Cfte JLifiratp 
 
 of the 
 
 ([Jmtiersttp of H3ort{) Carolina 
 
 The Sylvester Hassell Collection 
 
 FROM THE LIBRARY OF 
 
 Sylvester Hassell, D. D. 
 
 CLASS OF 62 
 GIVEN BY HIS CHILDREN 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF 
 
 NORTH CAROLINA 
 
 *— in ii 
 
 Scktel of Library 
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POETEAIT OF TETEK THE GEEAT. 
 
HISTORY 
 
 OF 
 
 PETER THE GREAT, 
 
 EMPEROR OF RUSSIA. 
 
 BY JACOB ABBOTT. 
 
 S5TO Hnflrabftifls. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 
 HAEPEE & BEOTIIEES, PUBLISHERS, 
 
 FEAHKIIS 8 Q T7 A E E. 
 
 1873. 
 
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year one thousand eight 
 hundred and fifty-nine, by 
 
 HARPER & BROTHERS, 
 
 In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Southern District of 
 New York. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 There are very few persons who have not 
 heard of the fame of Peter the Great, the found- 
 er, as he is generally regarded by mankind, of 
 Eussian civilization. The celebrity, however, 
 of the great Muscovite sovereign among young 
 persons is due in a great measure to the cir- 
 cumstance of his having repaired personally to 
 Holland, in the course of his efforts to introduce 
 the industrial arts among his people, in order 
 to study himself the art and mystery of ship- 
 building, and of his having worked with his 
 own hands in a ship-yard there. The little 
 shop where Peter pursued these practical stud- 
 ies still stands in Saardam, a ship-building town 
 not far from Amsterdam. The building is of 
 wood, and is now much decayed ; but, to pre- 
 serve it from farther injury, it has been incased 
 in a somewhat larger building of brick, and it 
 is visited annually by great numbers of curious 
 travelers. 
 
viii Preface. 
 
 The whole history of Peter, as might be ex- 
 pected from, the indications of character devel- 
 oped by this incident, forms a narrative that is 
 full of interest and instruction for all. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Chapter Page 
 
 I. THE PRINCESS SOPHIA 13 
 
 II. THE PRINCESS'S DOWNFALL 32 
 
 III. THE CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH OF PETER 58 
 
 IV. LE FORT AND MENZIZOFF 67 
 
 V. COMMENCEMENT OF THE REIGN 94- 
 
 VI. THE EMPEROR'S TOUR 112 
 
 VII. CONCLUSION OF THE TOUR 139 
 
 VIII. THE REBELLION 156 
 
 IX. REFORMS 173 
 
 X. THE BATTLE OF NARVA 195 
 
 XI. THE BUILDING OF ST. PETERSBURG 205 
 
 XII. THE REVOLT OF MAZEPPA 227 
 
 XIII. THE BATTLE OF PULTOWA 237 
 
 XIV. THE EMPRESS CATHARINE 259 
 
 XV. THE PRINCE ALEXIS 280 
 
 XVI. THE FLIGHT OF ALEXIS 303 
 
 XVII. THE TRIAL 316 
 
 XVIII. THE CONDEMNATION AND DEATH OF ALEXIS. 329 
 
 XIX. CONCLUSION 355 
 
ENGRAVINGS. 
 
 Paga 
 
 portrait of peter Frontispiece. 
 
 THE ESCAPE 44 
 
 MENZIKOFF SELLING HIS CAKES 88 
 
 PETER AMONG THE SHIPPING 127 
 
 PETER TURNING EXECUTIONER 168 
 
 MAP OF THE RUSSIAN AND SWEDISH FRONTIER 197 
 
 STRATAGEMS OF THE SWEDES 207 
 
 SITUATION OF ST. PETERSBURG 221 
 
 FLIGHT OF THE KING OF SWEDEN 251 
 
 THE EMPRESS CATHARINE 272 
 
 THB CZAR'S VISIT TO ALEXIS IN PRISON 349 
 
PETER THE GREAT. 
 
 Chapter I. 
 The Princess Sophia. 
 
 Parentage of Peter. Hia father's double marriage. 
 
 THE circumstances under which Peter the 
 Great came to the throne form a very re- 
 markable — indeed, in some respects,-quite a ro- 
 mantic story. 
 
 The name of his father, who reigned as Em- 
 peror of Russia from 1645 to 1676, was Alexis 
 Michaelowitz. In the course of his life, this 
 Emperor Alexis was twice married. By his 
 first wife he had two sons, whose names were 
 Theodore and John,* and four daughters. The 
 names of the daughters were Sophia, Catharine, 
 Mary, and Sediassa. By his second wife he 
 had two children — a son and a daughter. The 
 name of the son was Peter, and that of the 
 daughter was Natalia Alexowna. Of all these 
 children, those with whom we have most to do 
 are the two oldest sons, Theodore and John, 
 
 * The Russian form of these names is Fosdor and Iran. 
 
14 Peter the Great. [1676. 
 
 Death of his father. The princesses. Their places of seclusion. 
 
 and the oldest daughter, Sophia, by the first 
 wife; and Peter, the oldest son by the second 
 wife, the hero of this history. The name of 
 the second wife, Peter's mother, was Natalia. 
 
 Of course, Theodore, at his father's death, was 
 heir to the throne. Next to him in the line of 
 succession came John ; and next after John 
 came Peter, the son of the second wife ; for, by 
 the ancient laws and usages of the Muscovite 
 monarchy, the daughters were excluded from 
 the succession altogether. Indeed, not only 
 were the daughters excluded themselves from 
 the throne, but special precautions were taken 
 to prevent their ever having sons to lay claim 
 to it. They were forbidden to marry, and, in 
 order to make it impossible that they should 
 ever violate this rule, they were all placed in 
 convents before they arrived at a marriageable 
 age, and were compelled to pass their lives 
 there in seclusion. Of course, the convents 
 where these princesses were lodged were very 
 richly and splendidly endowed, and the royal 
 inmates enjoyed within the walls every comfort 
 and luxury which could possibly be procured 
 for them in such retreats, and which could tend 
 in any measure to reconcile them to being for- 
 ever debarred from all the pleasures of love 
 and the sweets of domestic life. 
 
1676.] The Princess Sophia. 15 
 
 Theodore anfl John. Sophia uneasy in the convent. 
 
 Now it so happened that both Theodore and 
 John were feeble and sickly children, while Pe- 
 ter was robust and strong. The law of descent 
 was, however, inexorable, and, on the death of 
 Alexis, Theodore ascended to the throne. Be- 
 sides, even if it had been possible to choose 
 among the sons of Alexis, Peter was at this 
 time altogether too young to reign, for at his 
 father's death he was only about four years 
 old. He was born in 1672, and his father died 
 in 1676. 
 
 Theodore was at this time about sixteen. 
 Of course, however, being so young, and his 
 health being so infirm, he could not take any 
 active part in the administration of govern- 
 ment, but was obliged to leave every thing in 
 the hands of his counselors and ministers of 
 state, who managed affairs as they thought 
 proper, though they acted always in Theodore's 
 name. 
 
 There were a great many persons who were 
 ambitious of having a share of the power which 
 the young Czar thus left in the hands of his 
 subordinates; and, among these, perhaps the 
 most ambitious of all was the Princess Sophia, 
 Theodore's sister, who was all this time shut up 
 in the convent to which the rules and regula- 
 tions of imperial etiquette consigned her. Sho 
 
10 Peter the G-reat. [1676. 
 
 Her request. Her probable motives. * Her success. 
 
 was very uneasy in this confinement, and wish- 
 ed very much to get released, thinking that if 
 she could do so she should be able to make 
 herself of considerable consequence in the man- 
 agement of public affairs. So she made appli- 
 cation to the authorities to be allowed to go to 
 the palace to see and take care of her brother 
 in his sickness. This application was at length 
 complied with, and Sophia went to the palace. 
 Here she devoted herself with so much assidu- 
 ity to the care of her brother, watching con- 
 stantly at his bedside, and suffering no one to 
 attend upon him or to give him medicines but 
 herself, that she won not only his heart, but the 
 hearts of all the nobles of the court, by her 
 seemingly disinterested sisterly affection. 
 
 Indeed, it is not by any means impossible 
 that Sophia might have been at first disinter- 
 ested and sincere in her desire to minister to 
 the wants of her brother, and to solace and 
 comfort him in his sickness. But, however 
 this may have been at the outset, the result was 
 that, after a time, she acquired so much popu- 
 larity and influence that she became quite an 
 important personage at court. She was a very 
 talented and accomplished young woman, and 
 was possessed, moreover, of a strong and mas- 
 culine character. Yet she was very agreeable 
 
1676.] The Princess Sophia. 17 
 
 Increase of her influence. Jealousies. Parties formed. 
 
 and insinuating in her manners ; and she con- 
 versed so affably, and at the same time so in- 
 telligently, with all the 'grandees of the empire, 
 as they came by turns to visit her brother in 
 his sick chamber, that they all formed a very 
 high estimate of her character. 
 
 She also obtained a great ascendency over 
 the mind of Theodore himself, and this, of it- 
 self, very much increased her importance in the 
 eyes of the courtiers. They all began to think 
 that, if they wished to obtain any favor of the 
 emperor, it was essential that they should stand 
 wellwith the princess. Thus every one, find- 
 ing how fast she was rising in influence, wished 
 to have the credit of being her earliest and most 
 devoted friend ; so they all vied with each oth- 
 er in efforts to aid in aggrandizing her. 
 A Things went on in this way very prosper- 
 ously for a time ; but at length, as might have 
 been anticipated, suspicions and jealousies be- 
 gan to arise, and, after a time, the elements of 
 a party opposed to the princess began to be de- 
 veloped. These consisted chiefly of the old 
 nobles of the empire, the heads of the great 
 families who had been accustomed, under the 
 emperors, to wield the chief power of the state. 
 These persons were naturally jealous of the as- 
 cendency which they saw that the princess was 
 
18 Peter the Great. [1676. 
 
 The imperial guards. Their character and influence. 
 
 acquiring, and they began to plot together in 
 order to devise means for restricting or control- 
 ling it. 
 
 But, besides these nobles, there was another 
 very important power at the imperial court at 
 this time, namely, the army. In all despotic 
 governments, it is necessary for the sovereign 
 to have a powerful military force under his 
 command, to maintain him in his place; and it 
 is necessary for him to keep this force as sepa- 
 rate and independent as possible from the peo- 
 ple. There was in Eussia at this time a very 
 powerful body of trooj)s, which had been or- 
 ganized by the emperors, and was maintained 
 by them as an imperial guard. The name of 
 this body of troops was the Strelitz ; but, in 
 order not to encumber the narrative unneces- 
 sarily with foreign words, I shall call them 
 simply the Guards. 
 
 Of course, a body of troops like these, or- 
 ganized and maintained by a despotic dynasty 
 for the express purpose, in a great measure, of 
 defending the sovereign against his subjects, 
 becomes in time a very important element of 
 power in the state. The officers form a class 
 by themselves, separate from, and jealous of the 
 nobles of the country ; and this state of things 
 has often led to very serious collisions and out- 
 
1682.] The Princess Sophia. 19 
 
 Dangers. Sophia and the soldiers. 
 
 breaks. The guards have sometimes proved 
 too strong for the dynasty that created them, 
 and have made their own generals the real 
 monarchs of the country. "When such a state 
 of things as this exists, the government which 
 results is called a military despotism. This 
 happened in the days of the Eoman empire. 
 The army, which was originally formed by the 
 regular authorities of the country, and kept for 
 a time in strict subjection to them, finally be- 
 came too powerful to be held any longer under 
 control, and they made their own leading gen- 
 eral emperor for many successive reigns, thus 
 wholly subverting the republic which origi- 
 nally organized and maintained them. 
 
 It was such a military body as this which 
 now possessed great influence and power at 
 Moscow. The Princess Sophia, knowing how 
 important it would be to her to secure the in- 
 fluence of such a power upon her side, paid 
 great attention to the officers, and omitted noth- 
 ing in her power which was calculated to in- 
 crease her popularity with the whole corps. 
 The result was that the Guards became her 
 friends, while a great many of the old nobles 
 were suspicious and jealous of her, and were 
 beginning to devise means to curtail her in-* 
 creasing influence. 
 
20 Peter the Great. [1682. 
 
 Sophia's continued success. Death of Theodore. Peter proclaimed. 
 
 But, notwithstanding all that they could do, 
 the influence of Sophia increased continually, 
 until the course of public affairs came to be, in 
 fact, almost entirely under her direction. The 
 chief minister of state was a certain Prince Galit- 
 zin, who was almost wholly devoted to her in- 
 terests. Indeed, it was through her influence 
 that he was appointed to his office. Things con- 
 tinued in this state for about six years, and then, 
 at length, Theodore was taken suddenly sick. 
 It soon became evident that he could not live. 
 On his dying bed he designated Peter as his 
 successor, passing over his brother John. The 
 reason for this was that John was so extremely 
 feeble and infirm that he seemed to be wholly 
 unfit to reign over such an empire. Besides 
 various other maladies under which he suffer- 
 ed, he was afflicted with epilepsy, a disease 
 which rendered it wholly unsuitable that he 
 should assume any burdens whatever of re- 
 sponsibility and care. 
 
 It is probable that it was through the influ- 
 ence of some of the nobles who were opposed 
 to Sophia that Theodore was induced thus to 
 designate Peter as his successor. However this 
 may be, Peter, though then only ten years old, 
 was proclaimed emperor by the nobles imme- 
 diately after Theodore's death. Sophia was 
 
1682.] The Princess Sophia. 21 
 
 Plots formed by Sophia. Kevolution. Means of exciting the people. 
 
 much disappointed, and became greatly indig- 
 nant at these proceedings. John was her own 
 brother, while Peter, being a son of the second 
 wife, was only her half-brother. John, too, on 
 account of his feeble health, would probably 
 never be able to take any charge of the gov- 
 ernment, and she thought that, if he had been 
 allowed to succeed Theodore, she herself might 
 have retained the real power in her hands, as 
 regent, as long as she lived; whereas Peter 
 promised to have strength and vigor to govern 
 the empire himself in a few years, and, in the 
 mean time, while he remained in his minority, 
 it was natural to expect that he would be under 
 the influence of persons connected with his own 
 branch of the family, who would be hostile to 
 her, and that thus her empire would come to 
 an end. 
 
 So she determined to resist the transfer of the 
 supreme power to Peter. She secretly engaged 
 the Guards on her side. The commander-in- 
 chief of the Guards was an officer named Cou- 
 vansky. He readily acceded to her proposals, 
 and, in conjunction with him, she planned and 
 organized a revolution. 
 
 In order to exasperate the people and the 
 Guards, and excite them to the proper pitch of 
 violence, Sophia and Couvansky spread a re- 
 
22 Peter the Great. [1682. 
 
 Poisoning. Effect of the stories that were circulated. 
 
 port that the late emperor had not died a natu- 
 ral death, but had been poisoned. This mur- 
 der had been committed, they said, by a party 
 who hoped, by setting Theodore and his brother 
 John aside, to get the power into their hands 
 in the name of Peter, whom they intended to 
 make emperor, in violation of the rights of 
 John, Theodore's true heir. There was a plan 
 also formed, they said, to poison all the princi- , 
 pal officers of the Guards, who, the conspirators 
 knew, would oppose their wicked proceedings, 
 and perhaps prevent the fulfillment of them if 
 they were not put out of the way. The poison 
 by which Theodore had been put to death was 
 administered, they said, by two physicians who 
 attended upon him in his sickness, and who 
 had been bribed to give him poison with his 
 medicine. The Guards were to have been de- 
 stroyed by means of poison, which was to have 
 been mixed with the brandy and the beer that 
 was distributed to them on the occasion of the 
 funeral. 
 
 These stories produced a great excitement 
 among the Guards, and also among a consider- 
 able portion of the people of Moscow. The 
 Guards came out into the streets and around 
 the palaces in great force. They first seized 
 the two physicians who were accused of having 
 
1682.] The Princess Sophia. 23 
 
 Peter and his mother. The Monastery of the Trinity. Natalia's flight. 
 
 poisoned the emperor, and killed them on the 
 spot. Then they took a number of nobles of 
 high rank, and officers of state, who were sup- 
 posed to be the leaders of the party in favor of 
 Peter, and the instigators of the murder of 
 Theodore, and, dragging them out into the pub- 
 lic squares, slew them without mercy. Some 
 they cut to pieces. Others they threw down 
 from the wall of the imperial palace upon the 
 soldiers' pikes below, which the men held up 
 for the purpose of receiving them. 
 
 Peter was at this time with his mother in the 
 palace. Natalia was exceedingly alarmed, not 
 for herself, but for her son. As soon as the 
 revolution broke out she made her escape from 
 the palace, and set out with Peter in her arms 
 to fly to a celebrated family retreat of the em- 
 peror's, called the Monastery of the Trinity. 
 This monastery was a sort of country palace 
 of the Czar's, which, besides being a pleasant 
 rural retreat, was also, from its religious char- 
 acter, a sanctuary where fugitives seeking ref- 
 uge in it might, under all ordinary circum- 
 stances, feel themselves beyond the reach of 
 violence and of every, species of hostile molest- 
 ation. 
 
 Natalia fled with Peter and a few attendants 
 to this refuge, hotly pursued, however, all the 
 
24 Peter the Great. [1682. 
 
 Narrow escape of Peter. Commotion in the city. 
 
 way by a body of the Guards. If the fugitives 
 had been overtaken on the way, both mother 
 and son would doubtless have been cut to 
 pieces without mercy. As it was, they very 
 narrowly escaped, for when Natalia arrived at 
 the convent the soldiers were close upon her. 
 Two of them followed her in before the doors 
 could be closed. Natalia rushed into the church, 
 which formed the centre of the convent inclo- 
 sure, and took refuge with her child at the foot 
 of the altar. The soldiers pursued her there, 
 brandishing their swords, and were apparently 
 on the point of striking the fatal blow ; but 
 the sacredness of the place seemed to arrest 
 them at the last moment, and, after pausing 
 an instant with their uplifted swords in their 
 hands, and uttering imprecations against their 
 victims for having thus escaped them, they sul- 
 lenly retired. 
 
 In the mean time the commotion in the city 
 went on, and for several days no one could fore^ 
 see how it would end. At length a sort of 
 compromise was effected, and it was agreed by 
 the two parties that John should be proclaimed 
 Czar, not alone, but in conjunction with his 
 brother Peter, the regency to remain for the 
 present, as it had been, in the hands of Sophia. 
 
 Thus Sophia really gained all her ends ; for 
 
1682.] The Pkincess Sophia. 25 
 
 Sophia is successful. Couvansky's schemes. 
 
 the retaining of Peter's name, as nominally Czar 
 in conjunction with his brother, was of no con- 
 sequence, since her party had proved itself the 
 strongest in the struggle, and all the real power 
 remained in her hands. She had obtained this 
 triumph mainly through Couvansky and the 
 Guards; and now, having accomplished her pur- 
 poses by means of their military violence, she 
 wished, of course, that they should retire to 
 their quarters, and resume their habits of sub- 
 ordination, and of submission to the civil au- 
 thority. But this they would not do. Cou- 
 vansky, having found how important a person- 
 age he might become through the agency of the 
 terrible organization which was under his di- 
 rection and control, was not disposed at once 
 to lay aside his power ; and the soldiers, intox- 
 icated with the delights of riot and pillage, 
 could not now be easily restrained. Sophia 
 found, as a great many other despotic rulers 
 have done in similar cases, that she had evoked 
 a power which she could not now control. Cou- 
 vansky and the troops under his command con- 
 tinued their ravages in the city, plundering the 
 rich houses of every thing that could gratify 
 their appetites and passions, and murdering all 
 whom they imagined to belong to the party op- 
 posed to them. 
 
26 Peter the Great. [1682. 
 
 Sophia's attempts to appease the soldiers. No effect produced. 
 
 Sophia first tried to appease them and reduce 
 them to order by conciliatory measures. From 
 the Monastery of the Trinity, to which she had 
 herself now retreated for safety, she sent-a mes- 
 sage to Couvansky and to the other chiefs of 
 the army, thanking them for the zeal which 
 they had shown in revenging the death of her 
 brother, the late emperor, and in vindicating 
 the rights of the true successor, John, and prom- 
 ising to remember, and in due time to reward, 
 the great services which they had rendered to 
 the state. She added that, now, since the end 
 which they all had in view in the movement 
 which they had made had been entirely and 
 happily accomplished, the soldiers should be 
 restrained from any farther violence, and recall- 
 ed to their quarters. 
 
 This message had no effect. Indeed, Cou- 
 vansky, finding how great the power was of the 
 corps which he commanded, began to conceive 
 the idea that he might raise himself to the su- 
 preme command. He thought that the Guards 
 •were all devoted to him, and would do what- 
 ever he required of them. He held secret con- 
 ferences with the principal officers under his 
 command, and endeavored to prepare their 
 minds for the revolution which he contempla- 
 ted by representing to them that neither of the 
 
1682.] The Princess Sophia. 27 
 
 Couvansky's views. His plan of a marriage for his son. 
 
 princes who had been proclaimed were fit to 
 reign. John, he said, was almost an imbecile, 
 on account of the numerous and hopeless bod- 
 ily infirmities to which he was subject. Peter 
 was yet a mere boy; and then, besides, even 
 when he should become a man, he would very 
 likely be subject to the same diseases with his 
 brother. These men would never have either 
 the intelligence to appreciate or the power to 
 reward such services as the Guards were capa- 
 ble of rendering to the state ; whereas he, their 
 commander, and one of their own body, would 
 be both able and disposed to do them ample 
 justice. 
 
 Couvansky also conceived the design of se- 
 curing and perpetuating the power which he 
 hoped thus to acquire through the army by a 
 marriage of his son with one of the princesses 
 of the imperial family. He selected Catharine, 
 who was Sophia's sister — the one next in age 
 to her — for the intended bride. He cautiously 
 proposed this plan to Sophia, hoping that she 
 might be induced to approve and favor it, in 
 which case he thought that every obstacle 
 would be removed from his way, and the ends 
 of his ambition would be easily and perma- 
 nently attained. 
 
 But Sophia was perfectly indignant at such 
 
28 Peter the Great. [1682. 
 
 Indignation of Sophia. A stratagem. 
 
 a proposal. It seemed to her the height of 
 presumption and audacity for a mere general 
 in the army to aspire to a connection by mar- 
 riage with the imperial family, and to a trans- 
 fer, in consequence, of the supreme power to 
 himself and to his descendants forever. She 
 resolved immediately to adopt vigorous meas- 
 ures to defeat these schemes in the most effect- 
 ual manner. She determined to kill Couvan- 
 sky. But, as the force which he commanded 
 was so great that she could not hope to accom- 
 plish any thing by an open contest, she con- 
 cluded to resort to stratagem. She accordingly 
 pretended to favor Couvansky's plans, and 
 seemed to be revolving in her mind the means 
 of carrying them into effect. Among other 
 things, she soon announced a grand celebration 
 of the Princess Catharine's fete-day, to be held 
 at the Monastery of the Trinity, and invited 
 Couvansky to attend it* Couvansky joyfully 
 
 * These celebrations were somewhat similar to the birth- 
 day celebrations of England and America, only the day on 
 which they were held Avas not the birth-day of the lady, but 
 the fete-day, as it was called, of her patron saint — that is, 
 of the saint whose name she bore. All the names for girls 
 used in those countries where the Greek or the Catholic 
 Church prevails are names of saints, each one of whom has 
 in the calendar a certain day set apart as her fete-day. 
 Each girl considers the saint from whom she is named as 
 
1682.] The Princess Sophia. 29 
 
 Couvansky falls into the snare. Excitement produced by his death. 
 
 accepted this invitation, supposing that the oc- 
 casion would afford him an admirable opportu- 
 nity to advance his views in respect to his son. 
 
 So Couvansky, accompanied by his son, set 
 out on the appointed day from Moscow to pro- 
 ceed to the monastery. Not suspecting any 
 treachery, he was accompanied by only a small 
 escort. On the road he was waylaid by a 
 body of two hundred horsemen, whom Galit- 
 zin, Sophia's minister of state, had sent to the 
 spot. Couvansky's guard was at once over- 
 powered, and both he and his son were taken 
 prisoners. They were hurried at once to a 
 house, where preparations for receiving them 
 had already been made, and there, without any 
 delay, sentence of death against them both, on 
 a charge of treason, was read to them, and their 
 heads were cut off on the spot. 
 
 The news of this execution spread with great 
 rapidity, and it produced, of course, an intense 
 excitement and commotion among all the 
 Guards as fast as it became known to them. 
 They threatened vengeance against the gov- 
 ernment for having thus assassinated, as they 
 expressed it, their chief and father. They soon 
 
 her patron saint, and the fete-day of this saint, instead of 
 her own birth-day, is the anniversary which is celebrated in 
 honor of her. 
 
30 Peter the Great. [1684; 
 
 Galitzin. Measures adopted by him. 
 
 put themselves in motion, and began murder- 
 ing, plundering, and destroying more furiously 
 than ever. The violence which they display- 
 ed led to a reaction. A party was formed, 
 even among the Guards, of persons that were 
 disposed to discountenance these excesses, and 
 even to submit to the government. The min- 
 ister Galitzin took advantage of these dissen- 
 sions to open a communication with those who 
 were disposed to return to their duty. He 
 managed the affair so well that, in the end, the 
 great body of the soldiers were brought over, 
 and, finally, they themselves, of their own ac- 
 cord, slew the officers who had been most act- 
 ive in the revolt, and offered their heads to the 
 minister in token of their submission. They 
 also implored pardon of the government for the 
 violence and excess into which they had been 
 led. Of course, this pardon was readily grant- 
 ed. The places of Couvansky and of the other 
 officers who had been slain were filled by new 
 appointments, who were in the interest of the 
 Princess Sophia, and the whole corps returned 
 to their duty. Order was now soon fully re- 
 stored in Moscow, rendering it safe for Sophia 
 and her court to leave the monastery and re- 
 turn to the royal palace in the town. Galitzin 
 was promoted to a higher office, and invested 
 
1684.] The Princess Sophia. 31 
 
 They are successful. 
 
 with, more extended powers than he had yet 
 held, and Sophia found herself finally estab- 
 lished as the real sovereign . of the country, 
 though, of course, she reigned in the name of 
 her brothers. 
 
32 Peter the Great. [1684. 
 
 Sophia at the height of her power. Military expeditions. 
 
 Chapter II. 
 The Princess's Downfall. 
 
 THE Princess Sophia was now in full pos- 
 session of power, so that she reigned su- 
 preme in the palaces and in the capital, while, 
 of course, the ordinary administration of the 
 affairs of state, and the relations of the empire 
 with foreign nations, were left to Gralitzin and 
 the other ministers. It was in 1684 that she 
 secured possession of this power, and in 1689 
 her regency came to an end, so that she was, in 
 fact, the ruler of the Kussian empire for a period 
 of about five years. 
 
 During this time one or two important mili- 
 tary expeditions were set on foot by her gov- 
 ernment. The principal was a campaign in 
 the southern part of the empire for the con- 
 quest of the Crimea, which country, previous 
 to that time, had belonged to the Turks. Po- 
 land was at that period a very powerful king- 
 dom, and the Poles, having become involved in 
 a war with the Turks, proposed to the Eussians, 
 or Muscovites, as they were then generally call- 
 fd, to join them in an attempt to conquer the 
 
1684.] The Princess's Downfall. 83 
 
 The Cham of Tartary. Mazeppa. 
 
 Crimea. The Tartars who inhabited the Crimea 
 and the country to the northeastward of it were 
 on the side of the Turks, so that the Eussians 
 had two enemies to contend with. 
 
 The supreme ruler of the Tartars was a chief- 
 tain called a Cham, He was a potentate of 
 great power and dignity, superior, indeed, to 
 the Czars who ruled in Muscovy/ In fact, there 
 had been an ancient treaty by which this su- 
 periority of the Cham was recognized and ac- 
 knowledged in a singular way — one which il- 
 lustrates curiously the ideas and manners of 
 those times. The treaty stipulated, among other 
 things, that whenever the Czar and the Cham 
 should chance to meet, the Czar should hold the 
 Cham's stirrup while he mounted his horse, and 
 also feed the horse with oats out of his cap. 
 
 In the war between the Muscovites and the 
 Tartars for the possession of the Crimea, a cer- 
 tain personage appeared, who has since been 
 made very famous by the poetry of Byron. It 
 was Mazeppa, the unfortunate chieftain whose 
 frightful ride through the tangled thickets of an 
 uncultivated country, bound naked to a wild 
 horse, was described with so much graphic 
 power by the poet, and has been so often rep- 
 resented in paintings and engravings. 
 
 Mazeppa was a Polish gentleman. He was 
 C 
 
34 Peter the G-reat. [1684. 
 
 Origin and history. His famous punishment. Subsequent history. 
 
 brought up as a page in the family of the King 
 of Poland. When he became a man he mor- 
 tally offended a certain Polish nobleman by 
 some improprieties in which he became in- 
 volved with the nobleman's wife. The husband 
 caused him to be seized and cruelly scourged, 
 and then to be bound upon the back of a wild, 
 ungovernable horse. "When all was ready the 
 horse was turned loose upon the Ukrain, and, 
 terrified with the extraordinary burden which 
 he felt upon his back, and uncontrolled by bit 
 or rein, he rushed madly on through the wild- 
 est recesses of the forest, until at length he fell 
 down exhausted with terror and fatigue. Some 
 Cossack peasants found and rescued Mazeppa, 
 and took care of him in one of their huts untD 
 he recovered from his wounds. 
 
 Mazeppa was a well-educated man, and high- 
 ly accomplished in the arts of war as they were 
 practiced in those days. He soon acquired 
 great popularity among the Cossacks, and, in 
 the end, rose to be a chieftain among them, 
 and he distinguished himself greatly in these 
 very campaigns in the Crimea, fought by the 
 Muscovites against the Turks and Tartars dur- 
 ing the regency of the Princess Sophia. 
 
 If the war thus waged by the government 
 of the empress had been successful, it would 
 
1684.] The Princess's Downfall. 85 
 
 The war unsuccessful. Sophia's artful policy. 
 
 have greatly strengthened the position of her 
 party in Moscow, and increased her own power ; 
 but it was not successful. Prince Gralitzin, who 
 had the chief command of the expedition, was 
 obliged, after all, to withdraw his troops from 
 the country, and make a very unsatisfactory 
 peace ; but he did not dare to allow the true 
 result of the expedition to be known in Mos- 
 cow, for fear of the dissatisfaction which, he 
 felt convinced, would be occasioned there by 
 such intelligence ; and the distance was so 
 great, and the means of communication in those 
 days were so few, that it was comparatively 
 easy to falsify the accounts. So, after he had 
 made peace with the Tartars, and began to draw 
 off his army, he sent couriers to Moscow to the 
 Czars, and also to the King in Poland, with 
 news of great victories which he had obtained 
 against the Tartars, of conquests which he made 
 in their territories, and of his finally having 
 compelled them to make peace on terms ex- 
 tremely favorable. The Princess Sophia, as 
 soon as this news reached her in Moscow, or- 
 dered that arrangements should be made for 
 great public rejoicings throughout the empire 
 on account of the victories which had been ob- 
 tained. According to the custom, too, of the 
 Muscovite government, in cases where great 
 
36 Peter the Great. [1684 
 
 Rewards and honors to the army. The opposition. Their plans. 
 
 victories had been won, the council drew up a 
 formal letter of thanks and commendations to 
 the officers and soldiers of the army, and sent 
 it to them by a special messenger, with pro- 
 motions and other honors for the chiefs, and 
 rewards in money for the men. The princess 
 and her government hoped, by these means, to 
 conceal the bad success of their enterprise, and 
 to gain, instead of losing, credit and strength 
 with the people. 
 
 But during all this time a party opposed to 
 Sophia and her plans had been gradually form- 
 ing, and it was now increasing in numbers and 
 influence every day. The men of this party 
 naturally gathered around Peter, intending to 
 make him their leader. Peter had now grown 
 up to be a young man. In the next chapter 
 we shall give some account of the manner in 
 which his childhood and early youth were 
 spent; but he was now about eighteen years 
 old, and the party who adhered to him formed 
 the plan of marrying him. So they proceeded 
 to choose him a wife. 
 
 The reasons which led them to advocate this 
 measure were, of course, altogether political. 
 They thought that if Peter were to be married, 
 and to have children, all the world would see 
 that the crown must necessarily descend in his 
 
1684] The Pkincess's Downfall. 37 
 
 Reasons for the proposed marriage. The intended wife. 
 
 family, since John had no children, and he was 
 so sickly and feeble that it was not probable 
 that even he himself would long survive. 
 They knew very well, therefore, that the mar- 
 riage of Peter and the birth of an heir would 
 turn all men's thoughts to him as the real per- 
 sonage whose favor it behooved them to culti- 
 vate; and this, they supposed, would greatly 
 increase hjs importance, and so add to the 
 strength of the party that acted in his name. 
 
 It turned out just as they had anticipated. 
 The wife whom the councilors chose for Peter 
 was a young lady of noble birth, the daughter 
 of one of the great boiars, as they were called, 
 of the empire. Her name was Gttokessa Fede- 
 rowna. The Princess Sophia did all in her 
 power to prevent the match, but her efforts 
 were of no avail. Peter was married, and the 
 event greatly increased his importance among 
 the nobles and among the people, and augment- 
 ed the power and influence of his party. In 
 all cases of this kind, where a contest is going 
 on between rival claimants to a throne, or rival 
 dynasties, there are some persons, though not 
 many, who are governed in their conduct, in 
 respect to the side which they take, by prin- 
 ciples of honor and duty, and of faithful ad- 
 herence to what they suppose to be the right. 
 
38 Peter the Great. [1684. 
 
 Motives of politicians. Results of Peter's marriage. 
 
 But a vast majority of courtiers and politicians 
 in all countries and in all ages are only anxious 
 to find out, not which side is right, but which 
 is likely to be successful. Accordingly, in this 
 case, as the marriage of Peter made it still more 
 probable than it was before that he would in 
 the end secure to his branch of the family the 
 supreme power, it greatly increased the tend- 
 ency among the nobles to pay thgir court to 
 him and to his friends. This tendency was 
 still more strengthened by the expectation 
 which soon after arose, that Peter's wife was 
 about to give birth to a son. The probability 
 of the appearance of a son and heir on Peter's 
 side, taken in connection with the hopeless 
 childlessness of John, seemed to turn the scales 
 entirely in favor of Peter's party. This was 
 especially the case in respect to all the young 
 nobles as they successively arrived at an age to 
 take an interest in public affairs. All these 
 young men seemed to despise the imbecility, 
 and the dark and uncertain prospects of John, 
 and to be greatly charmed with the talents and 
 energy of Peter, and with the brilliant future 
 which seemed to be opening before him. Thus 
 even the nobles who still adhered to the cause 
 of Sophia and of John had the mortification to 
 find that their sons, as fast as they came of age, 
 ali went over to the other side. 
 
1684.] The Princess's Downfall. 39 
 
 Peter's country house. Keturn of Galitzin. The princess's alarm. 
 
 Peter lived at this time with, his young wife 
 at a certain country palace belonging to him, 
 situated on the banks of a small river a few 
 miles from Moscow. The name of this coun- 
 try-seat was Obrogensko. 
 
 Such was the state of things at Moscow when 
 Prince Galitzin returned from his campaigns in 
 the Crimea. The prince found that the power 
 of Sophia and her party was rapidly waning, 
 and that Sophia herself was in a state of great 
 anxiety and excitement in respect to the future. 
 The princess gave Galitzin a very splendid re- 
 ception, and publicly rewarded him for his pre- 
 tended success in the war by bestowing upon 
 him great and extraordinary honors. Still 
 many people were very suspicious of the truth 
 of the accounts which were circulated. The 
 partisans of Peter called for proofs that the vic- 
 tories had really been won. Prince Galitzin 
 brought with him to the capital a considerable 
 force of Cossacks, with Mazeppa at their head. 
 The Cossacks had never before been allowed 
 to come into Moscow ; but now, Sophia having 
 formed a desperate plan to save herself from 
 the dangers that surrounded her, and knowing 
 that these men would unscrupulously execute 
 any commands that were given to them by 
 their leaders, directed Galitzin to bring them 
 
40 Peter the Great. ' [1684. 
 
 The Cossacks. Sophia's plot. The commander of the Guards. 
 
 within the walls, under pretense to do honor to 
 Mazeppa for the important services which he 
 had rendered during the war. But this meas- 
 ure was very unpopular with the people, and, 
 although the Cossacks were actually brought 
 within the walls, they were subjected to such 
 restrictions there that, after all, Sophia could 
 not employ them for the purpose of executing 
 her plot, but was obliged to rely on the regular 
 Muscovite troops of the imperial Guard. 
 
 The plot which she formed was nothing else 
 than the assassination of Peter. She saw no 
 other way by which she could save herself from 
 the dangers which surrounded her, and make 
 sure of retaining her power. Her brother, the 
 Czar John, was growing weaker and more in- 
 significant every day ; while Peter and his par- 
 ty, who looked upon her, she knew, with very 
 unfriendly feelings, were growing stronger and 
 stronger. If Peter continued to live, her speedy 
 downfall, she was convinced, was sure. She 
 accordingly determined that Peter should die. 
 
 The commander-in-chief of the Guards at this 
 time was a man named Theodore Thekelavb 
 taw. He had been raised to this exalted post 
 by Sophia herself on the death of Couvansky. 
 She had selected him for this office with special 
 reference to his subserviency to her interests. 
 
1684] The Princess's Downfall. 41 
 
 Prince Galitzin. Details of the plot. 
 
 She determined now, accordingly, to confide to 
 him the execution of her scheme for the assas- 
 sination of Peter. 
 
 When Sophia proposed her plan to Prince 
 Galitzin, he was at first strongly opposed to it, 
 on account of the desperate danger which would 
 attend such an undertaking. But she urged 
 upon him so earnestly the necessity of the case, 
 representing to him that unless some very de- 
 cisive measures were adopted, not only would 
 she herself soon be deposed from power, but 
 that he and all his family and friends would be 
 involved in the same common ruin, he at length 
 reluctantly consented. >0 
 
 The plan was at last fully matured. Theke- 
 lavitaw, the commander of the Guards, selected 
 six hundred men to go with him to Obrogen- 
 sko. They were to go in the night, the plan 
 being to seize Peter in his bed. When the ap- 
 pointed night arrived, the commander marshal- 
 ed his men and gave them their instructions, 
 and the whole body set out upon their march 
 to Obrogensko with every prospect of success- 
 fully accomplishing the undertaking. 
 
 But the whole plan was defeated in a very 
 remarkable manner. While the commander 
 was giving his instructions to the men, two of 
 the soldiers, shocked with the idea of being 
 
42 Peter the Great. [1684. 
 
 Manner in which the plot was discovered. Messengers dispatched. 
 
 made the instruments of such a crime, stole 
 away unobserved in the darkness, and ran with 
 all possible speed to Obrogensko to warn Peter 
 of his danger. Peter leaped from his bed in con- 
 sternation, and immediately sent to the apart- 
 ments where his uncles, the brothers of his moth- 
 er, were lodging, to summon them to come to 
 him. When they came, a hurried consultation 
 was held. There was some doubt in the minds 
 of Peter's uncles whether the story which the 
 soldiers told was to be believed. They thought 
 it could not possibly be true that so atrocious a 
 crime could be contemplated by Sophia. Ac- 
 cordingly, before taking any measures for send- 
 ing Peter and his family away, they determined 
 to send messengers toward the city to ascertain 
 whether any detachment of Guards was really 
 coming toward Obrogensko. 
 
 These messengers set off at once ; but, before 
 they had reached half way to Moscow, they 
 met Thekelavitaw's detachment of Guards, with 
 Thekelavitaw himself at the head of them, steal- 
 ing furtively along the road. The messengers 
 hid themselves by the wayside until the troop 
 had gone by.- Then hurrying away round by 
 a circuitous path, they got before the troop 
 again, and reached the palace before the assas- 
 sins arrived. Peter had just time to get into a 
 
1684.] The Princess's Downfall. 45 
 
 The sentinels. The detachment arrives. Peter's place of refuge. 
 
 coach, with his wife, his sister, and one or two 
 other members of his family, and to drive away 
 from the palace before Thekelavitaw, with his 
 band, arrived. The sentinels who were on. duty 
 at the gates of the palace had been much sur- 
 prised at the sudden departure of Peter and his 
 family, and now they were astonished beyond 
 measure at the sudden appearance of so large 
 a body of their comrades arriving at midnight, 
 without any warning, from the barracks in 
 Moscow. 
 
 Immediately on his arrival at the palace, 
 Thekelavitaw's men searched every where for 
 Peter, but of course could not find him. They 
 then questioned the sentinels, and were told 
 that Peter had left the palace with his family 
 in a very hurried manner but a very short time 
 before. No one knew where they had gone. 
 
 There was, of course, nothing now for The- 
 kelavitaw to do but to return, discomfited and 
 alarmed, to the Princess Sophia, and report the 
 failure of their scheme. 
 
 In the mean time Peter had fled to the Mon- 
 astery of the Trinity, the common refuge of the 
 family in all cases of desperate danger. The 
 news of the affair spread rapidly, and produced 
 universal excitement. Peter, from his retreat 
 in the monastery, sent a message to Sophia. 
 
' 
 
 46 Peter the Great. [1684. 
 
 Sophia's pretenses. The Guards. Sophia attempts to secure them. 
 
 charging her with, having sent Thekelavitaw 
 and his band to take his life. Sophia was 
 greatly alarmed at the turn which things had 
 taken. She, however, strenuously denied being 
 guilty of the charge which Peter made against 
 her. She said that the soldiers under Theke- 
 lavitaw had only gone out to Obrogensko for 
 the purpose of relieving. the guard. This no- 
 body believed. The idea of taking such a body 
 of men a league or more into the country at 
 midnight for the purpose of relieving the guard 
 of a country palace was preposterous. 
 
 The excitement increased.^ The leading no- 
 bles of the country began to flock to the mon- 
 astery to declare their adhesion to Peter, and 
 their determination to sustain and protect him. 
 Sophia, at the same time, did all that she could 
 do to rally her friends. Both sides endeavored 
 to gain the good-will of the Guards. The prin- 
 cess caused them to be assembled before her 
 palace in Moscow, and there she appeared on a 
 balcony before them, accompanied by the Czar 
 John ; and the Czar made them a speech — one, 
 doubtless, which Sophia had prepared for him. 
 In this speech John stated to the Guards that 
 his brother Peter had retired to the Monastery 
 of the Trinity, though for what reason he knew 
 not. He had, however, too much reason to 
 
1684] The Princess's Downfall. 47 
 
 They adhere to the cause of Peter. Sophia' 3 alarm. 
 
 fear, he said, that he was plotting some schemes 
 against the state. 
 
 "We have heard," he added, "that he has 
 summoned you to repair thither and attend 
 him, but we forbid your going on pain of 
 death." 
 
 Sophia then herself addressed the Guards, 
 confirming what John had said, and endeavor- 
 ing artfully to awaken an interest in their minds 
 in her favor. The Guards listened in silence ; 
 but it seems that very little effect was produced 
 upon them by these harangues, for they imme- 
 diately afterward marched in a body to the 
 monastery, and there publicly assured Peter of 
 their adhesion to his cause. 
 
 Sophia was now greatly alarmed. She be- 
 gan to fear that all was lost. She determined 
 to send an embassage to Peter to deprecate his 
 displeasure, and, if possible, effect a reconcilia- 
 tion. She employed on this commission two 
 of her aunts, her father's sisters, who were, of 
 course, the aunts likewise of Peter, and the 
 nearest family relatives, who were equally the 
 relatives of herself and of him. These ladies 
 were, of course, princesses of very high rank, 
 and their age and family connection were such 
 as to lead Sophia to trust a great deal to their 
 intercession. 
 
48 Peter the Great. [1684. 
 
 Her first deputation. Failure of the deputation. 
 
 She charged these ladies to assure Peter that 
 she was entirely innocent of the crime of which 
 she was suspected, and that the stories of her 
 having sent the soldiers to his palace with any 
 evil design were fabricated by her enemies, who 
 wished to sow dissension between herself and 
 him. She assured him that there had been no 
 necessity at all for his flight, and that he might 
 now at any time return to Moscow with perfect 
 safety. 
 
 Peter received his aunts in a very respectful 
 manner, and listened attentively to what they 
 had to say ; but, after they had concluded their 
 address to him, he assured them that his retreat 
 to the monastery was not without good cause ; 
 and he proceeded to state and explain all the 
 circumstances of the case, and to show so many 
 and such conclusive proofs that a conspiracy 
 to destroy him had actually been formed, and 
 was on the eve of being executed, that the 
 princesses could no longer doubt that Sophia 
 was really guilty. They were overwhelmed 
 with grief in coming to this conviction, and 
 they declared, with tears in their eyes, that they 
 would not return to Moscow, but would remain 
 at the monastery and share the fortunes of their 
 nephew. 
 
 When Sophia learned what had been the re- 
 
1G84.] The Princess's Downfall. 49 
 
 Sophia appeals to the patriarch. His mission fails. Sophia's despair. 
 
 suit of her deputation she was more alarmed 
 than ever. After spending some time in per- 
 plexity and distress, she determined to apply to 
 the patriarch, who was the head of the Church, 
 and, of course, the highest ecclesiastical digni- 
 tary in the empire. She begged and implored 
 him to act as mediator between her and her 
 brother, and he was at length so moved by her 
 tears and entreaties that he consented to go. 
 
 This embassage was no more successful than 
 the other. Peter, it seems, was provided with 
 proof, which he offered to the patriarch, not 
 only of the reality of the conspiracy which had 
 been formed, but also of the fact that, if it had 
 been successful, the patriarch himself was to 
 have been taken off, in order that another ec- 
 clesiastic more devoted to Sophia's interests 
 might be put in his place. The patriarch was 
 astonished and shocked at this intelligence, and 
 was so much alarmed by it that he did not dare 
 to return to Sophia to make his report, and de- 
 cided, as the ladies had done before him, to take 
 up his abode with Peter in the monastery until 
 the crisis should be passed. 
 
 The princess was now almost in a state of 
 despair. Prince Gralitzin, it is true, still remain- 
 ed with her, and there were some others in the 
 palace who adhered to her cause. She called 
 D 
 
50 Peter the Great. [1684 
 
 Her final plans. She is repulsed from the monastery. 
 
 these few remaining friends together, and with 
 them held a sorrowful and anxious consultation, 
 in order to determine what should now be done. 
 It was resolved that Thekelavitaw and one or 
 two others who were deeply implicated in the 
 plot for the assassination of Peter should be 
 secured in a place of close concealment in the 
 palace, and then, that the princess herself, ac- 
 companied by Gralitzin and her other leading 
 friends, should proceed in a body to the Monas- 
 tery of the Trinity, and there make a personal 
 appeal to Peter, in hopes of appeasing him, and 
 saving themselves, if possible, from their im- 
 pending fate. This plan they proceeded to 
 carry into effect ; but before Sophia, and those 
 who were with her, had reached half way to the 
 palace, they were met by a nobleman who had 
 been sent from the monastery to intercept them, 
 and order them, in Peter's name, to return to 
 Moscow. If the princess were to go on, she 
 would not be received at the monastery, the 
 messenger said, but would find the gates closed 
 against her. 
 
 So Sophia and her train turned, and despair- 
 ingly retraced their steps to Moscow. 
 
 The next day an officer, at the head of a 
 body of the Guards three hundred in number, 
 Was dispatched from the monastery to demand 
 
1684.] The Princess's Downfall. 51 
 
 The surrender of Thekelavitaw demanded. He is brought to triaL 
 
 of the Princess Sophia, at her palace, that she 
 should give up Thekelavitaw, in order that he 
 might be brought to trial on a charge of trea- 
 son. Sophia was extremely unwilling to com- 
 ply with this demand. She may naturally be 
 supposed to have desired to save her instru- 
 ment and agent from suffering the penalties of 
 the crime which she herself had planned and 
 had instigated him to attempt; but the chief 
 source of her extreme reluctance to surrender 
 the prisoner was her fear of the revelations 
 which he would be likely to make implicating 
 her. After hesitating for a time, being in a 
 state during the interval of great mental dis- 
 tress and anguish, she concluded that she must 
 obey, and so Thekelavitaw was brought out 
 from his retreat and surrendered. The soldiers 
 immediately took him and some other persons 
 who were surrendered with him, and, securing 
 them safely with irons, they conveyed them 
 rapidly to the monastery. 
 
 Thekelavitaw was brought to trial in the 
 great hall of the monastery, where a court, con- 
 sisting of the leading nobles, was organized to 
 hear his cause. He was questioned closely by 
 his judges for a long time, but his answers were 
 evasive and unsatisfactory, and at length it was 
 determined to put him to torture, in order to 
 
52 Petee the Great. [1684. 
 
 He is put to the torture. His confessions. Value of them. 
 
 compel him to confess his crime, and to reveal 
 the names of his confederates. This was a very 
 unjust and cruel mode of procedure, but it was 
 in accordance with the rude ideas which pre- 
 vailed in those times. 
 
 The torture which was applied to Thekelav- 
 itaw was scourging with a knout. The knout 
 was a large and strong whip, the lash of which 
 consists of a tough, thick thong of leather, pre- 
 pared in a particular way, so as greatly to in- 
 crease the intensity of the agony caused by the 
 blows inflicted with it. /'Thekelavitaw endured 
 a few strokes from this dreadful instrument, 
 and then declared that he was ready to confess 
 all ; so they took him back to prison and there 
 heard what he had to say. He made a full 
 statement in respect to the plot. He said that 
 the design was to kill Peter himself, his moth- 
 er, and several other persons, near connections 
 of Peter's branch of the family. The Princess 
 Sophia was the originator of the plot, he said, 
 and he specified many other persons who had 
 taken a leading part in it. 
 
 These statements of the unhappy sufferer 
 may have been true or they may have been 
 false. It is now well known that no reliance 
 whatever can be placed upon testimony that is 
 extorted in this way, as men under such cir- 
 
1684.] The Princess's Downfall. 53 
 
 Modes of torture applied. Various punishments inflicted. 
 
 cumstances will say any thing which, they think 
 will be received by their tormentors, and be the 
 means of bringing their sufferings to an end. 
 
 However it may have been in fact in this 
 case, the testimony of Thekelavitaw was be- 
 lieved. On the faith of it many more arrests 
 were made, and many other persons were put 
 to the torture to compel them to reveal addi- 
 tional particulars of the plot. It is said that 
 one of the modes of torment of the sufferers in 
 these trials consisted in first shaving the head 
 and tying it in a fixed position, and then caus- 
 ing boiling water to be poured, drop by drop, 
 upon it, which in a very short time produced, 
 it is said, an exquisite and dreadful agony 
 which no mortal heroism could long endure. 
 
