAT. 61 
 
 master. The more we see of this remarkable man, 
 the more cause we have to wonder at his astonishing 
 industry and perseverance ; and at the ease with which 
 he acquired every art to which he turned his 
 hands. 
 
 We think it enough for one man to learn one 
 branch of art well, even where it is necessary for his 
 support ; but here was the Czar of Russia, who 
 might, if he chose, have lived a life of ease and 
 splendor, travelling from country to country, living 
 in poor, mean lodgings, and laboring as hard as the 
 poorest day-laborer, first at one trade, then at another, 
 and according to the historians of his time, making 
 himself perfect in all. 
 
 Captain Perry, the engineer, who went with him 
 from London to Russia, says that " from the casting 
 of cannon, to the spinning of ropes, there was not 
 any branch of trade connected with ship-building 
 that he did not minutely observe, and even put his 
 own hand to, as often as he came to the places where 
 those trades were carried on." 
 
 Before the time of Peter, the only mode of cal- 
 culation of which they knew any thing in Russia was 
 by means of balls strung on wires, the use of figures 
 being yet. unknown in that country. Peter now 
 engaged persons to go back with him and teach 
 
62 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 arithmetic, according to the plan taught in other 
 countries. 
 
 Before he left England, he was entertained by 
 King William with an exhibition of a mock sea fight, 
 with which he was much delighted, Little did the 
 English then think that the Czar, who was then looking 
 for the first time at any thing approaching a naval 
 battle, would one day fight with his powerful enemies, 
 the Swedes, and gain victories in the Baltic. 
 
 Peter was as much annoyed with the crowds he 
 met in London, and the curious gaze of the people, as 
 he had been in Holland. They would come into his 
 room while he was eating, at which the Czar would 
 rise from the table, and rush out of the room, in a 
 terrible passion. While walking along the Strand 
 with a certain Marquis, a porter with a hod on his 
 shoulder, ran against the Czar, and drove him into the 
 gutter. 
 
 Peter was in a great rage, and turned to knock 
 him down, but the Marquis interfered, and asked the 
 man " what he meant, and if he knew it was the 
 Czar, against whom he had run so rudely ? " 
 
 " Czar! " said the man, with a grin. " We are all 
 Czars here." This story would have seemed a more 
 likely one, if it had been told of one of our indepen- 
 dent Yankees. 
 
 At to the private habits of the Czar, Voltaire 
 
PETER THE GREAT. 63 
 
 preserves a strict silence, seeming determined to say as 
 little as possible that is not in favor of that great 
 personage. I find by others, however, and I suppose 
 there is no doubt of the truth of it, that his habits 
 were disgustingly filthy ; and that, at this time of his 
 life, he was a " glutton and a wine-bibber," to say 
 nothing of beer and brandy. 
 
 After living a while in London, Peter expressed a 
 desire to be near some of the King's dockyards, and 
 a beautiful place at Deptford, belonging to Mr. 
 Evelyn, called " Saye's Court," was taken for his 
 residence, and that of his followers. This was near a 
 dock-yard, through the wall of which a door was 
 broken, that the Czar might easily step from his resi- 
 dence into the yard. 
 
 This place and the grounds about it were so beau- 
 tiful that they were the wonder and admiration of all 
 men of taste at that time. There were splendid 
 avenues, and fine long hedge-rows, through which it 
 was the pleasure of the Czar to trundle a wheel-bar- 
 row every day. 
 
 The house itself was very elegant, and beauti- 
 fully furnished ; but when the Czar and his troop 
 left it, all was ruin and desolation. Mr. Evelyn's 
 servant wrote to him thus, at the time they were 
 there : 
 
64 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 " There is a house full of people right nasty. 
 The Czar lies next your library, and dines in the 
 parlor next your study. He dines at ten o'clock, and 
 at six at night ; is very seldom at home a whole day; 
 very often in the King's yard, or by water, dressed 
 in several dresses. The King is expected there this 
 day. The best parlor is pretty clean for him to be 
 entertained in. The King pays for all he has." 
 
 Mr. Evelyn himself speaks of " My ruined garden 
 at Saye's Court, thanks to the Czar of Muscovy ! " 
 "When the Czar and his party had finished their day's 
 work, they would resort to a public house in Great 
 Tower street, to smoke their pipes, and drink beer 
 and brandy. 
 
 He went very little into company, and seldom to 
 places of amusement, from his dread of a crowd. He 
 was invited to a grand ball at the palace of St. 
 James, in honor of the birth-day of the Princess, but 
 instead of mixing with the company, he was, at his 
 own desire, put into a small room, from whence he 
 could see all that passed without beiDg seen himself. 
 
 When Peter left England, he gave the King's 
 servants one hundred and twenty guineas, which was 
 more than they deserved, as they had treated him 
 with great rudeness. To the King he gave a very 
 valuable rough ruby, which was said by the best 
 
PETER THE GREAT. 65 
 
 jeweller of Amsterdam to be worth ten thousand 
 pounds sterling. 
 
 This splendid ruby the Czar took from his waist- 
 coat pocket, and gave it to the King, wrapped up 
 in a piece of brown paper 
 
66 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 The Czar inquires as to different religious sects— The Burgomaster's wig 
 — The rebellion in Eussia— Its causes— The Czar's appearance in 
 Eussia — Defeat and punishment of the rebels — Yarious improve- 
 ments—The dock-yard at Yoronitz— Death of Le Fort— Peter a 
 laborer. 
 
 While in England and Holland, the Czar made many- 
 inquiries as to the different religious sects, and 
 attended churches of different religious denominations, 
 among others, the Quaker meeting ; always conform- 
 ing to the customs of the congregation he worshipped 
 with, and listening to all that was said with respectful 
 attention. 
 
 In general, while in these countries he allowed his 
 officers to be very familiar with him, so that they 
 often called him by his name, which seemed to please 
 him. But if at any time he chose to remember that 
 he was Emperor of Russia, and they his subjects, 
 there was nothing for them but to remember it also, 
 and return to their former respectful manner. 
 
 The Czar and his officers often held their own 
 
PETER THE GREAT. 67 
 
 worship in the market-place, and one day being sur- 
 prised by a shower, he coolly took off the wig of one 
 of his officers, and put it on his own head to protect 
 himself from the rain, while the poor man stood bare- 
 headed, not daring to grumble or remonstrate. 
 
 This was not an uncommon thing with the Czar, 
 who often suffered from a feeling of coldness about 
 the head. One Sunday in Holland, he attended 
 church with the Burgomaster, (chief magistrate of the 
 town,) and sat next him in his pew. He was listening 
 with great attention to the preacher, the people in the 
 mean time all looking at him. 
 
 What was their surprise and amusement, to see 
 Peter suddenly stretch out his hand and seize the 
 Burgomaster's large flowing wig, and place it on 
 his own head ! When the sermon was over, he re- 
 turned the wig with a polite bow, never seeming to 
 think that he had taken rather a disagreeable liberty 
 with one of the great men of the town. 
 
 From England Peter went to Vienna, in order to 
 study the military discipline of the Germans, and 
 from there he intended to go to Venice; but the 
 news of a rebellion among the Strelitzes in his own 
 dominions, made it necessary for him to hasten home. 
 The very means he was taking to improve and en- 
 lighten his country, were the causes of this rebellion. 
 The noblemen who disliked change began to grumble 
 
68 THE HISTOEY OP 
 
 that so many foreigners, and such new customs and 
 manners, were to be introduced into the empire. The 
 priests said that their ancient religion was to be over- 
 thrown, and a new one introduced in its stead, and 
 the Strelitzes were told that their body was to be 
 broken up and scattered. 
 
 Now the old party of Sophia roused up anew, and 
 determined to take her by force from the convent 
 and place her on the throne, and then to prevent the 
 return of the Czar to Russia. They assembled in a 
 large body, and marched towards Moscow, but were 
 met by General Gordon, whom Peter had left in 
 command of his forces, and entirely defeated, and 
 great numbers of them taken prisoners. 
 
 To the amazement of all, the Czar, who had trav- 
 elled privately, and as quickly as possible, now ap- 
 peared in Moscow. He immediately rewarded those 
 who had defeated the Strelitzes, and then proceeded 
 to punish those unhappy men, of whom the prisons 
 were now full. The leaders, officers and priests of the 
 party, were condemned to death. Some were broke 
 on the wheel ; some buried alive ; many executed in 
 other ways : and this being in the depth of winter, 
 their bodies were immediately frozen, and were left in 
 the same position in which they were executed, with 
 their heads lying by them. 
 
 On all the public roads leading to Moscow, and 
 
PETER THE GREAT. 69 
 
 all around the three walls of the city were gibbets, on 
 which hung all winter the bodies of the rebels, and it 
 is said that numbers of them were hung about the 
 monastery where the Princess Sophia, and Eudosia, 
 the wife of Peter, were confined; and that from 
 whichever window they looked, the sight of the stiff, 
 dead bodies of those who had fought for them, met 
 their eyes. 
 
 Great numbers of the rebel party, with their 
 wives and children, were exiled to Siberia ; the band 
 of the Strelitzes was entirely broken up, and their 
 very name abolished. If their crime was great, their 
 punishment was equally so. The lives of many were 
 sacrificed who might have been useful to their country 
 as laborers in the mines, and upon the public works, but 
 the Czar was determined that the punishment should 
 be such as to prevent all thoughts of rebellion for the 
 future. 
 
 A Prussian minister who was at that time at the 
 Court of Russia, states in his private memoirs, that 
 at a great entertainment given by Peter about this 
 time, he caused twenty of these unfortunate Strelitzes 
 to be brought into the banqueting room, and at every 
 glass of wine he drank, he struck off a head with his 
 own hand. This story is doubted by many. I see 
 that Voltaire gives a hint of it in his history of 
 Charles the Twelfth, but when he came to write the life 
 
10 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 of Peter, some years after, his hero had become such 
 a favorite that he suppressed this, as well as other dis- 
 agreeable facts in his history. 
 
 I find in some authors still more horrible accounts 
 of the cruel punishments inflicted upon these unhappy 
 rebels. But as there is some doubt as to the truth of 
 them, and as the account in which all agree is bad 
 enough, I have contented myself with stopping there. 
 
 The rebellion being suppressed, and the trouble- 
 some band of Strelitzes entirely broken up, Peter 
 now turned his thoughts to the improvement of his 
 country, and began in reality to introduce the customs 
 and manners of more civilized nations into his own. 
 
 The dress of the Russian soldier had before this 
 time been a long, loose coat, reaching to the heels, 
 and confined with a belt around the waist ; loose, wide 
 drawers, a high cap, like a helmet, on the head, 
 and a long, bushy beard. These long beards and 
 loose coats were worn throughout the empire by 
 all classes, and Peter determined that^they should be 
 abolished, though he knew he should have terrible 
 opposition to encounter in carrying out his plan. 
 
 He therefore ordered that all persons should shave 
 their beards and shorten their coats, or pay a certain 
 tax to the government. There were so many, how- 
 ever, who preferred paying the tax to changing any 
 
PETER THE GREAT. Tl 
 
 former custom, that a very considerable sum was thus 
 brought into the treasury of the country. 
 
 Schools for the Latin and German, and for instruc- 
 tion in various arts and sciences, were established 
 throughout the empire ; and Peter obliged his sub- 
 jects to go to other countries and trade, which before 
 his time they had been forbidden to do, on pain of 
 death. 
 
 The Russians had before this begun their year in 
 September, but feeling the inconvenience of having a 
 calendar different from all the rest of the world, Peter 
 ordered that the year 1700 should begin with the 1st 
 of January, which day was to be celebrated with a 
 jubilee and other rejoicings. 
 
 Upon this came a terrible outcry from the priests, 
 who said that the world was made in September, and 
 God meant that the creation should be dated from 
 that month. The people wondered most of all, that 
 the Czar should be able to change the course of the 
 sun. j, 
 
 For a long time there was great confusion, from 
 one party using the new style, and the other the old ; 
 but at length the new style was adopted throughout 
 the country, and the Russians began the year with the 
 rest of the world. 
 
 Peter now turned his attention to the female 
 portion of the nation, and began to do something to 
 
72 THE HISTOET OF 
 
 raise them from the degradation to which woman is 
 doomed in all barbarous and half-civilized countries. 
 Before this time women had not been allowed to asso- 
 ciate with the other sex, at feasts or entertainments, 
 or if they were admitted to the room, they were not 
 allowed to sit at the same table. 
 
 If all the stories told of the feasts and revels of 
 Peter and his Court are true, I should not wonder if 
 the women had begged that the old state of things 
 might continue. But from this time Peter began by 
 inviting both sexes to his assemblies, and soon the 
 fashion of mixing thus at all entertainments became 
 general. 
 
 Peter also did away with the absurd custom 
 relating to marriages, of which I have told you, and 
 from that time the lady, as in other countries, was 
 allowed some choice as to whom she would prefer for 
 a- partner for life. A decided improvement this upon 
 the old plan. 
 
 The Czar now busied himself with the formation 
 of new troops, obliging the sons of noblemen and 
 princes to serve as common soldiers before they could 
 become officers. He sent other young men to 
 serve in his fleet at Voronitz on the Don, and these 
 were to begin as common sailors before they could 
 rise to command. 
 
 Of all this no one dared to complain, as the Czar 
 
PETER THE GREAT. ^3 
 
 himself had set them an example by doing the same 
 thing. 
 
 Peter also put down the power of the clergy, and 
 though he did not so call himself, he became actually 
 head of the church in his country. The Patriarch 
 Adrian dying during his reign, he declared that there 
 should for the future be no Patriarch in Russia. 
 
 One improvement followed another in rapid 
 succession. The people had never used any thing to 
 write upon but long rolls made of the bark of trees, 
 or of parchment. But the Czar published an order, 
 that from that time, every one should use paper to 
 write upon, as they did in the rest of Europe. 
 
 Painted posts to serve as mile-stones were set up 
 on the public roads, and inns for the accommodation 
 of travellers established at certain distances. It is 
 astonishing to see how much was thus accomplished 
 by one man for the improvement of his country, espe- 
 cially when he had to battle all the way against the 
 opposition of those for whose good he was laboring. 
 
 All these improvements, and many others, were 
 begun before Peter was thirty years of age. 
 
 He now set out to examine his fleet and naval 
 works at Vorintz, but had not been long there, when 
 he received tidings of the sudden death of his friend 
 Le Fort. He hastened back to Moscow in great 
 distress, to attend the funeral, and took his station in 
 4 
 
74 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 the procession as lieutenant, which was the rank he 
 held in General Le Fort's regiment. 
 
 As soon as the funeral was over, Peter returned 
 to his dockyard at Vorintz, where, as in Holland, he 
 wore the dress of the common workmen, and worked 
 harder than any. In a round hat, and jacket and 
 trowers, he was ever bustling about, talking busily 
 with the workmen, particularly with the Dutch, whose 
 language he well understood. 
 
 If a poor fellow passes struggling with a heavy 
 wheelbarrow, he runs, and pushing him aside, seizes 
 the handles, and trundles it off with the greatest ease. 
 If a man is awkward in the use of a spade, he 
 snatches it from him, and shows him how to use it to 
 the best advantage. If a man is taken sick, or an 
 accident happens, Peter is the first on the spot to ad- 
 minister medicine or dress a wound, and is particu- 
 larly delighted if he can find occasion to bleed the 
 sufferer. In all this we find it difficult to recognize 
 Peter the Czar, who at times sits absolute upon his 
 throne, and strikes off heads as a pleasant pastime 
 while he drinks his wine. 
 
PETER THE GREAT. V5 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Peter the Great as a warrior— Charles Twelfth— Dangers that threatened 
 Sweden— Charles in a new character— Causes of quarrel between 
 Sweden and the other countries— Battle of Narva — Its result— How 
 Peter bore his defeat — New improvements — Victories of Scherematof. 
 
 We come now to Peter the Great as a warrior, and to 
 his battles with Charles Twelfth, King of Sweden. 
 This young king was now (in the year 1700) only 18 
 years of age, and had as yet shown little interest in 
 the affairs of his country, leaving them to be managed 
 altogether by his ministers. 
 
 When the Council assembled to talk over the 
 affairs of the nation, Charles sat cross-legged upon 
 the table, absent, listless, and paying no attention to 
 what was said. But now the ministers of Charles 
 Twelfth were in great trouble, for their country was 
 threatened by the united forces of Russia, Denmark, 
 and Poland, and they met to consult upon the danger- 
 ous state of affairs. Some of the members proposed 
 
76 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 to settle the matter by negotiation, when, all of a 
 sudden, to their great surprise, Charles rose, and with 
 an air of dignity, like a man who has determined upon 
 his course, he said : 
 
 " Gentlemen, I am resolved never to begin an 
 unjust war, nor ever to finish one, but by the destruc- 
 tion of my enemies. My resolution is fixed. I will 
 attack the first who shall declare against me, and 
 after having conquered him, I hope I shall be able to 
 strike terror into the rest." 
 
 He then gave his orders for the war, which were 
 received with admiration by his old officers, who were 
 ashamed to appear less hopeful than their King. 
 
 The King of Denmark, from whom the Swedes 
 had taken some provinces, determined to do battle 
 against Sweden in order to regain them, and the King 
 of Poland was also bent on recovering provinces 
 which in the former reign had been given up to the 
 King of Sweden ; but why did Peter the Great wish 
 to make war with Sweden, and what excuse did he 
 find for beginning the quarrel ? 
 
 He was determined, as we have all seen, to make 
 a great and flourishing people of the barbarians over 
 whom he reigned. But he saw that this could not be 
 done without ships and commerce, and the latter could 
 not be enjoyed without some means of communicat- 
 ing with the great ocean besides that he already 
 
PETER THE GREAT. 77 
 
 possessed by means of the port of Archangel, which 
 was on a sea frozen up at least six months of the 
 year. 
 
 His desire, in order to get a free communication 
 with the great ocean, was to get possession of some 
 port on that part of the Baltic called the G-ulf of 
 Finland, all the provinces surrounding which were 
 now in possession of the Swedes, though they had at 
 one time belonged to Russia. 
 
 Upon the town of Riga Peter cast a longing eye, 
 and he determined if possible to regain possession of 
 this valuable seaport ; and therefore gladly joined 
 with Poland and Denmark in their league against 
 Sweden. 
 
 You remember that when Peter passed through 
 Riga, on his way to Holland, the Governor, D'Alberg, 
 rudely refused his request to see the fortifications of 
 the place. Peter took little notice of this treatment at 
 the time, merely remarking " that he should probably 
 receive more civility at his next visit, for he hoped to 
 see the day when he should have the honor to refuse 
 the same civility to the King of Sweden himself." 
 
 And now the war began. And to the astonishment 
 of all Europe, the young King Charles Twelfth, 
 coming out in his new character, entered Denmark, 
 and put an end to the war in that kingdom in less 
 than six weeks ; the Danes gladly paying him a large 
 
78 THE HISTOEY OF 
 
 sum of money, in order to buy him off from laying 
 siege to Copenhagen. 
 
 Charles now proceeded to Riga, which was besieged 
 by the King of Poland, who was expecting the Czar 
 to join him, with nearly a hundred thousand men. 
 But the old Count D'Alberg proved to be too able a 
 soldier for the Polish commander to fight with, and 
 the latter soon left the place in despair. 
 
 Denmark and Poland being disposed of, there 
 remained now but one enemy for Charles Twelfth to 
 attend to. This was the Czar Peter, whose troops 
 were now encamped before Narva, which you will see 
 near the southern coast of the G-ulf of Finland. 
 Through the midst of ice and snow, in the month of 
 November, Charles Twelfth marched on towards 
 Narva to attack the army of the Czar. 
 
 Peter, who had an army of sixty, or as some say, 
 eighty thousand men, to oppose to his boy enemy, the 
 King of Sweden, looked upon the town of Narva as 
 already in his possession. He therefore left the 
 command of his forces with the Duke de Croy, who 
 was a German, and Prince Dolgorouki, a Russian officer, 
 while he went to Novorogod to confer with the King 
 of Poland as to the best course to take in the coming 
 war. 
 
 It is supposed to be owing partly to the absence 
 of the Czar, and partly to the jealousy between the 
 
PETER THE GEEAT. 79 
 
 two princes who were left in command of the troops, 
 that the Russian army was so terribly beaten. 
 
 The young King of Sweden had not quite nine 
 thousand men, and only six pieces of cannon, to op- 
 pose to the immense army of the Czar, and the one 
 hundred and forty-five pieces of cannon with which 
 the Russian camp was defended. He, however, hesi- 
 tated not a moment, but taking advantage of a violent 
 wind, and a terrible storm of snow, which blew directly 
 in the faces of the Russians, he attacked them with 
 great vigor. 
 
 The Russians were astonished at the discharge of 
 cannon which they could not see, and never imagined 
 how small a number of men were coming against 
 them. They were thrown at once into great confu- 
 sion, and had no time to form in the midst of that 
 driving storm ; panic soon spread through the army, 
 and they turned and fled. 
 
 Some threw themselves into the river Narva, 
 where great numbers were drowned; others laid 
 down their arms, and surrendered themselves to the 
 conquering Swedes. The Duke de Croy and the 
 other officers of the Russian army, dreading the 
 Russians more than the Swedes, surrendered them- 
 selves as prisoners to the commander of the Swedish 
 army. 
 
 Thirty thousand of the Russians laid down their 
 
80 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 arms at the feet of the King of Sweden, and filed off 
 bareheaded and disarmed before him ; and then for 
 the first time they discovered that they had been 
 subdued by eight or nine thousand men. The number 
 of those who were made prisoners was four times 
 greater than that of the conquerors. 
 
 Perhaps, from not knowing what to do with this 
 immense number of prisoners, the King of Sweden 
 allowed one-half of the Russian soldiers to return, 
 after having disarmed them, and the other half to re- 
 pass the river with their arms, thus restoring to the 
 Czar troops, who, after being well disciplined, became 
 brave and excellent soldiers. Well would it have 
 been for King Charles had he not met them in 
 battle again ! 
 
 Great was the gain to King Charles by this vic- 
 tory. Immense magazines, boats loaded with pro- 
 visions, and all the artillery, fell into his hands, and 
 the whole country was at the mercy of the Swedish 
 army. In less than twelve months the King of 
 Sweden, not yet twenty years of age, had been victo- 
 rious over the monarchs of Denmark, Poland and 
 Russia, and was looked upon as the first prince in 
 Europe. 
 
 Peter, who, as I have told you, had left his army 
 to go and arrange some matters with the King of 
 Poland, heard while on his way of this terrible defeat. 
 
PETER THE GEEAT. 81 
 
 He took it however very calmly, merely saying : " I 
 know very well that the Swedes will have the advan- 
 tage of ns for some time, but they will teach us at 
 length to conquer them." 
 
 He at once sent all the troops he could muster to 
 prevent the further advance of King Charles, while 
 he himself went to Moscow, where he issued orders 
 for a great number of new cannon to be cast, to make 
 up for the loss of those taken by the Swedes. 
 
 But for this purpose there was not enough metal 
 to be found; the Czar therefore ordered that the 
 bells of all the churches and convents should be taken 
 and cast into cannon and mortars. With these bells 
 were made one hundred large cannon, one hundred 
 and forty-three field pieces, besides mortars and other 
 pieces of artillery. All this the Czar was obliged to 
 superintend in person, or it would not have been 
 properly done. 
 
 Peter now went to meet Augustus, King of 
 Poland, to persuade him to continue the war against 
 Charles Twelfth ; but though Augustus himself 
 seemed inclined to join with the Czar against 
 Sweden, his people were in no haste to enter into 
 the quarrel, and Peter found that he must depend 
 upon his own strength. 
 
 Between the provinces of Livonia and St. Peters- 
 burg, lies the large lake of Peipus. Here the Czar 
 4* 
 
82 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 found it necessary to station a large fleet to prevent 
 the Swedish troops from attacking the province of 
 Novorogod, and to be ready to make a descent upon 
 the coasts belonging to Sweden. He therefore em- 
 ployed nearly the whole of the year 1701 in building 
 on this lake one hundred galleys, each to carry about 
 fifty men, while other armed vessels were fitted out 
 on Lake Ladoga. 
 
 All these operations Peter himself superintended, 
 and set his new sailors to work. He also brought up 
 his sailors from the river Don and the sea of Azof, 
 and stationed them on Lake Ladoga. While over- 
 seeing these immense operations, he constantly visited 
 Moscow, to see that all was going right there, and 
 other provinces to establish new customs, and to see 
 that the old ones were properly observed. 
 
 Other princes, as Voltaire says, have gained to 
 themselves a great name by raising public works in 
 time of peace ; but that Peter, just after the misfor- 
 tune at Narva, should apply himself to the work of 
 joining the Baltic, Caspian, and European seas, by 
 canals, has crowned him with more real glory than the 
 most signal victory. 
 
 And now Charles Twelfth, who might have car- 
 ried all before him in Russia, turns from this great 
 country as if unworthy of his notice, and gives his 
 whole attention to Poland, intending to dethrone 
 
PETEK THE GREAT. 83 
 
 Augustus, and then to pursue the Czar even to the 
 very gates of Moscow. 
 
