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diff --git a/42540-0.txt b/42540-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..cac92f1 --- /dev/null +++ b/42540-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,12471 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 42540 *** + + Transcriber's Note: + + Every effort has been made to replicate this text as faithfully as + possible, including inconsistent spelling and tenses. Some changes + have been made. They are listed at the end of the text. + + The table of contents was created by the transcriber. + + Italic text has been marked with _underscores_. + OE ligatures have been expanded. + + + + +[Illustration: _H. Corbould._ _W. Chevalier._ + +_He ran every where in person to put a stop to the pillage and +slaughter._ + +_Chap. 13._] + + + + + THE + HISTORY + _OF_ + PETER THE GREAT. + + [Illustration: + _H. Corbould._ _W. Chevalier._ + + _Council him for his own safety, + not to pardon me._ + + _Chap. 36._] + + + London: + + ENGRAVED FOR THE ENGLISH CLASSICS. + + PUBLISHED BY SAMUEL JOHNSON & SON. + MANCHESTER. + + + + + THE + HISTORY + OF + PETER THE GREAT, + EMPEROR OF RUSSIA. + + + FROM THE FRENCH OF VOLTAIRE, + BY SMOLLETT. + + + MANCHESTER: + S. JOHNSON & SON, No. 3, OLDHAM-STREET; + AND 48, CHURCH-ST., LIVERPOOL. + + MDCCCXLV. + + + + +CONTENTS + + + CHAPTER + + I. Description of Russia. + + II. Continuation of the description of Russia, population, + finances, armies, customs, religion: state of Russia before + Peter the Great. + + III. The ancestors of Peter the Great. + + IV. John and Peter. Horrible Sedition among the Strelitzes. + + V. Administration of the princess Sophia. Extraordinary quarrel + about religion. A conspiracy. + + VI. The reign of Peter the First.--Beginning of the grand + reformation. + + VII. Congress and Treaty with the Chinese. + + VIII. Expedition to the Palus Mæotis; conquest of Azoph.--The czar + sends young gentlemen into foreign countries for improvement. + + IX. Travels of Peter the Great. + + X. A conspiracy punished.--The corps of strelitzes abolished, + alterations in customs, manners, church, and state. + + XI. War with Sweden.--The battle of Narva. + + XII. Resources after the battle of Narva. That disaster entirely + repaired. Peter gains a victory near the same place. The + person who was afterwards empress made prisoner at the + storming of a town. Peter's successes. His triumph at Moscow. + + XIII. Reformation at Moscow.--Further successes.--Founding of + Petersburg.--The czar takes Narva, &c. + + XIV. Peter the Great keeps possession of all Ingria, while Charles + XII. is triumphant in other places.--Rise of + Menzikoff.--Petersburg secured.--The czar executes his + designs notwithstanding the victories of the king of Sweden. + + XV. While Peter is strengthening his conquests, and improving the + police of his dominion, his enemy Charles XII. gains several + battles: gives laws to Poland and Saxony, and to Augustus, + notwithstanding a victory gained by the Russians.--Augustus + resigns the crown, and delivers up Patkul, the czar's + ambassador.--Murder of Patkul, who is sentenced to be broke + upon the wheel. + + XVI. Attempts made to set up a third king of Poland.--Charles XII. + sets out from Saxony with a powerful army, and marches through + Poland in a victorious manner.--Cruelties committed.--Conduct + of the czar.--Successes of the king of Sweden, who at length + advances towards Russia. + + XVII. Charles XII. crosses the Boristhenes, penetrates into the + Ukraine, but concerts his measures badly.--One of his armies + is defeated by Peter the Great: he loses his supply of + provisions and ammunition: advances forward through a desert + country: his adventures in the Ukraine. + + XVIII. Battle of Pultowa. + + XIX. Consequences of the battle of Pultowa.--Charles XII. takes + refuge among the Turks.--Augustus, whom he had dethroned, + recovers his dominions.--Conquests of Peter the Great. + + XX. Campaign of Pruth. + + XXI. Conclusion of the Affairs of Pruth. + + XXII. Marriage of the czarowitz.--The marriage of Peter and Catherine + publicly solemnized.--Catherine finds her brother. + + XXIII. Taking of Stetin.--Descent upon Finland.--Event of the year + 1712. + + XXIV. Successes of Peter the Great.--Return of Charles XII. into his + own dominions. + + XXV. State of Europe at the return of Charles XII. Siege of + Stralsund. + + XXVI. New travels of the czar. + + XXVII. Continuation of the Travels of Peter the Great.--Conspiracy of + baron Gortz.--Reception of the czar in France. + + XXVIII. Of the return of the czar to his dominions.--Of his politics + and occupations. + + XXIX. Proceedings against prince Alexis Petrowitz. + + XXX. Works and establishments in 1718, and the following years. + + XXXI. Of the trade of Russia. + + XXXII. Of the laws. + + XXXIII. Of Religion. + + XXXIV. The congress of Aland or Oeland. Death of Charles XII., &c. The + treaty of Nystadt. + + XXXV. Conquests in Persia. + + XXXVI. Of the Coronation of the Empress Catherine I. and the Death of + Peter the Great. + + + Original Pieces Relative to this History: + + Sentence pronounced against the Czarowitz Alexis. + + The Peace of Nystadt. + + Ordinance of the Emperor Peter I. for the crowning of the + Empress Catherine. + + + + +PETER THE GREAT. + + + + +CHAP. I. + + DESCRIPTION OF RUSSIA. + + +The empire of Russia is the largest in the whole globe, extending from +west to east upwards of two thousand common leagues of France,[1] and +about eight hundred in its greatest breadth from north to south. It +borders upon Poland and the Frozen Sea, and joins to Sweden and China. +Its length from the island of Dago, in the westernmost part of Livonia, +to its most eastern limits, takes in near one hundred and seventy +degrees, so that when it is noon in the western parts of the empire, it +is nearly midnight in the eastern. Its breadth from north to south is +three thousand six hundred wersts, which make eight hundred and fifty of +our common French leagues. + +The limits of this country were so little known in the last century, +that, in 1689, when it was reported, that the Chinese and the Russians +were at war, and that in order to terminate their differences, the +emperor _Camhi_ on the one hand, and the czars Ivan or John, and Peter, +on the other, had sent their ministers to meet an embassy within three +hundred leagues of Pekin, on the frontiers of the two empires, the +account was at first treated as a fiction. + +The country now comprehended under the name of Russia, or the Russias, +is of a greater extent than all the rest of Europe, or than ever the +Roman empire was, or that of Darius subdued by Alexander; for it +contains upwards of one million one hundred thousand square leagues. +Neither the Roman empire, nor that of Alexander, contained more than +five hundred and fifty thousand each; and there is not a kingdom in +Europe the twelfth part so extensive as the Roman empire; but to make +Russia as populous, as plentiful, and as well stored with towns as our +southern countries, would require whole ages, and a race of monarchs +such as Peter the Great. + +The English ambassador, who resided at Petersburg in 1733, and who had +been at Madrid, says, in his manuscript relation, that in Spain, which +is the least populous state in Europe, there may be reckoned forty +persons to every square mile, and in Russia not above five. We shall see +in the second chapter, whether this minister was mistaken. Marshal +Vauban, the greatest of engineers, and the best of citizens, computes, +that, in France, every square mile contains two hundred inhabitants. +These calculations are never very exact, but they serve to shew the +amazing disproportion in the population of two different countries. + +I shall observe here, that from Petersburg to Pekin, there is hardly one +mountain to be met with in the route which the caravans might take +through independent Tartary, and that from Petersburg to the north of +France, by the road of Dantzic, Hamburg, and Amsterdam, there is not +even a hill of any eminence to be seen. This observation leaves room to +doubt of the truth of that theory, which makes the mountains to have +been formed by the rolling of the waves of the sea, and supposes all +that is at present dry land, to have been for a long time covered with +water: but how comes it to pass, that the waves, which, according to the +supposition, formed the Alps, the Pyrenees, and Mount Taurus, did not +likewise form some eminence or hill from Normandy to China, which is a +winding space of above three thousand leagues? Geography, thus +considered, may furnish lights to natural philosophy, or at least give +room for rational doubts. + +Formerly we called Russia by the name of Muscovy, from the city of +Moscow, the capital of that empire, and the residence of the grand +dukes: but at present the ancient name of Russia prevails. + +It is not my business in this place to inquire, why the countries from +Smolensko, to the other side of Moscow, were called White Russia, or why +Hubner gives it the name of Black, nor for what reason the government of +Kiow should be named Red Russia. + +It is very likely that Madies the Scythian, who made an irruption into +Asia, near seven hundred years before our vulgar æra, might have carried +his arms into these regions, as Gengis-Khan and Tamerlane did +afterwards, and as probably others had done long before Madies. Every +part of antiquity is not deserving of our inquiries; that of the +Chinese, the Indians, the Persians, and the Egyptians, is ascertained +from illustrious and interesting monuments; but these monuments suppose +others of a far more ancient date, since it required many ages to teach +men the art of transmitting their thoughts by permanent signs, and no +less time was required to form a regular language; and yet we have no +such monuments even in this polite part of Europe. The art of writing +was a long time unknown to all the North: the patriarch Constantine, who +wrote the history of Kiow in the Russian language, acknowledges, that +the use of writing was not known in these countries in the fifth +century. + +Let others examine whether the Huns, the Slavi, and the Tartars, +formerly led their wandering and famished tribes towards the source of +the Boristhenes;[2] my design is to shew what czar Peter created, and +not to engage in a useless attempt, to clear up the chaos of antiquity. +We should always keep in mind, that no family upon earth knows its first +founder, and consequently, that no nation knows its first origin. + +I use the name of Russians to designate the inhabitants of this great +empire. That of Roxolanians, which was formerly given them, would indeed +be more sonorous, but we shall conform to the custom of the language in +which we write. News-papers and other memoirs have for some time used +the word Russians; but as this name comes too near to that of Prussians, +I shall abide by that of Russ, which almost all our writers have given +them. Besides, it appeared to me, that the most extensive people on the +earth ought to be known by some appellation that may distinguish them +absolutely from all other nations.[3] + +This empire is at present divided into sixteen large governments, that +will one day be subdivided, when the northern and eastern countries come +to be more inhabited. + +These sixteen governments, which contain several immense provinces are +the following:-- + + +LIVONIA. + +The nearest province to our part of the world is that of Livonia, one of +the most fruitful in the whole North. In the twelfth century the +inhabitants were pagans; at this time certain merchants of Bremen and +Lubeck traded to this country, and a body of religious crusaders, called +_port-glaives_, or sword-bearers, who were afterwards incorporated in +the Teutonic order, made themselves masters of this province in the +thirteenth century, at the time when the fury of the crusades armed the +Christians against every one who was not of their religion. Albert, +margrave of Brandenburg, grand-master of these religious conquerors, +made himself sovereign of Livonia and of Brandenburg-Prussia, about the +year 1514. From that time, the Russians and Poles began to dispute for +the possession of this province. Soon afterwards it was invaded by the +Swedes, and for a long while continued to be ravaged by these several +powers. Gustavus Adolphus having conquered it, it was then ceded to the +Swedes in 1660, by the famous treaty of Oliva; and, at length, czar +Peter wrested it from these latter, as will be seen in the course of +this history. + +Courland, which joins to Livonia, is still in vassalage to Poland, +though it depends greatly upon Russia. These are the western limits of +this empire in Christendom. + + +_Of the Governments of_ REVEL, PETERSBURG, _and_ WYBURG. + +More northward is the government of Revel and Esthonia. Revel was built +by the Danes in the thirteenth century. The Swedes were in possession +of this province, from the time that country put itself under the +protection of that crown in 1561. This is another of the conquests of +Peter the Great. + +On the borders of Esthonia lies the gulf of Finland. To the eastward of +this sea, and at the junction of the Neva with the lake Ladoga,[4] is +situated Petersburg, the most modern and best built city in the whole +empire, founded by czar Peter, in spite of all the united obstacles +which opposed its foundation. + +This city is situated on the bay of Kronstat, in the midst of nine +rivers, by which its different quarters are divided. In the centre of +this city is almost an impregnable fortress, built on an island, formed +by the main-stream of the river Neva: seven canals are cut from the +rivers, and wash the walls of one of the royal palaces of the admiralty, +of the dock-yard for the galleys, and of several buildings of +manufactories. Thirty-five large churches contribute to adorn the city; +among which five are allotted for foreigners of the Roman Catholic, +Calvinist, and Lutheran religions: these are as so many temples raised +to toleration, and examples to other nations. There are five palaces; +the old one, called the summer palace, situated on the river Neva, has a +very large and beautiful stone balustrade, which runs all along the +river side. The new summer palace near the triumphal gate, is one of the +finest pieces of architecture in Europe. The admiralty buildings, the +school for cadets, the imperial college, the academy of sciences, the +exchange, and the merchants' warehouses, are all magnificent structures, +and monuments of taste and public utility. The town-house, the public +dispensary, where all the vessels are of porcelain, the court magazines, +the foundery, the arsenal, the bridges, the markets, the squares, the +barracks for the horse and foot guards, contribute at once to the +embellishment and safety of the city, which is said to contain at +present four hundred thousand souls. In the environs of the city are +several villas or country-seats, which surprise all travellers by their +magnificence. There is one in particular which has water-works superior +to those of Versailles. There was nothing of all this in 1702, the whole +being then an impassable morass. Petersburg is considered as the capital +of Ingria, a small province subdued by Peter I. Wyburg, another of his +conquests, and that part of Finland which was lost, and ceded by the +Swedes in 1742, make another government. + + +ARCHANGEL. + +Higher up, proceeding towards the north, is the province of Archangel, a +country entirely new to the southern nations of Europe. It took its name +from St. Michael, the Archangel, under whose patronage it was put long +after the Russians had embraced Christianity, which did not happen till +the beginning of the eleventh century; and they were not known to the +other nations of Europe till the middle of the sixteenth. The English, +in 1533, endeavouring to find out a north-east passage to the East +Indies, Chancellor, captain of one of the ships fitted out for this +expedition, discovered the port of Archangel in the White Sea; at that +time it was a desert place, having only one convent, and a little +church, dedicated to St. Michael, the Archangel. + +The English sailing up the river Dwina,[5] arrived at the midland part +of the country, and at length at Moscow. Here they easily made +themselves masters of the trade of Russia, which was removed from the +city of Novogorod, where it was carried on by land to this sea-port, +which is inaccessible indeed during seven months in the year; but, +nevertheless, this trade proved more beneficial to the empire than the +fairs of Novogorod, that had fallen to decay in consequence of the wars +with Sweden. The English obtained the privilege of trading thither +without paying any duties; a manner of trading which is apparently the +most beneficial to all nations. The Dutch soon came in for a share of +the trade of Archangel, then unknown to other nations. + +Long before this time, the Genoese and Venetians had established a trade +with the Russians by the mouth of the Tanais or Don,[6] where they had +built a town called Tana. This branch of the Italian commerce was +destroyed by the ravages of Tamerlane, in that part of the world; but +that of Archangel continued, with great advantages both to the English +and Dutch, till the time that Peter the Great opened a passage into his +dominions by the Baltic Sea. + + +RUSSIAN LAPLAND. + +_Of the Government of Archangel._ + +To the west of Archangel, and within its government, lies Russian +Lapland, the third part of this country, the other two belonging to +Sweden and Denmark. This is a very large tract, occupying about eight +degrees of longitude, and extending in latitude from one polar circle to +the North Cape[7]. The natives of this country were confusedly known to +the ancients, under the name of troglodytes and northern pigmies; +appellations suitable enough to men, who, for the most part, are not +above four feet and a half high, and dwell in caverns; they are just the +same people they were at that time. They are of a tawny complexion, +though the other people of the north are white, and for the most part +very low in stature; though their neighbours, and the people of Iceland, +under the polar circle, are tall: they seem made for their mountainous +country, being nimble, squat, and robust; their skins are hard, the +better to resist the cold, their thighs and legs are slender, their feet +small, to enable them to run more nimbly amongst the rocks, with which +their province is covered. They are passionately fond of their own +country, which none but themselves can be pleased with, and are able to +live no where else. Some have affirmed, upon the credit of Olaus, that +these people were originally natives of Finland, and that they removed +into Lapland, where they diminished in stature: but why might they not +as well have made choice of lands less northerly, where the conveniences +of life were to be had in greater plenty? How comes it that they differ +so totally from their pretended ancestors in features, figure, and +complexion? Methinks we might, with as great reason, suppose that the +grass which grows in Lapland is produced from that of Denmark, and that +the fishes, peculiar to their lakes, came from those of Sweden. It is +most likely that the Laplanders are, like their animals, the produce of +their own country, and that nature has made the one for the other. + +Those who inhabit the frontiers of Finland, have adopted some of the +expressions of their neighbours, as happens to every people: but when +two nations give to things of common use, to objects which are +continually before their eyes, names absolutely different, it affords a +strong presumption, that one of them is not a colony from the other. The +Finlanders call a bear Karu, the Laplanders Muriet: the sun in the +Finnish language is called Auringa, in the Lapland tongue Beve. Here is +not the least analogy. The inhabitants of Finland, and Swedish Lapland, +formerly worshipped an idol whom they called Iumalac, and since the +reign of Gustavus Adolphus, to whom they are indebted for the +appellation of Lutherans, they call Jesus Christ the son of Iumalac. The +Muscovite or Russian Laplanders, are at present thought to be of the +Greek church; but those who wander about the mountains of the North +Cape, are satisfied with adoring one God under certain rude forms, as +has been the ancient custom of all the nations called Nomades, or +wandering nations. + +This