 After all these extorted confessions had been 
 received, and the persons accused by the wretch- 
 ed witnesses had been secured, the court was 
 employed two days in determining the relative 
 guilt of the different criminals, and in deciding 
 upon the punishments. Some of the prisoners 
 were beheaded ; others were sentenced to per- 
 petual imprisonment; others were banished. 
 The punishment of Prince Gralitzin was banish- 
 ment for life to Siberia. He was brought be- 
 fore the court to hear his sentence pronounced 
 by the judges in form. It was to this effect, 
 
54 Peter the Great. [1684. 
 
 Galitzin is banished. His son shares his fate. 
 
 namely, " That he was ordered to go to Karga, 
 a town under the pole, there to remain, as long 
 as he lived, in disgrace with his majesty, who 
 had, nevertheless, of his great goodness, allow- 
 ed him threepence a day for his subsistence, 
 but that his justice had ordained all his goods 
 to be forfeited to his treasury." 
 
 G-alitzin had a son who seems to have been 
 implicated in some way with his father in the 
 conspiracy. At any rate, he was sentenced to 
 share his father's fate. Whether the compan- 
 ionship of his son on the long and gloomy jour- 
 ney was a comfort to the prince, or whether it 
 only redoubled the bitterness of his calamity 
 to see his son compelled to endure it too, it 
 would be difficult to say. The female mem- 
 bers of the family were sent with them too. 
 
 As soon as the prince had been sent away, 
 officers were dispatched to take possession of 
 his palace, and to make an inventory of the 
 property contained in it. The officers found a 
 vast amount of treasure. Among other things, 
 they discovered a strong box buried in a vault, 
 which contained an immense sum of money. 
 There were four hundred vessels of silver of 
 I great weight, and many other rich and costly 
 articles. All these things were confiscated, and 
 the proceeds put into the imperial treasury. 
 
168^.] The Peincess's Downfall. 55 
 
 Punishment of Thekelavitaw. Decision in respect to Sophia. 
 
 Thekelavitaw, the commander-in-chief of the 
 Guards, had his head cut off. The subordinate 
 officer who had the immediate command of the 
 detachment which marched out to Obrogensko 
 was punished by being first scourged with the 
 knout, then having his tongue cut out, and then 
 being sent to Siberia in perpetual banishment, 
 with an allowance for his subsistence of one 
 third the pittance which had been granted to 
 Galitzin. Some of the private soldiers of the 
 detachment were also sentenced to have their 
 tongues cut out, and then to be sent to Siberia 
 to earn their living there by hunting sables. 
 
 Peter was not willing that the Princess So- 
 phia, being his sister, should be publicly pun- 
 ished or openly disgraced in any way, so it was 
 decreed that she should retire to a certain con- 
 vent, situated in a solitary place a little way 
 out of town, where she could be closely watch- 
 ed and guarded. Sophia was extremely un- 
 willing to obey this decree, and she would not 
 go to the convent of her own accord. The 
 commander of the Guards was thereupon di- 
 rected to send a body of armed men to convey 
 her there, with orders to take her by force if 
 she would not go willingly ; so Sophia was 
 compelled to submit, and, when she was lodged 
 in the convent, soldiers were placed not only 
 
56 t Peter the Great. [1659, 
 
 Peter's public entry into Moscow. lie gains sole power. 
 
 to keep sentinel at the doors, but also to guard 
 all the avenues leading to the place, so as ef- 
 fectually to cut the poor prisoner off from all 
 possible communication with any who might 
 be disposed to sympathize with her or aid her. 
 She remained in this condition, a close prisoner, 
 for many years. 
 
 Two days after this — every thing connected 
 with the conspiracy having been settled — it was 
 determined that Peter should return to Moscow. 
 He made a grand triumphant entry into the 
 city, attended by an armed escort of eighteen 
 thousand of the Guards. Peter himself rode 
 conspicuously at the head of the troops on 
 horseback. His wife and his mother followed 
 in a coach. 
 
 On arriving at the royal palace, he was met 
 on the staircase by his brother John, who was 
 not supposed to have taken any part in Sophia's 
 conspiracy. Peter greeted his brother kindly, 
 and said he hoped that they were friends. 
 John replied in the same spirit, and so the two 
 brothers were reinstated again as joint posses- 
 sors, nominally, of the supreme power; but, 
 now that Sophia was removed out of the way, 
 and all her leading friends and partisans were 
 either beheaded or banished, the whole control 
 of the government fell, in fact, into the hands 
 of Peter and of his counselors and friends. 
 
1GS9.] The Princess's Downfall. 57 
 
 Character and condition of John. Subsequent history of Sophia. 
 
 John, his brother Czar, was too feeble and 
 inefficient to take any part whatever in the 
 management of public affairs. He was melan- 
 choly and dejected in spirit, in consequence of 
 his infirmities and sufferings, and he spent most 
 of his time in acts of devotion, according to the 
 rites and usages of the established church of 
 the country, as the best means within his knowl- 
 edge of preparing himself for another and hap- 
 pier world. He died about seven years after 
 this time. 
 
 The Princess Sophia lived for fifteen years a 
 prisoner. During this period several efforts 
 were made by those who still adhered to her 
 cause to effect her release and her restoration 
 to power, but they were all unsuccessful. She 
 remained in close confinement as long as she 
 lived. 
 
53 Petee THE GrREAT. [1677. 
 
 Troublous time3 in the family. Peter's first governor. 
 
 Chapter III. 
 
 The Childhood and Youth of 
 Peter. 
 
 WE must now go back a little in our nar- 
 rative, in order to give some account of 
 the manner in which the childhood and early 
 youth of Peter were spent, and of the indications 
 which appeared in this early period of his life 
 to mark his character. He was only eighteen 
 years of age at the time of his marriage, and, 
 of course, all those contests and dissensions 
 which, for so many years after his father 
 Alexis's death, continued to distract the fam- 
 ily, took place while he was very young. He 
 was only about nine years old when they be- 
 gan, at the time of the death of his father. 
 
 The person whom Peter's father selected to 
 take charge of his little son's education, in the 
 first instance, was a very accomplished general 
 named Menesius. General Menesius was a 
 Scotchman by birth, and he had been well edu- 
 cated in the literary seminaries of his native 
 country, so that, besides his knowledge and 
 skill in every thing which pertained to the art 
 
1677.] Childhood and Youth. 59 
 
 His qualifications. Peter's earliest studies. 
 
 of war, he was well versed in all the European 
 languages, and, having traveled extensively in 
 the different countries of Europe, he was qual- 
 ified to instruct Peter, when he should become 
 old enough to take an interest in such inqui- 
 ries, in the arts and sciences of western Europe, 
 and in the character of the civilization of the 
 various countries, and the different degree? of 
 progress which they had respectively made. 
 
 At the time, however, when Peter was put 
 under his governor's charge he was only about 
 &ve years old, and, consequently, none but the 
 most elementary studies were at that time suit- 
 ed to his years. Of course, it was not the duty 
 of General Menesius to attend personally to the 
 instruction of his little pupil in these things, 
 but only to see to it that the proper teachers 
 were appointed, and that they attended to their 
 duties in a faithful manner. 
 
 Every thing went on prosperously and well 
 under this arrangement as long as the Czar 
 Alexis, Peter's father, continued to live. Gen- 
 eral Menesius resided in the palace with his 
 charge, and he gradually began to form a strong 
 attachment to him. Indeed, Peter was so full 
 of life and spirit, and evinced so much intelli- 
 gence in all that he did and said, and learned 
 what was proper to be taught him at that age 
 
GO Petek the Great. [1670. 
 
 His disposition and character. Sophia's jealousy of him. 
 
 with so much readiness and facility, that he was 
 a favorite with all who knew him ; that is, with 
 all who belonged to or were connected with 
 his mother's branch of the family. "With those 
 who were connected with the children of Alexis' 
 first wife he was an object of continual jealousy 
 and suspicion, and the greater the proofs that 
 he g&ve of talent and capacity, the more jealous 
 of him these his natural rivals became. 
 
 At length, when Alexis, his father, died, and 
 his half-brother Theodore succeeded to the 
 throne, the division between the two branches 
 of the family became more decided than ever ; 
 and when Sophia obtained her release from 
 the convent, and managed to get the control 
 of public affairs, in consequence of Theodore's 
 imbecility, as related in the first chapter, one 
 of the first sources of uneasiness for her, in re- 
 spect to the continuance of her power, was the 
 probability that Peter would grow up to be a 
 talented and energetic young man, and would 
 sooner or later take the government into his 
 own hands. She revolved in her mind many 
 plans for preventing this. The one which 
 seemed to her most feasible at first was to at- 
 tempt to spoil the boy by indulgence and lux- 
 ury. 
 
 She accordingly, it is said, attempted to in- 
 
1679.] Childhood and Youth. 61 
 
 Her plans for corrupting his morals. The governor is dismissed. 
 
 duce Menesius to alter the arrangements which 
 he had made for Peter, so as to release him 
 from restraint, and allow him to do as he pleased. 
 Her plan was also to supply him with means 
 of pleasure and indulgence very freely, think- 
 ing that a boy of his age would not have the 
 good sense or the resolution to resist these 
 temptations. Thus she thought that his prog- 
 ress in study would be effectually impeded, and 
 that, perhaps, he would undermine his health 
 and destroy his constitution by eating and drink- 
 ing, or by other hurtful indulgences. 
 
 But Sophia found that she could not induce 
 General Menesius to co-operate with her in any 
 such plans. He had set his heart on making 
 his pupil a virtuous and an accomplished man, 
 and he knew very well that the system of lax- 
 ity and indulgence which Sophia recommended 
 would end in his ruin. After a considerable 
 contest, Sophia, finding that Menesius was in- 
 flexible, manoeuvred to cause him to be dismiss- 
 ed from his office, and to have another arrange- 
 ment made for the boy, by which she thought 
 her ends would be attained. So Menesius bade 
 his young charge farewell, not, however, with- 
 out giving him, in parting, most urgent coun- 
 sels to persevere, as he had begun, in the faith- 
 ful performance of his duly, to resist every 
 
62 Peter the Great. [1682. 
 
 New system adopted. Sophia's expectations. Peter's fifty playmates. 
 
 temptation to idleness or excess, and to devote 
 himself, while young, with patience, persever- 
 ance, and industry to the work of storing his 
 mind with useful knowledge, and of acquiring 
 every possible art and accomplishment which 
 could be of advantage to him when he became 
 a man. 
 
 After General Menesius had been dismissed, 
 Sophia adopted an entirely new system for the 
 management of Peter. Before this time Theo- 
 dore had died, and Peter, in conjunction with 
 John, had been proclaimed emperor, Sophia 
 governing as regent in their names. The prin- 
 cess now made an arrangement for establishing 
 Peter in a household of his own, at a palace 
 situated in a small village at some distance from 
 Moscow, and she appointed fifty boys to live 
 with him as his playmates and amusers. These 
 boys were provided with every possible means 
 of indulgence, and were subject to very little 
 restraint. The intention of Sophia was that 
 they should do just as they pleased, and she 
 had no doubt that they would spend their time 
 in such a manner that they would all grow up 
 idle, vicious, and good for nothing. There was 
 even some hope that Peter would impair his 
 health to such an extent by excessive indul- 
 gences as to bring him to an early grave. 
 
1685.] Childhood and Youth. 63 
 
 The plot does not succeed. Peter organizes a military school. 
 
 Indeed, the plot was so well contrived that 
 there are probably not many boys who would 
 not, under such circumstances, have fallen into 
 the snare so adroitly laid for them and been 
 ruined ; but Beter escaped it. Whether it was 
 from the influence of the counsels and instruc- 
 tions of his former governor, or from his own 
 native good sense, or from both combined, he 
 resisted the temptations that were laid before 
 him, and, instead of giving up his studies, and 
 spending his time in indolence and vice, he im- 
 proved such privileges as he enjoyed to the 
 best of his ability. He even contrived to turn 
 the hours of play, and the companions who had 
 been given to him as mere instruments of pleas- 
 ure, into means of improvement. He caused 
 the boys to be organized into a sort of military 
 school, and learned with them all the evolu- 
 tions, and practiced all the discipline necessary 
 in a camp. He himself began at the very be* 
 ginning. He caused himself to be taught to 
 drum, not merely as most boys do, just to make 
 a noise for his amusement, but regularly and 
 scientifically, so as to enable him to understand 
 and execute all the beats and signals used in 
 camp and on the field of battle. He studied 
 fortification, and set the boys at work, himself 
 among them, in constructing a battery in a reg- 
 
64 Peter the Great. [1685. 
 
 Peter a practical mechanic. His ideas and intentions. 
 
 ular and scientific manner. He learned the 
 use of tools, too, practically, in a shop which 
 had been provided for the boys as a place for 
 play; and the wheelbarrow with which he 
 worked in making the fortification was one 
 which he had constructed with his own hands. 
 
 He did not assume any superiority over his 
 companions in these exercises, but took his 
 place among them as an equal, obeying the 
 commands which were given to him, when it 
 came to his turn to serve, and taking his full 
 share of all the hardest of the work which was 
 to be done. 
 
 Nor was this all mere boys' play, pursued for 
 a little time as long as the novelty lasted, and 
 then thrown aside for something more amusing. 
 Peter knew that when he became a man he 
 would be emperor of all Russia, He knew 
 that among the populations of that immense 
 country there were a great many wild and tur- 
 bulent tribes, half savage in habits and charac- 
 ter, that would never be controlled but by mili- 
 tary force, and that the country, too, was sur- 
 rounded by other nations that would some- 
 times, unless he was well prepared for them, 
 assume a hostile attitude against his govern- 
 ment, and perhaps make great aggressions upon 
 his territories. He wished, therefore, to pre- 
 
1688.] Childhood and Youth. 65 
 
 His drumming. His wheelbarrow. Progress of the school. 
 
 pare himself for the emergencies that might in 
 future arise by making himself thoroughly ac- 
 quainted with all the details of the military 
 art. He did not expect, it is true, that he 
 should ever be called upon to serve in any of 
 his armies as an actual drummer, or to wheel 
 earth and construct fortifications with his own 
 hands, still less to make the wheelbarrows by 
 which the work was to be done; but he was 
 aware that he could superintend these things 
 far more intelligently and successfully if he 
 knew in detail precisely how every thing ought 
 to be done, and that was the reason why he 
 took so much pains to learn himself how to do 
 them. 
 
 As he grew older he contrived to introduce 
 higher and higher branches of military art into 
 the school, and to improve and perfect the or- 
 ganization of it in every way. After a while 
 he adopted improved uniforms and equipments 
 for the pupils, such as were used at the military 
 schools of the different nations of Europe; and 
 he established professors of different branches 
 of military science as fast as he himself and his 
 companions advanced in years and in power 
 of appreciating studies more and more elevated. 
 The result was, that when, at length, he was 
 eighteen years of age, and the time arrived for 
 E 
 
66 Peter the Great. [1688. 
 
 Results of Peter's energy of character. 
 
 him to leave the place, the institution had be- 
 come completely established as a well-organized 
 and well-appointed military school, and it con- 
 tinned in successful operation as such for a long 
 time afterward. 
 
 It was in a great measure in consequence of 
 the energy and talent which Peter thus dis- 
 played that so many of the leading nobles at- 
 tached themselves to his cause, by which means 
 he was finally enabled to depose Sophia from 
 her regency, and take the power into his own 
 hands, even before he was of age, as related in 
 the last chapter. 
 
1689.] Le Fort and Menzikoff. 67 
 
 Conditions of success in life. The selection of agents. 
 
 Chapter IY. 
 Le Fort and Menzikoff. 
 
 WHATEVER may be a person's situation 
 in life, his success in his undertakings 
 depends not more, after all, upon his own per- 
 sonal ability to do what is required to be done, 
 than it does upon his sagacity and the sound- 
 ness of his judgment in selecting the proper 
 persons to co-operate with him and assist him 
 in doing it. * In all great enterprises undertaken 
 by men, it is only a very small part which they 
 can execute with their own hands, and multi- 
 tudes of most excellently contrived plans fail 
 for want of wisdom in the choice of the men 
 who are depended upon for the accomplish- 
 ment of them. 
 
 This is true in all things, small as well as 
 great. A man may form a very wise scheme 
 for building a house. He may choose an ex- 
 cellent place for the -location of it, and draw up 
 a good plan, and make ample arrangements for 
 the supply of funds, but if he does not know 
 how to choose, or where to find good builders, 
 his scheme will come to a miserable end. He 
 
68 Peter the Great. [1689. 
 
 Building a house. Secret of success. 
 
 may choose builders that are competent but 
 dishonest, or they may be honest but incom- 
 petent, or they may be subject to some other 
 radical defect; in either of which cases the 
 house will be badly built, and the scheme will 
 be a failure. 
 
 Many men say, when such a misfortune as 
 this happens to them, "Ah! it was not my 
 fault. It was the fault of the builders;" to 
 which the proper reply would be, " It ivas your 
 fault. You should not have undertaken to 
 build a house unless, in addition to being able 
 to form the general plan and arrangements 
 wisely, you had also had the sagacity to discern 
 the characters of the men whom you were to 
 employ to execute the work." This latter 
 quality is as important to success in all under- 
 takings as the former. Indeed, it is far more 
 important, for good men may correct or avoid 
 the evils of a bad plan, but a good plan can 
 never afford security against the evil action of 
 bad men. 
 
 The sovereigns and great military command- 
 ers that have acquired the highest celebrity in 
 history have always been remarkable for their 
 tact and sagacity in discovering and bringing 
 forward the right kind of talent for the success- 
 ful accomplishment of their various designs. 
 
1689.1 Lz Fort and Menzikoff. 69 
 
 Peter's youth. Le Fort and Menzikoff. 
 
 When Peter first found himself nominally in 
 possession of the supreme power, after the fall of 
 the Princess Sophia, he was very young, and the 
 administration of the government was really in 
 the hands of different nobles and officers of 
 state, who managed affairs in his name. From 
 time to time there were great dissensions among 
 these men. They formed themselves into 
 cliques and coteries, each of which was jealous 
 of the influence of the others. As Peter grad- 
 ually grew older, and felt stronger and stronger 
 in his position, he took a greater part in the di- 
 rection and control of the public policy, and 
 the persons whom he first made choice of to 
 aid him in his plans were two very able men, 
 whom he afterward raised to positions of great 
 responsibility and honor. These men became, 
 indeed, in the end, highly distinguished as 
 statesmen, and were very prominent and very 
 efficient instruments in the development and 
 realization of Peter's plans. The name of the 
 first of these statesmen was Le Fort ; that of 
 the second was Menzikoff. The story which 
 is told by the old historians of both of these 
 men is quite romantic. 
 
 Le Fort was the son of a merchant of Geneva. 
 He had a strong desire from his childhood to 
 be a soldier, but his father, considering the hard- 
 
70 Peter the Great. [1689. 
 
 Merchants of Amsterdam. Le Fort in the counting-house. 
 
 ships and dangers to which a military life would 
 expose him, preferred to make him a merchant, 
 and so he provided him with a place in the 
 counting-house of one of the great merchants 
 of Amsterdam. The city of Amsterdam was 
 in those da}^s one of the greatest and wealthiest 
 marts of commerce in the world. 
 
 Yery many young men, in being thus re- 
 strained by their fathers from pursuing the pro- 
 fession which they themselves chose, and placed, 
 instead, in a situation which they did not like, 
 would have gone to their duty in a discontent- 
 ed and sullen manner, and would have made 
 no effort to succeed in the business or to please 
 their employers ; but Le Fort, it seems, was a 
 boy of a different mould from this. He went 
 to his work in the counting-house at Amster- 
 dam with a good heart, and devoted himself 
 to his business with so much industry and 
 steadiness, and evinced withal so much ami- 
 ableness of disposition in his intercourse with 
 all around him, that before long, as the ac- 
 counts say, the merchant "loved him as his 
 own child." After some considerable time had 
 elapsed, the merchant, who was constantly send- 
 ing vessels to different parts of the world, was 
 on one occasion about dispatching a ship to Co- 
 penhagen, and Le Fort asked permission to go 
 
1689.] Le Fort and Menzikoff. 71 
 
 He goes to Copenhagen. He becomes acquainted with military life. 
 
 in her. The merchant was not only willing 
 that he should go, but also gave him the whole 
 charge of the cargo, with instructions to attend 
 to the sale of it, and the remittance of the pro- 
 ceeds on the arrival of the ship in port. Le 
 Fort accordingly sailed in the ship, and on his 
 arrival at Copenhagen he transacted the busi- 
 ness of selling the cargo and sending back the 
 money so skillfully and well that the merchant 
 was very well pleased with him. 
 
 Copenhagen is the capital of Denmark, and 
 the Danes were at that time quite a powerful 
 and warlike nation. Le Fort, in walking about 
 the streets of the town while his ship was lying 
 there, often saw the Danish soldiers marching 
 to and fro, and performing their evolutions, and 
 the sight revived in his mind his former inter- 
 est in being a soldier. He soon made acquaint- 
 ance with some of the officers, and x in hearing 
 them talk of their various adventures, and of 
 the details of their mode of life, he became very 
 eager to join them. They liked Mm, too, very 
 much. He had made great progress in learn- 
 ing the different languages spoken in that part 
 of the world, and the officers found, moreover, 
 that he was very quick in understanding the 
 military principles which they explained to 
 him, and in learning evolutions of all kinds. 
 
72 Peter the Great. [1689. 
 
 The embassador. Le Fort an interpreter. 
 
 About this time it happened that an embas- 
 sador was to be sent from Denmark to Russia, 
 and Le Fort, who had a great inclination to see 
 the world as well as to be a soldier, was seized 
 with a strong desire to accompany the expedi- 
 tion in the embassador's train. He already 
 knew something of the Russian language, and 
 he set himself at work with all diligence to 
 study it more. He also obtained recommenda- 
 tions from those who had known him — proba- 
 bly, among others, from the merchant in Am- 
 sterdam, and he secured the influence in his fa- 
 vor of the officers in Copenhagen with whom 
 he had become acquainted. When these .pre- 
 liminary steps had been taken, he made appli- 
 cation for the post of interpreter to the embas- 
 sy ; and after a proper examination had been 
 made in respect to his character and his quali- 
 fications, he received the appointment. Thus, 
 instead of going back to Amsterdam after his 
 cargo was sold, he went to Russia in the suite 
 of the embassador. 
 
 The embassador soon formed a very strong 
 friendship for his young interpreter, and em- 
 ployed him confidentially, when he arrived in 
 Moscow, in many important services. The em- 
 bassador himself soon acquired great influence 
 at Moscow, and was admitted to quite familiar 
 
1689.] Le Fort and Menzikoff. 73 
 
 He attracts tne attention of the emperor. His judicious answers. 
 
 intercourse, not only with the leading Russian 
 noblehien, but also with Peter himself. On 
 one occasion, when Peter was dining at the 
 embassador's — as it seems he was sometimes 
 accustomed to do — he took notice of Le Fort, 
 who was present as one of the party, on ac- 
 count of his prepossessing appearance and 
 agreeable manners. He also observed that, for 
 a foreigner, he spoke the Russian language re- 
 markably well. The emperor asked Le Fort 
 some questions concerning his origin and his- 
 tory, and, being very much pleased with his 
 answers, and with his general air and demean- 
 or, he asked him whether he should be willing 
 to enter into his service. Le Fort replied in a 
 very respectful manner, u That, whatever am- 
 bition he might have to serve so great a mon- 
 arch, yet the duty and gratitude which he owed 
 to his present master, the embassador, would 
 not allow him to promise any thing without 
 first asking his consent." 
 
 " Very well," replied the Czar ; " / will ask 
 your master's consent." 
 
 " But I hope," said Le Fort, " that your maj- 
 esty will make use of some other interpreter 
 than myself in asking the question." 
 
 Peter was very much pleased with both these 
 answers of Le Fort — the one showing his scru- 
 
74: Peter the Great. [1689. 
 
 Gratification of the emperor. The emhassaclor's opinion. 
 
 pulous fidelity to his engagements in not being 
 willing to leave one service for another, how- 
 ever advantageous to himself the change might 
 be, until he was honorably released by his first 
 employer, and the other marking the delicacy 
 of mind which prompted him to wish not to 
 take any part in the conversation between the 
 emperor and the embassador respecting him- 
 self, as his office of interpreter would naturally 
 lead him to do, but to prefer that the commu- 
 nication should be made through an indifferent 
 person, in order that the embassador might be 
 perfectly free to express his real opinion with- 
 out any reserve. 
 
 Accordingly, the Czar, taking another inter- 
 preter with him, went to the embassador and 
 began to ask him about Le Fort. 
 
 " He speaks very good Eussian," said Peter. 
 
 " Yes, please your majesty," said the embas- 
 sador, " he has a genius for learning any thing 
 that he pleases. When he came to me four 
 months ago he knew very little of German, but 
 now he speaks it very well. I have two Ger- 
 man interpreters in my train, and he speaks 
 the language as well as either of them. He 
 did not know a word of Eussian when he came 
 to my country, but your majesty can judge 
 yourself how well he speaks it now." 
 
1690.] Le Fort and Menzikoff. 75 
 
 The glass of wine. Le Fort given up to the emperor. 
 
 In the mean time, while Peter and the em- 
 bassador were talking thus about Le Fort, he 
 himself had withdrawn to another part of the 
 room. The Czar was very much pleased with 
 the modesty of the young gentleman's behav- 
 ior ; and, after finishing the conversation with 
 the embassador, without, however, having ask- 
 ed him to release Le Fc*t from his service, he 
 returned to the part of the room where Le Fort 
 was, and presently asked him to bring him a 
 glass of wine. He said no more to him at that 
 time in respect to entering his service, but Le 
 Fort understood very well from his. counte- 
 nance, and from the manner in which he asked 
 him for the wine, that nothing had occurred in 
 his conversation with the embassador to lead 
 him to change his mind. 
 
 The next day Peter, having probably in the 
 mean time made some farther inquiries about 
 Le Fort, introduced the subject again in con- 
 versation with the embassador. He told the 
 embassador that he had a desire to have the 
 young man Le Fort about him, and asked if he 
 should be willing to part with him. The em- 
 bassador replied that, notwithstanding any de- 
 sire he might feel to retain ,«o agreeable and 
 promising a man in his own service, still the 
 exchange ^733 "too advantageous to Le Fort, and 
 
76 Peter the Great. [1690. 
 
 His appointment at court. His subsequent career. 
 
 lie wished him too well to make any "objection 
 to it ; and besides, he added, he knew too well 
 his duty to his majesty not to consent readily 
 to any arrangement of that kind that his maj- 
 esty might desire. 
 
 The next day Peter sent for Le Fort, and 
 formally appointed him his first interpreter. 
 The duties of this office required Le Fort to be 
 a great deal in the emperor's presence, and Pe- 
 ter soon became extremely attached to him. 
 Le Fort, although we have called him a young 
 man, was now about thirty -five years of age, 
 while Peter himself was yet not twenty. It 
 was natural, therefore, that Peter should soon 
 learn to place great confidence in him, and oft- 
 en look to him for information, and this the 
 more readily on account of Le Fort's having 
 been brought up in the heart of Europe, where 
 all the arts of civilization, both those connected 
 with peace and war, were in a much more ad- 
 vanced state than they were at this time in 
 Eussia. 
 
 Le Fort continued in the service of the em- 
 peror until the day of his death, which hap- 
 pened about ten years after this time ; and dur- 
 ing this period he rose to great distinction, and 
 exercised a very important part in the manage- 
 ment of public affairs, and more particularly in 
 
1690.] Le Fort and Menzikoff. 77 
 
 Uniforms. Le Fort' 3 suggestion. 
 
 aiding Peter to understand and to introduce 
 into his own dominions the arts and improve- 
 ments of western Europe. 
 
 The first improvement which Le Fort was 
 the means of introducing in the affairs of the 
 Czar related to the dress and equipment of the 
 troops. The Guards had before that time been 
 accustomed to wear an old-fashioned Eussian 
 uniform, which was far from being convenient. 
 The outside garment was a sort of long coat or 
 gown, which considerably impeded the motion 
 of the limbs. One day, not long after Le Fort 
 entered the service of the emperor, Peter, being 
 engaged in conversation with him, asked him 
 what he thought of his soldiers. 
 
 " The men themselves are very well," replied 
 Le Fort, "but it seems to me that the dress 
 which they wear is not so convenient for mili- 
 tary use as the style of dress now usually adopt- 
 ed among the western nations." 
 
 Peter asked what this style was, and Le Fort 
 replied that if his majesty would permit him to 
 do so, he would take measures for affording 
 him an opportunity to see. 
 
 Accordingly, Le Fort repaired immediately 
 to the tailor of the Danish embassador. This 
 tailor the embassador had brought with him 
 from Copenhagen, for it was the custom in 
 
78 Peter the Great. [1690. 
 
 An embassador's train. Surprise and pleasure of the Czar. 
 
 those days for personages of high rank and 
 station, like the embassador, to take with them, 
 in their train, persons of all the trades and pro* 
 fessions which they might require, so that, 
 wherever they might be,, they could have the 
 means of supplying all their wants within 
 themselves, and without at all depending upon 
 the people whom they visited. Le Fort em- 
 ployed the tailor to make him two military 
 suits, in the style worn by the royal guards at 
 Copenhagen — one for an officer, and another 
 for a soldier of the ranks. The tailor finished 
 the first suit in two days. Le Port put the 
 dress on, and in the morning, at the time when, 
 according to his usual custom, he was to wait 
 upon the emperor in his chamber, he went in 
 wearing the new uniform. 
 
 The Czar was surprised at the unexpected 
 spectacle. At first he did not know Le Fort in 
 his new garb ; and when at length he recog- 
 nized him, and began to understand the case, 
 he was exceedingly pleased. He examined the 
 uniform in every part, and praised not only the 
 dress itself, but also Le Fort's ingenuity and 
 diligence in procuring him so good an oppor- 
 tunity to know what the military style of the 
 western nations really was. 
 
 Soon after this Le Fort appeared again in the 
 
1690.] Le Fort and Menzikoff. 79 
 
 Le Fort undertakes a commission. Making of the uniforms. 
 
 emperor's presence wearing the uniform of a 
 common soldier. The emperor examined this 
 dress too, and saw the superiority of it in re- 
 spect to its convenience, and its adaptedness to 
 the wants and emergencies of military life. He 
 said at once that he should like to have a com' 
 pany of guards dressed and equipped in that 
 manner, and should be also very much pleased 
 to have them disciplined and drilled according 
 to the western style. Le Fort said that if his 
 majesty was pleased to intrust him with the 
 commission, he would endeavor to organize 
 such a company. 
 
 The emperor requested him to do so, and Le 
 Fort immediately undertook the task. He went 
 about Moscow to all the different merchants to 
 procure the materials necessary — for many of 
 these materials were such as were not much in 
 use in Moscow, and so it was not easy to pro- 
 cure them in sufficient quantities to make the 
 number of suits that Le Fort required. He also 
 sought out all the tailors that he could find at 
 the houses of the different embassadors, or of 
 the great merchants who came from western 
 "Europe, and were consequently acquainted with 
 the mode of cutting and making the dresses in 
 the proper manner. Of course, a considerable 
 number of tailors would be necessary to make 
 
80 Peter the Great. [1690. 
 
 He enlists a company. The company appears before the emperor. 
 
 up so many uniforms in the short space of time 
 which Le Fort wished to allot to the work. 
 
 Le Fort then went about among the strangers 
 and foreigners at Moscow, both those connected 
 with the embassadors and others, to find men 
 that were in some degree acquainted with the 
 drill and tactics of the western armies, who 
 were willing to serve in the company that he 
 was about to organize. He soon made up a 
 company of fifty men. When this company 
 was completed, and clothed in the new uniform, 
 and had been properly drilled, Le Fort put 
 himself at the head of them one morning, and 
 marched them, with drums beating and colors 
 flying, before the palace gate. The Czar came 
 to the window to see them as they passed. He 
 was much surprised at the spectacle, and very 
 much pleased. He came down to look at the 
 men more closely ; he stood by while they went 
 through the exercises in which Le Fort had 
 drilled them. The emperor was so much 
 pleased that he said he would join the company 
 himself. He wished to learn to perform the 
 exercise personally, so as to know in a practical 
 manner precisely how others ought to perform 
 it. He accordingly caused a dress to be made 
 for himself, and he took his place afterward in 
 the ranks as a common soldier, and was drilled 
 with the rest in all the exercises. 
 
1690.] L:: Fort and Menzikoff. 81 
 
 The result. New improvements proposed. ■ Changes. 
 
 From this beginning the change went on un- 
 til the style of dress and the system of tactics 
 for the whole imperial army was reformed by 
 the introduction of the compact and scientific 
 system of western Europe, in the place of the 
 old-fashioned and cumbrous usages which had 
 previously prevailed. 
 
 The emperor having experienced the im- 
 mense advantages which resulted from the 
 adoption of western improvements in his army, 
 wished now to make an experiment of introduc- 
 ing, in the same way, the elements of western 
 civilization into the ordinary branches of indus- 
 try and art. He proposed to Le Fort to make 
 arrangements for bringing into the country a 
 great number of mechanics and artisans from 
 Denmark, Germany, France, and other Euro- 
 pean countries, in order that their improved 
 methods and processes might be introduced 
 into Russia. Le Fort readily entered into this 
 proposal, but he explained to the emperor that, 
 in order to render such a measure successful on 
 the scale necessary for the accomplishment of 
 any important good, it would be first requisite 
 to make some considerable changes in the gen- 
 eral laws of the land, especially in relation to 
 intercourse with foreign nations. On his mak- 
 ing known fully and in detail what these 
 F 
 
82 Peter the Great. [1690. 
 
 Remodeling of the tariff. Effects of the change. The finances. 
 
 changes would be, the emperor readily acceded 
 to them, and the proposed modifications of the 
 laws were made. The tariff of duties on the 
 products and manufactures of foreign countries 
 was greatly reduced. This produced % a two- 
 fold effect. 
 
 In the first place, it greatly increased the im- 
 portations of goods from foreign countries, and 
 thus promoted the intercourse of the Russians 
 with foreign merchants, manufacturers, and art- 
 isans, and gradually accustomed the people to 
 a better style of living, and to improved fash- 
 ions in dress, furniture, and equipage, and thus 
 prepared the country to furnish an extensive 
 market for the encouragement of Russian arts 
 and manufactures as fast as they could be in- 
 troduced. 
 
 In the second place, the new system greatly 
 increased the revenues of the empire. It is 
 true that the tariff was reduced, so that the ar- 
 ticles that were imported paid only about half 
 as much in proportion after the change as be- 
 fore. But then the new laws increased the im- 
 portations so much, that the loss was very much 
 more than made up to the treasury, and the 
 emperor found in a very short time that the 
 state of his finances was greatly improved. 
 This enabled him to take measures for intro- 
 
1690.] Le Fort and Menzikoff. 83 
 
 4 
 
 Carpenters and masons brought in. New palace. 
 
 ducing into the country great numbers of for- 
 eign manufacturers and artisans from Germany, 
 France, Scotland, and other countries of west- 
 ern Europe. These men were brought into the 
 country by the emperor, and sustained there 
 at the public expense, until they had become 
 so far established in their several professions 
 and trades that they could maintain themselves. 
 Among others, he brought in a great many 
 carpenters and masons to teach the Russians to 
 build better habitations than those which they 
 had been accustomed to content themselves 
 with, which were, in general, wooden huts of 
 very rude and inconvenient construction. One 
 of the first undertakings in which the masons 
 were employed was the building of a handsome 
 palace of hewn stone in Moscow for the emper- 
 or himself, the first edifice of that kind which 
 had ever been built in that city. The sight of 
 a palace formed of so elegant and durable a 
 material excited the emulation of all the wealthy 
 noblemen, so that, as soon as the masons were 
 released from their engagement with the em- 
 peror, they found plenty of employment in 
 building new houses and palaces for these no- 
 blemen. 
 
 These and a great many other similar meas- 
 ures were devised by Le Fort during the time 
 
84: Peter the Great. [1690. 
 
 Le Fort's increasing influence. His generosity. 
 
 that he continued in the service of the Czar, 
 and the success which attended all his plans 
 and proposals gave him, in the end, great influ- 
 ence, and was the means of acquiring for him 
 great credit and renown. And yet he was so 
 discreet and unpretending in his manners and 
 demeanor, if the accounts which have come 
 down to us respecting him are correct, that the 
 high favor in which he was held by the emper- 
 or did not awaken in the hearts of the native 
 nobles of the land any considerable degree of 
 that jealousy and ill-will which they might 
 have been expected to excite. Le Fort was of 
 a very self-sacrificing and disinterested disposi- 
 tion. He was generous in his dealings with 
 all, and he often exerted the ascendency which 
 he had acquired over the mind of the emperor 
 to save other officers from undeserved or ex- 
 cessive punishment when they displeased their 
 august master; for it must be confessed that 
 Peter, notwithstanding all the excellences of 
 his character, had the reputation at this period 
 of his life of being hasty and passionate. He 
 was very impatient of contradiction, and he 
 could not tolerate any species of opposition to 
 his wishes. Being possessed himself of great 
 decision of character, and delighting, as he did, 
 in promptness and energy of action, he lost all 
 
1690.] Le Fort and Mexzikoff. 85 
 
 Peter's violent temper. Le Fort an intercessor. 
 
 patience sometimes, when annoyed by the de- 
 lays, or the hesitation, or the inefficiency of 
 others, who were not so richly endowed by na- 
 ture as himself. In these cases he was often 
 unreasonable, and sometimes violent ; and he 
 would in many instances have acted in an un- 
 generous and cruel manner if Le Fort had not al- 
 ways been at hand to restrain and appease him. 
 Le Fort always acted as intercessor in cases 
 of difficulty of this sort; so that the Russian 
 noblemen, or boyars as they were called, in the 
 end looked upon him as their father. It is said 
 that he actually saved the lives of great num.-* 
 bers of them, whom Peter, without his interces- 
 sion, would have sentenced to death. Others 
 he saved from the knout, and others from ban- 
 ishment. At one time, when the emperor, in a 
 passion, was going to cause one of his officers to 
 be scourged, although, as Le Fort thought, he 
 had been guilty of no wrong which could de- 
 serve such a punishment, Le Fort, after all oth- 
 er means had failed, bared his own breast and 
 shoulders, and bade the angry emperor to strike 
 or cut there if he would, but to spare the inno- 
 cent person. The Czar was entirely overcome 
 by this noble generosity, and, clasping Le Fort 
 in his arms, thanked him for his interposition, 
 at the same time allowing the trembling pris- 
 
86 P 
 
 ETER 
 
 THE 
 
 G 
 
 HE 
 
 AT. 
 
 [1690. 
 
 Prince Menzikoff. 
 
 
 
 
 
 His e 
 
 arly history. 
 
 oner to depart in peace, with his heart full of 
 gratitude toward the friend who had so nobly 
 saved him. 
 
 Another of the' chief officers in Peter's serv- 
 ice during the early part of his reign was the 
 Prince Menzikoff. His origin was very hum- 
 ble. His Christian name was Alexander, and 
 his father was a laboring man in the service of 
 a monastery on the banks of the Volga. The 
 monasteries of those times were endowed with 
 large tracts of valuable land, which were culti- 
 vated by servants or vassals, and from the pro- 
 ceeds of this cultivation the monks were sup- 
 ported, and the monastery buildings kept in re- 
 pair or enlarged. 
 
 Alexander spent the early years of his life in 
 working with his father on the monastery lancls ; 
 but, being a lad of great spirit and energy, he 
 gradually became dissatisfied with this mode of 
 life ; for the peasants of those days, such as his 
 father, who tilled the lands of the nobles or of 
 the monks, were little better than slaves. Al- 
 exander, then, when he arrived at the age of 
 thirteen or fourteen, finding his situation and 
 prospects at home very gloomy and discourag- 
 ing, concluded to go out into the world and 
 seek his fortune. 
 
 So he left his father's hut and set out for Mos' 
 
1690.] Le Fort and Menzieoff. SO 
 
 He sets off to seek his fortune. His plc3 and cakes. 
 
 cow. After meeting with various adventures 
 on the way and in the city, he finally found a 
 place in a pastry-cook's shop ; but, instead of 
 being employed in making and baking the pies 
 and tarts, he was sent out into the streets to sell 
 them. In order to attract customers to his mer- 
 chandise, he used to sing songs and tell stories 
 in the streets. Indeed, it was the talent which 
 he evinced in these arts, doubtless, which led 
 his master to employ, him in this way, instead 
 of keeping him at work at home in the baking. 
 The story which is told of the manner in 
 which the emperor's attention was first attract- 
 ed to young MenzikofT is very curious, but, as 
 is the case with all other such personal anec- 
 dotes related of great sovereigns, it is very 
 doubtful how far it is to be believed. It is said 
 that Peter, passing. along the street one* day, 
 stopped to listen to MenzikofT as he was sing- 
 ing a song or telling a story to a crowd of list- 
 eners. He was much diverted by one of the 
 songs that he heard, and at the close of it he 
 spoke to the boy, and finally asked him what 
 he would take for his whole stock of cakes and 
 pies, basket and all. The boy named the sum 
 for which he would sell all the cakes and pies, 
 but as for the basket he said that belonged to 
 his master, and he had no power to sell it. 
 
90 Peter the Great. [1690. 
 
 Negotiation with the emperor. Menzikoff in Le Fort's company. 
 
 " Still," he added, " every thing belongs to 
 your majesty, and your majesty has, therefore, 
 only to give me the command, and I shall de- 
 liver it up to you." 
 
 This reply pleased the Czar so much that he 
 sent for the boy to come to him, and on con- 
 versing with him farther, and after making ad- 
 ditional inquiries respecting him, he was so 
 well satisfied that he took him at once into his 
 service. 
 
 All this took place before Le Fort's plan was 
 formed for organizing a company to exhibit to 
 the emperor the style of uniform and the sys- 
 tem of military discipline adopted in western 
 Europe, as has already been described. Men- 
 zikoff joined this company, and he took so 
 much interest in the exercises and evolutions, 
 and evinced so great a degree of intelligence, 
 and so much readiness in comprehending and 
 in practicing the various manoeuvres, that he 
 attracted Le Fort's special attention. He was 
 soon promoted to office in the company, and 
 ultimately he became Le Fort's principal co-ope- 
 rator in his various measures and plans. From 
 this he rose by degrees, until in process of time 
 he became one of the most distinguished gen- 
 erals in Peter's army, and took a very import- 
 ant part in some of his most celebrated cam- 
 paign! s. 
 
1691.] Le Fort and Menzikoff. 91 
 
 Menzikoff s real character. Quarrel between Peter and his wife. 
 
 Iii reading stories like these, we are naturally 
 led to feel a strong interest in the persons who 
 are the subjects of them, and we sometimes in- 
 sensibly form opinions of their characters which 
 are far too favorable. This Menzikoff, for ex- 
 ample, notwithstanding the enterprising spirit 
 which he displayed in his boyhood, in setting 
 off alone to Moscow to seek his fortune, and 
 his talent for telling stories and singing songs, 
 and the interest which he felt, and the success 
 that he met with, in learning Le Fort's military 
 manoeuvres, and the great distinction which he 
 subsequently acquired as a military command- 
 er, may have been, after all, in relation to any 
 just and proper standards of moral duty, a very 
 bad man. Indeed, there is much reason to sup- 
 pose that he was so. At all events, he became 
 subsequently implicated in a dreadful quarrel 
 which took place between Peter and his wife, 
 under circumstances which appear very much 
 against him. This quarrel occurred after Peter 
 had been married only about two years, and 
 when he was yet not quite twenty years old. 
 As usual in such cases, very different stories 
 are told by the friends respectively of the hus- 
 band and the wife. On the part of the empress 
 it was said that the difficulty arose from Peter's 
 having been drawn away into bad company, 
 
£2 Peter the Great. [1691. 
 
 Cause of the quarrel. Ottokesa's cruel fate. 
 
 and especially the company of bad women, 
 through the instrumentality of Menzikoff when 
 he first came into Peter's service. Menzikoff 
 was a dissolute young man, it was said, while 
 he was in the service of the pastry-cook, and 
 was accustomed to frequent the haunts of the 
 vicious and depraved about the town; and after 
 he entered into Peter's service, Peter himself 
 began to go with him to these places, disguised, 
 of course, so as not to be known. This troubled 
 Ottokesa, and made her jealous ; and when she 
 remonstrated with her husband he was angry, 
 and by way of recrimination accused her of be- 
 ing unfaithful to him. Menzikoff too was nat- 
 urally filled with resentment at the empress's 
 accusations against him, and he took Peter's 
 part against his wife. Whatever may have 
 been the truth in regard to the grounds of the 
 complaints made by the parties against each 
 other, the power was on Peter's side. He re- 
 pudiated his wife, and then shut her up in a 
 place of seclusion, where ' he kept her confined 
 all the remainder of her days. 
 
 Besides the unfavorable inferences which we 
 might justly draw from this case, there are un- 
 fortunately other indications that Peter, not- 
 withstanding the many and great excellences 
 of his character, was at this period of his life 
 
1691.] Le Fort and Menzikoff. 93 
 
 Grave faults in Peter's character. 
 
 violent and passionate in temper, very impa- % 
 tient of contradiction or opposition, and often 
 unreasonable and unjust in his treatment of 
 those who for any reason became the objects of 
 his suspicion or dislike. Various incidents and 
 occurrences illustrating these traits in his char- 
 acter will appear in the subsequent chapters of 
 his history. 
 
94 Peter the Great. [1691. 
 
 Peter's unlimited power. Extent of his dominions. Character. 
 
 Chapter "V. 
 Commencement of the Eeign. 
 
 PETEE was now not far from twenty years 
 of age, and lie was in full possession of 
 power as vast, perhaps — if we consider both 
 the extent of it and its absoluteness — as was 
 ever claimed by any European sovereign. 
 There was no written constitution to limit his 
 prerogatives, and no Legislature or Parliament 
 to control him by laws. In a certain sense, as 
 Alexander Menzikoff said when selling his 
 cakes, every thing belonged to him. His word 
 was law. Life and death hung upon his de- 
 cree. His dominions extended so far that, on 
 an occasion when he wished to send an embas- 
 sador to one of his neighbors — the Emperor of 
 China — it took the messenger more than eight- 
 een months of constant and diligent traveling to 
 go from the capital to the frontier. 
 
 Such was Peter's position. As to character, 
 he was talented, ambitious, far-seeing, and res- 
 olute ; but he was also violent in temper, mer- 
 ciless and implacable toward his enemies, and 
 possessed of an indomitable will. 
 
1691.] Commencement of Keign. 95 
 
 His wishes in respect to his dominions. Embassy to China. 
 
 He began immediately to feel a strong inter- 
 est in the improvement of his empire, in order 
 to increase his own power and grandeur as the 
 monarch of it, just as a private citizen might 
 wish to improve his estate in order to increase 
 his wealth and importance as the owner of it. 
 He sent the embassador above referred to to 
 China in order to make arrangements for in- 
 creasing and improving the trade between the 
 two countries. This mission was arranged in 
 a very imposing manner. The embassador was 
 attended with a train of twenty-one persons, 
 who went with him in the capacity of secreta- 
 ries, interpreters, legal councilors, and the like, 
 besides a large number of servants and follow- 
 ers to wait upon the gentlemen of the party, 
 and to convey and take care of the baggage. 
 The baggage was borne in a train of wagons 
 which followed the carriages of the embassador 
 and his suite, so that the expedition moved 
 through the country quite like a little army on 
 a march. 
 
 It was nearly three years before the embas- 
 sage returned. The measure, however, was 
 eminently successful. It placed the relations 
 of the two empires on a very satisfactory foot- 
 ing. 
 
 The dominions of the Czar extended then, as 
 
96 Peter the Great. [1691. 
 
 Siberia. Inhospitable climate. The exiles. 
 
 now, through all the northern portions of Eu- 
 rope and Asia, to the shores of the Icy Sea. 
 A very important part of this region is the fa- 
 mous Siberia. The land here is not of much 
 value for cultivation, on account of the long 
 and dreary winters and the consequent short-, 
 ness of the summer season. But this very 
 coldness of the climate causes it to produce a 
 great number of fine far-bearing animals, such 
 as the sable, the mink, the ermine, and the ot- 
 ter ; for nature has so arranged it that, the cold- 
 er any climate is, the finer and the warmer is 
 the fur which grows upon the animals that live 
 there. * 
 
 The inhabitants of Siberia are employed, 
 therefore, chiefly in hunting wild animals for 
 their flesh or their fur, and in working the 
 mines ; and, from time immemorial, it has been 
 the custom to send criminals there in banish- 
 ment, and compel them to spend the remainder 
 of their lives in these toilsome and dangerous 
 occupations. Of course, the cold, the expo- 
 sure, and the fatigue, joined to the mental dis- 
 tress and suffering which the thought of their 
 hard fate and the recollections of home must 
 occasion, soon bring fer the greater proportion 
 of these unhappy outcasts to the grave. 
 
 Peter interested himself very much in efforts 
 
1691.] Commencement of Keign. 97 
 
 Western civilization. Ship-building. The Dutch ship-yards. 
 
 to open communications with these retired and 
 almost inaccessible regions, and to improve and 
 extend the working of the mines. But his 
 thoughts were chiefly occupied with the condi- 
 tion of the European portion of his dominions, 
 and with schemes for introducing more and 
 more fully the arts and improvements of west- 
 ern Europe among his people. He was ready 
 to seize upon every occasion which could fur- 
 nish any hint or suggestion to tins end. 
 
 The manner in which his attention was first 
 turned to the subject of ship-building illustra- 
 ted this. In those days Holland was the great 
 centre of commerce and navigation for the 
 whole world, and the art of ship-building had 
 made more progress in that nation than in any 
 other. The Dutch held colonies in every quar- 
 ter of the globe. Their men-of-war and their 
 fleets of merchantmen penetrated to every sea, 
 and their naval commanders were universally 
 renowned for their enterprise, their bravery, 
 and their nautical skill. 
 
 The Dutch not only built ships for them- 
 selves, but orders were sent to their ship-yards 
 irom all parts of the world, inasmuch as in 
 these yards all sorts of vessels, whether for 
 war, commerce, or pleasure, could be built bet- 
 ter and cheaper than in any other place. 
 G 
 
98 Peter the Great. [1691. 
 
 Saardam. The barge at the country palace. 
 
 One of the chief centres in which these ship 
 and boat building operations were carried on 
 was the town of Saardam. This town lies 
 near Amsterdam, the great commercial capital 
 of the country. It extends for a mile or two 
 along the banks of a deep and still river, which 
 furnish most complete and extensive facilities 
 for the docks and ship-yards. 
 
 Now it happened that, one day when Peter 
 was with Le Fort at one of his country palaces 
 where there was a little lake, and a canal con- 
 nected with it, which had been made for pleas- 
 ure-sailing on the grounds, his attention was 
 attracted to the form and construction of a 
 yacht which was lying there. This yacht hav- 
 ing been sent for from Holland at the time 
 when the palace grounds were laid out, the em- 
 peror fell into conversation with Le Fort in 
 respect to it, and this led to the subject of 
 ships and ship-building in general. Le Fort ' 
 represented so strongly to his master the ad- 
 vantages which Holland and the other mari- 
 time powers of Europe derived from their ships 
 of war, that Peter began immediately to feel a 
 strong desire to possess a navy himself. There^ 
 were, of course, great difficulties in the way.^ 
 Eussia was almost entirely an inland country. 
 There were no good sea-ports, and Moscow, the 
 
1694.] Commencement of Keign. 99 
 
 The emperor's first vessels. Sham-fight3. 
 
 capital, was situated very far in the interior. 
 Then, besides, Peter not only had no ships, but 
 there were no mechanics or artisans in Eussia 
 that knew how to build them. 
 