 He little thought, that having given the Russian 
 troops lessons in war, he was now giving them time to 
 improve upon them ; and that before he was ready to 
 turn his attention to them, they would be quite ready to 
 meet him face to face. Twelve months after the battle 
 of Narva, the Czar's troops were so well disciplined 
 that they defeated one of the best Generals belonging 
 to the King of Sweden. 
 
 "While Charles was laying all Poland waste, Peter 
 was left at full liberty, not only to recruit and disci- 
 pline his army, but to design and carry on many great 
 improvements in the empire. He introduced from 
 Saxony flocks of sheep, and shepherds to attend 
 them, in order to have wool fit for making good cloth. 
 He erected linen and paper manufactories, built 
 hospitals, invited from abroad workmen in brass, 
 blacksmiths, and founders, and quantities of ore were 
 brought from the mines of Siberia. Thus in the 
 midst of war he cultivated the arts of peace. 
 
 Peter himself moved about with such rapidity, 
 that he almost seemed to his people to have the power 
 of being in several places at the same time. One week 
 he was at Plescow, the next at Moscow, and the third 
 at Archangel, to which place he hurried, on hearing 
 that the Swedes intended to attack the little post he 
 
84 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 had established at that place. Here he drew the 
 plan of a new fortress, and himself laid the first stone 
 of the foundation. 
 
 And now the Russians began to show the result of 
 their training, in several victories which they gained 
 over the Swedish troops. General Scherematof cap- 
 tured a Swedish frigate on Lake Peipus. He also 
 obtained a victory over a Swedish General, in which 
 he took a great number of prisoners, and four of their 
 colors ; and on the 1st of January, 1702, he fell in 
 with the main body of the Swedish troops, near a 
 village named Eresfort. 
 
 " As our troops," said the Czar, in his journal, 
 " were new, and but little exercised, and our artillery 
 had not arrived, the enemy threw a great part of our 
 men into confusion, and obliged them to fall back, 
 but on being joined by our artillery, their retreat was 
 stopped. Our men being^gain formed in order of 
 battle, attacked them with so much vigor, that after 
 an action of four hours, the Swedes were compelled 
 to yield, to abandon their artillery, and fly. The 
 enemy lost in this action the greater part of his 
 troops, as three thousand lay dead on the field of 
 battle. Of our men about one thousand were killed." 
 General Scherematof was made Field-Marshal, and 
 other honors were bestowed upon him. 
 
 For this victory thanks were publicly returned, 
 
PETER THE GREAT. 85 
 
 and salutes, fireworks, and other rejoicings were in- 
 dulged in. After this victory Peter said : " Well, we 
 have at last beaten the Swedes, when we were two to 
 one against them. We shall by-and-by be able to face 
 them, man to man." 
 
 This same General (now Marshal) Scherematof 
 soon gained another and more important victory over 
 the enemy, of which the Czar says : 
 
 " With the assistance of God, we compelled them 
 to fly from the field of battle, having not only 
 retaken the artillery, the colors, and the equipage, 
 which they had taken from us, but also killed so 
 many of them, that the few remains of the cavalry 
 were obliged to fly towards the city of Pernow. The 
 marshal, having left behind the infantry, pursued them 
 with the regiments of dragoons ; he overtook them a 
 few miles from the city, and routed them afresh. On 
 this occasion we took fifteen pieces of cannon, and 
 sixteen colors, and a great number of prisoners. Our 
 loss was ten officers, and about four hundred soldiers 
 killed." 
 
86 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 The siege of Jtfarienburg— The young -widow— Her eventful story— Change 
 of fortune for the Czar — The " Key City " — Triumphal entry into 
 Moscow. 
 
 Upon a small lake on the borders of the province of 
 Livonia, stood the little town of Marienburg, which 
 Marshal Scherematof now reached in his victorious 
 march. In order to take this town by assault, it was 
 necessary to cross the lake on floating bridges ; but 
 when the people of the town found that preparations 
 for an attack in this manner were being made, they 
 agreed to give up the place, on condition of letting 
 the inhabitants leave it peaceably, which was granted. 
 But while the Major who commanded, with two 
 Captains, came to the Russian camp to give up the 
 place, a Captain Woolf and an ensign of artillery, 
 the latter dragging his wife by force, entered the 
 powder magazine, and set fire to it, by which great 
 numbers, both of Russians and Swedes, were blown 
 into the air. In consequence of this, all the inhabi- 
 
PETER THE GREAT. 87 
 
 tants, now a very small number, were taken prisoners, 
 and the town was entirely destroyed. 
 
 Among the prisoners thus taken was a young 
 woman in humble circumstances, who afterwards 
 became Empress of the country to which she was 
 now led captive. General Bauer, before whom the 
 prisoners of war were to file off, was a man of great 
 mildness and humanity, who had risen from the 
 ranks to his present station. 
 
 He noticed among the prisoners a very young girl 
 with tears streaming down her cheeks, and evidently in 
 very great trouble. He was so struck with her face and 
 manner, that he ordered her to be taken care of till 
 he had time to talk with her. Her modesty and 
 diffidence, and indeed her whole conduct, charmed the 
 good General, who told her she had nothing to fear, 
 as he would take care that she was well treated. Her 
 story was this : 
 
 She was born at Ringen, a small village in Livo- 
 nia. Her mother had been a very poor woman, sup- 
 ported by Count Rosen, an officer in the Swedish 
 service, and the owner of the village. When she was 
 three years of age, she suffered a double loss, in the 
 death of her mother, and of her mother's friend, 
 Count Rosen. She was then taken into the house of 
 the clerk of the village, who kept a small school for 
 children. 
 
88 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 Doctor Gluck, the Lutheran minister of Marien- 
 burg, happening to come to this village one day, visited 
 the school, and the moment he saw this little Martha, 
 as she was then called, he took a great fancy to her, 
 and asked the clerk, who was very poor, if he would 
 be willing to part with her. The clerk consented, 
 and Doctor Gluck took her home with him, and 
 treated her like one of his own family. Here she 
 made herself very useful, and soon became a great 
 favorite. At first she knew no language but the 
 Livonian, but under the instruction of Dr. Gluck^s 
 soon became mistress of the German. 
 
 As she grew older, her beauty attracted many 
 admirers. Among them all, the only one she liked 
 was a Livonian sergeant in the Swedish army. She 
 would not marry him, however, without the consent 
 of Dr. Gluck. The Doctor, after making inquiries, 
 and satisfying himself that the young man was steady 
 and respectable, and able to support his favorite com- 
 fortably, gave his consent, and married them him- 
 self. 
 
 The very next day Marienburg surrendered to the 
 Russians, and the husband of Martha was killed. It 
 was while weeping, in her distress on hearing this 
 tidings, that General Bauer saw her, and was touched 
 with compassion for her sufferings. He took her 
 home, and appointed her his housekeeper, in which 
 
PETER THE GREAT. 89 
 
 situation, as we are informed by M. Wurmb, who was 
 tutor in Doctor Gluck's family, " she was a pattern of 
 virtue and good conduct, and while with the General, 
 she was greatly beloved by all his domestics, over 
 whom she was placed." 
 
 But she was not destined long to remain in the 
 service of General Bauer. One day, Menzikoff, 
 happening to be at the General's house, saw the young 
 housekeeper, and being much pleased with her appear- 
 ance and manners, and having heard her history, he 
 asked General Bauer if he would part with her, as he 
 was in want of such a person to oversee the female 
 part of his establishment. 
 
 The General would have been glad to refuse, but 
 as he was under great obligations to Menzikoff, he 
 felt that it would be ungrateful to deny his request ; 
 and the next day saw Martha in the palace of Menzi- 
 koff. Here she was first seen by Peter the Great, 
 when she was seventeen years of age. He became 
 much attached to her, and married her, at first pri- 
 vately, and afterwards publicly, and had her crowned 
 Empress of Russia. After the death of Peter, this 
 wonderful woman, whose life had been one of such 
 extraordinary changes, succeeded to the throne of 
 Russia. 
 
 " There had been many instances," says Voltaire, 
 "before this, of private women being raised to the 
 
90 THE HISTOEY OF 
 
 throne ; nothing was more common in Russia, and in 
 all Asiatic kingdoms, than for crowned heads to 
 marry their own subjects ; but that a poor stranger, 
 who had been taken prisoner in the storming of a 
 town, should become the absolute sovereign of that 
 very empire, whither she was led captive, is an 
 instance which fortune and merit never produced be- 
 fore nor since in the annals of the world." 
 
 Fortune now seemed to favor the Czar every 
 where. His vessels on Lake Ladoga gained victo- 
 ries over those of the Swedes, driving them to take 
 shelter on the other side of the lake. Look on the 
 map, and find the little river Neva, which runs from 
 the foot of Lake Ladoga through the city of St. 
 Petersburg, the foundations of which were not yet 
 laid. 
 
 To gain possession of the river Neva was now 
 the constant aim of Peter the Great, as by that means 
 he would have the communication he so much desired 
 with the Baltic. There is an island in Lake Ladoga, 
 near the spot where this river empties into the lake, 
 upon which stood the strongly fortified town of Note- 
 burg, of which Peter was determined to gain posses- 
 sion, if possible. He gave command of the siege to 
 Marshal Scherematof, he himself acting as Captain of 
 the Preobazinski guards. 
 
 The Russians bombarded the town night and day, 
 
PETER THE GEEAT. 91 
 
 from the 18th of September to the 12th of October, 
 and did not succeed in taking it till the Swedish gar- 
 rison was reduced to less than a hundred men. These 
 few men nobly defended the city to the last, and 
 when obliged to yield, they made honorable terms for 
 themselves. Colonel Slippembac, who commanded 
 them, would not surrender the town till he had sent 
 for two Swedish officers from the nearest post, in order 
 that they might bear witness for him to the King, his 
 master, that eighty-three men, who were all then left 
 in the garrison able to bear arms, besides one hundred 
 and fifty sick and wounded, did not surrender to a 
 whole army until it was impossible for them to fight 
 any longer or to preserve the place. 
 
 This shows what a brave enemy the Czar had to 
 contend with, and how necessary it was for him to 
 keep up strict military discipline in his own army. 
 He distributed gold medals among his officers on this 
 occasion, and gave rewards to all the private soldiers, 
 except a few whom he punished for running away 
 during the assault. Their fellow soldiers spit in 
 their faces, as a sign of their contempt for their 
 cowardly conduct, and then shot them. 
 
 The name of the conquered town was changed to 
 Shlusseburg, or the Key-town; " because," said the 
 Czar, " it is by this key that the gates of the enemy's 
 country are opened to us." Menzikoff, who had be- 
 
92 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 haved most gallantly during the siege, was appointed 
 the first Governor of the place, and the Czar gratified 
 Marshal Scherematof and his other officers, by giving 
 them a triumphal entry into Moscow. 
 
 The prisoners, their cannon, colors, and twenty 
 wagon loads of ammunition, appeared in the proces- 
 sion, which passed under three triumphal arches, while 
 cannon were fired, bells were rung, and every other 
 exhibition of joy and delight was indulged in by the 
 people. 
 
 Many of the Russian people, as you know, com- 
 plained of the reforms which the Czar was making in 
 the empire ; they did not like new ways and customs, 
 and said " the old are better." Peter now deter- 
 mined to try an experiment, and see whether, in all 
 respects, they actually preferred the old style of 
 things ; and therefore on the marriage of one of his 
 sisters, he invited these discontented noblemen and 
 their families, and ordered that every one should dress 
 after the ancient manner, and that all old customs 
 should be observed. 
 
 A dinner was served up in the same manner as in 
 the sixteenth century, when things were done in a 
 much ruder style than in the days of Peter. It was 
 an old and superstitious custom not to light a fire on 
 a wedding day, even in the coldest weather. Peter 
 therefore ordered that no fire should be lighted in the 
 
PETER THE GREAT. 93 
 
 palace, and lie probably enjoyed it mightily to see 
 those who cried out against new customs, sitting shiv- 
 ering, and with chattering teeth, and wishing in their 
 hearts that this custom at least might not be revived. 
 
 In ancient times the Russians drank no wine, but 
 only mead and brandy. Peter ordered that on this 
 occasion the old custom in this respect should be ob- 
 served ; and when the guests complained, and begged 
 for wine, he answered in a joking manner, " This was 
 a custom with your ancestors, and old customs are 
 always the best." 
 
 Whether the supporters of old customs were con- 
 vinced or not by this return to them for a time, we 
 are assured that at least nothing more was said about 
 the old ways being better, at least as far as these 
 customs were concerned. 
 
 The news of this entertainment spread through 
 Moscow, and gave great amusement to the poople, 
 who said one to another, a What a comical man is our 
 Czar ! » 
 
94 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Building of the City of St. Petersburg— Trouble and sickness— The 
 miracle of the Weeping Virgin— Ships visit the new city — New pro- 
 jects of the Czar — Battles — Affairs in Poland — St. Petersburg threat- 
 ened by a Swedish fleet — Battles and sieges— The Czar unfortunate, 
 but not discouraged. 
 
 Peter, the Czar now turned his attention to a new 
 project. This was no other than building a city to 
 be called after himself, St. Petersburg, near the 
 mouth of the river Neva, just where it enters the 
 Gulf of Finland. It was indeed a strange spot upon 
 which to found a city, and the idea, to any one but 
 Peter the Great, would have seemed hopeless. 
 
 The Neva just here divides into four or five 
 branches, forming several low, flat, marshy islands, in 
 the centre of which had stood a Swedish fortress, 
 which had been taken by the troops of the Czar. 
 Here was begun the city of St. Petersburg, which has 
 now risen to be one of the most magnificent cities in 
 the world. 
 
 All around was a marsh, with not a stone of any 
 description ; the people had no experience in this 
 
PETER THE GEEAT. 95 
 
 kind of work, and were not furnished with the proper 
 tools, such as spades, shovels, pick-axes, &c, and the 
 weather was intensely cold ; but human life was of 
 little account to the Czar. 
 
 He brought thousands of people from all parts of 
 the empire, Russians, Cossacks, Tartars, Calmucks, 
 Finlanders, and Ingrians ; and when they fell down 
 and died from hard labor and exposure, and when 
 thousands fell victims to a terrible sickness that 
 appeared among them ; what mattered it to the Czar ? 
 Thousands more could be brought to supply the places 
 of those who fell. It is said that not less than one 
 hundred thousand laborers perished there during the 
 first year. 
 
 These channels of the river were deepened, canals 
 dug, the earth heaped up to raise the level of the 
 islands, which were often overflowed. There were no 
 wheel-barrows, and these poor laborers were obliged 
 to bring the earth on which the foundations of this 
 great city were laid from a distance, in the skirts of 
 their clothes, and in bags made of rags and old 
 mats. 
 
 But in spite of all these difficulties, the work went 
 on ; and in the course of a year there stood ujjon 
 these once marshy islands, a town said to contain 
 thirty thousand houses, and huts of one kind or an- 
 other. All this the Czar superintended in person, 
 
96 THE HISTOEY OF 
 
 taking up his quarters in a small wooden house, which 
 he caused to be built for himself, and which still 
 stands, surrounded by a protecting wall, and is visited 
 by many in memory of this extraordinary man. 
 
 One of the first buildings erected was a church, 
 for though Peter had no love for the priesthood, he 
 was very attentive to his religious duties ; and where- 
 ever he was, regularly attended divine service at 
 some church or other. He also directed many mer- 
 chants and tradesmen to settle in his new city, and 
 take possession of shops there. 
 
 The next thing was the building of a large hotel, 
 and a fine mansion for Prince Menzikoff, who took 
 the management of the Czar's public entertainments 
 upon himself. 
 
 But now came trouble among the workmen. The 
 Czar was absent, and had left Count G-olofkin to 
 superintend the building of the city. The men, who 
 were suffering from privation and sickness, and were 
 seeing their fellow-laborers drop into the grave in 
 great numbers daily, began to complain loudly, and 
 at length they set off in a vast crowd towards the 
 church. 
 
 Count Golofkin endeavored to make his way to 
 the church, but the crowd was so great that he was 
 obliged to return. He was told that the Virgin was 
 so afflicted at the sufferings of her people, in that 
 
PETER THE GREAT. 97 
 
 horrid climate, that her image in the church was 
 shedding tears, and they felt assured, that some 
 more dreadful fate was hanging over the new city. 
 
 Glolofkin not knowing what do with the people, 
 sent off for the Czar, who arrived the next day, and 
 went at once to the church to witness the miracle. 
 He ordered all the people to attend, and commanded 
 the priests to show him the wonderful sight of the 
 weeping image of the Virgin. 
 
 This he examined attentively ; and when he saw 
 something oozing from the eyes, and running down 
 the cheeks, he ordered one of the priests to take down 
 the image. He stripped off the covering behind, and 
 found just near the eyes a little cavity filled with oil, 
 which gradually oozed out and trickled down the 
 cheeks. This he explained to the people, and then 
 ordered the image to he taken to his house, telling 
 the people he meant to keep it in his cabinet of 
 curiosities. 
 
 Rapidly rose the City of St. Petersburg ; built 
 somewhat after the plan of the city of Amsterdam. 
 The wharves, the canals, the bridges, and the streets, 
 were like that city planted with trees. And now the 
 wish of the Czar, that the Baltic should be a channel 
 of communication for his empire with other nations, 
 seemed to be realized, when he heard that a Dutch 
 ship was sailing into the river. 
 5 
 
98 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 Auke Wibes, the captain, was most cordially 
 welcomed and entertained, while in Russia ; being 
 placed next the Czar at a feast given to him, and 
 treated with every mark of honor and distinction. 
 His cargo of salt, wine, and other provisions, were all 
 purchased by the Czar and his officers, and the 
 skipper himself, and each of his sailors, were pre- 
 sented with a handsome sum of money. 
 
 Soon came another Dutch ship, and afterwards 
 an English one, to whose officers and men the same 
 presents were made. 
 
 All this time Charles the Twelfth of Sweden was 
 occupied with his designs against Poland, and taking 
 little heed of the operations of the Czar. When his 
 attention was called to the great city growing up so 
 rapidly on the banks of the Neva, he said, " Let 
 Peter amuse himself as he thinks fit in building his 
 new city. I shall soon find time to take it from him, 
 and to put his wooden houses into a blaze. 
 
 In order to protect his infant city, Peter (after 
 sounding the depth of the surrounding water himself) 
 fixed upon a spot on which to build the fort of Cron- 
 stadt; and after making the model of it in wood 
 with his own hands, he left Menzikoff to superintend 
 the building of the fort, while he went to pass the 
 winter in Moscow, where his presence was much 
 needed. 
 
PETER THE GEEAT. 99 
 
 He hastened the progress of the works on the 
 Vozonitz and the Don, and in a harbor which he had 
 caused to be made on the Palus Maeotis, or the Sea 
 of Azof. 
 
 Now when the Turkish government beheld the 
 warlike preparations which were going on so near 
 them, they were much alarmed, and sent a message 
 of complaint to the Czar ; but Peter replied that he 
 was as much master in his own dominions, as the 
 Grand Seigneur was in Turkey ; and that if he chose 
 to make the Russian power respectable on the Euxine 
 sea, it was no cause of complaint to Turkey. 
 
 In the spring when Peter returned to St. Peters- 
 burg, he found his fort of Cronstadt, in the bosom of 
 the sea, completed; and having furnished it with 
 artillery, he turned his eyes towards Narva, from 
 which he had been driven, you remember, by Charles 
 the Twelfth. 
 
 In order to wipe away the disgrace he had suf- 
 fered before Narva, he determined to lay siege to it 
 once more, and at the same time to the city of Derpt. 
 Peter was constantly going from one place to the 
 other, to give orders as to the mode of attack, and to 
 encourage the officers and soldiers. 
 
 Having heard that the Swedish general Slippem- 
 bac (who, you remember, so nobly defended the town of 
 Noteburg) was in the neighborhood of Derpt, with a 
 
100 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 large body of troops ; and expecting every moment 
 that he would appear to the help of the besieged 
 town, Peter determined to try the effect of a strata- 
 gem, or deception, by which to draw the Swedes 
 from the town. 
 
 In a short time two regiments of foot, and one of 
 horse composed of Russians, in the uniform and having 
 the colors of the Swedes, came up as if to the help of the 
 besieged town. They to all appearance attack the 
 Russians vigorously ; who pretend to be struck with 
 panic and to fly. The garrison rejoiced at what they 
 supposed to be this timely aid, and at the dispersion of 
 the enemy, rush from the town to join the pursuit; 
 when the mock enemy join with the pretended fugi- 
 tives and turn upon them, killing great numbers, and 
 so terrifying the rest, that they are obliged to capitu- 
 late and surrender the town. 
 
 Now Peter passed on to Narva ; which town he 
 assaulted most vigorously, and soon all the outworks 
 were taken, and the besiegers carrying all before 
 them, forced their way into the town, and then began 
 one of those terrible scenes of cruelty and bloodshed, 
 which were so common at that time in the wars of the 
 Swedes and Russians. 
 
 But here the character of Peter, barbarian as he 
 was, appears in a most amiable light. At least for 
 the time the impulse of his mind seems to have been 
 
PETER THE GREAT. 101 
 
 towards mercy ; and he ran from place to place, to 
 save life and to check the cruelty of the soldiers ; and 
 having killed two of the ruffians who refused to obey 
 his orders, he entered the town-house whither the 
 citizens had run in crowds for shelter, and throw- 
 ing his sword wet with blood upon the table, he 
 cried : 
 
 " This sword is not stained with the blood of your 
 fellow-citizens, but with that of my own soldiers? 
 which I have spilt to save your lives." 
 
 All this time, while the Czar Peter was every 
 where gaining victories over the Swedish generals, 
 Charles the Twelfth, King of Sweden, seemed as if 
 blind to his growing strength and skill in the art of 
 war, and was busying himself in making and de- 
 throning kings in Poland. 
 
 Augustus, King of Poland, was, through the influ- 
 ence of Charles, dethroned by his people, who were 
 obliged by this monarch to declare Stanislaus Lec- 
 zinski king in his stead. Augustus assembling a small 
 force still true to him, declared Stanislaus a rebel 
 and a traitor, and proceeded to fight for the crown, 
 which had been so rudely snatched from his head. 
 
 Peter who now had a fine and well disciplined 
 army, and was able at length to meet the Swedes 
 man to man, sent to his ally, Augustus, a force of 
 twelve thousand men ; and as soon as Derpt and 
 
102 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 Narva were disposed of, he hastened with a still 
 larger body of troops, to the assistance of Augustus. 
 
 During his absence a Sweedish fleet put to sea 
 with the intention of destroying St. Petersburg, and 
 the fortress of Cronstadt, which was but just finished. 
 This was quite a formidable fleet, consisting of twenty- 
 two ships of war, besides six frigates, two bomb- 
 ketches, and two fire-ships. 
 
 From these vessels a numerous body of troops 
 landed on a small island, to prepare for the attack ; 
 but a Russian colonel who commanded a regiment 
 there, ordered his men to lie flat on their faces, while 
 the Swedes were coming on shore ; and then rising 
 suddenly, they threw in upon them so brisk and well 
 directed a fire, that the Swedes were put to confusion, 
 and forced to retreat hastily to their ships, leaving 
 behind them all their dead, and more than three 
 hundred prisoners. 
 
 Still the fleet hovered about the coast, and threat- 
 ened the newly-built city; the troops made another 
 descent, but were driven off as before, and a large 
 body of Swedish soldiers advanced by land, but they 
 were all defeated, and driven back. They therefore 
 abandoned the attack, and St. Petersburg remained 
 in security. 
 
 Numerous battles were now fought between the 
 army of the Czar and the Swedish troops, in those 
 
PETER THE GEEAT. 103 
 
 provinces bordering on the Baltic and the Gulf of 
 Finland, it being still the great aim and object of 
 Peter, to obtain possession of the forts upon those 
 seas, in order to the establishment of his navy. 
 
 In some of these battles the Swedes were victori- 
 ous, in others the Russians. One considerable place 
 taken by Peter, Was the town of Mittau in the pro- 
 vince of Courland not far from the Gulf of Riga. In 
 the Castle of Mittau were vaults, where the Grand 
 Dukes of Courland were buried. 
 
 It had been the custom with the Russian troops, 
 to steal or destroy whatever they could lay their 
 hands on, after taking the town of the enemy ; but at 
 the battle of Narva, Peter made such alterations in 
 this custom, and laid such strict commands upon his 
 soldiers as to their conduct for the future, that from 
 that time no such violence was committed. 
 
 The Russian soldiers finding the bodies of the 
 dead dragged from their tombs beneath the Castle of 
 Mittau, and stripped of their clothing and jewels, re- 
 fused to take possession of the post till a Swedish colo- 
 nel had been sent for, who gave them a certificate 
 that this outrage had been committed by the Swedes 
 themselves. 
 
 For a time now every thing seemed to conspire 
 against the Czar. Charles the Twelfth was carrying 
 all before him ; the Russians were murmuring and 
 
104 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 discontented with the restraint which the new state of 
 things imposed upon them ; there were insurrections 
 in parts of the empire, and the treasury was nearly 
 exhausted. But all these misfortunes, which would 
 have discouraged almost any other monarch, seemed 
 only to rouse Peter to new efforts. 
 
 He hurried from one part of the empire to 
 another, quelling revolts, silencing complaints, and 
 securing the possession of places he had already taken. 
 He then went to meet the dethroned King Augustus, 
 to comfort him under his misfortunes ; promising to 
 revenge his cause, and after presenting him with men 
 and money, he returned as usual to pass part of the 
 winter in Moscow, to encourage the arts and sciences, 
 and to enforce his new laws there. 
 