race of people, who are inconsiderable in numbers, have but very +few ideas, and are happy in not having more, which would only occasion +them to have new wants which they could not satisfy: at present they +live contented, and free from diseases, notwithstanding the excessive +coldness of their climate; they drink nothing but water, and attain to a +great age. The custom imputed to them of entreating strangers to lie +with their wives and daughters, which they esteem as an honour done to +them, probably arose from a notion of the superiority of strangers, and +a desire of amending, by their means, the defects of their own race. +This was a custom established amongst the virtuous Lacedemonians. A +husband would entreat a favour of a comely young man, to give him +handsome children, whom he might adopt. Jealousy, and the laws, prevent +the rest of mankind from giving their wives up to the embraces of +another; but the Laplanders have few or no laws, and are in all +probability, strangers to jealousy. + + +MOSCOW. + +Ascending the river Dwina from north to south, we travel up the country +till we come to Moscow, the capital of the empire. This city was long +the centre of the Russian dominions, before they were extended on the +side of China and Persia. + +Moscow, lying in 55 degrees and a half, north latitude, in a warmer +climate, and more fruitful soil than that of Petersburg, is situated in +the midst of a large and delightful plain on the river Moskwa, and two +lesser rivers, which with the former lose themselves in the Occa, and +afterwards help to swell the stream of the Wolga. This city, in the 13th +century, was only a collection of huts inhabited by a set of miserable +wretches, oppressed by the descendants of Gengis Khan. + +The Kremlin, or ancient palace of the great dukes, was not built till +the 14th century; of such modern date are cities in this part of the +world. This palace was built by Italian architects, as were several +churches in the Gothic taste which then prevailed throughout all Europe. +There are two built by the famous Aristotle, of Bologna, who flourished +in the 15th century; but the private houses were no better than wooden +huts. + +The first writer who brought us acquainted with Moscow, was Olearius; +who, in 1633, went thither as the companion of an embassy from the duke +of Holstein. A native of Holstein must naturally be struck with wonder +at the immense extent of the city of Moscow, with its five quarters, +especially the magnificent one belonging to the czars, and with the +Asiatic splendour which then reigned at that court. There was nothing +equal to it in Germany at that time, nor any city by far so extensive or +well peopled. + +On the contrary, the earl of Carlisle, who was ambassador from Charles +II. to the czar Alexis, in 1633, complains in his relation that he could +not meet with any one convenience of life in Moscow; no inns on the +road, nor refreshments of any kind. One judged as a German, the other as +an Englishman, and both by comparison. The Englishman was shocked to see +most of the Boyards or Muscovite noblemen, sleep upon boards or benches, +with only the skins of animals under them; but this was the ancient +practice of all nations. The houses, which were almost all built of +wood, had scarcely any furniture, few or none of their tables were +covered with cloth; there was no pavement in the streets; nothing +agreeable; nothing convenient; very few artificers, and those few +extremely awkward, and employed only in works of absolute necessity. +These people might have passed for Spartans, had they been sober. + +But, on public days, the court displays all the splendour of a Persian +monarch. The earl says, he could see nothing but gold and precious +stones on the robes of the czar and his courtiers. These dresses were +not manufactured in the country; and yet, it is evident, that the people +might be rendered industrious long before that time. In the reign of the +czar Boris Godonow, the largest bell was cast at Moscow, in Europe; and +in the patriarchal church there were several ornaments in silver, worked +in a very curious manner. These pieces of workmanship, which were made +under the direction of Germans and Italians, were only transient +efforts. It is daily industry, and the continual exercise of a great +number of arts, that makes a nation flourishing. Poland, and the +neighbouring nations, were at that time very little superior to the +Russians. The handicraft trades were not in greater perfection in the +north of Germany, nor were the polite arts much better known, than in +the middle of the seventeenth century. + +Though the city of Moscow, at that time, had neither the magnificence +nor arts of our great cities in Europe, yet its circumference of twenty +miles; the part called the Chinese town, where all the rarities of China +are exhibited; the spacious quarter of the Kremlin, where stood the +palace of the czars; the gilded domes, the lofty and conspicuous +turrets; and, lastly, the prodigious number of its inhabitants, +amounting to near 500,000. All this together, rendered Moscow one of the +most considerable cities in the world. + +Theodore, or Foedor, eldest brother to Peter the Great, began to +improve Moscow. He ordered several large houses to be built of stone, +though without any regular architecture. He encouraged the principal +persons of his court to build, advancing them sums of money, and +furnishing them with materials. He was the first who collected studs of +fine horses, and made several useful embellishments. Peter, who was +attentive to every thing, did not neglect Moscow at the time he was +building Petersburg; for he caused it to be paved, adorned it with noble +edifices, and enriched it with manufactures; and, within these few +years, M. de Showalow, high chamberlain to the empress Elizabeth, +daughter to Peter the Great, has founded an university in this city. +This is the same person who furnished me with the memorials, from which +I have compiled the present history, and who was himself much more +capable to have done it, even in the French language, had not his great +modesty determined him to resign the task to me, as will evidently +appear from his own letters on this subject, which I have deposited in +the public library of Geneva. + + +SMOLENSKO. + +Westward of the duchy of Moscow, is that of Smolensko, a part of the +ancient Sarmatia Europea. The duchies of Moscow and Smolensko composed +what is properly called White Russia. Smolensko, which at first belonged +to the great dukes of Russia, was conquered by the great duke of +Lithuania, in the beginning of the fifteenth century, and was retaken +one hundred years afterwards by its old masters. Sigismund III. king of +Poland, got possession of it in 1611. The czar Alexis, father of Peter +I. recovered it again in 1654, since which time it has always +constituted part of the Russian empire. The panegyric of Peter the +Great, pronounced in the academy of sciences at Paris, takes notice, +that before his time the Russians had made no conquests either to the +west or south; but this is evidently a mistake. + + +_Of the Governments of_ NOVOGOROD _and_ KIOW, _or the_ UKRAINE. + +Between Petersburg and Smolensko, lies the province of Novogorod;[8] and +is said to be the country in which the ancient _Slavi_, or Sclavonians, +made their first settlements. But from whence came these _Slavi_, whose +language has spread over all the north-east part of Europe? _Sla_ +signifies a chief, and _slave_ one belonging to a chief. All that we +know concerning these ancient _Slaves_ is, that they were a race of +conquerors; that they built the city of Novogorod the Great, at the head +of a navigable river; and that this city was for a long time in +possession of a flourishing trade, and was a potent ally to the Hanse +Towns. Czar Iwan Wassiliawitsch (or John Basilowitz) made a conquest of +it in 1467, and carried away all its riches, which contributed to the +magnificence of the court of Moscow, till then almost unknown. + +To the south of the province of Smolensko, we meet with the province of +Kiow, otherwise called the Lesser Russia, Red Russia, or the Ukraine, +through which runs the Dnieper, called by the Greeks the Boristhenes. +The difference of these two names, the one so harsh to pronounce, and +the other so melodious, served to shew us, together with a hundred other +like instances, the rudeness of all the ancient people of the North, in +comparison with the graces of the Greek language. Kiow, the capital +city, formerly Kisow, was built by the emperors of Constantinople, who +made it a colony: here are still to be seen several Greek inscriptions +upwards of twelve hundred years old. This is the only city of any +antiquity in these countries, where men lived so long together without +building walls. Here it was that the great dukes of Russia held their +residence in the eleventh century, before the Tartars brought it under +their subjection. + +The inhabitants of the Ukraine, called Cossacks, are a mixture of the +ancient Roxolanians, Sarmatians, and Tartars, blended together. Rome and +Constantinople, though so long the mistress of other nations, are not to +compare in fertility of country with the Ukraine. Nature has there +exerted her utmost efforts for the service of mankind; but they have not +seconded those efforts by industry, living only upon the spontaneous +productions of an uncultivated, but fruitful soil, and the exercise of +rapine. Though fond, to a degree of enthusiasm, of that most valuable of +all blessings, liberty; yet they were always in subjection, either to +the Poles or to the Turks, till the year 1654, when they threw +themselves into the arms of Russia, but with some limitations. At length +they were entirely subdued by Peter the Great. + +Other nations are divided into cities and towns; this into ten +regiments. At the head of which is a chief, who used to be elected by a +majority of votes, and is called by the name of Hetman, or Itman. This +captain of the nation was not invested with supreme power. At present +the itman is a person nominated by the czar, from among the great lords +of the court; and is, in fact, no more that the governor of the +province, like governors of the _pays d'etats_ in France, that have +retained some privileges. + +At first the inhabitants of this country were all either Pagans or +Mahometans; but, when they entered into the service of Poland, they +were baptized Christians of the Roman communion; and now, that they are +in the service of Russia, they belong to the Greek church. + +Amongst these are comprehended the Zaporavian Cossacks, who are much the +same as our Bucaniers, or freebooters, living upon rapine. They are +distinguished from all other people, by never admitting women to live +among them; as the Amazons are said never to have admitted any man. The +women, whom they make use of for propagation, live upon other islands on +the river; they have no marriages amongst them, nor any domestic +economy; they inroll the male children in their militia, and leave the +girls to the care of their mothers. A brother has frequently children by +his sister, and a father by his daughter. They know no other laws than +customs, introduced by necessity: however, they make use of some prayers +from the Greek ritual. Fort St. Elizabeth has been lately built on the +Boristhenes, to keep them in awe. They serve as irregulars in the +Russian armies, and hapless is the fate of those who fall into their +hands. + + +_Of the Governments of_ BELGOROD, WORONITZ, _and_ NISCHGOROD. + +To the north-east of the province of Kiow, between the Boristhenes and +the Tanais, or Don, is the government of Belgorod, which is as large as +that of Kiow. This is one of the most fruitful provinces of Russia, and +furnishes Poland with a prodigious number of that large cattle known by +the name of Ukraine oxen. These two provinces are secured from the +incursions of the petty Tartar tribes, by lines extending from the +Boristhenes to the Tanais, and well furnished with forts and redoubts. + +Farther northward we cross the Tanais, and come into the government of +Worownitz, or Veronise, which extends as far as the banks of the Palus +Mæotis. In the neighbourhood of the capital of this province, which is +called, by the Russians, Woronestch, at the mouth of the river of the +same name, which falls into the Don, Peter the Great built his first +fleet; an undertaking which was at that time entirely new to the +inhabitants of these vast dominions. From thence we come to the +government of Nischgorod, abounding with grain, and is watered by the +river Wolga. + + +ASTRACAN. + +From the latter province we proceed southward to the kingdom of +Astracan. This country reaches from forty-three and a half degrees north +latitude (in a most delightful climate) to near fifty, including about +as many degrees of longitude as of latitude. It is bounded on one side +by the Caspian Sea, and on the other by the mountains of Circassia, +projecting beyond the Caspian, along mount Caucasus. It is watered by +the great river Wolga, the Jaick, and several other lesser streams, +between which, according to Mr. Perry, the English engineer, canals +might be cut, that would serve as reservoirs to receive the overflowing +of the waters; and by that means answer the same purposes as the canals +of the Nile, and make the soil more fruitful: but to the right and left +of the Wolga and Jaick, this fine country was inhabited, or rather +infested, by Tartars, who never apply themselves to agriculture, but +have always lived as strangers and sojourners upon the face of the +earth. + +The above named engineer, Perry, who was employed by Peter the Great in +these parts, found a vast track of land covered with pasture, leguminous +plants, cherry and almond trees, and large flocks of wild sheep, who fed +in these solitary places, and whose flesh was excellent. The inhabitants +of these countries must be conquered and civilized, in order to second +the efforts of nature, who has been forced in the climate of Petersburg. + +The kingdom of Astracan is a part of the ancient Capshak, conquered by +Gengis-Khan, and afterwards by Tamerlane, whose dominion extended as far +as Moscow. The czar, John Basilides, grandson of John Basilowitz, and +the greatest conqueror of all the Russian princes, delivered his country +from the Tartarian yoke, in the sixteenth century, and added the kingdom +of Astracan to his other conquests, in 1554. + +Astracan is the boundary of Asia and Europe, and is so situated as to be +able to carry on a trade with both; as merchandizes may be conveyed from +the Caspian Sea, up to this town, by means of the Wolga. This was one of +the grand schemes of Peter the Great, and has been partly carried into +execution. An entire suburb of Astracan is inhabited by Indians. + + +OREMBURG. + +To the south-east of the kingdom of Astracan, is a small country, newly +planted, called Oremburg. The town of this name was built in the year +1734, on the banks of the river Jaick. This province is thick covered +with hills, that are parts of Mount Caucasus. The passes in these +mountains, and of the rivers that run down from them, are defended by +forts raised at equal distances. In this region, formerly uninhabited, +the Persians come at present, to hide from the rapacity of robbers, +such of their effects as have escaped the fury of the civil wars. The +city of Oremburg is become the asylum of the Persians and their riches, +and is grown considerable by their calamities. The natives of Great +Bukari come hither to trade, so that it is become the mart of Asia. + + +_Of the Government of_ CASAN, _and of_ GREAT PERMIA. + +Beyond the Wolga and Jaick, towards the north, lies the kingdom of +Casan, which, like that of Astracan, fell by partition to one of the +sons of Gengis Khan, and afterwards to a son of Tamerlane, and was at +length conquered by John Basilides. It is still inhabited by a number of +Mahometan Tartars. This vast country stretches as far as Siberia; it is +allowed to have been formerly very flourishing and rich, and still +retains some part of its pristine opulence. A province of this kingdom, +called Great Permia, and since Solikam, was the staple for the +merchandizes of Persia, and the furs of Tartary. There has been found in +Permia a great quantity of the coin of the first Caliphs, and some +Tartarian idols, made of gold;[9] but these monuments of ancient +opulence were found in the midst of barren deserts and extreme poverty, +where there were not the least traces of commerce: revolutions of this +nature may easily happen to a barren country, seeing they are so soon +brought about in the most fruitful provinces. + +The famous Swedish prisoner, Strahlemberg, who made such advantageous +use of his misfortunes, and who examined those extensive countries with +so much attention, was the first who gave an air of probability to a +fact, which before had been always thought incredible; namely, +concerning the ancient commerce of these provinces. Pliny and Pomponius +Mela relate, that, in the reign of Augustus, a king of the Suevi made a +present to Metellus Celer of some Indians who had been cast by a storm +upon the coasts bordering on the Elbe. But how could inhabitants of +India navigate the Germanic seas? This adventure was deemed fabulous by +all our moderns, especially after the change made in the commerce of our +hemisphere by the discovery of the Cape of Good Hope. But formerly it +was no more extraordinary to see an Indian trading to the parts to the +north west of his country, than to see a Roman go from India by the way +of Arabia. The Indians went to Persia, and thence embarked on the +Hyrcanian Sea, and ascending the Rha, now the Wolga, got to Great Permia +through the river Kama; from whence they might take shipping again on +the Black Sea, or the Baltic. They have, in all times, been enterprising +men. The Tyrians undertook most surprising voyages. + +If after surveying all these vast provinces, we direct our view towards +the east, we shall find the limits of Europe and Asia again confounded. +A new name is wanting for a considerable part of the globe. The ancients +divided their known world into Europe, Asia, and Africa: but they had +not seen the tenth part of it: hence it happens, that when we pass the +Palus Mæotis we are at a loss to know where Europe ends, or Asia begins; +all that tract of country lying beyond mount Taurus was distinguished by +the general appellation of Scythia, and afterwards by that of Tartary. +It might not be improper, perhaps, to give the name of Terræ Arcticæ, +or Northern Lands, to the country extending from the Baltic Sea to the +confines of China; as that of Terræ Australes, or Southern Lands, are to +that equally extensive part of the world, situated under the Antarctic +Pole, and which serves to counterpoise the globe. + + +_Of the Governments of_ SIBERIA, _of the_ SAMOJEDES, _the_ OSTIAKS +KAMTSHATKA, _&c._ + +Siberia, with the territories beyond it, extends from the frontiers of +the provinces of Archangel, Casan, and Astracan, eastward as far as the +sea of Japan: it joined the southern parts of Russia by Mount Caucasus; +from thence, to the country of Kamtshatka, is about one thousand two +hundred computed French leagues; and from southern Tartary, which serves +as its boundary, to the Frozen Sea, about four hundred, which is the +least breadth of the Russian empire. This country produces the richest +furs; and this occasioned the discovery of it in the year 1563. + +In the sixteenth century, in the reign of the czar, John Basilides, +and not in that of Foedor Johannowitz, a private person in the +neighbourhood of Archangel, named Anika, one tolerably rich for his +condition of life and country, took notice that certain men of an +extraordinary figure, and dressed in a manner unknown to that country, +and who spoke a language understood by none but themselves, came every +year down a river which falls into the Dwina,[10] and brought martens +and black foxes, which they trucked for nails and pieces of glass; just +as the first savages of America used to exchange their gold with the +Spaniards: he caused them to be followed by his sons and servants, as +far as their own country. These were the Samojedes, a people who seem +to resemble the Laplanders, but are of a different race. They are, like +that people, unacquainted with the use of bread; and like them, they +yoke rein-deer to draw their sledges. They live in caverns and huts, +amidst