 Le Fort, however, when he perceived how 
 deep was the interest which Peter felt in the 
 subject, made inquiries, and at length succeed- 
 ed in finding among the Dutch merchants that 
 were in Moscow the means of procuring some 
 ship-builders to build him several small ves- 
 sels, which, when they were completed, were 
 launched upon a lake not far from the city. 
 Afterward other vessels were built in the same 
 place, in the form of frigates ; and these, when 
 they were launched, were properly equipped 
 and armed, under Le Fort's direction, and the 
 emperor took great interest in sailing about in 
 them on the lake, in learning personally all the 
 evolutions necessary for the management of 
 them, and in performing sham-fights by set- 
 ting one of them against another. He took 
 command of one of the vessels as captain, and 
 thenceforward assumed that designation as one 
 of his most honorable titles. All this took 
 place when Peter was about twenty-two years 
 old. 
 
 Not very long after this the emperor had an 
 opportunity to make a commencement in con- 
 
100 Petee the Great. [1694 
 
 Azof. Naval operations against Azof. Treachery of the artilleryman. 
 
 verting his nautical knowledge to actual use by 
 engaging in something like a naval operation 
 against an enemy. In conjunction with several 
 other European powers, he declared war anew 
 against the Turks and Tartars, and. the chief 
 object of the first campaign was the capture of 
 the city of Azof, which is situated on the shores 
 of the Sea of Azof, near the mouth of the Eiver 
 Don. Peter not only approached and invested 
 the city by land, but he also took possession of 
 the river leading to it by means of a great num- 
 ber of boats and vessels which he caused to be 
 built along the banks. In this way he cut off 
 all supplies from the city, and pressed it so 
 closely that he would have taken it, it was said, 
 had it not been for the treachery of an officer 
 of artillery, who betrayed to the enemy the 
 principal battery which had been raised agatnst 
 the town just as it was ready to be opened 
 upon the walls. This artilleryman, who was 
 not a native Kussian, but one of the foreigners 
 whom the Czar had enlisted in his service, be- 
 came exasperated at some ill treatment which 
 he received from the Kussian nobleman who 
 commanded his corps; so he secretly drove 
 nails into the touchholes of all the guns in the 
 battery, and then, in the night, went over to the 
 Turks and informed them what he had done. 
 
1696.] Commencement of Eeign. 101 
 
 Defeat. New attempt. The Turkish fleet taken. 
 
 Accordingly, very early in the morning the 
 Turks sallied forth and attacked the battery, 
 and the men who were charged with the de- 
 fense of it, on rushing to the guns, found that 
 they could not be fired. The consequence was 
 that the battery was taken, the men put to 
 flight, and the guns destroyed. This defeat en- 
 tirely disconcerted the Eussian army, and so 
 effectually deranged their plans that they were 
 obliged to raise the siege and withdraw, with 
 the expectation, however, of renewing the at- 
 tempt in another campaign. 
 
 Accordingly, the next year the attempt was 
 renewed, and many more boats and vessels 
 were built upon the river to co-operate with 
 the besiegers. The Turks had ships of their 
 own, which they brought into the Sea of Azof 
 for the protection of the town. But Peter sent 
 down a few of his smaller vessels, and by means 
 of them contrived to entice the Turkish com- 
 mander up a little way into the river. Peter 
 ihen came down upon him with all his fleet, 
 and the Turkish ships were overpowered and 
 taken. Thus Peter gained his first naval vic- 
 tory almost, as we might say, on the land. He 
 conquered and captured a fleet of sea-going 
 ships by enticing them among the boats and 
 other small craft which he had built up coun- 
 try on the banks of a river. 
 
102 Petee the Geeat. [1696. 
 
 Fall of Azof. Fame of the emperor. His plans for building a fleet. 
 
 Soon after this Azof was taken. One of the 
 conditions of the surrender was that the treach- 
 erous artilleryman should be delivered up to 
 the Czar. He was taken to Moscow, and there 
 put to death with tortures too horrible to be 
 described. They did not deny that the man 
 had been greatly injured by his Eussian com- 
 mander, but they told him that what he ought 
 to have done was to appeal to the emperor for 
 redress, and not to seek his revenge by traitor- 
 ously giving up to the enemy the trust commit- 
 ted to his charge. 
 
 The emperor acquired great fame through- 
 out Europe by the success of his operations in 
 the siege of Azof. This success also greatly 
 increased his interest in the building of ships, 
 especially as he now, since Azof had fallen into 
 his hands, had a port upon an open sea. 
 
 In a word, Peter was now very eager to be- 
 gin at once the building ships of war. He was 
 determined that he would have a fleet which 
 would enable him to go out and meet the Turks 
 in the Black Sea. The great difficulty was to 
 provide the necessary funds. To accomplish 
 this purpose, Peter, who was never at all scru- 
 pulous in respect to the means which he adopt- 
 ed for attaining his ends, resorted at once to 
 very decided measures. Besides the usual tax- 
 
1696.] Commencement of Eeign. 103 
 
 Foreign workmen. Penalties. His arbitrary proceedings. 
 
 es which were laid upon the people to main- 
 tain the war, he ordained that a certain number 
 of wealthy noblemen should each pay for one 
 ship, which, however, as some compensation for 
 the cost which the nobleman was put to in 
 building it, he was at liberty to call by his own 
 name. The same decree was made in respect 
 to a number of towns, monasteries, companies, 
 and public institutions. The emperor also made 
 arrangements for having a large number of 
 workmen sent into Eussia from Holland, and 
 from Yenice, and from other maritime coun- 
 tries. The emperor laid his plans in this way 
 for the construction and equipment of a fleet 
 of about one hundred ships and vessels, consist- 
 ing of frigates, store-ships, bomb- vessels, galleys, 
 and galliasses. These were all to be built, 
 equipped, and made in all respects ready for 
 sea in the space of three years ; and if any per- 
 son or party failed to have his ship ready at 
 that time, the amount of the tax which had been 
 assessed to him was to be doubled. 
 
 In all these proceedings, the Czar, as might 
 have been expected from his youth and his 
 headstrong character, acted in a very summary, 
 and in many respects in an arbitrary and des- 
 potic manner. His decrees requiring the nobles 
 to contribute such large sums for the building 
 
104 Petee the Great. [1696. 
 
 He sends the young nobility abroad. Opposition. 
 
 of his fleet occasioned a great deal of dissatis- 
 faction and complaint. And very soon he re- 
 sorted to some other measures, which increased 
 the general discontent exceedingly. 
 
 He appointed a considerable number of the 
 younger nobility, and the sons of other persons 
 of wealth and distinction, to travel in the west- 
 ern countries of Europe while the fleet was pre- 
 paring, giving them special instructions in re- 
 spect to the objects of interest which they 
 should severally examine and study. The pur- 
 pose of this measure was to advance the gen- 
 eral standard of intelligence in Eussia by af- 
 fording to these young men the advantages of 
 foreign travel, and enlarging their ideas in re- 
 spect to the future progress of their own coun- 
 try in the arts and appliances of civilized life. 
 The general idea of the emperor in this was 
 excellent, and the effect of the measure would 
 have been excellent too if it had been carried 
 out in a more gentle and moderate way. But 
 the fathers of the young men were incensed at 
 having their sons ordered thus peremptorily 
 out of the country, whether they liked to go or 
 not, and however inconvenient it might be for 
 the fathers to provide the large amounts of 
 money which were required for such journeys. 
 It is said that one young man was so angry at 
 
1696.5 Commencement of Reign. 105 
 
 Sullen mood of mind. National prejudices offended. 
 
 being thus sent away that he determined that 
 his country should not derive any benefit from 
 the measure, so far as his case was concerned, 
 and accordingly, when he arrived at Venice, 
 which was the place where he was sent, he shut 
 himself up in his house, and remained there all 
 the time, in order that he might not see or 
 learn any thing to make use of on his return. 
 
 This seems almost incredible. Indeed, the 
 story has more the air of a witticism, invented 
 to express the sullen humor with which many 
 of the young men went away, than the sober 
 statement of a fact. Still, it is not impossible 
 that such a thing may have actually occurred ; 
 for the veneration of the old Eussian families 
 for their own country, and the contempt with 
 which they had been accustomed for many 
 generations to look upon foreigners, and upon 
 every thing connected with foreign manners 
 and customs, were such as might lead in ex- 
 treme cases, to almost any degree of fanaticism 
 in resisting the emperor's measures. At any 
 rate, in a short time there was quite a power- 
 ful party formed in opposition to the foreign 
 influences which Peter was introducing into the 
 country. 
 
 There was no one in the imperial family to 
 whom this party could look for a leader and 
 
106 Peter the Great. [1696. 
 
 The opposition party. Arguments of the disaffected. 
 
 head except the Princess Sophia. The Czar 
 John, Peter's feeble brother, was dead, other- 
 wise they might have made his name their ral- 
 lying cry. Sophia was still shut up in the con- 
 vent to which Peter had sent her on the dis- 
 covery of her conspiracy against him. She was 
 kept very closely guarded there. Still, the lead- 
 ers of the opposition contrived to open a com- 
 munication with her. They took every means 
 to increase and extend the prevailing discon- 
 tent. To people of wealth and rank they rep- 
 resented the* heavy taxes which they were 
 obliged to pay to defray the expenses of the 
 emperor's wild schemes, and the loss of their 
 own proper influence and power in the govern- 
 ment of the country, they, themselves being dis- 
 placed to make room for foreigners, or favor- 
 ites like Menzikoff, that were raised from the 
 lowest grades of life to posts of honor and profit 
 which ought to be bestowed upon the ancient 
 nobility alone. To the poor and ignorant they 
 advanced other arguments, which were address- 
 ed chiefly to their religious prejudices. The 
 government were subverting all the ancient us- 
 ages of the country, they said, and throwing ev- 
 ery thing into the hands of infidel or heretical 
 foreigners. The course which the Czar was pur- 
 suing was contrary to the laws of God, they 
 
1696.] Commencement of Eeign. 107 
 
 Religious feelings of the people. The patriarch. An impious scheme. 
 
 said, who Lad forbidden the children of Israel 
 to have any communion with the unbelieving 
 nations around them, in order that they might 
 not be led away by them into idolatry. And 
 so in Eussia, they said, the extensive power of 
 granting permission to any Eussian subject to 
 leave the country vested, according to the an- 
 cient usages of the empire, with the patriarch, 
 the head of the Church — and Peter had violat- 
 ed these usages in sending away so many of 
 the sons of the nobility without the patriarch's 
 consent. There were many other measures, too, 
 which Peter had adopted, or which he had then 
 in contemplation, that were equally obnoxious 
 to the charge of impiety. For instance, he had 
 formed a plan — and he had even employed en- 
 gineers -to take preliminary steps in reference to 
 the execution of it — for making a canal from 
 the Eiver Wolga to the Eiver Don, thus pre- 
 sumptuously and impiously undertaking to turn 
 the streams one way, when Providence had de- 
 signed them to flow in another ! Absurd as 
 many of these representations were, they had 
 great influence with the mass of the common 
 people. 
 
 At length this opposition party became so ex- 
 tended and so strong that the leaders thought 
 the tinfe had arrived for them to act. They ac- 
 
108 Peter the Great. [1697. 
 
 Plan of the conspirators. Fires. Dread of them in Moscow. 
 
 cordingly arranged the details of their plot, and 
 prepared to put it in execution. 
 
 The scheme which they formed was this: 
 they were to set fire to some houses in the 
 night, not far from the royal palace, and when 
 the emperor came out, as it is said was his cus- 
 tom to do, in order to assist in extinguishing 
 the flames, they were to set upon him and as- 
 sassinate him. 
 
 It may seem strange that it should be the 
 custom of the emperor himself to go out and 
 assist personally in extinguishing fires. But it 
 so happened that the houses of Moscow at this 
 time were almost all built of wood, and they 
 were so combustible, and were, moreover, so 
 much exposed, on account of the many fires re- 
 quired in the winter season in so cold a climate, 
 that the city was subject to dreadful conflagra- 
 tions. So great was the danger, that the in- 
 habitants were continually in dread of it, and 
 all classes vied with each other in efforts to 
 avert the threatened calamity whenever a fire 
 broke out. Besides this, there were in those 
 days no engines for throwing water, and no or- 
 ganized department of firemen. All this, of 
 course, is entirely different at the present day 
 in modern cities, where houses are built of brick 
 or stone, and the arrangements for extinguish- 
 
1697.] Commencement of Keign. 109 
 
 Modern cities. Plan for massacring the foreigners. The day. 
 
 ing fires are so complete that an alarm of fire 
 creates no sensation, but people go on with their 
 business or saunter carelessly along the streets, 
 while the firemen are gathering, without feeling 
 the least concern. 
 
 As soon as they had made sure of the death 
 of the Czar, the conspirators were to repair to 
 the convent where Sophia was imprisoned, re- 
 lease her from her confinement, and proclaim 
 her queen. They were then to reorganize the 
 Guards, restore all the officers who had been 
 degraded at the time of Couvansky's rebellion, 
 then massacre all the foreigners whom Peter 
 had brought into the country, especially his par- 
 ticular favorites, and so put every thing back 
 upon its ancient footing. 
 
 The time fixed for the execution of this plot 
 was the night of the 2d of February, 1697 ; but 
 the whole scheme was defeated by what the 
 conspirators would probably call the treachery 
 of two of their number. These were two offi- 
 cers of the Guards who had been concerned in 
 the plot, but whose hearts failed them when 
 the hour arrived for putting it into execution. 
 Falling into conversation with each other just 
 before the time, and finding that they agreed 
 in feeling on the subject, they resolved at once 
 to go and make a full confession to the Czar. 
 
110 Peter the Great. [1697. 
 
 The plot revealed. Measures taken by Peter. Torture. 
 
 So they went immediately to the house of 
 Le Fort, where the Czar then was, and made a 
 confession of the whole affair. They related 
 all the details of the plot, and gave the names 
 of the principal persons concerned in it. 
 
 The emperor was at table with Le Fort at 
 the time that he received this communication. 
 He listened to it very coolly — manifested no 
 surprise — but simply rose from the table, or- 
 dered a small body of men to attend him, and, 
 taking the names of the principal conspirators, 
 he went at once to their several houses and 
 arrested them on the spot. 
 
 The leaders having been thus seized, the ex- 
 ecution of the plot was defeated. The prison- 
 ers were soon afterward put to the torture, in 
 order to compel them to confess their crime, 
 and to reveal the names of all their confeder- 
 ates. Whether the names thus extorted from 
 them by suffering were false or true would of 
 course be wholly uncertain, but all whom they 
 named were seized, and, after a brief and very 
 informal trial, all, or nearly all, were condemn- 
 ed-to death. The sentence of death was exe- 
 cuted on them in the most barbarous manner 
 A great column was erected in the market 
 place in Moscow, and fitted with iron spikes 
 and hooks, which were made to project from 
 
1697.] Commencement of Eeign. Ill 
 
 Punishment of the conspirators. The column in the market-place 
 
 it on every side, from top to bottom. The 
 criminals were then brought, out one by one, 
 and first their arms were cut off, then their 
 legs, and finally their heads. The amputated 
 limbs were then hung up upon the column by 
 the hooks, and the heads were fixed to the 
 spikes. There they remained — a horrid spec- 
 tacle, intended to strike terror into all behold- 
 ers — through February and March, as long as 
 the weather continued cold enough to keep 
 them frozen. When at length the spring came 
 on, and the flesh of these dreadful trophies 
 began to thaw, they were taken down and 
 thrown together into a pit, among the bodies 
 of common thieves and murderers. 
 
 This was the end of the second conspiracy 
 formed against the life of Peter the Great. 
 
112 Peter the Great. [1697. 
 
 Objects of the tour. An embassy to be sent. 
 
 . Chapter VI. 
 The Emperor's Tour. 
 
 AT the time when the emperor issued his 
 orders to so many of the sons of the no- 
 bility, requiring them to go and reside for a 
 time in the cities of western Europe, he formed 
 the design of going himself to make a tour in 
 that part of the world, for the purpose of visit- 
 ing the courts and capitals, and seeing with his 
 own eyes what arts and improvements were to 
 be found there which might be advantageously 
 introduced into his own dominions. In the 
 spring of the year 1697, he thought that the 
 time had come for carrying this idea into effect. 
 The plan which he formed was not to travel 
 openly in his own name, for he knew that in 
 this case a great portion of his time and atten- 
 tion, in the different courts and capitals, would 
 be wasted in the grand parades, processions, 
 and ceremonies with which the different sov- 
 ereigns would doubtless endeavor to honor his 
 visit. He therefore determined to travel incog-" 
 nito, in the character of a private person in the 
 tnin of an embassy. An embassy could pro- 
 
1697.] The .Emperor's Tour. .113 
 
 The emperor to go incognito. His associates. 
 
 ceed more quietly from place to place than a 
 monarch, traveling in his own name ; and then 
 besides, if the emperor occupied only a subor- 
 dinate place in the train of the embassy, be 
 could slip away from it to pursue his own in- 
 quiries in a private manner whenever he 
 pleased, leaving the embassadors themselves 
 and those of their train who enjoyed such 
 scenes to go through all the public receptions 
 and other pompous formalities which would 
 have been so tiresome to him. 
 
 Greneral Le Fort, who had by this time been 
 raised to a very high position under Peter's 
 government, was placed at the head of this 
 embassy. Two other great officers of state 
 were associated with him. Then came secre- 
 taries, interpreters, and subordinates of all 
 kinds, in great numbers, among whom Peter 
 was himself enrolled under a fictitious name. 
 Peter took with him several young men of 
 about his own age. Two or three of these 
 were particular friends of his, whom he wished 
 to have accompany him for the sake of their 
 companionship on the journey. There were 
 some others whom he selected on account of 
 the talent which they had evinced for mechan- 
 ical and mathematical studies. These young 
 men he intended to have instructed in the art 
 
114; Peter the Gre*at. [1697. 
 
 The regency. Disposition of the Guards. 
 
 of sliip-building in some of the countries which 
 the embassy were to visit. 
 
 Besides these arrangements in respect to the 
 embassy, provision was, of course, to be made 
 by the emperor for the government of the coun- 
 try during his absence. He left the adminis- 
 tration in the hands of three great nobles, the 
 first of whom was one of his uncles, his moth- 
 er's brother. The name of this prince was Na- 
 raskin. The other two nobles were associated 
 with Naraskin in the regency. These commis- 
 sioners were to have the whole charge of the 
 government of the country during the Czar's 
 absence. Peter's little son, whose name was 
 Alexis, and who was now about seven years 
 old, was also committed to their keeping. 
 
 Not having entire confidence in the fidelity 
 of the old Guards, Peter did not trust the de- 
 fense of Moscow to them, but he garrisoned the 
 fortifications in and around the capital with a 
 force of about twelve thousand men that he 
 had gradually brought together for that pur- 
 pose. A great many of these troops, both offi- 
 cers and men, were foreigners. Peter placed 
 greater reliance on them on that account, sup- 
 posing that they would be less likely to sym- 
 pathize with and join the people of the city in 
 case of any popular discontent or disturbances. 
 
1697.] The Emperor's Tour. 115 
 
 The embassy leaves Moscow. • . Riga. 
 
 The Guards were sent off into the interior and 
 toward the frontiers, where they could do no 
 great mischief, even if disposed. 
 
 At length, when every thing was ready, the 
 embassy set out from Moscow. The departure 
 of the expedition from the gates of the city 
 made quite an imposing scene, so numerous 
 was the party which composed the embassa- 
 dors' train. There were in all about three 
 hundred men. The principal persons of the 
 embassy were, of course, splendidly mounted 
 and equipped, and they were followed by a line 
 of wagons conveying supplies of clothing, 
 stores, presents for foreign courts, and other 
 baggage. This baggage-train was, of course, 
 attended by a suitable escort. Yast multitudes 
 of people assembled along the streets and at 
 the gates of the city to see the grand procession 
 commence its march. 
 
 The first place of importance at which the 
 embassy stopped was the city of Eiga, on the 
 shores of the Gulf of Eiga, in the eastern part 
 of the Baltic Sea.* Eiga and the province in 
 which it was situated, though now a part of 
 the Eussian empire, then belonged to Sweden. 
 
 * For the situation of Riga in relation to Moscow, and 
 for that of the other places visited by the embassy, the read- 
 er must not fail to refer to a map of Europe. 
 
116 Peter the Great. [1697. 
 
 Not allowed to see the fortifications. Arrival at Konigsberg. 
 
 It was the principal port on the Baltic in those 
 days, and Peter felt a great interest in viewing 
 it, as there was then no naval outlet in that di- 
 rection from his dominions. The governor of 
 Riga was very polite to the embassy, and gave 
 them a very honorable reception in the city, 
 but he refused to allow the embassadors to ex- 
 amine the fortifications. It had been arranged 
 beforehand between the embassadors and Peter 
 that two of them were to ask permission to see 
 the fortifications, and that Peter himself was to 
 go around with them as their attendant when 
 they made their visit, in order that he might 
 make his own observations in respect to the 
 strength of the works and the mode of their 
 construction. Peter was accordingly very much 
 disappointed and vexed at the refusal of the 
 governor to allow the fortifications to be view- 
 ed, and he secretly resolved that he would seize 
 the first opportunity after his return to open a 
 quarrel with the King of Sweden, and take this 
 city away from him. 
 
 Leaving Riga, the embassy moved on toward 
 the southward and westward until, at length, 
 they entered the dominions of the King of 
 Prussia. They came soon to the city of Ko- 
 nigsberg, which was at that time the capital. 
 The reception of the embassy at this city was 
 
1697.] The Emperor's Tour. 117 
 
 Grand procession in entering the city. 
 
 attended with great pomp and display. The 
 whole party halted at a small village at the 
 distance of about a mile from the gates, in or- 
 der to give time for completing the arrange- 
 ments, and to await the arrival of a special mes- 
 senger and an escort from the king to conduct 
 them within the walls. 
 
 At length, when all was ready, the proces- 
 sion formed about four o'clock in the afternoon. 
 First came a troop of horses that belonged to 
 the king. They were splendidly caparisoned, 
 but were not mounted. They were led by 
 grooms. Then came an escort of troops of the 
 Eoyal Guards. They were dressed in splendid 
 red uniform, and were preceded by kettle- 
 drums. Then a company of the Prussian no- 
 bility in beautifully - decorated coaches, each 
 drawn by six horses. Next came the state 
 carriages of the king. The king himself was 
 not in either of them, it being etiquette for the 
 king to remain in his palace, and receive the 
 embassy at a public audience there after their 
 arrival. The royal carriages were sent out, 
 however, as a special though indirect token of 
 respect to the Czar, who was known to be in 
 the train. 
 
 Then came a procession of pages, consisting 
 of those of the king and those of the embassa- 
 
118 Peter the Great. [1697. 
 
 The pages. Curiosity of the people. The escort. 
 
 dors marching together. These pages were all 
 beautiful boys, elegantly dressed in characteris- 
 tic liveries of red laced with gold. They 
 marched three together, two of the king's pages 
 in each rank, with one of the embassadors' be- 
 tween them. The spectators were very much 
 interested in these boys, and the boys were 
 likewise doubtless much interested in each oth- 
 er ; but they could not hold any conversation 
 with each other, for probably those of each set 
 could speak only their own language. 
 
 Next after the pages came the embassy itself. 
 First there was a line of thirty-six carriages, 
 containing the principal officers and attendants 
 of the three embassadors. In one of these car- 
 riages, riding quietly with the rest as a subor- 
 dinate in the train, was Peter. There was 
 doubtless some vague intimation circulating 
 among the crowd that the Emperor of Eussia 
 was somewhere in the procession, concealed in 
 his disguise. But there were no means of 
 identifying him, and, of course, whatever curi- 
 osity the people felt on the subject remained 
 ungratifled. 
 
 Next after these carriages came the military 
 escort which the embassadors had brought with 
 them. The escort was headed by the embas 
 saclors' band of music, consisting of trumpets, 
 
1697.] The Emperor's Tour. 119 
 
 Crowds in the streets. The embassy arrives at its lodgings. 
 
 kettle-drums, and other martial instruments. 
 Then came a body of foot-guards : their uni- 
 form was green, and they were armed with 
 silver battle-axes. Then came a troop of horse- 
 men, which completed the escort. Immediate- 
 ly after the escort there followed the grand 
 state carriage of the embassy, with the three 
 embassadors in it. 
 
 The procession was closed bj^ a long train 
 of elegant carriages, conveying various person- 
 ages of wealth and distinction, who had come 
 from the city to join in doing honor to the 
 strangers. 
 
 As the procession entered the city, they 
 found the streets through which they were to 
 pass densely lined on each side by the citizens 
 who had assembled to witness the spectacle. 
 Through this vast concourse the embassadors 
 and their suite advanced, and were finally con- 
 ducted to a splendid palace which had been 
 prepared for them in the heart of the city. The 
 garrison of the city was drawn up at the gates 
 of the palace, to receive them as they arrived. 
 "When the carriage reached the gate and the 
 embassadors began to alight, a grand salute was 
 fired from the guns of the fortress. The em- 
 bassadors were immediately conducted to their 
 several apartments in the palace by the officers 
 
120 Peter the Great. [1697. 
 
 Audience of the king. Presents. 
 
 who had led the procession, and then left to re- 
 pose. When the officers were about to with- 
 draw, the embassadors accompanied them to 
 the head of the stairs and took leave of them 
 there. The doors of the palace and the halls 
 and entrances leading to the apartments of the 
 embassadors were guarded bj twenty -four sol- 
 diers, who were stationed there as sentinels to 
 protect the precincts from all intrusion. 
 
 Four days after this there was another dis- 
 play, when the embassadors were admitted to 
 their first public audience with the king. There 
 was again a grand procession through the 
 streets, with great crowds assembled to witness 
 it, and bands of music, and splendid uniforms, 
 and gorgeous equipages, all more magnificent, 
 if possible, than before. The embassadors were 
 conducted in this way to the royal palace. 
 They entered the hall, dressed in cloth of gold 
 and silver, richly embroidered, and adorned 
 with precious stones of great value. Here they 
 found the king seated on a throne, and attend- 
 ed by all the principal nobles of his court. The 
 embassadors advanced to pay their reverence 
 to his majesty, bearing in their hands, in a rich- 
 ly-ornamented box, a letter from the Czar, with 
 which they had been intrusted for him. There 
 were a number of attendants also, who were 
 
1697.] The Emperor's Tour. 121 
 
 Delivery of the letter from the Czar. Its contents. 
 
 loaded with rich and valuable presents which 
 the embassadors had brought to offer to the 
 king. The presents consisted of the most costly 
 furs, tissues of gold and silver, precious stones, 
 and the like, all productions of Eussia, and of 
 very great value. 
 
 The king received the embassadors in a very 
 honorable manner, and made them an address 
 of welcome in reply to the brief addresses of 
 salutation and compliment which they first de- 
 livered to him. He received the letter from 
 their hands and read it. The presents were 
 deposited on tables which had been set for the 
 purpose. 
 
 The letter stated that the Czar had sent the 
 embassy to assure him of his desire " to im- 
 prove the affection and good correspondence 
 which had always existed, as well between his 
 royal highness and himself as between their 
 illustrious ancestors." It said also that "the 
 same embassy being from thence to proceed to 
 the court of Vienna, the Czar requested the 
 king to help them on their journey." And 
 finally it expressed the thanks of the Czar, for 
 the "engineers and bombardiers" which the 
 king had sent him during the past year, and 
 who had been so useful to him in the siege of 
 Azof. 
 
122 Peter the Great. [1697. 
 
 The king's reply. Grand banquet. Effects of such an embassy. 
 
 The king, having read the letter, made a 
 verbal reply to the embassadors, asking them 
 to thank the Czar in his name for the friendly 
 sentiments which his letter expressed, and for 
 the splendid embassy which he had sent to 
 him. 
 
 All this time the Czar himself, the author 
 of the letter, was standing by, a quiet spectator 
 of the scene, undistinguishable from the other 
 secretaries and attendants that formed the em- 
 bassadors' train. 
 
 After the ceremony of audience was com- 
 pleted the embassadors withdrew. They were 
 reconducted to their lodgings with the same 
 ceremonies as were observed in their coming 
 out, and then spent the evening at a grand ban- 
 quet provided for them by the elector. All 
 the principal nobility of Prussia were present 
 at this banquet, and after it was concluded the 
 town was illuminated with a great display of 
 fireworks, which continued until midnight. 
 
 The sending of a grand embassage like this 
 from one royal or imperial potentate to another 
 was a very common occurrence in those times. 
 The pomp and parade with which they were 
 accompanied were intended equally for the 
 purpose of illustrating the magnificence of the 
 government that sent them, and of offering a 
 
1697.] The Emperor's Tour. 123 
 
 The policy of modern governments. 
 
 splendid token of respect to the one to which 
 they were sent. Of course, the expense was 
 enormous, both to the sovereign who sent and 
 to the one who received the compliment. But 
 such sovereigns as those were very willing to 
 expend money in parades which exhibited be- 
 fore the world the evidences of their own grand- 
 cur and power, especially as the mass of the 
 people, from whose toils the means of defray- 
 ing the cost was ultimately to come, were so 
 completely held in subjection by military pow- 
 er that they could not even complain, far less 
 could they take any effectual measures for call- 
 ing their oppressors to account. In govern- 
 ments that are organized at the present day, 
 either by the establishment of new constitu- 
 tions, or by the remodeling and reforming of 
 old ones, all this is changed. The people un- 
 derstand now that all the money which is ex- 
 pended by their governments is ultimately paid 
 by themselves, and they are gradually devising 
 means by which they can themselves exercise 
 a greater and greater control over these ex- 
 penditures. They retain a far greater portion 
 of the avails of their labor in their own hands, 
 and expend it in adorning and making com- 
 fortable their own habitations, and cultivating 
 the minds of their children, while they require 
 
124 Peter the Great. [1697. 
 
 The people now reserve their earnings for their own use. 
 
 the government officials to live, and travel, and 
 transact their business in a more quiet and un- 
 pretending way than was customary of yore. 
 
 Thus, in traveling over most parts of the 
 United States, you will find the people who 
 cultivate the land living in comfortable, well- 
 furnished houses, with separate rooms appro- 
 priately arranged for the different uses of the 
 family. There is a carpet on the parlor floor, 
 and there are books in the book-case, and good 
 supplies of comfortable clothing in the closets. 
 But then ouy embassadors and ministers in 
 foreign courts are obliged to content them- 
 selves with what they consider very moderate 
 salaries, which do not at all allow of their com- 
 peting in style and splendor with the embassa- 
 dors sent from the old despotic monarchies of 
 Europe, under which the people who till tne 
 ground live in bare and wretched huts, and 
 are supplied from year to year with only just 
 enough of food and clothing to keep them alive 
 and enable them to continue their toil. 
 
 But to return to Peter and his embassy. 
 When the public reception was over Peter in- 
 troduced himself privately to the king in his 
 own name, and the king, in a quiet and unoffi- 
 cial manner, paid him great attention. There 
 were to be many more public ceremonies, ban- 
 
1697.] The Empeeor's Tour. 125 
 
 How Peter occupied his time. Dantzic. Peter preserves his incognito. 
 
 quets, and parades for the embassy in the city 
 during their stay, but Peter withdrew himself 
 entirely from the scene, and went out to a cer- 
 tain bay, which extended about one hundred 
 and fifty miles along the shore between Konigs- 
 berg and Dantzic, and occupied himself in ex- 
 amining the vessels which were there, and in 
 sailing to and fro in them. 
 
 This bay you will find delineated on any map 
 of Europe. It extends along the coast for a 
 considerable distance between Konigsberg and 
 Dantzic, on the southeastern shore of the Baltic 
 Sea. 
 
 When the embassadors and their train had 
 finished their banquetings and celebrations in 
 Konigsberg, Peter joined them again, and the 
 expedition proceeded to Dantzic. This was at 
 that time, as it is now, a large commercial city, 
 being one of the chief ports on the Baltic for 
 the exportation of grain from Poland and other 
 fertile countries in the interior. 
 
 By this time it began to be every where well 
 known that Peter himself was traveling with 
 the embassy. Peter would not, however, allow 
 himself to be recognized at all, or permit any 
 public notice to be taken of his presence, but 
 went about freely in all the places that he vis- 
 ited with his own companions, just as if he 
 
126 Peter the Great. [1697. 
 
 Presents. His dress. His interest in the shipping. 
 
 were a private person, leaving all the public 
 parades and receptions, and all the banquet- 
 ings, and other state and civic ceremonies, to the 
 three embassadors and their immediate train. 
 
 A great many elegant and expensive pres- 
 ents, however, were sent in to him, under pre- 
 tense of sending them to the embassadors. 
 
 The expedition traveled on in this way along 
 the coasts of the Baltic Sea, on the way toward 
 Holland, which was the country that Peter was 
 most eager to see. At every city where they 
 stopped Peter went about examining the ship- 
 ping. He was often attended by some import- 
 ant official person of the place, but in other re- 
 spects he went without any ceremony whatev- 
 er. He used to change his dress, putting on, in 
 the different places that he visited, that which 
 was worn by the common people of the town, 
 so as not to attract any attention, and not even 
 to be recognized as a foreigner. At one port, 
 where there were a great many Dutch vessels 
 that he wished to see, he wore the pea-jacket 
 and the other sailor-like dress of a common 
 Dutch skipper,* in order that he might ramble 
 about at his ease along the docks, and mingle 
 freely with the seafaring men, without attract- 
 ing any notice at all. 
 
 * A skippei* is the Captain of a small vessel. 
 
FETEE AMONG THE SHIPPING. 
 
1697.] The Emperor's Tour. 129 
 
 Grand entrance into Holland. Curiosity of the people. 
 
 The .people of Holland were aware that the 
 embassy was coming into their country, and 
 that Peter himself accompanied it, and they ac- 
 cordingly prepared to receive the party with 
 the highest marks of honor. As the embassy, 
 after crossing the frontier, moved on toward 
 Amsterdam, salutes were fired from the ram- 
 parts of all the great towns that they passed, 
 the soldiers were drawn out, and civic proces- 
 sions, formed of magistrates and citizens, met 
 them at the gates to conduct them through the 
 streets. The windows, too, and the roofs of 
 all the houses, were crowded with spectators. 
 Wherever they stopped at night bonfires and 
 illuminations were made in honor of their ar- 
 rival, and sometimes beautiful fireworks were 
 played off in the evening before their palace 
 windows. 
 
 Of course, there was a great desire felt every 
 where among the spectators to discover which 
 of the personages who followed in the train of 
 the embassy was the Czar himself. They found 
 it, however, impossible to determine this point, 
 so completely had Peter disguised his person 
 and merged himself with the rest. Indeed, in 
 some cases, when the procession Was moving 
 forward with great ceremony, the object of the 
 closest scrutiny in every part for thousands of 
 I 
 
130 Petek the Great. [1697. 
 
 Peter enters Amsterdam privately. Views of the Hollanders. 
 
 eyes, Peter himself was not in it at all. This 
 was particularly the case on the occasion of the 
 grand entry into Amsterdam. Peter left the 
 party at a distance from the city, in order to go 
 in quietly the next day, in company with some 
 merchants with whom he had become acquaint- 
 ed. And, accordingly, while all Amsterdam had 
 gathered into the streets, and were watching with 
 the most intense curiosity every train as it pass- 
 ed, in order to discover which one contained the 
 great Czar, the great Czar himself was several 
 miles away, sitting quietly with his friends, the 
 merchants, at a table in a common country inn. 
 
 The government and the people of Holland 
 took a very great interest in this embassy, not 
 only on account of the splendor of it, and the 
 magnitude of the 'imperial power which it rep- 
 resented, but also on account of the business 
 and pecuniary considerations which were in- 
 volved. They wished very much to cultivate 
 a good understanding with Russia, on account 
 of the trade and commerce of that country, 
 which was already very great, and was rapidly 
 increasing. They determined, therefore, to 
 show the embassy every mark of consideration 
 and honor.* 
 
 Besides the measures which they adopted for 
 giving the embassy itself a grand reception, the 
 
1697.] The Emperor's Tour. 131 
 
 Residence of the Czar. The East ^ndia Company. 
 
 government set apart a spacious and splendid 
 house in Amsterdam for the use of the Czar 
 during his stay. They did this in a somewhat 
 private and informal manner, it is true, for they 
 knew that Peter did not wish that his presence 
 with the embassy should be openly noticed in 
 any way. They organized also a complete 
 household for this palace, including servants, 
 attendants, and officers of all kinds, in a style 
 corresponding to the dignity of the exalted 
 personage who was expected to occupy it. 
 
 But Peter, when he arrived, would not occu- 
 py the palace at all, but went into a quiet lodg- 
 ing among the shipping, where he could ram- 
 ble about without constraint, and see all that 
 was to be seen which could illustrate the art 
 of navigation. The Dutch East India Compa- 
 ny, which was then, perhaps, the greatest and 
 most powerful association of merchants which 
 had ever existed, had large ship-yards, where 
 their vessels were built, at Saardam. Saardam 
 was almost a suburb of Amsterdam, being sit- 
 uated on a deep river which empties into the 
 Y, so called, which is the harbor of Amster- 
 dam, and only a few miles from the town. 
 Peter immediately made arrangements for go- 
 ing to these ship-yards and spending the time 
 while the embassy remained in that part of the 
 
132 Peter the Great. [1697. 
 
 Peter goe- to work. His real object in pursuing this coup e. 
 
 country in studying the construction of ships, 
 and in becoming acquainted with the principal 
 builders. Here, as the historians of the times 
 say, he entered himself as a common ship-car- 
 penter, being enrolled in the list of the compa- 
 ny's workmen by the name Peter Michaelhoff, 
 which was as nearly as possible his real name. 
 He lived here several months, and devoted 
 himself diligently to his work. He kept two 
 or three of his companions with him — those 
 whom he had brought from Moscow as his 
 friends and associates on the touf ; but they, it 
 is said, did not take hold of the hard work with 
 nearly as much zeal and energy as Peter dis- 
 played. Peter himself worked for the greatest 
 part of every day among the other workmen, 
 wearing also the same dress that they wore. 
 When he was tired of work "he would go out 
 on the water, and sail and row about in the 
 different sorts of boats, so as to make himself 
 practically acquainted with the comparative ef- 
 fects of the various modes of construction. 
 
 The object which Peter had in view in all 
 this was, doubtless, in a great measure, his own 
 enjoyment for the time being. He was so 
 much interested in the subject of ships and 
 ship-building, and in every thing connected 
 with navigation, that it was a delight to him to 
 
1697.] The Empeeoe's Toue. 133 
 
 Ilis taste for mechanics. The opportunities and facilities he enjoyed. 
 
 be in the midst of such scenes as were to be 
 witnessed in the company's yards. He was 
 still but a young man, and, like a great many 
 other young men, he liked boats and the water. 
 It is not probable, notwithstanding what is said 
 by historians about his performances with the 
 broad -axe, that he really did much serious 
 work. Still he was naturally fond of mechan- 
 ical occupations, as the fact of his making a 
 wheelbarrow with which to construct a fortifi- 
 cation, in his schoolboy days, sufficiently indi- 
 cates. 
 
 Then, again, his being in the ship-yards so 
 long, nominally as one of the workmen, gave 
 him undoubtedly great facilities for observing 
 every thing which it was important that he 
 should know. Of course, he could not have 
 seriously intended to make himself an actual 
 and practical ship-carpenter, for, in the first 
 place, the time was too short. A trade like 
 that of a ship-carpenter requires years of ap- 
 prenticeship to make a really good workman. 
 Then, in the second place, the mechanical part 
 of the work was not the part which it devolved 
 upon him, as a sovereign intent on building up 
 a navy for the protection of his empire, even to 
 superintend. He could not, therefore, have se- 
 riously intended to learn to build ships him- 
 
134 Peter the Great. [1697. 
 
 His old workshop. Mode of preserving it. 
 
 self, but only to make himself nominally a 
 workman, partly for the pleasure which it gave 
 him to place himself so wholly at home among 
 the shipping, and partly for the sake of the in- 
 creased opportunities which he thereby obtain- 
 ed of learning many things which it was im- 
 portant that he should know. 
 
 Travelers visiting Holland at the present day 
 often go out to Saardam to see the little building 
 that is still shown as the shop which Peter occu- 
 pied while he was there. It is a small wooden 
 building, leaning and bent with age and decrep- 
 itude and darkened by exposure and time. 
 "Within the last half century, however, in order 
 to save so curious a relic from farther decay, 
 the proprietors of the place have constructed 
 around and over it an outer building of brick, 
 which incloses the hut itself like a case. The 
 sides of the outer building are formed of large, 
 open arches, which allow the hut within to be 
 seen. The ground on which the hut stands has 
 also been laid out prettily as a garden, and is 
 inclosed by a wall. Within this wall, and near 
 the gate, is a very neat and pretty Dutch cot- 
 tage, in which the custodian lives who shows 
 the place to strangers. 
 
 While Peter was in the ship-yards the work- 
 men knew who he was, but all persons were 
 
1697.] The Emperor's Tour. 135 
 
 The workmen in the yard. Peter's visits to his friends in Amsterdam. 
 
 forbidden to gather around or gaze at trim, or 
 to interfere witk him in any way by their notice 
 or their attentions. They were to allow him to 
 go and come as he pleased, without any molest- 
 ation. These orders they obeyed as well as 
 they could, as every one was desirous of treat- 
 ing their visitor in a manner as agreeable to 
 him as possible, so as to prolong his stay. 
 
 Peter varied his amusements, while he thus 
 resided in Saardam, by making occasional visits 
 in a quiet and private way to certain friends in 
 Amsterdam. He very seldom attended any of 
 the great parades and celebrations which were 
 continually taking place in honor of the em- 
 bassy, but went only to the houses of men 
 eminent in private life for their attainments in 
 particular branches of knowledge, or for their 
 experience or success as merchants or naviga- 
 tors. There was one person in particular that 
 Peter became acquainted with in Amsterdam, 
 whose company and conversation pleased him 
 very much, and whom he frequently visited. 
 This was a certain wealthy merchant, whose 
 operations were on so vast a scale that he was 
 accustomed to send off special expeditions at 
 his own expense, all over the world, to explore 
 new regions and discover new fields for his 
 commercial enterprise. In order also to im- 
 
136 Peter the Great. [1697. 
 
 The rich merchant. Peter's manners and character. 
 
 prove the accuracy of the methods employed 
 by his ship-masters for ascertaining the latitude 
 and longitude in navigating their ships, he built 
 an observatory, and furnished it with the tele- 
 scopes, quadrants, and other costly instruments 
 necessary for making the observations — all at 
 his own expense. 
 
 With this gentleman, and with the other 
 persons in Amsterdam that Peter took a fancy 
 to, he lived on very .friendly and familiar terms. 
 He often came in from Saardam to visit them, 
 and would sometimes spend a considerable por- 
 tion of the night in drinking and making merry 
 with them. He assumed with these friends 
 none of the reserve and dignity of demeanor 
 that we should naturally associate with the idea 
 of a king. Indeed, he was very blunt, and often 
 rough and overbearing in his manners, not un- 
 frequently doing and saying things which 
 would scarcely be pardoned in a person of in- 
 ferior station. When thwarted or opposed in 
 any way he was irritable and violent, and he 
 evinced continually a temper that was very far 
 from being amiable. In a word, though his so- 
 ciety was eagerly sought by all whom he was 
 willing to associate with, he seems to have made 
 no real friends. Those who knew him admired 
 his intelligence and his energy, and they re- 
 
1697.] The Emperor's Tour. 137 
 
 The Hague. 
 
 spected his power, but he was not a man that 
 any one could love. 
 
 Amsterdam, though it was the great com- 
 mercial centre of Holland — and, indeed, at that 
 time, of the world — -was not the capital of the 
 country. The seat of government was then, as 
 now, at the Hague. Accordingly, after remain- 
 ing as long at Amsterdam as Peter wished to 
 amuse himself in the ship-yards, the embassy 
 moved on to the Hague, where it was received 
 in a very formal and honorable manner by the 
 king and the government. The presence of 
 Peter could not be openly referred to, but very 
 special and unusual honors were paid to the 
 embassy in tacit recognition of it. At the 
 Hague were resident ministers from all the 
 great powers of Europe, and these all, with one 
 exception, came to pay visits of ceremony to 
 the embassadors, which visits were of course 
 duly returned with great pomp and parade. 
 The exception was the minister of France. 
 There was a coolness existing at this time be- 
 tween the Eussian and the French governments 
 on account of something Peter had done in re- 
 spect to the election of a king of Poland, which 
 displeased the French king, and on this account 
 the French minister declined taking part in the 
 special honors paid to the embassy. 
 
138 Peter the Great. [1697. 
 
 The embassy at the Hague. 
 
 The Hague was at this time perhaps the most 
 influential and powerful capital of Europe. It 
 was the centre, in fact, of all important political 
 movements and intrigues for the whole Conti- 
 nent. The embassy accordingly paused here, 
 to take some rest from the fatigues and excite- 
 ments of their long journey, and to allow Pe- 
 ter time to form and mature plans for future 
 movements and operations. 
 
1697.] Conclusion of the Toue. 139 
 
 Peter compares the shipping of different nations. 
 
 Chapter VII. 
 Conclusion of The Tour. 
 
 WHILE the embassy itself was occupied 
 with, the parades and ceremonies at the 
 Hague, and at Utrecht, where they had a grand 
 interview with the States- General, and at other 
 great political centres, Peter traveled to and fro 
 about Holland, visiting the different ports, and 
 examining the shipping that he found in them, 
 with the view of comparing the different mod- 
 els ; for there were vessels in these ports from 
 almost all the maritime countries of Europe. 
 His attention was at last turned to some En- 
 glish ships, which pleased him very much. He 
 liked the form of them better than that of the 
 Dutch ships that he had seen. He soon made 
 the acquaintance of a number of English ship- 
 masters and ship-carpenters, and obtained from 
 them, through an interpreter of course, a great 
 deal of information in respect to the state of the 
 art of ship-building in their country. He heard 
 that in England naval carpentry had been re- 
 duced to a regular science, and that the forms and 
 
140 Peter the Great. [1697. 
 
 He determines to visit England. King William favors Peter's plans. 
 
 models of the vessels built there were determ- 
 ined by fixed, mathematical principles, which 
 every skillful and intelligent workman was ex^ 
 pected to understand and to practice upon; 
 whereas in Holland the carpenters worked by 
 rote, each new set following their predecessors 
 by a sort of mechanical imitation, without being 
 governed by any principles or theory at all. 
 
 Peter immediately determined that he would 
 go to England, and study the English methods 
 himself on the spot, as he had already studied 
 those of Holland. 
 
 The political relations between England and 
 Holland were at this time of a very intimate 
 character, the King of England being William, 
 Prince of Orange.* The king, when he heard 
 of Peter's intention, was much pleased, and de- 
 termined to do ail in his power to promote his 
 views in making the journey. He immediately 
 provided the Czar with a number of English 
 attendants to accompany him on his voyage, 
 and to remain with him in England during his 
 stay. Among these were interpreters, secre- 
 
 * "William, Prince of Orange, was descended on the female 
 side from the English royal family, and was a Protestant. 
 Accordingly, when James II., and with him the Catholic 
 branch of the royal family of England, was expelled from 
 the throne, the British Parliament called upon William to 
 ascend it, he being the next heir on the Protestant side. 
 
1697.] Conclusion of the Tour. 141 
 
 Peter leaves Holland. Helvoetsluys. Arrival in England. 
 
 taries, valets, and a number of cooks and other 
 domestic servants. These persons were paid 
 bj the King of England himself, and were or- 
 dered to accompany Peter to England, to re- 
 main with him all the time that he was there, 
 and then to return with him to Holland, so that 
 during the whole period of his absence he 
 should have no trouble whatever in respect to 
 his personal comforts or wants. 
 
 These preparations having been all made, the 
 Czar left the embassy, and taking with him the 
 company of servants which the king had pro- 
 vided, and also the few private friends who had 
 been with him all the time since leaving Mos- 
 cow, he sailed from a certain port in the south- 
 western part of Holland, called Helvoetsluys, 
 about the middle of the month of January. 
 
 He arrived without any accident at London. 
 Here he at first took up his abode in a hand- 
 some house which the king had ordered to be 
 provided and furnished for him. This house 
 was in a genteel part of the town, where the 
 noblemen and other persons belonging to the 
 court resided. It was very pleasantly situated 
 near the river, and the grounds pertaining to it 
 extended down to the water side. Still it was 
 far away from the part of the city which was 
 devoted to commerce and the shipping, and 
 
142 Peter the Great. [1697. 
 
 His reception in London. The Duke of Leeds. Bishop Burnet. 
 
 Peter was not very well satisfied with it on that 
 account. He, however, went to it at first, and 
 continued to occupy it for some time. 
 
 In this house the Czar was visited by a great 
 number of the nobility, and he visited them in 
 return. He also received particular attentions 
 from such members of the royal family as were 
 then in London. But the person whose society 
 pleased him most was one of the nobility, who, 
 like himself, took a great interest in maritime 
 affairs. This was the Duke of Leeds. The 
 duke kept a number of boats at the foot of his 
 gardens in London, and he and Peter used often 
 to go out together in the river, and row and 
 sail in them. 
 
 Among other attentions which were paid to 
 Peter by the government during his. stay in 
 London, one was the appointment of a person 
 to attend upon him for the purpose of giving 
 him, at any time, such explanations or such in- 
 formation as he might desire in respect to the 
 various institutions of England, whether those 
 relating to government, to education, or to re- 
 ligion. The person thus appointed was Bishop 
 Burnet, a very distinguished dignitary of the 
 Church. The bishop could, of course, onl} r 
 converse with Peter through interpreters, but 
 the practice of conversing in that way was very 
 
1697.] Conclusion of the Tour. 143 
 
 The bishop's opinion of Peter's character. Designs of Providence. 
 
 common in those days, and persons were spe- 
 cially trained and educated to translate the lan- 
 guage of one person to another in an easy and 
 agreeable manner. In this way Bishop Burnet 
 held from time to time various interviews with 
 the Czar, but it seems that he did not form a 
 very favorable opinion of his temper and char- 
 acter. The bishop, in an account of these in- 
 terviews which he subsequently wrote, said 
 that Peter was a man of strong capacity, and 
 of much better general education than might 
 have been expected from the manner of life 
 which he had led, but that he was of a very 
 hot and violent temper, and that he was very 
 brutal in his language and demeanor when he 
 was in a passion. The bishop expressed him- 
 self quite strongly on this point, saying that he 
 could not but adore the depth of the providence 
 of God that had raised such a furious man to 
 so absolute an authority over so great a part 
 of the world. 
 
 It was seen in the end how wise was the ar- 
 rangement of Providence in the selection of 
 this instrument for the accomplishment of its 
 designs — for the reforms which, notwithstand- 
 ing the violence of his personal character, and 
 the unjust and cruel deeds which he sometimes 
 performed, Peter was the means of introducing, 
 
144 Peter the Great. [1697. 
 
 Peter's curiosity. His conversations with the bishop. 
 
 and those to which the changes that he made 
 afterward led, have advanced, and are still ad- 
 vancing more and more every year, the whole 
 moral, political, and social condition of all the 
 populations of Northern Europe and Asia, and 
 have instituted a course of progress and im- 
 provement which will, perhaps, go on, without 
 being again arrested, to the end of time. 
 