PETER THE GREAT. 105 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Tidings of the approach of Charles the Twelfth— Battle of Grodno— The 
 disgraceful course of Augustus — The story of General Patkul — His 
 imprisonment and death — Indignation of the Czar — The throne of 
 Poland declared vacant— Designs of Stanislaus and Charles. 
 
 Hardly was Peter reeurned to Moscow, when tidings 
 were brought that Charles the Twelfth, who had been 
 every where victorious, was marching to attack the 
 Russian troops at Grodno. King Augustus had fled 
 before him in great haste, and had taken refuge in 
 Saxony with four regiments of Russian dragoons. 
 
 Peter hastened to his assistance, but found all the 
 avenues to Grodno occupied by Swedish troops, 
 while his own were scattered. But without being in 
 any way discouraged by this state of things, Peter set 
 about raising troops to aid the dethroned monarch, 
 and joining him, he gave battle to the Swedish 
 army. 
 
 Here the Russian troops suffered a terrible defeat, 
 in a great- part owing to the conduct of a French 
 regiment fighting in the service of Augustus, and 
 5* 
 
106 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 having charge of the artillery, who, when they saw 
 the army of Charles approaching, laid down their 
 arms, and desired to enter the service of the Swedish 
 King. 
 
 The desertion of this regiment was followed by 
 the overthrow of the Russian army, of which few 
 men saved their lives, and almost all were wounded. 
 Voltaire says that it is pretended by the Swedish his- 
 torian of those times, that the Swedish word at this 
 battle was, " In the name of God," and that of the 
 Russians, " Kill all ; " but he says it was the Swedes 
 who killed all who came in their way. 
 
 The Czar himself says that a great number of his 
 army who were taken prisoners, were murdered in 
 cold blood, three days after the battle. A Russian 
 officer being hardly pushed by the enemy, ran for 
 protection to King Stanislaus, wbo had formerly 
 been one of his friends; but while Stanislaus held 
 him in his arms, he was shot dead by a Swedish Gen- 
 eral. 
 
 This was the fourth battle the Russians had lost 
 against the Swedes, who had also gained many other 
 victories in Poland. Peter now busied himself in 
 preparing for the safety of his army, which he sent 
 under Prince Menzikoff as far south as Kiow. He 
 flew from one place to another, overseeing the re- 
 pairs of one city, putting another in a state of de- 
 
PETER THE GREAT. 107 
 
 fence, planning new conquests, and endeavoring to 
 assist his ally, King Augustus of Poland. 
 
 But now Augustus being hardly pursued by the 
 victorious Swedes, and flying with his mother, his 
 wife, and his son, and the principal nobility of his 
 country, determined upon a course so mean and dis- 
 graceful, as to consign his name to everlasting in- 
 famy. 
 
 He sues for peace, treats secretly with King 
 Charles, promises to give up for ever all right to the 
 crown of Poland, and to acknowledge Stanislaus as 
 lawful king. He renounces all treaties he has made 
 with Peter the Czar, his former friend and ally, and 
 promises to deliver up all Swedish prisoners, and 
 deserters. 
 
 But the crowning disgrace of Augustus was the 
 delivery to the Swedish king, of John Patkul, the 
 ambassador of the Czar, a brave Russian officer who 
 was at that very time fighting in the cause of Au- 
 gustus. He had before this, on some false pretence, 
 caused Patkul to be arrested and thrown into prison. 
 
 The melancholy history of this unfortunate officer 
 has left a stain upon the character of Charles the 
 Twelfth, which nothing can wipe out. Charles the 
 Eleventh had been very severe in his treatment of the 
 Livonians, to whose country Patkul belonged, and 
 
108 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 had cut off many of their privileges, and stripped 
 them of part of their estates. 
 
 General Patkul was the one selected by the no- 
 bility of Livonia, to carry an account of their griev- 
 ances to the king, and to beg for redress. At the 
 head of six Livonian gentlemen, he waited upon the 
 king, and in respectful, but bold and manly language, 
 he addressed him, and claimed that their former 
 privileges should be restored to his countrymen. 
 
 Charles the Eleventh, who could play the hypo- 
 crite to perfection, laid his hand upon the shoulder of 
 Patkul and said, " You have spoken for your coun- 
 try like a brave man, and I esteem you for it ; go 
 on." Yet in a few days after, he caused this very 
 man to be declared guilty of high treason, and as such, 
 to be condemned to death. 
 
 Patkul concealed himself for a time, and then 
 made his escape into Poland, where he was admitted 
 to the presence of King Augustus, from whose service 
 he passed into that of the Czar, by whom he was sent 
 as ambassador to the court of Augustus, after Charles 
 the Twelfth ascended the throne of Sweden. 
 
 This king to whom he was sent as ambassador, 
 and in whose cause he was bravely fighting, meanly, 
 and treacherously seized upon his person to grtaify the 
 malice of Charles the Twelfth, which still pursued the 
 
PETER THE GREAT. 109 
 
 banished man, and threw him into prison in the Castle 
 of Konigstein, in Saxony. 
 
 When Augustus saw that one of the conditions of 
 the treaty with Charles the Twelfth, was that Patkul 
 should he delivered up to him, he was puzzled what 
 course to pursue. The Czar on the one hand loudly 
 insisted that his ambassador should be returned to 
 him, while Charles threatened him with terrible 
 and speedy vengeance, if Patkul were not delivered 
 into his hands. 
 
 Augustus now, in the hope of pacifying both these 
 powerful monarchs, and also of saving his own honor, 
 sends his guards to seize the unhappy man, and de- 
 liver him into the power of the King of Sweden. 
 But at the same time he sends secret orders to the 
 Governor of Konigstein to let the prisoner escape. 
 The G-overnor, however, knowing that Patkul was rich, 
 determined not to let him escape until he had paid a 
 handsome price for his liberty. 
 
 The brave Patkul refused to pay for that which 
 was his right, and before the matter was settled, the 
 guards sent by Augustus arrived, and seizing upon the 
 prisoner, delivered him up to four Swedish officers ; 
 by whom he was carried to the general quarters of 
 the Swedish army, where he remained for three 
 months, tied to a stake with a heavy iron chain. 
 
 Charles the Twelfth forgetting that Patkul was 
 
110 THE HISTOEY OF 
 
 the ambassador of the Czar, and looking upon him 
 only as his own subject and a traitor, ordered a coun- 
 cil of war to try him with the utmost severity. He 
 was condemned to be broke alive upon the wheel, and 
 then to be quartered. 
 
 Patkul was engaged to be married to a beautiful 
 and lovely lady of Saxony; and the marriage was to 
 have taken place about the time that was fixed on by 
 King Charles, for this terrible torture and death. 
 "When the chaplain entered the cell of the prisoner, 
 and informed him that he was sentenced to death, — 
 though he told him not of the terrible manner in which 
 it was to be executed — the spirit of the brave man 
 was broken ; and he fell upon the bosom of the chap- 
 lain, and poured out his agony in a flood of tears. 
 
 Weakened by his long confinement in prison, and 
 tortured by hope deferred, can we wonder that when 
 thus informed of the end of all his hopes, and the 
 blighting of his most .-cherished plans, this man who 
 had braved death in so many battles, should have 
 wept like a child ? 
 
 He begged the chaplain to wait upon the lady to 
 whom he was to have been married, to give her all the 
 consolation in his power, and to tell her that he died 
 full of tender love to her. When he was brought to 
 the place of punishment, and saw the wheels and stakes, 
 the truth burst upon him of the terrible torture 
 
PETER THE GEEAT. Ill 
 
 though which he was to pass, and the fearful death 
 he%ras to die. 
 
 Overcome with agony, he fell into the arms of the 
 minister in strong convulsions ; the good man kindly 
 threw his cloak over him, to screen him from the eyes 
 of the bystanders, and wept over him as he embraced 
 him. Then a Swedish officer read aloud the following 
 sentence : 
 
 " This is to declare, that it is the express order 
 of his majesty, our most merciful lord, that this man, 
 who is a traitor to his country, be broke upon the 
 wheel, and quartered, in order to atone for his crimes , 
 and to be an example to others ; that every one 
 may beware of treason, and faithfully serve his 
 king." At the words " most merciful lord," Patkul 
 cried out, " What mercy ? " and at those of " traitor 
 to his country," — " Alas ! " said he, " I have served 
 it but too well." 
 
 Stretched and bound upon the dreadful wheel, he 
 received sixteen blows, and suffered the longest and 
 most excruciating torture, that can be imagined. 
 Thus died the unfortunate John Remold Patkul, 
 ambassador and general of the Emperor of Russia. 
 Those who looked upon him only as a rebel and 
 traitor, said that he deserved death ; but those who 
 considered him as a Livonian, and remembered that 
 he had been banished, because he had boldly de- 
 
112 THE HISTORY OP 
 
 fended the rights of his countrymen, called him a 
 martyr to the liberties of his country. 
 
 It was in 1707 that this unfortunate gentleman 
 was put to death. According to his sentence his 
 body was quartered, and his mangled limbs remained 
 exposed upon gibbets till 1713 ; when Augustus hav- 
 ing regained his throne, caused these relics of his own 
 perfidy to be gathered together. They were brought 
 to Warsaw in a box, and delivered to Augustus, in 
 the presence of the French minister. 
 
 Turning to him Augustus merely said, "These 
 are the limbs of Patkul," without any other remark ; 
 and no one else dared to speak upon so delicate and 
 mournful a subject. • 
 
 The Czar Peter was highly indignant at this bar- 
 barous conduct of the King of Sweden, in thus 
 insulting and injuring him, in the person of his am- 
 bassador ; and at the cowardice and treachery of his 
 ally, Augustus. He wrote to the principal monarchs 
 of Europe, complaining of this violation of the law 
 of nations. By some of his counsellors, it was pro- 
 posed that he should take revenge by like cruelties upon 
 the Swedish officers who were prisoners at Moscow, 
 but Peter rebuked them severely for such a sugges- 
 tion. 
 
 He determined, however, to revenge himself by 
 following up the plan agreed upon between Augustus 
 
PETEE THE GEEAT. 113 
 
 and himself at Grodno ; to leave no means untried to 
 drive Stanislaus from the throne, and thus overthow 
 the designs of Charles on Poland. 
 
 For this purpose the Czar, finding that Augustus 
 had renounced his protection and his crown, held 
 several conferences with certain of the Polish 
 nobility, at one of which the throne of Poland was 
 declared vacant, and an election for King was pro- 
 posed. .Peter had taken his son Alexis, then seven- 
 teen years of age, with him to this meeting; hut a 
 report having been circulated, that he intended to 
 propose his son as a candidate for the throne of Po- 
 land, he sent him away to Moscow. This young 
 prince, the history of whose misfortunes you will hear 
 in the course of this story, was the son of Eudocia, the 
 first wife of Peter, who still remained a prisoner in 
 the monastery of Susdal. 
 
 Nothing was decided upon in these conferences, 
 except that there was now no king in Poland, over 
 which country a regent was appointed to rule while 
 others were "fighting for the crown." Stanislaus, 
 however, had been acknowledged as king by most of 
 the sovereigns of Europe, and having left Charles in 
 Saxony, was now advancing into Poland with a large 
 force, and was received as lawful king in every 
 place through which he passed. This was in the year 
 1707. 
 
114 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 While Stanislaus was thus advancing into Poland, 
 Charles the Twelfth, having received large contribu- 
 tions of men and money in Saxony, had made up his 
 mind that he would fight the* Czar of Russia once 
 more, and advanced towards his dominions with an 
 army of 50,000 men ; a force which it would seem im- 
 possible for the Czar to withstand, when we remember 
 that at Narva his great army was entirely defeated by 
 eight thousand of the Swedes. 
 
 There had been an effort made by some of the 
 powers of Europe to bring about a reconciliation be- 
 tween the King of Sweden and the Czar, but Charles 
 would not listen to such a suggestion. He replied 
 proudly, " I will treat with the Czar in Moscow." 
 How far he succeeded in carrying out this bold 
 threat, we shall see after a time. It was on this 
 occasion that Peter said, <: My brother Charles wishes 
 to act the part of an Alexander, but he shall not find 
 a Darius in me," referring to the victories of Alexan- 
 der, to his pursuit of Darius into the heart of his 
 own kingdom, the death of that king, and the de- 
 struction of the Persian empire. 
 
PETEE THE GREAT. 115 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 Charles advances towards Eussia — The peasants and their ambassador — 
 Escape of the Czar at Grodno — A terrible march — The passage of the 
 river Berezine— Battle at another stream — Mysterious change in the 
 plans of Charles. 
 
 It was in the month of August, 1707, that Charles 
 the Twelfth of Sweden began his march with his 
 50,000 troops, from Saxony towards Russia, in the 
 full confidence that he should every where be victo- 
 rious over the armies of the Czar, and drive him to 
 sue for peace in his own capital. 
 
 The road through which he passed was the most 
 difficult he could have chosen. The country had been 
 ravaged by war, and was bare of every thing. There 
 were morasses, and deserts, and forests, to be passed, 
 and the inhabitants, who had concealed themselves in 
 these morasses, determined to make Charles pay well 
 for his passage. 
 
 Six thousand of the peasants, therefore, dispatched 
 an old man as their ambassador to speak to King 
 
116 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 Charles. This old man was a very extraordinary figure, 
 and clothed all in white, and armed with two car- 
 bines, he advanced before King Charles, and made 
 the speech which had been prepared for him. 
 
 Some of the Swedish soldiers who stood by, not 
 very well understanding what the old man said, made 
 short work of their reply, and cut him down and killed 
 him before the King's face, while in the midst of his 
 harangue. The peasants in a rage flew to arms, but 
 what could these poor creatures do against the army 
 of the King of Sweden ? 
 
 They were pursued and seized, and obliged to 
 hang one another ; the last man being compelled to 
 put a rope round his own neck, and hang himself; 
 and after burning all their houses to the ground, the 
 great army passed on. We could hardly believe this 
 story, were it told only by the enemies of Charles, but 
 as it is also related by a Swedish historian, who was 
 present, we see no reason to doubt its truth. 
 
 In the month of January, 1708, we find Peter with 
 a body of troops at the town of Grodno, and Charles 
 advancing through the frosts and snows of a Russian 
 winter to attack that place. He was within two 
 leagues of the town, before Peter was aware of his 
 approach. Charles, hearing just then that the Czar 
 himself was at Grodno, took eight hundred of his 
 troops, and set out in all haste for the town. 
 
PETER THE GREAT. 117 
 
 Through a mistake of one of his officers, the Czar 
 came very near falling into the hands of Charles. As 
 the small body of troops approached one of the gates 
 of the town, a G-erman officer who commanded there, 
 supposing of course that the whole terrible army of 
 the King of Sweden was upon them, instead of dis- 
 puting the passage with them, left it open, and took 
 to flight. 
 
 The alarm now spread through the whole town. 
 The few Russians who made any resistance were cut 
 to pieces, and the Czar was assured by all his officers 
 that the victorious army had made itself master of the 
 place. Hereupon Peter thought it best to retreat, and 
 Charles planted a guard of thirty men at the very 
 gate through which the Czar had just retired with 
 two thousand of his troops. 
 
 That very day Peter was informed by a Polish 
 deserter that he had fled before only eight hundred 
 men, and that the main body of the Swedish troops 
 was still some leagues distant. He immediately re- 
 turned, and forced the Swedish guards to give way. 
 An engagement took place in the streets and public 
 places of the city of Grodno, and no doubt the Czar 
 would have driven the troops of Charles from the 
 town, had not the whole Swedish army just then 
 appeared in sight. The Czar was now obliged to 
 
118 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 leave the town in the hands of that victorious King 
 who made all Poland tremble. 
 
 From the town of Grodno to the river Boristhenes, 
 (now the Dneiper,) there is nothing but morasses, 
 deserts, and immense forests, which the Swedes who 
 pursued the Czar were obliged to cut down as they 
 went, in order to clear a passage for the troops and 
 baggage. This part of the country was also subject 
 to epidemical disorders, which had been spread by 
 poverty and famine. Peter posted his troops so as to 
 command the passes of the rivers ; guarded all his 
 important posts ; and did all in his power to impede 
 the march of the enemy. 
 
 He sent a large body of troops to lay waste and 
 destroy the country through which Charles must 
 pass ; and then retreating, he gradually led the 
 Swedish troops into that part of the country from 
 which, if defeated, he would find it almost impossible 
 to retreat, while his own army, in case of being 
 obliged to retreat, would have a country to pass 
 through which would afford plenty of subsistence. 
 
 After being detained by continual rains, and the 
 many other obstacles which hindered his march, 
 Charles found himself in the month of May, on the 
 banks of the little river Berezine, not many miles 
 from the Dneiper. Here, in sight of the Russians 
 posted on the opposite bank, he threw a bridge over 
 
PETER THE GEEAT. 119 
 
 the stream, crossed it with his army, beat the Russians 
 who guarded the passage, and soon reached another 
 little river, where the Czar had posted a large body of 
 troops to check his progress. 
 
 This little river was only a brook in dry weather, 
 but at this time it was swollen by the rains to a deep 
 and rapid stream. On the other side was a morass, 
 behind which the Russians had thrown an entrench- 
 ment, defended by a large and deep ditch, and cov- 
 ered by a parapet, lined with artillery. 
 
 It must have required some little courage to deter- 
 mine thus to cross a rapid river, and to wade a marshy 
 swamp, with an army, exposed all the time to a vigor- 
 ous fire from the artillery of the enemy. But Charles 
 the Twelfth never stopped to deliberate upon the cir- 
 cumstances surrounding him, to inquire into the con- 
 dition of his enemy, or to think of fear. He went 
 on the principle that the Swedes could not be beaten. 
 
 Seeing his men busy, according to the customs of 
 war, in preparing pontoons, and erecting batteries to 
 cover their passage, he cried out, " When will you 
 have done with this trifling ? " and flung himself into 
 the river, followed by his regiment of guards. The 
 water was as high as their shoulders, but their num- 
 bers broke the force of the current, and thus in the 
 face of the fire of the Russians, they forded the river, 
 and waded the marsh. 
 
120 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 The Swedish army then drew up, and attacked the 
 Russians, seven different times, and it was not until 
 the seventh attack, that the Russians gave way. It 
 was now plain that the Czar had succeeded in disci- 
 plining his troops ; and this victory, while it covered 
 Charles Twelfth with glory, should have assured 
 him that it might yet be a difficult matter for him to 
 succeed in his expedition in this distant country, 
 where his army must wade rivers, and march through 
 woods and swamps, fighting every step of the way, 
 against an army every day becoming better fitted to 
 oppose their march. 
 
 But the Swedes, being accustomed to carry all 
 before them, dreaded neither danger nor fatigue. The 
 Russians, driven from all their posts, retreated, and 
 crossed the Boristhenes, or Dneiper, which river was 
 then the eastern boundary of Poland, and divided 
 that country from Russia. 
 
 In his pursuit of the Czar, Charles Twelfth 
 paused at the little town of Mohilow, on the Dneiper, 
 the very last town in Poland, on the boundary of 
 Russia, and which, like all frontier towns, belonged 
 sometimes to one country and sometimes to the 
 other. It was expected by his own army and by the 
 Russians that Charles would now push on directly to 
 the City of Moscow, to carry out his threat of forcing 
 the Czar to make peace in his own capital ; but to 
 
PETEB THE GEEAT. 121 
 
 the astonishment alike of friends and foes, Charles 
 now determined to turn towards the Ukraine, the 
 country of the Cossacks, a region lying in the south- 
 ern part of Russia. What tempted him to take this 
 step no one could imagine. It was going, as it seemed, 
 towards certain destruction, and indeed proved the 
 ruin of Charles and his army. But the mystery was 
 soon explained. 
 
122 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Mazeppa— An explanation of the conduct of King Charles— Difficulties 
 of the march — Mazeppa appears, and how— The Czar attacks the 
 Swedes under Lewenhaupt— A three days' battle, and its result. 
 
 Did you ever read Byron's story of Mazeppa, the 
 General, or Hetman, as he was called, of the Cos- 
 sacks, who, having fallen in love with the wife of a 
 Polish gentleman, was seized by the husband, and 
 bound naked upon a wild horse ? The horse, which 
 was brought out of Ukrania, returned to his own 
 country, and carried along with him the unfortunate 
 man, half dead with hunger and fatigue. 
 
 Mazeppa is represented by Byron as telling the 
 story to Charles Twelfth one night in a forest, 
 where they had sunk down exhausted, while flying 
 from the Russians after the battle of Pultowa. 
 Charles compliments Mazeppa upon his care of his 
 horse, and his fine horsemanship, when the old Hetman 
 remarks, 
 
PETER THE GREAT. 123 
 
 " 111 betide 
 The school wherein I learned to ride." 
 
 Charles insists upon knowing to what he alludes. 
 Mazeppa then proceeds to tell the story of his love, 
 long years ago, when he was a youth in Poland, of 
 the jealousy of the Count Palatine, and of his strange 
 and terrible mode of vengeance. 
 
 " Bring forth the horse ! — the horse was brought, 
 
 In truth he was a noble steed, 
 
 A Tartar of the Ukraine breed, 
 "Who look'd as though the speed of thought 
 
 Were in his limbs : but he was wild, 
 Wild as the wild deer, and untaught, 
 
 With spur and bridle undefiled — 
 'Twas but a day he had been caught ; 
 
 And snorting, with erected mane, 
 
 And struggling fiercely, but in vain, 
 
 In the full foam of wrath and dread, 
 
 To me the desert-born was led ; 
 
 They bound me on, that menial throng, 
 
 Upon his back with many a thong ; 
 
 Then loosed him with a sudden lash ! 
 
 Away ! away ! and on we dash ! 
 
 Torrents less rapid, and less rash. 
 ******* 
 
 " Away, away, my steed and I, 
 Upon the pinions of the wind, 
 All human dwellings left behind ; 
 
 ******* 
 
 Town— village — none were on our track, 
 
124 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 . But a wild plain of far extent, 
 And bounded by a forest black ; 
 But fast we fled, away, away, 
 And I could neither sigh nor pray ; 
 And my cold sweat-drops fell like rain 
 Upon the courser's bristling mane. 
 
 We rustled through the leaves like wind, 
 Left shrubs, and trees, and wolves, behind ; — 
 By night I heard them on our track ; 
 Their troop came hard upon our back, 
 With their long gallop, which can tire 
 The hound's deep hate, and hunter's fire : 
 Where'er we flew, they followed on, 
 Nor left us with the morning sun." 
 
 And thus, through forests, and deserts, struggling 
 through marshes, and swimming the deep, rapid 
 rivers, the wild horse carries Mazeppa, into the 
 country of the Ukraine. 
 
 The Cossacks of the country were kind to him, 
 and gave him assistance, and he remained among 
 them, and became so famous in fighting for them 
 against their enemies, the Tartars, that the Czar at 
 length made him Prince of Ukrania. Gratitude 
 should have bound him to his master, but for some 
 fancied slight received from Peter, this old man of 
 seventy turned against him, betrayed his benefactor, 
 and took up the cause of Charles of Sweden, hoping 
 
PETER THE GREAT. 125 
 
 that lie would be able to induce his whole nation to 
 join in the rebellion. 
 
 It was Mazeppa then, who had induced Charles 
 to turn from his road to Moscow, by promising him 
 provisions, ammunition, and artillery, and that the 
 people of the Ukraine would receive him with open 
 arms, and look upon him as their liberator from the 
 oppression of Russia. 
 
 Charles now was certain of being able to subdue 
 the Russian empire, after being joined by so warlike 
 a people as the Cossacks. He expected to be joined 
 by an army of sixteen or seventeen thousand men, 
 from Livonia, under General Lewenhaupt, who was to 
 bring with him also a great quantity of warlike stores 
 and provisions. 
 
 He never took the trouble to reflect whether the 
 Czar was within reach of this army, and might possi- 
 bly cut off these expected supplies. He took no pains 
 to find out whether Mazeppa was in a condition to 
 fulfil his promises, whether he had influence enough 
 to carry with him his whole nation, or whether his 
 own army was provided for in case any of these 
 promised helps should fail ; but imagined that even 
 if Mazeppa should prove faithless, he could trust to 
 his own good fortune. 
 
 And so Charles passed on beyond the Dneiper, 
 towards the Desna, between which two rivers he 
 
126 THE HISTORY OP 
 
 expected to meet Mazeppa, accompanied by thirty 
 thousand men, and bringing stores and provisions, 
 and all his treasures, which were immense. The 
 officers of Charles, who knew nothing of this treaty 
 with the Cossacks, or why he thus turned from his 
 proposed route, continued their march with grief and 
 distress. 
 
 Charles sent out orders to General Lewenhaupt 
 to bring all his troops and provisions with haste into 
 Ukrania, as he intended to pass the winter there, that 
 he might the more easily conquer the whole country of 
 Russia in the spring. 
 