the snow;[11] but in other respects, nature has made a visible +difference between this species of men and the Laplanders. Their upper +jaw projects forward, so as to be on a level with their nose, and their +ears are placed higher. Both the men and women have no hair in any other +part of their bodies, but their heads; and their nipple is of a deep +black, like ebony. The Lapland men and women are distinguished by no +such marks. By memoirs sent from these countries so little known, I have +been informed, that the author of the curious natural history of the +king's garden, is mistaken, where, in speaking of the many curiosities +of human nature, he confounds the Lapland race with that of the +Samojedes. There are many more different species of men than is commonly +thought. The Samojedes, and the Hottentots, seem to be the two extremes +of our continent; and if we observe the black nipples of the Samojedian +women, and the apron with which nature has furnished the Hottentot +females, and which hangs half way down their thighs, we may have some +idea of the great variety of our animal species, a variety unknown to +those inhabiting great cities, who are generally strangers to almost +every thing that is not immediately within their view. + +The Samojedes are as singular in their moral as in their physical +distinctions; they pay no worship to the Supreme Being; they border upon +Manicheism, or rather upon the religion of the ancient Magi in this one +point, that they acknowledge a good and an evil principle. The horrible +climate they inhabit may in some measure excuse this belief, which is of +such ancient date, and so natural to those who are ignorant and unhappy. + +Theft, or murder, is never heard of amongst them; being in a manner +devoid of passions, they are strangers to injustice; they have no terms +in their language to denote vice and virtue, their extreme simplicity +has not yet permitted them to form abstract ideas, they are wholly +guided by pensation, and this is perhaps an incontestable proof that men +naturally love justice, when not blinded by inordinate passions. + +Some of these savages were prevailed on to suffer themselves to be +carried to Moscow, where many things they saw struck them with +admiration. They gazed upon the emperor as their god, and voluntarily +engaged for themselves and countrymen a present of two martens, or +sables, every year for each inhabitant. Colonies were soon settled +beyond the Oby,[12] and the Irtis,[13] and some forts built. In the year +1595, a Cossack officer was sent into this country, who conquered it for +the czar with only a few soldiers and some artillery, as Cortez did +Mexico; but he only made a conquest of barren deserts. + +In sailing up the Oby to the junction of the river Irtis with the Tobol, +they found a petty settlement, which they converted into the town of +Tobol,[14] now the capital of Siberia, and a considerable place. Who +could imagine that this country was for a long time the residence of +those very Huns, who under Attila carried their depredations as far as +the gates of Rome, and that these Huns came from the north of China? The +Usbeck Tartars succeeded the Huns, and the Russians the Usbecks. The +possession of these savage countries has been disputed with as much +murderous fury, as that of the most fruitful provinces. Siberia was +formerly better peopled than it is at present, especially towards the +southern parts; if we may judge from the rivers and sepulchral +monuments. + +All this part of the world, from the sixtieth degree of latitude, or +thereabouts, as far as those mountains of perpetual ice which border the +north seas, is totally different from the regions of the temperate zone, +the earth produces neither the same plants, nor the same animals, nor +are there the same sort of fishes in their lakes and rivers. + +Below the country of the Samojedes lies that of the Ostiaks, along the +river Oby. These people have no resemblance in any respect with the +Samojedes, save that like them and all the first race of men, they are +hunters, fishermen, and shepherds; some of them have no religion, not +being formed into any society, and the others who live together in herds +or clans, have a kind of worship, and pray to the principal object of +their wants; they adore the skin of a sheep, because this creature is of +all others the most serviceable to them; just as the Egyptian husbandmen +made choice of an ox, as an emblem of the Deity who created that +creature for the use of man. + +The Ostiaks have likewise other idols, whose origin and worship are as +little deserving our notice as their worshippers. There were some +converts to Christianity made amongst them in the year 1712; but these, +like the lowest of our peasants, are Christians without knowing what +they profess. Several writers pretend that these people were natives of +Great Permia, but as Great Permia is in a manner a desert, how comes it +that its inhabitants should settle themselves at such a distance, and so +inconveniently? This is a difficulty not worth clearing up. Every nation +which has not cultivated the polite arts, deserves to remain in +obscurity. + +In the country of the Ostiaks in particular, and amongst their +neighbours the Burates and Jakutians, they often discover a kind of +ivory under ground, the nature of which is as yet unknown. Some take it +to be a sort of fossil, and others the tooth of a species of elephants, +the breed of which have been destroyed: but where is the country that +does not afford some natural productions, which at once astonish and +confound philosophy. + +Several mountains in this country abound with the amianthes or asbestos, +a kind of incombustible flax, of which a sort of cloth and paper is +sometimes made. + +To the south of the Ostiaks are the Burates, another people, who have +not yet been made Christians. Eastward there are several hordes, whom +the Russians have not as yet entirely subdued. + +None of these people have the least knowledge of the calendar: they +reckon their time by snows, and not by the apparent motion of the sun: +as it snows regularly, and for a long time every winter, they say, 'I am +so many snows old,' just as we say, I am so many years. + +And here I must relate the accounts given by the Swedish officer +Strahlemberg, who was taken prisoner in the battle of Pultowa, and lived +fifteen years in Siberia, and made the entire tour of that country. He +says, that there are still some remains of an ancient people, whose skin +is spotted or variegated with different colours, and that he himself had +seen some of them, and the fact has been confirmed to me by Russians +born at Tobolsky. The variety of the human species seems to be greatly +diminished, as we find very few of these extraordinary people, and they +have probably been exterminated by some other race: for instance there +are very few Albinos, or White Moors; one of them was presented to the +academy of sciences at Paris, which I saw. It is the same with respect +to several other species of animals which are rare. + +As to the Borandians, of whom mention is made so frequently in the +learned history of the king's garden, my memoirs say, that this race of +people is entirely unknown to the Russians. + +All the southern part of these countries is peopled by numerous hordes +of Tartars. The ancient Turks came from this part of Tartary to conquer +these extensive countries, of which they are at present in possession. +The Calmucs and Monguls are the very Scythians who, under Madies, made +themselves masters of Upper Asia, and conquered Cyaxares, king of the +Medes. They are the men, whom Gengis Khan and his sons led afterwards as +far as Germany, and was termed the Mogul empire under Tamerlane. These +people afford a lively instance of the vicissitudes which have happened +to all nations; some of their hordes, so far from being formidable now, +are become vassals to Russia. + +Among these is a nation of Calmucs, dwelling between Siberia and the +Caspian Sea, where, in the year 1720, there was discovered a +subterraneous house of stone, with urns, lamps, earrings, an equestrian +statue of an oriental prince, with a diadem on his head, two women +seated on thrones, and a roll of manuscripts, which were sent by Peter +the Great to the academy of inscriptions at Paris, and proved to be +written in the Thibet language: all these are striking proofs, that the +liberal arts formerly resided in this now barbarous country, and are +lasting evidences of the truth of what Peter the Great was wont several +times to say, viz. that the arts had made the tour of the globe. + +The last province is Kamtshatka, the most eastern part of the continent. +The inhabitants were absolutely void of all religion when they were +first discovered. The north part of this country likewise affords fine +furs, with which the inhabitants clothed themselves in winter, though +they went naked all the summer season. The first discoverers were +surprised to find in the southern parts men with long beards, while in +the northern parts, from the country of the Samojedes, as far as the +mouth of the river Amur, they have no more beards than the Americans. +Thus, in the empire of Russia, there is a greater number of different +species, more singularities, and a greater diversity of manners and +customs, than in any country in the known world. + +The first discovery of this country was made by a Cossack officer, who +went by land from Siberia to Kamtshatka, in 1701, by order of Peter the +Great, who, notwithstanding his misfortune at Narva, still continued to +extend his care from one extremity of the continent to the other. +Afterwards, in 1725, some time before death surprised him, in the midst +of his great exploits, he sent Captain Bering, a Dane, with express +orders to find out, if possible, a passage by the sea of Kamtshatka, to +the coast of America. Bering did not succeed in his first attempt; but +the empress Anne sent him out again in 1733. M. Spengenberg, captain of +a ship, his associate in this voyage, set out the first from Kamtshatka, +but could not put to sea till the year 1739, so much time was taken up +in getting to the port where they were to embark, in building and +fitting out the ships, and providing the necessaries. Spengenberg sailed +as far as the north part of Japan, through a streight, formed by a long +chain of islands, and returned without having discovered the passage. + +In 1741, Bering cruised all over this sea, in company with De Lisle de +la Croyere, the astronomer, of the same family of L'Isle, which has +produced such excellent geographers: another captain likewise went upon +the same discovery. They both made the coast of America, to the +northward of California. Thus the north-east passage, so long sought +after, was at length discovered, but there were no refreshments to be +met with in those barren coasts. Their fresh water failed them, and part +of the crew perished with the scurvy. They saw the northern bank of +California for above a hundred miles, and saw some leathern canoes, with +just such a sort of people in them as the Canadians. All their +endeavours however proved fruitless: Bering ended his life in an island, +to which he gave his name. The other captain, happening to be closer in +with the Californian coast, sent ten of his people on shore, who never +returned. The captain, after waiting for them in vain, found himself +obliged to return back to Kamtshatka, and De Lisle died as he was going +on shore. Such are the disasters that have generally attended every new +attempt upon the northern seas. But what advantages may yet arise from +these powerful and dangerous discoveries, time alone can prove. + +We have now described all the different provinces that compose the +Russian dominions, from Finland to the sea of Japan. The largest parts +of this empire have been all united at different times, as has been the +case in all other kingdoms in the world. The Scythians, Huns, +Massagetes, Slavians, Cimbrians, Getes, and Sarmatians, are now subjects +of the czar. The Russians, properly so called, are the ancient Roxolani +or Slavi. + +Upon reflection, we shall find that most states were formed in the same +manner. The French are an assemblage of Goths, of Danes called Normands, +of northern Germans, called Burgundians; of Franks, Allmans, and some +Romans, mixed with the ancient Celtæ. In Rome and Italy there are +several families descended from the people of the North, but none that +we know of from the ancient Romans. The supreme pontiff is frequently +the offspring of a Lombard, a Goth, a Teuton, or a Cimbrian. The +Spaniards are a race of Arabs, Carthaginians, Jews, Tyrians, Visigoths, +and Vandals, incorporated with the ancient inhabitants of the country. +When nations are thus intermixed, it is a long time before they are +civilized, or even before their language is formed. Some, indeed, +receive these sooner, others later. Polity and the liberal arts are so +difficult to establish, and the new raised structure is so often +destroyed by revolutions, that we may wonder all nations are not so +barbarous as Tartars. + + + + +CHAP. II. + + Continuation of the description of Russia, population, finances, + armies, customs, religion: state of Russia before Peter the Great. + + +The more civilized a country is, the better it is peopled. Thus China +and India are more populous than any other empires, because, after a +multitude of revolutions, which changed the face of sublunary affairs, +these two nations made the earliest establishments in civil society: the +antiquity of their government, which has subsisted upwards of four +thousand years, supposes, as we have already observed, many essays and +efforts in preceding ages. The Russians came very late; but the arts +having been introduced amongst them in their full perfection, it has +happened, that they have made more progress in fifty years, than any +other nation had done before them in five hundred. The country is far +from being populous, in proportion to its extent; but, such as it is, it +has as great a number of inhabitants as any other state in Christendom. +From the capitation lists, and the register of merchants, artificers, +and male peasants, I might safely assert, that Russia, at present, +contains at least twenty-four millions of male inhabitants: of these +twenty-four millions, the greatest part are villains or bondmen, as in +Poland, several provinces of Germany, and formerly throughout all +Europe. The estate of a gentleman in Russia and Poland is computed, not +by his increase in money, but by the number of his slaves. + +The following is a list, taken in 1747, of all the males who paid the +capitation or poll-tax:-- + + Merchants or tradesmen 198000 + + Handicrafts 16500 + + Peasants incorporated with the merchants and handicrafts 1950 + + Peasants called Odonoskis, who contribute to maintain the + militia 430220 + + Others who do not contribute thereto 26080 + + Workmen of different trades, whose parents are not known 1000 + + Others who are not incorporated with the companies of + tradesmen 4700 + + Peasants immediately dependent on the crown, about 555000 + + Persons employed in the mines belonging to the crown, + partly Christians, partly Mahometans and Pagans 64000 + + Other peasants belonging to the crown, who work in the + mines, and in private manufactories 24200 + + New converts to the Greek church 57000 + + Tartars and Ostiaks (peasants) 241000 + + Mourses, Tartars, Mordauts, and others, whether Pagans + or Christians, employed by the admiralty 7800 + + Tartars subject to contribution, called Tepteris, + Bobilitz, &c. 28900 + + Bondmen to several merchants, and other privileged persons, + who though not landholders, are allowed to have slaves 9100 + + Peasants in the lands set apart for the support of the crown 418000 + + Peasants on the lands belonging to her majesty, + independently of the rights of the crown 60500 + + Peasants on the lands confiscated to the crown 13600 + + Bondmen belonging to the assembly of the clergy, and who + defray other expenses 37500 + + Bondmen belonging to gentlemen 3550000 + + Bondmen belonging to bishops 116400 + + Bondmen belonging to convents, whose numbers were reduced + by Peter the Great 721500 + + Bondmen belonging to cathedral and parish churches 23700 + + Peasants employed as labourers in the docks of the + admiralty, or in other public works, about 4000 + + Labourers in the mines, and in private manufactures 16000 + + Peasants on the lands assigned to the principal + manufactures 14500 + + Labourers in the mines belonging to the crown 3000 + + Bastards brought up by the clergy 40 + + Sectaries called Raskolniky 2200 + ------- + Total 6646390 + ------- + +Here we have a round number of six millions six hundred forty-six +thousand three hundred and ninety male persons, who pay the poll-tax. In +this number are included boys and old men, but girls and women are not +reckoned, nor boys born between the making of one register of the lands +and another. Now, if we only reckon triple the number of heads subject +to be taxed, including women and girls, we shall find near twenty +millions of souls. + +To this number we may add the military list, which amounts to three +hundred and fifty thousand men: besides, neither the nobility nor +clergy, who are computed at two hundred thousand, are subject to this +capitation. + +Foreigners, of whatever country or profession, are likewise exempt: as +also the inhabitants of the conquered countries, namely, Livonia, +Esthonia, Ingria, Carelia, and a part of Finland, the Ukraine, and the +Don Cossacks, the Calmucks, and other Tartars, Samojedes, the +Laplanders, the Ostiaks, and all the idolatrous people of Siberia, a +country of greater extent than China. + +By the same calculation, it is impossible that the total of the +inhabitants of Russia should amount to less than twenty-four millions. +At this rate, there are eight persons to every square mile. The English +ambassador, whom I have mentioned before, allows only five; but he +certainly was not furnished with such faithful memoirs as those with +which I have been favoured. + +Russia therefore is exactly five times less populous than Spain, but +contains near four times the number of inhabitants: it is almost as +populous as France or Germany; but, if we consider its vast extent, the +number of souls is thirty times less. + +There is one important remark to be made in regard to this enumeration, +namely, that out of six million six hundred and forty thousand people +liable to the poll-tax, there are about nine hundred thousand that +belong to the Russian clergy, without reckoning either the ecclesiastics +of the conquered countries, of the Ukraine, or of Siberia. + +Therefore, out of seven persons liable to the poll-tax, the clergy have +one; but, nevertheless, they are far from possessing the seventh part of +the whole revenues of the state, as is the case in many other kingdoms, +where they have at least a seventh of all estates; for their peasants +pay a capitation to the sovereign; and the other taxes of the crown of +Russia, in which the clergy have no share, are very considerable. + +This valuation is very different from that of all other writers, on the +affairs of Russia; so that foreign ministers, who have transmitted +memoirs of this state to their courts, have been greatly mistaken. The +archives of the empire are the only things to be consulted. + +It is very probable, that Russia has been better peopled than it is at +present; before the small-pox, that came from the extremities of Arabia, +and the great-pox that came from America, had spread over these +climates, where they have now taken root. The world owes these two +dreadful scourges, which have depopulated it more than all its wars, the +one to Mahomet, and the other to Christopher Columbus. The plague, which +is a native of Africa, seldom approached the countries of the North: +besides, the people of those countries, from Sarmatia to the Tartars, +who dwell beyond the great wall, having overspread the world by their +irruptions, this ancient nursery of the human species must have been +surprisingly diminished. + +In this vast extent of country, there are said to be about seventy-four +thousand monks, and five thousand nuns, notwithstanding the care taken +by Peter the Great to reduce their number; a care worthy the legislator +of an empire where the human race is so remarkably deficient. These +thirteen thousand persons, thus immured and lost to the state, have, as +the