 The bishop says that he found Peter some- 
 what curious to learn what the political and re- 
 ligious institutions of England were, but that 
 he did not manifest any intention or desire to 
 introduce them into his own country. The 
 chief topic which interested him, even in talk- 
 ing with the bishop, was that of his purposes 
 and plans in respect to ships and shipping. He 
 gave the bishop an account of what he had 
 done, and of what he intended to do, for the 
 elevation and improvement of his people ; but 
 all his plans of this kind were confined to such 
 improvements as would tend to the extension 
 and aggrandizement of his own power. In 
 other words, the ultimate object of the reforms 
 which he was desirous of introducing was not 
 the comfort and happiness of the people them- 
 selves, but his own exaltation and glory among 
 the potentates of the earth as their hereditary 
 and despotic sovereign. 
 
1697.J Conclusion of the Tour. 145 
 
 Peter takes a house "below bridge." How he spent his time. 
 
 After remaining some time in the residence 
 which the king had provided for him at the 
 court end of the town, Peter contrived to have 
 a house set apart for him " below bridge," as 
 the phrase was — that is, among the shipping. 
 There was but one bridge across the Thames in 
 those days, and the position of that one, of 
 course, determined the limit of that part of the 
 river and town that could be devoted to the 
 purposes of commerce and navigation, for ships, 
 of course, could not go above it. The house 
 which was now provided for Peter was near 
 the royal ship-yard. There was a back gate 
 which opened from the yard of the house into 
 the ship-yard, so that Peter could go and come 
 when he pleased. Peter remained in this new 
 lodging for some time. He often went into the 
 ship-yard to watch the men at their operations, 
 and while there would often take up the tools 
 and work with them. At other times he would 
 ramble about the streets of London in company 
 with his two or three particular friends, exam- 
 ining every thing which was new or strange to 
 him, and talking with his companions in respect 
 to the expediency or feasibility of introducing 
 the article or the usage, whatever it might be, 
 as an improvement, into his own dominions. 
 
 In these excursions Peter was sometimes 
 K 
 
146 Peter the Great. - [1697. 
 
 Peter's dress. Curiosity in respect to him. His visit to the Tower. 
 
 dressed in the English citizen's dress, and some- 
 times he wore the dress of a common sailor. 
 In the latter costume he found that he could 
 walk about more freely on the wharves and 
 along the docks without attracting observation ; 
 but, notwithstanding all that he could do to 
 disguise himself, he was often discovered. Some 
 person, perhaps, who had seen him and his 
 friends in the ship-yard, would recognize him 
 and point him out. Then it would be whis- 
 pered from one to another among the by-stand- 
 ers that that was the Eussian Emperor, and 
 people would follow him where he went, or 
 gather around him where he was standing. In 
 such cases as this, as soon as Peter found that 
 he was recognized, and was beginning to attract 
 attention, he always went immediately away. 
 
 Among other objects of interest which at- 
 tracted Peter's attention in London was the 
 Tower, where there was kept then, as now, an 
 immense collection of arms of all kinds. This 
 collection consists not only of a vast store of 
 the weapons in use at the present day, laid up 
 there to be ready for service whenever they 
 may be required, but also a great number and 
 variety of specimens of those which were em- 
 ployed in former ages, but are now superseded 
 by new inventions. Peter, as might naturally 
 
1697.J Conclusion of the Toue. 147 
 
 The various sights and shows of London. 
 
 have been expected, took a great deal of inter- 
 est in examining these collections. 
 
 In respect to all the more ordinary objects 
 of interest for strangers in London, the shops, 
 the theatres, the parks, the gay parties given 
 by the nobility at the West End, and other such 
 spectacles, Peter saw them all, but he paid very 
 little attention to them. His thoughts were al- 
 most entirely engrossed by subjects connected 
 with his navy. He found, as he had expected 
 from what he heard in Holland, that the En- 
 glish ship-carpenters had reduced their business 
 quite to a system, being accustomed to determ- 
 ine the proportions of the model by fixed prin- 
 ciples, and to work, in the construction of the 
 ship, from drafts made by rule. When he was 
 in the ship-yard he studied this subject very 
 attentively ; and although it was, of course, 
 impossible that in so short a time he should 
 make himself fully master of it, he was still 
 able to obtain such a general insight into the 
 nature of the method as would very much as- 
 sist him in making arrangements for introduc- 
 ing it into his own country. 
 
 There was another measure which he took 
 that was even more important still. He availed 
 himself of every opportunity which was afford- 
 ed him, while engaged in the ship-yards and 
 
148 Peter the Great. [1697. 
 
 Workmen engaged- Peter's visit to Portsmouth and Spithead. 
 
 docks, to become acquainted with the work- 
 men, especially the head workmen of the yards, 
 and he engaged a number of them to go to 
 Russia, and enter into his service there in the 
 work of building his navy. 
 
 In a word, the Czar was much better pleased 
 with the manner in which the work of ship- 
 building was carried on in England than with 
 any thing that he had seen in Holland ; so 
 much so that he said he wished that he had 
 come directly to England at first, inasmuch as 
 now, since he had seen how much superior 
 were the English methods, he considered the 
 long stay which he had made in Holland as 
 pretty nearly lost time. 
 
 After remaining as long and learning as much 
 in the dock-yards in and below London as he 
 thought the time at his command would allow, 
 Peter went to Portsmouth to visit the royal 
 navy at anchor there. The arrangement which 
 nature has made of the southern coast of En- 
 gland seems almost as if expressly intended for 
 the accommodation of a great national and 
 mercantile marine. In the first place, at the 
 town of Portsmouth, there is a deep and spa- 
 cious harbor entirely surrounded and protected 
 by land. Then at a few miles distant, off the 
 coast, lies the Isle of Wight, which brings under 
 
1697.J Conclusion of the Tour. 149 
 
 Situation of Spithead. Appearance of the men-of-war. 
 
 shelter a sheet of water not less than five miles 
 wide and twenty miles long, where all the fleets 
 and navies of the world might lie at anchor in 
 safety. There is an open access to this sound 
 both from the east and from the west, and yet 
 the shores curve in such a manner that both 
 entrances are well protected from the ingress 
 of storms. 
 
 Directly opposite to Portsmouth, and within 
 this inclosed sea, is a place where the water is 
 just of the right depth, and the bottom of just 
 the right conformation for the convenient an- 
 choring of ships of war. This place is called 
 Spithead, and it forms one of the most famous 
 anchoring grounds in the world. It is here 
 that the vast fleets of the English navy assem- 
 ble, and here the ships come to anchor, when 
 returning home from their distant voyages. 
 The view of these grim-looking sea-monsters, 
 with their double and triple rows of guns, lying 
 quietly at their moorings, as seen by the spec- 
 tator from the deck of the steamer which glides 
 through and among them, on the way from 
 Portsmouth to the Isle of "Wight, is extremely 
 imposing. Indeed, when considered by a mind 
 capable of understanding in some degree the 
 vast magnitude and extension of the power 
 which lies thus reposing there, the spectacle 
 becomes trulv sublime. 
 
150 Peter the Great. [1697. 
 
 Grand naval spectacle. Present of a yacht. Peter sets sail. 
 
 In order to give Peter a favorable opportu- 
 nity to see the fleet at Spithead, the King of 
 England commissioned the admiral in command 
 of the navy to accompany him to Portsmouth, 
 and to put the fleet to sea, with the view of 
 exhibiting a mock naval engagement in the 
 Channel. Nothing could exceed the pleasure 
 which this spectacle afforded to the Czar. He 
 expressed his admiration of it in the most glow- 
 ing terms, and said that he verily believed that 
 an admiral of the English fleet was a happier 
 man than the Czar of Muscovy. 
 
 At length, when the time arrived for Peter 
 to set out on his return to his own dominions, 
 the King of England made him a present of a 
 beautiful yacht, which had been built for his 
 own use in his voyages between England and 
 Holland. The name of the yacht was the 
 Royal Transport. It was an armed vessel, 
 carrying twenty -four guns, and was well-built, 
 and richly finished and furnished in every re- 
 spect. The Czar set sail from England in this 
 yacht, taking with him the companions that he 
 had brought with him into England, and also 
 a considerable number of the persons whom he 
 had engaged to enter into his service in Eussia. 
 Some of these persons were to be employed in 
 the building of ships, and others in the con- 
 
1697.] Conclusion of the Tour. 151 
 
 His treatment of his -workmen. Wage3 retained. The engineer. 
 
 struction of a canal to connect the Kiver Don 
 with the Kiver Wolga. The Don flows into 
 the Black and the Wolga into the Caspian Sea, 
 and the object of the canal was to allow Peter's 
 vessels to pass from one sea into the other at 
 pleasure. As soon as the canal should be 
 opened, ships could be built on either river for 
 use in either sea. 
 
 The persons who had been engaged for these 
 various purposes were promised, of course, very 
 large rewards to induce them to leave their coun- 
 try. Many of them afterward had occasion bit- 
 terly to regret their having entered the service 
 of such a master. They complained that, after 
 their arrival in Eussia, Peter treated them in a 
 very unjust and arbitrary manner. They were 
 held as prisoners more than as salaried work- 
 men, being very closely watched and guarded 
 to prevent their making their escape and going 
 back to their own country before finishing what 
 Peter wished them to do. Then, a large por- 
 tion of their pay was kept back, on the plea that 
 it was necessary for the emperor to have se- 
 curity in his own hands for their fidelity in the 
 performance of their work, and for their remain- 
 ing at their posts until their work was done. 
 There was one gentleman in particular, a Scotch 
 mathematician and engineer, who had been edu- 
 
152 Peter the Great. [1697. 
 
 Voyage to Holland. Peter rejoins the embassy. The Emperor Leopold. 
 
 cated at the University of Aberdeen, that com- 
 plained of the treatment which he received in 
 a full and formal protest, which he addressed 
 to Peter in writing, and which is still on record. 
 He makes out a very strong case in respect to 
 the injustice with which he was treated. 
 
 But, however disappointed these gentlemen 
 may have been in the end, they left England in 
 the emperor's beautiful yacht, much elated with 
 the honor they had received in being selected 
 by such a potentate for the execution of im- 
 portant trusts in a distant land, and with high 
 anticipations of the fame and fortune which 
 they expected to acquire before the time should 
 arrive for them to return to their own country. 
 From 'England the yacht sailed to Holland, 
 where Peter disembarked, in order to join the 
 embassy and accompany them in their visits to 
 some other courts in Central Europe before re- 
 turning home. 
 
 He first went to Yienna. He still nominally 
 preserved his incognito ; but the Emperor Leo- 
 pold, who was at that time the Emperor of Ger- 
 many, gave him a very peculiar sort of recep- 
 tion. He came out to the door of his ante- 
 chamber to meet Peter at the head of a certain 
 back staircase communicating with the apart- 
 ment, which was intended for his own private 
 
1697] Conclusion of the Tour. 153 
 
 Interview with the Emperor of Germany. Feasts and festivities. 
 
 use. Peter was accompanied by General Le 
 Fort, the chief embassador, at this interview, 
 and he was conducted up the staircase by two 
 grand officers of the Austrian court — the grand 
 chamberlain and the grand equerry. After the 
 two potentates had been introduced to each 
 other, the emperor, who had taken off his hat 
 to bow to the Czar, put it on again, but Peter 
 remained uncovered, on the ground that he was 
 not at that time acting in his own character as 
 Czar. The emperor, seeing this, took off his 
 hat again, and both remained uncovered during 
 the interview. 
 
 After this a great many parades and celebra- 
 tions took place in Vienna, all ostensibly in 
 honor of the embassy, but "really and truly in 
 honor of Peter himself, who still preserved his 
 incognito. At many of these festivities Peter 
 attended, taking his place with the rest of the 
 subordinates in the train of the embassy, but 
 he never appeared in his own true character. 
 Still he was known, and he was the object of a 
 great many indirect but very marked attentions. 
 On one occasion, for example, there was a mask- 
 ed ball in the palace of the emperor ; Peter ap- 
 peared there dressed as a peasant of West Fries- 
 land, which is a part of North Holland, where 
 the costumes worn by the common people were 
 
HA 
 
 Peter the Great. [1697. 
 
 Ceremonies. 
 
 Bad tidings. Plans changed. 
 
 then, as indeed they are at the present day, very 
 marked and peculiar. The Emperor of Ger- 
 many appeared also at this ball in a feigned 
 character — that of a host at an entertainment, 
 and he had thirty-two pages in attendance upon 
 him, all dressed as butlers. In the course of 
 the evening one of the pages brought out to 
 the emperor a very curious and costly glass, 
 which he filled with wine and presented to the 
 emperor, who then approached Peter and drank 
 to the health of the peasant of West Friesland, 
 saying at the same time, with a meaning look, 
 that he was well aware of the inviolable affec- 
 tion which the peasant felt for the Czar of Mus- 
 covy. Peter, in return, drank to the health of 
 the host, saying he was aware of the inviolable 
 affection he felt for the Emperor of Germany. 
 
 These toasts were received by the whole 
 company with great applause, and after they 
 were drunk the emperor gave Peter the curious 
 glass from which he had drunk, desiring him 
 to keep it as a souvenir of the occasion. 
 
 These festivities in honor of the embassy at 
 Vienna were at length suddenly interrupted 
 by the arrival of tidings from Moscow that a 
 rebellion had broken out there against Peter's 
 government. This intelligence changed at once 
 all Peter's plans. He had intended to go to 
 
1697.] Conclusion of the Tour. 155 
 
 Designs abandoned. Return to Moscow. 
 
 Yenice and to Kome, but he now at once aban- 
 doned these designs, and setting out abruptly 
 from Vienna, with General Le Fort, and a train 
 of about thirty persons, he traveled with the' 
 utmost possible dispatch to Moscow. 
 
156 Peter the Great. [1698. 
 
 Precautions taken by the Czar. His uneasiness. 
 
 Chapter VIII. 
 The Eebellion. 
 
 IT will be recollected by the reader that 
 Peter, before he set out on his tour, took 
 every possible precaution to guard against the 
 danger of disturbances in his dominions during 
 his absence. The Princess Sophia was closely 
 confined in her convent. All that portion of 
 the old Eussian Guards that he thought most 
 likely to be dissatisfied with his proposed re- 
 forms, and to take part with Sophia, he removed 
 to fortresses at a great distance from Moscow. 
 Moscow itself was garrisoned with troops se- 
 lected expressly with reference to their sup- 
 posed fidelity to his interests, and the men who 
 were to command them, as well as the great 
 civil officers to whom the administration of the 
 government was committed during his absence, 
 were appointed on the same principle. 
 
 But, notwithstanding all these precautions, 
 Peter did not feel entirely safe. He was well 
 aware of Sophia's ambition, and of her skill in 
 intrigue, and during the whole progress of his 
 tour he anxiously watched the tidings which 
 
1698.] The Kebellion. 157 
 
 , «. 
 
 His fury against his enemies. His revolting appearance. 
 
 he received from Moscow, ready to return at a 
 moment's warning in case of necessity. He 
 often spoke on this subject to those with whom 
 he was on terms of familiar intercourse. On 
 such occasions he would get into a great rage 
 in denouncing his enemies, and in threatening 
 vengeance against them in case they made any 
 movement to resist his authority while he was 
 away. At such times he would utter most 
 dreadful imprecations against those who should 
 dare to oppose him, and would work himself 
 up into such a fury as to give those who con- 
 versed with him an exceedingly unfavorable 
 opinion of his temper and character. The ugly 
 aspect which his countenance and demeanor 
 exhibited at such times was greatly aggravated 
 by a nervous affection of the head and face 
 which attacked him, particularly when he was 
 in a passion, and which produced convulsive 
 twitches of the muscles that drew his head by 
 jerks to one side, and distorted his face in a 
 manner that was dreadful to behold. It was 
 said that this disorder was first induced in his 
 childhood by some one of the terrible frights 
 through which he passed. However this may 
 have been, the affection seemed to increase as 
 he grew older, and as the attacks of it were 
 most decided and violent when he was in a 
 
158 Peter the Great. [1698. 
 
 ^ 
 
 Imperfect communication. Conspiracy. Arguments used. 
 
 passion, they had the effect, in connection with 
 his coarse and dreadful language and violent 
 demeanor, to make him appear at such times 
 more like some ugly monster of fiction than 
 like a man. 
 
 The result, in respect to the conduct of his 
 enemies during his absence, was what he feared. 
 After he had been gone away for some months 
 they began to conspire against him. The means 
 of communication between different countries 
 were quite imperfect in those days, so that very 
 little exact information came back to Eussia in 
 respect to the emperor's movements. The no- 
 bles who were opposed to him began to repre- 
 sent to the people that he had gone nobody 
 knew where, and that it was wholly uncertain 
 whether he would ever return. Besides, if he 
 did return, they said it would only be to bring 
 with him a fresh importation of foreign favor- 
 ites and foreign manners, and to proceed more 
 vigorously than ever in his work of superseding 
 and subverting all the good old customs of the 
 land, and displacing the ancient native families 
 from all places of consideration and honor, in 
 order to make room for the swarms of misera- 
 ble foreign adventurers that he would bring 
 home with him in his train. 
 
 By these and similar representations the op- 
 
1698.] The Kebellion. 159 
 
 Details of the plot. Pretext of the Guards. 
 
 position so far increased and strengthened their 
 party that, at length, they matured their ar- 
 rangements for an open outbreak. Their plan 
 was, first, to take possession of the city by 
 means of the Guards, who were to be recalled 
 for this purpose from their distant posts, and 
 by their assistance to murder all the foreigners. 
 They were then to issue a proclamation declar- 
 ing that Peter, by leaving the country and re- 
 maining so long away, had virtually abdicated 
 the government ; and also a formal address to 
 the Princess Sophia, calling upon her to ascend 
 the throne in his stead. 
 
 In executing this plan, negotiations were first 
 cautiously opened with the Guards, and they 
 readily acceded to the proposals made to them. 
 A committee of three persons was appointed to 
 draw up the address to Sophia, and the precise 
 details of the movements which were to take 
 place on the arrival of the Guards at the gates 
 of Moscow were all arranged. The Guards, of 
 course, required some pretext for leaving their 
 posts and coming toward the city, independent 
 of the real cause, for the conspirators within the 
 city were not prepared to rise and declare the 
 throne vacant until the Guards had actually ar- 
 rived. Accordingly, while the conspirators re- 
 mained quiet, the Guards began to complain of 
 
160 Peter the Great. [1698. 
 
 They commence their march. Alarm in Moscow. 
 
 various grievances under which they suffered, 
 particularly that they were not paid their wages 
 regularly, and they declared their determina- 
 tion to march to Moscow and obtain redress. 
 The government — that is, the regency that Pe- 
 ter had left in charge — sent out deputies, who 
 attempted to pacify them, but could not suc- 
 ceed. The Guards insisted that they would go 
 with their complaints to Moscow. They com- 
 menced their march. The number of men was 
 about ten thousand. They pretended that they 
 .were only going to the city to represent their 
 case themselves directly to the government, and 
 then to march back again in a peaceable man- 
 ner. They wished to know, too, they said, 
 what had become of the Czar. They could not 
 depend upon the rumors which came to them 
 at so great a distance, and they were determ- 
 ined to inform themselves on the spot whether 
 he were alive or dead, and when he was com- 
 ing home. 
 
 The deputies returned with all speed to Mos- 
 cow, and reported that the Guards were on their 
 march in full strength toward the city. The 
 whole city was thrown into a state of conster- 
 nation. Many of the leading families, antici- 
 pating serious trouble, moved away. Others 
 packed up and concealed their valuables. The 
 
1698.] The Rebellion. 161 
 
 General Gordon. A parley with the rebels, 
 
 government, too, though not yet suspecting the 
 real design of the Guards in the movement 
 which they were making, were greatly alarm- 
 ed. They immediately ordered a large armed 
 force to go and meet the insurgents. This force 
 was commanded by General Gordon, the officer 
 whom Peter had made general-in-chief of the 
 army before he set out on his tour. 
 
 General Gordon came up with the rebels 
 about forty miles from Moscow. As soon as 
 he came near to them he halted, and sent for- 
 ward a deputation from his camp to confer with 
 the leaders, in the hope of coming to some ami- 
 cable settlement of the difficulty. This deputa- 
 tion consisted of Russian nobles of ancient and 
 established rank and consideration in the coun- 
 try, who had volunteered to accompany the 
 general in his expedition. General Gordon 
 himself was one of the hated foreigners, and of 
 course his appearance, if he had gone himself 
 to negotiate with the rebels, would have per- 
 haps only exasperated and inflamed them more 
 than ever. 
 
 The dejmtation held a conference with the 
 leaders of the Guards, and made them very con- 
 ciliatory offers. They promised that if they 
 would return to their duty the government 
 would not only overlook the serious offense 
 L 
 
1G2 Peter the Geeat. [1698. 
 
 Influence of the Church. The clergy on the side of the rebels'. 
 
 which, they had committed in leaving their 
 posts and marching upon Moscow, but would 
 inquire into and redress all their grievances. 
 
 But the Guards refused to be satisfied. They 
 were determined, they said, to march to Mos- 
 cow. They wished to ascertain for themselves 
 whether Peter was dead or alive, and if alive, 
 what had become of him. They therefore were 
 going on, and, if General Gordon and his troops 
 attempted to oppose them, they would fight it 
 out and see which was the strongest. 
 
 In civil commotions of this kind occurring 
 in any of the ancient non-Protestant countries 
 in Europe, it is always a question of the utmost 
 moment which side the Church and the clergy 
 espouse. It is true that the Church and the 
 clergy do not fight themselves, and so do not 
 add any thing to the physical strength of the 
 party which they befriend, but they add enor- 
 mously to its moral strength, that is, to its con- 
 fidence and courage. Men have a sort of in- 
 stinctive respect and fear for constituted au- 
 thorities of any kind, and, though often willing 
 to plot against them, are still very apt to falter 
 and fall back when the time comes for the actual 
 collision. The feeling that, after all, they are in 
 the wrong in fighting against the government 
 of their country, weakens them cxtremelv, and 
 
1698.] The Rebellion. 163 
 
 Conservatism. The Russian clergy 
 
 makes them ready to abandon the struggle in 
 panic and dismay on the first unfavorable turn 
 of fortune. But if they have the Church and 
 the clergy on their side, this state of things is 
 quite changed. The sanction of religion — the 
 thought that they are fighting in the cause of 
 God and of duty, nerves their arms, and gives 
 them that confidence in the result which is al- 
 most essential to victory. 
 
 It was so in this case. There was no class 
 in the community more opposed to the Czar's 
 proposed improvements and reforms than the 
 Church. Indeed, it is always so. The Church 
 and the clergy are always found in these coun- 
 tries on the side of opposition to progress and 
 improvement. It is not that they are really 
 opposed to improvement itself for its own sake, 
 but that they are so afraid of change. They 
 call themselves Conservatives, and wish to pre- 
 serve every thing as it. is. They hate the pro- 
 cess of pulling down. Now, if a thing is good, 
 it is better, of course, to preserve it ; but, on the 
 other hand, if it is bad, it is better that it should 
 be pulled down. . When, therefore, you are 
 asked whether you are a Conservative or not, 
 reply that that depends upon the character of 
 the institution or the usage which is attacked. 
 If it is good, let it stand. If it is bad, let it be 
 destroved. 
 
164: Peter the Great. [1698. 
 
 The armies prepare for battle. 
 
 In the case of Peter's proposed improvements 
 and reforms the Church and the clergy were 
 Conservatives of the most determined character. 
 Of course, the plotters of the conspiracy in Mos- 
 cow were in communication with the patriarch 
 and the leading ecclesiastics in forming their 
 plans; and in arranging for the marching of 
 the Guards to the capital they took care to have 
 priests with them to encourage them in the 
 movement, and to assure them that in opposing 
 the present government and restoring Sophia 
 to power they were serving the cause of God 
 and religion by promoting the expulsion from 
 the country of the infidel foreigners that were 
 coming in in such numbers, and subverting all 
 the good old usages and customs of the realm. 
 
 It was this sympathy on the part of the clergy 
 which gave the officers and soldiers of the 
 Guards their courage and confidence in daring 
 to persist in their march to Moscow in defiance 
 of the army of General Gordon, brought out to 
 oppose them. 
 
 The two armies approached each other. Gen- 
 eral Gordon, as is usual in such cases, ordered 
 a battery of artillery which he had brought up 
 in the road before the Guards to fire, but he 
 directed that the guns should be pointed so 
 kisrh that the balls should ero over the heads of 
 
1698.] The Kebellion. 165 
 
 The insurgents defeated. Massacre of prisoners. 
 
 tlie enemy. His object was to intimidate them. 
 But the effect was the contrary. The priests, 
 who had come into the army of the insurgents 
 to encourage them in the fight, told them that 
 a miracle had been performed. God had avert- 
 ed the balls from them, they said. They were 
 fighting for the honor of his cause and for the 
 defense of his holy religion, and they might 
 rely upon it that he would not suffer them to 
 be harmed. 
 
 But these assurances of the priests proved, un- 
 fortunately for the poor Guards, to be entirely 
 unfounded. "When General Gordon found that 
 firing over the heads of the rebels did no good, 
 he gave up at once all hope of any adjustment 
 of the difficulty, and he determined to restrain 
 himself no longer, but to put forth the whole 
 of his strength, and kill and destroy all before 
 him in the most determined and merciless man- 
 ner. A furious battle followed, in which the 
 Guards were entirely defeated. Two or three 
 thousand of them were killed, and all the rest 
 were surrounded and made prisoners. 
 
 The first step taken by General Gordon, with 
 the advice of the Eussian nobles who had ac- 
 companied him, was to count off the prisoners 
 and hang every tenth man. The next was to 
 put the .officers to the torture, in order to com- 
 
166 Peter the Geeat. [1698. 
 
 Confession. Peter's arrival at Moscow. His terrible severity. 
 
 pel them to confess what their real object was 
 in marching to Moscow. After enduring their 
 tortures as long as human nature could bear 
 them, they confessed that the movement was a 
 concerted one, made in connection with a con- 
 spiracy within the city, and that the object was 
 to subvert the present government, and to lib- 
 erate the Princess Sophia and place 'her upon 
 the throne. They also gave the names of a 
 number of prominent persons in Moscow who, 
 they said, were the leaders of the conspiracy. 
 
 It was in this state of the affair that the tid- 
 ings of what had occurred reached Peter in Vi- 
 enna, as is 'related in the last chapter. He im- 
 mediately set out on his return to Moscow in a 
 state of rage and fury against the rebels that it 
 would be impossible to describe. As he ar- 
 rived at the capital, he commenced an inquisi- 
 tion into the affair by putting every body to 
 the torture whom he supposed to be implicated 
 as a leader in it. From the agony of these suf- 
 ferers he extorted the names of innumerable 
 victims, who, as fast as they were named, were 
 seized and put to death. There were a great 
 many of the ancient nobles thus condemned, a 
 great many ladies of high rank, and large num- 
 bers of priests. These persons were all exe- 
 cuted, or rather massacred, in the most reckless 
 
1698.] The Kebellion. 169 
 
 Peter becomes hiniiself an executioner. The Guards. 
 
 and merciless manner. Some were beheaded ; 
 some were broken on the wheel, and then left 
 to die in horrible agonies. Many were buried 
 alive, their heads only being left above the 
 ground. It is said that Peter took such a sav- 
 age delight in these punishments, that he exe- 
 cuted many of the victims with his own hands. 
 At one time, when half intoxicated at a ban- 
 quet, he ordered twenty of his prisoners to be 
 brought in, and then, with his brandy before 
 him, which was his favorite drink, and which 
 he often drank to excess, he caused them to be 
 led, one after another, to the block, that he 
 might cut off their heads himself. He took a 
 drink of brandy after each execution while the 
 officers were bringing forward the next man. 
 He was just an hour, it was said, in cutting off 
 the twenty heads, which allows of an average 
 of three minutes to each man. This story is 
 almost too horrible to be believed, but, unfor- 
 tunately, it comports too well with the general 
 character which Peter has always sustained in 
 the opinion of mankind in respect to the des- 
 perate and reckless cruelty to which he could 
 be aroused under the influence of intoxication 
 and anger. 
 
 About two thousand of the Guards were be- 
 headed. The bodies of these men were laid 
 
170 Peter the Great. [1698. 
 
 Gibbets. The writer of the address to Sophia. 
 
 upon the ground in a public place, arranged. in 
 rows, with their heads lying beside them. They 
 covered more than an acre of ground. Here 
 they were allowed to lie ail the remainder of 
 the winter, as long, in fact, as the flesh con- 
 tinued frozen, and then, when the spring came 
 on, they were thrown together into a deep 
 ditch, dug to receive them, and thus were 
 buried. 
 
 There were also a great number of gibbets 
 set up on all the roads leading to Moscow, and 
 upon these gibbets men were hung, and the 
 bodies allowed to remain there, like the be- 
 headed Guards upon the ground, until the 
 spring. 
 
 As for the Princess Sophia, she was still in 
 the convent where Peter had placed her, the 
 conspirators not having reached the point of 
 liberating her before their plot was discovered. 
 Peter, however, caused the three authors of the 
 address, which was to have been made to So- 
 phia, calling upon her to assume the crown, to 
 be sent to the convent, and there hung before 
 Sophia's windows. And then, by his orders, 
 the arm of the principal man among them was 
 cut off, the address was put into his hand, and, 
 when the fingers had stiffened around it, the 
 limb was fixed to the wall in Sophia's cham- 
 
1698.] The Rebellion. 171 
 
 The old Russian nobility. Arrival of artisans. 
 
 ber, as if in the act of offering lier the address, 
 and ordered to remain so until the address 
 should drop, of itself, upon the floor. 
 
 Such were the horrible means by which Pe- 
 ter attempted to strike terror into his subjects, 
 and to put down the spirit of conspiracy and 
 rebellion. He doubtless thought that it was 
 only by such severities as these that the end 
 could be effectually attained. At all events, 
 the end was attained. The rebellion was com- 
 pletely suppressed, and all open opposition to 
 the progress of the Czar's proposed improve- 
 ments and reforms ceased. The few leading 
 nobles who adhered to the old customs and 
 usages of the realm retired from all connection 
 with public affairs, and lived thenceforth in 
 seclusion, mourning, like good Conservatives, 
 . the triumph of the spirit of radicalism and in- 
 novation which was leading the country, as 
 they thought, to certain ruin. The old Guards, 
 whom it had been proved so utterly impossible 
 to bring over to Peter's views, were disbanded, 
 and other troops, organized on a different sys- 
 tem, were •embodied in their stead. By this 
 time the English ship-builders, and the other 
 mechanics and artisans that Peter had engaged, 
 begair to arrive in the country, and the way 
 was open for the emperor to go on vigorously 
 
172 Peteii the Great. [1698. 
 
 Retirement of Sophia. Her death. 
 
 in the accomplishment of his favorite and long- 
 cherished plans. 
 
 The Princess Sophia, worn ont with the agi- 
 tations and dangers through which she had 
 passed, and crushed in spirit by the dreadful 
 scenes to which her brother had exposed her, 
 now determined to withdraw wholly from the 
 scene. She took the veil in the convent where 
 she was confined, and went as a nun into the 
 cloisters with the other sisters. The name that 
 she assumed was Marpha. 
 
 Of course, all her ambitious aspirations were 
 now forever extinguished, and the last gleam 
 of earthly hope faded away from her mind. 
 She pined away under the influences of disap- 
 pointment, hopeless vexation, and bitter grief 
 for about six years, and then the nuns of the 
 consent followed the body of sister Marpha to 
 the tomb. 
 
1700.] Eefokms. 173 
 
 Peter begins hi3 proposed reforms. 
 
 Chapter IX. 
 
 Eefokms. 
 
 AS soon as Peter had sufficiently glutted 
 his vengeance on those whom he chose 
 to consider, whether justly or unjustly, as im- 
 plicated hi the rebellion, he turned his atten- 
 tion at once to the work of introducing the im- 
 provements and reforms which had been sug- 
 gested to him by what he had seen in the 
 western countries of Europe. There was a 
 great deal of secret hostility to the changes 
 which he thus wished to make, although every 
 thing like open opposition to his will had been 
 effectually put down by the terrible severity 
 of his dealings with the rebels. He continued 
 to urge his plans of reform during the whole 
 course of his reign, and though he met from ■ 
 time to time with a great variety of difficulties 
 in his efforts to carry them into effect, he was 
 in the end triumphantly successful in establish- 
 ing and maintaining them. I shall proceed to 
 give a general account of these reforms in this 
 chapter, notwithstanding that the work of in- 
 troducing them extended over a period of 
 many years subsequent to this time. 
 
174 Peter the Great. [1700. 
 
 Eemodeling the army. Changes of dress. 
 
 The first thing to which the Czar gave his 
 attention was the complete remodeling of his 
 army. He established new regiments in place 
 of the old Guards, and put his whole army on 
 a new footing. He abolished the dress which 
 the Guards had been accustomed to wear — an 
 ancient Muscovite costume, which, like the dress 
 of the Highlanders of Scotland, was strongly 
 associated in the minds of the men with ancient 
 national customs, many of which the emperor 
 now wished to abolish. Instead of this old 
 costume the emperor dressed his new troops 
 in a modern military uniform. This was not 
 only much more convenient than the old dress, 
 but the change exerted a great influence in 
 disenthralling the minds of the men from the 
 influence of old ideas and. associations. It 
 made them feel at once as if they were new 
 men, belonging to a new age — one marked by 
 a new and higher civilization than they had 
 been accustomed to in former years. The ef- 
 fect which was produced by this simple change 
 was very marked — so great is the influence 
 of dress and other outward symbols on the 
 sentiments of the mind and on the character. 
 
 Peter had made a somewhat similar change 
 to this, in the case of his household troops and 
 private body-guard, at the suggestion of Gener- 
 
1700.] Reforms. 175 
 
 The officers. New appointments. 
 
 al Le F©rt, some time previous to this period, 
 but now he carried the same reform into effect 
 in respect to his whole army. 
 
 In addition to these improvements in the 
 dress and discipline of the men, Peter adopted 
 an entirely new system in officering his troops. 
 A great many of the old officers — all those who 
 were proved or even suspected of being hostile 
 to him and to his measures — had been behead- 
 ed or sent into banishment, and others still had 
 been dismissed from the service. Peter filled 
 all these vacant posts by bringing forward and 
 appointing the sons of the nobility, making his 
 selections from those families who were either 
 already inclined to his side, or who he sup- 
 posed might be brought over by the influence 
 of appointments and honors conferred upon 
 their sons. 
 
 Of course, the great object of the Czar in thus 
 reorganizing his army and increasing the mili- 
 tary strength of the empire was not the more 
 effectual protection of the country from foreign 
 enemies, or from any domestic violence which 
 might threaten to disturb the peace or endan- 
 ger the property of the public, but only the 
 confirming and perpetuating his own power as 
 the sovereign ruler of it. It is true that such 
 potentates as Peter really desire that the coun- 
 
176 PlJTEIl THE GllEAT. [1700. 
 
 Motives and objects of the Czar. Means of revenue. 
 
 tries over which they rule should prosper, and 
 should increase in wealth and population ; but 
 then they do this usually only as the proprie- 
 tor of an estate might wish to improve his prop- 
 erty, that is, simply with an eye to his own in- 
 terest as the owner of it. In reforming his 
 army, and placing it, as he did, on a new and 
 far more efficient footing than before, Peter's 
 main inducement was to increase and secure 
 his own power. He wished also, doubtless, to 
 preserve the peace of the country, in order that 
 the inhabitants might go on regularly in the 
 pursuit of their industrial occupations, for their 
 ability to pay the taxes required for the large 
 revenues which he wished to raise would in- 
 crease or diminish, he knew very well, j ust in 
 proportion to the productiveness of the general 
 industry ; still, his own exaltation and grand- 
 eur were the ultimate objects in view. 
 
 Young persons, when they read in history 
 of the power which many great tyrants have 
 exercised, and the atrocious crimes which they 
 have committed against the rights of their fel- 
 low-men, sometimes wonder how it is that one 
 man can acquire or retain so absolute a domin- 
 ion over so many millions as to induce them 
 to kill each other in such vast numbers at his 
 bidding: for, of course, it is but a verv small 
 
1700.] Eeforms. 177 
 
 Mysterious power. The secret of it. 
 
 number of the victims of a tyrant's injustice or 
 cruelty that are executed by his -own hand. How 
 is it, then, that one weak and often despicable 
 and Hateful man can acquire and retain such an 
 ascendency over those that stand around him, 
 that they shall all be ready to draw their swords 
 instantaneously at his bidding, and seize and 
 destroy, without hesitation and without mercy, 
 whomsoever he may choose to designate as the 
 object of his rage and vengeance? How is it 
 that the wealthiest, the most respected, and the 
 most popular citizens of the state, though sur- 
 rounded with servants and with multitudes of 
 friends, have no power to resist when one of 
 these Neros conceives the idea of striking him 
 down, but must yield without a struggle to his 
 fate, as if to inevitable destiny ? 
 
 The secret of this extraordinary submission 
 of millions to one is always an army. The 
 tj^rant, under the "pretense of providing the 
 means for the proper execution of just and 
 righteous laws, and the maintenance of peace 
 and order in the community, organizes an army. 
 He contrives so to arrange and regulate this 
 force as to separate it completely from the rest 
 of the community, so as to extinguish as far as 
 possible all the sympathies which might other- 
 wise exist between the soldiers and the citizens. 
 M 
 
178 Peter the Great. [1700. 
 
 Management of a standing army. Artful contrivances. 
 
 Marriage is discouraged, so that the troops may 
 not be bound to the community by any family 
 ties. The regiments are quartered in barracks 
 built and appropriated to their especial use, and 
 they are continually changed from one set of 
 barracks to another, in order to prevent their 
 forming too intimate an acquaintance with any 
 portion of the community, or learning to feel 
 any common interest or sympathy with them. 
 Then, as a reward for their privations, the sol- 
 diers are allowed, with very little remonstrance 
 or restraint, to indulge freely in all such habits 
 of dissipation and vice as will not at once in- 
 terfere with military discipline, or deteriorate 
 from the efficiency of the whole body as a mili- 
 tary corps. The soldiers soon learn to love the 
 idle and dissolute lives which they are allowed 
 to lead. The officers, especially those in the 
 higher grades of rank, are paid large salaries, 
 are clothed in a guady dress which is adorned 
 with many decorations, and they are treated 
 every where with great consideration. Thus 
 they become devoted to the will of the govern- 
 ment, and lose gradually all regard for, and all 
 sympathy with the rights and welfare of the 
 people. There is a tacit agreement between 
 them and the government, by which they are 
 bound to keep the people in a state of utter and 
 
1700.] Reforms. 179 
 
 Despotism versus freedom. Policy of the American people. 
 
 abject submission to the despot's will, while he, 
 on his part, is bound to collect from the people 
 thus subdued the sums of money necessary for 
 their pay. Thus it is the standing army which 
 is that great and terrible sword by means of 
 which one man is able to strike awe into the 
 hearts of so many millions, and hold them all 
 so entirely subject to his will. 
 
 It is in consequence of having observed the 
 effect of such armaments in the despotisms of 
 Europe and Asia that the free governments of 
 modern times take good care not to allow large 
 standing armies to be formed. Instead of this 
 the people organize themselves into armed 
 bands, in connection with which they meet and 
 practice military evolutions on appointed clays, 
 and then separate and go back to their wives 
 and to their children, and to their usual occu- 
 pations, while in the despotic countries where 
 large standing armies are maintained, the peo- 
 ple are strictly forbidden to possess arms, or to 
 form organizations, or to take measures of any 
 kind that could tend to increase their means 
 of defense against their oppressors in the event 
 of a struggle. 
 
 The consequence is, that under the free gov- 
 ernments of the present day the people arc 
 strong and the government is weak. The 
 
180 Peter the Great. [1700. 
 
 Standing armies. The American government is weak. 
 
 standing army of France consists at the present 
 time* of five hundred thousand men, complete- 
 ly armed and equipped, and devoted all the time 
 to the study and practice of the art of war. By 
 means of this force one man is able to keep the 
 whole population of the country in a state of 
 complete and unquestioning submission to his 
 will. In the United States, on the other hand, 
 with a population nearly as great, the standing 
 army seldom amounts to an effective force of 
 fifteen thousand men ; and if a president of the 
 United States were to attempt by means of it to 
 prolong his term of office, or to accomplish any 
 other violent end, there is, perhaps, not a single 
 state in the Union, the population of which 
 would not alone be able to put him down — so 
 strong are the people with us, and so weak, in Op- 
 position to them, the government and the army. 
 It is often made a subject of reproach by 
 European writers and speakers, in commenting 
 on the state of things in America, that the gov- 
 ernment is so weak ; but this we consider not 
 our reproach, but our glory. The government 
 is indeed weak. The people take good care to 
 keep it weak. But the nation is not weak; 
 the nation is strong. The difference is, that in 
 our country the nation chooses to retain its 
 * 1858. 
 
1700.] Reforms. 
 
 181 
 
 The people reserve their strength. Peter's policy. 
 
 The Church. 
 
 power in its own hands. The people make the 
 government strong enough from time to time 
 for all the purposes which they wish it to ac- 
 complish. When occasion shall arise, the 
 strength thus to be imparted to it may be in- 
 creased almost indefinitely, according to the na- 
 ture of the emergency. In the mean time, the 
 people consider, themselves the safest deposit- 
 ary of their reserved power. 
 
 But to return to Peter. Of course, his policy 
 was the reverse of ours. He wished to make 
 his army as efficient as possible, and to cut it 
 off as completely as possible from all commun- 
 ion and sympathy with the people, so as to keep 
 it in close and absolute subjection to his own 
 individual will. The measures which he adopt- 
 ed were admirably adapted to this purpose. 
 By means of them he greatly strengthened his 
 power, and established it on a firm and perma- 
 nent basis. 
 
 Peter did not forget that, during the late re- 
 bellion, the influence of the Church and that 
 of all the leading ecclesiastics had been against 
 him. This was necessarily the case ; for, in a 
 Church constituted as that of Russia then was, 
 the powers and prerogatives of the priests rest- 
 ed, not on reason or right, but on ancient cus- 
 toms. The priests would therefore naturally 
 
182 Peter the Great. [1700. 
 
 Conservatism of the clergy. The patriarch. 
 
 be opposed to all changes — even improvements 
 — in the usages and institutions of the realm, 
 for fear that the system of reform, if once en- 
 tered upon, might extend to and interfere with 
 their ancient prerogatives and privileges. An 
 established Church in any country, where, by 
 means of the establishment, the priests or the 
 ministers hold positions which secure to them 
 the possession of wealth or power, is always 
 opposed to every species of change. It hates 
 even the very name of reform. 
 
 Peter determined to bring the Eussian Church 
 more under his own control. Up to that time 
 it had been, in a great measure, independent. 
 The head of it was an ecclesiastic of great pow- 
 er and dignity, called the Patriarch. The ju- 
 risdiction of this patriarch extended over all 
 the eastern portion of the Christian world, and 
 his position and power were very similar to 
 those of the Pope of Eome, who reigned over 
 the whole western portion. 
 
 Indeed, so exalted was the position and dig- 
 nity of the patriarch, and so great was the ven- 
 eration in which he was held by the people, 
 that he was, as it were, the spiritual sovereign 
 of the country, just as Peter was the civil and 
 military sovereign ; and on certain great relig- 
 ious ceremonies he even took precedence of 
 
1700.] Reforms. 183 
 
 Ancient custom. The emperor in the procession. 
 
 the Czar himself, and actually received homage 
 from him. At one of the great religious anni- 
 versaries, which was always celebrated with 
 great pomp and parade, it was customary for 
 the patriarch to ride through the street on 
 horseback, with the Czar walking before him 
 holding the bridle of the horse. The bridle 
 used on these occasions was very long, like a 
 pair of reins, and was made of the richest ma- 
 terial, and ornamented with golden embroid- 
 ery. The Czar walked on in advance, with the 
 loop of the bridle lying over his arm. Then 
 came three or four great nobles of the court, 
 who held up the reins behind the Czar, one of 
 them taking hold close to the horse's head, so 
 as to guide and control the movements of the 
 animal. The patriarch, who, as is the custom 
 with priests, was dressed in long robes, which 
 prevented his mounting the horse in the usual 
 manner, sat upon a square flat seat which was 
 placed upon the horse's back by way of saddle, 
 and rode in that manner, with his feet hanging 
 down upon one side. Of course, his hands were 
 at liberty, and with these he held a cross, which 
 he displayed to the people as he rode along, 
 and gave them his benediction. 
 
 After the patriarch, there followed, on these 
 occasions, an immensely long train of priests, 
 
184 Peter the Great. [1700. 
 
 Emblems. Peter's reflections on the subject 
 
 all clothed in costly and gorgeous sacerdotal 
 robes, and bearing a great number and variety 
 of religious emblems. Some carried very cost- 
 ly copies of the Gospels, bound in gold and 
 adorned with precious stones; others crosses, 
 and others pictures of the Yirgin Mary. All 
 these objects of veneration were enriched with 
 jewels and gems of the most costly description. 
 So far, however, as these mere pageants and 
 ceremonies were concerned, Peter would proba- 
 bly have been very easily satisfied, and would 
 have made no objection to paying such a token 
 of respect to the patriarch as walking before 
 him through the street once a year, and holding 
 the bridle of his horse, if this were all. But he 
 saw very clearly that these things were by no 
 means to be considered as mere outward show. 
 The patriarch was at the head of a vast organ- 
 ization, which extended throughout the em- 
 pire, all the members of which were closely 
 banded together in a system the discipline of 
 which made them dependent upon and entirely 
 devoted to their spiritual head. These priests, 
 moreover, exercised individually a vast influ- 
 ence over the people in the towns and villages 
 where they severally lived and performed their 
 functions. Thus the patriarch wielded a great 
 and very extended power, almost wholly inde- 
 
1700.] Ke forms. 185 
 
 Peter'3 determination. He proceeds cautiously. 
 
 pendent of any control on the part of the Czar 
 — a power which had already been once turned 
 against him, and which might at some future 
 day become very dangerous. Peter determ- 
 ined at once that he would not allow such a 
 state of things to continue. 
 
 He, however, resolved to proceed cautiously. 
 So he waited quietly until the patriarch who 
 was then in office died. Then, instead of al- 
 lowing the bench of bishops, as usual, to elect 
 another in his place, he committed the admin- 
 istration of the Church to an ecclesiastic whom 
 he appointed for this purpose from among his 
 own tried friends. He instructed this officer, 
 who was a very learned and a very devout 
 man, to go on as nearly as possible as his pred- 
 ecessors, the patriarchs, had done, in the ordi- 
 nary routine of duty, so as not to disturb the 
 Church by any apparent and outward change ; 
 but he directed him to consider himself, the 
 Czar, as the real head of the Church, and to re- 
 fer all important questions which might arise 
 to him for decision. He thus, in fact, abrogated 
 the office of patriarch, and made himself the 
 supreme head of the Church. 
 
 The clergy throughout the empire, as soon 
 as they understood this arrangement, were 
 greatly disturbed, and expressed their discon- 
 
It*] Peter the Great. [1700. 
 
 Contest with the bishops. Peter is victorious. 
 
 tent and dissatisfaction among themselves very 
 freely. The Czar heard of this ; and, selecting 
 one of the bishops, who had spoken more open- 
 ly and decidedly than the rest, he ordered him 
 to be degraded from his office for his con- 
 tumacy. But this the other bishops objected 
 to very strongly. They did not see, in fact, 
 they said, how it could be done. It was a 
 thing wholly unknown that a person of the 
 rank and dignity of a bishop in the Church 
 should be degraded from his office; and that, 
 besides, there was no authority that could de- 
 grade him, for they were all bishops of equal 
 rank, and no one had any jurisdiction or pow- 
 er over the others. Still, notwithstanding this, 
 they were willing, they said, to sacrifice their 
 brother if by that means the Church could be 
 saved from the great dangers which were now 
 threatening her ; and they said that they would 
 depose the bishop who was accused on condi- 
 tion that Peter would restore the rights of the 
 Church which he had suspended, by allowing 
 them to proceed to the election of a new patri- 
 arch, to take the place of the one who had 
 died. 
 
 Peter would not listen to this proposal ; but 
 he created a new bishop expressly to depose 
 the one who had offended him. The latter 
 
1700.] • Ee forms. 187 
 
 Other reforms. Collection of the revenues. 
 
 was accordingly deposed, and the rest were 
 compelled to submit. None of them dared 
 any longer to speak openly against the course 
 which the Czar was pursuing, but writings 
 were mysteriously dropped about the streets 
 which contained censures of his proceedings in 
 respect to the Church, and urged the people to 
 resist them. Peter caused large rewards to be 
 immediately offered for the discovery of the 
 persons by whom these writings were dropped, 
 but it was of no avail, and at length the ex- 
 citement gradually passed away, leaving the 
 victory wholly in Peter's hands. 
 
 After this the Czar effected a great many im- 
 portant reforms in the administration of the 
 affairs of the empire, especially in those relating 
 to the government of the provinces, and to the 
 collection of the revenues in them. This busi- 
 ness had been hitherto left almost wholly in the 
 hands of the governors, by whom it had been 
 grossly mismanaged. The governors had been 
 in the habit both of grievously oppressing the 
 people in the collection of the taxes, and also 
 of grossly defrauding the emperor in remitting 
 the proceeds to the treasury. 
 
 Peter now made arrangements for changing 
 the system entirely. He established a central 
 office at the capital for the transaction of all 
 
188 Peter the Great. [1700. 
 
 New revenue system. Manners and customs of the people. 
 
 business connected with the collecting of the 
 revenues, and then appointed collectors for all 
 the provinces of the empire, who were to re- 
 ceive their instructions from the minister who 
 presided over this central office, and make their 
 returns directly to him. Thus the whole sys- 
 tem was remodeled, and made far more efficient 
 than it ever had been before. Of course, the 
 old governors, who, in consequence of this re- 
 form, lost the power of enriching themselves by 
 their oppressions and frauds, complained bit- 
 terly of the change, and mourned, like good 
 Conservatives, the ruin which this radicalism 
 was bringing upon the country, but they were 
 forced to submit. 
 
 Whenever there was any thing in the private 
 manners and customs of the people which Pe- 
 ter thought was likely to impede in any way 
 the effectual accomplishment of his plans, he 
 did not hesitate at all to ordain a change ; and 
 some of the greatest difficulties which he had 
 to encounter in his reforms arose from the op- 
 position which the people made to the changes 
 that he wished to introduce in the dress that 
 they wore, and in several of the usages of com- 
 mon life. The people of the country had been 
 accustomed to wear long gowns, similar to those 
 worn to this day by many Oriental nations. 
 
1700.] Reforms. 189 
 
 Mustaches and beards. The long drc.-'-e* suppressed. 
 