 The difficulties and obstacles they had before met 
 with, were as nothing compared with those which now 
 opposed their progress. They were obliged to cross 
 a marshy forest one hundred and fifty miles in length. 
 The army strayed from the right road, and had 
 marched four days before Charles discovered his 
 mistake. It took them a long time to regain the 
 main road, and they then found that they had lost 
 nearly all their artillery and wagons, which were 
 quite sunk in the mud* 
 
 At last, after a terrible march of twelve days, 
 during which they had eaten every thing in the way 
 of provisions that they had taken with them, the 
 army, exhausted with hunger and fatigue, reached the 
 banks of the Desna, at the very spot where Mazeppa 
 
PETER THE GREAT. 127 
 
 had appointed to meet them. But instead of finding 
 there the Hetman of the Cossacks with his powerful 
 army, what was their surprise to see on the other side 
 of the river, a body of Russians awaiting their 
 approach. 
 
 King Charles, though much astonished, determined 
 at once to cross the Desna, and attack the enemy. The 
 banks of the river were so steep that they were 
 obliged to let down the soldiers, man by man, with 
 ropes. The river was crossed by the army, some on 
 floats hastily put together, and others by swimming. 
 The body of Russians not being more £han eight 
 thousand men, made little resistance, and soon gave 
 gave way before the advancing Swedes. 
 
 Charles advanced further into this desolate coun- 
 try, uncertain of his road, and wondering what had 
 become of Mazeppa. At length the Hetman of the 
 Cossacks appeared, but more like a fugitive begging 
 for assistance, than the powerful ally they expected. 
 His design had been discovered, the Russians had 
 fallen upon the Cossacks, and cut them in pieces. 
 Thirty of his principal friends, having been taken 
 sword in hand, had been broken on the wheel. 
 
 His towns had been burned to the ground, his 
 treasures stolen, his provisions seized; and it was 
 with the greatest difficulty that he himself escaped 
 
128 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 with six thousand men, and some horses, laden with 
 gold and silver. 
 
 This is one account given by Voltaire, of the 
 reason of the forlorn condition of Mazeppa when he at 
 length joined King Charles. I find in another history, 
 however, that this same Voltaire gives a different 
 account of the same matter. He says that Mazeppa 
 set out from his own country with fifteen or sixteen 
 thousand of his people, having induced them to join 
 him by telling them that they were going against the 
 King of Sweden. But when they came within a few 
 leagues of the Desna, he made them acquainted with 
 his real design. 
 
 These brave people, he says, heard him with dis- 
 dain, and refused to betray a monarch against whom 
 they had no cause of complaint. They accordingly 
 returned home, and sent the Czar an account of the 
 desertion of their chief to the Swedish army. 
 
 Then the Russians went down, and seized upon 
 all Mazeppa's treasures, and a large magazine, which 
 was intended for the use of the King of Sweden. The 
 Cossacks chose another Hetman ; Mazeppa was pub- 
 licly excommunicated ; after which, he was hanged in 
 effigy ; and those of his friends who could be seized, 
 were broken on the wheel. Which of these stories is 
 the true one, I cannot tell ; but as far as Charles the 
 Twelfth was concerned, the result was the same. 
 
PETER THE GREAT. 129 
 
 Charles hoped that this disappointment would be 
 made up by the arrival of General Lewenhaupt, with 
 his fifteen thousand Swedes, ammunition and supplies. 
 At length, however, this General arrived, in much the 
 same condition as Mazeppa. The order to join King 
 Charles had not reached him by twelve days as soon 
 as it should have done. As soon as possible after he 
 received it, however, he began his march. 
 
 The Czar, who knew of his movements, allowed 
 him to pass the Dneiper, and as soon as his army got 
 between that river and the smaller ones that empty 
 into it, he crossed over and attacked him with his 
 united forces. General Lewenhaupt, who had only 
 fifteen thousand men, and who firmly believed that 
 the Czar had an army of forty thousand, (though in 
 reality it was only half that number,) did not hesitate 
 to advance against the Russians, and give them battle. 
 
 At the first attack, the Swedes killed fifteen hun- 
 dred Russians. The Czar's army was then thrown 
 into great confusion, and fled on all sides. The 
 Emperor of Russia saw himself on the point of being 
 entirely defeated. He well knew that the safety of 
 his kingdom depended on the fate of that day, and 
 that he should be utterly ruined should he suffer 
 Lewenhaupt to join the King of Sweden with a 
 large army. 
 
 The moment the Czar saw his troops begin to 
 6* 
 
130 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 flinch, he ran to the rear guard, where the Cossacks 
 and Calmucks were posted, and cried out to them : 
 11 1 charge you to fire upon every man that runs away, 
 and even to kill me if I should be so cowardly as to 
 fly." 
 
 He then endeavored to rally his forces, and con- 
 tinue the battle ; but Lewenhaupt, preferring rather 
 to join his master than to lose time by the way in 
 fighting, chose to continue his march. The next 
 morning the Czar attacked him near a morass, and 
 extended his lines with a view to surround him. 
 
 The Swedes faced about on all sides, and the 
 battle was kept up for two hours, with great courage 
 and obstinacy on both sides. The loss of the Rus- 
 sians was three times greater than that of the Swedes, 
 but they still kept their ground, and the victory 
 remained undecided. 
 
 In the afternoon, the army of the Czar received 
 the addition of a fresh body of troops. The battle 
 then began again for the third time with more 
 fury and eagerness than ever, and lasted until night 
 put an end to the combat. At last the Swedes were 
 routed, and driven back to their baggage. 
 
 General Lewenhaupt rallied his troops behind 
 the wagons ; the Swedes were beaten, but they 
 scorned to fly. They were still about nine thousand 
 in number, and not so much as one man deserted. 
 
PETER THE GREAT. 131 
 
 The General drew them up with as much ease as if 
 they had not been conquered. 
 
 The Czar remained all night under arms, and for- 
 bade his officers on pain of disgrace, and his soldiers 
 on pain of death, to leave their ranks for the sake of 
 plundering the bodies of the dead. Next morn- 
 ing the battle began again. Lewenhaupt had retired 
 a few miles to a fine situation for his army, after 
 having spiked his cannon, and set fire to his wagons. 
 
 The Russians arrived in time to seize upon about 
 six thousand wagons, before they were burned. The 
 Czar, determined on the total defeat of the Swedes, 
 sent one of his Generals to attack them for the fifth 
 time. The General offered them honorable terms, if 
 they would surrender. Lewenhaupt refused, and 
 fought a fifth battle, as bloody as any of the for- 
 mer. 
 
 Of the nine thousand soldiers he had left, he lost 
 about one-half in this action, and the other remained 
 unbroken. At last, night coming- on, Lewenhaupt, 
 after having sustained five battles against the army of 
 the Czar, passed the river Sossa, with about five 
 thousand soldiers that remained. 
 
 The Czar lost about ten thousand men in those 
 five engagements, in which he had the glory of con- 
 quering the Swedes, and Lewenhaupt that of disputing 
 
132 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 the victory for three days, and of effecting a retreat 
 without being obliged to surrender. 
 
 Thus he at length reached the camp of Charles, 
 with the honor of having made a noble defence, and 
 cutting his way through unheard of dangers, but 
 bringing with him neither ammunition nor an army. 
 
PETER THE GREAT. 133 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Sad plight of Charles and his army— Obstinacy of the King— The Czar's 
 offer to Mazeppa— Pultowa— The siege and the battle— Accident to 
 King Charles— The dinner in the Czar's tent— The way the Czar 
 treated his " masters in the art of war." 
 
 Charles was now in an unfortunate plight. He was cut 
 off from all communication with Poland, surrounded by 
 enemies, and in the heart of a country where he had 
 nothing to depend upon but his own courage and 
 skill. And now came on the winter of 1709, far 
 more terrible in that country than with us. Charles 
 the Twelfth, still bent on making all the Ukraine 
 declare for him, passed on into that country, making 
 long marches in that bitter cold weather, with men 
 almost naked, and with no boots or shoes. 
 
 They were so far from Sweden that they could no 
 longer hear from, or send messages home. In this 
 condition, only one officer ventured to complain. 
 
 " What ! " said the king to him, " are you uneasy 
 at being so far from your wife 1 If you are a good 
 soldier, I will lead you to such a distance that you 
 
134 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 shall hardly be able to receive news from Sweden 
 once in three years." Cold comfort this, for the poor 
 home-sick soldier. 
 
 • One day a soldier ventured, in the presence of 
 the whole army, to hand to the King, with an air of 
 complaint, a piece of bread, black and mouldy, made 
 of barley and oats, which was all the food they then 
 had, and of which, even, they had not enough. The 
 king took it coolly, ate it up, and then said to the 
 soldier, " It is not good, but it may be eaten." 
 
 Thus, by partaking uncomplainingly of all their 
 hardships, and faring no better in any respect than 
 the common soldiers, Charles .won the respect and 
 confidence of his followers, and silenced all attempts 
 at complaint. In this deplorable situation, Count 
 Piper, one of the Generals of Charles, who never 
 gave his master any but wise and good advice, urged 
 him to pause at a little town which they had reached 
 in the Ukraine, and intrench his army there, where 
 he might get supplies by the aid of Mazeppa, till 
 the terrible cold was over. 
 
 But Charles replied that he was not a person to 
 shut himself up in a town. Piper then begged him 
 to return to Poland, and put his troops into winter 
 quarters. But with his usual obstinacy, Charles 
 refused. He said this would be flying before the 
 Czar, which he could not consent to do ; that the 
 
PETER THE GREAT. 135 
 
 season would soon grow milder, when he must reduce 
 the Ukraine, and march on to Moscow. 
 
 In January the cold became so intense that both 
 armies were obliged to remain inactive, but on the 
 1st of February they began fighting again, in the 
 midst of frost and snow. Charles crossed the whole 
 country of the Ukraine, burning villages wherever he 
 went, and laying waste the entire region through 
 which he passed. Peter kept a strict eye on all his 
 motions, and saw the Swedish army dwindling away 
 by degrees. 
 
 In the month of April, Charles found his army 
 reduced to eighteen thousand men. These were kept 
 from perishing with hunger by the supplies brought 
 them by Mazeppa. At this time the Czar made pro- 
 posals to Mazeppa to return to his duty, and submit 
 to his authority again. 
 
 But Mazeppa, perhaps fearing the punishment of 
 the wheel, by which his friends had suffered, or per- 
 haps determined to revenge their death, remained 
 true to his new friends, and refused to return to the 
 service of the Czar. 
 
 Charles now having passed the country of the 
 Ukraine, found himself in a region where he could 
 get no provisions for his army, and was at length 
 obliged to face about, and return upon his steps over 
 the very country he had just been laying waste. His 
 
136 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 suffering and starving army swept away the few re- 
 maining cattle from the peasantry, who, in return, 
 murdered the soldiers, whenever they were strong 
 enough to contend with them. 
 
 Thus, for three months, Charles continued fool- 
 ishly marching, and returning upon his steps, while 
 his army were daily wasting in numbers and strength. 
 In the month of May, he reached a little river on 
 which stands the town of Pultowa, a place that had 
 been garrisoned by the Russians, and was filled with 
 an abundance of provisions and ammunition. 
 
 From this town there are many passes through the 
 mountains, leading to the high road to Moscow, and 
 as Charles was still bent on bringing the Czar to 
 make conditions of peace in the capital of his empire, 
 he concluded that the first step towards that end would 
 be the taking of the town of Pultowa. With this view, 
 he laid siege to it with his eighteen thousand Swedes, 
 in the beginning of May, 1709. 
 
 It was here that Peter expected him. He had 
 arranged the different divisions of his army at short 
 distances from each other, so that they might all 
 join together easily, to march against the besiegers. 
 He had visited all the southern countries of Russia, ' 
 and the harbors on the river Don, and the sea of Azof, 
 and had been employing himself in repairing forts, 
 
PETER THE GEE AT. 137 
 
 cleansing harbors, and building ships, and thus pre- 
 paring for the defence of his dominions. 
 
 As soon as he heard that the army of Charles 
 had laid siege to the town of Pultowa, Peter hastened 
 to gather his forces. The horse, dragoons, infantry, 
 Cossacks, and Calmucks, gathered from different 
 quarters. His army was well provided with necessa- 
 ries of every kind, cannon and ammunition of all 
 kinds, provisions, and even medicines for the sick. In 
 all these he had the advantage of Charles. 
 
 On the 15th day of June, Peter appeared before 
 Pultowa, with an army of sixty thousand men. He 
 at once sent Menzikoff with a body of troops, to pre- 
 tend he was about to offer battle to the besiegers, 
 who left their trenches to meet the coming enemy. 
 By that means Menzikoff was able to throw into the 
 place a large number of troops to assist in its de- 
 fence. 
 
 When Charles discovered this manoeuvre, he could 
 not help saying, M I see well that we have taught the 
 Muscovites the art of war." And now began the 
 battle which was to decide the fate of Russia, 
 Poland, and Sweden, and of the two most famous 
 monarchs then in the world, on whom the eyes of all 
 Europe were fixed. 
 
 Charles the Twelfth was illustrious for nine years 
 of victories ; Peter, for nine years of fatigue, spent 
 
138 THE HISTOEY OF 
 
 in training up his troops, that they might equal the 
 Swedes. Charles famous for having given away 
 dominions ; Peter for having civilized his own. Charles 
 in love with danger, and fighting only for glory ; Peter 
 never flying from danger, and fighting only for interest. 
 Charles had the title of invincible, (or unconquerable,) 
 of which one unhappy moment robbed him; the 
 world had given Peter the title of Great, not for his 
 victories, but for having polished a savage nation. 
 
 On the 27th day of May, which happened to be 
 his birth-day, Charles went out to see for himself the 
 condition of the enemy, and as he was returning to 
 his camp, he received a shot which pierced his boot, 
 and shattered the bones of his heel. His suffering 
 was intense, but no one perceived the slightest change 
 in his countenance, and he continued twelve hours on 
 horseback, giving orders to his oflicers with the 
 greatest composure. 
 
 One of his servants, noticing the blood trickling 
 from the sole of the king's boot, hastened to call 
 the surgeons, and the pain had now become so intense, 
 that they were obliged to lift him from his horse, 
 and carry him into his tent. 
 
 The surgeons examined the wound, pronounced it 
 in great danger of mortification, and said the leg must 
 be immediately taken off; which caused great grief 
 and distress to the army. But one of the surgeons 
 
PETER THE GREAT. 139 
 
 who had more skill and courage than the rest, said 
 that by cutting deeply he could save the King's leg. 
 
 " Fall to work then at once," said Charles ; " cut 
 boldly, and fear nothing." He himself held the leg 
 with both hands, and watched the whple operation 
 with as much coolness as if it had been made upon 
 another person. While still confined to his bed, he 
 heard that Peter was preparing to give him battle ; 
 and not thinking it consistent with his honor to re- 
 main to be attacked in his intrenchments, he gave or- 
 ders to go out and meet the enemy, he himself being 
 carried in a litter, at the head of the foot soldiers. 
 
 The Swedes began the battle, which soon became 
 general, and the armies on both sides fought as if 
 they knew the fate of the nations to which they be- 
 longed depended on that day's work. Every where 
 Peter and Charles were in the thickest of the fight, 
 and exposing themselves to the very hottest of the 
 fire. It seemed as if both sovereigns bore charmed 
 lives. 
 
 Charles, with a pistol in his hand, was carried in 
 his litter from rank to rank ; one of the bearers was 
 shot and the litter shattered to pieces. He then or- 
 dered his soldiers to make a litter of their pikes, and 
 carry him on it. In One history Voltaire says, that 
 of the twenty-four bearers who relieved each other 
 in carrying him, twenty-one were killed. 
 
140 THE HISTOET OF 
 
 Peter received several shots through his clothes 
 and hat, and others pierced his saddle, and Prince 
 Menzikoff had three horses shot under him. Without 
 giving the details of this battle, for I fear my story 
 here is becoming tedious, I will only say that after a 
 terrible struggle on both sides, victory at last declared 
 in favor of the Russians. The Swedes were taken 
 on all sides, and fell into confusion, and Charles was 
 obliged to fly before him whom he had hitherto 
 treated with such contempt. 
 
 This very hero, who could not mount his saddle 
 during the fight, now fled for his life on horseback. 
 He suffered most terrible pain, which was increased 
 by the mortification of having been conquered by the 
 Russians, whom he had so despised, and by distress 
 at hearing that many of his brave officers had been 
 taken prisoners by the enemy. 
 
 King Charles spoke not a word for many miles ; 
 but at length he inquired what had become of Count 
 Piper ? " Taken prisoner," was the answer. " And 
 Renschild ? " he asked. The answer was the same, 
 and so of many others of his officers and friends. 
 
 " Prisoners to the Russians ! " said Charles, shrug- 
 ging his shoulders ; " come, then, let us go to the 
 Turks ! " He continued his flight in haste with the 
 remnant of his army, till he reached the banks of the 
 Dnieper. The victorious Russians still pursuing 
 
PETER THE GREAT. 141 
 
 them, the Swedes crossed the river in all haste ; 
 Charles and Mazeppa in a small boat, some of the 
 army in barks, or on floats, and some by swimming 
 their horses across. But of all the foot-soldiers who 
 attempted to cross the rapidly flowing river, not one 
 single man reached the other side. 
 
 On the evening of this famous battle, Peter dined 
 under his tent in company with his officers, and in- 
 vited also the Swedish officers, who had been taken 
 prisoners in the fight, to the entertainment. In the 
 course of the evening, Peter gave this toast : 
 
 " To my masters in the art of war." " And 
 whom," asked General Renschild, " is your majesty 
 pleased to honor with such a title ? " 
 
 " Yourselves, gentlemen," answered the Czar, 
 " the brave Swedish generals." 
 
 " Then," asked Renschild, " has not your majesty 
 been somewhat ungrateful in dealing so hard with 
 your masters ? " 
 
 Peter was rather pleased at this compliment, and 
 turning to the General, he asked him what number of 
 men the King of Sweden actually had in the field. 
 On hearing the number, he said, 
 
 " How is it possible that a monarch so prudent as 
 the King of Sweden, could have thought of leading 
 such a handful of men into a country unknown to 
 him, and especially into such a country as this ? " 
 
142 THE HISTORY OP 
 
 To this Renschild replied, " It is not always that 
 I and my brother officers are consulted respecting the 
 operations of war, but as faithful subjects we all feel 
 it our duty not to oppose, but to obey our king." 
 
 The Czar was so delighted with this reply, that he 
 took his own sword from his side, and presenting it 
 to Kenschild, requested he would wear it as a token 
 of esteem, not alone for his valor, but also for his 
 fidelity to his sovereign. 
 
 In spite of the admiration of the Czar, real or 
 pretended, for the Swedish officers, most of these his 
 " masters in the art of war," with the lower officers, 
 and all the private men, were soon sent as exiles into 
 the wilds of Siberia. There had been no arrange- 
 ment made before this battle for the exchange of pris- 
 oners. Peter had once proposed it, but Charles re- 
 jected the offer with disdain ; and his troops were in 
 every thing the victims of his pride and obstinacy. 
 
PETEB THE GREAT. 143 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Changes effected by the battle of Pultowa— Charles Twelfth at Bender— 
 His application to the Sultan— The -Turks determine on war— Catha- 
 rine declared Empress— Her influence over the Czar— The toilsome 
 march towards the Pruth. 
 
 The effects of this battle of Pultowa were felt all 
 over Europe, and changed the condition of things in 
 many a kingdom. "We soon find Stanislaus abdicating 
 the throne of Poland, and Augustus restored to his 
 dominions by Peter, and all Poland acknowledging 
 the Czar as its protector. Sweden was in a state of 
 consternation and distress, supposing her king to be 
 dead ; and now Peter laid siege to Riga, and con- 
 quered and brought under his power again those 
 countries upon the Baltic, which had once belonged 
 to Russia. 
 
 He then turned to St. Petersburg, to inspect the 
 progress of his new and favorite city ; laid with his 
 own hands the keel of a large ship of war, and then 
 hastened to Moscow, where he found the inhabitants 
 
144 THE HISTORY OP 
 
 in a great state of excitement, preparing for one of 
 those splendid triumphal processions, of which they 
 were so fond, and by which they meant to express 
 their sense of the great and important services ren- 
 dered by the Czar to his country. 
 
 In his flight towards Turkey, Charles Twelfth and 
 the small remnant of his troops reached the town of 
 Bender, on the river Dniester, which was then the 
 boundary of Turkey. Here he was advised to write 
 to the Grand Vizier, as is the custom among the 
 Turks ; but, obstinate as usual, he refused, saying it 
 would be demeaning himself too much ; and in this 
 way he made enemies of the Turkish ministers, one 
 after the other. " In short," says Voltaire, "he 
 knew not how to accommodate himself, either to times 
 or circumstances." 
 
 Now that fortune had turned against King Charles 
 in one part of the world, it seemed to abandon him 
 every where. A terrible distemper which had ap- 
 peared in Livonia now passed into Sweden, and made 
 fearful havoc among the people, thinning the popula- 
 tion of the towns, and in Stockholm alone carrying 
 off thirty thousand persons. 
 
 Part of the army of King Charles had remained 
 behind in Poland. The Czar and many of the sur- 
 rounding kings and dukes joined together to make 
 this army useless to Charles, by compelling the gen- 
 
PETER THE GREAT. 145 
 
 eral who commanded, to declare himself neutral. 
 Those who governed affairs in Stockholm, in the ab- 
 sence of the king, hearing no news of him, and sup- 
 posing him to be dead, and distracted with the mor- 
 tality that was sweeping off the inhabitants of the 
 city, were glad to agree to this arrangement, by which 
 it was solemnly promised that the Swedish army 
 should not march to the assistance of their monarch, 
 in any part of the world. 
 
 When Charles, who was all this time at Bender, 
 heard this news, he received it as 'one of the severest 
 blows that had yet befallen him. He could not bear 
 that his army should be so tied up and governed by 
 others, and sent word to his senate at Stockholm, 
 that " he would send one of his boots to govern 
 them." 
 
 Charles now sent an ambassador to the Yizier at 
 Constantinople, begging him to prevail upon his mas- 
 ter, Achmet III., who was at that time Emperor 
 of the Turks, to commence hostilities against the 
 Russians, assuring him that the next movement of the 
 Czar would be to invade the empire of Turkey. This 
 ambassador returned, telling Charles that " he had 
 succeeded so well in his mission that the Vizier had 
 promised him that he would take Charles in one hand 
 and his sword in the other, and conduct him to Mos- 
 cow at the head of two hundred thousand men." 
 7 
 
146 THE HISTOEY OF 
 
 However much this ridiculous boast might have 
 pleased the King of Sweden, his joy was soon damped 
 by hearing that the envoy of the Czar was in high fa- 
 vor at the Court of Turkey, and that he had de- 
 manded, and was all but promised that the traitor 
 Mazeppa should be delivered up to the Czar, as the 
 unfortunate General Patkul had been to Charles. 
 The old Hetman of the Cossacks however escaped this 
 fate by taking a disease of which he died, before the 
 Czar succeeded in getting him into his power. 
 
 But though diaries failed in his object through 
 the Vizier of Constantinople, he succeeded at length 
 by means of the Khan of Crim Tartary, or the Cri- 
 mea as it is now called. This Khan had beheld with 
 great jealousy the growing power of the Czar in the 
 Black Sea, and was exceedingly anxious to get rid of 
 so formidable a neighbor. 
 
 He went therefore to visit Charles Twelfth at Ben- 
 der, and together they drew up such a statement of 
 complaints against the Czar, as thoroughly to arouse 
 the jealousy of the Sultan. The Khan then went to 
 Constantinople, and was admitted to the presence of 
 the Sultan, to whom he confirmed all that was said in 
 this statement, adding that the Russians were com- 
 mitting all sorts of ravages on the frontiers of the 
 Turkish provinces, murdering innocent believers, and 
 plundering them of their property. 
 
PETER THE GEEAT. 147 
 
 He concluded by begging that the great Council 
 should at once be called together, to decide what 
 should be done in view of the dangers which now 
 threatened the Turkish empire. The Council met 
 and decided that there was nothing to be done but to 
 go to war immediately. 
 
 Without any warning of this determination, the 
 ambassador of the Czar was at once arrested in the 
 streets of Constantinople, and with thirty of his ser- 
 vants was thrown into the castle of the Seven Towers. 
 
 " Never," says Voltaire, " was sovereign more in- 
 sulted in the person of his ministers, than the Czar 
 of Russia. Within the space of a few years, his 
 ambassador at the Court of London was imprisoned 
 for debt; his minister and general in Poland was 
 broken on the wheel, by order of the King of Swe- 
 den, and his envoy to the Turkish Emperor was 
 seized and imprisoned at Constantinople, like a com- 
 mon criminal." 
 
 And now that war was declared, the troops of the 
 Czar gathered from all quarters of the great empire 
 of Russia, and took their march toward Turkey. 
 
 On the very day on which he set out upon the ex- 
 pedition, the Czar caused it to be publicly declared 
 that Catharine, the captive of Marienburg (for in her 
 baptism her name was changed), whom he had before 
 
148 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 privately married, was the true and lawful wife of 
 Peter the First, and Empress of Russia. 
 
 Catharine went with the Czar to the war in Tur- 
 key, accompanied him in all his excursions, and most 
 fatiguing campaigns, shared in all his toils and dan- 
 gers, and by her gentle and lovely manners, and her 
 devoted attentions, made herself so necessary to her 
 husband, that he was never so happy as when she was 
 near him. 
 