reader may have observed, seventy-two thousand bondmen to till their +lands, which is evidently too great a number: there cannot be a stronger +proof how difficult it is to eradicate abuses of a long standing. + +I find, by a list of the revenues of the empire in 1735, that reckoning +the tribute paid by the Tartars, with all taxes and duties in money, the +sum total amounted to thirteen millions of rubles, which makes +sixty-five millions of French livres, exclusive of tributes in kind. +This moderate sum was at that time sufficient to maintain three hundred +and thirty-nine thousand five hundred, as well sea as land forces: but +both the revenues and troops are augmented since that time. + +The customs, diets, and manners of the Russians, ever bore a greater +affinity to those of Asia than to those of Europe: such was the old +custom of receiving tributes in kind, of defraying the expenses of +ambassadors on their journeys, and during their residence in the +country, and of never appearing at church, or in the royal presence with +a sword; an oriental custom, directly the reverse of that ridiculous and +barbarous one amongst us, of addressing ourselves to God, to our king, +to our friends, and to our women, with an offensive weapon, which hangs +down to the bottom of the leg. The long robe worn on public days, had a +more noble air than the short habits of the western nations of Europe. A +vest lined and turned up with fur, with a long scimar, adorned with +jewels for festival days; and those high turbans, which add to the +stature, were much more striking to the eye than our perukes and close +coats, and more suitable to cold climates; but this ancient dress of all +nations seems to be not so well contrived for war, nor so convenient for +working people. Most of their other customs were rustic; but we must not +imagine, that their manners were so barbarous as some writers would have +us believe. Albert Krants relates a story of an Italian ambassador, whom +the czar ordered to have his hat nailed to his head, for not pulling it +off while he was making his speech to him. Others attribute this +adventure to a Tartar, and others again to a French ambassador. + +Olearius pretends, that the czar Michael Theodorowitz, banished the +marquis of Exideüil, ambassador from Henry IV. of France, into Siberia; +but it is certain, that this monarch sent no ambassador to Moscow, and +that there never was a marquis of Exideüil in France. In the same manner +do travellers speak about the country of Borandia, and of the trade they +have carried on with the people of Nova Zémbla, which is scarcely +inhabited at all, and the long conversations they have had with some of +the Samojedes, as if they understood their language. Were the enormous +compilations of voyages to be cleared of every thing that is not true +nor useful in them, both the works and the public would be gainers by +it. + +The Russian government resembled that of the Turks, in respect to the +standing forces, or guards, called Strelitzes, who, like the +janissaries, sometimes disposed of the crown, and frequently disturbed +the state as much as they defended it. Their number was about forty +thousand. Those who were dispersed in the provinces, subsisted by rapine +and plunder; those in Moscow lived like citizens, followed trades, did +no duty, and carried their insolence to the greatest excess: in short, +there was no other way to preserve peace and good order in the kingdom, +but by breaking them; a very necessary, and at the same time a very +dangerous step. + +The public revenues did not exceed five millions of rubles, or about +twenty-five millions of French livres. This was sufficient when czar +Peter came to the crown to maintain the ancient mediocrity, but was not +a third part of what was necessary to go certain lengths, and to render +himself and people considerable in Europe: but at the same time many of +their taxes were paid in kind, according to the Turkish custom, which +is less burthensome to the people than that of paying their tributes in +money. + + +OF THE TITLE OF CZAR. + +As to the title of czar, it may possibly come from the tzars or tchars +of the kingdom of Casan. When John, or Ivan Basilides, completed the +conquest of this kingdom in the sixteenth century, which had been begun +by his grandfather, who afterwards lost it, he assumed this title, which +his successors have retained ever since. Before John Basilides, the +sovereign of Russia, took the title of Welike Knez, i. e. great prince, +great lord, great chief, which the Christian nations afterwards rendered +by that of great duke. Czar Michael Theodorowitz, when he received the +Holstein embassy, took to himself the following titles: 'Great knez, and +great lord, conservator of all the Russias, prince of Wolodomer, Moscow, +Novogorod, &c. tzar of Casan, tzar of Astracan, and tzar of Siberia.' +Tzar was, therefore, a title belonging to these eastern princes; and, +therefore, it is more probable to have been derived from the tshas of +Persia, than from the Roman Cæsars, whom the Siberian tzars, on the +banks of the Oby, can hardly be supposed to have ever heard. + +No title, however pompous, is of any consequence, if those who bear it +are not great and powerful themselves. The word emperor, which +originally signified no more than general of the army, became the title +of the sovereign of the Roman republic: it is now given to the supreme +governor of all the Russias, more justly than to any other potentate, if +we consider the power and extent of his dominions. + + +RELIGION. + +The established religion of this country has, ever since the eleventh +century, been that of the Greek church, so called in opposition to the +Latin; though there were always a greater number of Mahometan and Pagan +provinces, than of those inhabited by Christians. Siberia, as far as +China, was in a state of idolatry; and, in some of the provinces, they +were utter strangers to all kind of religion. + +Perry, the engineer, and baron Strahlemberg, who both resided so many +years in Russia, tell us, that they found more sincerity and probity +among the Pagans than the other inhabitants; not that paganism made them +more virtuous, but their manner of living, which, was that of the +primitive ages, as they are called, freed them from all the tumultuous +passions; and, in consequence, they were known for their integrity. + +Christianity did not get footing in Russia and the other countries of +the North, till very late. It is said, that a princess, named Olha, +first introduced it, about the end of the tenth century, as Clotilda, +niece to an Arian prince, did among the Franks; the wife of Miceslaus, +duke of Poland, among the Poles; and the sister of the emperor Henry II. +among the Hungarians. Women are naturally easily persuaded by the +ministers of religion, and as easily persuade the other part of mankind. + +It is further added, that the princess Olha caused herself to be +baptized at Constantinople, by the name of Helena; and that, as soon as +she embraced Christianity, the emperor John Zimisces fell in love with +her. It is most likely that she was a widow; however, she refused the +emperor. The example of the princess Olha, or Olga, as she is called, +did not at first make many proselytes. Her son,[15] who reigned a long +time, was not of the same way of thinking as his mother, but her +grandson, Wolodomer, who was born of a concubine, having murdered his +brother and mounted the throne, sued for the alliance of Basiles, +emperor of Constantinople, but could obtain it only on condition of +receiving baptism: and this event, which happened in the year 987, is +the epocha when the Greek church was first established in Russia. +Photius, the patriarch, so famous for his immense erudition, his +disputes with the church of Rome, and for his misfortunes, sent a person +to baptize Wolodomer, in order to add this part of the world to the +patriarchal see.[16] + +Wolodimer, or Wolodomer, therefore completed the work which his +grandmother had begun. A Greek was made the first metropolitan, or +patriarch of Russia; and from this time the Russians adopted an +alphabet, taken partly from the Greek. This would have been of advantage +to them, had they not still retained the principles of their own +language, which is the Sclavonian in every thing, but a few terms +relating to their liturgy and church government. One of the Greek +patriarchs, named Jeremiah, having a suit depending before the divan, +came to Moscow to solicit it; where, after some time, he resigned his +authority over the Russian churches, and consecrated patriarch, the +archbishop of Novogorod, named Job. This was in the year 1588, from +which time the Russian church became as independent as its empire. The +patriarch of Russia has ever since been consecrated by the Russian +bishops, and not by the patriarch of Constantinople. He ranked in the +Greek church next to the patriarch of Jerusalem, but he was in fact the +only free and powerful patriarch; and, consequently, the only real one. +Those of Jerusalem, Constantinople, Antioch, Alexandria, are mercenary +chiefs of a church, enslaved by the Turks; and even the patriarchs of +Jerusalem and Antioch are no longer considered as such, having no more +credit or influence in Turkey, than the rabbins of the Jewish synagogues +settled there. + +It was from a person who was a patriarch of all the Russias, that Peter +the Great was descended in a right line. These new prelates soon wanted +to share the sovereign authority with the czars. They thought it not +enough that their prince walked bare-headed, once a year before the +patriarch, leading his horse by the bridle. These external marks of +respect only served to increase their thirst for rule; a passion which +proved the source of great troubles in Russia, as well as in other +countries. + +Nicon, a person whom the monks look upon as a saint, and who was +patriarch in the reign of Alexis, the father of Peter the Great, wanted +to raise his dignity above that of the throne; for he not only assumed +the privilege of sitting by the side of the czar in the senate, but +pretended that neither war nor peace could be made without his consent. +His authority was so great, that, being supported by his immense wealth, +and by his intrigues with the clergy and the people, he kept his master +in a kind of subjection. He had the boldness to excommunicate some +senators who opposed his excessive insolence; till at last, Alexis, +finding himself not powerful enough to depose him by his own authority, +was obliged to convene a synod of all the bishops. There the patriarch +was accused of having received money from the Poles; and being +convicted, was deposed, and confined for the remainder of his days in a +monastery, after which the prelates chose another patriarch in his +stead. + +From the first infancy of Christianity in Russia, there have been +several sects there, as well as in other countries; for sects are as +frequently the fruits of ignorance, as of pretended knowledge: but +Russia is the only Christian state of any considerable extent, in which +religion has not excited civil wars, though it has felt some occasional +tumults. + +The Raskolnikys, who consist at present of about two thousand males, and +who are mentioned in the foregoing list,[17] are the most ancient sect +of any in this country. It was established in the twelfth century, by +some enthusiasts, who had a superficial knowledge of the New Testament: +they made use then, and still do, of the old pretence of all sectaries, +that of following the letter, and accused all other Christians of +remissness. They would not permit a priest, who had drank brandy, to +confer baptism; they affirmed, in the words of our Saviour, that there +is neither a first nor a last, among the faithful; and held, that one of +the elect might kill himself for the love of his Saviour. According to +them it is a great sin to repeat the hallelujah three times; and, +therefore, repeat it only twice. The benediction is to be given only +with three fingers. In other respects, no society can be more regular, +or strict in its morals. They live like the quakers, and, like them, do +not admit any other Christians into their assemblies, which is the +reason that these have accused them of all the abominations of which the +heathens accused the primitive Galileans: these latter, the gnostics, +and with which the Roman catholics have charged the protestants. They +have been frequently accused of cutting the throat of an infant, and +drinking its blood; and of mixing together in their private ceremonies, +without distinction of kindred, age, or even of sex. They have been +persecuted at times, and then they shut themselves up in their hamlets, +set fire to their houses, and thrown themselves into the flames. Peter +took the only method of reclaiming them, which was by letting them live +in peace. + +But to conclude, in all this vast empire, there are but twenty-eight +episcopal sees; and in Peter's time there were but twenty-two. This +small number was, perhaps, one of the causes to which the Russian church +owes its tranquillity. So very circumscribed was the knowledge of the +clergy, that czar Theodore, brother to Peter the Great, was the first +who introduced the custom of singing Psalms in churches. + +Theodore and Peter, especially the latter, admitted indifferently, into +their councils and their armies, those of the Greek, the Latin, the +Lutheran, and the Calvinist communion, leaving every one at liberty to +serve God after his own conscience, provided he did his duty to the +state. At that time there was not one Latin church in this great empire +of two thousand leagues, till Peter established some new manufactures at +Astracan, when there were about sixty Roman catholic families, under the +direction of the capuchins; but the jesuits endeavouring to establish +themselves in his dominions, he drove them out by an edict, published in +the month of April, 1718. He tolerated the capuchins as an insignificant +set of monks, but considered the jesuits as dangerous politicians. + +The Greek church has at once the honour and satisfaction to see its +communion extended throughout an empire of two thousand leagues in +length, while that of Rome is not in possession of half that tract in +Europe. Those of the Greek communion have, at all times, been +particularly attentive to maintain an equality between theirs and the +Latin church; and always upon their guard against the zeal of the see of +Rome, which they look upon as ambition; because, in fact, that church, +whose power is very much circumscribed in our hemisphere, and yet +assumes the title of universal, has always endeavoured to act up to that +title. + +The Jews never made any settlements in Russia, as they have done in most +of the other states of Europe, from Constantinople to Rome. The Russians +have carried on their trade by themselves, or by the help of the nations +settled amongst them. Theirs is the only country of the Greek communion, +where synagogues are not seen by the side of Christian temples. + + +_Conclusion of the State of_ RUSSIA _before_ PETER _the_ GREAT. + +Russia is indebted solely to czar Peter for its great influence in the +affairs of Europe; being of no consideration in any other reign, since +it embraced Christianity. Before this period, the Russians made the same +figure on the Black Sea, that the Normans did afterwards on the coasts +of the ocean. In the reign of the emperor Heraclius, they fitted out an +armament of forty thousand small barks; appeared before Constantinople, +which they besieged, and imposed a tribute on the Greek emperors; but +the grand knez Wolodimar, being wholly taken up with the care of +establishing Christianity in his dominions, and wearied out with +intestine broils in his own family, weakened his dominions by dividing +them between his children. They almost all fell a prey to the Tartars, +who held Russia in subjection near two hundred years. At length John +Basilides freed it from slavery, and enlarged its boundaries: but, after +his time, it was ruined again by civil wars. + +Before the time of Peter the Great, Russia was neither so powerful, so +well cultivated, so populous, nor so rich as at present. It had no +possessions in Finland, nor in Livonia; and this latter alone had long +been worth more than all Siberia. The Cossacks were still unsubjected, +nor were the people of Astracan reduced to obedience; what little trade +was carried on, was rather to their disadvantage. The White Sea, the +Baltic, the Pontus Euxinus, the sea of Azoph, and the Caspian Sea, were +entirely useless to a nation that had not a single ship, nor even a term +in their language to express a fleet. If nothing more had been wanting +but to be superior to the Tartars, and the other nations of the north, +as far as China, the Russians undoubtedly had that advantage, but they +were to be brought upon an equality with civilized nations, and to be in +a condition, one day, of even surpassing several of them. Such an +undertaking appeared altogether impracticable, inasmuch as they had not +a single ship at sea, and were absolutely ignorant of military +discipline by land: nay, the most common manufactures were hardly +encouraged, and agriculture itself, that _primum mobile_ of trade, was +neglected. This requires the utmost attention and encouragement on the +part of a government; and it is to this that the English are indebted, +for finding in their corn a treasure far superior to their woollen +manufacture. + +This gross neglect of the necessary arts, sufficiently shews that the +people of Russia had no idea of the polite arts, which become necessary, +in their turn, when we have cultivated the others. They might indeed, +have sent some of the natives to gain instruction among foreigners, but +the difference of languages, manners, and religion, opposed it. Besides, +there was a law of state and religion, equally sacred and pernicious, +which prohibited any Russian from going out of his country, and thus +seemed to devote this people to eternal ignorance. They were in +possession of the most extensive dominions in the universe, and yet +every thing was wanted amongst them. At length Peter was born, and +Russia became a civilized state. + +Happily, of all the great lawgivers who have lived in the world, Peter +is the only one whose history is well known. Those of Theseus and +Romulus, who did far less than him, and of the founders of all +well-governed states, are blended with the most absurd fictions: whereas +here, we have the advantage of written truths, which would pass for +fictions, were they not so well attested. + + + + +CHAP. III. + + The ancestors of Peter the Great. + + +The family of Peter the Great have been in possession of the throne ever +since the year 1613. Before that time, Russia had undergone revolutions, +which had retarded the reformation of her police, and the introduction +of the liberal arts. This has been the fate of all human societies. No +kingdom ever experienced more cruel troubles. In the year 1597, the +tyrant Boris Godonow assassinated Demetrius (or Demetri, as he was +called), the lawful heir, and usurped the empire. A young monk took the +name of Demetrius, pretending to be that prince who had escaped from his +murderers; and with the assistance of the Poles, and a considerable +party (which every tyrant has against him), he drove out the usurper, +and seized the crown himself. The imposture was discovered as soon as he +came to the sovereignty, because the people were not pleased with him; +and he was murdered. Three other false Demetrius's started up, one after +another. Such a succession of impostors, supposes a country in the +utmost distraction. The less men are civilized, the more easily they are +imposed on. It may readily be conceived, how much these frauds augmented +the public confusion and misfortunes. The Poles, who had begun the +revolutions, by setting up the first false Demetrius, were on the point +of being masters of Russia. The Swedes shared in the spoils on the coast +of Finland, and laid claim to the crown. The state seemed on the verge +of utter destruction. + +In the midst of these calamities, an assembly, composed of the principal +boyards, chose for their sovereign a young man of fifteen years of age: +this happened in 1613, and did not seem a very likely method of putting +an end to these troubles. This young man was Michael Romanow,[18] +grandfather to czar Peter, and son to the archbishop of Rotow, surnamed +Philaretes, and of a nun, and related by the mother's side to the +ancient czars. + +It must be observed, that this archbishop was a powerful nobleman, whom +the tyrant Boris had obliged to become priest. His wife, Scheremetow, +was likewise compelled to take the veil; this was the ancient custom of +the western tyrants of the Latin church, as that of putting out the eyes +was with the Greek Christians. The tyrant Demetrius made Philaretes +archbishop of Rostow, and sent him ambassador to Poland, where he was +detained prisoner by the Poles, who were then at war with the Russians; +so little was the law of nations known to the different people of these +times. During his father's confinement, young Romanow was elected czar. +The archbishop was exchanged against some Polish prisoners; and, at his +return, his son created him patriarch, and the old man was in fact king, +under his son's name. + +If such a government appears extraordinary to strangers, the marriages +of czar Michael Romanow, will seem still more so. The Russian princes +had never intermarried with foreign states since the year 1490, or after +they became masters of Casan and Astracan; they seem to have followed +the Asiatic customs in almost every thing, and especially in that of +marrying only among their own subjects. + +This conformity to the ancient customs of Asia, was still more +conspicuous at the ceremonies observed at the marriage of a czar. A +number of the most beautiful women in the provinces were sent for to +court, where they were received by the grand gouvernante of the court, +who provided apartments for them in her own house, where they all eat +together. The czar paid them visits, sometimes incognito, and sometimes +in his real character. The wedding-day was fixed, without its being +declared on whom the choice had fallen. At the appointed time, the +happy she was presented with a rich wedding-suit, and other dresses +were given to the rest of the fair candidates, who then returned home. +There have been four instances of these marriages. + +In this manner was Michael Romanow espoused to Eudocia, the daughter of +a poor gentleman, named Streschneu. He was employed in ploughing his +grounds with his servants, when the lords of the bed-chamber came to him +with presents from the czar, and to acquaint him that his daughter was +placed on the throne. The name of the princess is still held in the +highest veneration by the Russians. This custom is greatly different +from ours, but not the less respectable on that account. + +It is necessary to observe, that before Romanow was elected czar, a +strong party had made choice of prince Ladislaus, son to Sigismund III. +king of Poland. At the same time, the provinces bordering on Sweden had +offered the crown to a brother of Gustavus Adolphus: so that Russia was +in the same situation then in which we have so frequently seen Poland, +where the right of electing a king has been the source of civil wars. +But the Russians did not follow the example of the Poles, who entered +into a compact with the prince whom they elected; notwithstanding they +had smarted from the oppression of tyrants, yet they voluntarily +submitted to a young man, without making any conditions with him. + +Russia never was an elective kingdom; but the male issue of the ancient +sovereigns failing, and six czars, or pretenders, having perished +miserably in the late troubles, there was, as we have observed, a +necessity for electing a monarch; and this election occasioned fresh +wars with Poland and Sweden, who maintained, with force of arms, their +pretended rights to the crown of Russia. The right of governing a nation +against its own will, can never be long supported. The Poles, on their +side, after having advanced as far as Moscow, and exercised all the +ravages in which the military expeditions of those times chiefly +consisted, concluded a truce for fourteen years. By this truce, Poland +remained in possession of the duchy of Smolensko, in which the +Boristhenes has its source. The Swedes also made peace, in virtue of +which they remained in possession of Ingria, and deprived the Russians +of all communication with the Baltic Sea, so that this empire was +separated more than ever from the rest of Europe. + +Michael Romanow, after this peace, reigned quietly, without making any +alteration in the state, either to the improvement or corruption of the +administration. After his death, which happened in 1645, his son, Alexis +Michaelowitz (or son of Michael), ascended the throne by hereditary +right. It may be observed, that the czars were crowned by the patriarch +of Russia, according to the ceremonies in use at Constantinople, except +that the patriarch of Russia, was seated on the same ascent with the +sovereign, and constantly affected an equality highly insulting to the +supreme power. + + +ALEXIS MICHAELOWITZ. + +Alexis was married in the same manner as his father, and from among the +young women presented, he chose the one who appeared the most amiable in +his eyes. He married a daughter of the boyard Meloslauski, in 1647; his +second wife, whom he married in 1671, was of the family of Nariskin, and +his favourite Morosow was married to another. There cannot be a more +suitable title found for this favourite than that of vizier, for he +governed the empire in a despotic manner; and, by his great power, +excited several commotions among the strelitzes and the populace, as +frequently happens at Constantinople. + +The reign of Alexis was disturbed by bloody insurrections, and by +domestic and foreign wars. A chief of the Don Cossacks, named +Stenko-Rasin, endeavoured to make himself king of Astracan, and was for +a long time very formidable; but, being at length defeated and taken +prisoner, he ended his life by the hands of the executioner; like all +those of this stamp, who have nothing to expect but a throne or a +scaffold. About twelve thousand of his adherents are said to have been +hanged on the high road to Astracan. In this part of the world, men +being uninfluenced by morality, were to be governed only by rigour; and +from this severity, frequently carried on to a degree of cruelty, arose +slavery, and a secret thirst of revenge. + +Alexis had a war with the Poles that proved successful, and terminated +in a peace, which secured to him the possession of Smolensko, Kiow, and +the Ukraine: but he was unfortunate against the Swedes, and the +boundaries of the Russian empire were contracted within a very narrow +compass on that side of the kingdom. + +The Turks were at that time his most formidable enemies: they invaded +Poland, and threatened the dominions of the czar that bordered upon Crim +Tartary, the ancient Taurica Chersonesus. In 1671, they took the +important city of Kaminiek, and all that belonged to Poland in the +Ukraine. The Cossacks of that country, ever averse to subjection, knew +not whether they belonged to the Turks, Poland, or Russia. Sultan +Mahomet IV. who had conquered the Poles, and had just imposed a tribute +upon them, demanded, with all the haughtiness of an Ottoman victor, that +the czar should evacuate his possessions in the Ukraine, but received as +haughty a denial from that prince. Men did not know at that time how to +disguise their pride, by an outside of civility. The sultan, in his +letter, styled the sovereign of the Russias only Christian Hospodar, and +entitled himself 'most gracious majesty, king of the universe.' The czar +replied in these terms, 'that he scorned to submit to a Mahometan dog, +and that his scimetar was as good as the grand seignior's sabre.' + +Alexis at that time formed a design which seemed to presage the +influence which the Russian empire would one day obtain in the Christian +world. He sent ambassadors to the pope, and to almost all the great +sovereigns in Europe, excepting France (which was in alliance with the +Turks), in order to establish a league against the Ottoman Porte. His +ambassadors at the court of Rome succeeded only in not being obliged to +kiss the pope's toe; and in other courts they met with only unprofitable +good wishes; the quarrels of the Christian princes between themselves, +and the jarring interests arising from those quarrels, having constantly +prevented them from uniting against the common enemy of Christianity. + +In the mean time, the Turks threatened to chastise the Poles, who +refused to pay their tribute: czar Alexis assisted on the side of Crim +Tartary, and John Sobieski, general of the crown, wiped off his +country's stain in the blood of the Turks, at the famous battle of +Choczim,[19] in 1674, which paved his way to the throne. Alexis +disputed this very throne with him, and proposed to unite his extensive +dominions to Poland, as the Jagellons had done; but in regard to +Lithuania, the greatness of his offer was the cause of its being +rejected. He is said to have been very deserving of the new kingdom, by +the manner in which he governed his own. He was the first who caused a +body of laws to be digested in Russia, though imperfect; and introduced +both linen and silk manufactures, which indeed were not long kept up; +nevertheless, he had the merit of their first establishment. He peopled +the deserts about the Wolga and the Kama, with Lithuanian, Polish, and +Tartarian families, whom he had taken prisoners in his wars: before his +reign, all prisoners of war were the slaves of those to whose lot they +fell. Alexis employed them in agriculture: he did his utmost endeavours +to introduce discipline among his troops. In a word, he was worthy of +being the father of Peter the Great; but he had no time to perfect what +he had begun, being snatched away by a sudden death, at the age of +forty-six, in the beginning of the year 1677, according to our style, +which is eleven days forwarder than that of Russia. + + +FOEDOR, or THEODORE ALEXIOWITZ. + +Upon the death of Alexis, son of Michael, all fell again into confusion. +He left, by his first marriage, two princes, and six princesses. +Theodore, the eldest, ascended the throne at fifteen years of age. He +was a prince of a weak and sickly constitution, but of merit superior to +his bodily infirmities. His father Alexis had caused him to be +acknowledged his successor, a year before his death: a conduct observed +by the kings of France from Hugh Capet down to Lewis the Young, and by +many other crowned heads. + +The second son of Alexis was Iwan, or John, who was still worse treated +by nature than his brother Theodore, being almost blind and dumb, very +infirm, and frequently attacked with convulsions. Of six daughters, born +of this first marriage, the only one who made any figure in Europe was +the princess Sophia, who was remarkable for her great talents; but +unhappily still more so for the mischief she intended against Peter the +Great. + +Alexis, by his second marriage with another of his subjects, daughter of +the boyard Nariskin, had Peter and the princess Nathalia. Peter was born +the 30th of May (or the 10th of June new stile), in the year 1672, and +was but four years old when he lost his father. As the children of a +second marriage were not much regarded in Russia, it was little expected +that he would one day mount the throne. + +It had ever been the character of the family of Romanow to civilize +their state. It was also that of Theodore. We have already remarked, in +speaking of Moscow, that this prince encouraged the inhabitants of that +city to build a great number of stone houses. He likewise enlarged that +capital, and made several useful regulations in the general police; but, +by attempting to reform the boyards, he made them all his enemies: +besides, he was not possessed of sufficient knowledge, vigour, or +resolution, to venture upon making a general reformation. The war with +the Turks, or rather with the Crim Tartars, in which he was constantly +engaged with alternate success, would not permit a prince of his weak +state of health to attempt so great a work. Theodore, like the rest of +his predecessors, married one of his own subjects, a native of the +frontiers of Poland; but having lost her in less than a year after +their nuptials, he took for his second wife, in 1682, Martha Matweowna, +daughter of the secretary Nariskin.[20] Some months after this marriage, +he was seized with the disorder which ended his days, and died without +leaving any children. As the czars married without regard to birth, they +might likewise (at least at that time) appoint a successor without +respect to primogeniture. The dignity of consort and heir to the +sovereign seemed to be entirely the reward of merit; and, in that +respect, the custom of this empire was much preferable to the customs of +more civilized states. + +Theodore, before he expired, seeing that his brother Iwan was by his +natural infirmities incapable of governing, nominated his younger +brother Peter, heir to the empire of Russia. Peter, who was then only in +his tenth year, had already given the most promising hopes. + +If, on the one hand, the custom of raising a subject to the rank of +czarina, was favourable to the females, there was another which was no +less hard upon them; namely, that the daughters of the czars were very +seldom married, but were most of them obliged to pass their lives in a +monastery. + +The princess Sophia, third daughter of czar Alexis, by his first +marriage, was possessed of abilities, equally great and dangerous. +Perceiving that her brother Theodore had not long to live, she did not +retire to a convent; but finding herself situated between two brothers, +one of whom was incapable of governing, through his natural inability; +and the other, on account of his youth, she conceived the design of +placing herself at the head of the empire. Hence, in the last hours of +czar Theodore, she attempted to act the part that Pulcheria had formerly +played with her brother, the emperor Theodosius. + + + + +CHAP. IV. + + JOHN AND PETER. + + Horrible Sedition among the Strelitzes.[21] + + +[Sidenote: 1682.] + +Czar Theodore's eyes were scarcely closed, when the nomination of a +prince of only ten years old to the throne, the exclusion of the elder +brother, and the intrigues of the princess Sophia, their sister, excited +a most bloody revolt among the strelitzes. Never did the janissaries, +nor the prætorian guards, exercise more horrible barbarities. The +insurrection began two days after the interment of Theodore, when they +all ran to arms in the Kremlin, which is the imperial palace at Moscow. +There they began with accusing nine of their colonels, for keeping back +part of their pay. The ministry was obliged to break the colonels, and +to pay the strelitzes the money they demanded: but this did not satisfy +them, they insisted upon having these nine officers delivered up to +them, and condemned them, by a majority of votes, to suffer the Battogs, +or Knout; the manner of which punishment is as follows:-- + +The delinquent is stripped naked, and laid flat on his belly, while two +executioners beat him over the back with switches, or small canes, till +the judge, who stands by to see the sentence put in execution, says, 'It +is enough.' The colonels, after being thus treated by their men, were +obliged to return them thanks, according to the custom of the eastern +nations; where criminals, after undergoing their punishment, must kiss +the judge's hand. Besides complying with this custom, the officers gave +them a sum of money, which was something more than the custom. + +While the strelitzes thus began to make themselves formidable, the +princess Sophia, who secretly encouraged them, in order to lead them by +degrees from crime to crime, held a meeting at her house, consisting of +the princesses of the blood, the generals of the army, the boyards, the +patriarch, the bishops, and even some of the principal merchants; where +she represented to them, that prince John, by right of birth and merit, +was entitled to the empire, the reins of which she intended to keep in +her own hands. At the breaking up of the assembly, she caused a promise +to be made to the strelitzes, of an augmentation of pay, besides +considerable presents. Her emissaries were in particular employed to +stir up the soldiery against the Nariskin family, especially the two +brothers of the young dowager czarina, the mother of Peter the First. +These persuaded the strelitzes, that one of the brothers, named John, +had put on the imperial robes, had seated himself on the throne, and had +attempted to strangle prince John; adding, moreover, that the late czar +Theodore had been poisoned by a villain, named Daniel Vongad, a Dutch +physician. At last Sophia put into their hands a list of forty noblemen, +whom she stiled enemies to their corps, and to the state, and as such +worthy of death. These proceedings exactly resembled the proscriptions +of Sylla, and the Roman triumvirate, which had been revived by +Christian II. in Denmark and Sweden. This may serve to shew, that such +cruelties prevail in all countries in times of anarchy and confusion. +The mutineers began the tragedy with throwing the two knez, or princes, +Dolgorouki and Matheof, out of the palace-windows; whom the strelitzes +received upon the points of their spears, then stripped them, and +dragged their dead bodies into the great square; after this they rushed +into the palace, where meeting with Athanasius Nariskin, a brother of +the young czarina, and one of the uncles of czar Peter, they murdered +him in like manner; then breaking open the door of a neighbouring +church, where three of the proscribed persons had taken refuge, they +drag them from the altar, strip them naked, and stab them to death with +knives. + +They were so blinded with their fury, that seeing a young nobleman of +the family of Soltikoff, a great favourite of theirs, and who was not +included in the list of the proscribed, and some of them mistaking him +for John Nariskin, whom they were in search of, they murdered him upon +the spot; and what plainly shews the manners of those times, after +having discovered their error, they carried the body of young Soltikoff, +to his father to bury it; and the wretched parent, far from daring to +complain, gave them a considerable reward for bringing him the mangled +body of his son. Being reproached by his wife, his daughters, and the +widow of the deceased, for his weakness, 'Let us wait for an opportunity +of being revenged,' said the old man. These words being overheard by +some of the soldiers, they returned furiously back into the room, +dragged the aged parent by the hair, and cut his throat at his own door. + +Another party of the strelitzes, who were scouring the city in search +of the Dutch physician, Vongad, met with his son, of whom they inquired +for his father; the youth trembling, replied, he did not know where he +was, upon which they immediately dispatched him. Soon after, a German +physician falling in their way, 'You are a doctor,' said they, 'and if +you did not poison our master, Theodore, you have poisoned others, and +therefore merit death;' and thereupon killed him. + +At length they found the Dutchman, of whom they were in quest, disguised +in the garb of a beggar; they instantly drag him before the palace. The +princesses who loved this worthy man, and placed great confidence in his +skill, begged the strelitzes to spare him, assuring them that he was a +very good physician, and had taken all possible care of their brother +Theodore. The strelitzes made answer, that he not only deserved to die +as a physician, but also as a sorcerer; and that they had found in his +house, a great dried toad, and the skin of a serpent. They furthermore +required to have young Nariskin delivered up to them, whom they had +searched for in vain for two days: alleging, that he was certainly in +the palace, and that they would set fire to it, unless he was put into +their hands. The sister of John Nariskin, and the other princesses, +terrified by their menaces, went to acquaint their unhappy brother in +the place of his concealment, with what had passed; upon which the +patriarch heard his confession, administers the viaticum, and extreme +unction to him, and then, taking an image of the blessed Virgin, which +was said to perform miracles, he leads the young man forth by the hand, +and presents him to the strelitzes, shewing them, at the same time, the +image of the Virgin. The princesses, who in tears surrounded Nariskin, +falling upon their knees before the soldiers, besought them, in the name +of the blessed Virgin, to spare