 This costume was very inconvenient, not only 
 for soldiers, but also for workmen, and for all 
 persons engaged in any of the common avoca- 
 tions of life. Peter required the people to 
 change this dress ; and he sent patterns of the 
 coats worn in western Europe to all parts of 
 the country, and had them put up in conspicu- 
 ous places, where every body could see them, 
 and required every body to imitate them. He, 
 however, met with a great deal of difficulty in 
 inducing them to do so. He found still greater 
 difficulty in inducing the people to shave off 
 their mustaches and their beards. Finding that 
 they would not shave their faces under the in- 
 fluence of a simple regulation to that effect, he 
 assessed a tax upon beards, requiring that every 
 gentleman should pay a hundred rubles a year 
 for the privilege of wearing one ; and as for the 
 peasants and common people, every one who 
 wore a beard was stopped every time he enter- 
 ed a city or town, and required to pay a penny 
 at the gate by way of tax or fine. 
 
 The nuisance of long clothes he attempted 
 to abate in a similar way. The officers of the 
 customs, who were stationed at the gates of the 
 towns, were ordered to stop every man who 
 wore a long dress, and compel him either to 
 pay a fine of about fifty cents, or else kneel 
 
190 Peter the Great. [1701. 
 
 Effect of ridicule. The jester's marriage. 
 
 down and have all that part of their coat or 
 gown which lay upon the ground, while they 
 were in that posture, cut off with a pair of big 
 shears. 
 
 Still, such was the attachment of the people 
 to their old fashions, that great numbers of the 
 people, rather than submit to this curtailing of 
 their vestments, preferred to pay the fine. 
 
 On one occasion the Czar, laying aside for 
 the moment the system of severity and terror 
 which was his usual reliance for the accom- 
 plishment of his ends, concluded to try the ef- 
 fect of ridicule upon the attachment of the 
 people to old and absurd fashions in dress. It 
 happened that one of the fools or jesters of the 
 court was about to be married. The young 
 woman who was to be the jester's bride was 
 very pretty, and she was otherwise a favorite 
 with those who knew her, and the Czar determ- 
 ined to improve the occasion of the wedding 
 for a grand frolic. He accordingly made ar- 
 rangements for celebrating the nuptials at the 
 palace, and he sent invitations to all the great 
 nobles and officers of state, with their wives, 
 and to all the other great ladies of the court, 
 giving them all orders to appear dressed in the 
 fashions which prevailed in the Russian court 
 one or two hundred years before. With the 
 
1701.] . Reforms. 191 
 
 Curious sleeve.3. Mode of manoeuvring the sleeve. 
 
 exception of some modes of dress prevalent at 
 the present day, there is nothing that can be 
 conceived more awkward, inconvenient, and 
 ridiculous than the fashions which were repro- 
 duced on this occasion. Among other things, 
 the ladies wore a sort of dress of which the 
 sleeves, so it is said, were ten or twelve yards 
 long. These sleeves were made very full, and 
 were drawn up upon the arm in a sort of a puff, 
 it being the fashion to have as great a length 
 to the sleeve as could possibly be crowded on 
 between the shoulder and the wrist. It is 
 said, too, that the customary salutation between 
 ladies and gentlemen meeting in society, when 
 this dress was in fashion, was performed through 
 the intervention of these sleeves. On the ap- 
 proach of the gentleman, the lady, by a sudden 
 and dexterous motion of her arm, would throw 
 off the end of her sleeve to him. The sleeve, 
 being very long, could be thrown in this way 
 half across the room. The gentleman would 
 take the end of the sleeve, which represented, 
 we are to suppose, the hand of the lady, and, 
 after kissing and saluting it in a most respect- 
 ful manner, he would resign it, and then the 
 lady would draw it back again upon her arm. 
 This would be too ridiculous to be believed if 
 it were possible, that any thing could be too 
 
192 Peter the Great. [1701. 
 
 The boyars in the streets. Long trains of attendants. 
 
 ridiculous to be believed in respect to the ab- 
 surdities of fashion. 
 
 A great many of the customs and usages of 
 social life which prevailed in those days, as 
 well as the fashions of dress, were inconvenient 
 and absurd. These the Czar did not hesitate 
 to alter and reform by proceedings of the most 
 arbitrary and summary character. For in- 
 stance, it was the custom of all the great no- 
 bles, or boyars, as they were called, to go in 
 grand state whenever they moved about the 
 city or in the environs of it, attended always by 
 a long train of their servants and retainers. 
 Now, as these followers were mostly on foot, 
 the nobles in the carriages, or, in the winter, in 
 their sledges or sleighs, were obliged to move 
 very slowly in order to enable the train to 
 keep up with them. Thus the streets were 
 full of these tedious processions, moving slowly 
 along, sometimes through snow and sometimes 
 through rain, the men bareheaded, because 
 they must not be covered in the presence of 
 their master, and thus exposed to all the in- 
 clemency of an almost Arctic climate. And 
 what made the matter worse was, that it was 
 not the fashion for the nobleman to move on 
 even as fast as his followers might easily have 
 walked. They considered it more dignified 
 
1701.] Reforms. 193 
 
 Peter changes the whole system. Motives of the Czar. 
 
 and grand to go slowly. Thus, the more aris- 
 tocratic a grandee was in spirit, and the greater 
 his desire to make a display of his magnificence 
 in the street, the more slowly he moved. If it 
 had not been for the banners and emblems, and 
 the gay and gaudy colors in which many of 
 the attendants were dressed, these processions 
 would have produced the effect of particularly 
 solemn funerals. 
 
 The Czar determined to change all this. 
 First he set an example himself of rapid mo- 
 tion through the streets. When he went out 
 in his carriage or in his sleigh, he was attended 
 only by a very few persons, and they were 
 dressed in a neat uniform and mounted on good 
 horses, and his coachman was ordered to drive 
 on at a quick pace. The boyars were slow to 
 follow this example, but the Czar assisted them 
 considerably in their progress toward the de- 
 sired reform by making rules limiting the num- 
 ber of idle attendants which they were allowed 
 to have about them ; and then, if they would 
 not dismiss the supernumeraries, he himself 
 caused them to be taken from them and sent 
 into the army. 
 
 The motive of the Czar in making all these 
 improvements and reforms was his desire to 
 render his own power as the sovereign of the 
 
194: ■ Peter the Great. [1701. 
 
 Ultimate effect of his reforms. 
 
 country more compact and efficient, and not 
 any real and heartfelt interest in the welfare 
 and happiness of the people. Still, in the end, 
 very excellent results followed from the inno- 
 vations which he thus introduced. They were 
 the commencement of a series of changes which 
 so developed 'the power and advanced the civ- 
 ilization of the country, as in the course of a 
 few subsequent reigns had the eifect of "bring- 
 ing Eussia into the foremost rank among the 
 nations of Europe. The progress which these 
 changes introduced continues to go on to the 
 present time, and will, perhaps, go on unim- 
 peded for centuries to come. 
 
1701.] The Battle of Narva. 195 
 
 Origin of the -war with Sweden. 
 
 Chapter X. 
 The Battle of Narva. 
 
 THE reader will perhaps recollect how de- 
 sirous Peter had long been to extend his 
 dominions toward the west, so as to have a sea- 
 port under his control on the Baltic Sea; for, 
 at the time when he succeeded to the throne, 
 the eastern shores of the Baltic belonged to 
 Poland and to Sweden, so that the Bussians 
 were confined, in a great measure, in their na- 
 val operations to the waters of the Black and 
 Caspian Seas, and to the rivers flowing into 
 them. You will also recollect that when, at 
 the commencement of his tour, he arrived at 
 the town of Riga, which stands at the head of 
 the Gulf of Riga, a sort of branch of the Baltic, 
 he had been much offended at the refusal of 
 the governor of the place, acting under the or- 
 ders of the King of Sweden, to allow him to 
 view the fortifications there. He then resolved 
 that Riga, and the whole province of which it 
 was the capital, should one day be his. The 
 year after he returned from his travels — that 
 is, in 1699, the country being by that time re- 
 
196 Peter the Great. [1701. 
 
 Peace with the Turks. Charles XII. Siege of Narva. 
 
 stored to its ordinary state of repose after the 
 suppression of the rebellion — he concluded that 
 the time had arrived for carrying his resolution 
 into effect. 
 
 So he set a train of negotiations on foot for 
 making a long truce with the Turks, not wish- 
 ing to have two wars on his hands at the same 
 time. When he had accomplished this object, 
 he formed a league With the kingdoms of Po- 
 land and Denmark to make war upon Sweden. 
 So exactly were all his plans laid, that the war 
 with Sweden was declared on the very next 
 day after the truce of the Turks was con- 
 cluded. 
 
 The King of Sweden at this time was Charles 
 XII. He was a mere boy, being only at that 
 time eighteen years of age, and he had just suc- 
 ceeded to the throne. He was, however, a 
 prince of remarkable talents and energy, and 
 in his subsequent campaigns against Peter and 
 his allies he distinguished himself so much that 
 he acquired great renown, and finally took his 
 place among the most illustrious military he- 
 roes in history. 
 
 The first operation of the war was the siege 
 of the city of Narva. Narva was a port on the 
 Baltic ; the situation of it, as well as that of the 
 other places mentioned in this chapter, is seen 
 
1699.] The Battle of Narva. 197 
 
 The frontier. 
 
 Plan of the campaign. 
 
 by the adjoining map, which shows the gener- 
 al features of the Enssian and Swedish frontier 
 as it existed at that time. 
 
 MAP OF THE KUSSIAN AND SWEBISn FBONTTEB. 
 
 Narva, as appears by the map, is situated on 
 the sea-coast, near the frontier — much nearer 
 than Eiga. Peter expected that by the con- 
 quest of this city he should gain access to the 
 sea, and so be able to build ships which would 
 
198 Peter the Great. [1700. 
 
 Indignation of the King of Sweden. 
 
 aid him in his ulterior operations. He also cal- 
 culated that when Narva was in his hands the 
 way would be open for him to advance on Eiga. 
 Indeed, at the same time while he was com- 
 mencing the siege of Narva, his ally, the King 
 of Poland, advanced from his own dominions 
 to Eiga, and was now prepared to attack that 
 city at the same time that the Czar was besieg- 
 ing Narva. 
 
 In the mean while the news of these move- 
 ments was sent by couriers to the King of Swe- 
 den, and the conduct ©f Peter in thus suddenly 
 making war upon him, and invading his domin- 
 ions, made him exceedingly indignant. The 
 only cause of quarrel which Peter pretended to 
 have against the king was the uncivil treatment 
 which he had received at the hands of the Gov- 
 ernor of Eiga in refusing to allow him to see 
 the fortifications when he passed through that 
 city on his tour. Peter had, it is true, complain- 
 ed of this insult, as he called it, and had sent 
 commissioners to Sweden to demand satisfac- 
 tion ; and certain explanations had been made, 
 though Peter professed not to be satisfied with 
 them. Still, the negotiations had not been closed, 
 and the government of Sweden had no idea that 
 the misunderstanding would lead to war. In- 
 deed, the commissioners were still at the Swo- 
 
1700.] The Battle of Narva. 199 
 
 Remonstrances of Holland and England. 
 
 dish court, continuing the negotiations, when 
 the news arrived that Peter had at once brought 
 the question to an issue by declaring war and 
 invading the Swedish territory. The king im- 
 mediately collected a large army, and provided 
 a fleet of two hundred transports to convey 
 them to the scene of action. The preparations 
 were made with great dispatch, and the fleet 
 sailed for Eiga. 
 
 The news, too, of this war occasioned great 
 dissatisfaction among the governments of west- 
 ern Europe. The government of Holland was 
 particularly displeased, on account of the inter- 
 ference and interruption which the war would 
 occasion to all their commerce in the Baltic. 
 They immediately determined to remonstrate 
 with the Czar against the course which he was 
 pursuing, and they induced King "William, of 
 England, to join them in the remonstrance. 
 They also, at the same time, sent a messenger 
 to the King of Poland, urging him by all means 
 to suspend his threatened attack on Eiga until 
 some measures could be taken for accommo- 
 dating the quarrel. Biga was a very import- 
 ant commercial port, and there were a great 
 many wealthy Dutch merchants there, whose 
 interests the Dutch government were very anx- 
 ious to protect. 
 
200 Peter the Gee at. [1700. 
 
 The King of Sweden at Riga. The Czar a subordinate. 
 
 The King of Sweden arrived at Eiga with 
 his fleet at just about the same time that the 
 remonstrance of the Dutch government reach- 
 ed the King of Poland, who was advancing to 
 attack it. Augustus, for that was the name of 
 the King of Poland, finding that now, since so 
 great a force had arrived to succor and strength- 
 en the place, there was no hope for success in 
 any of his operations against it, concluded to 
 make a virtue of necessity, and so he drew off 
 his army, and sent word to the Dutch govern- 
 ment that he did so in compliance with their 
 wishes. 
 
 The King of Sweden had, of course, nothing 
 now to do but to advance from Eiga to Narva 
 and attack the army of the Czar. 
 
 This army was not, however, commanded by 
 the Czar in person. In accordance with what 
 seems to have been his favorite plan in all his 
 great undertakings, he did not act directly him- 
 self as the head of the expedition, but, putting 
 forward another man, an experienced and skill- 
 ful general, as responsible commander, he him- 
 self took a subordinate position as lieutenant. 
 Indeed, he took a pride in entering the army at 
 one of the very lowest grades, and so advanc- 
 ing, by a regular series of promotions, through 
 all the ranks of the service. The person whom 
 
1700.] The Battle of Narva. 201 
 
 General Croy. His plans. 
 
 the Czar had made commander-in-chief at the 
 siege of Narva was a German officer. His name 
 was General Croy. 
 
 General Croy had been many weeks before 
 Narva at the time when the King of Sweden 
 arrived at Riga, but he had made little progress 
 in taking the town. The place was strongly 
 fortified, and the garrison, though comparative- 
 ly weak, defended it with great bravery. The 
 Russian army was encamped in a very strong 
 position just outside the town. As soon as 
 news of the coming of the King of Sweden ar- 
 rived, the Czar went off into the interior of the 
 country to hasten a large re-enforcement which 
 had been ordered, and, at the same time, Gen- 
 eral Croy sent forward large bodies of men to 
 lay in ambuscade along the roads and defiles 
 through which the King of Sweden would have 
 to pass on his way from Riga. 
 
 But all these excellent arrangements were 
 entirely defeated by the impetuous energy, and 
 the extraordinary tact and skill of the King of 
 Sweden. Although his army was very much 
 smaller than that of the Russians, he immedi- 
 ately set out on his march to Narva ; but, in- 
 stead of moving along the regular roads, and 
 so falling into the ambuscade which the Rus- 
 sians had laid for him, he turned off into back 
 
202 Peter the Great. [1700. 
 
 Operations of the king. Surprise and defeat of the Russians. 
 
 and circuitous by -ways, so as to avoid the snare 
 altogether. It was in the dead of winter, and 
 the roads which he followed, besides being 
 rough and intricate, were obstructed with snow, 
 and the Kussians had thought little of them, so 
 that at last, when the Swedish army arrived at 
 their advanced posts, they were taken entirely 
 by surprise. The advanced posts were driven 
 in, and the Swedes pressed on, the Eussians fly- 
 ing before them, and carrying confusion to the 
 posts in the rear. The surprise of the Eussians, 
 and the confusion consequent upon it, were 
 greatly increased by the state of the weather ; 
 for there was a violent snow-storm at the time, 
 and the snow, blowing into the Eussians' faces, 
 prevented their seeing what the numbers were 
 of the enemy so suddenly assaulting them, or 
 taking any effectual measures to restore their 
 own ranks to order when once deranged. 
 
 When at length the Swedes, having thus 
 driven in the advanced posts, reached the Eus- 
 sian camp itself, they immediately made an as- 
 sault upon it. The camp was defended by a 
 rampart and by a double ditch, but on went 
 the assaulting soldiers over all the obstacles, 
 pushing their way with their bayonets, and car- 
 rying all before them. The Eussians were en- 
 tirely defeated and put to flight. 
 
1700.] The Battle of Narva. 203 
 
 Terrible slaughter. Whimsical plan for disposing of the prisoners. 
 
 In a rout like this, the conquering army, mad- 
 dened by rage and by all the other dreadful ex- 
 citements of the contest, press on furiously upon 
 their flying and falling foes, and destroy them 
 with their bayonets in immense numbers be- 
 fore the officers can arrest them. Indeed, the 
 officers do not wish to arrest tfrem until it is 
 sure that the enemy is so completely over- 
 whelmed that their rallying again is utterly 
 impossible. In this case twenty thousand of 
 the Eussian soldiers were left dead upon the 
 field. The Swedes, on the other hand, lost only 
 two or three thousand. 
 
 Besides those who were killed, immense num- 
 bers were taken prisoners. General Croy, and 
 all the other principal generals in command, 
 were among the prisoners. It is very probable 
 that, if Peter had not been absent at the time, 
 he would himself have been taken too. 
 
 The number of prisoners was so very great 
 that it was not possible for the Swedes to retain 
 them, on account of the expense and trouble of 
 feeding them, and keeping them warm at that 
 season of the year ; so they determined to de- 
 tain the officers only, and to send the men away. 
 In doing this, besides disarming the men, they 
 adopted a very whimsical expedient for mak- 
 ing them helpless and incapable of doing mis- 
 
204 Peter the Great. [1700. 
 
 JEffect upon the Czar. New plans and arrangements. 
 
 chief on their march. They cut their clothes 
 in such a manner that they could only be pre- 
 vented from falling off by being held together 
 by both hands ; and the weather was so cold — 
 the ground, moreover, being covered with snow 
 . — that the men could only save themselves from 
 perishing by keeping their clothes around them. 
 
 In this pitiful plight the whole body of pris- 
 oners were driven off, like a flock of sheep, by 
 a small body of Swedish soldiery, for a distance 
 of about a league on the road toward Russia, 
 and then left to find the rest of the way them- 
 selves. 
 
 The Czar, when he heard the news of this ter- 
 rible disaster, did not seem much disconcerted 
 by it. He said that he expected to be beaten 
 at first by the Swedes. " They have beaten us 
 once," said he, "and they may beat us again; 
 but they will teach us in time to beat them." 
 
 He immediately began to adopt the most ef- 
 ficient and energetic measures for organizing a 
 new army. He set about raising recruits in <all 
 parts of the empire. He introduced many new 
 foreign officers into his service ; and to provide 
 artillery, after exhausting all the other resources 
 at his command, he ordered the great bells of 
 many churches and monasteries to be taken 
 down and cast" into cannon. 
 
1700.] Building St. Peteesbueg. 205 
 
 Continuation of the war. Stratagems of the Swedes. 
 
 Chapter XI. 
 The Building of St. Petersburg. 
 
 THE struggle thus commenced between the 
 Czar Peter and Charles XII. of Sweden, 
 for the possession of the eastern shores of the 
 Baltic Sea, continued for many years. At first 
 the Eussians were every where beaten by the 
 Swedes ; but at last, as Peter had predicted, the 
 King of Sweden taught them to beat him. 
 
 The commanders of the Swedish army were 
 very ingenious in expedients, as well as bold 
 and energetic in action, and they often gained 
 an advantage over their enemy by their wit as 
 well as by their bravery. One instance of this 
 was their contrivance for rendering their pris- 
 oners helpless on their march homeward after 
 the battle of Narva, by cutting their clothes in 
 such a manner as to compel the men to keep 
 both hands employed, as they walked along the 
 roads, in holding them together. On another 
 occasion, when they had to cross a river in the 
 face of the Kussian troops posted on the other 
 side, they invented a peculiar kind of boat, which 
 was of great service in enabling them to accom- 
 
208 
 
 Peter 
 
 THE 
 
 GrREAT. 
 
 ■ Li' 
 
 roo. 
 
 Peculiar kind of boat. 
 
 
 
 Making a smoke. 
 
 plisli the transit in safety. These boats were 
 flat-bottomed and square ; the foremost end of 
 each of them was guarded by a sort of bulwark, 
 formed of plank, and made very high. This; 
 bulwark was fixed on hinges at the lower end, 
 so that it could be raised up and down. It 
 was, of course, kept up during the passage 
 across the river, and so served to defend the 
 men in the boat from the shots of the enemy. 
 But when the boat reached the shore it was let 
 down, and then it formed a platform or bridge 
 by which the men could all rush out together 
 to the shore. 
 
 At the same time, while they were getting 
 these boats ready, and placing the men in them, 
 the Swedes, having observed that the wind blew 
 across from their side of the river to the other, 
 made great fires on the bank, and covered them 
 with wet straw, so as to cause them to throw 
 out a prodigious quantity of smoke. The smoke 
 was blown over to the other side of the river, 
 where it so filled the air as to prevent the [Rus- 
 sians from seeing what was going on. 
 
 It was about a year after the first breaking 
 out of the war that the tide of fortune began to 
 turn, in some measure, in favor of the Russians. 
 About that time the Czar gained possession of 
 a considerable portion of the Baltic shore*; and, 
 
1702.] Building St. Petersburg. 209 
 
 Peter determines to build a city. The site. Peter's first visit to the Nera. 
 
 as soon as he had done so, he conceived the de- 
 sign of laying the foundation of a new city there, 
 with the view of making it the naval and com- 
 mercial capital of his kingdom. This plan was 
 carried most successfully into effect in the build- 
 ing of the great city of St. Petersburg. The 
 founding of this city was one of the most im- 
 portant transactions in Peter's reign. Indeed, 
 it was probably by far the most important, and 
 Peter owes, perhaps, more of his great fame to 
 this memorable enterprise than to any thing else 
 that he did. 
 
 The situation of St. Petersburg will be seen 
 by the map in the preceding chapter. At a 
 little distance from the shore is a large lake, 
 called, the Lake of Ladoga. The outlet of the 
 Lake of Ladoga is a small river called the Neva. 
 The Lake # of Ladoga is supplied with water by 
 many rivers, which flow into it from the high- 
 er lands lying to the northward and eastward 
 of it ; and it is by the Neva that the surplus of 
 these waters is carried off to the sea. 
 
 . The circumstances under which the attention 
 of the Czar was called to the advantages of this 
 locality were these. He arrived on the banks 
 of the Neva, at some distance above the mouth 
 of the river, in the course of his campaign 
 against the Swedes in the year 1702. He fol- 
 ' O 
 
210 
 
 Petek the Great. 
 
 [1702. 
 
 Cronstadt. 
 
 
 A strategem. 
 
 lowed the river down, and observed that it was 
 pretty wide, and that the water was sufficiently 
 deep for the purpose of navigation. When he 
 reached the mouth of the river, he saw that, 
 there was an island,* at some distance from the 
 shore, which might easily be fortified, and that, 
 when fortified, it would completely defend the 
 entrance to the stream. He took with him a 
 body of armed men, and went off to the island 
 in boats, in order to examine it more closely. 
 The name of this island was then almost un- 
 known, but it is now celebrated throughout the 
 world as the seat of the renowned and impreg- 
 nable fortress of Cronstadt. 
 
 There was a Swedish ship in the offing at the 
 time when Peter visited the island, and this ship 
 drew near to the island and began to fire upon 
 it as soon as those on board saw that the Eus- 
 sian soldiers had landed there. This cannon- 
 ading drove the Eussians back from the shores, 
 but instead of retiring from the island they 
 went and concealed themselves behind some 
 rocks. The Swedes supposed that the Eussians 
 had gone around to the other side of the island, 
 and that they had there taken to their boats 
 again and returned to the main land ; so they 
 determined to go to the island themselves, and 
 
 * See map on page 221. 
 
1703.] Building St. Petersburg. 211 
 
 Contest on the island. Peter examines the locality. 
 
 examine it, in order to find ont what the Rus- 
 sians had been doing there. 
 
 They accordingly let down their boats, and a 
 large party of Swedes embarking in them rowed 
 to the island. Soon after they had landed the 
 Russians rushed out upon them from their am- 
 buscade, and, after a sharp contest, drove them 
 back to their boats. Several of the men were 
 killed, but the rest succeeded in making their 
 way to the ship, and the ship soon afterward 
 weighed anchor and put to sea. 
 
 Peter was now at liberty to examine the isl- 
 and, the mouth of the river, and all the adjacent 
 shores, as much as he pleased. He found that 
 the situation of the place was well adapted to 
 the purposes of a sea-port. The island would 
 serve to defend the mouth of the river, and yet 
 there was deep water along the side of it to af- 
 ford an entrance for ships. The water, too, 
 was deep in the river, and the flow of the cur- 
 rent smooth. It is true that in many places 
 the land along the banks of the river was low 
 and marshy, but this difficulty could be reme- 
 died by the driving of piles for the foundation 
 of the buildings, which had been done so ex- 
 tensively in Holland. 
 
 There was no town on the spot at the time 
 of Peter's visit to it, but only a few fishermen's 
 
212 Peter the Great. [1703. 
 
 He matures his plans. Mechanics and artisans. 
 
 huts near the outlet of the river, and the ruins 
 of an old fort a few miles above. Peter ex- 
 amined the whole region with great care, and 
 came decidedly to the conclusion that he would 
 make the spot the site of a great city. 
 
 He matured his plans during the winter, and 
 in the following spring he commenced the exe- 
 cution of them. The first building that was 
 erected was a low one-story structure, made of 
 wood, to be used as a sort of office and place of 
 shelter for himself while superintending the 
 commencement of the works that he had pro- 
 jected. This building was afterward preserved 
 a long time with great care, as a precious relic 
 and souvenir of the foundation of the city. 
 
 The Czar had sent out orders to the govern- 
 ments of the different provinces of the empire 
 requiring each of them to send his quota of ar- 
 tificers and laborers to assist in building the 
 city. This they could easily do, for in those 
 days all the laboring classes of the people were 
 little better than slaves, and were almost entire- 
 ly at the disposal of the nobles, their masters. 
 In the same manner he sent out agents to all 
 the chief cities in western Europe, with orders 
 to advertise there for carpenters, masons, en- 
 gineers, ship-builders, and persons of all the 
 other trades likely to be useful in the work of 
 
1703.] Building .St. Petersburg. 213 
 
 Ships and merchandise. Laborers. The boyars. 
 
 building the city. These men were to be prom- 
 ised good wages and kind treatment, and were 
 to be at liberty at any time to return to their 
 respective homes. 
 
 The agents also, at the same time, invited the 
 merchants of the countries that they fisited to 
 send vessels to the new port, laden with food 
 for the people that were to be assembled there, 
 and implements for work, and other merchan- 
 dise suitable for the wants of such a community. 
 The merchants were promised good prices for 
 their goods, and full liberty to come and go at 
 their pleasure. 
 
 The Czar also sent orders to a great many 
 leading boyars or nobles, requiring them to 
 come and build houses for themselves in the 
 new town. They were to bring with them a 
 sufficient number of their serfs and retainers to 
 do all the rough work which would be required, 
 and money to pay the foreign mechanics for 
 the skilled labor. The boyars were not at all 
 pleased with this summons. They already pos- 
 sessed their town .houses in Moscow, with gar- 
 dens and pleasure-grounds in the environs. 
 The site for the new city was very far to the 
 northward, in a comparatively cold and inhos- 
 pitable climate ; and they knew very well that, 
 even if Peter should succeed, in the end, in es- 
 
214 Peter the Great. [1703. 
 
 The building commenced. Wharves and piers. Palace. 
 
 tablishing his new city, several years must 
 elapse before they could live there in comfort. 
 Still, they did not dare to do otherwise than to 
 obey the emperor's summons. 
 
 In consequence of all these arrangements and 
 preparations, immense numbers of people came 
 in to the site of the new city in the course of 
 the following spring and summer. The num- 
 bers were swelled by the addition of the pop- 
 ulations of many towns and villages along the 
 coast that had been ravaged or destroyed by 
 the Swedes in the course of the war. The works 
 were immediately commenced on a vast scale, 
 and they were carried on during the summer 
 with great energy. The first thing to be se- 
 cured was, of course, the construction of the 
 fortress which was to defend the town. There 
 were wharves and piers to be built too, in order 
 that the vessels bringing stores and provisions 
 might land their goods. The land was survey- 
 ed, streets laid out, building lots assigned to 
 merchants for warehouses and shops, and to the 
 boyars for palaces and gardens. The boyars 
 commenced the building of their houses, and 
 the Czar himself laid the foundation of an im- 
 perial palace. 
 
 But, notwithstanding all the precautions 
 which Peter had taken to secure supplies of 
 
1703.] Building St. Petersburg. 215 
 
 Confusion. Variety of labors. Want of tools and implements. 
 
 ■every tiling required for such an undertaking, 
 and to regulate the work by systematic plans 
 and arrangements, the operations were for a time 
 attended with a great deal of disorder and con- 
 fusion, and a vast amount of personal suffering. 
 For a long time there was no proper shelter for 
 the laborers. Men came to the ground much 
 faster than huts could be built to cover them, 
 and they were obliged to lie on the marshy 
 ground without any protection from the weattu 
 er. There was also a great scarcity of tools and 
 implements suitable for the work that was re- 
 quired, in felling and transporting trees, and in 
 excavating and filling up, where changes in the 
 surface were required. In constructing the for- 
 tifications, for example, which, in the first in- 
 stance, were made of earth, it was necessary to 
 dig deep ditches and to raise great embank- 
 ments. There was a great deal of the same 
 kind of work necessary on the ground where 
 the city was to stand before the work of erect- 
 ing buildings could be commenced. There 
 were dikes and levees to be made along the 
 margin of the stream to protect the land from 
 the inundations to which it was subject when 
 the river was swollen with rains. There were 
 roads to be made, and forests to be cleared away, 
 and many other such labors to be performed. 
 
216 Peter the Great. [1703. 
 
 Danger from the enemy. Supplies of provisions. 
 
 Now, in order to employ at once the vast con- 
 course of laborers that were assembled on the 
 ground in such works as these, an immense 
 number of implements were required, such as 
 pickaxes, spades, shovels, and wheelbarrows; 
 but so limited was the supply of these conven- 
 iences, that a great portion of the earth which 
 was required for the dikes and embankments 
 was brought by the men in their aprons, or in 
 the skirts of their clothes, or in bags made for 
 the purpose out of old mats, or any other ma- 
 terial that came to hand. It was necessary to 
 push forward the work promptly and without 
 any delay, notwithstanding all these disadvant- 
 ages, for the Swedes were still off the coast with 
 their ships, and no one knew how soon they 
 might draw near and open a cannonade upon 
 the place, or even land and attack the workmen, 
 in the midst of their labors. 
 
 What greatly increased the difficulties of the 
 case was the frequent falling short of the sup- 
 ply of provisions. The number of men to be 
 fed was immensely large ; for, in consequence of 
 the very efficient measures which the Czar had 
 taken for gathering men from all parts of his 
 dominions, it is said that there were not less 
 than three hundred thousand collected on the 
 spot in the course of the summer. And as 
 
1703.] Building St. Petersburg. 217 
 
 The supplies often fall short. Consequent sickness. 
 
 there were at that time no roads leading to the 
 place, all the supplies were necessarily to be 
 brought by water. But the approach from the 
 Baltic side was well-nigh cut off by the Swedes, 
 who had at that time full possession of the sea. 
 Vessels could, however, come from the interior 
 by way of Lake Ladoga; but when for several 
 days or more the wind was from the west, these 
 vessels were all kept back, and then sometimes 
 the provisions fell short, and the men were re- 
 duced to great distress. To guard as much as 
 possible against the danger of coming to abso- 
 lute want at the times when the supplies were 
 thus entirely cut off, the men were often put on 
 short allowance beforehand. The emperor, it 
 is true, was continually sending out requisitions 
 for more food ; but the men increased in num- 
 ber faster, after all, than the means for feeding 
 them. The consequence was, that immense 
 multitudes of them sickened and died. The 
 scarcity of food, combined with the influence of 
 fatigue and exposure — men half fed, working 
 all day in the mud and rain, and at night sleep- 
 ing without any shelter — brought on fevers and 
 dysenteries, and other similar diseases, which 
 always prevail in camps, and among large 
 bodies of men exposed to such influences as 
 fhese. It is said that not less than a hundred 
 
218 Peter the Great. [1703. 
 
 Great mortality. Peter's impetuosity of spirit. 
 
 thousand men perished from these causes at St. 
 Petersburg in the course of the year. 
 
 Peter doubtless regretted this loss of life, as 
 it tended to impede the progress of the work ; 
 but, after all, it was a loss which he could easily 
 repair by sending out continually to the prov* 
 inces for fresh supplies of men. Those whom 
 the nobles and governors selected from among 
 the serfs and ordered to go had no option ; they 
 were obliged to submit. And thus the supply 
 of laborers was kept full, notwithstanding the 
 dreadful mortality which was continually tend- 
 ing to diminish it. 
 
 If Peter had been willing to exercise a little 
 patience and moderation in carrying out his 
 plans, it is very probable that most of this suf- 
 fering might have been saved. If he had sent 
 a small number of men to the ground the first 
 year, and had employed them in opening roads, 
 establishing granaries, and making other pre- 
 liminary arrangements, and, in the mean time, 
 had caused stores of food to be purchased and 
 laid up, and ample supplies of proper tools and 
 implements to be procured and conveyed to the 
 ground, so as to have had every thing ready for 
 the advantageous employment of a large num- 
 ber of men in the following year, every thing 
 would, perhaps, have gone well. But the qual- 
 
1703.] Building St. Petersburg. 219 
 
 His recklessness. Peter a draughtsman. 
 
 ities of patience and moderation formed no part 
 of Peter's character. What he conceived of 
 and determined to do must be done at once, at 
 whatever cost ; and a cost of human life seems 
 to have been the one that he thought less of 
 than any other. He rushed headlong on, not- 
 withstanding the suffering which his impetuos- 
 ity occasioned, and thus the hymn which sol- 
 emnized the entrance into being of the new- 
 born city was composed of the groans of a 
 hundred thousand men, dying in agony, of want, 
 misery, and despair. 
 
 Peter was a* personal witness of this suffer- 
 ing, for he remained, during a great part of the 
 time, on the ground, occupying himself con- 
 stantly in superintending and urging on the 
 operations. Indeed, it is said that he acted 
 himself as chief engineer in planning the forti- 
 fications, and in laying out the streets of the 
 city. He drew many of the plans with his own 
 hands; for, among the other accomplishments 
 which he had acquired in the early part of his 
 life, he had made himself quite a good practical 
 draughtsman. 
 
 When the general plan of the city had been 
 determined upon, and proper places had been 
 set apart for royal palaces and pleasure-grounds, 
 and public edifices of all sorts that might be re- 
 
220 Peter the Great. [1703. 
 
 Streets and buildings. Private dwellings. 
 
 quired, and also for open squares, docks, mar- 
 kets, and the like, a great many streets were 
 thrown open for the use of any persons who 
 might choose to build houses in them. A vast 
 number of the mechanics and artisans who had 
 been attracted to the place by the offers of the 
 Czar availed themselves of this opportunity to 
 provide themselves with homes, and they pro- 
 ceeded at once to erect houses. A great many 
 of the structures thus built were mere huts or 
 shanties, made of any rude materials that came 
 most readily to hand, and put up in a very 
 hasty manner. It was sufncienf that the tene- 
 ment afforded a shelter from the rain, and that 
 it was enough of a building to fulfill the con- 
 dition on which the land was granted to the 
 owner of it. The number of these structures 
 was, however, enormous. It was said that in 
 one year there were erected thirty thousand of 
 them. There is no instance in the history of 
 the world of so great a city springing into ex- 
 istence with such marvelous rapidity as this. 
 
 During the time while Peter was thus em-' 
 ployed in laying the foundations of his new 
 city, the King of Sweden was carrying on the 
 war in Poland against the conjoined forces of 
 Eussia and Poland, which were acting together 
 there as allies. When intelligence was brought 
 
1703.] Building St. Petersburg. 221 
 
 What the King of Sweden said. 
 
 Map. 
 
 to him of the operations in which Peter was 
 engaged- on the banks of the Neva, he said, "It 
 is all very well. He may amuse himself as 
 much as' he likes in building his city there ; but 
 by-and-by, when I am a little at leisure, I will 
 go and take it away from him. Then, if I like 
 the town, I will keep it ; and if not, I will burn 
 it down." 
 
 Peter, however, determined that it should not 
 be left within the power of the King of Sweden 
 to take his town, or even to molest his oper- 
 
222 Peter the Great. [1703. 
 
 Situation of Cronstadt. Peter plans a fortress. 
 
 ations in the building of it, if any precautions 
 on his part could prevent it. He had caused a 
 number of redoubts and batteries to be thrown 
 up during the summer. These works were sit- 
 uated at different points near the outlet of the 
 river, and on the adjacent shores. 
 
 There was an island off the mouth of the 
 river which stood in a suitable position to guard 
 the entrance. This island was several miles dis- 
 tant from the place where the city was to stand, 
 and it occupied the middle of the bay leading 
 toward it. Thus there was water on both sides 
 of it, but the water was deep, enough only on 
 one side to allow of the passage of ships of war. 
 Peter now determined to construct a large and 
 strong fortress on the shores of this island, plac- 
 ing it in such a position that the guns could 
 command the channel leading up the bay.' It 
 was late in the fall when he planned this work, 
 and the winter came on before he was ready to 
 commence operations. This time for commenc- 
 ing was, however, a matter of design on his part, 
 as the ice during the winter would assist very 
 much, he thought, in the work of laying the 
 necessary foundations ; for the fortress was not 
 to stand on the solid land, but on a sandbank 
 which projected from the land on the side to- 
 ward the navigable channel. The site of the 
 
1703.] Building St. Petersburg. 223 
 
 Mode of laying the foundations. DaDger from the Swedes. 
 
 fortress was to be about a cannon-shot from the 
 land, where, being surrounded by shallow water 
 on every side, it could not be approached either 
 by land or sea. 
 
 Peter laid the foundations of this fortress on 
 the ice by building immense boxes of timber and 
 plank, and loading them with stones. When the 
 ice melted in the spring these structures sank 
 into the sand, and formed a stable and solid 
 foundation on which he could afterward build 
 at pleasure. This was the origin of the famous 
 Castle of Cronstadt, which has since so well ful- 
 filled its purpose that it has kept the powerful 
 navies of Europe at bay in time of war, and pre- 
 vented their reaching the city. 
 
 Besides this great fortress, Peter erected sev- 
 eral detached batteries at different parts of the 
 island, so as to prevent the land from being ap- 
 proached at all by the boats of the enemy. 
 
 At length the King of Sweden began to be 
 somewhat alarmed at the accounts which he re- 
 ceived of what Peter was doing, and he determ- 
 ined to attack him on the ground, and destroy 
 his works before he proceeded any farther with 
 them. He accordingly ordered the admiral of 
 the fleet to assemble his ships, to sail up the 
 Gulf of Finland, and there attack and destroy 
 the settlement which Peter was making. 
 
224 Peter the Great. [1704. 
 
 Plan of their attack. The Swedes beaten off. 
 
 The admiral made the attempt, but he found 
 that he was too late. The works were advanced 
 too far, and had become too strong for him. It 
 was on the 4th of July, 1704, that the Eussian 
 scouts, who were watching on the shores of the 
 bay, saw the Swedish ships coming up. The 
 fleet consisted of twenty-two men-of-war, and 
 many other vessels. Besides the forts and bat- 
 teries, the Eussians had a number of ships of 
 their own at anchor in the waters, and as the 
 fleet advanced a tremendous cannonade was 
 opened on both sides, the ships of the Swedes 
 against the ships and batteries^ of the Eussians. 
 When the Swedish fleet had advanced as far 
 toward the island as the depth of the water 
 would allow, they let down from the decks of 
 their vessels a great number of flat-bottomed 
 boats, which they had brought for the purpose, 
 and filled them with armed men. Their plan 
 was to land these men on the island, and carry 
 the Eussian batteries there at the point of the 
 bayonet. 
 
 But they did not succeed. They were re- 
 ceived so hotly by the Eussians that, after an 
 obstinate contest, they were forced to retreat. 
 They endeavored to get back to their boats, but 
 were pursued by the Eussians; and now, as 
 their backs were turned, they could no longer 
 
1704] Building St. Petersburg. 225 
 
 The attempt entirely fails. Mechanics and artisans. 
 
 defend themselves, and a great many were kill- 
 ed. Even those that were not killed did not all 
 succeed in making their escape. A considerable 
 number, rinding that they should not be able to 
 get to the boats, threw down their arms, and 
 surrendered themselve's prisoners ; and then, of 
 course, the boats which they belonged to were 
 taken. Five of the boats thus fell into the 
 hands of the Eussians. The others were rowed 
 back with all speed to the ships, and then the 
 ships withdrew. Thus the attempt failed en- 
 tirely. The admiral reported the ill success of 
 his expedition to. the king, and not long after- 
 ward another similar attempt was made, but 
 with no better success than before. 
 
 The new city was now considered as firmly 
 established, and from this time it advanced very 
 rapidly in wealth and population. Peter gave 
 great encouragement to foreign mechanics and 
 artisans to come and settle in the town, offering 
 to some lands, to others houses, and to others 
 high wages for their work. The nobles built 
 elegant mansions there in the streets set apart 
 for them, and many public buildings of great 
 splendor were planned and commenced. The 
 business of building ships, too, was introduced 
 on an extended scale. The situation was very 
 favorable for this purpose, as the shores of the 
 
226 Peter the Great. [1704. 
 
 Various improvements. Scientific institutions. 
 
 river afforded excellent sites for dock-yards, and 
 the timber required could be supplied in great 
 quantities from the shores of Lake Ladoga. 
 
 In a very few years after the first foundation 
 of the city, Peter began to establish literary and 
 scientific institutions there. Many of these in- 
 stitutions have since become greatly renowned, 
 and they contribute a large share, at the pres- 
 ent day, to the eclat which surrounds this cel- 
 ebrated city, and which makes it one of the 
 most splendid and renowned of the European 
 caoitals. 
 
1708.] The Revolt of Mazeppa. 227 
 
 Progress of the war. Peter's fleet. 
 
 Chapter XII. 
 The Revolt of Mazeppa. 
 
 IN the mean time the war with Sweden went 
 on. Many campaigns were fought, for the 
 contest was continued through several success- 
 ive years. The King of Sweden made repeat- 
 ed attempts to destroy the new city of St. Pe- 
 tersburg, but without success. On the contrary, 
 the town grew and prospered more and more ; 
 and the shelter and protection which the forti- 
 fications around it afforded to the mouth of the 
 river and to the adjacent roadsteads enabled 
 the Czar to go on so rapidly in building new 
 ships, and in thus increasing and strengthening 
 his fleet, that very soon he was much stronger 
 than the King of Sweden in all the neighbor- 
 ing waters, so that he not only was able to keep 
 the enemy very effectually at bay, but he even 
 made several successful descents upon the 
 Swedish territory along the adjoining coasts. 
 
 But, while the Czar was thus rapidly increas- 
 ing his power at sea, the King of Sweden proved 
 himself the strongest on land. He extended 
 
228 Peter the Great. [1708. 
 
 The King of Sweden's successes. Peter wishes to make peace. 
 
 his conquests very rapidly in Poland and in the 
 adjoining provinces, and at last, in the summer 
 of 1708, he conceived the design of crossing the 
 Dnieper and threatening Moscow, which, was 
 still Peter's capital. He accordingly pushed his 
 forces forward until he approached the bank of 
 the river. He came up to it at a certain point, 
 as if he was intending to cross there. Peter 
 assembled all his troops on the opposite side of 
 the river at that point in order to oppose him. 
 But the demonstration which the king made of 
 an intention to cross at that point was only a 
 pretense. He left a sufficient number of men 
 there to make a show, and secretly marched 
 away the great body of his troops in the night 
 to a point about three miles farther up the riv- 
 er, where he succeeded in crossing with them 
 before the emperor's forces had any suspicion 
 of his real design. The Russians, who were not 
 strong enough to oppose him in the open field, 
 were obliged immediately to retreat, and leave 
 him in full possession of the ground. 
 
 Peter was now much alarmed. He sent an 
 officer to the camp of the King of Sweden with 
 a flag of truce, to ask on what terms the king 
 would make peace with him. But Charles was 
 too much elated with his success in crossing the 
 \Lver. and placing himself in a position from 
 
1708.] The Eevolt of Mazeppa. 229 
 
 The replj^ Plan changed. Mazeppa and the Cossacks. 
 
 which he could advance, without encountering 
 any farther obstruction, to the very gates of the 
 capital, to be willing then to propose any terms. 
 So he declined entering into any negotiation, 
 saying only in a haughty tone " that he would 
 treat with his brother Peter at Moscow." 
 
 On mature reflection, however, he seems to 
 have concluded that it would be more prudent 
 for him not to march at once to Moscow, and 
 so he turned his course for a time toward the 
 southward, in the direction of the Crimea and 
 the Black Sea. 
 
 There was one secret reason which induced 
 the King of Sweden to move thus to the south- 
 ward which Peter did not for a time understand. 
 The country of the Cossacks lay in that direc- 
 tion, and the famous Mazeppa, of whom some 
 account has already been given in this volume, 
 was the chieftain of the Cossacks, and he, as it 
 happened, had had a quarrel with the Czar, and 
 in consequence of it had opened a secret nego- 
 tiation with the King of Sweden, and had agreed 
 that if the king would come into his part of the 
 country he would desert the cause of the Czar, 
 and would come over to his side, with all the 
 Cossacks under his command. 
 
 The cause of Mazeppa's quarrel with the Czar 
 was this : He was one day paying a visit to his 
 
230 Peter the Great. [1708. 
 
 Plans for reforming the Cossacks. Mazeppa opposes them. 
 
 majesty, and, while seated at table, Peter began 
 to complain of the lawless and ungovernable 
 character of the Cossacks, and to propose that 
 Mazeppa should introduce certain reforms in 
 the organization and discipline of the tribe, with 
 a view of bringing them under more effectual 
 control. It is probable that the reforms which 
 he proposed were somewhat analogous to those 
 which he had introduced so successfully into 
 the armies under his own more immediate com- 
 mand. 
 
 Mazeppa opposed this suggestion. He said 
 that the attempt to adopt such measures with 
 the Cossacks would never succeed; that the 
 men were so wild and savage by nature, and so 
 fixed in the rude and irregular habits of war- 
 fare to which they and their fathers had been 
 so long accustomed, that they could never be 
 made to submit to such restrictions as a regular 
 military discipline would impose. 
 
 Peter, who never could endure the least op- 
 position or contradiction to any of his ideas or 
 plans, became quite angry with Mazeppa on ac- 
 count of the objections which he made to his 
 proposals, and, as was usual with him in such 
 cases, he broke out in the most rude and violent 
 language imaginable. He called Mazeppa an 
 enemy and a traitor, and threatened to have him 
 
1708.] The Eevolt of Mazeppa. 231 
 
 The quarrel. Mazeppa' s treasonable designs. The plot defeated. 
 
 impaled alive. It is true he did not really mean 
 what he said, his words being only empty 
 threats dictated by the brutal violence of his 
 anger. Still, Mazeppa was very much offend- 
 ed. He went away from the Czar's tent mut- 
 tering his displeasure, and resolving secretly on 
 revenge. 
 
 Soon after this Mazeppa opened the com- 
 munication above referred to with the King of 
 Sweden, and at last an agreement was made 
 between them by which it was stipulated that 
 the king was to advance into the southern part 
 of the country, where, of course, the Cossacks 
 would be sent out to meet him, and then Ma- 
 zeppa was to revolt from the Czar, and go over 
 with all his forces to the King of Sweden's side. 
 By this means the Czar's army was sure, they 
 thought, to be defeated; and in this case the 
 King of Sweden was to remain in possession of 
 the Eussian territory, while the Cossacks were 
 to retire to their own fortresses, and live thence- 
 forth as an independent tribe. 
 
 The plot seemed to be very well laid ; but, 
 unfortunately for the contrivers of it, it was not 
 destined to succeed. In the first place, Mazep- 
 pa's scheme of revolting with the Cossacks to 
 the enemy was discovered by the Czar, and al- 
 most entirely defeated, before the time arrived 
 
232 Petee the Geeat. [1708. 
 
 Precautions of the Czar. Mazeppa's plans. 
 
 for putting it into execution. Peter had his 
 secret agents every where, and through them 
 he received such information in respect to Ma- 
 zeppa's movements as led him to suspect his 
 designs. He said nothing, however, but ma- 
 nceuvred his forces so as to have a large bod}^ 
 of troops that he could rely upon always near 
 Mazeppa and the Cossacks, and between them 
 and the army of the Swedes. He ordered the 
 officers of these troops to watch Mazeppa's 
 movements closely, and to be ready to act 
 against him at a moment's notice, should occa- 
 sion require. Mazeppa was somewhat discon- 
 certed in his plans by this state of things ; but 
 he could not make any objection, for the troops 
 thus stationed near him seemed to be placed 
 there for the purpose of co-operating with him 
 against the enemy. 
 
 In the mean time, Mazeppa cautiously made 
 known his plans to the leading men among the 
 Cossacks as fast as he thought it prudent to do 
 so. He represented to them how much better 
 it would be for them to be restored to their 
 former liberty as an independent tribe, instead 
 of being in subjugation to such a despot as the 
 Czar. He also enumerated the various griev- 
 ances which they suffered under Eussian rule, 
 and endeavored to excite the animosity of his 
 
1708.] The Revolt of Mazeppa. 238 
 
 He goes on step by step. He sends his nephew to the Czar. 
 
 hearers as much as possible against Peter's 
 government. 
 
 He found that the chief officers of the Cos- 
 sacks seemed quite disposed to listen to what 
 he said, and to adopt his views. Some of them 
 were really so, and others pretended to be so 
 for fear of displeasing him. At length he 
 thought it time to take some measures for pre- 
 paring the minds of the men generally for what 
 was to come, and in order to do this he determ- 
 ined on publicly sending a messenger to the 
 Czar with the complaints which he had to 
 make in behalf of his men. The men, know- 
 ing of this embassy, and understanding the 
 grounds of the complaint which Mazeppa was 
 to make by means of it, would be placed, he 
 thought, in such a position that, in the event of 
 an unfavorable answer being returned, as he 
 had no doubt would be the case, they could be 
 the more easily led into the revolt which he 
 proposed. 
 
 Mazeppa accordingly made out a statement 
 of his complaints, and appointed his nephew a 
 commissioner to proceed to head-quarters and 
 lay them before the Czar. The name of the 
 nephew was Warnarowski. As soon as "War- 
 narowski arrived at the camp, Peter, instead of 
 granting him an audience, and listening to the 
 
234 Peter the Great. [1708. 
 
 The envoy is arrested. Commotion among the Cossacks. 
 
 statement which he had to make, ordered him 
 to be seized and sent to prison, as if he were 
 guilty of a species of treason in coming to 
 trouble his sovereign with complaints and dif- 
 ficulties at such a time, when the country was 
 suffering under an actual invasion from a for- 
 eign enemy. 
 
 As soon as Mazeppa heard that his nephew 
 was arrested, he was convinced that his plots 
 had been discovered, and that he must not lose 
 a moment in carrying them into execution, or 
 all would be lost. He accordingly immediately 
 put his whole force in motion to march toward 
 the place where the Swedish army was then 
 posted, ostensibly for the purpose of attacking 
 them. He crossed a certain river which lay 
 between him and the Swedes, and then, when 
 safely over, he stated to his men what he in- 
 tended to do. 
 