 Indeed, her presence is said to have wrought like 
 a charm when he was suffering from the spasmodic 
 affection, to which he had been subject from a child. 
 Wherever she was, she was immediately sent for, and 
 the moment she spoke to him, his muscles relaxed, his 
 mind became tranquil, and " Peter was himself 
 again." 
 
 Like the effect of the tones of David's harp upon 
 the monarch of Israel, when tormented by the evil 
 spirit that troubled him, was the presence of this fas- 
 cinating woman upon the Czar of Russia, when 
 agonized by the strange malady to which he was a 
 victim. 
 
 She stood in the same relation to the Czar that 
 the kind-hearted Josephine did to Napoleon. Both 
 possessed the art of soothing the passion, and of sof- 
 tening the anger to which their husbands were liable. 
 Both ascended an imperial throne, but here the 
 
PETER THE GREAT. 149 
 
 parallel ends. One was most undeservedly cast 
 aside ; the other maintained her high station, and after 
 her husband's death, succeeded him, as Empress of 
 all the Russias. 
 
 General Gordon says : " She was a very pretty, 
 well-lookt woman, of good sense, but not of that 
 sublimity of wit, or rather, that quickness of imagi- 
 nation, which some people have believed. The great 
 reason why the Czar was so fond of her, was her 
 exceeding good temper ; she never was seen peevish, 
 or out of humor, was obliging and civil to all, and 
 never forgetful of her former condition, and, withal, 
 mighty grateful." Many a wretch escaped the effects 
 of the Czar's wrath by her interposition. " Catha- 
 rine," says Voltaire, " saved more backs from the 
 knout, and more heads from the block, than General 
 Le Fort had ever done." Great, indeed, must have 
 been the merit of this woman, who, having risen to 
 the most elevated station, from an obscure, and 
 almost unknown origin, maintained her lofty position 
 without incurring the envy, hatred, or even jealousy, 
 of those over whom it was her destiny to rule. 
 
 " Catharine," says Coxe, who cites from compe- 
 tent authorities, "maintained the pomp of majesty, 
 united with an air of ease and grandeur ; and Peter 
 frequently expressed his admiration at the propriety 
 with which she supported her high station, without 
 
150 THE HISTOEY OF 
 
 forgetting that she was not born to that dignity. She 
 bore her elevation meekly, and was never, as Gordon 
 asserts, forgetful of her former condition. When 
 "Wurmb, who had been tutor to Gluck's children, at 
 the time that Catharine was a domestic in the same 
 family, presented himself before her, after the public 
 solemnization of her marriage .with Peter, she said, 
 ' What ! thou good man, art thou still alive ? I will 
 provide for thee ; ' and gave him a pension. She 
 was no less attentive to the family of her benefactor, 
 Gluck, who died a prisoner at Moscow : she pensioned 
 his widow, made his son a page, portioned the two 
 eldest daughters, and appointed the youngest a maid 
 of honor." 
 
 A part of the Russian army, under General Scher- 
 ematof, were now on the banks of the river Pruth, 
 and in danger of being surrounded by an army of 
 Turks and Tartars. The Czar determined to hasten 
 to their relief, and, if possible, to prevent the Turks 
 from crossing that river to meet him. Large bodies 
 of troops under different generals were expected to 
 meet him here, but to his disappointment none of 
 them arrived ; and he found himself on the banks of 
 the Pruth with an army of less than forty thousand 
 men. 
 
 Before Peter passed the Dnieper, foreseeing the 
 dangers and toils of the march before them, and fear- 
 
PETER THE GREAT. 151 
 
 ing they would be too great for Catharine to endure, 
 he gave a general order for all the women who attended 
 the army to be sent away. Catharine, however, was 
 not thus to be disposed of. She insisted upon accom- 
 panying his majesty, and knew well that she would 
 not be refused. 
 
 She urged her husband in such strong terms to 
 allow her to accompany him, that he found it impossi- 
 ble to refuse. The soldiers with great delight beheld 
 her on horseback at the head of the army, for she 
 seldom rode in a carriage. Her presence gave en- 
 couragement and joy to the troops ; she was always 
 ready to send refreshments and assistance to the sick, 
 and extended her care even to the meanest soldier. 
 
 After they passed the Dnieper, there was a large 
 tract of desert country to pass through, then to cross 
 the Bog, and afterwards the Dniester, and then another 
 desert to traverse, before they came to the banks of 
 the Pruth. Through all this terrible and fatiguing 
 march, Catharine kept up untiring cheerfulness and 
 courage, and animated the whole army by her example 
 of patient endurance. 
 
 The presence of this noble woman proved the 
 salvation of Peter, his army, and perhaps of Russia, 
 all of which were placed in great danger by the hasty 
 and imprudent movements of the Czar. The army at 
 length came in sight of the town of Jassi, on the 
 
152 THE HISTOEY OF 
 
 banks of the Pruth. Here Peter met with many 
 disappointments ; troops and supplies which were 
 promised him , failed ; he was too far from Poland to 
 receive any aid from that country, and was in a wild 
 and barren region, destitute of provisions and forage. 
 
 In this situation, Peter did not hesitate to say 
 that he found himself in much the same condition 
 with his " brother Charles," when invited into the 
 Ukraine by Mazeppa. To add to their misfortunes, 
 great swarms of locusts appeared, which obscured the 
 face of the sun when in flight, and covered the ground 
 when at rest. These ate up every blade of grass, 
 and every green herb. 
 
 The army suffered much for water in their march 
 through sandy deserts, under a scorching sun; and 
 what little they did procure, was brought in vessels 
 to the camp from a great distance. During all these 
 sufferings and privations, Peter had the satisfaction to 
 find that not a man deserted, and no murmur escaped 
 from his army. 
 
 The Russian soldier has always sustained the 
 character which was formed under Peter. " He will 
 not," says a writer, who knew them well, " fall back one 
 step while his commander bravely keeps his ground ; 
 he contents himself with extremely little pay, and with 
 very slender diet, and is always cheerful ; hungry and 
 thirsty, he traverses the heavy sands of the deserts, 
 
PETER THE GREAT. 153 
 
 under the load of his accoutrements; without mur- 
 muring or complaints, executes every command; 
 deems nothing impossible or too difficult ; does every 
 thing that he is ordered, without shunning any danger ; 
 and is inventive of a thousand means for accomplish- 
 ing his design." 
 
 With men like these, the Czar was about to en- 
 counter a force vastly superior to his own in point of 
 numbers. The enemy was close at hand, for the 
 Grand Vizier, having heard that the Russian army 
 had arrived on the banks of the Pruth, immediately 
 put his troops in march, and crossed the Danube at 
 the head of two hundred thousand men to meet him 
 
154 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 The Grand Vizier's invitation to Charles, and his answer — Battle of the 
 Pruth — The Czar in convulsions— Catharine's mediation— A treaty of 
 peace, and its conditions— Contemptible offer of Charles— His insult 
 to the Grand Vizier— The Czar goes to Carlsbad— The Prince Alexis. 
 
 In marching along the Pruth, as he came near to 
 Bender, the Grand Vizier dispatched an ambassador 
 to Charles Twelfth, to invite him to visit him, 
 and inspect his army. Charles, however, would not 
 condescend so far, but insisted that the Grand Vizier 
 should pay him the compliment of calling upon him 
 first. 
 
 When the ambassador returned with this answer 
 of the King of Sweden, the Grand Vizier, turning to 
 the Khan of the Turks, said, " This is just what I 
 expected ; that the proud infidel would behave in this 
 manner." 
 
 When the Turkish army reached the opposite side 
 of the river Pruth, Peter dispatched a body of troops 
 to oppose their passage, but they were too late ; the 
 
PETER THE GEEAT. 155 
 
 Turks had already constructed bridges, and were 
 crossing the river ; upon seeing which, the Russians 
 were obliged to retreat, closely pursued by the Turks, 
 till the Czar came in person to their assistance. 
 
 The Russian army were now in great suffering, 
 from the want of provisions and water ; for though the 
 river was near, they were exposed to such a constant 
 fire from the Turks on the other side, that no water 
 could be procured. Peter now thought it best to 
 retreat, under cover of the night, but the army had 
 no sooner begun its march, than the Turks pursued 
 them. 
 
 The Russians turned, and defended themselves 
 bravely, killing a great number of their enemies, and 
 at last drove them back. But every thing was against 
 them : the Turkish army was many times larger than 
 that of the Russians, and the latter were perishing 
 with hunger and thirst. 
 
 In this desperate condition of his affairs, all the 
 accounts and memoirs of those times agree that the 
 Czar paused and questioned within himself, whether 
 or not he should go on, and expose his wife, his army 
 and his country, to certain destruction. He returned 
 to his tent, oppressed with anxiety, and immediately 
 fell into one of those terrible convulsions to which 
 he was subject, and which were often brought on by 
 great excitement of mind. 
 
156 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 Unwilling that his grief and distress should be 
 made public, he gave orders that no person should be 
 admitted to his tent. But Catharine, hearing of his 
 suffering condition, forced her way into, his presence, 
 and now Peter found how happy it was for him that 
 he had suffered his wife to accompany him upon this 
 expedition. 
 
 A wife like Catharine, who had faced death in its 
 most horrible shapes, and had exposed herself like the 
 meanest of the soldiers to the fire of the Turkish artil- 
 lery, had an undoubted right to speak to her husband, 
 and to be heard. The Czar, soothed by the magic of 
 her presence, listened to what she had to say, and at 
 last suffered her to persuade him to try and send to 
 the Vizier with proposals of peace. 
 
 It had always been the custom in the East, that 
 when any people applied for an audience of the sove- 
 reign, or his representative, they must not presume 
 to approach them without a present. Catharine, there- 
 fore, on this occasion, mustered the few jewels and 
 trinkets she had brought with her, and went round 
 the camp, collecting all the plate and jewels that could 
 be found ; for which she gave her own receipt, and a 
 promise to pay the owners on her return to Moscow. 
 
 To these she added two black foxes' skins, and 
 what money she could collect, which she sent by an 
 officer with a letter from Marshal Scherematof to the 
 
td-^S^kM 
 
 CATHERINE SOOTHING THE CZAR WHILE IN CONVULSIONS. 
 
PETER THE GREAT. 157 
 
 Grand Vizier ; and after considerable delay in making 
 the necessary arrangements, a treaty of peace was 
 concluded. 
 
 The Czar alludes to this in his journals ; and also 
 in 1723, when he caused the Empress Catharine to 
 be crowned, he gave this public testimony to her use- 
 fulness to him at that time : " She has been," he said, 
 u of great assistance to us in all times of danger, but 
 particularly at the battle of the Pruth, where our 
 army was reduced to twenty- two thousand men." 
 
 Some hours elapsed before the messenger sent to 
 the Grand Vizier returned ; and it was feared that he 
 nad either been killed or detained as a prisoner by the 
 Turks. 
 
 A second messenger therefore was sent, with copies 
 of the former letters ; and a council of war was held, 
 at which Catharine was present. At this council the 
 following resolution was signed by ten general offi- 
 cers : — 
 
 " Besolved, If the enemy will not accept the con- 
 ditions proposed, and should insist upon our laying 
 down our arms and surrendering at discretion, that 
 all the ministers and general officers are unanimously 
 of opinion to cut their way through the enemy, sword 
 in hand." 
 
 After waiting, as they supposed, a sufficient length 
 of time, the Russians left the camp, and marched 
 
158 m THE HISTORY OF 
 
 towards the enemy, when the Vizier proclaimed a 
 suspension of arms between the two contending ar- 
 mies. 
 
 The terms proposed by the Grand Vizier were 
 that the Czar should return with his troops to his 
 own country ; should restore Azoph ; give up his 
 harbors and possessions on the Black Sea, and the 
 Sea of Azoph ; that for the future he should no more 
 interfere in the affairs of the Poles and Tartars, and 
 that Charles Twelfth should be allowed to return un- 
 molested to his own dominions. 
 
 As soon as this treaty was concluded, Charles 
 Twelfth, forgetting in his haste his great dignity, went 
 to see the Grand Vizier, who remembering the haugh- 
 tiness of the King of Sweden at Bender, would not 
 go himself to meet him, but sent two pashas to con- 
 duct him to his tent, where he received him. Charles 
 began the conversation, by reproaching the Vizier for 
 not taking the Czar prisoner, when he had him in his 
 power. 
 
 But the Vizier coolly asked, " Had I taken the 
 Czar prisoner, who would have governed his empire ? " 
 adding, " All kings should not leave their own do- 
 minions." 
 
 Bruce adds that Charles then proposed to the 
 Vizier to give him twenty thousand of his troops, and 
 
PETER THE GREAT. 159 
 
 he would yet seize upon the person of the Czar, and 
 bring him a prisoner to Constantinople. 
 
 " God preserve us," said the Yizier, " from break- 
 ing a treaty of peace without any more reason, as I 
 have already received hostages for the performance 
 of it." 
 
 Being still urged to agree to the proposal of 
 Charles, the Vizier said that it would be a violation 
 of that part of the treaty which provides " that the 
 King of Sweden may return into his own dominions, 
 through the Czar's territories, with a strong envoy of 
 Turks, after which, if he pleases, he may make peace 
 with the Czar." 
 
 King Charles, on hearing this, looked fall at the 
 Grand Vizier, and laughed in his face, without mak- 
 ing any answer, and then turning short on his heel, 
 he purposely tore the Vizier's robe with his spur, 
 mounted his horse, and rode off in great anger. 
 
 "Charles," says Voltaire, " gained nothing by his 
 journey, but the pleasure of tearing the Vizier's robe 
 with his spurs ; while this officer, who was in condi- 
 tion to make him repent the insult, seemed not to no- 
 tice it, in which he was certainly greatly superior to 
 King Charles." 
 
 Bruce, who was sent express to Constantinople, 
 relates the following melancholy story : " At our set- 
 ting out (from the Pruth) Colonel Pitt had the mis- 
 
160 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 fortune to lose both his wife and daughter, beautiful 
 women, by the breaking of their coach wheel; by 
 this accident they were left so far in the rear that the 
 Tartars seized and carried them off. The Colonel 
 addressed himself to the Grand Vizier, who ordered 
 a strict inquiry to be made, but to no purpose. The 
 Colonel, being afterwards informed that they were 
 both carried to Constantinople, and presented to the 
 Grand Seignior, obtained a pass, and went thither in 
 search of them ; and getting acquainted with a Jew 
 doctor, who was physician to the seraglio, the doc- 
 tor told him there had been two such ladies as he 
 described lately presented to the Sultan ; but that 
 when any of the sex were once taken into the seraglio, 
 they were never suffered to come out again. The 
 colonel, nevertheless, tried every expedient he could 
 devise to recover his wife, if he could not get both, 
 till becoming outrageous by repeated disappointment, 
 and very clamorous, they shut him up in a dungeon ; 
 and it was with great difficulty he got released, by the 
 intercession of some of the foreign ambassadors at 
 the Porte ; and he was afterwards told, by the Jew 
 doctor, that his wife and daughter had both died of 
 the plague." 
 
 There were great rejoicings in Constantinople, 
 when the news of this treaty reached that city; and 
 the Russian ambassador who had been a prisoner in 
 
PETER THE GEEAT. 161 
 
 the Castle of the Seven Towers, was immediately re- 
 leased. Peter at once began his march back to Rus- 
 sia, and sent to have his fortresses on the Black Sea, 
 and the Sea of Azoph demolished. 
 
 This was a hard thing for Peter to do, as one of 
 his favorite plans was that of possessing a fleet upon 
 those seas, and thus of having a communication with 
 other countries through these waters, as well as by 
 means of the Baltic. 
 
 On his return from this campaign, the Czar found 
 his health so much injured that it became necessary 
 for him to go to Carlsbad, (a town in Bohemia, famous 
 for its mineral springs,) to drink the waters. From 
 thence he went to Dresden, where his son Alexis, who 
 was at that time in his twenty-second year, was wait- 
 ing his arrival. 
 
 This young prince was the son of Peter and Eu- 
 docia, the wife from whom he was separated, and who 
 was still shut up in the monastery of Susdal. In 
 telling you the story of this unfortunate son of the 
 Czar, and in speaking of his character, and his miser- 
 able end, I have a difficult task to perform. The sto- 
 ries that are told of the treatment of the prince by 
 his father are so varied, and the views taken of the 
 conduct of the Czar in this matter so very different, 
 that I have hardly been able to determine whose tes- 
 timony to take, or whose account to give. 
 
162 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 By some the Czar is called harsh and cruel, a 
 poisoner and a murderer ; by others he is held up as 
 a model sovereign and father, exercising the Roman 
 virtue of sacrificing his own feelings as a parent, to 
 the good of his empire. I shall tell you the story as 
 it is told by many authors, historians, and letter-wri- 
 ters of the time of Peter the Great ; and if I err in 
 favoring the Czar too much, the "hundred years 
 hence " has come when it is " all the same " to him, 
 and to the people of his time. 
 
PETER THE GREAT. 163 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 The marriage of Alexis — His character — Celebration of the Czar's old 
 ■wedding— Romantic story of the brother of Catharine— The war car- 
 ried into Sweden — Triumphal procession— Promotion of Eear Admi- 
 ral Peter. 
 
 After the Czar joined his son Alexis, they proceeded 
 together to Targow, to the marriage of the latter to 
 the sister of the Empress of Germany. The bride 
 of Alexis was an amiable and accomplished young 
 lady of eighteen years of age, and the Czar hoped by 
 marrying his son to one so lovely and interesting, to 
 draw him from his wicked courses, and to influence 
 him to lead a better life, and one that became the suc- 
 cessor to the throne of Russia. 
 
 For the young prince is represented by many 
 writers of his time as being a disobedient son, and en- 
 tirely given up to dissipation and excess of every 
 kind. Catharine was not present at this marriage, 
 for as yet she was acknowledged as Empress only at 
 the Court of the Czar, and he feared that in Germany 
 
164 THE HISTOEY OP 
 
 she might not be received with the honor which was 
 really her due. 
 
 As soon as this marriage of the Prince was over, 
 Peter hastened to join Catharine, and took her with 
 him to St. Petersburg, where on the 26th of Febru- 
 ary, 1712, his Majesty } s old wedding was solemnized 
 with great splendor and rejoicing, and with fireworks 
 and illuminations. 
 
 A few years after the marriage of Catharine with 
 the Czar, a circumstance happened which has much 
 the air of romance. Voltaire says it is related in a 
 curious manuscript of a person who was at that time 
 in the service of the Czar, and who speaks of it as a 
 thing to which he was an eye-witness. I will tell the 
 story in the words of Voltaire : — 
 
 " An envoy from King Augustus to the Court of 
 Peter the Great, being on his return home through 
 Courland, and having put up at an inn by the way, 
 heard the voice of a person who seemed in great dis- 
 tress, and whom the people of the house were treat- 
 ing in that insulting manner which is but too common 
 on such occasions; the stranger, with a tone of re- 
 sentment, made answer that they would not dare to 
 use him thus, if he could but once get to the speech 
 of the Czar, at whose court he had perhaps a more 
 powerful protector than they imagined. 
 
 " The envoy, upon hearing this, had the curiosity 
 
PETER THE GREAT. 165 
 
 to ask the man some questions, and, from certain an- 
 swers he let fall, and a close examination of his face, 
 he thought he found in him some resemblance to the 
 Empress Catharine ; and, when he came to Dresden, 
 he could not forbear writing to one of his friends at 
 Petersburg concerning it. 
 
 " This letter, by accident, came to the Czar's hands, 
 who immediately sent an order to Prince Repnin, then 
 Governor of Riga, to endeavor to find out the person 
 mentioned in the letter. Prince Repnin immediately 
 despatched a messenger to Mittau, in Courland, who, 
 on inquiry, found out the man, and learned that his 
 name was Charles Scavronsky ; that he was the son 
 of a Lithuanian gentleman, who had been killed in 
 the wars of Poland, and had left two children then 
 in the cradle, a boy and a girl, who had neither of 
 them received any other education than that which 
 simple nature gives to those who are abandoned by 
 the world. Scavronsky, who had been parted from 
 his sister, while they were both infants, knew nothing 
 further than that she had been taken prisoner in Ma- 
 riensburg, in the year 1704, and supposed her to be 
 still in the household of Prince Menzikoff, where he 
 imagined she might have made some little fortune. 
 
 " Prince Repnin, agreeably to the particular orders 
 he had received from the Czar, caused Scavronsky to 
 be seized and conducted to Riga, under pretence of 
 
166 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 some crime laid to his charge ; and, to give a better 
 color to the matter, at his arrival there, a sham in- 
 formation was drawn up against him, and he was soon 
 after sent to Petersburg, under a strong guard, with 
 orders to treat him well upon the road. 
 
 " When he came to that capital, he was carried to 
 the house of an officer of the Emperor's palace, named 
 Shepleff, who, having been previously instructed in 
 the part he was to play, drew several circumstances 
 from the young man in relation to his condition ; and, 
 after some time, told him. that although the informa- 
 tion which had been sent up from Riga against him 
 was of a very serious nature, yet he would have jus- 
 tice done him, but that it would be necessary to pre- 
 sent a petition to his majesty for that purpose ; that 
 one should accordingly be drawn up in his name, and 
 that he (Shepleff) would find means that he should 
 deliver it into the Czar's own hands. 
 
 " The next day the Czar came to dine with Shepleff 
 at his own house, who presented Scavronsky to him ; 
 when his majesty, after asking him abundance of ques- 
 tions, was convinced, by the natural answers he gave, 
 that he was really the Czarina's brother : they had 
 both lived in Livonia, when young, and the Czar 
 found every thing that Scavronsky said to him in re- 
 lation to his family affairs, tally exactly with what his 
 wife had told him concerning her brother, and the 
 
PETER THE GEEAT. 167 
 
 misfortunes which had befallen her and her brother 
 in the earlier part of their lives. 
 
 " The Czar, now satisfied of the truth of the 
 young man's story, proposed the next day to the 
 Empress to go and dine with him at Shepleff's ; and 
 when dinner was over, he gave orders that the man 
 whom he had examined the day before, should be 
 brought in again. 
 
 " Accordingly he was introduced, dressed in the 
 same clothes he had worn while on his journey to Riga, 
 the Czar not being willing that he should appear in 
 any other garb than what his unhappy circumstances 
 had accustomed him to. 
 
 " He interrogated him again, in the presence of 
 his wife ; and the MS. adds that, at the end, he 
 turned about to the Empress and said these very 
 words: — "This man is your brother; come hither, 
 Charles, and* kiss the hand of the Empress, and em- 
 brace your sister." 
 
 The author of this narrative adds further, that 
 the Empress fainted away with surprise ; and that, 
 when she came to herself again, the Czar said, " There 
 is nothing in this but what is very natural. This 
 gentleman is my brother-in-law ; if he has merit we 
 will make something of him ; if he has not, we will 
 leave him as he is." 
 
 "I am of opinion," adds Voltaire, "that this speech 
 
168 THE HISTOEY OF 
 
 shows as much greatness as simplicity, and a greatness 
 not very common. My author says, that Scavronsky re- 
 mained a considerable time at Shepleff's house ; that 
 the Czar assigned him a handsome pension, hut that he 
 lived a very retired life. He carries his relation of this 
 adventure no farther, as he made use of it only to dis- 
 close the secret of Catharine's brother ; but we know, 
 from other authorities, that this gentleman was after- 
 wards created a count ; that he married a young lady 
 of quality, by whom he had two daughters, who were 
 married to two of the principal noblemen of Russia." 
 
 The rejoicings made by the Czar upon his own 
 public marriage and that of his son, were not of the 
 nature of those which only exhaust the public treasury, 
 and are then forgotten without effecting any perma- 
 nent good. He completed the great works he had 
 begun, finished highways, built ships, dug canals, and 
 erected public buildings, and St. Petersburg soon had 
 the air of a flourishing city. 
 
 This city was now made the capital of the Em- 
 pire ; and he employed a great number of Swedish 
 prisoners in beautifying the place, whose foundations 
 had been laid upon their own defeat. 
 
 Peter being bent on still further humbling Sweden, 
 determined to carry the war into that country, in- 
 tending, if possible, to take possession of every town 
 which might in future times be dangerous to St. 
 
PETER THE GREAT. 169 
 
 Petersburg. In the mean time Charles Twelfth, 
 against whom Russia, Poland, Denmark, Prussia, and 
 Germany were united, remained at Bender, quarelling 
 with the Turks, on whose charity he was subsisting ; 
 and contenting himself with sending to those who 
 governed affairs in Sweden during his absence, to 
 make all possible resistance against these powers, 
 both by sea and land. 
 
 The whole of the year 1713 was spent in battles 
 and sieges of various places in Pomerania, a country 
 lying on the southern snore of the Baltic sea, which 
 then belonged to Sweden, but now forms part of 
 Prussia. Without giving you the details of these 
 various battles, suffice it to say, that the Czar gained 
 many victories both by sea and land, over the Swedes, 
 who had formerly beaten him every where. 
 
 After gaining a glorious victory on the Gulf of 
 Finland, he returned to St. Petersburg, where his joy 
 was increased by the news of the birth of a daughter, 
 who, however, died about a year after. He celebrated 
 this event by a triumphal entry into his 3w capital, 
 and instituted a new order in honor of his wife, which 
 he called the Order of St. Catharine. 
 
 The badge of this order is a medal encircled 
 
 with precious stones surrounding the picture of St. 
 