their relation's life; but the inhuman +wretches tore him from their arms, and dragged him to the foot of the +stairs, together with the physician Vongad, where they held a kind of +tribunal among themselves, and condemned them both to be put to the +torture. One of the soldiers, who could write, drew up a form of +accusation, and sentenced the two unfortunate princes to be cut in +pieces; a punishment inflicted in China and Tartary on parricides, and +called the punishment of ten thousand slices. After having thus used +Nariskin and Vongad, they exposed their heads, feet, and hands, on the +iron points of a balustrade. + +While this party of the strelitzes were thus glutting their fury in the +sight of the princesses, the rest massacred every one who was obnoxious +to them, or suspected by the princess Sophia. + +This horrid tragedy concluded with proclaiming the two princes, John and +Peter, in June, 1682, joint sovereigns, and associating their sister +Sophia with them, in the quality of co-regent; who then publicly +approved of all their outrages, gave them rewards, confiscated the +estates of the proscribed, and bestowed them upon their murderers. She +even permitted them to erect a monument, with the names of the persons +they had murdered, as being traitors to their country: and to crown all, +she published letters-patent, thanking them for their zeal and +fidelity. + + + + +CHAP. V. + + Administration of the princess Sophia. Extraordinary quarrel about + religion. A conspiracy. + + +Such were the steps by which the princess Sophia did in effect ascend +the throne of Russia, though without being declared czarina; and such +the examples that Peter the First had before his eyes. Sophia enjoyed +all the honours of a sovereign; her bust was on the public coin; she +signed all dispatches, held the first place in council, and enjoyed a +power without control. She was possessed of a great share of +understanding, and some wit; made verses in the Russian language, and +both spoke and wrote extremely well. These talents were set off by the +addition of an agreeable person, and sullied only by her ambition. + +She procured a wife for her brother John, in the manner already +described in several examples. A young lady named Soltikoff, of the +family with the nobleman of that name who had been assassinated by the +seditious strelitzes, was sent for from the heart of Siberia, where her +father commanded a fortress, to be presented to czar John at Moscow. Her +beauty triumphed over all the intrigues of her rivals, and John was +married to her in 1684. At every marriage of a czar we seem to read the +history of Ahasuerus, or that of Theodosius the Younger. + +In the midst of the rejoicings on account of this marriage, the +strelitzes raised a new insurrection, and (who would believe it?) on +account of religion! of a particular tenet! Had they been mere soldiers, +they would never have become controvertists, but they were also +citizens of Moscow. Whosoever has, or assumes a right of speaking in an +authoritative manner to the populace, may found a sect. This has been +seen in all ages, and all parts of the world, especially since the +passion of dogmatizing has become the instrument of ambition, and the +terror of weak minds. + +Russia had experienced some previous disturbances on occasion of a +dispute, whether the sign of the cross was to be made with three +fingers, or with two! One Abakum, who was also a priest, had set up some +new tenets at Moscow, in regard to the Holy Spirit; which according to +the Scriptures, enlightened all the faithful; as likewise with respect +to the equality of the primitive Christians, and these words of +Christ:--'There shall be amongst you neither first nor last.' Several +citizens and many of the strelitzes, embraced the opinions of Abakum. +One Raspop[22] was the chief of this party, which became considerable. +The sectaries, at length, entered (July 16, 1682, new stile) the +cathedral, where the patriarch and his clergy were officiating; drove +them out of the church with stones, and seated themselves very devoutly +in their places, to receive the Holy Spirit. They called the patriarch +the 'ravenous wolf in the sheepfold;' a title which all sects have +liberally bestowed on each other. The princess Sophia, and the two +czars, were immediately made acquainted with these disturbances: and the +other strelitzes, who were staunch to the good old cause, were given to +understand, that the czars and the church were in danger. Upon this the +strelitzes and burghers of the patriarchal party attacked the +Abakumists: but a stop was put to the carnage, by publishing a +convocation of a council, which was immediately assembled in a hall of +the palace. This took up very little time, for they obliged every priest +they met to attend. The patriarch, and a bishop, disputed against +Raspop; but at the second syllogism, they began to throw stones at one +another. The council ended with ordering Raspop, and some of his +faithful disciples to have their heads struck off; and the sentence was +executed by the sole order of the three sovereigns, Sophia, John, and +Peter. + +During these troubles, there was a knez, named Chowanskoi, who having +been instrumental in raising the princess Sophia to the dignity she then +held, wanted, as a reward for his services, to have a share in the +administration. + +It may be supposed, that he found Sophia not so grateful as he could +wish; upon which he espoused the cause of religion, and the persecuted +Raspopians, and stirred up a party among the strelitzes and the people, +in defence of God's name. + +This conspiracy proved a more serious affair than the enthusiastic riot +of Raspop. An ambitious hypocrite always carries things farther than a +simple fanatic. Chowanskoi aimed at no less than the imperial dignity; +and to rid himself of all cause of fear, he resolved to murder the two +czars, Sophia, the other princesses, and every one who was attached to +the imperial family. The czars and the princesses were obliged to retire +to the monastery of the Holy Trinity, within twelve leagues of +Petersburg.[23] This was, at the same time, a convent, a palace, and a +fortress, like Mount Cassino,[24] Corhy,[25] Fulda,[26] Kempten,[27] +and several others belonging to the Latin church. This monastery of the +Trinity belongs to the monks of St. Basil. It is surrounded by deep +ditches, and ramparts of brick, on which is planted a numerous +artillery. The monks are possessed of all the country round for four +leagues. The imperial family were in full safety there, but more on +account of the strength, than the sanctity of the place. Here Sophia +treated with the rebel knez; and having decoyed him half way, caused his +head to be struck off, together with those of one of his sons, and +thirty-seven strelitzes who accompanied him. + +[Sidenote: 1682.] + +The body of strelitzes upon this news, fly to arms, and march to attack +the convent of Trinity, threatening to destroy every thing that came in +their way. The imperial family stood upon their defence; the boyards arm +their vassals, all the gentlemen flocked in, and a bloody civil war +seemed on the point of beginning. The patriarch somewhat pacified the +strelitzes, who began to be intimidated with the number of troops that +were marching towards them on all sides: in short, their fury was +changed into fear, and their fear into the most abject submission; a +change common to the multitude. Three thousand seven hundred of this +corps, followed by their wives and children, with ropes tied about their +necks, went in procession to the convent of the Trinity, which three +days before they had threatened to burn to the ground. In this +condition, these unhappy wretches present themselves before the gate of +the convent, two by two, one carrying a block and another an axe; and +prostrating themselves on the ground, waited for their sentence. They +were pardoned upon their submission, and returned back to Moscow, +blessing their sovereigns; and still disposed, though unknown to +themselves, to commit the same crime upon the very first opportunity. + +These commotions being subsided, the state resumed an exterior of +tranquillity; but Sophia still remained possessed of the chief +authority, leaving John to his incapacity, and keeping Peter in the +subjection of a ward. In order to strengthen her power, she shared it +with Prince Basil Galitzin, whom she created generalissimo, minister of +state, and lord keeper. Galitzin was in every respect superior to any +person in that distracted court: he was polite, magnificent, full of +great designs, more learned than any of his countrymen, as having +received a much better education, and was even master of the Latin +tongue, which was, at that time, almost entirely unknown in Russia. He +was of an active and indefatigable spirit, had a genius superior to the +times he lived in, and capable, had he had leisure and power, as he had +inclination, to have changed the face of things in Russia. This is the +eulogium given of him by La Neuville, at that time the Polish envoy in +Russia; and the encomiums of foreigners are seldom to be suspected. + +This minister bridled the insolence of the strelitzes, by distributing +the most mutinous of that body among the several regiments in the +Ukraine, in Casan, and Siberia. It was under his administration that the +Poles, long the rivals of Russia, gave up, in 1686, all pretensions to +the large provinces of Smolensko and the Ukraine. He was the first who +sent an embassy to France, in 1687; a country which had, for upwards of +twenty years, been in the zenith of its glory, by the conquests, new +establishments, and the magnificence of Lewis XIV. and especially by the +improvement of the arts, there can be not only external grandeur, but +solid glory. France had not then entered into any correspondence with +Russia, or rather was unacquainted with that empire; and the academy of +inscriptions ordered a medal to be struck to commemorate this embassy, +as if it had come from the most distant part of the Indies; but +notwithstanding all this, the ambassador Dolgorouski miscarried in his +negotiation, and even suffered some gross affronts on account of the +behaviour of his domestics, whose mistakes it would have been better to +have overlooked; but the court of Lewis XIV. could not then foresee, +that France and Russia would one day reckon among the number of their +advantages, that of being cemented by the closest union. + +Russia was now quiet at home, but she was still pent up on the side of +Sweden, though enlarged towards Poland, her new ally, in continual +alarms on the side of Crim Tartary, and at variance with China in regard +to the frontiers. + +The most intolerable circumstance for their empire, and which plainly +shewed, that it had not yet attained to a vigorous and regular +administration, was, that the khan of the Crim Tartars exacted an annual +tribute of 6000 rubles, in the nature of that which the Turk had imposed +on the Poles. + +Crim Tartary is the ancient Taurica Chersonesus, formerly so famous by +the commerce of the Greeks, and still more by their fables, a fruitful +but barbarous country. It took its name of Crimea, or Crim, from the +title of its first khans, who took this name before the conquests of the +sons of Gengis Khan. To free his country from this yoke, and wipe off +the disgrace of such tribute, the prime minister, Galitzin, marched in +person (1687, 1688,) into Crim Tartary, at the head of a numerous army. +These armies were not to be compared to the present troops; they had no +discipline; there was hardly one regiment completely armed; they had no +uniform clothing, no regularity: their men indeed were inured to hard +labour and a scarcity of provisions, but then they carried with them +such a prodigious quantity of baggage, as far exceeded any thing of the +kind in our camps, where the greatest luxury prevails. Their vast +numbers of waggons for carrying ammunition and provisions, in an +uninhabitable and desert country, greatly retarded the expedition +against Crim Tartary. The army found itself in the midst of the vast +deserts, on the river Samara, unprovided with magazines. Here Galitzin +did what in my opinion, was never done any where else: he employed +thirty thousand men in building a town on the banks of the Samara, to +serve as a place for magazines in the ensuing campaign: it was begun in +one year, and finished in the third month of the following; the houses +indeed were all wood except two, which were brick; the ramparts were of +turf, but well lined with artillery; and the whole place was in a +tolerable state of defence. + +This was all that was done of any consequence in this ruinous +expedition. In the mean while Sophia continued to govern in Moscow, +while John had only the name of czar; and Peter, now at the age of +seventeen, had already the courage to aim at real sovereignty. La +Neuville, the Polish envoy, then resident at Moscow, and who was +eye-witness to all that passed, pretends that Sophia and Galitzin had +engaged the new chief of the strelitzes, to sacrifice to them their +young czar: it appears, at least, that six hundred of these strelitzes +were to have made themselves masters of his person. The private memoirs +which have been entrusted to my perusal by the court of Russia, affirm, +that a scheme had actually been laid to murder Peter the First: the blow +was on the point of being struck, and Russia for ever deprived of the +new existence she has since received. The czar was once more obliged to +take refuge in the convent of the Trinity, the usual asylum of the court +when threatened by the soldiers. There he assembled the boyards of his +party, raised a body of forces, treats with the captains of the +strelitzes, and called in the assistance of certain Germans, who had +been long settled in Moscow, and were all attached to his person from +his having already shewn himself the encourager of strangers. Sophia and +John, who continued at Moscow, used every means to engage the strelitzes +to remain firm to their interests; but the cause of young Peter, who +loudly complained of an attempt meditated against himself and his +mother, prevailed over that of the princess, and of a czar, whose very +aspect alienated all hearts. All the acomplices were punished with a +severity to which that country was as much accustomed as to the crimes +which occasioned it. Some were beheaded after undergoing the punishment +of the knout or battocks. The chief of the strelitzes was put to death +in the same manner, and several other suspected persons had their +tongues cut out. Prince Galitzin escaped with his life, through the +intercession of one of his relations, who was a favourite of czar Peter; +but he was stripped of all his riches, which were immense, and banished +to a place in the neighbourhood of Archangel. La Neuville, who was +present at the whole of this catastrophe, relates, that the sentence +pronounced upon Galitzin was in these terms: 'Thou art commanded, by the +most clement czar, to repair to Karga, a town under the pole, and there +to continue the remainder of thy days. His majesty, out of his extreme +goodness, allows thee three pence per day for thy subsistence.' + +There is no town under the pole. Karga is in the 62nd degree of +latitude, and only six degrees and a half further north than Moscow. +Whoever pronounced this sentence must have been a very bad geographer. +La Neuville was probably imposed upon by a false account. + +1689.] At length the princess Sophia was once more sent back to her +monastery at Moscow,[28] after having so long held the reins of +government; and this revolution proved, to a woman of her disposition, a +sufficient punishment. + +From this instant Peter began to reign in reality; his brother John +having no other share in the government, but that of seeing his name to +all public acts. He led a retired life, and died in 1696. + + + + +CHAP. VI. + + The reign of Peter the First.--Beginning of the grand reformation. + + +Peter the Great was tall, genteel, well made, with a noble aspect, +piercing eyes and a robust constitution, fitted for all kinds of +hardship and bodily exercise. He had a sound understanding, which is the +basis of all real abilities; and to this was joined an active +disposition, which prompted him to undertake and execute the greatest +things. His education was far from being worthy of his genius. The +princess Sophia was, in a peculiar manner, interested to let him remain +in ignorance, and to indulge himself in those excesses which youth, +idleness, custom, and the high rank he held, made but too allowable. +Nevertheless, he had been lately married, (June 1689) like others of his +predecessors, to one of his own subjects, the daughter of colonel +Lapuchin; but, as he was young, and for some time enjoyed none of the +prerogatives of the crown, but that of indulging his pleasures without +restraint, the ties of wedlock were not always sufficient to keep him +within just bounds. The pleasures of the table, in which he indulged +himself rather too freely, with foreigners, who had been invited to +Moscow by prince Galitzin, seemed not to presage that he would one day +become the reformer of his country; however, in spite of bad examples, +and even the allurements of pleasure, he applied himself to the arts of +war and government, and which, even then, shewed that he had the seeds +of greatness in him. + +It was still less expected, that a prince, who was subject to such a +constitutional dread of water, as to subject him to cold sweats, and +even convulsions, when he was obliged to cross a small river or brook, +should become one of the best seamen in all the north. In order to +get the better of nature, he began by jumping into the water, +notwithstanding the horror he felt at it, till at length this aversion +was changed into a fondness for that element.