 The men were filled with indignation at this 
 proposal, which, being wholly unexpected, came 
 upon them by surprise. They refused to join 
 in the revolt. A scene of great excitement and 
 confusion followed. A portion of the Cossacks, 
 those with whom Mazeppa had come to an un- 
 derstanding beforehand; were disposed to go 
 with him, but the rest were filled with vexation 
 and rage. They declared that they would seize 
 
1708.] The Kevolt of Mazeppa. 235 
 
 Failure of the plot. Mazeppa' s trial and condemnation. The effigy. 
 
 their chieftain, bind him hand and foot, and 
 send him to the Czar. Indeed, it is highly 
 probable that the two factions would have 
 come soon to a bloody fight for the possession 
 of the person of their chieftain, in which case 
 he would very likely have been torn to pieces 
 in the struggle, if those who were disposed to 
 revolt had not fled before the opposition to 
 their movement had time to become organized. 
 Mazeppa and those who adhered to him — about 
 two thousand men in all — went over in a body 
 to the camp of the Swedes. The rest, led by the 
 officers that still remained faithful, marched at 
 once to the nearest body of Russian forces, and 
 put themselves under the command of the Rus- 
 sian general there. 
 
 A council of war was soon after called in the 
 Russian camp for the purpose of bringing Ma- 
 zeppa to trial. He was, of course, found guilty, 
 and sentence of death — with a great many in- 
 dignities to accompany the execution — was 
 passed upon him. The sentence, however, 
 could not be executed upon Mazeppa himself, 
 for he was out of the reach of his accusers, 
 being safe in the Swedish camp. So they made 
 a wooden image or effigy to represent him, and 
 inflicted the penalties upon the substitute in- 
 stead. 
 
236 Peter the Great. [1708. 
 
 Execution of the sentence upon the effigy. New chieftain chosen. 
 
 In the first place, they dressed the effigy to 
 imitate the appearance of Mazeppa, and put 
 upon it representations of the medals, ribbons, 
 and other decorations which he was accustomed 
 to wear. They brought this figure out before 
 the camp, in presence of the general and of all 
 the leading officers, the soldiers being also drawn 
 up around the spot. A herald appeared and 
 read the sentence of condemnation, and then 
 proceeded to carry it into execution, as follows. 
 First, he tore Mazeppa's patent of knighthood 
 in pieces, and threw the fragments into the air. 
 Then he tore off the medals and decorations 
 from the image, and, throwing them upon the 
 ground, he trampled them under his feet. Then 
 he struck the effigy itself a blow by which it 
 was overturned and left prostrate in the dust. 
 
 The hangman then came up, and, tying a 
 halter round the neck of the effigy, dragged it 
 off to a place where a gibbet had been erected, 
 and hanged it there. 
 
 Immediately after this ceremony, the Cos- 
 sacks, according to their custom, proceeded to 
 elect a new chieftain in the place of Mazeppa. 
 The chieftain thus chosen came forward before 
 the Czar to take the oath of allegiance to him, 
 and to offer him his homage. 
 
1709.] The Battle of Pultowa. 237 
 
 Invasion of the Swedes. Their progress through the country. 
 
 Chapter XIII. 
 The Battle of Pultowa. 
 
 IN the mean time, while these transactions 
 had been taking place among the Russians, 
 the King of Sweden had been gradually mak- 
 ing his way toward the westward and south- 
 ward, into the very heart of the Russian domin- 
 ions. The forces of the emperor, which were 
 not strong enough to offer him battle, had been 
 gradually retiring before him ; but they had 
 devastated and destroyed every thing on their 
 way, in their retreat, so as to leave nothing for 
 the support of the Swedisk army. They broke 
 up all the bridges too, and obstructed the roads 
 by every means in their power, so as to impede 
 the progress of the Swedes as much as possible, 
 since they could not wholly arrest it. 
 
 The Swedes, however, pressed slowly on- 
 ward. They sent off to great distances to pro- 
 cure forage for the horses and food for the men. 
 When they found the bridges down, they made 
 detours and crossed the rivers at fording-places. 
 When the roads were obstructed, they removed 
 
238 Petek the Great. [1709. 
 
 Artificial roads. Pultowa. Fame of the battle. 
 
 the impediments if they could, and if not, they 
 opened new roads. Sometimes, in these cases, 
 their way led them across swampy places where 
 no solid footing could be found, and then the 
 men would cut down an immense quantity 
 of bushes and trees growing in the neighbor- 
 hood, and make up the branches into bundles 
 called fascines. They would lay these bundles 
 close together on the surface of the swamp, and 
 then level them off on the top by loose branch- 
 es, and so make a road firm enough for the army 
 to march over. 
 
 Things went on in this way until, at last, the 
 farther progress of King Charles was arrested, 
 and the tide of fortune was turned wholly 
 against him by a great battle which was fought 
 at a place called Pultowa. This battle, which, 
 after so protracted a struggle, at length suddenly 
 terminated the contest between the king and 
 the Czar, of course attracted universal attention 
 at the time, for Charles and Peter were the 
 greatest potentates and warriors of their age, 
 and the struggle for power which had so long 
 been waged between them had been watched 
 with great interest, through all the stages of it, 
 by the whole civilized world. The battle of 
 Pultowa was, in a word, one of those great final 
 conflicts by which, after a long struggle, the fate 
 
1709.] The Battle of Pultowa. 239 
 
 Situation of Pultowa. It is besieged. Menzikoff. 
 
 of an empire is decided. It, of course, greatly 
 attracted the attention of mankind, and has since 
 taken its place among the most renowned com- 
 bats of history. 
 
 Pultowa is a town situated in the heart of the 
 Russian territories three or four hundred miles 
 north of the Black Sea. It stands on a small 
 river which flows to the southward and west- 
 ward into the Dnieper. It was at that time an 
 important military station, as it contained great 
 arsenals where large stores of food and of am- 
 munition were laid up for the use of Peter's 
 army. The King of Sweden determined to 
 take this town. His principal object in desir- 
 ing to get possession of it was to supply the 
 wants of his army by the provisions that were 
 stored there. The place was strongly fortified, 
 and it was defended by a garrison; but the 
 king thought that he should be able to take it, 
 and he accordingly advanced to the walls, in- 
 vested the place closely on every side, and com- 
 menced the siege. 
 
 The name of the general in command of the 
 largest body of Russian forces near the spot 
 was Menzikoff, and as soon as the King of Swe- 
 den had invested the place, Menzikoff began to 
 advance toward it in order to relieve it. Then 
 followed a long series of manoeuvres and par- 
 
240 Peter the .Great. [1709. 
 
 Manoeuvres. Menzikoff most successful. King Charles wounded. 
 
 tial combats between the two armies, the Swedes 
 being occupied with the double duty of attack- 
 ing the town, and also of defending themselves 
 from Menzikoff; while Menzikoff, on the other 
 hand, was intent, first on harassing the Swedes 
 and impeding as much as possible their siege 
 operations, and, secondly, on throwing succors 
 into the town. 
 
 In this contest Menzikoff was, on the whole, 
 most successful. He contrived one night to 
 pass a detachment of his troops through the 
 gates of Pultowa into the town to strengthen 
 the garrison. This irritated the King of Swe- 
 den, and made him more determined and reck- 
 less than ever to press the siege. Under this 
 excitement he advanced so near the walls one 
 day, in a desperate effort to take possession of 
 an advanced part of the works, that he exposed 
 himself to a shot from the ramparts, and was 
 badly wounded in the heel. 
 
 This wound nearly disabled him. He was 
 obliged by it to confine himself to his tent, and 
 to content himself with giving orders from his 
 couch or litter, where he lay helpless and in 
 great pain, and in a state of extreme mental 
 disquietude. 
 
 His anxiety was greatly increased in a few 
 days in consequence of intelligence which was 
 
1709.] The Battle of Pultowa. 241 
 
 The Czar advances to Pultowa. The king resolves to attack the camp. 
 
 brought into his camp by the scouts, that "Peter 
 himself was advancing to the relief of Pultowa 
 at the head of a very large army. Indeed, the 
 tidings were that this great force was close at 
 hand. The king found that he was in danger 
 of being surrounded. Nor could he well hope 
 to escape the danger by a retreat, for the broad 
 and deep river Dnieper, which he had crossed 
 to come to the siege of Pultowa, was behind 
 him, and if the Eussians were to fall upon him 
 while attempting to cross it, he knew very well 
 that his whole army would be cut to pieces. 
 
 He lay restless on his litter in his tent, his 
 thoughts divided between the anguish of the 
 wound in his heel and the mental anxiety and 
 distress produced by the situation that he was 
 in* He spent the night in great perplexity and 
 suffering. At length, toward morning, he came 
 to the desperate resolution of attacking the Eus- 
 sians in their camp, inferior as his own numbers 
 were now to theirs. 
 
 He accordingly sent a messenger to the field- 
 marshal, who was chief officer in command 
 under himself, summoning him to his tent. 
 The field-marshal was aroused from his sleep, 
 for it was not yet day, and immediately repair- 
 ed to the king's tent. The king was lying on 
 his couch, quiet and calm, and, with an air of 
 Q 
 
242 Peter the Great. [1709. 
 
 A battle determined upon. Military rank of the Czar. 
 
 great serenity and composure, lie gave the mar- 
 shal orders to beat to arms and march out to 
 attack the Czar in his intrenchments as soon as 
 daylight should appear. 
 
 The field-marshal was astonished at this or- 
 der, for he knew that the Eussians were now 
 far superior in numbers to the Swedes, and he 
 supposed that the only hope of the king would 
 be to defend himself where he was in his camp, 
 or else to attempt a retreat. He, however, 
 knew that there was nothing to be done but to 
 obey his orders. So he received the instruc- 
 tions which the king gave him, said that he 
 would carry them into execution, and then re- 
 tired. The king then at length fell into a troub- 
 led sleep, and slept until the break of day. 
 
 By this time the whole camp was in motion. 
 The Eussians, too, who in their intrenchments 
 had received the alarm, had aroused themselves 
 and were preparing for battle. The Czar him- 
 self was not the commander. He had prided 
 himself, as the reader will recollect, in entering 
 the army at the lowest point, and in advancing 
 regularly, step by step, through all the grades, 
 as any other officer would have done. He had 
 now attained the rank of major general ; and 
 though, as Czar, he gave orders through his 
 ministers to the commander-in-chief of the 
 
1700.] The Battle of Pultowa. 243 
 
 Ilia address to the army. The litter. The battle. 
 
 armies directing them in general what to do, 
 still personally, in camp and in the field of bat- 
 tle, he received orders from his military supe- 
 rior there ; and he took a pride and pleasure in 
 the subordination to his superior's authority 
 which the rules of the service required of him. 
 
 He, however, as it seems, did not always en- 
 tirely lay aside his imperial character while in 
 camp, for in this instance, while the men were 
 formed in array, and before the battle com- 
 menced, he rode to and fro along their lines, , 
 encouraging the men, and promising, as their 
 sovereign, to bestow rewards upon them in pro- 
 portion to the valor which they should sever- 
 ally display in the coming combat. 
 
 The King of Sweden, too, was raised from his 
 couch, placed upon a litter, and in this manner 
 carried along the lines of his own army just be- 
 fore the battle was to begin. He" told the men 
 that they were about to attack an enemy more 
 numerous than themselves, but that they must 
 remember that at Narva eight thousand Swedes 
 had overcome a hundred thousand Eussians in 
 their own intrenchments, and what they had 
 done once, he said, they could do again. 
 
 The battle was commenced very early in the 
 morning. It was complicated at the beginning 
 with many marches, countermarches, and ma- 
 
244 Petee the Great. [1709. 
 
 Courage and fortitude of the king. The Swedes defeated. 
 
 nceuvres, in which the several divisions of both 
 the Russian and Swedish armies, and the gar- 
 rison of Pultowa, all took part. In some places 
 and at some times the victory was on one side, 
 and at others on the other. King Charles was 
 carried in his litter into the thickest of the bat- 
 tle, where, after a time, he became so excited by 
 the contest that he insisted on being put upon 
 a horse. The attendants accordingly brought a 
 horse and placed him. carefully upon it ; but the 
 ,pain of his wound brought on faintness, and he 
 was obliged to be put back in his litter again. 
 Soon after this a cannon ball struck the litter 
 and dashed it to pieces. The king was thrown 
 out upon the ground. Those who saw him fall 
 supposed that he was killed, and they were 
 struck with consternation. ' They had been al- 
 most overpowered by their enemies before, but 
 they were now wholly disheartened and dis- 
 couraged, and they began to give way and fly 
 in all directions. 
 
 The king had, however, not been touched by 
 the ball which struck the litter. He was at 
 once raised from the ground by the officers 
 around him, and borne away out of the im- 
 mediate danger. He remonstrated earnestly 
 against being taken away, and insisted upon 
 making an effort to rally his men ; but the of- 
 
1709.] The Battle of Pultowa. 245 
 
 Narrow escape of the Czar. He discovers the hroken litter. 
 
 ficers soon persuaded him that for the present, 
 at least, all was lost, and that the only hope for 
 him was to make his escape as soon as possible 
 across the river, and thence over the frontier 
 into Turkey, where he would be safe from pur- 
 suit, and could then consider what it would be 
 best to do. 
 
 The king at length reluctantly yielded to 
 these persuasions, and was borne away. 
 
 In the mean time, the Czar himself had been 
 exposed to great danger in the battle, and, like 
 the King of Sweden, had met with some very 
 narrow escapes. His hat was shot through with 
 a bullet which half an inch lower would have 
 gone through the emperor's head. General 
 Menzikoff had three horses shot under him. 
 But, notwithstanding these dangers, the Czar 
 pressed on into the thickest of the fight, and 
 was present at the head of his men when the 
 Swedes were finally overwhelmed and driven 
 from the field. Indeed, he was among the fore- 
 most who pursued them ; and when he came to 
 the place where the royal litter was lying, 
 broken to pieces, on the ground, he expressed 
 great concern for the fate of his enemy, and 
 seemed to regret the calamity which had be- 
 fallen him as if Charles had been his friend. 
 He had always greatly admired the courage 
 
216 Peter the Great. [1709. 
 
 Escape of King Charles. Dreadful defeat. 
 
 and the military skill which the King of Swe- 
 den had manifested in his campaigns, and w r as 
 disposed to respect his misfortunes now that he 
 had fallen. He supposed that he was unques- 
 tionably killed, and he gave orders to his men 
 to search every where over the field for the 
 body, and to guard it, when found, from any 
 farther violence or injury, and take charge of 
 it, that it might receive an honorable burial. 
 
 The body was, of course, not found, for the 
 king was alive, and, with the exception of the 
 wound in his heel, uninjured. He was borne 
 off from the field by a few faithful adherents, 
 who took him in their arms when the litter was 
 broken up. As soon as they had conveyed 
 him in this manner out of immediate danger, 
 they hastily constructed another litter in order 
 to bear him farther away. He was himself ex- 
 tremely unwilling "to go. He was very earnest 
 to make an effort to rally his men, and, if pos- 
 sible, save his army from total ruin. But he 
 soon found that it was in vain to attempt this. 
 His whole force had been thrown into utter 
 confusion ; and the broken battalions, flying 
 in every direction, were pursued so hotly by 
 the Eussians, who, in their exultant fury, 
 slaughtered all whom they could overtake, 
 and drove the rest headlong on in a state of 
 
1709.] The Battle of Pultowa. 247 
 
 Flight and adventures of the king. 
 
 panic and dismay which was wholly uncontrol- 
 lable. 
 
 Of course some escaped, but great numbers 
 were taken prisoners. Many of the officers, 
 separated from their men, wandered about in 
 search of the king, being without any rallying 
 point until they could find him. After suffer- 
 ing many cruel hardships and much exposure 
 in the lurking-places where they attempted to 
 conceal themselves, great numbers of them 
 were hunted out by their enemies and made 
 prisoners. . 
 
 In the mean time, those who had the king 
 under their charge urged his majesty to alloy/ 
 them to convey him with all speed out of the 
 country. The nearest way of escape was to go 
 westward to the Turkish frontier, which, as has 
 already been said, was not far distant, though 
 there were three rivers to cross on the way — 
 the Dnieper, the Bog, and the Dniester. The 
 king was very unwilling to listen to this advice. 
 Peter had several times sent a flag of truce to 
 him since he had entered into the Russian do- 
 minions, expressing a desire to make peace, and 
 proposing very reasonable terms for Charles to 
 accede to. To all these proposals Charles had 
 returned the same answer as at first, w r hich was, 
 that he should not be ready to treat with the 
 
248 
 
 
 Peter 
 
 THE 
 
 O 
 
 KE 
 
 AT. 
 
 [1709. 
 
 He offers 
 
 now 
 
 to make peace. 
 
 
 
 
 The king' 
 
 s followers. 
 
 Czar until he arrived at Moscow. Charles now 
 said that, before abandoning the country alto- 
 gether, he would send a herald to the Eussian 
 camp to say that he was now willing to make 
 peace on the terms which Peter had before pro- 
 posed to him, if Peter was still willing to ad- 
 here to them. 
 
 Charles was led to hope that this proposal 
 might perhaps be successful, from the fact that 
 there was a portion of his army who had not 
 been engaged at Pultowa that was still safe; 
 and he had no doubt that a very considerable 
 number of men would succeed in escaping from 
 Pultowa and joining them. Indeed, the num- 
 ber was not small of those whom the king had 
 now immediately around him, for all that es- 
 caped from the battle made every possible 
 exertion to discover and rejoin the king, and 
 so many straggling parties came that he soon 
 had under his command a force of one or two 
 thousand men. This was, of course, but a small 
 remnant of his army. Still, he felt that he was 
 not wholly destitute of means and resources for 
 carrying on the struggle in case Peter should 
 refuse to make peace. 
 
 So he sent a trumpeter to Peter's camp with 
 the message ; but Peter sent word back that his 
 majesty's assent to the terms of peace which he 
 
1709.] The Battle of Pultowa. 249 
 
 Peter's reply. Carriage for the king. 
 
 had proposed to him came too late. The state 
 of things had now, he said, entirely changed ; 
 and as Charles had ventured to penetrate into 
 the Kussian country without properly consid- 
 ering the consequences of his rashness, he must 
 now think for himself how he was to get out of 
 it. For his part, he added, he had got the birds 
 in the net, and he should do all in his power to 
 secure them. 
 
 After due consultation among the officers 
 who were with the king, it was finally determ- 
 ined that it was useless to think for the pres- 
 ent of any farther resistance, and the king, at 
 last, reluctantly consented to be conveyed to 
 the Turkish frontier. He was too ill from the 
 effects of his wound to ride on horseback, and 
 the distance was too great for him to be con- 
 veyed in a litter. So they prepared a carriage 
 for him. It was a carriage which belonged to 
 one of his generals, and which, by some means 
 or other, had been saved in the flight of the 
 army. The route which they were to take led 
 across the country where there were scarcely 
 any roads, and a team of twelve horses was 
 harnessed to draw the carriage which conveyed 
 the king. 
 
 No time was to be lost. The confused mass 
 of officers and men who had escaped from the 
 
2.^0 , Peter the Great. [1709- 
 
 Flight to the Turkish frontier. Sufferings of the retreating army. 
 
 battle, and had succeeded in rejoining the king, 
 were marshaled into something like a military 
 organization, and the march, or rather the flight, 
 commenced. The king's carriage, attended by 
 such a guard as could be provided for it, went 
 before, and was followed by the remnant of the 
 army. Some of the men were on horseback, 
 Others were on foot, and others still, sick or 
 wounded, were conveyed on little wagons of 
 the country, which were drawn along in a very 
 difficult and laborious manner. 
 
 This mournful train moved slowly on across 
 the country, seeking, of course, the most retired 
 and solitary ways to avoid pursuit, and yet 
 harassed by the continual fear that the enemy 
 might at any time come up with them. The 
 men all suffered exceedingly from want of food, 
 and from the various other hardships incident 
 to their condition. Many became so worn out 
 by fatigue and privation that they could not 
 proceed, and were left by the road sides to fall' 
 into the hands of the enemy, or to perish of 
 want and exhaustion ; while those who still had 
 strength enough remaining pressed despairingly 
 onward, but little less to be pitied than those 
 who were left behind. 
 
 When at length the expedition drew near to 
 the Turkish borders, the kingr sent forward a 
 
 7 O 
 
1709.] The Battle of Pultowa. 253 
 
 Deputation sent to the Turkish frontier. Reception of the messenger. 
 
 messenger to the pasha in command on the 
 frontier, asking permission for himself and his 
 men to pass through the Turkish territory on 
 his way to his own dominions. He had every 
 reason to suppose that the pasha would grant 
 this request, for the Turks and Eussians had 
 long been enemies, and he knew very well that 
 the sympathies of the Turks had been entirely 
 on his side in this war. 
 
 - Nor was he disappointed in his expectations. 
 The pasha received the messenger very kindly, 
 offered him food, and supplied all his wants. 
 He said, moreover, that he would not only give 
 the king leave to enter and pass through the 
 Turkish territories, but he would give him ef- 
 ficient assistance in crossing the river which 
 formed the frontier. This was, indeed, neces- 
 sary, for a large detachment of the Eussian 
 army which had been sent in pursuit of the 
 Swedes was now coming close upon them, and 
 there was danger of their being overtaken and 
 cut to pieces or taken prisoners before they 
 should have time to cross the stream. The 
 principal object which the Czar had in view in 
 sending a detachment in pursuit of the fugitives 
 was the hope of capturing the king himself. 
 He spoke of this his design to the Swedish offi- 
 cers who were already his prisoners, saying to 
 
254 Peter the Great. [1709. 
 
 Boats collected. Crossing the river. 
 
 them jocosely, for he was in excellent humor 
 with every body after the battle, " I have a great 
 desire to see. my brother the king, and to enjoy 
 his society ; so I have sent to bring him. You 
 will see him here in a few days." 
 
 The force dispatched for this purpose had 
 been gradually gaining upon the fugitives, and 
 was now very near, and the pasha, on learning 
 the facts, perceived that the exigency was very 
 urgent He accordingly sent off at once up and 
 down the river to order all the boats that could 
 be found to repair immediately to the spot 
 where the King of Sweden wished to cross. A 
 considerable number of boats were soon col- 
 lected, and the passage was immediately com- 
 menced. The king and his guards were brought 
 over safely, and also a large number of the of- 
 ficers and men. But the boats were, after all, so 
 few that the operation proceeded slowly, and 
 the Eussians, who had been pressing on with 
 all speed, arrived at the banks of the river in 
 time to interrupt it before all the troops had 
 passed, and thus about five hundred men fell 
 into their hands. They were all made prison- 
 ers, and the king had the mortification of wit- 
 nessing the spectacle of their capture from the 
 opposite bank, which he had himself reached in 
 safety. 
 
1709.] The Battle of Pultowa. 255 
 
 Ucniler. Fate of the Swedish army. 
 
 The king was immediately afterward con- 
 veyed to Bender, a considerable town not far 
 from the frontier, where, for the present, he was 
 safe, and where he remained quiet for some 
 weeks, in order that his wound might have op- 
 portunity to heal. Peter was obliged to con- 
 tent himself with postponing for a time the 
 pleasure which he expected to derive from the 
 enjoyment of his brother's society. 
 
 The portion of the Swedish army which re- 
 mained in Eussia was soon after this surround- 
 ed by so large a Eussian force that the general 
 in command was forced to capitulate, and all 
 the troops were surrendered as prisoners of war. 
 Thus, in all, a great number of prisoners, both 
 of officers and men, fell into Peter's hands. The 
 men were sent to various parts of the empire, 
 and distributed among the people, in order that 
 they might settle permanently in the country, 
 and devote themselves to the trades or occupa- 
 tions to which they had been trained in their 
 native land. The officers were treated with 
 great kindness and consideration. Peter often 
 invited them to his table, and conversed with 
 them in a very free and friendly manner in re- 
 spect to the usages and customs which prevail- 
 ed in their own country, especially those which 
 related to the military art. Still, they were 
 
256 Peter the Great. [1709. 
 
 The prisoners. Anecdote of the Czar. 
 
 deprived of their swords and kept close pris- 
 oners. 
 
 One day, when some of these officers were 
 dining with Peter in his tent, and he had been 
 for some time conversing with them about the 
 organization and discipline of the Swedish army, 
 and had expressed great admiration for the mil- 
 itary talent and skill which they had displayed 
 in the campaigns which they had fought, he at 
 last poured out some wine and drank to the 
 health of " his masters in the art of war." One 
 of the officers who was present asked who they 
 were that his majesty was pleased to honor with 
 so great a title. 
 
 "It is yourselves, gentlemen," replied the 
 Czar; "the Swedish generals. It is you who 
 have been my best instructors in the art of war." 
 
 " Then," replied the officer, " is not your maj- 
 esty a little ungrateful to treat the masters to 
 whom you owe so much so severely?" 
 
 Peter was so much pleased with the read- 
 iness and wit of this reply, that he ordered the 
 swords of the officers all to be restored to them. 
 It is sard that he even unbuckled his own 
 sword from his side and presented it to one of 
 the generals. 
 
 It ought, perhaps, to be added, however, that 
 the habit of drinking to excess, which Peter 
 
1709.] The Battle of Pultowa. 257 
 
 The Czar's habits. Disposition of the prisonera. 
 
 seems to have formed early in life, had before 
 this time become quite confirmed, and he often 
 became completely intoxicated at his convivial 
 entertainments, so that it is not improbable 
 that the sudden generosity of the <#zar on this 
 occasion may have been due, in a considerable 
 degree, to the excitement produced by the 
 brandy which he had been drinking. 
 
 Although the swords of the officers were thus 
 restored to them, they were themselves still 
 held as prisoners until arrangements could be 
 made for exchanging them. In order, however, 
 that they might all be properly provided for, 
 he distributed them around among his own gen- 
 erals, giving to each Eussian officer the charge 
 of a Swedish officer of his own rank, granting, 
 of course, to each one a proper allowance for 
 the maintenance and support of his charge. 
 The Russian generals were severally respons- 
 ible for the safe-keeping of their prisoners ; but 
 the surveillance in such cases is never strict, 
 for it is customary for the prisoners to give 
 their parole of honor that they will not attempt 
 to escape, and then they are allowed, within 
 reasonable limits, their full personal liberty, so 
 that they live more like the guests and com- 
 panions of their keepers than as their captives. 
 
 The King of Sweden met with many remark- 
 R 
 
258 Peter the Great. [1709. 
 
 Adventures of the King of Sweden. Military promotion of the Czar. 
 
 able adventures and encountered very serious 
 difficulties before he reached his own kingdom, 
 but it would be foreign to the subject of this 
 history to relate them here. As to Mazeppa, 
 he made hk escape too, with the King of Swe- 
 den, across the frontier. The Czar offered a 
 very large reward to whoever should bring him 
 back, either dead or alive ; but he never was 
 taken. He died afterward at Constantinople at 
 a great age. 
 
 One of the most curious and characteristic 
 results which followed from the battle of Pul- 
 towa was the promotion of Peter in respect to 
 his rank in the army. It was gravely decided 
 by the proper authorities, after due deliberation, 
 that in consequence of the vigor and bravery 
 which he had displayed on the field, and of the 
 danger which he had incurred in having had a 
 shot through his hat, he deserved to be advanced 
 a grade in the line of promotion. So he was 
 made a major general. 
 
 Thus ended the great Swedish invasion of 
 Russia, which was the occasion of the greatest 
 and, indeed, of almost the only serious danger, 
 from any foreign source, which threatened the 
 dominions of Peter during the whole course of 
 his reign. 
 
1709.] The Empress Catharine. 259 
 
 Duration of the war •with Sweden. Catharine. 
 
 Chapter XI V. 
 The Empress Catharine. 
 
 IT was about the year 1690 that Peter the 
 Great commenced his reign, and he died in 
 1725, as will appear more fully in the sequel 
 of this volume. Thus the duration of the reign 
 was thirty-five years. The wars between Kus- 
 sia and Sweden occupied principally the early 
 part of the reign through a period of many 
 years. The battle of Pultowa, by which the 
 Swedish invasion of the Eussian territories was 
 repelled, was fought in 1709, nearly twenty 
 years after the Czar ascended the throne. 
 
 During the period while the Czar was thus 
 occupied in his mortal struggle with the King 
 of Sweden, there appeared upon the stage, in 
 connection with him, a lady, who afterward be- 
 came one of the most celebrated personages of 
 history. This lady was the Empress Catharine. 
 The character of this lady, the wonderful and 
 romantic incidents of her life, and the great 
 fame of her exploits, have made her one of the 
 most celebrated personages of history. We 
 
260 Peter the Great. [1709. 
 
 Her origin. Destitution. Her kind teacher. Dr. Gluck. 
 
 can, however, here only give a brief account of 
 that portion of her life which was connected 
 with the history of Peter. 
 
 Catharine was born in a little village near the 
 town of Marienburg, in Livonia.* Her parents 
 were in very humble circumstances, and they 
 both died when she was a little child, leaving 
 her in a very destitute and friendless condition. 
 The parish clerk, who was the teacher of a lit- 
 tle school in which perhaps she had been a pu- 
 pil — for she was then four or five years old — , 
 felt compassion for her, and took her home with 
 him to his own house. He was the more dis- 
 posed to do this as Catharine was a bright child, 
 full of life and activity, and, at the same time, 
 amiable and docile in disposition, so that she 
 was easily governed. 
 
 After Catharine had been some time at the 
 house of the clerk, a certain Dr. Gluck, who was 
 the minister of Marienburg, happening to be on 
 a visit to the clerk, saw her and heard her story. 
 The minister was very much pleased with the 
 appearance and manners of the child, and he 
 proposed that the clerk should give her up to 
 him. This the clerk was willing to do, as his 
 income was very small, and the addition even 
 
 * The situation of the place is shown in the map on page 
 197. 
 
1709.] The Empress Catharine. 261 
 
 She goes to Marienburg. Her character. 
 
 of such a child to his family of course some- 
 what increased his expenses. Besides, he knew 
 that it would be much more advantageous for 
 Catharine, for the time being, and also much 
 more conducive to her future success in life, to 
 be brought up in the minister's family at Ma- 
 rienburg than in his own humble home in the 
 little village. So Catharine went to live with 
 the minister.* 
 
 Here she soon made herself a great favorite. 
 She was very intelligent and active, and very 
 ambitious to learn whatever the minister's wife 
 was willing to teach her. She also took great 
 interest in making herself useful in every pos- 
 sible way, and displayed in her household av- 
 ocations, and in all her other duties, a sort of 
 womanly energy which was quite remarkable 
 
 * The accounts which different historians give of the cir- 
 cumstances of Catharine's early history vary very material- 
 ly. One authority states that the occasion of Gluck's tak- 
 ing Catharine away was the death of the curate and of all 
 his family by the plague. Gluck came, it is said, to the 
 house to see the family, and found them all dead. The 
 bodies were lying on the floor, and little Catharine was run- 
 ning about among them, calling upon one after another to 
 give her some bread. After Gluck came in, and while he 
 was looking at the bodies in consternation, she came up be- 
 hind him and pulled his robe, and asked him if he would 
 not give her some bread. So he took her with him to his 
 own home- 
 
262 Peter the Great. [1709. 
 
 Mode of life at Marienburg. Her lover. His person and character. 
 
 in one of her years. She learned to knit, to 
 spin, and to sew, and she assisted the minister's 
 wife very much in these and similar occupa- 
 tions. She had learned to read in her native 
 tongue at the clerk's school, but now she con- 
 ceived the idea of learning the German lan- 
 guage. She devoted herself to this task with 
 great assiduity and success, and as soon as she 
 had made such progress as to be able to read in 
 that language, she spent all her leisure time in 
 perusing the German books which she found in 
 the minister's library. 
 
 Years passed away, and Catharine grew up 
 to be a young woman, and then a certain young 
 man, a subaltern officer in the Swedish army— 
 for this was at the time when Livonia was in. 
 possession of the Swedes — fell in love with her. 
 The story was, that Catharine one day, in some 
 way or other, fell into the hands of two Swed- 
 ish soldiers, by whom she would probably have 
 been greatly maltreated ; but the officer, coming 
 by at that time, rescued her and sent her safe 
 to Dr. Gluck. The officer had lost one of his 
 arms in some battle, and was covered with the 
 scars of other wounds ; but he was a very gen- 
 erous and brave man, and was highly regarded 
 by all who knew him. When he offered Cath- 
 arine his hand, she was strongly induced by 
 
1709.] The Empress Catharine. 263 
 
 Catharine is married. The town captured. Catharine made prisoner. 
 
 her gratitude to him to accept it, but she said 
 she must ask the minister's approval of his pro- 
 posal, for he had been a father to her, she said, 
 and she would take no important step without 
 his consent. 
 
 The minister, after suitable inquiry respect- 
 ing the officer's character and prospects, readily 
 gave his consent, and so it was settled that Cath- 
 arine should be married. 
 
 Now it happened that these occurrences took 
 place not very long after the war broke out be- 
 tween Sweden and Kussia, and almost imme- 
 diately after Catharine's marriage — some writ- 
 ers say on the very same day of the wedding, 
 and others on the day following — a Eussian 
 army came suddenly up to Marienburg, took 
 possession of the town, and made a great many 
 of the inhabitants prisoners. Catharine her- 
 self was among the prisoners thus taken. The 
 story was, that in the confusion and alarm she 
 hid herself with others in an oven, and was 
 found by the Eussian soldiers there, and carried 
 off as a valuable prize. 
 
 What became of the bridegroom is not cer- 
 tainly known. He was doubtless called sud- 
 denly to his post when the alarm was given of 
 the enemy's approach, and a great many differ- 
 ent stories were told in respect to what after- 
 
264 Peter the Great. [1709. 
 
 Her anxiety and sorrow. The Russian general, 
 
 ward befell him. One thing is certain, and that 
 is, that his young bride never saw him again.* 
 
 Catharine, when she found herself separated 
 from her husband and shut up a helpless pris- 
 oner with a crowd of other wretched and de- 
 spairing captives, was "overwhelmed with grief 
 at the sad reverse of fortune that had befallen 
 her. She had good reason not only to mourn 
 for the happiness which she had lost, but also 
 to experience very anxious and gloomy fore- 
 bodings in respect to what was before her, for 
 the main object of the Russians in making pris- 
 oners of the young and beautiful women which 
 they found in the towns that they conquered, 
 was to send them to Turkey, and to sell them 
 there as slaves. 
 
 Catharine was, however, destined to escape 
 this dreadful fate. One of the Eussian gener- 
 als, in looking over the prisoners, was struck 
 with her appearance, and with the singular ex- 
 pression of grief and despair which her coun- 
 tenance displayed. He called her to him and 
 asked her some questions; and he was more 
 impressed by the intelligence and good sense 
 
 * There was a story that he was taken among the pris- 
 oners at the battle of Pultowa, and that, on making him- 
 self known, he was immediately put in irons and sent off in 
 exile to Siberia. 
 
1709.] The Empress Catharine. 265 
 
 Catharine saved. Catharine in the general's service. 
 
 which her answers evinced than he had been 
 bj the beauty of her countenance. He bid her 
 quiet her fears, promising that he would him- 
 self take care of her. He immediately ordered 
 some trusty men to take her to his tent, where 
 there were some women who would take charge 
 of and protect her. 
 
 These women were employed in various do-' 
 mestic occupations in the service of the general. 
 Catharine began at once to interest herself in 
 these employments, and to do all in her power 
 to assist in them ; and at length, as one of the 
 writers who gives an account of these transac- 
 tions goes on to say, " the general, finding Cath- 
 arine very proper to manage his household af- 
 fairs, gave her a sort of authority and inspec- 
 tion over these women and over the rest of the 
 domestics, by whom she soon came to be very 
 much beloved by her manner of using them 
 when she instructed them in their duty. The 
 general said himself that he never had been so 
 well served as since Catharine had been with 
 him. 
 
 " It happened one day that Prince Menzikoff, 
 who was the general's commanding officer and 
 patron, saw Catharine, and, observing something- 
 very extraordinary in her air and behavior, 
 asked the general who she was and in what con- 
 
266 Peter the Great. [1709. 
 
 Seen by Menzikoff. Transferred to his service. 
 
 dition she served him. The general related to 
 him her story, taking care, at the same time, to 
 do j ustice to the merit of Catharine. The prince 
 said that he was himself very ill served, and 
 had occasion for just such a person about him. 
 The general replied that he was under too great 
 obligations to his highness the prince to refuse 
 "him any thing that he asked. He immediately 
 called Catharine into his presence, and told her 
 that that was Prince Menzikoff, and that he had 
 occasion for a servant like herself, and that he 
 was able to be a much better friend to her than 
 he himself could be, and that he had too. much 
 kindness for her to prevent her receiving such 
 a piece of honor and good fortune. 
 
 " Catharine answered only with a profound 
 courtesy, which showed, if not her consent to the 
 change proposed, at least her conviction that it 
 was not then in her power to refuse the offer 
 that was made to her. In short, Prince Menzi- 
 koff took her with him, or she went to him the 
 same day." 
 
 Catharine remained in the service of the 
 prince for a year or two, and was then trans- 
 ferred from the household of the prince to that 
 of the Czar almost precisely in the same way in 
 which she had been resigned to the prince by 
 the general. The Czar saw her one day while 
 
1711.] The Empress Catharine. 267 
 
 Transferred to the Czar. Privately married. Affairs on the Pruth. 
 
 he was at dinner with the prince, and he was 
 so much pleased with her appearance, and with 
 the account which the prince gave him of her 
 character and history, that he wished to have 
 her himself; and, however reluctant the prince 
 may have been to lose her, he knew very well 
 that there was no alternative for him but to 
 give his consent. So Catharine was transferred 
 to the household of the Czar. 
 
 She soon acquired a great ascendency over 
 the Czar, and in process of time she was pri- 
 vately married to him. This private marriage- 
 took place in 1707. For several years after- 
 ward the marriage was not publicly acknowl- 
 edged; but still Catharine's position was well 
 understood, and her power at court, as well as 
 her personal influence over her husband, in- 
 creased continually. 
 
 Catharine sometimes accompanied the em- 
 peror in his military campaigns, and at one- 
 time was the means, it is thought, of saving him 
 from very imminent danger. It was in the 
 year 1711. The Czar was at that time at war 
 with the Turks, and he had advanced into the 
 Turkish territory with a small, but very com- 
 pact and well-organized army. The Turks sent 
 out a large force to meet him, and at length, 
 after various marchings and manceuvrings, the 
 
268 Peter the Great. [1711. 
 
 The emperor's danger. Catharine in camp. A bribe. 
 
 Czar found himself surrounded by a Turkish 
 force three times as large as his own. The 
 Russians fortified their camp, and the Turks 
 attacked them. The latter attempted for two 
 or three successive days to force the Russian 
 lines, but without success, and at length the 
 grand vizier, who was in command of the 
 Turkish troops, finding that he could not force 
 his enemy to quit their intrenchments, determ- 
 ined to starve them out; so he invested the 
 place closely on all sides. The Czar now gave 
 himself up for lost, for he had only a very small 
 stock of provisions, and there seemed no possi- 
 ble way of escape from the snare in which he 
 found himself involved. Catharine was with 
 her husband in the camp at this time, having 
 had the courage to accompany him in the ex- 
 pedition, notwithstanding its extremely danger- 
 ous character, and the story is that she was the 
 means of extricating him from his hazardous 
 position by dextrously bribing the vizier. 
 
 The way in which she managed the affair 
 was this. She arranged it with the emperor 
 that he was to propose terms of peace to the 
 vizier, by which, on certain conditions, he was 
 to be allowed to retire with his army. Cath- 
 arine then secretly made up a very valuable 
 present for the vizier, consisting of jewels, cost- 
 
1712.] The Empress Catharine. 269 
 
 Catharine save3 her husband. The vizier's excuses. 
 
 ly decorations, and other such valuables belong- 
 ing to herself, which, as was customary in those 
 times, she had brought with her on the expe- 
 dition, and also a large sum of money. This 
 present, she contrived to send to the vizier at 
 the same time with the proposals of peace made 
 by the emperor. The vizier was extremely 
 pleased with the present, and he at once agreed 
 to the conditions of peace, and thus the Czar 
 and all his army escaped the destruction which 
 threatened them. 
 
 The vizier was afterward called to account 
 for having thus let off his enemies so easily 
 when he had them so completely in his power ; 
 but he defended himself as well as he could by 
 saying that the terms on which he had made 
 the treaty were as good as could be obtained 
 in any way, adding, hypocritically, that " God 
 commands us .to pardon our enemies when 
 they ask us to do so, and humble themselves 
 before us." 
 
 In the mean time, years passed away, and the 
 emperor and Catharine lived very happily to- 
 gether, though the connection which subsisted 
 between them, while it was universally known, 
 was not openly or publicly recognized. Ir 
 process of time they had two or three children, 
 and this, together with the unassuming but yet 
 
270 Peter the Great. [1712. 
 
 A public marriage determined on. Arrangements. 
 
 faithful and efficient manner in which Catharine 
 devoted herself to her duties as wife and mother, 
 strengthened the bond which bound her to the 
 Czar, and at length, in the year 1712, Peter de- 
 termined to place her before the world in the 
 position to which he had already privately and 
 unofficially raised her, by a new and public 
 marriage. 
 
 It was not pretended, however, that the Czar 
 was to be married to Catharine now for the 
 first time, but the celebration was to be in hon- 
 or of the nuptials long before performed. Ac- 
 cordingly, in the invitations that were sent out, 
 the expression used to denote the occasion on 
 which the company was to be convened was 
 "to celebrate his majesty's old wedding." The 
 place where the ceremony was to be performed 
 was St. Petersburg, for this was now many years 
 after St. Petersburg had been built. 
 
 Yery curious arrangements were made for 
 the performance of this extraordinary ceremony. 
 The Czar appeared in the dress and character 
 of an admiral of the fleet, and the other officers 
 of the fleet, instead of the ministers of state and 
 great nobility, were made most prominent on 
 the occasion, and were appointed to the most 
 honorable posts. This arrangement was made 
 partly, no doubt, for the purpose of doing honor 
 
THE EMTRESS CATHARINE. 
 
1712.] The Empress Catharine. 273 
 
 The little bridemaids. Wedding ceremonies. 
 
 to the navy, which the Czar was now forming, 
 and increasing the consideration of those who 
 were connected with it in the eyes of the coun- 
 try. As Catharine had no parents living, it 
 was necessary to appoint persons to act in their 
 stead "to give away the bride." It was to the 
 vice admiral and the rear admiral of the fleet 
 that the honor of acting in this capacity was 
 assigned. They represented the bride's father, 
 while Peter's mother, the empress dowager, and 
 the lady of the vice admiral of the fleet repre- 
 sented her mother. 
 
 Two of Catharine's own daughters were ap- 
 pointed bridemaids. Their appointment was, 
 however, not much more than an honorary one, 
 for the children were very young, one of them 
 being five and the other only three years old. 
 They appeared for a little time pending the cer- 
 emony, and then, becoming tired, they were 
 taken away, and their places supplied by two 
 young ladies of the court, nieces of the Czar. 
 
 The wedding ceremony itself was performed 
 at seven o'clock in the morning, in a little chap- 
 el belonging to Prince Menzikoff, and before a 
 small company, no person being present at that 
 time except those who had some official part to 
 perform. The great wedding party had been 
 invited to meet at the Czar's palace later in the 
 S 
 
274 Peter the Great. [1715. 
 
 Festivities and rejoicings. Birth of Catharine's son. 
 
 day. After the ceremony had been performed 
 in the chapel, the emperor and empress went 
 from the chapel into Menzikoff's ■ palace, and 
 remained there until the time arrived to repair 
 to the palace of the Czar. Then a grand pro- 
 cession was formed, and the married pair were 
 conducted through the streets to their own pal- 
 ace with great parade. As it was winter, the 
 bridal party were conveyed in sleighs instead 
 of carriages. These sleighs, or sledges as they 
 were called, were very elegantly decorated, and 
 were drawn by six horses each. The proces- 
 sion was accompanied by a band of music, con- 
 sisting of trumpets, kettle-drums, and other 
 martial instruments. The entertainment at the 
 palace was very splendid, and the festivities 
 were concluded in the evening by a ball. The 
 whole city, too, was lighted up that night with 
 bonfires and illuminations. 
 
 Three years after this public solemnization 
 of the marriage the empress gave birth to a 
 son. Peter was perfectly overjoyed at this 
 event. It is true that he had one son already, 
 who was born of his first wife, who was called 
 the Czarewitz, and whose character and melan- 
 choly history will be the subject of the next 
 chapter. But this was the first son among the 
 children of Catharine. She had had only 
 
1715.] The Empress Catharine. 275 
 
 Importance of the event. The baptism. Dwarfs in the pies. 
 
 daughters before. It was in the very crisis of 
 the difficulties which the Czar had with his eld- 
 est son, and when he was on the point of final- 
 ly abandoning all hope of ever reclaiming him 
 from his vices and making him a fit inheritor 
 of the crown, that this child of Catharine's was 
 born. These circumstances, which will be ex- 
 plained more fully in the next chapter, gave 
 great political importance to the birth of Cath- 
 arine's son, and Peter caused the event to be 
 celebrated with great public rejoicings. The 
 rejoicings were continued for eight days, and at 
 the baptism of the babe, two kings, those of 
 Denmark and of Prussia, acted as godfathers. 
 The name given to the child was Peter Petro- 
 witz. 
 
 The baptism was celebrated with the greatest 
 pomp, and it was attended with banquetings 
 and rejoicings of the most extraordinary char- 
 acter. Among other curious contrivances were 
 two enormous pies, one served in the room of 
 the gentlemen and the other in that of the la- 
 dies ; for, according to the ancient Kussian cus- 
 tom on such occasions, the sexes were separated 
 at the entertainments, tables being spread' for 
 the ladies and for the gentlemen in different 
 halls. From the ladies' pie there stepped out, 
 when it was opened, a young dwarf, very small, 
 
276 Peter the Great. [1715. 
 
 Influence of Catharine over her husband. 
 
 and clothed in a very slight and very fantastic 
 manner. The dwarf brought out with him from 
 the pie some wine-glasses and a bottle of wine. 
 Taking these in his hand, he walked around the 
 table drinking to the health of the ladies, who 
 received him wherever he came with screams 
 of mingled surprise and laughter. It was the 
 same in the gentlemen's apartment, except that 
 the dwarf which appeared before the company 
 there was a female. 
 
 The birth of this son formed a new and very 
 strong bond of attachment between Peter and 
 Catharine, and it increased very much the in- 
 fluence which she had previously exerted over 
 him. The influence which she thus exercised 
 was very great, and it was also, in the main, very 
 salutary. She alone could approach the Czar 
 in the fits of irritation and anger into which he 
 often fell when any thing displeased him, and 
 sometimes, when his rage and fury were such 
 that no one else would have dared to come 
 near, Catharine knew how to quiet and calm 
 him, and gradually bring him back again to 
 reason. She had great power over him, too, in 
 respect to the nervous affection — the convuls- 
 ive twitchings of the head and face — to which 
 he was subject. Indeed, it was said that the 
 soothing and mysterious influence of her gentle 
 
1715.] The Empress Catharine. 277 
 
 Use which she made of her power. Peter's jealousy. 
 
 nursing in allaying these dreadful spasms, and 
 relieving the royal patient from the distress 
 which they occasioned, gave rise to the first feel- 
 ing of attachment which he formed for her, and 
 which led him, in the end, to make her- his wife. 
 
 Catharine often exerted the power which she 
 acquired over her husband for noble ends. A 
 great many persons, who from time to time ex- 
 cited the displeasure of the Czar, were rescued 
 from undeserved death, and sometimes from 
 sufferings still more terrible than death, by her 
 interposition. In many ways she softened the 
 asperities of Peter's character, and lightened 
 the heavy burden of his imperial despotism. 
 Every one was astonished at the ascendency 
 which she acquired over the violent and cruel 
 temper of her husband, and equally pleased 
 with the good use which she made of her power. 
 
 There was not, however, always perfect peace 
 between Catharine and her lord. Catharine 
 was compelled sometimes to endure great trials. 
 On one occasion the Czar took it into his head, 
 with or without cause, to feel jealous. The ob- 
 ject of his jealousy was a certain officer of his 
 court whose name was De la Croix. Peter had 
 no certain evidence, it would seem, to justify his 
 suspicions, for he said nothing openly on the 
 subject, but he at once caused the officer to be 
 
278 Peter the G-reat. [1715. 
 
 Dreadful punishment. Catharine's usefulness to the Czar. 
 
 beheaded on some other pretext, and ordered 
 his head to be set up on a pole in a great pub- 
 lic square in Moscow. He then took Catharine 
 out into the square, and conveyed her to and 
 fro in all directions across it, in order that she 
 might see the head in every point of view. 
 Catharine understood perfectly well what it all 
 meant, but, though thunderstruck and over- 
 whelmed with grief and horror at the terrible 
 spectacle, she succeeded in maintaining a per- 
 fect self-control through the whole scene, until, 
 at length, she was released, and allowed to re- 
 turn to her apartment, when she burst into 
 tears, and for a long time could not be comfort- 
 ed or calmed. 
 
 With the exception of an occasional outbreak 
 like this, the Czar evinced a very strong attach* 
 ment to his consort, and she continued to live 
 with him a faithful and devoted wife for nearly 
 twenty years ; from the period of her private 
 marriage, in fact, to the death of her husband. 
 During all this time she was continually asso- 
 ciated with him not only in his personal and 
 private, but also in his public avocations and 
 cares. She accompanied him on his journeys, 
 she aided him with her counsels in all affairs 
 of state. He relied a great deal on her judg- 
 ment in all questions of policy, whether in- 
 
1715.] The Empress Catharine. 279 
 
 Her imperfect education. Her final exaltation to the throne. 
 
 ternal or external; and he took counsel with 
 her in all matters connected with his negotia- 
 tions with foreign states, with the sending and 
 receiving of embassies, the making of treaties 
 with them, and even, when occasion occurred, 
 in determining the question of peace or war. 
 
 And yet, notwithstanding the lofty qualities 
 of statesmanship that Catharine thus displayed 
 in the counsel and aid which she rendered her 
 husband, the education which she had received 
 while at the minister's in Marienburg was so 
 imperfect that she never learned to write, and 
 whenever, either during her husband's life or 
 after his death, she had occasion to put her sig- 
 nature to letters or documents of any kind, she 
 did not attempt to write the name herself, but 
 always employed one of her daughters to do it 
 for her. 
 
 At length, toward the close of his reign, Pe- 
 ter, having at that time no son to whom he 
 could intrust the government of his empire 
 after he was gone, caused Catharine to be sol- 
 emnly crowned as empress, with a view of 
 making her his successor on the throne. But 
 before describing this coronation it is necessary 
 first to give an account of the circumstances 
 which led to it, by relating the melancholy his- 
 tory of Alexis, Peter's oldest son. 
 
280 
 
 P 
 
 ETEK 
 
 THE 
 
 G 
 
 BEAT. [1690. 
 
 Birth of Alexis. 
 
 
 
 
 
 llis father's hopes. 
 
 Chapter XV. 
 The Prince Alexis. 
 
 THE reader will perhaps recollect that Pe- 
 ter had a son by his first wife, an account 
 of whose birth was given in the first part of this 
 volume. The name of this son was Alexis, and 
 he was destined to become the hero of a most 
 dreadful tragedy. The narrative of it forms a 
 very dark and melancholy chapter in the his- 
 tory of his father's reign. 
 