 Catharine, with the motto " For Love and Fidelity." 
 
 This was as a remembrance of her love and faithful- 
 
 8 
 
170 THE HISTORY OP 
 
 ness to him always ; and especially in the distressed 
 situation of his army at the battle of the Pruth. 
 
 All the vessels belonging to the Russians, together 
 with those upon which they had seized, came up the 
 Neva opposite the Senate-house and the fort, amid 
 the roar of cannon ; after which the men came ashore, 
 and walked in grand procession to the Senate-house. 
 
 "When his majesty reached a triumphal arch, all 
 the grandees, senators, and foreign ministers, con- 
 gratulated him on his victory. The Governor of 
 Moscow, in the name of the country, complimented 
 his majesty on his gallant conduct, and thanked him 
 for his great and distinguished services. 
 
 The procession then proceeded to the fort, where 
 the Vice-Czar, (I spare you his name,) seated on a 
 throne, surrounded by the Senate, caused Rear- 
 Admiral Peter (for this was the Czar's naval title) 
 to be brought before him, and received a report from 
 him in writing of the gallant action he had fought ; 
 and after the reading of this report, he was declared 
 Vice-Admiral of Russia, which being proclaimed 
 in the assembly, the whole house resounded with 
 " Health to the Vice-Admiral." Peter having re- 
 turned thanks, immediately went on board, and 
 hoisted the flag of the Vice-Admiral. 
 
 After this, his majesty, attended by numbers of 
 the nobility and officers, went to the palace of Prince 
 
PETER THE GREAT. 171 
 
 Menzikoff, where a grand entertainment was pro- 
 vided. When the dinner was ended, the Czar, who 
 had showed a marked attention to Y ice-Admiral 
 Ehrenschild, a Swedish prisoner, addressing the com- 
 pany, said, "Gentlemen, you here see a brave and 
 faithful servant of his master, who has made himself 
 worthy of the highest rewards at his hands, and who 
 shall always have my favor while he is with me, al- 
 though he has killed me many a brave man. I for- 
 give you," said he, turning to the Swede with a smile, 
 " and you may always depend on my good will." 
 
 Ehrenschild, having thanked the Czar, replied, 
 u However honorably I may have acted with regard 
 to my master, I did no more than my duty : I sought 
 death, but did not meet it ; and it is no small com- 
 fort to me in my misfortune, to be a prisoner of your 
 majesty, and to be treated so favorably, and with so 
 much distinction by so great a sea-officer, and now, 
 worthily, Vice- Admiral." 
 
 The Czar, on this occasion, addressed the following 
 speech to the assembled senators, many of whom had 
 not been very favorable to his views of reform, nor 
 to the great expense occasioned by maintaining a 
 fleet :— 
 
 " My brethren, where is the man among you, who, 
 twenty years ago, would have conceived the idea of 
 being engaged along with myself in building ships 
 
1*72 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 here on the Baltic, and in settling in these regions, 
 conquered by our fatigues and bravery ?— of living to 
 see so many brave and victorious soldiers and seamen, 
 sprung from Russian blood,— and to see our sons re- 
 turning home accomplished men from foreign coun- 
 tries ? Historians place the seat of all sciences in 
 Greece ; whence being expelled by the fatality of the 
 times, they spread into Italy, and thence were dis- 
 persed all over Europe; but by the perverseness of 
 our ancestors, they stopped short in Poland. The 
 Poles as well as the Germans formerly groped in 
 the same darkness in which we have hitherto lived,— 
 but the indefatigable care of their governors at length 
 opened their eyes, and they made themselves masters 
 of those arts, sciences, and social improvements, which 
 Greece once boasted of. It is now our turn, if you 
 will only seriously second my designs, and add to 
 your obedience voluntary knowledge. I can com- 
 pare this progress of the sciences to nothing better 
 than the circulation of the blood in the human body ; 
 and my mind almost prophesies that they will some 
 time or other quit their abode in Britain, France, 
 and Germany, to come and settle for some centuries 
 among us; and afterward, perhaps, return to their 
 original home in Greece. In the mean time I earn- 
 estly recommend to your practice the Latin saying, 
 Ora et labora; and in that case, be persuaded, you 
 
PETER THE GREAT. 1*73 
 
 may chance, even in your own lifetime, to put other 
 civilized nations to the blush, and raise the glory of 
 the Russian name to the highest pitch." 
 
 The senators and the whole assembly applauded 
 this speech. A round of entertainments were now 
 given by the superior officers of the government; 
 from all which the Czarovitz, Alexis, thought fit to 
 absent himself, though regularly invited by General 
 Bruce, " who," says Captain Bruce, " sent me several 
 times to inform him of his majesty's displeasure at 
 his non-appearance; but the old excuse — want of 
 health — served on every occasion." 
 
 It seems that this wayward young man, to avoid 
 appearing in public, either took medicine or bled 
 himself, — always making an excuse that his want of 
 health would not allow him to attend ; u when, at the 
 same time," says Bruce, " it was notoriously known 
 that he spent his time in very bad company, where he 
 used constantly to condemn all his father's actions." 
 
 On the present occasion, by way of punishment, 
 the Czar ordered him, being only a sergeant of grena- 
 diers, to take his place on the right, with his halbert 
 on his shoulder, wlien a company of that regiment 
 was ordered to attend one of these entertainments. 
 The princess, his consort, happening to see him from 
 a window march past, as she thought in a degrading 
 situation, was taken ill and fainted. 
 
174 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 The Czar on hearing this, immediately went to 
 her, explained to her that he himself had gone through 
 the lowest ranks of both land and sea service, till he 
 reached what he now was, a general in one, and a 
 vice- admiral in the other ; but he told her, with his 
 usual good-nature, that he had just procured for his 
 son, from the Vice-Czar, an ensign's commission in 
 the guards, and that he came to give her joy on her 
 husband's promotion. 
 
PETER THE GREAT. 175 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 The Eoyal prisoners in Turkey — Eeturn of Charles — Siege of Stralsund 
 — Anecdote of Charles — Success of the Czar — Entertainments at the 
 Court of Bussia— New travels of the .Czar — High price of eggs — Eecep- 
 tion at Amsterdam. 
 
 Two Christian kings were now prisoners in Tur- 
 key. Charles the Twelfth, who having given his 
 promise to the Sultan, that he would leave his do- 
 minions, and having received from him a supply of 
 money and a guard for his journey, took the mad 
 resolution to continue there, and oppose the whole 
 army of Turks and Tartars, with only his own do- 
 mestics. 
 
 And Stanislaus, the former king of Poland, who 
 having just arrived in Turkey on a visit to King 
 Charles, at the very time he came to this resolution, 
 was also seized and detained as a prisoner. Charles, 
 however, though informed that many towns belonging 
 to him, had been taken possession of by other powers, 
 and that he had lost part of the country of Pome- 
 
176 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 rania, still had hopes of returning to Poland at the 
 head of a Turkish army, replacing Stanislaus on the 
 throne, and once again making his enemies tremble. 
 
 Those who governed affairs in Sweden, having be- 
 come discouraged, and desperate, determined not to 
 consult their absent king any longer as to their move- 
 ments, but to send to the Czar an officer with pro- 
 posals of peace. Just as this ambassador was setting 
 out, however, they heard that Charles Twelfth was 
 on his way home to fight his own battles ; and in fact 
 the King of Sweden, after remaining five years and 
 some months in Turkey, set out from that kingdom 
 in October 1714. 
 
 Charles supposed that he could at once raise a 
 sufficient number of vessels to put a stop to the rising 
 power of the Czar on the sea ; with respect to the war 
 on land, he had little fear, thinking it an easy matter 
 for the Swedes to conquer the Russians, with himself 
 at their bead. 
 
 But in the month of April, the first Swedish 
 privateers that put to sea, were captured by the Czar's 
 men-of-war; and a Russian army marched into the 
 heart of Pomerania. Charles Twelfth was now in 
 Stralsund, a town of Pomerania, on the Baltic sea ; 
 which town was soon besieged by Prussians, Danes, 
 and Saxons ; and Charles found that he had returned 
 
PETER THE GREAT. Ill 
 
 from being a prisoner in Turkey, only to be more 
 closely pent up at home. 
 
 Towards the end of the year, Stralsund, after 
 having made a brave resistance, and being reduced to 
 a heap of ruins, surrendered to the King of Prussia. 
 There is an anecdote told of Charles during this siege, 
 which shows a peculiarity of his character. So many 
 of his officers were either killed or wounded, that 
 the duty came very hard upon those who were left. 
 
 Baron Reichal, a colonel, having been long fight- 
 ing upon the ramparts, and being completely worn 
 out with watching and fatigue, had thrown himself 
 upon a bench, to take a little rest. He had no sooner 
 laid down, however, than he was called up again to 
 mount guard upon the ramparts. 
 
 As the tired soldier was dragging himself along 
 to obey this order, he indulged himself in speaking 
 in no very mild or measured terms, of the obstinacy 
 of the king his master, in subjecting all those about 
 him to such terrible and useless fatigue ; these com- 
 plimentary remarks were overheard by Charles, who 
 immediately hastened to him, stripped off his own 
 cloak and spread it on the ground before him, saying, 
 " My dear Reichal, you are quite worn out; come, I 
 have had an hour's sleep, which has quite refreshed 
 me ; I'll take the guard for you, while you finish your 
 nap, and will wake you when I think it is time." 
 8*' 
 
US THE HISTORY OP 
 
 And so saying, he wrapped the colonel up in his 
 own cloak, and in spite of his resistance he made him 
 lie down and rest, while he mounted guard in his 
 place. Before the place was delivered up to the Rus- 
 sians, Charles, at the risk of his life, escaped in a 
 small boat, with ten persons; his officers having 
 forced him to quit the place. 
 
 When his friend Duker, who surrendered the 
 place, joined him, the king reproached him for not 
 holding out longer against the enemy. 
 
 " I had your majesty's glory too much at heart," 
 replied Duker, " to continue to defend a place, which 
 your majesty was obliged to leave." 
 
 Charles, who was already saddened by this defeat, 
 now received the melancholy tidings of the death of 
 Count Piper, his former minister, and true and faith- 
 ful friend. This officer had, as you remember, been 
 taken prisoner at the battle of Pultowa, and had re- 
 mained all these years a prisoner among the Russians. 
 He died in 1715, at the age of seventy, in the Cftstle 
 of Schlussebourg, where he was confined. His re- 
 mains were sent to the King of Sweden who gave 
 them a magnificent burial ; " a vain and melancholy 
 return," says Yoltaire, " to an old servant for a life of 
 suffering, and so deplorable an end." 
 
 Peter the Czar of Russia had now conquered all 
 Finland, part of Pomerania, the countries on the east- 
 
PETER THE GREAT. 179 
 
 ern shores of the Baltic, and the whole of both coasts 
 of the Gulf of Finland. There was nothing, therefore, 
 now to-fear from Sweden, and the Czar turned his at- 
 tention once more to making improvements in his own 
 country. 
 
 St. Petersburg now began to assume the conse- 
 quence as well as the appearance of a great capital ; 
 and vast numbers nocked thither from Moscow and 
 other interior towns, seeing that the seat of com- 
 merce would eventually be established there. The 
 Czar had now become almost universally popular. 
 
 Desirous that in manners as well as in dress his 
 subjects should imitate other European nations, he en- 
 couraged frequent social assemblies : he even ordered 
 his senators and his generals to open their houses 
 twice a week for these assemblies, at which conversa- 
 tion, cards, and dancing might be resorted to ; they 
 were to commence at eight, and end at eleven o'clock ; 
 they were open to all of the rank of gentlemen, for- 
 eigners as well as natives, and equally so for then- 
 wives and daughters. This was a great step gained 
 in civilization ; and the ladies gladly profited by the 
 indulgence, and rapidly improved in their manners, 
 conversation, and dress. 
 
 The balls and entertainments of the Czar had 
 hitherto always been given at Prince Menzikoff's 
 palace, — but his own summer and winter palace be- 
 
180 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 ing finished in the course of the year 1715, he now 
 entertained his guests at one or the other of these ; 
 except on grand festivals, and extraordinary occa- 
 sions, when the entertainments were held at the 
 senate-house. 
 
 At the public dinners, several tables were laid 
 out, appropriated to the several classes of persons, as 
 senators, clergymen, officers of the army and navy, 
 merchants, shipbuilders, and others ; the Czarina 
 and the ladies at a separate table, and generally above 
 stairs. These entertainments commonly ended with 
 hard drinking. 
 
 After dinner the Czar used to go from one room 
 and table to another, conversing with every set ac- 
 cording to their different professions or employments, 
 more particularly with the masters of foreign trading 
 vessels, making minute inquiries into the several 
 branches of their traffic, and marking down in his 
 pocket-book, as usual, whatever occurred to him as 
 worthy of notice. " At these dinners," says Bruce, 
 " I have seen the Dutch skippers treat him with much 
 familiarity, calling him Skipper Peter, with which he 
 seemed to be highly delighted." 
 
 The accounts given of these entertainments of the 
 Czar, are so disgusting, that I cannot give them to 
 you in full, but will content myself with a few ex- 
 tracts. 
 
PETER THE GREAT. 181 
 
 " There are," says Dr. Birch, " twenty-four cooks 
 belonging to the kitchen of the Russian court, who 
 are all Russians. And as the people of that nation 
 use a great deal of onion, garlic, and train-oil, in 
 dressing their meat, and employ linseed, and walnut 
 oil, for their provisions, the kitchen is so disagreeable 
 a place that no stranger is able to bear it. 
 
 " The number of persons invited to an entertain- 
 ment is commonly two or three hundred, though there 
 is no room for more than a hundred at four or five 
 tables. But as there is no place assigned to any per- 
 son, and none of the Russians are willing to go home 
 without partaking of the dinner, every one is obliged 
 to seize his chair and hold it by force, if he would not 
 have it snatched from him. 
 
 " The Czar having come in, and chosen a place 
 for himself, there is such a scuffling and fighting for 
 chairs, that nothing more scandalous can be seen in 
 any country. Several foreign ministers have com- 
 plained of this to the Czar, and refused to dine any 
 more at court." 
 
 And if the dishes were such as are afterwards de- 
 scribed, I should think they would be glad of an ex- 
 cuse for refusing to attend. 
 
 " But all the answer they received," says Dr. 
 Birch, " was, that it was not the Czar's business to 
 turn master of ceremonies, and please foreigners, 
 
182 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 neither did he intend to abolish the freedom once in- 
 troduced. This obliged strangers to follow the Rus- 
 sian fashion, and fight like the rest for their seats. 
 
 " The company thus sitting down to table, with- 
 out any manner of grace, they all sit so crowded to- 
 gether that they have much ado to lift their hands to 
 their mouths. And if a stranger sits between two 
 Russians, which is commonly the case, he is sure to 
 lose his appetite, even though he had eaten nothing for 
 two days before." 
 
 There was also a great deal of hard drinking at 
 these feasts, and the company soon became so noisy 
 as to drown the din of trumpets, and other instru- 
 ments of music, which were playing in the next 
 room. 
 
 But though this is not the worst, it is enough 
 to show the barbarism of the manners in the time of 
 Peter the Great. When alone with the Empress it is 
 said the Czar was moderate in his eating and drink- 
 ing. His table was frugal, and consisted only of 
 plain dishes, and in the latter part of his life, he 
 became simple and regular in all his habits. 
 
 Peace and prosperity being finally established in 
 Russia, Peter determined to gratify himself with 
 another tour through Europe, taking Catharine with 
 him. After visiting many places in Denmark and 
 
PETER THE GREAT. 183 
 
 Prussia he came to Amsterdam, where he was received 
 with every mark of respect and attention. 
 
 At one time on his route he left Catharine at 
 some place, and proceeded alone to meet the King of 
 Prussia. On his return he stopped at night at a 
 tavern, with only two attendants and a post-chaise. 
 Having eaten some poached eggs and a little bread 
 and cheese, he retired to rest, while his companions 
 ordered a bottle of wine. 
 
 When they were about starting at an early hour 
 in the morning, one of the gentlemen asked the land- 
 lord how much they were to pay ? 
 
 " One hundred ducats," answered the landlord. 
 
 " What ? " cried the astonished Russian. 
 
 "One hundred ducats," repeated the host ; "for 
 my part I should be glad to give a thousand, if I 
 were the Czar of Russia." 
 
 Peter turning round, asked the man " if eggs were 
 so very scarce in that place ? " 
 
 " No," answered the host, " but Emperors are." 
 
 At Amsterdam he was met by the Earl of Albe- 
 marle, and three of the Burgomasters ; and the earl 
 addressed him in a pompous, flowery speech, in the 
 Dutch language. Peter, who, as you know, had a 
 great dislike to all ceremony, replied : — 
 
 " I thank you heartily, though I don't understand 
 much of what you say. I learned my Dutch among 
 
184 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 shipbuilders; but the sort of language you have 
 spoken I am sure I never learned." 
 
 Being invited to dine with some merchants and 
 shipbuilders, they addressed him as " Your Majesty ; " 
 and in their conversation paid him other marks of re- 
 spect. 
 
 But Peter cut short their discourse, saying : — 
 
 " Come, brothers, let us converse like plain, hon- 
 est ship carpenters." 
 
 A servant was pouring out a glass of beer for 
 him. 
 
 " Give me the can," satd Peter, laughing ; " I can 
 then drink as much as I please, and nobody can tell 
 how much." 
 
 In this way he put his old friends completely at 
 their ease. 
 
PETER THE GREAT. 185 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 Peter's reception at Zaandam — His visit to the hut where he once re- 
 sided — Relics exhibited there — Peter's emotion on revisiting this 
 place— His visit to the shipbuilder's house — Anecdote of his son — The 
 Czar's visit to France— Death of the wife of Alexis — Birth of a 
 Prince. 
 
 It was nineteen years since Peter had worked in the 
 dock-yard of Zaandam, but on returning there, he 
 found many of his old fellow-laborers, who welcomed 
 him with delight, almost amounting to idolatry. It 
 was no sooner known that his yacht was arrived, than 
 the whole quay was crowded, and " Welcome, welcome 
 Peter Baas ! " resounded from a thousand mouths. 
 
 An old woman rushed forward to greet him as he 
 stepped on shore. 
 
 " My good lady," said the Czar, " how do you 
 know who I am ? " 
 
 11 By your majesty having been so often at my 
 house and table nineteen years ago," answered the 
 old woman. " I am the wife of Baas Pool." 
 
186 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 Peter immediately recognized her ; embraced and 
 kissed her on the forehead, and invited himself to dine 
 with her that very day. 
 
 Indeed, in his whole manner he was the same as 
 when he worked in the dock-yard of Zaandam nine- 
 teen years before ; the only change observable was 
 that he was now able to endure a crowd, and did not 
 shrink from being stared at. 
 
 One of the first places he visited was the little 
 cottage where he had lived, while learning the art of 
 shipbuilding. He found it kept in neat order, and 
 dignified with the name of the "Prince's house." 
 This little cottage is still carefully preserved. 
 
 It is surrounded by a neat building, with large 
 arched windows, which was built in the year 1823, by 
 the Princess of Orange, sister to the Emperor Alex- 
 ander, who purchased it in order to preserve it. 
 
 In the first room may still be seen the little oak 
 table and three chairs, which were the only furniture 
 of the room when Peter occupied it. Over the chim- 
 ney-piece is inscribed, 
 
 PETRO MAGNO 
 
 ALEXANDER, 
 
 And in the Russian and Dutch, 
 
 " To a great man nothing is little." 
 The ladder to the loft still remains, and in the 
 
PETER THE GREAT. 187 
 
 second little room are some models, and several of 
 Peter's working tools. Thousands of names are 
 scribbled over this once humble abode of Peter the 
 Great. 
 
 Peter was much affected on entering this cottage, 
 and mounting the ladder to the loft, he went into a 
 small closet where he had been accustomed to per- 
 form his devotions, and remained there alone half 
 an hour. 
 
 With his old acquaintance Kist, the blacksmith, 
 he visited the shop where he worked, which was so 
 dirty that the gentleman who attended him was for 
 retreating ; but Peter called him back, and ordered 
 him to blow the bellows, while he heated a large piece 
 of iron, which, when heated, he beat out with the great 
 hammer. 
 
 Kist was still only a journeyman blacksmith, and 
 the Czar, out of compassion for his old acquaintance, 
 made him a handsome present. 
 
 Catharine was very anxious to see this little cabin, 
 in which her husband had lived and worked ; and she 
 and Peter went together to Zaandam, where they 
 dined at the house of a rich shipbuilder of the name 
 of Kalf ; who was one of the first persons who had 
 traded at St. Petersburg. 
 
 This man had a son who had lately returned from 
 France, and the Czar and Czarina took great pleasure 
 
188 THE HISTOEY OP 
 
 in hearing an anecdote of him, which I will tell you in 
 the words of Voltaire. 
 
 " Old Kalf, who had sent this son of his to Paris, 
 to learn the French tongue, was desirous that he 
 should live in a genteel manner during his stay there ; 
 and accordingly had ordered him to lay aside the plain 
 garb which the inhabitants of Zaandam are in general 
 accustomed to wear, to provide himself with fashion- 
 able clothes in Paris, and to live in a manner, rather 
 suitable to his fortune than to his education; being 
 sufficiently well acquainted with his son's disposition, 
 to know that this indulgence would have no bad effect 
 on his natural frugality and sobriety. 
 
 "As a Calf> is in the French language called 
 Veau, our young traveller when he arrived at Paris, 
 took the name of De Veau. He lived in a splendid 
 manner, spent his money freely, and made several gen- 
 teel acquintances. 
 
 " Nothing is more common in Paris, than to be- 
 stow without reserve the title of Count, and Mar- 
 quis, whether a person has any claim to it or not, or 
 even if he is barely a gentleman. 
 
 " Young Mr. Kalf, therefore, was always called 
 the Count de Veau, by his acquaintance and his own 
 servants ; he frequently made one in the parties of 
 the princesses ; he played at the Duchess of Berri's, 
 and few strangers were treated with greater marks of 
 
PETER THE GREAT. 189 
 
 distinction, or had more general invitations among 
 polite company. 
 
 " A young nobleman who had been always one of 
 his companions in these parties, promised to pay him 
 a visit at Zaandam, and was as good as his word. 
 When he arrived at the village, he inquired for the 
 house of " Count Kalf ; " when being shown into a 
 carpenter's workshop, he there saw his former gay 
 companion, dressed in a jacket and trowsers, after the 
 Dutch fashion, with an axe in his hand, at the head 
 of his father's workmen. Here he was received by 
 his friend, in that plain manner to which he had been 
 accustomed from his birth, and from which he never 
 deviated." 
 
 In 1715, the Czar was much delighted at the 
 tidings of the birth of a grandson ; but his joy was 
 soon damped by hearing of the extreme illness of the 
 mother, the unhappy young wife of the Prince Alexis. 
 The little grandson was called Peter Alexowitz, (or 
 Peter the son of Alexis,) and on the death of Catha- 
 rine, he became Peter the Second of Kussia. 
 
 The Czar was busily employed upon his works at 
 Schlusselburg when he heard of the extreme illness of 
 his daughter-in-law ; but he left all, and set out im- 
 mediately for his capital, where he was seized with a 
 sudden illness which confined him to his room ; but 
 hearing of her alarming state, he ordered his attend- 
 
190 THE HISTORY OP 
 
 ants to place him in a chair moving on wheels, and 
 convey him to her bedside. 
 
 The life of the poor young princess had been so 
 unhappy since her marriage, that she seemed to hail 
 death as a happy release. She refused all nourish- 
 ment and medecine, and begged her physicians not to 
 force it upon her, as she had no other wish than to 
 die in quiet. 
 
 By her extreme gentleness of manner, and sweet- 
 ness of temper, she had endeared herself to all who 
 knew her, and the Czar and Czarina, were greatly 
 grieved at her loss. The interview between the dy- 
 ing princess and the Czar was most affecting. As she 
 took leave of him and recommended her children and 
 servants to his care, the stern hero burst into tears, 
 and assured her that every wish of hers should be 
 accomplished. At midnight this amiable princess 
 died. 
 
 The grief of the court for the princess was soon 
 converted into joy ; for the day after her funeral, 
 Catharine gave birth to a son, who was also named 
 Peter, with the addition of " Petrowitz," or the son 
 of Peter. On this joyous occasion, there was for ten 
 days a series of entertainments, balls, fireworks, and 
 rejoicings of every kind. 
 
 At one of these entertainments a monstrous pie 
 graced the centre of the gentlemen's table, out of 
 
PETER THE GREAT. 191 
 
 which when it was opened, stepped forth a well- 
 shaped female dwarf; who, having made a speech to 
 the company and drank their healths in a glass of 
 wine, was lifted off from the table. 
 
 On the ladies' table, a male dwarf was served up 
 in the same manner. There was also a third pie, out 
 of which when it was opened there flew twelve live par- 
 tridges ; so that you see the story of Mother G-oose, of 
 the " four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie," is 
 not so unlikely as you may have thought. These 
 birds and dwarfs were probably not baked in the pie, 
 however, but placed there after it was baked, and the 
 cover placed over them. 
 
 During this festival the principal inhabitants of 
 St. Petersburg kept open house, their tables spread 
 with cold meat and strong liquors, so that there was 
 scarcely a sober person to be found in the whole 
 city. 
 