[29] + +He often blushed at the ignorance in which he had been brought up. He +learned, almost of himself, without the help of a master, enough of +German and high Dutch, to be able to write and explain himself tolerably +well in both those languages. The Germans and Dutch appeared to him as +the most civilized nations, because the former had already erected, in +Moscow, some of those arts and manufactures which he was desirous of +seeing established in his empire, and the latter excelled in the art of +navigation, which he already began to look upon as the most necessary of +all others. + +Such were the dispositions which Peter cherished, notwithstanding the +follies of his youth. At the same time, he found himself disturbed by +factions at home, had the turbulent spirit of the strelitzes to keep +under, and an almost uninterrupted war to manage against the Crim +Tartars. For though hostilities had been suspended in 1689, by a truce, +it had no long continuance. + +During this interval, Peter became confirmed in his design of +introducing the arts into his country. + +His father Alexis had, in his lifetime, entertained the same views, but +he wanted leisure, and a favourable opportunity to carry them into +execution; he transmitted his genius to his son, who was more +clear-sighted, more vigorous, and more unshaken by difficulties and +obstacles. + +Alexis had been at a great expense in sending for Bothler,[30] a ship +builder and sea captain, from Holland, together with a number of +shipwrights and sailors. These built a large frigate and a yacht upon +the Wolga, which they navigated down that river to Astracan, where they +were to be employed in building more vessels, for carrying on an +advantageous trade with Persia, by the Caspian Sea. Just at this time +the revolt of Stenko-Rasin broke out, and this rebel destroyed these two +vessels, which he ought to have preserved for his own sake, and murdered +the captain; the rest of the crew fled into Persia, from whence they got +to some settlements belonging to the Dutch East India company. A +master-builder, who was a good shipwright, staid behind in Russia, where +he lived a long time in obscurity. + +One day, Peter taking a walk at Ishmaelof, a summer-palace built by his +grandfather, he perceived, among several other rarities, an old English +shallop, which had lain entirely neglected: upon which he asked +Timmerman, a German, and his mathematical teacher, how came that little +boat to be of so different a construction from any he had seen on the +Moska? Timmerman replied, that it was made to go with sails and oars. +The young prince wanted instantly to make a trial of it; but it was +first to be repaired and rigged. Brant, the ship-builder abovementioned, +was by accident found out at Moscow, where he lived retired; he soon put +the boat in order, and worked her upon the river Yauza, which washes the +suburbs of the town. + +Peter caused his boat to be removed to a great lake, in the +neighbourhood of the convent of the Trinity; he likewise made Brant +build two more frigates, and three yachts, and piloted them himself. A +considerable time afterwards, viz. in 1694, he made a journey to +Archangel, and having ordered a small vessel to be built in that port, +by the same Brant, he embarked therein on the Frozen Sea, which no +sovereign beside himself had ever beheld. On this occasion, he was +escorted by a Dutch man of war, under the command of captain Jolson, and +attended by all the merchant-vessels then in the port of Archangel. He +had already learned the manner of working a ship; and, notwithstanding +the pains his courtiers took to imitate their master, he was the only +one who made a proficiency in it. + +He found it no less difficult to raise a well disciplined body of land +forces, on whom he could depend, than to establish a navy. His first +essay in navigation, on a lake, previous to his journey to Archangel, +was looked upon only as the amusements of a young prince of genius; and +his first attempt to form a body of disciplined troops, likewise +appeared as nothing more than that of diversion. This happened during +the regency of the princess Sophia; and, had he been suspected of +meaning any thing serious by this amusement, it might have been attended +with fatal consequences to him. + +He placed his confidence in a foreigner, the celebrated Le Fort, of a +noble and ancient family in Piedmont, transplanted near two centuries +ago to Geneva, where they have filled the most considerable posts in the +state. He was intended to have been brought up to the trade, to which +the town is indebted for the figure it now makes; having formerly been +known only as the seat of religious controversies. + +But his genius, which prompted him to the greatest undertakings, engaged +him to quit his father's house at the age of fourteen; and he served +four months[31] in quality of a cadet in the citadel of Marseilles; from +thence he went to Holland, where he served some time as a volunteer, and +was wounded at the siege of Grave, a strong fortified town on the Meuse, +which the prince of Orange, afterwards king of England, retook from +Lewis XIV. in 1674. After this, led by hopes of preferment, wherever he +could find it, he embarked with a German colonel, named Verstin, who had +obtained a commission from Peter's father, the czar Alexis, to raise +soldiers in the Netherlands, and bring them to Archangel. But, when he +arrived at that port, after a most fatiguing and dangerous navigation, +the czar Alexis was no more; the government was changed, and Russia in +confusion. The governor of Archangel suffered Verstin, Le Fort, and his +whole troop, to remain a long time, in the utmost poverty and distress, +and even threatened to send them into the extremity of Siberia; upon +which every man shifted for himself. Le Fort, in want of every thing, +repaired to Moscow, where he waited upon the Danish resident, named De +Horn, who made him his secretary: there he learned the Russian language, +and some time afterwards found means to be introduced to the czar Peter; +the elder brother, Iwan, not being a person for his purpose. Peter was +taken with him, and immediately gave him a company of foot. Le Fort had +seen very little service, he knew but little of letters, not having +studied any particular art or science; but he had seen a great deal, and +had a talent of making the most of what he saw. Like the czar, he owed +every thing to his own genius; he understood the German and Dutch +languages, which Peter was learning, as those of two nations that might +be of service in his designs. Every thing conspired to make him +agreeable to Peter, to whom he strictly attached himself. From being the +companion of his pleasures, he became his favourite, and confirmed +himself in that station by his abilities. The czar made him his +confidant in the most dangerous design that a prince of that country +could possibly form, namely, that of putting himself in a condition to +be able one day to break the seditious and barbarous body of forces +called the strelitzes. It had cost the great sultan or basha Osman his +life, for attempting to disband the janissaries. Peter, young as he was, +went to work in a much abler manner than Osman. + +He began with forming, at his country-seat at Preobrazinski, a company +of fifty of his youngest domestics; and some young gentlemen, the sons +of boyards, were chosen for their officers: but, in order to teach these +young noblemen a subordination, to which they were wholly unaccustomed, +he made them pass through all the different military degrees, and +himself set them the example, by serving first as a drum, then as a +private soldier, a serjeant, and a lieutenant of the company. Nothing +was ever more extraordinary, nor more useful, than this conduct. The +Russians had hitherto made war in the same manner as our ancestors at +the time of the feudal tenures, when the unexperienced nobles took the +field at the head of their vassals, undisciplined, and ill armed: a +barbarous method, sufficient indeed to act against the like armies, but +of no use against regular troops. + +This company, which was formed wholly by Peter himself, soon increased +in numbers, and became afterwards the regiment of Preobrazinski guards. +Another regiment, formed on the same plan, became in time the regiment +of Semeniousky guards. + +The czar had already a regiment of five thousand men that could be +depended upon, trained by general Gordon, a Scotchman, and composed +almost entirely of foreigners. Le Fort, who had borne arms but a short +time, but whose capacity was equal to every thing, undertook to raise a +regiment of twelve thousand men, which he effected: five colonels were +appointed to serve under him, and he saw himself on a sudden general of +this little army, which had been raised, as much to oppose the +strelitzes, as the enemies of the state. + +One thing worthy of being remarked,[32] and which fully confutes the +hasty error of those who pretend that France lost very few of its +inhabitants by the revocation of the edict of Nantz, is, that one-third +of his army, which was only called a regiment, consisted of French +refugees. Le Fort disciplined his new troops, as if he had been all his +lifetime a soldier. + +Peter was desirous of seeing one of those images of war, the mock +fights, which had lately been introduced in times of peace: a fort was +erected, which was to be attacked by one part of his new troops, and +defended by the other. The difference between this fight, and others of +the like nature, was, that instead of a sham engagement, there was a +real one, in which some of his men were slain, and a great many +wounded.[33] Le Fort, who commanded the attack, received a considerable +wound. These bloody sports were intended to initiate the young troops +into the service of the field; but it required much labour, and even +some degree of sufferings to compass this end. + +These warlike amusements did not take off the czar's attention to his +naval project. As he had made Le Fort a general by land, notwithstanding +his having never borne a command; he now made him admiral, though he had +never had the direction of a ship, but he knew him deserving both of the +one and the other. It is true, that he was an admiral without a fleet, +and a general with only his regiment for an army. + +By degrees the czar reformed that great abuse in the army, viz. the +independence of the boyards, who, in time of war, used to bring into the +field a multitude of their vassals and peasants: this was exactly the +ancient government of the Franks, Huns, Goths, and Vandals, who indeed +subdued the Roman empire in its state of decline, but would have been +totally destroyed, had they had the warlike disciplined legions of +ancient Rome to encounter, or such armies as are now brought into the +field. + +Admiral Le Fort was not long, however, before he had something more than +an empty title. He employed some Dutchmen and Venetians in building a +number of barcolongos, or kind of long barks, and also two ships of +about thirty guns each, at the mouth of the Woronitz, which falls into +the Tanais, or Don: these vessels were to fall down the river, and keep +in awe the Crim Tartars, with whom hostilities had been renewed. + +The czar was now to determine (in 1689) against which of the following +powers he would declare war, whether against the Turks, the Swedes, or +the Chinese. But here it will be proper to premise on what terms he then +stood with China, and which was the first treaty of peace concluded by +that nation. + + + + +CHAP. VII. + + Congress and Treaty with the Chinese.[34] + + +We must set out by forming a proper idea of the limits of the Chinese +and Russian empires at this period. When we leave Siberia, properly so +called, and also far behind us to the south, a hundred hordes of +Tartars, with white and black Calmucks, and Mahometan and Pagan Monguls, +we come to the 130th degree of longitude, and the 52d of latitude upon +the river Amur.[35] To the northward is a great chain of mountains, that +stretches as far as the Frozen Sea, beyond the polar circle. This +river, which runs upwards of five hundred leagues,[36] through Siberia +and Chinese Tartary, falls, after many windings, into the sea of +Kamtshatka. It is affirmed for a truth, that at its mouth, which opens +with this sea, there is sometimes caught a monstrous fish, much larger +than the hippopotamus of the Nile, and that the tooth thereof is the +finest ivory. It is furthermore said, that this ivory was formerly an +object of trade; that they used to convey it through Siberia, which is +the reason why several pieces of it are still found under the ground in +that country. This is the most probable account of the fossil ivory, of +which we have elsewhere spoken; for it appears highly chimerical to +pretend, that there were formerly elephants in Siberia. + +This Amur is likewise called the Black River by the Mantechoux Tartars, +and the Dragon's River by the Chinese. + +It was in these countries, so long unknown, that the Russians and +Chinese contested the limits of their empires.[37] The Russians had some +forts on the river Amur, about three hundred leagues from the great +wall. Many hostilities had arisen between these two nations on account +of these forts: at length both began to understand their interests +better; the emperor Camhi preferred peace and commerce to an +unprofitable war, and sent several ambassadors to Niptchou, one of +those settlements. The ambassadors had ten thousand men in their +retinue, including their escort: this was Asiatic pomp; but what is very +remarkable, is, that there was not an example in the annals of the +empire, of an embassy being sent to another potentate; and what is still +more singular, that the Chinese had never concluded a treaty of peace +since the foundation of their monarchy. Though twice conquered by the +Tartars, who attacked and subjected them, they never made war upon any +people, excepting a few hordes that were quickly subdued, or as quickly +left to themselves, without any treaty. So that this nation, so renowned +for morality, knew nothing of what we call the 'Law of nations;' that is +to say, of those vague rules of war and peace, of the privileges of +foreign ministers, of the formalities of treaties, nor of the +obligations resulting from thence, nor of the disputes concerning +precedency and point of honour. + +But in what language were the Chinese to negotiate with the Russians, in +the midst of deserts? This difficulty was removed by two jesuits, the +one a Portuguese, named Pereira, the other a Frenchman, whose name was +Gerbillon; they set out from Pekin with the Chinese ambassadors, and +were themselves the real negotiators. They conferred in Latin with a +German belonging to the Russian embassy, who understood this language. +The chief of that embassy was Golowin, governor of Siberia, who +displayed a greater magnificence than the Chinese themselves, and +thereby gave a high idea of the Russian empire, to a people who thought +themselves the only powerful nation under the sun. + +The two jesuits settled the limits of both empires at the river +Kerbechi, near the spot where the treaty was concluded. All the country, +to the southward of this line of partition, was adjudged to the Chinese, +and the north to the Russians, who only lost a small fort which was +found to have been built beyond the limits: a peace was agreed to, and +after some few altercations, both parties swore to observe it, in the +name of the same God;[38] and in these terms, 'If any of us shall +entertain the least thought of kindling anew the flames of war, we +beseech the supreme Lord of all things, and who knows all hearts, to +punish the traitor with sudden death.' + +From this form of treaty, used alike by Chinese and Christians, we may +infer two important truths: the first, that the Chinese government is +neither atheistical nor idolatrous, as has been so frequently and +falsely charged upon it, by contradictory imputations. Secondly, that +all nations, who cultivate the gift of reason and understanding, do, in +effect, acknowledge the same God, notwithstanding the particular +deviations of that reason, through the want of being properly +instructed. + +The treaty was drawn up in Latin, and two copies were made of it. The +Russian ambassadors set their names the first to the copy that remained +in their possession, and the Chinese also signed theirs the first, +agreeable to the custom observed by European nations, when two equal +powers conclude a treaty with each other. On this occasion was observed +another custom belonging to the Asiatic nations, and which was indeed, +that of the earliest ages. The treaty was engraven on two large marble +pillars, erected on the spot, to determine the boundaries of the two +empires. + +Three years after this, the czar sent Isbrand Ides, a Dane, his +ambassador to China; and the commerce he then established between the +two nations, continued with advantage to each, till the rupture between +them in the year 1722; but since this short interruption, it has been +revived with redoubled vigour. + + + + +CHAP. VIII. + + Expedition to the Palus Mæotis; conquest of Azoph.--The czar sends + young gentlemen into foreign countries for improvement. + + +It was not so easy to have peace with the Turks, and indeed, the time +seemed come for the Russians to rise upon their ruins. The republic of +Venice, that had long groaned under their yoke, began now to rouse +itself. The Doge Morosini, the same who had surrendered Candy to the +Turks, afterwards took from them the Peloponnesus, which conquest got +him the title of Peloponnesian, an honour which revived the memory of +the Roman republic. Leopold, emperor of Germany, had proved successful +against the Ottoman power in Hungary; and the Poles made shift to check +the incursions of the Crim Tartars. + +Peter took advantage of these circumstances, to discipline his troops, +and to procure himself the empire of the Black Sea. General Gordon +marched along the Tanais, towards Azoph, with his numerous regiment of +five thousand men, followed by general Le Fort, with his regiment of +twelve thousand; by a body of Strelitzes, under the command of Sheremeto +and Schein, natives of Prussia; by a body of Cossacks, and by a large +train of artillery: in a word, every thing was ready for this +expedition. + +1694.] This grand army began its march under the command of marshal +Sheremeto, or Scheremetoff, in the beginning of the summer of 1695, to +attack the town of Azoph, at the mouth of the Tanais, and at the +extremity of the Palus Mæotis, now called the Zaback Sea. The czar +himself was with the army, but only in quality of a volunteer, being +determined to learn, some time before he took upon him to command. +During their march, they stormed two forts which the Turks had built on +the banks of the river. + +This expedition was attended with some considerable difficulties. The +place was well fortified, and defended by a numerous garrison. A number +of barcolongos, resembling the Turkish saicks, and built by Venetians, +with two small Dutch ships of war, that were to sail out of the +Woronitz, could not be got ready soon enough to enter the sea of Azoph. +All beginnings meet with obstacles. The Russians had never yet made a +regular siege; and the first attempt did not meet with all the success +that could be desired. + +One Jacob, a native of Dantzic, had the direction of the artillery, +under the command of general Schein; for as yet they had none but +foreign officers belonging to the train, and none but foreign engineers +and pilots. This Jacob had been condemned to the bastinade, or _knout_, +by Schein, the Russian general. At that time rigorous discipline was +thought to be the only method of strengthening command; and the Russians +quietly submitted to it, notwithstanding their natural bent to sedition; +and after the punishment, did their duty as usual. But the Dane thought +in a different manner, and resolved to be revenged for the treatment he +had received, and thereupon nailed up the cannon, deserted to the Turks, +turned Mahometan, and defended Azoph, with great success, against his +former masters. This instance shews, that the lenity which is now +practised in Russia, is much preferable to the former severities; and is +better calculated to retain those in their duty, who by a good +education, have a proper sense of honour. It was absolutely necessary at +that time, to use the utmost rigour towards the common people; but since +their manners have been changed, the empress Elizabeth[39] has +completed, by clemency, the work her father begun, by the authority of +the laws. This lenity has even been carried, by this princess, to a +degree unexampled, in the history of any nation. She has promised, that, +during her reign, no person shall be punished with death, and she has +kept her word. She is the first sovereign who ever shewed so much regard +for the lives of men. By an institution, equally prudent and humane, +malefactors are now condemned to serve in the mines, and other public +works: by which means their very punishments prove of service to the +state. In other countries, they know only how to put a criminal to +death, with all the apparatus of execution, without being able to +prevent the perpetration of crimes. The apprehension of death makes, +perhaps, less impression on those miscreants, who are, for the most +part, bred up in idleness, than the fear of punishment and hard labour, +renewed every day. + +To return to the siege of Azoph, which place was now defended by the +same person who had before directed the attacks against it; the +Russians, in vain, attempted to take it by storm; and after losing a +great number of men, were obliged to raise the siege. + +Perseverance in his undertakings, was the distinguishing character of +Peter the Great. In the spring of 1696, he brought a still more +considerable army before Azoph. About this time died czar John, his +brother, who though he had not, while living, been the least curb to +Peter's authority, having enjoyed only the bare title of czar, yet he +had been some restraint upon him in regard to appearances. The money +which had been appropriated to the support of John's dignity and +household, were now applied to the maintenance of the army. This proved +no small help to a government, whose revenues were not near so great as +they are at present. Peter wrote to the emperor Leopold, to the +states-general, and to the elector of Brandenburg, to obtain engineers, +gunners, and seamen. He likewise took some Calmucks into his pay, whose +light horse are very useful against the Crim Tartars. + +The most agreeable of the czar's successes, was that of his little +fleet, which was at length completed, and well commanded. It defeated +the Turkish saicks, sent from Constantinople, and took some of them. The +siege was carried on regularly by trenches, but not altogether in our +method; the trenches being three times deeper than ours, with parapets +as high as ramparts. At length the garrison surrendered, the 28th of +July, 1696. N. S. without being allowed the honours of war, or to carry +out with them either arms or ammunition: they were likewise obliged to +deliver up the renegade, Jacob, to the conquerors. + +The czar immediately set about fortifying Azoph, built strong forts to +protect it, and made a harbour capable of holding large vessels, with a +design to make himself master of the Streights of Caffa, or the +Cimmerian Bosphorus, which commands the entrance into the Pontus +Euxinus, or Black Sea; places famous in ancient times, by the naval +armaments of Mithridates. He left thirty-two armed saicks before +Azoph,[40] and made all the necessary preparations for fitting out a +fleet against the Turks, to consist of nine ships of sixty guns, and of +forty-one, from thirty to fifty. He obliged his principal nobles, and +the richer merchants, to contribute towards this armament; and thinking +that the estates of the clergy ought to help towards the common cause, +he obliged the patriarch, the bishops, and principal clergy, to pay down +a sum of ready money to forward this expedition, in honour of their +country, and the advantage of the Christian faith. The Cossacks were +employed in building a number of those light boats in use amongst them, +and which were excellent for the purpose of cruising on the coast of +Crim Tartary. The Ottoman empire was alarmed at this powerful armament; +the first that had ever been attempted on the Palus Mæotis. The czar's +scheme was to drive the Turks and the Tartars for ever out of the +Taurica Chersonesus, and afterwards to establish a free and easy +commerce with Persia through Georgia. This is the very trade which the +Greeks formerly carried on to Colchos, and to this peninsula of Crim +Tartary, which Peter now seemed on the point of conquering. + +Having subdued the Turks and the Tartars, he was willing to accustom his +people to splendid shows as well as to military labour. He made his +army to enter into Moscow, under triumphal arches, in the midst of +superb fire-works, and every thing that could add to the lustre of the +festival. The soldiers who had fought on board the Venetian saicks +against the Turks, and who were a distinct corps of themselves, marched +first. Marshal Sheremeto, the generals Gordon and Schein, admiral Le +Fort, and the other general officers, all took the precedence of their +monarch in this procession, who declared he had no rank in the army, +being desirous to convince the nobility, by his example, that the only +way to acquire military preferment, was to deserve it.