 Alexis was born in the year 1690. In the 
 early part of his life his father took great in- 
 terest in him, and made him the centre of a 
 great many ambitious hopes and projects. Of 
 course, he expected that Alexis would be his 
 successor on the imperial throne, and he took 
 great interest in qualifying him for the duties 
 that would devolve upon him in that exalted 
 station. While he was a child his father was 
 proud of him as his son and heir, and as he 
 grew up he hoped that he would inherit his 
 own ambition and energy, and he took great 
 pains to inspire him with the lofty sentiments 
 appropriate to his position, and to train him to 
 a knowledge of the art of war. 
 
1710.] The Prince Alexis. 281 
 
 Advantages enjoyed l>y Alexis Marriage proposed 
 
 But Alexis had no taste for these things, ano\ 
 his father could not, in any possible way, in- 
 duce him to take any interest in them what' 
 ever. He was idle and spiritless, and nothing 
 could arouse him to make any exertion. He 
 spent his time in indolence and in vicious in- 
 dulgences. These habits had the effect of*tm- 
 dermining his health, and increasing more and 
 more his distaste for the duties which his father 
 wished him to perform. 
 
 The Czar tried every possible means to pro- 
 duce a change in the character of his son, and 
 to awaken in him something like an honorable 
 ambition. To this end he took Alexis with 
 him in his journeys to foreign countries, and 
 introduced him to the reigning princes of east- 
 ern Europe, showed him their capitals, explain- 
 ed to him the various military systems which 
 were adopted by the different powers, and made 
 him acquainted with the principal personages 
 in their courts. But all was of no avail. Alex- 
 is could not be aroused to take an interest in 
 any thing but idle indulgences and vice. 
 
 At length, when Alexis was about twenty 
 years of age, that is, in the year 1710, his fa- 
 ther conceived the idea of trying the effect of 
 marriage upon him. So he directed his son to 
 make choice of a wife. It is not improbable 
 
282 Peter the Great. [1710. 
 
 Account of the wedding. 
 
 that lie himself really selected the lady. At 
 any rate, he controlled the selection, for Alexis 
 was quite indifferent in respect to the affair, 
 and only acceded to the plan in obedience to 
 his father's commands. 
 
 The lady chosen for the bride was a Polish 
 prifccess, named Charlotta Christina Sophia, 
 Princess of Wolfenbuttel, and a marriage con- 
 tract, binding the parties to each other, was ex- 
 ecuted with all due formality. 
 
 Two years after this marriage contract was 
 formed the marriage was celebrated. Alexis 
 was then about twenty-two years of age, and 
 the princess eighteen. The wedding, however, 
 was by no means a joyful one. Alexis had 
 not improved in character since he had been 
 betrothed, and his father continued to be very 
 much displeased with him. Peter was at one 
 time so angry as to threaten that, if his son 
 did not reform his evil habits, and begin to 
 show some interest in the performance of his 
 duties, he would have his head shaved and 
 send him to a convent, and so make a monk 
 of him. 
 
 How far the princess herself was acquainted 
 with the facts in respect to the character of her 
 husband it is impossible to say, but every body 
 else knew them very well. The emperor was 
 
1710.] The Pkince Alexis. . 283 
 
 Alexis returns to Russia. Cruel treatment of his wife. 
 
 in very bad humor. The princess's father wish- 
 ed to arrange for a magnificent wedding, but 
 the Czar would not permit it. The ceremony 
 was accordingly performed in a very quiet and 
 unostentatious way, in one gf the provincial 
 towns of Poland, and after it was over Alexis 
 went home with his bride to her paternal do- 
 mains. 
 
 The marriage of Alexis to the Polish prin- 
 cess took place the year before his father's pub- 
 lic marriage with his second wife, the Empress 
 Catharine. 
 
 As Peter had anticipated, the promises of re- 
 form which Alexis had made on the occasion 
 of his marriage failed totally of accomplish- 
 ment. After remaining a short time in Poland 
 with his wife, conducting himself there tolera- 
 bly well, he set out on his return to Eussia, 
 taking his wife with him. But no sooner had 
 he got back among his old associates than he 
 returned to his evil ways, and soon began to 
 treat his wife with the greatest neglect and even 
 cruelty. He provided a separate suite of apart- 
 ments for her in one end of the palace, while 
 he himself occupied the other end, where he 
 could be at liberty to do what he pleased with- 
 out restraint. Sometimes a week would elapse 
 without his seeing his wife at all. He pur- 
 
284 Peter the Great. [1715. 
 
 Her hardships and sufferings. The Czar's displeasure. 
 
 chased a small slave, named Afrosinia, and 
 brought her into his part of the palace, and 
 lived with her there in the most shameless man- 
 ner, while his neglected wife, far from all her 
 friends, alone, and almost broken-hearted, spent 
 her time in bitterly lamenting her hard fate, 
 and gradually wearing away her life in sorrow 
 and tears. 
 
 She was not even properly provided with 
 the necessary comforts of life. Her rooms were 
 neglected, and suffered to go out of repair. The 
 roof let in the rain, and the cold wind in the 
 winter penetrated through the ill-fitted win- 
 dows and doors. Alexis paid no heed to these 
 things ; but, leaving his wife to suffer, spent his 
 time in drinking and carousing with Afrosinia 
 and his other companions in vice. 
 
 During all this time the attention of the Czar 
 was so much engaged with the affairs of the 
 empire that he could not interfere efficiently. 
 Sometimes he would upbraid Alexis for his 
 undutiful and wicked behavior, and threaten 
 him severely ; but the only effect of his remon- 
 strances would be to cause Alexis to go into 
 the apartment of his wife as" soon as his father 
 had left him, and assail her in the most abusive 
 manner, overwhelming her with rude and vio- 
 lent reproaches for having, as he said, made 
 
1715.] The Prince Alexis. 285 
 
 Birth of a son. Cruel neglect. The <Jz-ir i ent for. 
 
 complaints to his father, or " told tales," as he 
 called it, and so having occasioned his father 
 to find fault with him. This the princess would 
 deny. She would solemnly declare that she 
 had not made any complaints whatever. Alex- 
 is, however, would not believe her, but would 
 repeat his denunciations, and then go away in 
 a rage. 
 
 This state of things continued for three or 
 four years. During that time the princess had 
 one child, a daughter ; and at length the time 
 arrived when she was to give birth to a son ; 
 but even the approach of such a time of trial 
 did not awaken any feeling of kind regard or 
 compassion on the part of her husband. His 
 neglect still continued. No suitable arrange- 
 ments were made for the princess, and she re- 
 ceived no proper attention during her confine- 
 ment. The consequence was, that, in a few days 
 after the birth of the child, fever set in, and the 
 princess sank so rapidly under it that her life 
 was soon despaired of. 
 
 When she found that she was about to die, 
 she asked that the Czar might be sent for to 
 come and see her. Peter was sick at this time, 
 and almost confined to his bed ; but still — let it 
 be remembered to his honor — he would not re- 
 fuse this request. A bed, or litter, was placed 
 
286 Peter the Great. [1715. 
 
 Death-bed scene. Grief of the attendants. The princess's despair. 
 
 for Mm on a sort of truck, and in this manner 
 he was conveyed to the palace where the prin- 
 cess was lying. She thanked him very earn- 
 estly for coming to see her, and then begged to 
 commit her children, and the servants who had 
 come with her from her native land, and who 
 had remained faithful to her through all her 
 trials, to his protection and care. She kissed 
 her children, and took leave of them in the 
 most affecting manner, and then placed them 
 in the arms of the Czar. The Czar received 
 them very kindly. He then bade the mother 
 farewell, and went away, taking the children 
 with him. 
 
 All this time, the room in which the princess 
 was lying, the antechamber, and all the ap- 
 proaches to the apartment, were filled with the 
 servants and friends of the princess, who mourn- 
 ed her unhappy fate so deeply that they were 
 unable to control their grief. They kneeled or 
 lay prostrate on the ground, and offered un- 
 ceasing petitions to heaven to save the life of 
 their mistress, mingling their prayers with tears, 
 and sobs, and bitter lamentations. 
 
 The physicians endeavored to persuade the 
 princess to take some medicines which they had 
 brought, but she threw the phials away behind 
 the bed, begging the physicians not to torment 
 
1715.] The Prince Alexis. 287 
 
 High rank no guarantee for happiness. Peter's ultimatum. 
 
 her any more, but to let her die in peace, as she 
 had no wish to live. 
 
 She lingered after this a few days, spending 
 most of her time in prayer, and then died. 
 
 At the time of her death the princess was not 
 much over twenty years of age. Her sad and 
 sorrowful fate shows us once more what unfor- 
 tunately we too often see exemplified, that 
 something besides high worldly position in a 
 husband is necessary to enable the bride to look 
 forward with any degree of confidence to her 
 prospects of happiness when receiving the con- 
 gratulations of her friends on her wedding-day. 
 
 The death of his wife produced no good ef- 
 fect upon the mind of Alexis. At the funeral, 
 the Czar his father addressed him in a very 
 stern and severe manner in respect to his evil 
 ways, and declared to him positively that, if he 
 did not at once reform and thenceforth lead a 
 life more in conformity with his position and 
 his obligations, he would cut him off from the 
 inheritance to the crown, even if it should be 
 necessary, on that account, to call in some 
 stranger to be his heir. 
 
 The communication which the Czar made to 
 his son on this occasion was in writing, and the 
 terms in which it was expressed were very ser 
 vere. It commenced by reciting at length the 
 
288 Peter the Great. [1715. 
 
 Letter to Alexis. Positive declarations contained in it. 
 
 long and fruitless efforts which the Czar had 
 made to awaken something like an honorable 
 ambition in the mind of his son, and to lead 
 him to reform his habits, and concluded, sub- 
 stantially, as follows : 
 
 " How often have I reproached you with the 
 obstinacy of your temper and the perverseness 
 of your disposition ! How often, even, have I 
 corrected you for them! And now, for how 
 many years have I desisted from speaking any 
 longer of them ! But all has been to no pur- 
 pose. My reproofs have been fruitless. I have 
 only lost my time and beaten the air. You do 
 not so % much as strive to grow better, and all 
 your satisfaction seems to consist in laziness 
 and inactivity. 
 
 " Having, therefore, considered all these 
 things, and fully reflected upon them, as I see 
 I have not been able to engage you by any mo- 
 tives to do as you ought, I have come to the 
 conclusion to lay before you, in writing, this my 
 last determination, resolving, however, to wait 
 still a little longer before I come to a final ex- 
 ecution of my purpose, in order to give you 
 one more trial to see whether you will amend 
 or no. If you do not, I am fully resolved to 
 cut you off from the succession. 
 
1715.] The Prince Alexis. 289 
 
 The real ground of complaint 
 
 " Do not think that because I have no other 
 son I will not realty do this, but only say it to 
 frighten you. You may rely upon it that I 
 will certainly do what I say; for, as I spare 
 not my own life for the good of my country 
 and the safety of my people, why should I spare 
 you, who will not take the pains to make your- 
 self worthy of them ? I shall much prefer to 
 transmit this trust to some worthy stranger 
 than to an unworthy son. 
 
 " (Signed with his majesty's own hand), 
 
 " Peter." 
 
 The reader will observe, from the phraseology 
 of these concluding paragraphs, what is made 
 still more evident by the perusal of the whole 
 letter, that the great ground of Peter's com- 
 plaint against his son was not his immorality 
 and wickedness, but his idleness and ineffi- 
 ciency. If he had shown himself an active and 
 spirited young man, full of military ardor, and 
 of ambition to rule, he might probably, in his 
 private life, have been as vicious and depraved 
 as he pleased without exciting his father's dis- 
 pleasure. But Peter was himself so full of am- 
 bition and energy, and he had formed, more- 
 over, such vast plans for the aggrandizement of 
 the empire, many of which could only be com* 
 T 
 
290 Peter the Great. [1715. 
 
 Alexis's excises. His reply to his father. 
 
 menced during his lifetime, and must depend 
 for their full accomplishment on the vigor and 
 talent of his successor, that he had set his heart 
 very strongly on making his son one of the 
 first military men of the age ; and he now lost 
 all patience with him when he saw him stupidly 
 neglecting the glorious opportunity before him, 
 and throwing away all his advantages, in order 
 to spend his time in ease and indulgence, thus 
 thwarting and threatening to render abortive 
 some of his father's favorite and most far-reach- 
 ing plans. 
 
 The excuse which Alexis made for his con- 
 duct was the same which bad boys often offer 
 for idleness and delinquency, namely, his ill 
 health. His answer to his father's letter was 
 as follows. It was not written until two or 
 three weeks after his father's letter was re- 
 ceived, and in that interim a son was born to 
 the Empress Catharine, as related in the last 
 chapter. It is to this infant son that Alexis 
 alludes in his letter : 
 
 "My clement Lord and Father, — 
 "I have read the writing your majesty gave 
 me on the 27th of October, 1715, after the in- 
 terment of my late spouse. 
 
 "I have nothing to reply to it but that if it 
 
1715.] The Prince Alexis. 291 
 
 He surrenders his claim to the crown. 
 
 is your majesty's pleasure to deprive me of the 
 crown of Eussia by reason of my inability — 
 your will be done. I even earnestly request it 
 at your majesty's hands, as I do not think my- 
 self fit for the government. My memory is 
 much weakened, and without it there is no pos- 
 sibility of managing affairs. My mind and body 
 are much decayed by the distempers to which 
 I have been subject, which renders me incapa- 
 ble of governing so many people, who must 
 necessarily require a more vigorous man at their 
 head than I am. 
 
 " For which reason I should not aspire to the 
 succession of the crown of Eussia after you — 
 whom God long preserve — even though I had 
 no brother, as I have at present, whom I pray 
 God also to preserve. Nor will I ever here- 
 after lay claim to the succession, as I call God 
 to witness by a solemn oath, in confirmation 
 whereof I write and sign this letter with my 
 own hand. 
 
 "I give my children into your hands, and, 
 for my part, desire no more than a bare main- 
 tenance so long as I live, leaving all the rest to 
 your consideration and good pleasure. 
 
 " Your most humble servant and son, 
 
 "Alexis." 
 
292 Peter the Great. [1716. 
 
 Another letter from the Czar. New threats. 
 
 The Czar did not immediately make any re- 
 joinder to the foregoing communication from 
 his son. During the fall and winter months of 
 that year he was much occupied with public 
 affairs, and his health, moreover, was quite in- 
 firm. At length, however, about the middle 
 of June, he wrote to his son as follows : 
 
 " My Son, — As my illness hath hitherto pre- 
 vented me from letting you know the resolu- 
 tions I have taken with reference to the answer 
 you returned to my former letter, I now send 
 you my reply. I observe that you there speak 
 of the succession as though I had need of your 
 consent to do in that respect what absolutely 
 depends on my own will. But whence comes 
 it that you make no mention of your voluntary 
 indolence and inefficiency, and the aversion you 
 constantly express to public affairs, which I 
 spoke of in a more particular manner than of 
 your ill health, though the latter is the only 
 thiDg you take notice of? I also expressed my 
 dissatisfaction with your whole conduct and 
 mode of life for some years past. But of this 
 you are wholly silent, though I strongly insist- 
 ed upon it. 
 
 " From these things I judge that my father- 
 ly exhortations make no impression upon you. 
 
1716.] The Prince Alexis. 293 
 
 More positive declarations. 
 
 For this reason I have determined to write this 
 letter to yon, and it shall be the last. 
 
 "I don't find that yon make any acknowl- 
 edgment of the obligation yon owe to yonr fa- 
 ther who gave yon life. Have yon assisted 
 him, since yon came to maturity of years, in 
 his labors and pains? No, certainly. The 
 world knows that yon have not. On the other 
 hand, yon blame and abhor whatever of good 
 I have been able to do at the expense of my 
 health, for the love I have borne to my people, 
 and for their advantage, and I have all im- 
 aginable reason to believe that you will destroy 
 it all in case you should survive me. 
 
 " I can not let you continue in this way. Ei- 
 ther change your conduct, and labor to make 
 yourself worthy of the succession, or else take 
 upon you the monastic vow. I can not rest 
 satisfied with your present behavior, especially 
 as I find that my health is declining. As soon, 
 therefore, as you shall have received this my 
 letter, let me have your answer in writing, or 
 give it to me yourself in person. If you do 
 not, I shall at once proceed against you as a 
 malefactor. (Signed) Peter." 
 
 To this communication Alexis the next day 
 returned the following reply : 
 
294 Peter the Great. [1716. 
 
 Alexis's answer. Real state of his health. His depraved character. 
 
 " Most clement Lord and Father, — 
 "I received yesterday in the morning your 
 letter of the 19th of this month. My indispo- 
 sition will not allow me to write a long answer. 
 I shall enter upon a monastic life, and beg your 
 gracious consent for so doing. 
 
 " Your most humble servant and son, 
 
 "Alexis." 
 
 There is no doubt that there was some good 
 ground for the complaints which Alexis made 
 with respect to his health. His original con- 
 stitution was not vigorous, and he had greatly 
 impaired both his mental and physical powers 
 by his vicious indulgences. Still, his excusing 
 himself so much on this ground was chiefly a 
 pretense, his object being to gain time, and pre- 
 vent his father from coming to any positive de- 
 cision, in order that he might continue his life 
 of indolence and vice a little longer undisturb- 
 ed. Indeed, it was said that the incapacity to 
 attend. to the studies and perform the duties 
 which his father required of him was mainly 
 due to his continual drunkenness, which kept 
 him all the time in a sort of brutal stupor. 
 
 Nor was the fault wholly on his side. His 
 father was very harsh and severe in his treat- 
 ment of him, and perhaps, in the beginning, 
 
1716.] The Prince Alexis. 295 
 
 The companions and counselors of Alexis. Priests. 
 
 made too little allowance for the feebleness of 
 bis constitution. Neither of the two were sin- 
 cere in what they said about Alexis becoming 
 a monk. Peter, in threatening to send him to 
 a monastery, only meant to frighten him ; and 
 Alexis, in saying that he wished to go, intend- 
 ed only to circumvent his father, and save him- 
 self from being molested by him any more. 
 He knew very well that his becoming a monk 
 would be the last thing that his father would 
 really desire. 
 
 Besides, Alexis was surrounded by a num- 
 ber of companions and advisers, most of them 
 lewd and dissolute fellows like himself, but 
 among them were some much more cunning 
 and far-sighted than he, and it was under their 
 advicethat he acted in all the measures that he 
 took, and in every thing that he said and did 
 in the course of this quarrel with his father. 
 Among these men were several priests, who, 
 like the rest, though priests, were vile and dis- 
 solute men. These priests, and Alexis's other 
 advisers, told him that he was perfectly safe in 
 pretending to accede to his father's plan to send 
 him to a monastery, for his father would never 
 think of such a thing as putting the threat in 
 execution. Besides, if he did, it would do no 
 harm ; for the vows that he would take, though 
 
296 Peter the Great. [1716. 
 
 Designs of Alexia's companions. General policy of an opposition. 
 
 so utterly irrevocable in the case of common 
 men, would all cease to be of force in his case, 
 in the event of his father's death, and his suc- 
 ceeding to the throne. And, in the mean time, 
 he could go on, they said, taking his ease and 
 pleasure, and living as he had always done. 
 
 Many of the persons who thus took sides 
 with Alexis, and encouraged him in his oppo- 
 sition to his father, had very deep designs in so 
 doing. They were of the party who opposed 
 the improvements and innovations which Peter 
 had introduced, and who had in former times 
 made the Princess Sophia their head and rally - 
 ing-point in their opposition to Peter's policy. 
 It almost always happens thus, that when, in a 
 monarchical country, there is a party opposed 
 to the policy which the sovereign pursues, the 
 disaffected persons endeavor, if possible, to find 
 a head, or leader, in some member of the royal 
 family itself, and if they can gain to their side 
 the one next in succession to the crown, so 
 much the better. To this end it is for their in- 
 terest to foment a quarrel in the royal family, 
 or, if the germ of a quarrel appears, arising from 
 some domestic or other cause, to widen the 
 breach as much as possible, and avail them- 
 selves of the dissension to secure the name and 
 the influence of the prince or princess thus al- 
 
1716.] The Prince Alexis. 297 
 
 The old Muscovite party. Views of Alexis. 
 
 ienated from the- king as their rallying-point 
 and centre of action. 
 
 This was just the case in the present instance. 
 The old Muscovite party, as it was called, that 
 is, the party opposed to the reforms and changes 
 which Peter had made, and to the foreign influ- 
 ences which he had introduced into the realm, 
 gathered around Alexis. Some of them, it was 
 said, began secretly to form conspiracies for de- 
 posing Peter, raising Alexis nominally to the 
 throne, and restoring the old order of things. 
 Peter knew all this, and the fears which these 
 rumors excited in his mind greatly increased 
 his anxiety in respect to the course which Alex- 
 is was pursuing and the exasperation which he 
 felt against his son. Indeed, there was reason 
 to believe that Alexis himself, so far as he had 
 any political opinions, had adopted the views 
 of the malcontents. It was natural that he 
 should do so, for the old order of things was 
 much better adapted to the wishes and desires 
 of a selfish and dissolute despot, who only val- 
 ued his exaltation and power for the means 
 of unlimited indulgence in sensuality and vice 
 which they afforded. It was this supposed 
 bias of Alexis's mind against his father's policy 
 of reform that Peter referred to in his letter 
 when he spoke of Alexis's desire to thwart 
 
298 Petek the Great. [1716. 
 
 Peter at a loss. One more final determination. 
 
 him in his measures and undo all that he had 
 done. 
 
 When he received Alexis's letter informing 
 him that he was ready to enter upon the mo- 
 nastic life whenever his father pleased, Peter 
 was for a time at a loss what to do. He had no 
 intention of taking Alexis at his word, for in 
 threatening to make a monk of him he had 
 only meant to frighten him. For a time, there- 
 fore, after receiving this reply, he did nothing, 
 but only vented his anger in useless impreca- 
 tions and mutterings. 
 
 Peter was engaged at this time in very im- 
 portant public affairs arising out of the wars in 
 which he was engaged with some foreign na- 
 tions, and important negotiations which were 
 going on with others. Not long after receiv- 
 ing the short letter from Alexis last cited, he 
 was called upon to leave Russia for a time, to 
 make a journey into central Europe. Before 
 he went away he called to see Alexis, in order 
 to bid him adieu, and to state to him once more 
 what he called his final determination. 
 
 Alexis, when he heard that his father was 
 coming, got into his bed, and received him in 
 that way, as if he were really quite sick. 
 
 Peter asked him what conclusion he had 
 come to. Alexis replied, as before, that he 
 
1716.] The Prince Alexis. 299 
 
 Farewell conversation. Alexis's duplicity. 
 
 wished to enter a monastery, and that he was 
 ready to do so at any time. His father re- 
 monstrated with him long and earnestly against 
 this resolution. He represented in strong terms 
 the folly of a young man like himself, in the 
 prime of his years, and with such prospects 
 before him, abandoning every thing, and shut- 
 ting himself up all his days to the gloomy au- 
 sterities of a monastic life ; and he endeavored 
 to convince him how much better it would be 
 for him to change his course of conduct, to en- 
 ter vigorously upon the fulfillment of his duties 
 as a son and as a prince, and prepare himself 
 for the glorious destiny which awaited him on 
 the Eussian throne. 
 
 Finally, the Czar said that he would give 
 him six months longer to consider of it, and 
 then, bidding him farewell, went away. 
 
 As soon as he was gone Alexis rose from his 
 bed, and went away to an entertainment with 
 some of his companions. He doubtless amused 
 them during the carousal by relating to them 
 what had taken place during the interview 
 with his father, and how earnestly the Czar had 
 argued against his doing what he had begun 
 originally with threatening to make him do. 
 
 The Czar's business called him to Copen- 
 hagen. While there he received one or two 
 
300 Peter the Great. [1716. 
 
 Letter from Copenhagen. Alternative offered. 
 
 letters from Alexis, but there was nothing in 
 them to. denote any change in his intentions, 
 and, finally, toward the end of the summer, the 
 Czar wrote him again in the following very se- 
 vere and decided manner : 
 
 "Copenhagen, Aug. 26th, 1716. 
 
 "My Son,— Your first letter of the 29th of 
 June, and your next of the 30th of July, were 
 brought to me. As in them you speak only 
 of the condition of your health, I send you the 
 present letter to tell you that I demanded of 
 you your resolution upon the affair of the suc- 
 cession when I bade you farewell. You then 
 answered me, in your usual manner, that you 
 judged yourself incapable of it by reason of 
 your infirmities, and that you should choose 
 rather to retire into a convent. I bade you 
 seriously consider of it again, and then send me 
 the resolution you should take. I have expect- 
 ed it for these seven months, and yet have heard 
 nothing of you concerning it. You have had 
 time enough for consideration, and, therefore, 
 as soon as you shall receive my letter, resolve 
 on one side or on the other. 
 
 "If you determine to apply yourself to your 
 duties, and qualify yourself for the succession, 
 I wish you to leave Petersburg and to come to 
 
1716.] The Prince Alexis. 301 
 
 Peter's unreasonable severity. Alexis made desperate. 
 
 me here within a week, so as to be here in time 
 to be present at the opening of the campaign ; 
 but if, on the other hand, you resolve upon the 
 monastic life, let me know ivlien, where, and on 
 what day you will execute your resolution, so 
 that my mind may be at rest, and that I may 
 know what to expect of you. Send me back 
 your final answer by the same courier that shall 
 bring you my letter. 
 
 " Be particular to let me know the day when 
 you will set out from Petersburg, if you con- 
 clude to come to me, and, if not, precisely when 
 you will perform your vow. I again tell you 
 that I. absolutely insist that you shall determ- 
 ine upon something, otherwise I shall conclude 
 that you are only seeking to gain time in order 
 that you may spend it in your customary lazi- 
 ness. Peter." 
 
 - When we consider that Alexis was at this 
 time a man nearly thirty years of age, and him- 
 self the father of a family, we can easily imagine 
 that language like this was more adapted to ex- 
 asperate him and make him worse than to win 
 him to his duty. He was, in fact, driven to a 
 species of desperation by it, and he so far aroused 
 himself from his usual indolence and stupidity 
 as to form a plan, in connection with some of 
 
802 Peter the Great. [1716. 
 
 Alexis's resolution. 
 
 Lis evil advisers, to make his escape from his 
 father's control entirely by secretly absconding 
 from the country, and seeking a retreat under 
 the protection of some foreign power. The 
 manner in which he executed this scheme, and 
 the consequences which finally resulted from it, 
 will be related in the next chapter. 
 
1717.] The Flight of Alexis. 303 
 
 § 
 
 Alexis resolves to escape. 
 
 Chapter XVI. 
 The Flight of Alexis. 
 
 WHEN Alexis received the letter from his 
 father at Copenhagen, ordering him to 
 proceed at once to that city and join his father 
 there, or else to come to a definite and final con- 
 clusion in respect to the convent that he would 
 join, he at once determined, as intimated in the 
 last chapter, that he would avail himself of the 
 opportunity to escape from his father's control 
 altogether. Under pretense of obeying his 
 father's orders that he should go to Copenha- 
 gen,, he could make all the necessary prepara- 
 tions for leaving the country without suspicion, 
 and then, when once across the frontier, he could 
 go where he pleased. He determined to make 
 his escape to a foreign court, with a view of 
 putting himself under the protection there of 
 some prince or potentate who, from feelings of 
 rivalry toward his father, or from some other 
 motive, might be disposed, he thought, to es- 
 pouse his cause. 
 
 He immediately began to make arrangements 
 
30-A Peter the Great. [1717. 
 
 Alexis makes arrangements for flight. Secrecy. 
 
 for his flight. What the exact truth is in re- 
 spect to the arrangements which he made could 
 never be fully ascertained, for the chief source 
 of information in respect to them is from con- 
 fessions which Alexis made himself after he 
 was brought back. But in these confessions he 
 made such confusion, first confessing a little, 
 then a little more, then contradicting himself, 
 then admitting, when the thing had been proved 
 against him, what he had before denied, that it 
 was almost impossible to disentangle the truth 
 from his confused and contradictory declara- 
 tions. The substance of the case was, however, 
 as follows : 
 
 In the first place, he determined carefully to 
 conceal his design from all except the two or 
 three intimate friends and advisers who origi- 
 nally counseled him to adopt it. He intended 
 to take with him his concubine Afrosinia, and 
 also -a number of domestic servants and other 
 attendants, but he did not allow any of them to 
 know where he was going. He gave them to 
 understand that he was going to Copenhagen 
 to join his father. He was afraid that, if any of 
 those persons were to know his real design, it 
 would, in some way or other, be divulged. 
 
 As to Afrosinia, he was well aware that she 
 would know that he could not intend to take 
 
1717.J The Flight of Alexis. 305 
 
 Alexia deceives Afrosinia. 
 
 her to Copenhagen into his father's presence, 
 and so he deceived her as to his real design, 
 and induced her to set out with him, without 
 suspicion, by telling her that he was only going 
 to take her with him a part of the way. She 
 was only to go, he said, as far as Eiga, a town 
 on the shores of the Baltic, on the way toward 
 Copenhagen. Alexis was the less inclined to 
 make a confidante of Afrosinia from the fact 
 that she had never been .willingly his compan- 
 ion. She was a Finland girl, a captive taken in 
 war, and preserved to be sold as a slave on ac- 
 count of her beauty. V nen she came into the 
 possession of Alexis he forced her to submit to 
 his will. She was a slave, and it was useless 
 for her to resist or complain. It is said that 
 Alexis only induced her to yield to him by 
 drawing his knife and threatening to kill her 
 on the spot if she made any difficulty. Thus, 
 although he seems to have become, in the end, 
 strongly attached to her, he never felt that she 
 was really and cordially on his side. He ac- 
 cordingly, in this case, concealed from her his 
 real designs, and told her he was only going to 
 take her with him a little way. He would then 
 send her back, he said, to Petersburg. So Afro- 
 sinia made arrangements to accompany him 
 without feeling any concern. 
 U 
 
306 Peter the Great. [1717. 
 
 How Alexis obtained the money. Alexander Kikin. 
 
 Alexis obtained all the money that he re- 
 quired by borrowing considerable sums of the 
 different members of the government and friends 
 of his father, under pretense that he was go- 
 ing to his father at Copenhagen. He showed 
 them the letter which his fafher had written 
 him, and this, they thought, was sufficient au- 
 thority for them to furnish him with the money. 
 He borrowed in this way various sums of dif- 
 ferent persons, and thus obtained an abundant 
 supply. The largest sum which he obtained 
 from any one person was two thousand ducats, 
 which were lent him by Prince Menzikoff, a 
 noble who stood very high in Peter's confi- 
 dence, arid who had been left by him chief in 
 command during his absence. The prince gave 
 Alexis some advice, too, about the arrange- 
 ments which he was to make for his journey, 
 supposing all the time that he was really going 
 to Copenhagen. 
 
 The chief instigator and adviser of Alexis in 
 this affair was a man named Alexander Kikin. 
 This Kikin was an officer of high rank in the 
 navy department, under the government, and 
 the Czar had placed great confidence in him. 
 But he was inclined to espouse the cause of the 
 old Muscovite party, and to hope for a revolu- 
 tion that would bring that party again into 
 
1717.] The Flight of Alexis. 307 
 
 Alexis seta oat on his journey. Meets Kikin. Arrangements. 
 
 power. He was not at this time in St. Peters- 
 burg, but had gone forward to provide a place 
 of retreat for Alexis. Alexis was to meet him 
 at the town of Libau, which stands on the shores 
 of the Baltic Sea, between St. Petersburg and 
 Konigsberg, on the route which Alexis would 
 have to take in going to Copenhagen. Alexis 
 communicated with Kikin in writing, and Ki- 
 kin arranged and directed all the details of the 
 plan. He kept purposely at a distance from 
 Alexis, to avoid suspicion. 
 
 At length, when all was ready, Alexis set 
 out from St. Petersburg, taking with him Afro- 
 sinia and several other attendants, and journey- 
 ed to Libau. There he met Kikin, and each 
 congratulated the other warmly on the success 
 which had thus far attended their operations. 
 
 Alexis asked Kikin what place he had pro- 
 vided for him, and Kikin replied that he had 
 made arrangements for him to go to Vienna. 
 He had been to Vienna himself, he said, under 
 pretense of public business committed to his 
 charge by the Czar, and had seen and conferred 
 with the Emperor of Germany there, and the 
 emperor agreed to receive and protect him, and 
 not to deliver him up to his father until some 
 permanent and satisfactory arrangement should 
 have been made. 
 
308 Peter the Great. [1717. 
 
 Plan3 matured. Kikin' s cunning contrivances. 
 
 " So you must go on," continued Kikin, "to 
 Konigsberg and Dantzic ; and then, instead of 
 going forward toward Copenhagen, you will 
 turn off on the road to Vienna, and when you 
 get there the emperor will provide a safe place 
 of retreat for you. When you arrive there, if 
 your father should find out where you are, and 
 send some one to try to persuade you to return 
 home, you must not, on any account, listen to 
 him ; for, as certain as your father gets you 
 again in his power, after your leaving the coun- 
 try in this way, he will have you beheaded." 
 
 Kikin contrived a number of very cunning 
 devices for averting suspicion from himself and 
 those really concerned in the plot, and throw- 
 ing it upon innocent persons. Among other 
 things, he induced Alexis to write several let- 
 ters to different individuals in St. Petersburg — 
 Prince Menzikoff among the rest — thanking 
 them for the advice and assistance that they 
 had rendered him in setting out upon his jour- 
 ney, which advice and assistance was given 
 honestly, on the supposition that he was really 
 going to his father at Copenhagen. The let- 
 ters of thanks, however, which Kikin dictated 
 were written in an ambiguous and mysterious 
 manner, being adroitly contrived to awaken 
 suspicion in Peter's mind, if he were to see 
 
1717.] The Flight of Alexis. 309 
 
 False letters. Kikin and Alexis concert their plan?. 
 
 them, that these persons were in the secret of 
 Alexis's plans, and really intended to assist him 
 in his escape. When the letters were written 
 Alexis delivered them to Kikin, who at some 
 future time, in case of necessity, was to show 
 them to Peter, and pretend that he had inter- 
 cepted them. Thus he expected to avert sus- 
 picion from himself, and throw it upon inno- 
 cent persons. 
 
 Kikin also helped Alexis about writing a 
 letter to his father from Libau, saying to him 
 that he left St. Petersburg, and had come so far 
 on his way toward Copenhagen. This letter 
 was, however, not dated at Libau, where Alexis 
 then was, but at Konigsberg, which was some 
 distance farther on, and it was sent forward to 
 be transmitted from that place. 
 
 When Alexis had thus arranged every thing 
 with Kikin, he prepared to set out on his jour- 
 ney again. He was to go on first to Konigs- 
 berg, then to Dantzic, and there, instead of em- 
 barking on board a ship to go to Copenhagen, 
 according to his father's plan, he was to turn off 
 toward Vienna. It was at that point, accord- 
 ingly, that his actual rebellion against his fa- 
 ther's commands would begin. He had some 
 misgivings about being able to reach that point. 
 He asked Kikin what he should do in case his 
 
310 Peter the G-reat. [1717. 
 
 Possibility of being intercepted. More prevarications. 
 
 father should have sent somebody to meet him 
 at Konigsberg or Dantzic. 
 
 "Why, you must join them in the first in- 
 stance," said Kikin, " and pretend to be much 
 pleased to meet them ; and then you must con- 
 trive to make your escape from them in the 
 night, either entirely alone, or only with one 
 servant. You must abandon your baggage and 
 every thing else. 
 
 "Or, if you can not manage to do this," con- 
 tinued Kikin, "you must pretend to be sick; 
 and if there are two persons sent *to meet you, 
 you can send one of them on before, with your 
 baggage and attendants, promising yourself to 
 come on quietly afterward with the other ; and 
 then you can contrive to bribe the other, or in 
 some other way induce him to escape with you, 
 and so go to Vienna." 
 
 Alexis did not have occasion to resort to ei- 
 ther of these expedients, for nobody was sent 
 to meet him. He journeyed on without any 
 interruption till he came to Konigsberg, which 
 was the place where the road turned off to Vi- 
 enna. It was now necessary to say something 
 to Afrosinia and his other attendants to account 
 for the new direction which his journey was to 
 take ; so he told them that he had received a 
 letter from his father, ordering him, before pro- 
 
1717.] The Flight of Alexis. 311 
 
 Arrival at Vienna. The Czar sends for Alexis. 
 
 * 
 
 ceeding to Copenhagen, to go to Vienna on 
 some public business which was to be done 
 there. Accordingly, when he turned off, they 
 accompanied him without any apparent suspi- 
 cion. 
 
 Alexis proceeded in this way to Vienna, and 
 there he appealed to the emperor for protec- 
 tion. The emperor received him, listened to 
 the complaints which he made against the Czar 
 — for Alexis, as might have been expected, cast 
 all the blame of the quarrel upon his father — 
 and, after entertaining him for a while in dif- 
 ferent places, he provided him at last with a 
 secret retreat in a fortress in the Tyrol. 
 
 Here Alexis concealed himself, and it was a 
 long time before his father could ascertain what 
 had become of him. At length the Czar learn- 
 ed that he was in the emperor's dominions, and 
 he wrote with his own hand a very urgent let- 
 ter to the emperor, representing the misconduct 
 of Alexis in its true light, and demanding that 
 he should not harbor such an undutiful and re- 
 bellious son, but should send him home. He 
 sent two envoys to act as the bearers of this let= 
 ter, and to bring Alexis back to his father in 
 case the emperor should conclude to surrender 
 him. 
 
 The emperor communicated the contents of 
 
312 Peter the Great. [1717. 
 
 Interview with the envoys. Threats of Alexis. 
 
 - — w - . , 
 
 this letter to Alexis, but Alexis begged him 
 not to comply with his father's demand. He 
 said that the difficulty was owing altogether 
 to his father's harshness and cruelty, and that, 
 if he were to be sent back, he should be in 
 danger of his life from his father's violence. 
 
 After long negotiations and delays, the em- 
 peror allowed the envoys to go and visit Alex- 
 is in the place of his retreat, with a view of see- 
 ing whether they could not prevail upon him 
 to return home with them. The envoys car- 
 ried a letter to Alexis which his father had 
 written with his own hand, representing to him, 
 in strong terms, the impropriety and wicked- 
 ness of his conduct, and the enormity of the 
 crime which he had committed against his fa- 
 ther by his open rebellion against his authority, 
 and denouncing against him, if he persisted in 
 his wicked course, the judgment of God, who 
 had threatened in his Word to punish disobedi- 
 ent children with eternal death. 
 
 But all these appeals had no effect upon the 
 stubborn will of Alexis. He declared to the 
 envoys that he would not return with them ; 
 and he said, moreover, that the emperor had 
 promised to protect him, and that, if his father 
 continued to persecute him in this way, he 
 would resist by force, and, with the aid which 
 
1717.] The Flight of Alexis. 313 
 
 He returns to Naples. St. Elmo. Long negotiations. 
 
 the emperor would render him, he would make 
 war upon his father, depose him from his 
 power, and raise himself to the throne in his 
 stead. 
 
 After this there followed a long period of 
 negotiation and delay, during which many 
 events occurred which it would be interesting 
 to relate if time and space permitted. Alexis 
 was transferred from one place to another, with 
 a view of eluding any attempt which his father 
 might make to get possession of him again, 
 either by violence or stratagem, and at length 
 was conveyed to Naples, in Italy, and was con- 
 cealed in the castle of St. Elmo there. 
 
 In the mean time Peter grew more and more 
 urgent in his demands upon the emperor to de- 
 liver up his son, and the emperor at last, find- 
 ing that the quarrel was really becoming seri- 
 ous, and being convinced, moreover, by the 
 representations which Peter caused to be made 
 to him, that Alexis had been much more to 
 blame than he had supposed, seemed disposed 
 to change his ground, and began now to ad- 
 vise Alexis to return home. Alexis was quite 
 alarmed when he found that, after all, he was 
 not to be supported in his rebellion by the em- 
 peror, and at length, after a great many ne- 
 gotiations, difficulties, and delays, he determ- 
 
814 Peter the Great. [1717. 
 
 Alexia resolves at last to return. His letter to his father. 
 
 ined to make a virtue of necessity and to go 
 home. His father had written him repeated 
 letters, promising him a free pardon if he would 
 return, and threatening him in the most severe 
 and decided manner if he did not. To the last 
 of these letters, when Alexis had finally re- 
 solved to go back, he wrote the following very 
 meek and submissive reply. It was written 
 from Naples in October, 1717 : 
 
 u My clement Lord and Father, — 
 "I have received your majesty's most gra- 
 cious letter by Messrs. Tolstoi and Kumanrow,* 
 in which, as also by word of mouth, I am most 
 graciously assured of pardon for having fled 
 without your permission in case I return. I 
 give you most hearty thanks with tears in my 
 eyes, and own myself unworthy of all favor. I 
 throw myself at your feet, and implore your 
 clemency, and beseech you to pardon my 
 crimes, for which I acknowledge that I deserve 
 the severest punishment. But I rely on your 
 gracious assurances, and, submitting to your 
 pleasure, shall set out immediately from Naples 
 to attend your majesty at Petersburg with those 
 whom your majesty has sent. 
 
 * These were the envoys, officers of high rank in the 
 government, whom Peter had sent to bring Alexis back. 
 
1717.] The Flight of Alexis. 315 
 
 Alexis delivers himself up. 
 
 " Your most humble and unworthy servant, 
 who deserves not to be called your son, 
 
 "Alexis." 
 
 After having written and dispatched this let- 
 ter, Alexis surrendered himself to Tolstoi and 
 Kumanrow, and in their charge set out on his 
 return to Eussia, there to be delivered into his 
 father's hands ; for Peter was now in Eussia, 
 having returned there as soon as he heard of 
 Alexis's flight. 
 
316 Peter the Great. [1717. 
 
 His father's manifesto on his return. 
 
 Chapter XYII. 
 The Trial. 
 
 AS soon as Alexis arrived in the country, 
 his father issued a manifesto, in which he 
 gave a long and full account of his son's misde- 
 meanors and crimes, and of the patient and per- 
 severing, but fruitless efforts which he himself 
 had made to reclaim him, and announced his 
 determination to cut him off from the succes- 
 sion to the erown as wholly and hopelessly ir- 
 reclaimable. This manifesto was one of the 
 most remarkable documents that history re- 
 cords. It concluded with deposing Alexis from 
 all his rights as son and heir to his father, and 
 appointing his younger brother Peter, the little 
 son of Catharine, as inheritor in his stead ; and 
 finally laying the paternal curse upon Alexis 
 if he ever thereafter pretended to, or in any 
 way claimed the succession of which he had 
 been deprived. 
 
 This manifesto was issued as soon as Peter 
 learned that Alexis had arrived in the country 
 under the charge of the officers who had been 
 
1718.] The Trial, 317 
 
 Interview between Alexis and his father. An-e • of the Czar. 
 
 appointed to bring him, and before the Czar 
 had seen him. Alexis continued his journey 
 to Moscow, where the Czar then was. When 
 he arrived he went that same night to the pal- 
 ace, and there had a long conference with his 
 father. He was greatly alarmed and overawed 
 by the anger which his father expressed, and 
 he endeavored very earnestly, by expressions 
 of penitence and promises of amendment, to ap- 
 pease him. But it was now too late. The ire 
 of the Czar was thoroughly aroused, and he 
 could not be appeased. He declared that he 
 was fully resolved on deposing his son, as he 
 had announced in his manifesto, and that the 
 necessary steps for making the act of deposition 
 in a formal and solemn manner, so as to give it 
 full legal validity as a measure of state, would 
 be taken on the following day. 
 
 It must be confessed that the agitation and 
 anger which Peter now manifested were not 
 wholly- without excuse, for the course which 
 Alexis had pursued had been the means of ex-, 
 posing his father to a great and terrible danger 
 — to that, namely, of a rebellion among his sub- 
 jects. Peter did not even know but that such 
 a rebellion was already planned and was ripe 
 for execution, and that it might not break out 
 at any time, notwithstanding his having sue- 
 
318 Peter the Great. [1718. 
 
 Substantial cause for Peter's excitement. Grand councils convened. 
 
 ceeded in recovering possession of the person 
 of Alexis, and in bringing him home. Of such 
 a rebellion, if one had been planned, the name 
 of Alexis would have been, of course, the watch- 
 word and rallying-point, and Peter had a great 
 deal of ground for apprehension that such a 
 one had been extensively organized and was 
 ready to be carried into effect. He immediate- 
 ly set himself at work to ferret out the whole 
 affair, resolving, however, in the first place, to 
 disable Alexis himself from doing any farther 
 mischief by destroying finally and forever all 
 claims on his part to the inheritance of the 
 crown. 
 
 Accordingly, on the following morning, be- 
 fore daybreak, the garrison of the city were put 
 under arms, and a regiment of the Guards was 
 posted around the palace, so as to secure all the 
 gates and avenues ; and orders were sent, at the 
 same time, to the principal ministers, nobles, 
 and counselors of state, to repair to the great 
 hall in the castle, and to the bishops and cler- 
 gy to assemble in the Cathedral. Every body 
 knew that the occasion on which they were 
 convened was that they might witness the dis- 
 inheriting of the prince imperial by his father, 
 in consequence of his vices and crimes ; and in 
 coming together in obedience to the summons, 
 
1718.] The Trial. 319 
 
 Scene in the hall. Conditional promise of pardon. 
 
 the minds of all men were filled with solemn 
 awe, like those of men assembling to witness 
 an execution. 
 
 When the appointed hour arrived the great 
 bell was tolled, and Alexis was brought into 
 the hall of the castle, where the nobles were as- 
 sembled, bound as a prisoner, and deprived of 
 his sword. The Czar himself stood at the up- 
 per end of the hall, surrounded by the chief 
 officers of state. Alexis was brought before 
 him. As he approached he presented a writ- 
 ing to his father, and then fell down on his 
 knees before him, apparently overwhelmed with 
 grief and shame. 
 
 The Czar handed the paper to one of his offi- 
 cers who stood near, and then asked Alexis 
 what it was that he desired. Alexis, in reply, 
 begged that his father would have mercy upon 
 him and spare his life. The Czar said that he 
 would spare his life, and forgive him for all his 
 treasonable and rebellious acts, on condition 
 that he would make a full and complete con- 
 fession, without any restriction or reserve, of 
 every thing connected with his late escape from 
 the country, explaining fully all the details of 
 the plan which he had formed, and reveal the 
 names of all his advisers and accomplices. But 
 if his confession was not full and complete — if 
 
320 Peter the Great. [1718. 
 
 Alexis humbled. Secret conference. 
 
 he suppressed or concealed any thing, or the 
 name of any person concerned in the affair or 
 privy to it, then this promise of pardon should 
 be null and void. 
 
 The Czar also said that Alexis must renounce 
 the succession to the crown, and must confirm 
 the renunciation by a solemn oath, and ac- 
 knowledge it by signing a declaration, in writ- 
 ing, to that effect with his own hand. To all 
 this, Alexis, who seemed overwhelmed with 
 contrition and anguish, solemnly agreed, and 
 declared that he was ready to make a full and 
 complete confession. 
 
 The Czar then asked his son who it was that 
 advised him and aided him in his late escape 
 from the kingdom. Alexis seemed unwilling 
 to reply to this question in the midst of such 
 an assemblage, but said something to his father 
 in a low voice, which the others could not hear. 
 In consequence of what he thus said his father 
 took him into an adjoining room, and there con- 
 versed with him in private for a few minutes, 
 and then both returned together into the public 
 hall. It is supposed that while they were thus 
 apart Alexis gave his father the names of some 
 of those who had aided and abetted him in his 
 absconding, for immediately afterward three 
 couriers were dispatched in three different di- 
 
1718.] The Trial. 321 
 
 Alexis disinherited. The new heir. 
 
 rections, as if with orders to arrest trie persons 
 who were thus accused. 
 
 As soon as Alexis and his father had return- 
 ed into the hall, the document was produced 
 which the prince was to sign, renouncing the 
 succession to the crown. The signature and 
 seal of Alexis were affixed to this document 
 with all due formality. Then a declaration 
 was made on the part of the Czar, stating the 
 reasons which had induced his majesty to de- 
 pose his eldest son from the succession, and to 
 appoint his younger son, Peter, in his place. 
 This being done, all the officers present were 
 required to make a solemn oath on the Gospels, 
 and to sign a written declaration, of which sev- 
 eral copies had previously been prepared, im- 
 porting that the Czar, having excluded from the 
 crown his son Alexis, and appointed his son 
 Peter his successor in his stead, they owned the 
 legality and binding force of the decree, ac- 
 knowledged Peter as the true and rightful heir, 
 and bound themselves to stand by him with 
 their lives against any or all who should oppose 
 him, and declared that they never would, under 
 any pretense whatsoever, adhere to Alexis, or 
 assist him in recovering the succession. 
 
 The whole company then repaired to the 
 Cathedral, where the bishops and other eccle- 
 'X 
 
322 Peter the Great. [1718. 
 
 Oaths administered. Alexis imprisoned. Investigation commenced. 
 
 siastics were assembled, and there the whole 
 body of the clergy solemnly took the same oath 
 and subscribed the same declaration. The same 
 oath was also afterward administered to all the 
 officers pf the army, governors of the provinces, 
 and other public functionaries throughout the 
 empire. 
 
 When these ceremonies at the palace and at 
 the Cathedral were concluded, the company dis- 
 persed. Alexis was placed in confinement in 
 one of the palaces in Moscow, and none were 
 allowed to have access to him except those 
 whom the Czar appointed to keep him in 
 charge. 
 
 Immediately after this the necessary pro- 
 ceedings for a full investigation of the whole 
 affair were commenced in a formal and solemn 
 manner. A series of questions were drawn up 
 and given to Alexis, that he might make out 
 deliberate answers to them in writing. Grand 
 courts of investigation and inquiry were con- 
 vened in Moscow, the great dignitaries both of 
 Church and state being summoned from all 
 parts of the empire to attend them. These 
 persons came to the capital in great state, and, 
 in going to and fro to attend at the halls of 
 judgment from day to day, they moved through 
 the streets with such a degree of pomp and pa- 
 
1718.] The Tkial. 323 
 
 Prisoners. The torture. Arrest of Kikin. 
 
 rade as to attract great crowds of spectators. 
 As fast as the names were discovered of per- 
 sons who were implicated in Alexis's escape, or 
 who were suspected of complicity in it, officers 
 were dispatched to arrest them. Some were 
 taken from their beds at midnight, without a 
 moment's warning, and shut up in dungeons in 
 a great fortress at Moscow. When questioned, 
 if they seemed inclined to return evasive an- 
 swers, or to withhold any information of which 
 the judges thought they were possessed, they 
 were taken into the torturing-room and put to 
 the torture. 
 
 One of the first who was arrested was Alex- 
 ander Kikin, who had been Alexis's chief con- 
 fidant and adviser in all his proceedings. Ki- 
 kin had taken extreme precautions to guard 
 against having his agency in the affair found 
 out; but Alexis, in the answers that he gave 
 to the first series of questions that were put to 
 him, betrayed him. Kikin was aware of the 
 danger, and, in order to secure for himself some 
 chance of escape in case Alexis should make 
 disclosures implicating him, had bribed a page, 
 who was always in close attendance upon the 
 Czar, to let him know immediately in case of 
 any movement to arrest him. 
 