 On the tenth day the Czar gave a grand entertain- 
 ment at the senate-house, at the conclusion of which, 
 each guest was required to drink off a large glass 
 called the "double eagle," containing a full bottle 
 of wine. 
 
 " To avoid this," says Captain Bruce, " I made 
 my escape, pretending to the officer on guard that I 
 was going on a message from the Czar, which he be- 
 lieving, let me pass. I went to the house of Mr. 
 
192 THE HISTORY OP 
 
 Kelderman, who had formerly been one of the Czar's 
 tutors, and was still in very great favor with him. 
 
 " Mr. Kelderman followed me very soon, but not 
 before he had drank off his ' double eagle,' and com- 
 ing into his own house, he complained that he was 
 sick with drinking ; and sitting down by the table, 
 laid his head on it, appearing as if fallen asleep. 
 
 " This being a common custom with him, his wife 
 and daughters took no notice of it ; till after some 
 time, observing him neither to move nor breathe, and 
 coming close up to him, we found he was dead, which 
 threw the family into great confusion. 
 
 " Knowing the esteem in which he stood with the 
 Czar, I went and informed him of the sudden death 
 of Mr. Kelderman. His Majesty's concern at the 
 event brought him immediately to the house, where 
 he condoled with the widow for the loss of her hus- 
 band, ordered an honorable burial of the deceased 
 at his own expense, and settled on her an annuity 
 for life." 
 
PETER THE GREAT. 193 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 The conduct of the unhappy son of Peter the Great— The promise of the 
 young Prince to his father— His flight to the court of Charles Sixth — 
 Takes refuge in Naples — Is persuaded to return to Eussia — The Czar's 
 declaration^-The act of renunciation — The trial of Alexis. 
 
 We come now to the story of Alexis, the unfortu- 
 nate son of Peter the Great. Eudocia, the wife 
 whom the Czar married when he was seventeen years 
 of age, had never sympathized with him in his efforts 
 to reform and civilize his countrymen. She was fond 
 of the old order of things, and much opposed to 
 change ; and in every thing she encouraged those 
 who opposed the Czar in his plans for improvement . 
 
 At length, by order of her husband she was shut 
 up in the Convent of Susdal, where she was obliged 
 to take the veil under the name of Helena. Her son, 
 who inherited his mother's disposition in all things, 
 was early educated in all her views, and grew up with 
 all her prejudices. 
 
 He soon joined himself to the party which con- 
 9 
 
194 THE HISTOEY OE 
 
 demned all that his father had clone ; and the priests 
 of this party represented to him, that at his father's 
 death, which owing to his frequent illnesses could not 
 be far distant, he might abolish all this new order of 
 things, and revive the ancient customs and manners. 
 
 His associates were of the lowest and vilest, and 
 he gave himself up to indulgence in vice, and de- 
 lighted in those rough and boorish manners which 
 were practised by the party opposed to the Czar. I 
 have told you how his young wife died, neglected, in- 
 sulted, deprived of all comforts, and wanting even the 
 necessaries of life. 
 
 After her death Peter wrote a letter to his son, 
 which closed with the following words : 
 
 " I will still wait a little time, to see if you will 
 correct yourself ; if not, know that I will cut you off 
 from the succession as we lop off a useless member. 
 Don't imagine that I mean only to frighten you; 
 don't rely upon the title of being my only son ; for if 
 I spare not my own life for the good of my people, and 
 for my country, how shall I spare you ? I will rather 
 choose to leave my kingdom to a foreigner who de- 
 serves it, than to my own son who makes himself un- 
 worthy of it." 
 
 In Russia, the Emperor had the right of disin- 
 heriting his son, and appointing any one he chose as 
 his successor; and Alexis hearing about this time 
 
PETER THE GEEAT. 195 
 
 that Catharine "was the mother of a son, seemed to 
 lose courage, and wrote to his father, that he re- 
 nounced the crown, and all hope of reigning over 
 Russia. 
 
 " I take God to witness," says he, " that I never 
 will pretend to the succession; I put my children 
 into your hands, and I desire only a provision for 
 life." 
 
 I have before me a translation of the letters of the 
 Gzar to his son, and also of the replies of Alexis. I 
 wish that the limits of this little work would allow 
 of my inserting them entire, but they are very long, 
 and would take up too much room. I cannot refrain, 
 however, from giving one extract from the second 
 letter of the Czar. 
 
 " You speak of the succession, as if I stood in 
 need of your consent in the disposal thereof. I re- 
 proached you with the aversion you have shown to all 
 kinds of business, and signified to you that I was 
 highly dissatisfied with your conduct in general ; 
 but to these particulars you have given me no 
 answer. 
 
 " Parental exhortations make no impression on 
 you, wherefore I resolve to write you this once for the 
 last time. If you despise the advices I give you 
 white I am alive, what regard will you pay to them 
 after my death ? But though you had the inclination 
 
196 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 at present to be true to your promises, yet a corrupt 
 priesthood will be able to* turn you at pleasure, and 
 force you to falsify them. 
 
 " They have no dependence but upon you. You 
 have no sense of gratitude towards him who gave you 
 your being. Have you ever assisted him in toils and 
 labors since you arrived at the age of maturity ? Do 
 you not censure and condemn, nay, even affect to hold 
 in detestation, whatever I do for the good of my 
 people ? 
 
 " In a word, I have reason to conclude that if you 
 survive me you will overturn every thing that I have 
 done. Take your choice ; either endeavor to make 
 yourself worthy of the throne, or embrace a monastic 
 life. I expect your answer, either in writing, or by 
 word of mouth, otherwise I shall treat you as a com- 
 mon malefactor." 
 
 To this letter Alexis replied, asking permission to 
 enter a monastery and become a monk. This was be- 
 fore the second visit of the Czar to Germany and 
 France, and he immediately went to pay his son a 
 visit. Alexis, who was, or pretended to be sick, 
 received his father in bed, and assured him with 
 solemn oaths, that it was his earnest desire to enter a 
 monastery. 
 
 The Czar gave him six months to consider on the 
 subject, and then set out on his travels. He had 
 
PETER THE GEEAT. 197 
 
 hardly arrived in Copenhagen, however, when he 
 heard that his son was again surrounded by evil- 
 minded and discontented people, whose only object 
 was to excite his feelings against his father. 
 
 On hearing this, the Czar wrote to Alexis that he 
 had only to choose between a throne and a convent, 
 and that if he had any thoughts of succeeding to the 
 Empire of Russia, he must at once set out and join 
 him at Copenhagen. But now the advisers of Alexis 
 represented to him that it would be a most unsafe thing 
 to place himself in the hands of a father who was al- 
 ready angry at him, and a step-mother whose object 
 it would be to excite his father still more against 
 him. 
 
 Alexis yielding to their advice, pretended that he 
 was making preparations to join the Czar, and under 
 this pretence succeeded in obtaining a large sum of 
 money from Menzikoff; but to the surprise of all, ex- 
 cepting those who were in his secret, instead of taking 
 the road to Copenhagen, he took that which led to 
 Vienna, and there threw himself under the protection 
 of his brother-in-law, Charles Sixth, intending to re- 
 main at his court till after the death of his father. 
 
 Charles, however, not thinking it prudent to give 
 offence to the Czar of Russia, gave Alexis such a re- 
 ception, that not finding himself very welcome, he 
 soon removed to Naples. As soon as Peter heard 
 
198 THE HISTOKY OF 
 
 that his son was there, he despatched Romanzoff, a 
 captain of his guards, and Tolstoy, his privy- coun- 
 sellor, with the following letter to him written with his 
 own hand. 
 
 " I now write to you for the last time, to acquaint 
 you that you must instantly comply with my orders, 
 which will be communicated to you by Tolstoy and 
 Romanzoff. 
 
 " If you obey, I give you my sacred word and 
 promise, that I will not punish you; and that, if you 
 will return home, I will love you more than ever. 
 But, if you do not, I, as your father, and in virtue of 
 the authority which Grod has given me over you, de- 
 nounce against you my eternal curse ; and as your 
 sovereign, declare to you that I will find means to 
 punish your disobedience, in which I trust God him- 
 self will assist me, and espouse the just cause of an 
 injured parent and king. 
 
 " For the rest, remember that I have never laid 
 any restraint upon you. Was I obliged to leave you 
 at liberty to choose your way of life ? Had I not 
 the power in my own hands to oblige you to con- 
 form to my will ? I had only to command and make 
 myself obeyed." 
 
 Persuasions, promises, and threats, were employed 
 
 for a long time by the two envoys of the Czar, before 
 
 hey could induce Alexis to return with them to 
 
PETER THE GEEAT. 199 
 
 Russia. But at length, on their often repeating to 
 him his father's promise, that he would not only 
 pardon him but would love him better than ever, the 
 prince consented to accompany them. 
 
 They arrived at Moscow in February, 1718, and 
 on the same day, Alexis had a long interview with 
 his father, who had just returned from his travels. 
 They were closeted together for a long time, and a 
 report spread through the city that the Czar and his 
 son were reconciled, and all the past was to be 
 forgotten. 
 
 What really passed between them is not known, 
 but the next day orders were issued for the regiments 
 of guards to be under arms at break of day, and for 
 all the Czar's ministers, boyards, and councillors, to 
 repair to the great hall of the castle. The priests 
 also, and the monks of St. Basile, were to assemble 
 in the Cathedral at the tolling of the great bell. 
 
 The unhappy Prince was then conducted to the 
 great castle, and when brought into the presence of 
 his father, he threw himself in tears at his feet, and 
 presented in writing a confession of his faults, declar- 
 ing himself unworthy of the throne, and imploring 
 only that his life might be "spared. 
 
 The Czar raised him up and led him into a private 
 room, where he put many questions to him, declaring 
 that if he concealed any thing relating to his elope- 
 
200 THE HISTOET OF 
 
 ment, his life should answer for it. When this inter- 
 view was ended, the Prince was brought back to 
 the great hall, where the Czar's declaration, which 
 had before been prepared, was publicly read in his 
 presence. 
 
 This declaration is very long, and would take up 
 many pages of a book like this. By the Czar's order, 
 it was to be published throughout the kingdom, that 
 all might know his determination with regard to his 
 son, and the reasons which had led to it. 
 
 In this paper the Czar begins at the beginning of 
 the story, and relates the conduct of his son, and his 
 efforts to reform him. His dislike of study, his fond- 
 ness for low company, his opposition to his father, 
 and his treatment of his wife, are all set forth in this 
 declaration ; together with the fact of his having 
 asked the Emperor of Germany to defend him by 
 force of arms against his father. 
 
 The declaration closes with these words : 
 
 " In this manner has our son returned ; and al- 
 though, by his withdrawing himself and raising calum- 
 nies against us, he has deserved to be punished with 
 death, yet out of our paternal affection we pardon his 
 crimes ; but considering his unworthiness, and the 
 series of his irregular conduct, we cannot in conscience 
 leave him the succession to the throne of Russia ; 
 foreseeing that by his vicious courses, he would, after 
 
PETEE THE GKEAT. 201 
 
 our decease, entirely destroy the glory of our nation, 
 and the safety of our dominions, which we have re- 
 covered from the enemy. 
 
 " Now, as we should pity our states, and our 
 faithful subjects, if, by such a successor, we should 
 throw them back into a much worse condition than 
 ever they were yet; so, by the paternal authority, 
 and, in quality of sovereign prince, in consideration of 
 the safety of our dominions, we do deprive our said 
 son Alexis, for his crimes and unworthiness, of the 
 succession after us to our throne of Russia, even 
 though there should not remain one single person 
 o£our family after us. 
 
 " And we do constitute and declare, successor to 
 the said throne after us, our second son, Peter,* 
 though yet very young, having no successor that is 
 older. 
 
 " We lay upon our said son Alexis, our paternal 
 curse, if ever at any time he pretends to, or reclakns, 
 the said succession. 
 
 " And we desire our faithful subjects, whether 
 ecclesiastics, or seculars, of all ranks and conditions, 
 and the whole Rusian nation, in conformity to this 
 constitution and our will, to acknowledge and con- 
 sider our son Peter, appointed by us to succeed, as 
 
 * This was the son of the Empress Catharine, who died April 15th, 1719. 
 
202 THE IIISTOEY OP 
 
 lawful successor, and agreeably to this our constitu- 
 tion, to confirm the whole by oath, before the holy 
 altar, upon the holy gospel, kissing the cross. 
 
 " And all those who shall ever at any time oppose 
 this our will, and who from this day forward, shall 
 dare to consider our son Alexis as successor, or assist 
 him for that purpose, declare them traitors to us 
 and our country. And we have ordered that these 
 presents shall be every where published and pro- 
 mulgated, to the end that no person may pretend 
 ignorance." 
 
 After this, was read the " Act of K enunciation," 
 by which Alexis publicly gave up all right to the 
 throne of Russia, in these words : 
 
 " I, the undersigned, declare before the holy 
 Evangelists, that I acknowledge and avow this exclu- 
 sion to be just, as having deserved it by my crimes 
 and unworthiness ; and I bind myself, and swear in 
 the name of the Sacred and Almighty Trinity, to sub- 
 mit myself wholly to this my father's will ; never to 
 seek after this succession, never to lay claim to it, 
 never to accept it under any pretence whatever; 
 and I acknowledge as lawful successor my brother 
 Peter ; on which I kiss the holy cross, and sign these 
 presents with my own hand. — Alexis." 
 
 To the tolling of the solemn bell the long proces- 
 sion then moved to the cathedral, where, in the pres- 
 
PETER THE GREAT. 203 
 
 ence of the whole body of clergy, these papers were a 
 second time read. 
 
 "We can find no excuse for the Czar in thus break- 
 ing the solemn promise and oath given to his son, that 
 if he would return to Eussia he would forgive him, 
 and love him better than ever. There are those who 
 apologize for him by saying, that the Czar intended 
 to say that he would grant him his love and forgive- 
 ness on condition that he would remain shut up in a 
 monastery for the rest of his days. 
 
 Whether the Czar actually intended to fulfil the 
 promise made, and there were circumstances after the 
 return of Alexis which altered his determination, we 
 do not know, neither can we tell what occurred dur- 
 ing those long secret conferences between the Czar 
 and his son, immediately after his return. 
 
 There were numerous questions put to Alexis, in 
 writing, in his answers to which he seems determined 
 to make himself appear as guilty as possible, making 
 admissions, and stating circumstances, which he might 
 as well have kept secret, and even by telling false- 
 hoods endeavoring to make his- guilt appear stronger. 
 
 Though pretending to give up to his father the 
 names of those who had assisted him in his flight, 
 and encouraged him in his disobedience, he concealed 
 several of them, and in his pretended confessions at 
 one time, he contradicted those made at another. 
 
204 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 When the Czar, therefore, came to the conclusion 
 to have his son formally tried by the great officers of 
 state, the judges and the bishops, it is supposed that 
 he yielded to a painful necessity, requiring the sacri- 
 fice of one person, rather than that the whole empire 
 should be endangered; and that the Czar for the 
 time crushed his feelings as a father, for the good 
 of the country whose welfare he had so much at 
 heart. 
 
 The crimes of Alexis had been such that by the 
 laws of Russia, the Czar had the right to punish him 
 with death; and yet he preferred to submit the case 
 to the judges* of the land, ( the nobles, and the clergy. 
 In his address to the court appointed to try his son 
 the Czar thus explains himself : 
 
 " Though, according to all laws civil and divine, 
 and especially those of this empire, which grant an 
 absolute jurisdiction to fathers over their children, 
 (even fathers in private life,) we have a full and un- 
 limited power to judge our son for his crimes, accord- 
 ing to our pleasure, without asking the advice of any 
 person whatsoever. 
 
 " Yet as men are more liable to prejudice and 
 partiality in their own affairs, than in those of others, 
 and as the most eminent and expert physicians rely 
 not on their own judgment concerning themselves, 
 but call in the advice and assistance of others ; so we, 
 
PETER THE GREAT. 205 
 
 under the fear of God, and an awful dread of offend- 
 ing him, in like manner make known our disease, and 
 apply to yon for a cure ; being apprehensive of eter- 
 nal death if, ignorant perhaps of the nature of our dis- 
 temper we should attempt to cure ourselves ; and the 
 rather as in a solemn appeal to Almighty God, I have 
 signed, sworn, and confirmed a promise of pardon to 
 my son, in case he should declare to me the truth. 
 
 " And though he has violated this promise, by 
 concealing the most important circumstances of his 
 rebellious design against us ; yet, that we may not in 
 any thing swerve from our obligations, we pray you 
 to consider this affair with seriousness and attention, 
 and report what punishment he deserves, without fa- 
 vor or partiality either to him or me ; for should you 
 apprehend that he deserves but a slight punishment, 
 it will be disagreeable to me. I swear to you by the 
 great God and his judgments, that you have nothing 
 to fear on this head. 
 
 " Neither let the reflection that you are about to 
 pass sentence on the son of your prince, have any in- 
 fluence on you, but administer justice without respect 
 of persons, and destroy not your own souls and mine< 
 also, by doing any thing to injure our country, or 
 upbraid our consciences, in the great and terrible day 
 of judgment." 
 
206 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 Opinion of the Clergy— Last examination of Prince Alexis— His Condem- 
 nation— Eeports as to Catharine's influence in the matter— Testimony 
 of others on the subject — Death of Alexis— Opinions of some persons, 
 as to the Manner of his Heath— The Czar turns his attention once moro 
 to Internal Improvements. 
 
 On the first of July the clergy, whose advice had been 
 asked by the Czar, sent in their opinion in writing, 
 in which a beautiful contrast between the mercy of 
 Jesus Christ and the severity of the Jewish law, is 
 presented to the father and sovereign about to pro- 
 nounce sentence upon his son and subject. 
 
 After stating that this affair does not properly fall 
 within their control, the Emperor of Russia having 
 full right to act as seems best to himself in the case, 
 they proceed to bring forward texts from Scripture, 
 particularly from Leviticus, such as " Cursed be he that 
 curseth father and mother," and others of like import, 
 from other parts of the Holy Book ; and then con- 
 clude in these words : 
 
PETER THE GEEAT. 207 
 
 " If his Majesty is inclined to punish the offender 
 according to his deeds, and the measure of his crimes, 
 he has before him the examples in the Old Testament ; 
 if, on the other hand, he is inclined to show mercy, he 
 has a pattern in our Lord Jesus Christ, who receives 
 the prodigal son, when returning with a contrite heart, 
 and who prefers mercy to burnt offerings. 
 
 " He has likewise the example of David, who 
 spared his son Absalom, who had rebelled against and 
 persecuted him, saying to his captains when going 
 forth to the fight, ' Spare my son Absalom ! ' The 
 father was here inclined to mercy, but Divine justice 
 suffered not the offender to go unpunished. 
 
 " The heart of the Czar is in the hands of G-od; 
 let him take that side to which it shall please the Al- 
 mighty to direct him." 
 
 On the same day that this opinion was presented 
 to the Czar in writing, his unhappy son was again and 
 for the last time examined, and signed his final con- 
 fession, wherein he acknowledges himself to have been 
 " a bigot in his youthful days, to have frequented the 
 company of priests and monks, to have drank with 
 them, and to have imbibed from their conversations 
 the first impressions of dislike to the duties of his 
 station and even to the person of his father." 
 
 On the 6th of July, 1718, the Prince Alexis was 
 unanimously condemned to death, by one hundred and 
 
208 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 forty-four judges, not one of whom hinted at a milder 
 punishment. And the Czar was so well satisfied of 
 the justice of this sentence, that he submitted it to 
 the judgment of every other nation, by causing the 
 whole proceedings to be printed and translated into 
 many different languages. 
 
 " All Europe," says Voltaire, " was divided in its 
 sentiments, whether most to pity a young prince, prose- 
 cuted by his own father, and condemned to lose his life, 
 by those who were one day to have been his sub- 
 jects; or the father, who thought himself under a 
 necessity to sacrifice his own son to the welfare of his 
 nation." 
 
 It was said by some foreign writers, that Catha- 
 rine, who was hated by the young Prince, and whom 
 he had publicly threatened with terrible vengeance 
 whenever he should ascend the throne, had used her 
 wonderful influence over the Czar, to persuade him 
 to bring his son to trial, and to condemn him to 
 death. 
 
 Many other absurd stories were added to this, of 
 the treatment of Alexis by his father, and of Catha- 
 rine by the Czar, which are all contradicted by the 
 foreign ministers who were at that time resident at the 
 Court of Russia. 
 
 Voltaire says, " I have now before me the me- 
 moirs of a public minister, in which I find the follow- 
 
PETER THE GREAT. 209 
 
 ing words: 'I was present when the Czar told the 
 Duke of Holstein, that the Czarina Catharine had 
 begged of him to prevent the sentence passed upon 
 Alexis being publicly read to that Prince. 
 
 " ' Content yourself,' said she, ' with obliging him 
 to turn monk ; for this public and formal condem- 
 nation of your son will reflect an odium on your 
 grandson.' 
 
 " The Czar, however, would not listen to this ad- 
 vice of Catharine, but ordered the sentence to be 
 publicly read to his son. When these awful words 
 were read to the young Prince : f The laws divine 
 and ecclesiastical, civil and military, condemn to 
 death without mercy, those whose attempts against 
 their father, and their sovereign, have been fully 
 proved,' he fell into a fit, which turned to apoplexy, 
 and it was with great difficulty that he was recovered 
 at that time. 
 
 " Afterwards, when he came a little to himself, and 
 in the dreadful interval between life and death, he 
 sent to beg that his father would come to him. The 
 Czar immediately complied with this request, and 
 when they met, both father and son burst into a flood 
 of tears. 
 
 " The unfortunate young man then asked his fa- 
 ther's forgiveness, which he gave him publicly ; he 
 then received the sacrament, and on the 7th of July, 
 
210 THE HISTOEY OF 
 
 the day after the sentence of death had been pro- 
 nounced against him, at six o'clock in the evening, the 
 Prince Alexis died in the presence of the whole 
 Court. 
 
 " His body was immediately carried to the cathe- 
 dral, where it lay in state, exposed to public view for 
 four days, after which it was interred in the church 
 of the citadel, by the side of his late princess ; the 
 Czar and Czarina attending at the funeral. 
 
 There are many stories told by writers of that 
 time, who would render the memory of Peter the 
 Great odious, which seem very improbable, and cer- 
 tainly are very contradictory. By some it is said that 
 the Czar beheaded his son with his own hand, and 
 afterwards caused the head to be sewed on again. 
 While others declare that the young Prince was de- 
 spatched by poison given to him by his father." 
 
 Voltaire asks, " How was it possible that the Czar 
 could have beheaded his son with his own hand, 
 when extreme unction was administered to the latter 
 in the presence of the whole court ? Was he dead, 
 when the sacred oil was poured upon his head ? 
 When, or how could this dissevered head have been 
 rejoined to its trunk ? It is well known, that the 
 prince was not left alone a single moment, from the 
 reading of his sentence to him, to the instant of his 
 death. 
 
PETER THE GREAT. 211 
 
 " Besides, this story of the Czar's having had re- 
 course to the sword, acquits him at least of having 
 made use of poison. I will allow," he adds, " that it 
 is somewhat uncommon, that a young man in the 
 vigor of his days, should die of a sudden fright, occa- 
 sioned by hearing the sentence of his own death read 
 to him, and especially when it was a sentence that he 
 expected ; but, after all, physcians will tell us that it 
 is a thing not impossible." 
 
 Besides, after sentence of death had been publicly 
 pronounced upon Alexis by one hundred and forty- 
 four judges, why should the Czar poison him privately, 
 and thus suffer his memory to be stained with the 
 murder of his son, when he could easily have sup- 
 ported the character of an upright though severe 
 judge? 
 
 " Such, then," says Yoltaire, " was the dear and 
 fatal price at which Peter the Great purchased the 
 happiness of his people, and such are some of the many 
 difficulties he had to overcome, in the midst of a long 
 and dangerous war with other nations, and an unnatu- 
 ral rebellion at home. 
 
 " He saw one half of his family plotting against 
 him, the greater number of the priesthood obstinately 
 bent on overturning his designs, and almost the whole 
 nation opposing its own happiness and prosperity. 
 There were prejudices to overcome, discontents to allay; 
 
212 THE HISTOEY OF 
 
 in a word, there was created a new generation formed 
 by his care, to entertain the proper ideas of happi- 
 ness and glory, which their fathers were not able to 
 bear." 
 
 If we look upon Peter the Great throughout this 
 sad affair, as having acted only as the father of his 
 country, we realize what an immense sacrifice he made 
 of his own private feelings for^he sake of the great 
 family whose welfare he had so much at heart. 
 
 The fears of the Czar, as to rebellion among his 
 own subjects, and his anxieties lest his efforts for the 
 improvement of his nation should all be overthrown, 
 now being for the time at rest, he turned his atten- 
 tion once more towards the introduction of manufac- 
 tures, and public works of every kind ; opened new 
 branches of trade, and constructed canals which joined 
 rivers, and seas, and people, which nature had sepa- 
 rated from each other. 
 
 A regular police was established, schools and 
 hospitals sprang up in many cities of the empire, 
 the swarms of beggars were cleared from the great 
 cities, and these wretched creatures who had lived 
 only upon the charity of others, were set to work for 
 their living. 
 