 The name of this page was Baklanoffsky. 
 
324 Peter the Great. [1718. 
 
 The page. He fails to warn Kikin in time. 
 
 He was in the apartment at the time that the 
 Czar was writing the order for Kikin's arrest, 
 standing, as was his wont, behind the chair of 
 the Czar, so as to be ready at hand to convey 
 messages or to wait upon his master. He look- 
 ed over, and saw the order which the Czar was 
 writing. He immediately contrived some ex- 
 cuse to leave the apartment, and hurrying away, 
 he went to the post-house and sent off an ex- 
 press by post to Kikin at Petersburg to warn 
 him of the danger. 
 
 But the Czar, noticing his absence, sent some 
 one off after him, and thus his errand at the 
 post-house was discovered, but not until after 
 the express had gone. Another express was 
 immediately sent off with the order for Kikin's 
 arrest, and both the couriers arrived in Peters- 
 burg very nearly at the same time. The one, 
 however, who brought the warning was a little 
 too late. When he arrived the House of the 
 commissioner was surrounded by a guard of 
 fifty grenadiers, and officers were then in Ki- 
 kin's apartment taking him out of his bed. 
 They put him at once in irons and took him 
 away, scarcely allowing him time to bid his 
 wife farewell. 
 
 The page was, of course, arrested and sent to 
 prison too. A number of other persons, many 
 
1718.] The Teial. 325 
 
 Condemnation of prisoners. Executions. 
 
 of whom were of very high rank, were arrest- 
 ed in a similar manner. 
 
 The arrival of Alexis at Moscow took place 
 early in February, and nearly all of February 
 and March were occupied with these arrests and 
 the proceedings of the court in trying the pris- 
 oners. At length, toward the end of March, 
 a considerable number, Kikin himself being 
 among them, were condemned to death, and 
 executed in the most dreadful manner in a 
 great public square in the centre of Moscow. 
 One was impaled alive ; that is, a great stake 
 was driven through his body into the ground, 
 and he was left in that situation to die. Others 
 were broken on the wheel. One, a bishop, was 
 burnt. The heads of the principal offenders 
 were afterward cut off and set up on poles at 
 the four corners of a square inclosure made for 
 the purpose, the impaled body lying in the 
 middle. 
 
 The page who had been bribed by Kikin 
 was not put to death. His life was spared, 
 perhaps on account of his youth, but he was 
 very severely punished by scourging. 
 
 During all this time Alexis continued to 
 be confined to his prison, and he was subject- 
 ed to repeated examinations and cross-exam- 
 inations, in ordes to draw from him not only 
 
826 Petee the Great. [1718. 
 
 Dishonest confessions of Alexis. His excesses. 
 
 the whole truth in respect to his own mo- 
 tives and designs in his flight, but also such 
 information as might lead to the full develop- 
 ment of the plans and designs of the party in 
 Kussia who were opposed to the government 
 of Peter, and who had designed to make use of 
 the name and position of Alexis for the ac- 
 complishment of their schemes. Alexis had 
 promised to make a full and complete confes- 
 sion, but he did not do so. In the answers to 
 the series of questions which were first ad- 
 dressed to him, he confessed as much as he 
 thought was already known, and endeavored 
 to conceal the rest. In a short time, however, 
 many things that he had at first denied or 
 evaded were fully proved by other testimony 
 taken in the trial of the prisoners who have 
 already been referred to. Then Alexis was 
 charged with the omissions or evasions in his 
 confession which had thus been made to ap- 
 pear, and asked for an explanation, and there- 
 upon he made new confessions, acknowledging 
 the newly-discovered facts, and excusing him- 
 self for not having mentioned them before by 
 saying that he had forgotten them, or else that 
 he was afraid to divulge them for fear of injur- 
 ing the persons that would be implicated by 
 them. Thus he went on contradicting and in- 
 
1718.] The Teial. 327 
 
 Result of the examinations. Proofs against Alexis. 
 
 volving himself more and more by every fresh, 
 confession, until, at last, his father, and all the 
 judges who had convened to investigate the 
 case, ceased to place any confidence in any 
 thing that he said, and lost almost all sympathy 
 for him in his distress. 
 
 The examination was protracted through 
 many months. The result of it, on the whole, 
 was, that it was fully proved that there was a 
 powerful party in Eussia opposed to the re- 
 forms and improvements of the Czar, and par- 
 ticularly to the introduction of the European 
 civilization into the country, who were desir- 
 ous of effecting a revolution, and who wished to 
 avail themselves of the quarrel between Alexis 
 and his father to promote their schemes. Alex- 
 is was too much stupefied by his continual 
 drunkenness to take any very active or intel- 
 ligent part in these schemes, but he was more 
 or less distinctly aware of them ; and in the of- 
 fers which he had made to enter a monastery 
 and renounce all claims to the crown he had 
 been utterly insincere, his only object having 
 been to blind his father by means of them and 
 gain time. He acknowledged that he had hated 
 his father, and had wished for his death, and 
 when he fled to Vienna it was his intention 
 to remain until he could return and take pos- 
 
328 Peter the Great. [1718. 
 
 An admission. Testimony of Afrosinia. 
 
 session of the empire in his father's place. He, 
 however, solemnly declared that it was never 
 his intention to take any steps himself toward 
 that end during his father's lifetime, though he 
 admitted, at last, when the fact had been pretty 
 well proved against him by other evidence, 
 that, in case an insurrection in his behalf had 
 broken out in Eussia, and he had been called 
 upon, he should have joined the rebels. 
 
 A great deal of information, throwing light 
 upon the plans of Alexis and of the conspira- 
 tors in Eussia connected with him, was obtain- 
 ed from the disclosures made by Afrosinia, As 
 has already been stated, she had been taken by 
 Alexis as a slave, and forced, against her will, 
 to join herself to him and to follow his fortunes. 
 He had never admitted her into his confidence, 
 but had induced her, from time to time, to act 
 as he desired by telling her any falsehood which 
 would serve the purpose. She consequently 
 was not bound to him by any ties of honor or 
 affection, and felt herself at liberty to answer 
 freely all questions which were put to her by 
 the judges. Her testimony was of great value 
 in many points, and contributed very essentially 
 toward elucidating the whole affair. 
 
1718.] Death of Alexis. 329 
 
 Condition of Alexis. The two tribunals. 
 
 Chapter XVIII. 
 
 The Condemnation and Death of 
 Alexis. 
 
 THE examinations and investigations de- 
 scribed in the last chapter were protracted 
 through a period of several months. They 
 were commenced in February, and were not 
 concluded until June. During all this time 
 Alexis had been kept in close confinement, ex- 
 cept when he had been brought out before his 
 judges for, the various examinations and cross- 
 examinations to which he had been subjected ; 
 and as the truth in respect to his designs be- 
 came more and more fully developed, and the 
 danger in respect to the result increased, he 
 sank gradually into a state of distress and ter- 
 ror almost impossible to be conceived. 
 
 The tribunals before whom he was tried were 
 not the regular judicial tribunals of the coun- 
 try. They were, on the other hand, two grand 
 convocations of all the greaf official dignitaries 
 of the Church and of the state, that were sum- 
 moned expressly for this purpose — not to decide 
 
SCO 
 
 Peter the Great. [1718. 
 
 Their powers. 
 
 The Czar calls for a decision. 
 
 the case, for, according to the ancient customs 
 of the Eussian empire, that was the sole and 
 exclusive province of the Czar, but to aid him 
 in investigating it, and then, if called -upon, to 
 give him their counsel in respect to the decision 
 of it. One of these assemblies consisted of the 
 ecclesiastical authorities, the archbishops, the 
 bishops, and other dignitaries of the Church. 
 The other was composed of nobles, ministers of 
 state, officers of the army and navy in high 
 command, and other great civil and military 
 functionaries. These two assemblies met and 
 deliberated in separate halls, and pursued their 
 investigations in respeGt to the several persons 
 implicated in the affair, as they were success- 
 ively brought before them, under the direction 
 of the Czar, though the final disposal of each 
 case rested, it was well understood, with him 
 alone. 
 
 At length, in the month of June, when all 
 the other cases had been disposed of, and the 
 proof in respect to Alexis was considered com- 
 plete, the Czar sent in a formal address to each 
 of these conventions, asking their opinion and 
 advice in respect to what he ought to do with 
 his son. 
 
 In his address to the archbishops and bish- 
 ops, he stated that, although he was well aware 
 
1718.] Death of Alexis. 331 
 
 His addresses to the two councils. 
 
 that he had himself absolute power to judge 
 his sou for his crimes, and to dispose of him ac- 
 cording to his own will and pleasure, without 
 asking advice of any one, still, "as men were 
 sometimes less discerning," he said, "in their 
 own affairs than in those of others, so that even 
 the most skillful physicians do not run the 
 hazard of prescribing for themselves, but call 
 in the assistance of others when they are indis- 
 posed," in the same manner he, having the fear 
 of Grod before his eyes, and being afraid to of- 
 fend him, had decided to bring the question at 
 issue between himself and his son before them, 
 that they might examine the' Word of God in 
 relation to it, and give their opinion, in writing, 
 what the will of Grod in such a case might be. 
 He wished also, he said, that the opinion to 
 which they should come should be signed by 
 each one of them individually, with his own 
 hand. 
 
 He made a similar statement in his address 
 to the grand council of civil authorities, calling 
 upon them also to give their opinion in respect 
 to what should be done with Alexis. " I beg 
 of you," he said, in the conclusion of his ad- 
 dress, " to consider of the affair, to examine it 
 seriously and with attention, and see what it is 
 that our son has deserved, without nattering 
 
332 Peter the Great. [1718. 
 
 Deliberations of the clergy. 
 
 me, or apprehending that, if in your judgment 
 he deserves no more than slight punishment, it 
 will be disagreeable to me ; for I swear to you, 
 by the Great God and by his judgments, that 
 you have nothing to fear from me on this ac- 
 count. 
 
 " Neither are you to allow the consideration 
 that it is the son of your sovereign that you 
 are to pass judgment upon to have any effect 
 upon you. But do justice without respect of 
 persons, so that your conscience and mine may 
 not reproach us at the great day of judgment." 
 
 The convocation of clergy, in deliberating 
 upon the answer which they were to make to 
 the Czar, deemed it advisable to proceed with 
 great caution. They were not quite willing to 
 recommend directly and openly that Alexis 
 should be put to death, while, at the same time, 
 they wished to give the sanction of their ap- 
 proval for any measures of severity which the 
 Czar might be inclined to take. So they for- 
 bore to express any positive opinion of their 
 own, but contented themselves with looking 
 out in the Scriptures, both in the Old and New 
 Testament, the terrible denunciations which are 
 therein contained against disobedient and re- 
 bellious children, and the accounts of fearful 
 punishments which were inflicted upon them 
 
1718.] Death of Alexis. 333 
 
 Their answer. Their quotations from Scripture. 
 
 in Jewish history. They began their statement 
 by formally acknowledging that Peter himself 
 had absolute power to dispose of the case of 
 his son according to his own sovereign will and 
 pleasure ; that they had no jurisdiction in the 
 case, and could not presume to pronounce judg- 
 ment, or say any thing which could in any way 
 restrain or limit the Czar in doing what he 
 judged best. But nevertheless, as the Czar had 
 graciously asked them for their counsel as a 
 means of instructing his own mind previously 
 to coming to a decision, they would proceed to 
 quote from the Holy Scriptures such passages as 
 might be considered to bear upon the subject, 
 and to indicate the will of God in respect to the 
 action of a sovereign and father in such a case. 
 They then proceeded to quote the texts and 
 passages of Scripture. Some of these texts were 
 denunciations of rebellious and disobedient chil- 
 dren, such as, u The eye that mocketh his fa- 
 ther and that despiseth to obey his mother, the 
 ravens of the valley shall pluck it out ;" and 
 the Jewish law providing that, " If a man have 
 a stubborn and rebellious son, who will not 
 obey the voice of his father nor the voice of his 
 mother, and that, when they have chastened 
 him, will not hearken unto them, then shall his 
 father and mother lay hold of him, and bring 
 
334 Peter the Great. [1718. 
 
 Cautious language used by the bishops. 
 
 him out unto the elders of his city, and unto 
 the gate of his place, and shall say unto the 
 elders of his city, This our son is rebellious : 
 he will not obey our voice ; he is a glutton and 
 a drunkard. And all the men of his city shall 
 stone him with stones that he die." 
 
 There were other passages quoted relating to 
 actual cases which occurred in the Jewish his- 
 tory of sons being punished with death for 
 crimes committed against their parents, such as 
 that of Absalom, and others. 
 
 The bearing and tendency of all these ex- 
 tracts from the Scriptures was to justify the se- 
 verest possible treatment of the unhappy crim- 
 inal. The bishops added, however, at the close 
 of their communication, that they had made 
 these extracts in obedience to the command of 
 their sovereign, not by way of pronouncing 
 sentence, or making a decree, or in any other 
 way giving any authoritative decision on the 
 question at issue, but only to furnish to the 
 Czar himself such spiritual guidance and in- 
 struction in the case as the word of God afford- 
 ed. It would be very far from their duty, they 
 said, to condemn any one to death, for Jesus 
 Christ had taught his ministers not to be gov- 
 erned by a spirit of anger, but by a spirit of 
 meekness. They had no power to condemn 
 
1718.] Death of Alexis. 335 
 
 They suggest clemency and mercy. 
 
 any one to death, or to seek his blood. That, 
 when necessary, was the province of the civil 
 power. Theirs was to bring men to repentance 
 of their sins, and to offer them forgiveness of 
 the same through Jesus Christ their Savior. 
 
 They therefore, in submitting their commu- 
 nication to his imperial majesty, did it only 
 that he might do what seemed right in his own 
 eyes. "If he concludes to punish his fallen 
 son," they said, "according to his deeds, and in 
 a manner proportionate to the enormity of his 
 crimes, he has before him the declarations and 
 examples which we have herein drawn from 
 the Scriptures of the Old Testament. If, on 
 the other hand, he is inclined to mercy, he has 
 the example of Jesus Christ, who represented 
 the prodigal son as received and forgiven when 
 he returned and repented, who dismissed the 
 woman taken in adultery, when by the law she 
 deserved to be stoned, and who said that he 
 would have mercy and not sacrifice." 
 
 The document concluded by the words, 
 
 " The heart of the Czar is in the hand of God, 
 and may he choose the part to which the hand 
 of God shall turn it." 
 
 As for the other assembly, the one composed 
 of the nobles and senators, and other great civil 
 and military functionaries, before rendering 
 
836 Peter the Great. [1718. 
 
 Additional confessions made by Alexis. The priest. 
 
 their judgment they caused Alexis to be 
 brought before them again, in order to call for 
 additional explanations, and to see if he still 
 adhered to the confessions that he had made. 
 At these audiences Alexis confirmed what he 
 had before said, and acknowledged more freely 
 than he had done before the treasonable inten- 
 tions of which he had been guilty. His spirit 
 seems by this time to have been completely 
 broken, and he appeared to have thought that 
 the only hope for him of escape from death was 
 in the most humble and abject confessions and 
 earnest supplications for pardon. In these his 
 last confessions, too, he implicated some persons 
 who had not before been accused. One was a 
 certain priest named James. Alexis said that, 
 at one time he was confessing to this priest, 
 and, among other sins which he mentioned, he 
 said " that he wished for the death of his father." 
 The priest's reply to this was, as Alexis said, 
 " God will pardon you for that, my son, for we 
 all," meaning the priests, " wish it too." The 
 priest was immediately arrested, but, on being 
 questioned, he denied having made any such 
 reply. The inquisitors then put him to the tor- 
 ture, and there forced from him the admission 
 that he had spoken those words. Whether he 
 had really spoken them, or only admitted it to 
 
1718.] Death of Alexis. 337 
 
 Tolstoi sent to Alexis. 
 
 put an end to the torture, it is impossible to 
 say. 
 
 They asked him for the names of the persons 
 whom he had heard express a desire that the 
 Czar should die, but he said he could not recol- 
 lect, He had heard it from several persons, 
 but he could not remember who they were. 
 He said that Alexis was a great favorite among 
 the people, and that they sometimes used to 
 drink his health under the designation of the 
 Hope of Kussia. 
 
 The Czar himself also obtained a final and 
 general acknowledgment of guilt from his son, 
 which he sent in to the senate on the day be- 
 fore their judgment was to be rendered. He 
 obtained this confession by sending Tolstoi, an 
 officer of the highest rank in his court, and the 
 person who had been the chief medium of the 
 intercourse and of the communications which 
 he had held with his son during the whole 
 course of the affair, with the following written 
 instructions : 
 
 " To M. Tolstoi, Privy Counselor : 
 
 " Go to my son this afternoon, and put down 
 in writing the answers he shall give to the fol- 
 lowing questions : 
 
838 Peter the Great. [1718. 
 
 The Czar's three final questions. Alexis's three answers. 
 
 " I. What is the reason why he has always 
 been so disobedient to me, and has refused to 
 do what I required of him, pr to apply himself 
 to any useful business, notwithstanding all the 
 guilt and shame which he has incurred by so 
 strange and unusual a course ? 
 
 "II. Why is it that he has been so little 
 afraid of me, and has not apprehended the con- 
 sequences that must inevitably follow from his 
 disobedience ? 
 
 " III. What induced him to desire to secure 
 possession of the crown otherwise than by obe- 
 dience to me, and following me in the natural 
 order of succession ? And examine him upon 
 every thing else that bears any relation to this 
 affair." 
 
 Tolstoi went to Alexis in the prison, and read 
 these questions to him. Alexis wrote out the 
 following statement in reply to them, which 
 Tolstoi carried to the Czar : 
 
 " I. Although I was well aware that to be dis- 
 obedient as I was to my father, and refuse to 
 do what please him, was a very strange and 
 unusual course, and both a sin and a shame, 
 yet I was led into it, in the first instance, in 
 consequence of having been brought up from 
 
1718.] Death of Alexis. 339 
 
 His account of the manner in which he had been educated. 
 
 my infancy with a governess and her maids, 
 from whom I learned nothing but amusements, 
 and diversions, and bigotry, to which I had 
 naturally an inclination. 
 
 "The person to whom I was intrusted after I 
 was removed from my governess gave me no 
 better instructions. 
 
 " My father, afterward being anxious about 
 my education, and desirous that I should ap- 
 ply myself to what became the son of the Czar, 
 ordered me to learn the German language and 
 other sciences, which I was very averse to. I 
 applied myself to them in a very negligent 
 manner, and only pretended to study at all in 
 order to gain time, and without having any in- 
 clination to learn any thing. 
 
 "And as my father, who was then frequently 
 with the army, was absent from me a great 
 deal, he ordered his serene highness, the Prince 
 MenzikofT, to have an eye upon me. While 
 he was with me I was obliged to apply myself, 
 but, as soon as I was out of his sight, the per- 
 sons with whom I was left, observing that I 
 was only bent on bigotry and idleness, on keep- 
 ing company with priests and monks, and drink- 
 ing with them, they not only encouraged me to 
 neglect my business, but took pleasure in doing 
 as I did. As these persons had been about me 
 
310 Peter the Great. [1718. 
 
 His feelings toward his father. 
 
 from my infancy, I was accustomed to observe 
 their directions, to fear them, and to comply 
 with their wishes in every thing, and thus, by 
 degrees, they alienated my affections from my 
 father by diverting me with pleasures of this 
 nature ; so that, by little and little, I came to 
 have not only the military affairs and other ac- 
 tions of my father in horror, but also his per- 
 son itself, which made me always wish to be at 
 a distance from him. Alexander Kikin espe- 
 cially, when he was with me, took a great deal 
 of pains to confirm me in this way of life. 
 
 "My father, having compassion on me, and 
 desiring still to make me worthy of the state to 
 which I was called, sent me into foreign coun- 
 tries; but, as I was already grown to man's 
 estate, I made no alteration in my way of living. 
 
 "It is true, indeed, that my travels were of 
 some advantage to me, but they were insuffi- 
 cient to erase the vicious habits which had 
 taken such deep root in me. 
 
 "II. It was this evil disposition which pre- 
 vented my being apprehensive of my father's 
 correction for my disobedience. I was really 
 afraid of him, but it was not with a filial fear. 
 I only sought for means to get away from him, 
 and was in no wise concerned to do his will, 
 but to avoid, by every means in my power, what 
 
1718.] Death of Alexis. 341 
 
 His attempt to maim himself. 
 
 lie required of me. Of this I will now freely 
 confess one plain instance. 
 
 "When I came back to Petersburg to my fa- 
 ther from abroad, at the end of one of my jour- 
 neys, he questioned me about my studies, and, 
 among other things, asked me if I had forgot- 
 ten what I had learned, and I told him no. 
 He then asked me to bring him some of my 
 drawings of plans. Then, fearing that he would 
 order me to draw something in his presence, 
 which I could not do, as I knew nothing of the 
 matter, I set to work to devise a way to hurt 
 my hand so that it should be impossible for me 
 to do any thing at all. So I charged a pistol 
 with ball, and, taking it in my left hand, I let it 
 off against the palm of my right, with a design 
 to have shot through it. The ball, however, 
 missed my hand, though the powder burned it 
 sufficiently to wound it. The ball entered the 
 wall of my room, and it may be seen there still. 
 
 "My father, observing my hand to be wound- 
 ed, asked me how it came. I told him an eva- 
 sive story, and kept the truth to myself. By 
 this means you may see that I was afraid of 
 ray father, but not with a proper filial fear.* 
 
 * This incident shows to what a reckless and brutal state 
 of desperation Alexis had been reduced by the obstinacy of 
 his opposition to his father, and by the harshness of his fa- 
 
342 Peter the Great. [1718. 
 
 His treasonable designs. 
 
 " III. As to my having desired to obtain the 
 crown otherwise than by obedience to my fa- 
 ther, and following him in regular order of suc- 
 cession, all the world may easily understand the 
 reason ; for, when I was once out of the right 
 way, and resolved to imitate my father in noth- 
 ing, I naturally sought to obtain the succession 
 by any, even the most wrongful method. I 
 confess that I was even willing to come into 
 possession of it by foreign assistance, if it had 
 been necessary. If the emperor had been ready 
 to fulfill the promise that he made me of pro- 
 curing for me the crown of Eussia, even with 
 an armed force, I should have spared nothing 
 to have obtained it. 
 
 " For instance, if the emperor had demanded 
 that I should afterward furnish him with Eus- 
 sian troops against any of his enemies, in ex- 
 change for his service in aiding me, or large 
 sums of money, I should have done whatever 
 he pleased. I would have given great presents 
 to his ministers and generals over and above. 
 In a word, I would have thought nothing too 
 much to have obtained my desire." 
 
 ther's treatment of him. He confessed, on another occasion, 
 that he had often taken medicine to produce an apparent 
 sickness, in order to have an excuse for not attending to 
 duties which his father required of him. 
 
1718.] Death of Alexis. 343 
 
 Alexis's confession sent to the council. Decision of the council. 
 
 This confession, after it was brought to the 
 Czar by Tolstoi, to whom Alexis gave it, was 
 sent by him to the great council of state, to aid 
 them in forming their opinion. 
 
 • The council were occupied for the space of a 
 week in hearing the case, and then they drew 
 up and signed their decision. 
 
 The statement which they made began by 
 acknowledging that they had not of themselves 
 any original right to try such a question, the 
 Czar himself, according to the ancient constitu- 
 tion of the empire, having sole and exclusive 
 jurisdiction in all such affairs, without being 
 beholden to his subjects in regard to them in 
 any manner whatever; but, nevertheless, as 
 the Czar had deemed it expedient to refer it to 
 them, they accepted the responsibility, and, after 
 having fully investigated the case, were now 
 ready to pronounce judgment. 
 
 They then proceeded to declare that, after a 
 full hearing and careful consideration of all the 
 evidence, both oral and written, which had been 
 laid before them, including the confessions of 
 Alexis himself, they found, that he had been 
 guilty of treason and rebellion against his 
 father and sovereign, and deserved to suffer 
 death. 
 
 " And although," said the council, in contin- 
 
844 Peter the Great. [1718. 
 
 The promise of pardon. Forfeiture of it. 
 
 nation, " although, both before and since his re- 
 turn to Eussia, the Czar his father had promised 
 him pardon on certain conditions, yet those con- 
 ditions were particularly and expressly speci- 
 fied, especially the one which provided that he 
 should make a full and complete confession of 
 all his designs, and of the names of all the per- 
 sons who had been privy to them or concerned 
 in the execution of them. With these condi- 
 tions, and particularly the last, Alexis had not 
 complied, but had returned insincere and eva- 
 sive answers to the questions which had been 
 put to him, and had concealed not only the 
 names of a great many of the principal persons 
 that were involved in the conspiracy, but also 
 the most important designs and intentions of 
 the conspirators, thus making it appear that he 
 had determined to reserve to himself an oppor- 
 tunity hereafter, when a favorable occasion 
 should present itself, of resuming his designs 
 and putting his wicked enterprise into execu- 
 tion against his sovereign and father. He thus 
 had rendered himself unworthy of the pardon 
 which his father had promised him, and had 
 forfeited all claim to it." 
 
 The sentence of the council concluded in the 
 following words : 
 
 "It is with hearts full of affliction and eyes 
 
1718.] Death of Alexis. 345 
 
 Conclusion of the sentence. The signatures. 
 
 streaming down with tears that we, as subjects 
 and servants, pronounce this sentence, consider- 
 ing that, being such, it does not belong to us to 
 enter into a judgment of so great importance, 
 and particularly to pronounce sentence against 
 the son of the most mighty and merciful Czar 
 our lord. However, since it has been his will 
 that we should enter into judgment, we herein 
 declare our real opinion, and pronounce this 
 condemnation, with a conscience so pure and 
 Christian that we think we can answer for it at 
 the terrible, just, and impartial judgment of the 
 Great God. 
 
 " To conclude, we submit this sentence which 
 we now give, and the condemnation which we 
 make, to the sovereign power and will, and to 
 the merciful review of his Czarian majesty, our 
 most merciful monarch." 
 
 This document was signed in the most sol- 
 emn manner by all the members of the coun- 
 cil, nearly one hundred in number. Among 
 the signatures are the names of a great number 
 of ministers of state, counselors, senators, gov- 
 ernors, generals, and other personages of high 
 civil and military rank. The document, when 
 thus formally authenticated, was sent, with much 
 solemn and imposing ceremony, to the Czar. . 
 
346 Petek the Gteeat. [1718. 
 
 The 6th of July. The Czar's mental struggles. 
 
 The Czar, after an interval of great suspense 
 and solicitude, during which he seems to have 
 endured much mental suffering, confirmed the 
 judgment of the council, and a day was ap- 
 pointed on which Alexis was to be arraigned, 
 in order that sentence of death, in accordance 
 with it, might be solemnly pronounced upon 
 him. 
 
 The day appointed was the 6th of July, near- 
 ly a fortnight after the judgment of the court 
 was rendered to the Czar. The length of this 
 delay indicates a severe struggle in the mind of 
 the Czar between his pride and honor as a sov- 
 ereign, feelings which prompted him to act in 
 the most determined and rigorous manner in 
 punishing a rebel against his government, and 
 what still remained of his parental affection for 
 his son. He knew well that after what had 
 passed there could never be any true and gen- 
 uine reconciliation, and that, as long as his son 
 lived, his name would be the watchword of op- 
 position and rebellion, and his very existence 
 would act as a potent and perpetual stimulus 
 to the treasonable designs which the foes of 
 civilization and progress were always disposed 
 to form. He finally, therefore, determined that 
 the sentence of death should at least be pro- 
 nounced. What his intention was in respect 
 
1718.] Death of Alexis. 347 
 
 Alexis brought out to hear his sentence. Overwhelmed with dismay. 
 
 to the actual execution of it can never be 
 known. 
 
 When the appointed day arrived a grand 
 session of the council was convened, and Alexis 
 was brought out from the fortress where he 
 was imprisoned, and arraigned before it for the 
 last time. He was attended by a strong guard. 
 On being placed at the bar of the tribunal, he 
 was called upon to repeat the confessions which 
 he had made, and then the sentence of death, 
 as it had been sent to the Czar, was read to 
 him. He was then taken back again to his 
 prison as before. 
 
 Alexis was overwhelmed with terror and 
 distress at finding himself thus condemned; 
 and the next morning intelligence was brought 
 to the Czar that, after suffering convulsions 
 at intervals through the night, he had fallen 
 into an apoplectic fit. About noon another 
 message was brought, saying that he had re- 
 vived in some measure from the fit, yet his 
 vital powers seemed to be sinking away, and 
 the physician thought that his life was in great 
 danger. 
 
 The Czar sent for the principal ministers of 
 state to come to him, and he waited with them 
 in great anxiety and agitation for farther tid- 
 
348 Peter the Great. [1718. 
 
 Visit of his father. Sorrowful scene. 
 
 At length a third messenger came, and said 
 that it was thought that Alexis could not pos- 
 sibly outlive the evening, and that he longed to 
 see his father. The Czar immediately request- 
 ed the ministers to accompany him, and set out 
 from his palace to go to the fortress where 
 Alexis was confined. On entering the room 
 where his dying son was lying, he was greatly 
 moved, and Alexis himself, bursting into tears, 
 folded his hands and began to entreat his fa- 
 ther's forgiveness for his sins against him. He 
 said that he had grievously and heinously of- 
 fended the majesty of God Almighty and of 
 the Czar ; that he hoped he should not recover 
 from his illness, for if he should recover he 
 should feel that he was unworthy to live. But 
 he begged and implored his father, for God's 
 sake, to take off the curse that he had pro- 
 nounced against him, to forgive him for all the 
 heinous crimes which he had committed, to be- 
 stow upon him his paternal blessing, and to 
 cause prayers to be put up for his soul. 
 
 While Alexis was speaking thus, the Czar 
 himself, and all the ministers and officers who 
 had come with him, were melted in tears. The 
 Czar replied kindly to him. He referred, it is 
 true, to the sins and crimes of which Alexis 
 had been guilty, but he gave him his forgive- 
 
THE CZAS'S VISIT T3 ALEXIS IN PSI30X. 
 
1718.] Death of Alexis. 351 
 
 Alexis sends a second time for his father. His death. Czar's circular. 
 
 ness and his blessing, and then took his leave 
 with tears and lamentations which rendered it 
 impossible for him to speak, and in which all 
 present joined. The scene was heart-rending. 
 
 At five o'clock in the evening a major of the 
 Guards came across the water from the fortress 
 to the Czar's palace with a message that Alexis 
 was extremely desirous to see his father once 
 more. The Czar was at first unwilling to com- 
 ply with this request. He could not bear, he 
 thought, to renew the pain of such an interview. 
 But his ministers advised him to go. They 
 represented to him that it was hard to deny 
 such a request from his dying son, who was 
 probably tormented by the stings of a guilty 
 conscience, and felt relieved and comforted 
 when his father was near. So Peter consented 
 to go. But just as he was going on board the 
 boat which was to take him over to the for- 
 tress, another messenger came saying that it 
 was too late. Alexis had expired. 
 
 On the next day after the death of his son, 
 the Czar, in order to anticipate and preclude 
 the false rumors in respect to the case which 
 he knew that his enemies would endeavor to 
 spread throughout the Continent, caused a brief 
 but full statement of his trial and condemna- 
 tion, and of the circumstances of his death, to 
 
352 Peter the Great. [1718. 
 
 The body laid in state. Rumors circulated. 
 
 be drawn up and sent to all his ministers abroad, 
 in order that they might communicate the facts 
 in an authentic form to the courts to which they 
 were respectfully accredited.* 
 
 The ninth day of July, the third day after 
 the death of Alexis, was appointed for the fu- 
 neral. The body was laid in a coffin covered 
 with black velvet. A pall of rich gold tissue 
 was spread over the coffin, and in this way the 
 body was conveyed to the church of the Holy 
 Trinity, where it was laid in state. It remain- 
 ed in this condition during the remainder of 
 that day and all of the next, and also on the 
 third day until evening. It was visited by vast 
 crowds of people, who were permitted to come 
 up and kiss the hands of the deceased. 
 
 On the evening of the third day after the 
 body was conveyed to the church, the funeral 
 service was performed, and the body was con- 
 veyed to the tomb. A large procession, head- 
 
 * There were, in fact, a great many rumors put in circu- 
 lation, and they spread very far, and were continued in cir- 
 culation a long time. One story was that Alexis was poi- 
 soned. Another, that his father killed him with his own 
 hands in the prison. It was said in London that he beat 
 him to death with an iron chain. The extent to which these 
 and similar stories received currency indicates pretty clearly 
 what ideas prevailed in men's minds at that time in respect 
 to the savagn ferocity of Peter's character. 
 
1718.] .Death of Alexis. 353 
 
 Funeral ceremonies. The opposition broken up. The mother of Alexis. 
 
 ed by the Czar, the Czarina, and all the chief 
 nobility of the court, followed in the funeral 
 train. The Czar and all the other mourners 
 carried in their hands a small wax taper burn- 
 ing. The ladies were all dressed in black silks. 
 It was said by those who were near enough in 
 the procession to observe the Czar that he went 
 weeping all the way. 
 
 At the service in the church a funeral ser- 
 mon was pronounced by the priest from the 
 very appropriate text, " Absalom ! my son! 
 my son Absalom I" 
 
 Thus ended this dreadful tragedy. The par- 
 ty who had been opposed to the reforms and 
 improvements of the Czar seems to have be- 
 come completely disorganized after the death 
 of Alexis, and they never again attempted to 
 organize any^resistance to Peter's plans. In- 
 deed, most of the principal leaders had been 
 executed or banished to Siberia. As to Otto- 
 kesa, the first wife of the Czar, and the mother 
 of Alexis, who was proved to have been privy 
 to his designs, she was sent away to a strong- 
 castle, and shut up for the rest of her days in a 
 dungeon. So close was her confinement that 
 even her food was put in to her through a hole 
 in the wall. 
 
 It remains only to say one word in conclu- 
 
354: Peter the Great.. [1718. 
 
 Afrosinia. The Czar pardons her. 
 
 sion in respect to Afrosinia. When Alexis was 
 first arrested, it was supposed that she, having 
 been the slave and companion of Alexis, was a 
 party with him in his treasonable designs ; but 
 in the course of the examinations it appeared 
 very fully that whatever of connection with the 
 affair, or participation in it, she may have had, 
 was involuntary and innocent, and the testi- 
 mony which she gave was of great service in 
 unraveling the mystery of the whole transac- 
 tion. In the end, the Czar expressed his satis- 
 faction with her conduct in strong terms. He 
 gave her a full pardon for the involuntary aid 
 which she had rendered Alexis in carrying 
 out his plans. He ordered every thing which 
 had been taken away from her to be restored, 
 made her presents of handsome jewelry, and 
 said that if she would like to be married he 
 would give her a handsome portion out of the 
 royal treasury. But she promptly declined 
 this proposal. "I have been compelled," she 
 said, "to yield to one man's will by force; 
 henceforth no other shall ever come near my 
 side." 
 
1719.] Conclusion. 355 
 
 Death of little Peter. Excessive grief of the Czar. 
 
 Chapter XIX. 
 Conclusion. 
 
 AT the time of the death of Alexis the Czar's 
 hopes in respect to a successor fell upon 
 his little son, Peter Petrowitz, the child of Cath- 
 arine, who was born about the time of the death 
 of Alexis's wife, when the difficulties between 
 himself and Alexis were first beginning to as- 
 sume an alarming form. This child was now 
 about three years old, but he was of a very 
 weak and sickly constitution, and the Czar 
 watched him with fear and trembling. His 
 apprehensions proved to be well founded, for 
 about a year after the unhappy death of Alexis 
 he also died. 
 
 Peter was entirely overwhelmed with grief 
 at this new calamity. He was seized with the 
 convulsions to which he was subject when 
 under any strong excitement, his face was dis- 
 torted, and his neck was twisted and stiffened 
 in a most frightful manner. In ordinary at- 
 tacks of this kind Catharine had power to 
 soothe and allay the spasmodic action of the 
 
356 Peter the Great.' [1719. 
 
 The Czar shuts himself up. Device of his minister. 
 
 muscles, and gradually release her husband 
 from the terrible gripe of the disease, but 
 now he would not suffer her to come near 
 him. He could not endure it, for the sight 
 of her renewed so vividly the anguish that 
 he felt for the loss of their child, that it made 
 the convulsions and the suffering worse than 
 before. 
 
 It is said that on this occasion Peter shut 
 himself up alone for three days and three nights 
 in his own chamber, where he lay stretched on 
 the ground in anguish and agony, and would 
 not allow any body to come in. At length one 
 of his ministers of state came, and, speaking to 
 him through the door, appealed to him, in the 
 most earnest manner, to come forth and give 
 them directions in respect to the affairs of the 
 empire, which, he said, urgently required his 
 attention. The minister had brought with him 
 a large number of senators to support and en- 
 force his appeal. At length the Czar allowed 
 the door to be opened, and the minister, with 
 all the senators, came together into the room. 
 The sudden appearance of so many persons, 
 and the boldness of the minister in taking this 
 decided step, made such an impression on the 
 mind of the Czar as to divert his mind for the 
 moment from his grief, and he allowed himself 
 
1719.] Conclusion. 357 
 
 Subsequent reign. His plan for the succession. 
 
 to be led forth and to be persuaded to take 
 some food. 
 
 The death of Petrowitz took place in 1719, 
 and the Czar continued to live and reign him- 
 self after this period for about sixteen years. 
 During all that time he went on vigorously and 
 successfully in completing the reforms which 
 he had undertaken in the internal condition of 
 his empire, and increasing the power and influ- 
 ence of his government among surrounding 
 nations. He had no farther serious difficulty 
 with the opponents of his policy, though he 
 was always under apprehensions that difficulties 
 might arise after his death. He had the right, 
 according to the ancient constitution of the 
 monarchy, to designate his own successor, 
 choosing for this purpose either one of his 
 sons or any other person. And now, since 
 both his sons were dead, his mind revolved 
 anxiously the question what provision he 
 should make for the government of the empire 
 after his decease. He finally concluded to leave 
 it in the hands of Catharine herself, and, to pre- 
 pare the way for this, he resolved to cause her 
 to be solemnly crowned empress during his life- 
 time. 
 
 As a preliminary measure, however, before 
 publicly announcing Catharine as his intended 
 
358 Peter the Great. [1719. 
 
 Oath required of the people. Prince Naraskin. Proclamation. 
 
 successor, Peter required all the officers of the 
 empire, both civil and military, and all the no- 
 bles and other chief people of the country, to 
 subscribe a solemn declaration and oath that 
 they acknowledged the right of the Czar to ap- 
 point his successor, and that after his death 
 they would sustain and defend whomsoever he 
 should name as their emperor and sovereign. 
 
 This declaration, printed forms of which were 
 sent all over the kingdom, was signed by the peo- 
 ple very readily. No one, however, imagined 
 that Catharine would be the person on whom 
 the Czar's choice would fall. It was generally 
 supposed that a certain Prince ISTaraskin would 
 be appointed to the succession. The Czar him- 
 self said nothing of his intention, but waited 
 until the time should arrive for carrying it into 
 effect. 
 
 The first step to be taken in carrying the 
 measure into effect was to issue a grand procla- 
 mation announcing his design and explaining 
 the reasons for it. In this proclamation Peter 
 cited many instances from history in which 
 great sovereigns had raised their consorts to a 
 seat on the throne beside them, and then he re- 
 capitulated the great services which Catharine 
 had rendered to him and to the state, which 
 m'ade her peculiarly deserving of such an honor. 
 
1719.] Conclusion. 359 
 
 Catharine's usefulness. Splendor of the preparations. 
 
 She had been a tried and devoted friend and 
 counselor to him, he said, for many years. She 
 had shared his labors and fatigues, had accom- 
 panied him on his journeys, and had even re- 
 peatedly encountered all the discomforts and 
 dangers of the camp in following him in his 
 military campaigns. By so doing she had ren- , 
 dered him the most essential service, and on 
 one occasion she had been the means of saving 
 his whole army from destruction. He there- 
 fore declared his intention of joining her with 
 himself in the supreme power, and to celebrate 
 this event by a solemn coronation. 
 
 The place where the coronation was to be 
 performed was, of course, the ancient city of 
 Moscow, and commands were issued to all the 
 great dignitaries of Church and state, and invi- 
 tations to all the foreign embassadors, to repair 
 to that city, and be ready on the appointed day 
 to take part in the ceremony. 
 
 It would be impossible to describe or to con- 
 ceive, without witnessing it, the gorgeousness 
 and splendor of the spectacle which the corona- 
 tion afforded. The scene of the principal cere- 
 mony was the Cathedral, which was most mag- 
 nificently decorated for the occasion. The 
 whole interior of the building was illumined 
 with an immense number of wax candles, con- 
 
360 Peter the Great. [1719. 
 
 The interior of the church. The dais. The canopy. 
 
 tained in chandeliers and branches of silver 
 and gold, which were suspended from the arch- 
 es or attached to the walls. The steps of the 
 altar, and all that part of the pavement of the 
 church over which the Czarina would have to 
 walk in the performance of the ceremonies, 
 were covered with rich tapestry embroidered 
 with gold, and the seats on which the bishops 
 and other ecclesiastical dignitaries were to sit 
 were covered with crimson cloth. 
 
 The ceremony of the coronation itself was to 
 be performed on a dais, or raised platform, 
 which was set up in the middle of the church. 
 This platform, with the steps leading to it, was 
 carpeted with crimson velvet, and it was sur- 
 mounted by a splendid canopy made of silk, 
 embroidered with gold. The canopy was orna- 
 mented, too, on every side with fringes, ribbons, 
 tufts, tassels, and gold lace, in the richest man- 
 ner. Under the canopy was the double throne 
 for the emperor and empress, and near it seats 
 for the royal princesses, all covered with crim- 
 son velvet trimmed with gold. 
 
 When the appointed hour arrived the pro- 
 cession was formed at the royal palace, and 
 moved toward the Cathedral through a dense 
 and compact mass of spectators that every 
 where thronged the way. Every window was 
 
1719.] Conclusion. 361 
 
 The regalia. - The ceremonies. 
 
 filled, and the house-tops, wherever there was 
 space for a footing, were crowded. There were 
 troops of guards mounted on horseback and 
 splendidly caparisoned — there were bands of 
 music, and heralds, and great officers of state, 
 bearing successively, on cushions ornamented 
 with gold and jewels, the imperial mantle, the 
 globe, the sceptre, and the crown. In this way 
 the royal party proceeded to the Cathedral, and 
 there, after going through a great many cere- 
 monies, which, from the magnificence of the 
 dresses, of the banners, and the various regal 
 emblems that were displayed, was very gor- 
 geous to behold, but which it would be tedious 
 to describe, the crown was placed upon Cath- 
 arine's head, the moment being signalized to 
 all Moscow by the ringing of bells, the music 
 of trumpets and drums, and the firing of can- 
 non. 
 
 The ceremonies were continued through two 
 days by several other imposing processions, 
 and were closed on the night of the second day 
 by a grand banquet held in a spacious hall 
 which was magnificently decorated for the oc- 
 casion. And while the regal party within the 
 hall were being served with the richest viands 
 from golden vessels, the populace without were 
 feasted by means of oxen roasted whole in the 
 
362 Peter the Great. [1725. 
 
 Sickness and death of Peter. Natalia. The double funeral. 
 
 streets, and public fountains made to run with 
 exliaustless supplies of wine. 
 
 The coronation of Catharine as empress was 
 not a mere empty ceremony. There were con- 
 nected with it formal legal arrangements for 
 transferring the supreme power into her hands 
 on the death of the Czar. Nor were these ar- 
 rangements made any too soon ; for it was in 
 less than a year after that time that the Czar, 
 in the midst of great ceremonies of rejoicing, 
 ponnected with the betrothal of one of his 
 daughters, the Princess Anna Petrowna, to a 
 foreign duke, was attacked suddenly by a very 
 painful disease, and, after suffering great dis- 
 tress and anguish for many days, he at length 
 .expired. His death took place on the 28th of 
 January, 1725. 
 
 One of his daughters, the Princess Natalia 
 Petrowna, the third of Catharine's children, died 
 a short time after her father, and the bodies of 
 both parent and child were interred together at 
 the same funeral ceremony, which was conduct- 
 ed with the utmost possible pomp and parade. 
 The obsequies were so protracted that it was 
 more than six weeks from the death of the 
 Czar before the bodies were finally committed 
 to the tomb ; and a volume might be filled with 
 an account of the processions, the ceremonies, 
 
1725.] Conclusion. 363 
 
 General character of Peter. Compared with other sovereigns. 
 
 the prayers, the chantings, the costumes, the 
 plumes and trappings of horses, the sledges 
 decked in mourning, the requiems sung, the 
 salvos of artillery fired, and all the various oth- 
 er displays and doings connected with the oc- 
 casion. 
 
 Thus was brought to an end the earthly per- 
 sonal career of Peter the Great. He well de- 
 serves his title, for he was certainly one of the 
 greatest as- well as one of the most extraordi- 
 nary men that ever lived. Himself half a sav- 
 age, he undertook to civilize twenty millions 
 of people, and he pursued the work during his 
 whole lifetime through dangers, difficulties, and 
 discouragements which it required a surpris- 
 ing degree of determination and energy to sur- 
 mount. He differs from other great military 
 monarchs that have appeared from time to time 
 in- the world's history, and by their exploits 
 have secured for themselves the title of The 
 Great, in this, that, while they acquired their 
 renown by conquests gained over foreign na- 
 tions, which, in most cases, after the death of 
 their conquerors, lapsed again into their orig- 
 inal condition, leaving no permanent results be- 
 hind, the triumphs which Peter achieved were 
 the commencement of a work of internal im- 
 
36-i Peter the » 
 
 GrREAT. 
 
 [1725. 
 
 Playful vein in his character. 
 
 
 Examples. 
 
 provement and reform which is now, after the 
 lapse of a century and a half since he com- 
 menced it, still going on. The work is, in fact, 
 advancing at the present day with perhaps 
 greater and more successful progress than ever 
 before. 
 
 Notwithstanding the stern severity of Peter's 
 character, the terrible violence of his passions, 
 and the sort of savage grandeur which marked 
 all his great determinations and plans, there was 
 a certain vein of playfulness running through 
 his mind; and, when he was in a jocose or 
 merry humor, no one could be more jocose and 
 merry than he. The interest which he took in 
 the use of tools, and in working with his own 
 hands at various handicrafts — his notion of en- 
 tering the army as a drummer, the navy as a 
 midshipman, and rising gravely, by regular pro- 
 motion in both services, through all the grades 
 — the way in which he often amused himself, 
 when on his travels, in going about in 'disguise 
 among all sorts of people, and a thousand other 
 circumstances which are related of him by his- 
 torians, are indications of what might be called 
 a sort of boyish spirit, which strongly marked 
 his character, and was seen continually coming 
 out into action during the whole course of his 
 life. 
 
1725.] Conclusion. 365 
 
 The Little Grandfather. Taken to Cronstadt. Triumphal procession. 
 
 It was only two years before his death that 
 a striking instance of this occurred. The first 
 vessel that was built in Eussia was a small skiff, 
 which was planned and built almost entirely 
 by Peter's own hands. This skiff was built at 
 Moscow, where it remained for twenty or thirty 
 years, an object all this time, in Peter's mind, 
 of special affection and regard. At length, 
 when the naval power of the empire was firm- 
 ly established, Peter conceived the idea of re- 
 moving this skiff from Moscow to Petersburg, 
 and consecrating it solemnly there as a sort of 
 souvenir to be preserved forever in commemo- 
 ration of the small beginnings from which all 
 the naval greatness of the empire had sprung. 
 The name which he had given to the skiff was 
 The Little Grandfather, the name denoting that 
 the little craft, frail and insignificant as it was, 
 was the parent and progenitor of all the great 
 frigates and ships of the line which were then 
 at anchor in the Roads about Cronstadt and off 
 the mouth of the Neva. 
 
 A grand ceremony was accordingly arranged 
 for the " consecration of the Little Grandfather." 
 The little vessel was brought in triumph from 
 Moscow to Petersburg, where it was put on 
 board a sort of barge or galliot to be taken to 
 Cronstadt. All the great officers of state and 
 
366 Peter the Great. [1725. 
 
 Display before the rieet. 
 
 all the foreign ministers were invited to be pres- 
 ent at the consecration. The company em- 
 barked on board yachts provided for them, and 
 went down the river following the Little Grand- 
 father, which was borne on its galliot in the 
 van — drums beating, trumpets sounding, and 
 banners waving all the way. 
 
 The next day the whole fleet, which had been 
 collected in the bay for this purpose, was ar- 
 ranged in the form of an amphitheatre. The 
 Little Grandfather was let down from his gal- 
 liot into the water. The emperor went on 
 board of it. He was accompanied "By the ad- 
 mirals and vice admirals of the fleet, who were 
 to serve as crew. The admiral stationed him- 
 self at the helm to steer, and the vice admirals 
 took the oars. These grand officials were not 
 required, however, to do much hard work at 
 rowing, for there were two shallops provided, 
 manned by strong men, to tow the skiff. In 
 this way the skiff rowed to and fro over the 
 sea, and then passed along the fleet, saluted 
 every where by the shouts of the crews upon 
 the yards and in the rigging, and by the guns 
 of the ships. Three thousand guns were dis- 
 charged by the ships in these salvos in honor 
 of their humble progenitor. The Little Grand- 
 father returned the salutes of the guns with 
 
1725.] Conclusion. 367 
 
 Closing festivities. Catharine proclaimed empress. 
 
 great spirit by means of three small swivels 
 ■which, had been placed on board. 
 
 The Empress Catharine saw the show from 
 an elevation on the shore, where she sat with 
 the ladies of her court in a pavilion or tent 
 which had been erected for the purpose. 
 
 At the close of the ceremonies the skiff was 
 deposited with great ceremony in the place 
 which had been prepared to receive it in the 
 Castle of Cronstadt, and there, when one more 
 day had been spent in banquetings and rejoic- 
 ings, the company left the Little Grandfather 
 to his repose, and returned in their yachts to 
 the town. 
 
 Not many days after the death of Peter, 
 Catharine, in accordance with the arrangements 
 that Peter had previously made, was proclaim- 
 ed empress by a solemn act of the senate and 
 ministers of state, and she at once entered upon 
 the exercise of the sovereign power. She sig- 
 nalized her accession by a great many acts of 
 clemency — liberating prisoners, recalling exiles, 
 removing bodies from gibbets and wheels, and 
 heads from poles, and delivering them to friends 
 for burial, remitting the sentence of death pro- 
 nounced upon political offenders, and otherwise 
 mitigating and assuaging sufferings which Pe- 
 
Peter the Great. [1725. 
 
 Catharine's brief reign. * Her beneficent character. 
 
 ter's remorseless ideas of justice and retribution 
 had caused. Catharine did not, however, live 
 long to exercise her beneficial power. She 
 died suddenly about two years after her hus- 
 band, and was buried with great pomp in a 
 grand monumental tomb in one of the churches 
 of St. Petersburg, which she had been engaged 
 ever since his death m constructing for him. 
 
 The E^Do