 The City of St. Petersburg was well lighted with 
 lamps at night, the streets were nicely paved, pumps 
 were placed at different points for supplying water in 
 
PETER THE GREAT. 213 
 
 case of fire, and every thing was contrived by the Czar 
 for the safety of the lives and property of his sub- 
 jects. 
 
 Peter in person superintended the iron and steel 
 manufactures, corn mills, powder mills, mills for 
 sawing timber, manufactories for cordage and sail 
 cloths, and gave directions to brick-makers, slaters 
 and cloth-weavers. 
 
 Great numbers of workmen from France came to 
 settle in Russia, and set up their manufactories for 
 making fine looking-glass, looms for working curious 
 tapestry, and the making of gold and silver thread. 
 
 Woollen manufactures and silk manufactures 
 flourished, and as fine linen was soon made in Mos- 
 cow as in Holland. Iron mines were worked most 
 vigorously, and mines of gold and silver were dis- 
 covered. 
 
 For the success of all these works, and many 
 more of which I have not spoken, it was necessary 
 that their great founder should at times be present 
 to inspect operations, and give directions himself ; and 
 even that he should work at them with his own 
 hands, as he had done years before, at the building, 
 rigging and sailing of ships. 
 
 When canals were to be dug in marshy and diffi- 
 cult places, and the workmen were almost ready to 
 give out discouraged, then often was the Czar to be 
 
214 THE HISTOEY OF 
 
 seen at the head of the workmen, digging the ground, 
 and carrying it away himself. 
 
 In Voltaire's time the tools were preserved and 
 shown which Peter used in digging and levelling the 
 earth for these canals, and it may be they are still to 
 be exhibited to the curious traveller in Russia. 
 
 He encouraged trade, made new and good laws, 
 and insisted upon their being put in force, improved 
 •the clergy, and reformed the customs of the Russian 
 church. 
 
 Every where Peter was busy, laboring for the 
 good of his people. Nothing was too great for him 
 to undertake ; nothing that tended to their improve- 
 ment too little for him to give it a helping hand. 
 
PETEE THE GEEAT. 215 
 
 CHAPTER XXL 
 
 The "War with Sweden draws to a close — Plans proposed for the Recon- 
 ciliation of the two great Monarchs — The designs of Charles Twelfth 
 npon Norway— His Power of Endurance — A random Shot and its 
 Consequences— Peace proclaimed— Peter receives the title of- "Em- 
 peror and Father of his Country "—Expedition against Persia- 
 Coronation of Catharine— Story of Moens and his Sister. 
 
 great enterprises, this minute review of the 
 whole Russian empire, and the melancholy proceed- 
 ings against his unhappy son, were not the only ob- 
 jects which called for the attention of the Czar of 
 Russia. There was still a war going on with Sweden, 
 though not very vigorously just now ; still, it was 
 necessary that Peter should give his attention to the 
 security of his kingdom from foes without, as well as 
 settling order and tranquillity at home. 
 
 But now this long continued war was drawing to 
 a close. A plan had been formed by the prime 
 minister and chief adviser of Charles Twelfth, to 
 reconcile the two great contending monarchs, who 
 
216 THE HISTOEY OF 
 
 were, according to this plan, to unite together, and 
 crush the other powers of Europe. 
 
 Some steps had already been taken towards this 
 end. There had been an exchange of officers of rank, 
 who had been long detained in the two countries as 
 prisoners of war, and just as this great plan was 
 about to be perfected, a random shot from the works 
 of Fredericstadt, in Norway, crushed all these pro- 
 jects, and changed the whole face of affairs. 
 
 Charles Twelfth, who had turned his attention 
 towards Norway, was determined to make himself 
 master of that kingdom, and then to advance upon 
 England. In the month of December, 1718, he laid 
 siege to Fredericstadt, a place of great strength and 
 importance, and considered as the key of the king- 
 dom of Norway. 
 
 The cold was intense. The soldiers were so 
 benumbed that it was almost impossible for them to 
 break the ground, which was so hardened by frost that 
 it was like piercing into the solid rock. But nothing 
 could resist the perseverance of the Swedes, when 
 they saw their king at their head, sharing in all their 
 labors, their fatigues and sufferings. 
 
 The constitution of Charles, strengthened by 
 eighteen years of severe labor, was hardened to such 
 a degree that he slept in the open field in Norway, 
 
PETER THE GREAT. 211 
 
 with only a cloak thrown over him, while many of the 
 soldiers on duty dropped dead with the cold. 
 
 One evening Charles went out to view the 
 trenches, and not finding them so far advanced as he 
 had expected, he expressed his surprise and dis- 
 pleasure. 
 
 The French engineer who conducted the siege, as- 
 sured him that the place would be taken in eight 
 days. " Well, we shall see ! " said the king, and 
 went on surveying the works. He stopped at an 
 angle, and kneeling down and resting his elbow on 
 the parapet, he watched the men as they worked by 
 starlight. 
 
 Thus nearly half his body was exposed to a bat- 
 tery of cannon, pointed directly against the angle 
 where he stood. Two or three French officers were 
 near him giving orders, when they suddenly saw the 
 king fall over upon the parapet with a deep sigh. 
 
 They ran to him but he was already dead. A 
 ball of half a p ound had struck him upon the temple, 
 crushing in his skull, and beating out his eyes. At 
 sight of this shocking spectacle one of the French of- 
 ficers, a man of a singular turn of mind, and great in- 
 difference of manner, said : 
 
 "Come gentlemen, the farce is ended; let us go 
 home to supper ! " 
 
 The officers who gathered round him agreed that 
 10 
 
218 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 it would be best for the time, to keep the news of his 
 death from the soldiers. They, therefore wrapped 
 the body in a cloak, put a hat and wig upon the head, 
 and carried Charles "Twelfth under the name of one 
 Captain Carlsberg through the midst of the troops, 
 who saw the body of their dead king pass by them, 
 without ever dreaming that it was his majesty. 
 
 " Thus," says Voltaire, " fell Charles Twelfth of 
 Sweden at the age of thirty-six years and a half, after 
 having experienced all the grandeur of prosperity, and 
 all the hardships of adversity, without being either 
 softened by the one, or in the least disturbed by the 
 other." 
 
 The king was no sooner dead, than the siege was 
 abandoned, and a total change took place in the gov- 
 ernment. The sister of Charles, Ulrica, was ap- 
 pointed Queen, but she soon gave the sovereign 
 power into the hands of her husband, the prince of 
 Hesse, who became King of Sweden. 
 
 In 1720, measures were taken to bring about 
 peace between Russia and Sweden, and on the 10th 
 of November, 1721 , a treaty of peace was signed at 
 Nystadt, by which the Czar was to remain in posses- 
 sion of all the countries conquered by his arms, on 
 the Baltic and the Grulf of Finland. 
 
 Peter was much rejoiced at this event, as it re- 
 lieved him from the necessity of keeping such large 
 
PETER THE GREAT. 219 
 
 armies on the frontiers of Sweden, and left him at 
 liberty to give his whole time to the improvement of 
 his own empire, and to perfecting those arts and 
 sciences which he had introduced among his subjects, 
 at the expense of such great labor and industry. 
 
 By this peace, Peter now attained the summit of 
 his glory. Nothing could surpass the joy of the peo- 
 ple of Russia, as the news spread from one end of 
 the empire to the other. Prisoners were set free by 
 order of the Emperor, privileges which had been cut 
 off were restored, and toleration was granted to those 
 not of the established religion. 
 
 The Senate, after much deliberation with the 
 heads of the Church, came to a resolution that his 
 Majesty, having acquired for the nation so much glory 
 in the eyes of the whole world, should be entreated 
 as a token of acknowledgment on the part of his sub- 
 jects, and after the example of other sovereigns, to 
 accept and adopt the titles of " Peter the Great, 
 Emperor of all the Russias, and Father of his Coun- 
 try ; " praying him, in the name of all the states in 
 the Russian empire, to permit them to make an offer- 
 ing of these titles for his acceptance, on the day of 
 the celebration of the peace in the great cathedral. 
 
 His Majesty, after considerable hesitation, at last 
 consented ; and on the day in question, after divine 
 service, the Archbishop of Plescow delivered a 
 
220 THE HISTOEY OF 
 
 speech, in which he enumerated all the glorious ex- 
 ploits of his Majesty, and the favors he had heaped 
 on the nation, and his subjects during his reign. 
 
 Then the Great Chancellor, Count Golofkin, de- 
 livered a similar speech, in which, in the name of all 
 the states of the Empire, he humbly entreated the 
 Czar to accept the above-mentioned titles. 
 
 Then the whole Senate thrice repeated, " Long 
 live Peter the Great, Emperor of all the Russias, 
 and Father of his Country ! " and the assembly testi- 
 fied their applause by the sound of trumpets and 
 kettle-drums, and the roar of cannon from the ram- 
 parts, the admiralty, and one hundred and twenty- 
 five galleys, which had arrived the same day, and 
 brought upwards of twenty thousand men, who had 
 been serving in Finland. 
 
 In going out of the Cathedral their imperial 
 Majesties were saluted with the acclamations of the 
 people. They proceeded to the hall of the Senate 
 house, where the promotions of several military and 
 naval ofiicers were declared, after which the assembly 
 srt down to table, where more than a thousand per- 
 sons of both sexes were entertained. 
 
 The streets ran with wine, an ox was roasted 
 whole, and stuffed with fowls for the populace, and 
 the night concluded with illuminations and fireworks. 
 The rejoicings continued for fifteen days, during 
 
PETER THE GEEAT. 221 
 
 which were held five or six grand masquerades, in 
 which the whole court bore a part. 
 
 But as is the case every where else through life, 
 joy and grief were mingled in the history of Peter 
 the Great, for his little son, who had been declared 
 hereditary prince of Russia, had died at the age of 
 five years, to the great grief of his parents and of 
 the whole nation. 
 
 Peter now, on different pretences, but in reality in 
 order to establish trade, by way of the Caspian Sea, 
 went upon an expedition against Persia, on which he 
 was accompanied by Catharine. This expedition, the 
 details of which it is not my intention to give here, 
 proved unsuccessful, and the army of the Czar re- 
 turned to Russia. 
 
 Great preparations were now made for the public 
 coronation of Catharine, which ceremony, entirely 
 new and unusual as it was in the Russian empire, was 
 intended to prepare the minds of the people to ac- 
 knowledge her as Empress, after the death of the 
 Czar. 
 
 On the day of the coronation, Peter walked be- 
 fore Catharine,. as Captain of a new company, which 
 he had created, under the name of the " Knights of 
 the Empress." 
 
 " When they arrived at the Cathedral," says Vol- 
 taire, " Peter himself placed the crown upon her 
 
222 THE HISTOET OF 
 
 head ; and when she would have fallen down and em- 
 braced his knees, he prevented her ; and at their re- 
 turn from the church, he caused the sceptre and globe 
 to be carried before her. The ceremony was alto- 
 gether worthy of an emperor ; for on every public 
 occasion Peter showed as much pomp and magnifi- 
 cence, as he did plainness and simplicity in his pri- 
 vate manner of living. 
 
 " Having thus crowned his wife, he at length de- 
 termined to give his eldest daughter Anna in mar- 
 riage to the Duke of Holstein. This princess greatly 
 resembled her father in the face, was very majestic, 
 and of a singular beauty. She was betrothed to the 
 Duke of Holstein on the 24th of November, 1724, 
 but with very little ceremony. 
 
 " Peter had for some time past found his health 
 greatly impaired, and this (together with some family 
 uneasiness, that perhaps rather increased his disorder, 
 which in a short time proved fatal,) permitted him to 
 have but very little relish for feasts, or public diver- 
 sions, in this latter part of his life. 
 
 " The Empress Catharine had at that time a 
 young man for the chamberlain of her household, 
 whose name was Moens de la Croix, a native of Rus- 
 sia, but of Flemish parents, remarkably handsome and 
 genteel. His sister, Madame de Bale, was lady of 
 
TETER CROWNING CATHERINE, 
 
PETER THE GEEAT. 223 
 
 the bedchamber to the Empress, and these two had 
 entirely the management of her household. 
 
 " Being both accused of having taken presents, 
 they were sent to prison, and afterwards brought to 
 their trial, by express order of the Czar ; who, by an 
 edict in the year 1714, had forbidden any one holding 
 a place about court, to receive any present or other 
 gratuity, on pain of being declared infamous, and suf- 
 fering death ; and this prohibition was several times 
 renewed. 
 
 " The brother and sister were found guilty, and 
 received sentence ; and all those who had either pur- 
 chased their services, or given them any present in 
 return for the same, were included therein, except the 
 Duke of Holstein, and his minister ; as it is probable 
 % that the presents made by that prince to those who 
 had a share in bringing about his marriage with the 
 Czar's daughter, were not looked upon in a criminal 
 light. 
 
 " Moens was condemned to be beheaded, and his 
 sister, (who was the Empress's favorite,) to receive 
 eleven strokes of the knout. The two sons of this 
 lady, one of whom was an officer in the household, and 
 the other a page, were degraded, and sent to serve 
 as private soldiers in the army in Persia. 
 
 " These severities, though they shock our notions, 
 were perhaps necessary in a country where the ob- 
 
224 THE HISTOET OF 
 
 servance of the laws is to be enforced only by the 
 most terrifying rigor. The Empress solicited her fa- 
 vorite's pardon ; but the Czar, offended at her appli- 
 cation, peremptorily refused her, and in the heat of 
 his passion, seeing a fine looking-glass in the apart- 
 ment, he, with one blow of his fist, broke it into a 
 thousand pieces. 
 
 " Turning to the Empress, ' Thus,' said he, l thou 
 seest I can, with one stroke of my hand, reduce this 
 glass to its original dust.' 
 
 " Catharine in a melting accent replied : ' It is 
 true you have destroyed one of the greatest orna- 
 ments of your palace, but do you think that palace is 
 the more charming for its loss ? ' 
 
 " This answer appeased the Emperor's wrath, but 
 all the favor that Catharine could obtain for the 
 woman of her bedchamber was, that she should re- 
 ceive only five strokes of the knout instead of eleven. 
 
 " I should not have related this anecdote," con- 
 tinues Yolfcaire, " had it not been attested by a pub- 
 lic minister, who was eye-witness of the whole trans- 
 action, and who, by having made presents to the un- 
 fortunate brother and sister, was perhaps himself one 
 of the principal causes of their disgrace and suffer- 
 ing. 
 
 " It was this affair which emboldened those who 
 judge of every thing in the worst light, to spread the 
 
PETER THE GREAT. 225 
 
 report that Catharine hastened the death of her hus- 
 band, whose hasty temper filled her with fears, which 
 overbalanced the gratitude she owed him for the 
 many favors he had heaped upon her. 
 
 " These cruel suspicions were confirmed by Catha- 
 rine's recalling to court her woman of the bed-cham- 
 ber, immediately upon the death of the Czar, and 
 giving her her former place and influence. 
 
 " It is the duty of an historian," adds Yoltaire, 
 " to relate the public reports which have been in all 
 times spread, on the decease of princes, who have 
 been snatched away by sudden death, as if nature 
 was not alone sufficient to put a period to the exist- 
 ence of a crowned head as well as that of a beggar ; 
 but it is likewise the duty of a historian, to show 
 how far such reports were rashly or unjustly formed." 
 
 10* 
 
226 THE HISTOEY OF 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 Last illness of the Czar — His death — Grief of the Nation — Opinions of 
 other nations with regard to Peter— Last honors paid to the Czar — 
 His Epitaph. 
 
 Peter the Great had long been suffering from a 
 painful and incurable disease. The mineral waters 
 which he had tried had proved of very little service, 
 and he found himself growing sensibly weaker from 
 the beginning of the year 1724. His labors, from 
 which he could not be persuaded to rest, only in- 
 creased his disorder and hastened his end. His suf- 
 ferings became intolerable, and were now accompa- 
 nied by almost constant delirium. 
 
 Whenever his reason for a time returned, he en- 
 deavored to write, though he could only scrawl a few 
 lines which no one could read. And it was with the 
 greatest difficulty that these words in the Russian 
 language could be distinguished, " Let every thing be 
 given to — " 
 
PETER THE GREAT. 227 
 
 He then called his daughter, the princess Anna, to 
 his bedside, that he might dictate to her, (for Catha- 
 rine could neither read nor write,) but when she 
 came to him he had lost the power of speech, and fell 
 into a fit which lasted sixteen hours. The Empress 
 did not quit his bedside for three nights together. 
 At length he breathed his last in her arms, on the 
 28th of January, 1725, about six o'clock in the 
 morning. 
 
 His body was carried into the great hall of the 
 palace, accompanied by all the imperial family, the 
 Senate, all the principal personages of state, and an 
 immense concourse of people. It was there exposed 
 on a bed of state, and every one was permitted to ap- 
 proach and kiss his hand, till the day of his inter- 
 ment, which was on the 21st of March, 1725. 
 
 It has been thought, and it has been asserted in 
 print, that he had appointed his wife Catharine to 
 succeed him in the empire by his last will ; but " the 
 truth is," says Yoltaire, " he never made a will, or at 
 least none that ever appeared, a most astonishing neg- 
 ligence in so great a legislator, and a proof that he 
 did not think his disorder mortal." 
 
 At the time of his death no one had any idea who 
 was to be his successor. He left behind him his 
 grandson Peter, son of the unfortunate Alexis, and 
 
228 THE HISTORY OP 
 
 his eldest daughter, Anna, married to the Duke of 
 Holstein. 
 
 There was a strong party in favor of young Peter ; 
 hut Prince Menzikoff, who never had any other inte- 
 rests than those of the Empress Catharine, took care 
 to be beforehand with all parties and their designs. 
 
 Accordingly, as the Czar drew near the moment 
 of death, Menzikoff caused the Empress to remove 
 into another apartment of the palace, where all their 
 friends were assembled ready to meet her. 
 
 Here a council was held, at the breaking up of 
 which, Catharine returned to the bedside of the Czar, 
 who soon after breathed his last in her arms. As 
 soon as his death was made known, the principal sen- 
 ators, and general officers, repaired to the palace, 
 where the Empress made a speech to them, to which 
 Menzikoff replied in the name of all present. 
 
 The Empress then withdrew, and the Archbishop 
 of Pleskow addressed the assembly, telling them that 
 on the eve of the coronation of the Empress Catha- 
 rine, the deceased Czar had declared to him, that his 
 sole reason for placing the crown upon her head, was 
 that she might wear it after his death ; upon which 
 the assembly unanimously signed the proclamation, 
 and Catharine succeeded her husband on the throne 
 the very day of his death. 
 
 " Peter the Great was regretted by all those 
 
 
PETER THE GREAT. 229 
 
 whom he had favored," says Voltaire ; " and the de- 
 scendants of those who had stood out for the ancient 
 customs, soon began to look upon him as their 
 Father. 
 
 " Foreign nations, who have beheld the duration 
 of his establishments, have always expressed the 
 highest admiration for his memory ; acknowledging 
 that he was actuated by more than common prudence 
 and wisdom, and not by a vain desire of doing extra- 
 ordinary things. 
 
 " All Europe knows, that though he was fond of 
 fame, he coveted it only for noble principles ; that 
 though he had faults, they never obscured his noble 
 qualities ; and that though as a man he was liable to 
 errors, as a monarch he was always great. 
 
 " He every way forced nature, in his subjects, in 
 himself, by sea and by land ; but he forced her only 
 to render her more pleasing and noble. The arts 
 which he transplanted with his own hands into coun- 
 tries till then in a manner savage, have flourished and 
 produced fruits which are lasting testimonies of his 
 genius, and will render his memory immortal ; since 
 they now appear as natives of those places, to which 
 he introduced them. 
 
 " The civil, political, and military government, 
 trade, manufactures, the arts and sciences, have all 
 been carried on according to his plan, and by an event 
 
230 THE~HISTORY OF 
 
 not to be paralleled in history, we nave seen four 
 women successively ascend the throne after him, who 
 have maintained, in full vigor, all the great designs 
 he accomplished, and have completed those which he 
 had begun. 
 
 " The court," adds our historian, " has under- 
 gone some revolutions since his death,- but the empire 
 has not suffered one. Its splendor was increased by 
 Catharine I. ; it triumphed over the Turks and 
 Swedes under Anna; and under Elizabeth it con- 
 quered Prussia and a part of Pomerania ; and lastly 
 it has tasted the sweets of peace, and has seen the 
 arts nourish in fulness and security in the reign of 
 Catharine II. 
 
 " Let the historians of that nation enter into the 
 minutest circumstances of the new creation, the wars 
 and undertakings of Peter the Great ; let them rouse 
 the emulation of their countrymen, by celebrating 
 those heroes who assisted this monarch in his labors 
 in the field and in the cabinet. 
 
 " It is sufficient for a stranger, a disinterested ad- 
 mirer of merit, to have endeavored to set to view 
 that great man, who learned of Charles Twelfth to 
 conquer him, who twice left his dominions in order to 
 govern them the better, who worked with his own 
 hands, in almost all the useful and necessary arts, to 
 
PETER THE GKEAT. 231 
 
 set an example of instruction to his people, and who 
 was the founder and the Father of his Empire." 
 
 Catharine paid the last duties to her husband's 
 ashes, with a pomp becoming the greatest monarch 
 that Russia, or perhaps any other country, had ever 
 known. And though there is no court of Europe 
 where splendor and magnificence are carried to a 
 greater height on these occasions, than in that of 
 Russia, yet it may with truth be said, that she even 
 surpassed herself in the funeral honors paid to her 
 illustrious husband. 
 
 She purchased the most precious kinds of marble, 
 and employed some of the most eminent sculptors of 
 Italy to erect a monument to this hero, which might, 
 if possible, transmit the memory of his great actions 
 to the most distant ages. 
 
 Not satisfied with this, she caused a medal to be 
 struck, worthy of the ancients. On one side was re- 
 presented the bust of the late Emperor, and these 
 words : 
 
 " Peter the Great, Emperor and Sovereign of all 
 Russia, born May 30th, 1672." On the reverse was 
 the Empress sitting, with the crown on her head, the 
 globe and sceptre by her side on a table, and before 
 her were a sphere, sea charts, plans, mathematical in- 
 struments, arms, &c. 
 
 At distances in three different placos, were re- 
 
232 THE HISTORY OP 
 
 presented an edifice on the sea-coast, with a platform 
 before it, a ship and galley at sea, and the late Em- 
 peror in the clouds, supported by Eternity, looking on 
 the Empress, and showing her with his right hand 
 all the treasures he had left her, with these words : 
 
 " Behold what I have left you I " 
 
 Several of these medals she ordered to be struck 
 in gold, to the weight of fifty ducats, and distributed 
 among the foreign ministers, and all the grandees of 
 the Empire, as a testimony of her respect and grati- 
 tude to the memory of her late husband, to whose 
 generosity she took a pleasure in owning herself in- 
 debted for her present elevated situation. 
 
 The following is given us as the Czar's epitaph : 
 
PETER THE GREAT. g33 
 
 HEBE LIETH 
 ALL THAT COULD DIE OF A MAN IMMOETAL, 
 
 PETER ALEXOWITZ, 
 
 IT IS ALMOST 8UPEEFLUOUS TO ADD 
 
 fSxint $Uptnx ii ^\\nn\ 
 
 A TITLE 
 
 ■WHICH INSTEAD OF ADDINGTO HIS GLOEY, 
 
 BECAME GLOBIOUS BY HIS WEABING IT. 
 
 LET ANTIQUITY BE DUMB, 
 
 NOE BOAST HEE ALEXANDEE OE HEE C-SSAE. 
 
 HOW EASY WAS VICTOEY 
 
 TO LEADEES WHO WEEE FOLLOWED BY HEBOESt 
 
 AND WHOSE SOLDIEB8 FELT A NOBLE DISDAIN 
 
 AT BEING THOUGHT LESS VIGILANT THAN THEIE GENEBALS ! 
 
 BUT HE 
 
 WHO IN THIS PLACE FIEST KNEW BEST, 
 
 FOUND SUBJECTS BASE AND INACTIVE, 
 
 UNWAELIKE, UNLEAENED, UNTEACTABLE, 
 
 NEITHEB COVETOUS OF FAME, NOB FEAELESS OF DANGEB, 
 
 CEEATUEES WITH THE NAMES OF MEN, 
 
 BUT WITH QUALITIES BATHES BEUTAL THAN BATIONAL ! 
 
 YET EVEN THESE 
 
 HE POLISHED FEOM THEIB NATIVE EUGGEDNESS, 
 
 AND, BBEAKING OUT LIKE A NEW SUN, 
 
 TO ILLUMINATE THE MINDS OF A PEOPLE, 
 
 DISPELLED THEIB NIGHT OF HEEEDITABY DAEKNESS ! 
 
 AND, BY FOECE OF HIS INVINCIBLE INFLUENCE, 
 
 TAUGHT THEM TO CONQUEB 
 
 EVEN THE CONQUEEOES OF GEEMANY. 
 
 OTHEE PEINCES HAVE COMMANDED VICTOEIOUS ABMIES ; 
 
 THIS COMMANDEE CEEATED THEM. 
 
 BLUSH, OH, AET! AT A A HEEO WHO OWED THEE NOTHING I 
 
 EXULT, OH, NATUEE ! FOB THINE WAS THIS PBODIGY I 
 
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