[41] + +This triumphal entry seemed somewhat a-kin to those of the ancient +Romans, in which the conquerors were wont to expose the prisoners they +had taken, to public view, and sometimes put them to death: in like +manner, the slaves, taken in this expedition, follow the army; and the +deserter Jacob, who had betrayed them, was drawn in an open cart, in +which was a gibbet, to which his body was fastened after he had been +broke upon the wheel. + +On this occasion was struck the first medal in Russia, with this +remarkable legend, in the language of the country. 'Peter the First, +august emperor of Muscovy.' On the reverse was the city of Azoph, with +these words; 'Victorious by Fire and Water.' + +Peter felt a sensible concern in the midst of all these successes, that +his ships and gallies in the sea of Azoph, had been built entirely by +the hands of foreigners; and wished as earnestly to have a harbour in +the Baltic Sea, as upon the Pontus Euxinus. + +Accordingly, in the month of March 1677, he sent threescore young +Russians of Le Fort's regiment, into Italy, most of them to Venice, and +the rest to Leghorn, to instruct themselves in the naval art, and the +manner of constructing gallies. He likewise sent forty others into +Holland,[42] to learn the method of building and working large ships: +and others likewise into Germany, to serve in the land forces, and +instruct themselves in the military discipline of that nation. At length +he took a resolution to absent himself for a few years from his own +dominions, in order to learn how to govern them the better. He had an +irresistible inclination to improve himself by his own observation and +practice in the knowledge of naval affairs, and of the several arts +which he was so desirous to establish in his own country. He proposed to +travel _incognito_ through Denmark, Brandenburg, Holland, Vienna, +Venice, and Rome. France and Spain were the only countries he did not +take into his plan; Spain, because the arts he was in quest of, were too +much neglected there; and France, because in that kingdom they reigned +with too much ostentation, and that the parade and state of Lewis XIV. +which had disgusted so many crowned heads, ill agreed with the private +manner in which he proposed to travel. Moreover, he was in alliance +with most of the powers, whose dominions he intended to visit, except +those of France and Rome. He likewise remembered, with some degree of +resentment, the little respect shewn by Lewis XIV. to his embassy in +1687, which had proved more famous than successful; and lastly he +already began to espouse the cause of Augustus, elector of Saxony, with +whom the prince of Conti had lately entered into a competition for the +crown of Poland. + + + + +CHAP. IX. + + Travels of Peter the Great. + + +[Sidenote: 1697.] + +Having thus determined to visit the several countries and courts +above-mentioned in a private character, he put himself into the retinue +of three ambassadors, in the same manner as he had before mingled in the +train of his generals at his triumphant entry into Moscow. + +[43] The three ambassadors were, general Le Fort, the boyard Alexis +Gollowin, commissary-general of war, and governor of Siberia, the same +who signed the perpetual treaty of peace with the plenipotentiaries +of China, on the frontiers of that empire; and Wonitzin, diak, or +secretary of state, who had been long employed in foreign courts. Four +principal secretaries, twelve gentlemen, two pages for each ambassador, +a company of fifty guards, with their officers, all of the regiment +of Preobrazinski, composed the chief retinue of this embassy, which +consisted in the whole of two hundred persons; and the czar, reserving +to himself only one valet de chambre, a servant in livery, and a dwarf, +mingled with the crowd. It was a thing unparalleled in history, for a +king of five-and-twenty years of age, to quit his dominions, in order +to learn the art of governing. His victory over the Turks and Tartars, +the splendour of his triumphant entry into Moscow, the number of foreign +troops attached to his service, the death of his brother John, his +co-partner in the empire, and the confinement of the princess Sophia to +a cloister, and above all the universal respect shewn to his person, +seemed to assure him the tranquillity of his kingdom during his absence. +He intrusted the regency in the hands of the boyard Strechnef, and the +knez or prince Romadonowski, who were to deliberate with the rest of the +boyards in cases of importance. + +Two troops raised by general Gordon remained behind in Moscow, to keep +every thing quiet in that capital. Those strelitzes, who were thought +likely to create a disturbance, were distributed in the frontiers of +Crim Tartary, to preserve the conquest of Azoph, and to check the +incursions of the Tartars. Having provided against every incident, he +gave a free scope to his passion and desire of improvement. + +As this journey proved the cause, or at least the pretext, of the bloody +war, which so long traversed, but in the end promoted, all the designs +of the czar; which drove Augustus, king of Poland, from the throne; +placed that crown on the head of Stanislaus, and then stript him of it; +which made Charles XII. king of Sweden, the first of conquerors for nine +years, and the most unfortunate of kings for nine more; it is necessary, +in order to enter into a detail of these events, to take a view of the +state of Europe at that time. + +Sultan Mustapha II. sat at that time on the Ottoman throne; the weakness +of whose administration would not permit him to make any great efforts, +either against Leopold, emperor of Germany, whose arms were successful +in Hungary, nor against the czar, who had lately taken Azoph from him, +and threatened to make himself master of the Pontus Euxinus; nor even +against the Venetians, who had made themselves masters of all the +Peloponnesus. + +John Sobieski, king of Poland, for ever famous by the victory of +Chocksim, and the deliverance of Vienna, died the 17th of June, 1696, +and the possession of that crown was in dispute between Augustus, +elector of Saxony, who obtained it, and Armond, prince of Conti, who had +only the honour of being elected. + +1697.] Sweden had lately lost, but without regret, Charles XI. her +sovereign, who was the first king who had ever been really absolute in +that country, and who was the father of a prince still more so, and with +whom all despotic power ceased. He left the crown to his son Charles +XII. a youth of only fifteen years of age. This was in all appearance a +conjuncture the most favourable for the czar's design; he had it in his +power to extend his dominions on the Gulf of Finland, and on the side of +Livonia. But he did not think it enough to harass the Turks on the Black +Sea; the settlements on the Palus Mæotis, and the borders of the Caspian +Sea, were not sufficient to answer his schemes of navigation, commerce, +and power. Besides, glory, which is the darling object of every +reformer, was to be found neither in Persia, nor in Turkey, but in our +parts of Europe, where great talents are rendered immortal. In a word, +Peter did not aim at introducing either the Persian or Turkish manners +among his subjects. + +Germany, then at war both with the Turks and with the French, and united +with Spain, England, and Holland, against the single power of Lewis XIV. +was on the point of concluding peace, and the plenipotentiaries were +already met at the castle of Ryswick, in the neighbourhood of the Hague. + +It was during this situation of affairs, that Peter and his ambassador +began their journey in the month of April, 1697, by the way of Great +Novogorod: from thence they travelled through Esthonia and Livonia, +provinces formerly disputed by the Russians, Swedes, and Poles, and +which the Swedes at last acquired by superiority of arms. + +The fertility of Livonia, and the situation of its capital, Riga, were +temptations to the czar, to possess himself of that country. He +expressed a curiosity to see the fortifications of the citadel. But +count D'Alberg, governor of Riga, taking umbrage at this request, +refused him the satisfaction he desired, and affected to treat the +embassy with contempt. This behaviour did not at all contribute to cool +the inclination the czar might have, to make himself one day master of +those provinces. + +From Livonia they proceeded to Brandenburg-Prussia, part of which had +been inhabited by the ancient Vandals; Polish Prussia had been included +in European Sarmatia. Brandenburg-Prussia was a poor country and badly +peopled; but its elector, who afterwards took the name of king, +displayed a magnificence on this occasion, equally new and destructive +to his dominions. He piqued himself upon receiving this embassy in his +city of Konigsberg, with all the pomp of royalty. The most sumptuous +presents were made on both sides. The contrast between the French dress +which the court of Berlin affected, and the long Asiatic robes of the +Russians, with their caps buttoned up with pearls and diamonds, and +their scimitars hanging at their belts, produced a singular effect. The +czar was dressed after the German fashion. The prince of Georgia, who +accompanied him, was clad in a Persian habit, which displayed a +different magnificence. This is the same who was taken prisoner +afterwards at the battle of Narva, and died in Sweden. + +Peter despised all this ostentation; it was to have been wished that he +had shewn an equal contempt for the pleasures of the table, in which the +Germans, at that time, placed their chiefest glory. It was at one of +those entertainments,[44] then too much in fashion, and which are alike +fatal to health and morality, that he drew his sword upon his favourite, +Le Fort; but he expressed as much contrition for this sudden sally of +passion, as Alexander did for the murder of Clytus; he asked pardon of +Le Fort, saying, that he wanted to reform his subjects, and could not +yet reform himself. General Le Fort, in his manuscript praises the czar +more for this goodness of heart, than he blames him for his excess of +passion. + +The ambassadors then went through Pomerania and Berlin; and, from +thence, one part took its way through Magdeburg, and the other by +Hamburg, a city which already began to be considerable by its extensive +commerce, but not so rich and populous as it has become since. From +thence they directed their route towards Minden, crossed Westphalia, and +at length, by the way of Cleves, arrived at Amsterdam. + +The czar reached this city fifteen days before the ambassadors. At his +first coming, he lodged in a house belonging to the East India company; +but soon afterwards he took a small apartment in the dock-yard, +belonging to the admiralty. He then put on the habit of a Dutch skipper, +and in that dress went to the village of Saardam, a place where a great +many more ships were built at that times, than at present. This village +is as large, as populous, and as rich, and much neater, than many +opulent towns. The czar greatly admired the multitude of people who were +constantly employed there, the order and regularity of their times of +working, the prodigious dispatch with which they built and fitted out +ships, the incredible number of warehouses, and machines, for the +greater ease and security of labour. The czar began with purchasing a +bark, to which he made a mast with his own hands; after that, he worked +upon all the different parts in the construction of a vessel, living in +the same manner as the workmen at Saardam, dressing and eating the same +as them, and working in the forges, the rope-walks, and in the several +mills, which are in prodigious numbers in that village, for sawing +timber, extracting oil, making paper, and wire-drawing. He caused +himself to be enrolled in the list of carpenters, by the name of Peter +Michaelhoff, and was commonly called Peter Bas, or Master Peter: the +workmen were at first confounded at having a crowned head for a +fellow-labourer, but soon became familiarized to the sight. + +While he was thus handling the compass and the axe at Saardam, a +confirmation was brought him of the division in Poland, and of the +double nomination of the elector Augustus, and the prince of Conti. The +carpenter of Saardam immediately promised king Augustus to assist him +with thirty thousand men; and, from his work-loft, issued out orders to +his army that was assembled in the Ukraine against the Turks. + +11th Aug. 1697.] His troops gained a victory over the Tartars near +Azoph, and a few months afterwards took from them the city of Or, or +Orkapi, which we call Precop.[45] As to himself, he still continued +improving in different arts: he went frequently from Saardam to +Amsterdam, to hear the lectures of the celebrated anatomist, Ruysch; and +made himself master of several operations in surgery, which, in case of +necessity, might be of use both to himself and his officers. He went +through a course of natural philosophy, in the house of the burgomaster +Witzen, a person for ever estimable for his patriotic virtue, and the +noble use he made of his immense riches, which he distributed like a +citizen of the world, sending men of abilities, at a great expense, to +all parts of the globe, in search of whatever was most rare and +valuable, and fitting out vessels at his own charge to make new +discoveries. + +Peter Bas gave a truce to his labours for a short time, but it was only +to pay a private visit at Utrecht, and at the Hague, to William, king of +England, and stadtholder of the United Provinces. General Le Fort was +the only one admitted to the private conference of the two monarchs. +Peter assisted afterwards at the public entry of his ambassadors, and at +their audience: they presented, in his name, to the deputy of the +states, six hundred of the most beautiful sables that could be procured; +and the states, over and above the customary presents on these +occasions, of a gold chain and a medal, gave them three magnificent +coaches. They received the first visits of all the plenipotentiaries who +were at the congress of Ryswick, excepting those of France, to whom they +had not notified their arrival, not only because the czar espoused the +cause of Augustus against the prince of Conti, but also because king +William, whose friendship he was desirous of cultivating, was averse to +a peace with France. + +At his return to Amsterdam he resumed his former occupations, and +completed with his own hands, a ship of sixty guns, that he had begun +himself, and sent her to Archangel; which was the only port he had at +that time on the ocean. + +He not only engaged in his service several French refugees, Swiss, and +Germans; but he also sent all sorts of artists over to Moscow, and he +previously made a trial of their several abilities himself. There were +few trades or arts which he did not perfectly well understand, in their +minutest branches: he took a particular pleasure in correcting with his +own hands, the geographical maps, which at that time laid down at hazard +the positions of the towns and rivers in his vast dominions, then very +little known. There is still preserved, a map, on which he marked out, +with his own hand, his projected communication of the Caspian and Black +Seas, the execution of which he had given in charge to Mr. Brekel, a +German engineer. The junction of these two seas was indeed a less +difficult enterprise than that of the Ocean and Mediterranean, which was +effected in France; but the very idea of joining the sea of Azoph with +the Caspian, astonished the imagination at that time: but new +establishments in that country became the object of his attention, in +proportion as his successes begat new hopes. + +His troops, commanded by general Schein and prince Dolgorowski, had +lately gained a victory over the Tartars near Azoph, and likewise over a +body of janissaries sent by sultan Mustapha to their assistance. (July +1696.) This success served to make him more respected, even by those who +blamed him, as a sovereign, for having quitted his dominions, to turn +workman at Amsterdam. They now saw, that the affairs of the monarch did +not suffer by the labours of the philosopher, the traveller, and the +artificer. + +He remained at Amsterdam, constantly employed in his usual occupations +of shipbuilding, engineering, geography, and the practice of natural +philosophy, till the middle of January 1698, and then he set out for +England, but still as one of the retinue of his ambassadors. + +King William sent his own yacht to meet him, and two ships of war as +convoy. In England he observed the same manner of living as at Amsterdam +and Saardam; he took an apartment near the king's dockyard, at Deptford, +where he applied himself wholly to gain instruction. The Dutch +builders had only taught him their method, and the practical part of +shipbuilding. In England he found the art better explained; for there +they work according to mathematical proportion. He soon made himself so +perfect in this science, that he was able to give lessons to others. He +began to build a ship according to the English method of construction, +and it proved a prime sailor. The art of watchmaking, which was already +brought to perfection in London, next attracted his attention, and he +made himself complete master of the whole theory. Captain Perry, the +engineer, who followed him from London to Russia, says, that from the +casting of cannon, to the spinning of ropes, there was not any one +branch of trade belonging to a ship that he did not minutely observe, +and even put his hand to, as often as he came into the places where +those trades were carried on. + +In order to cultivate his friendship, he was allowed to engage several +English artificers into his service, as he had done in Holland; but, +over and above artificers, he engaged likewise some mathematicians, +which he would not so easily have found in Amsterdam. Ferguson, a +Scotchman, an excellent geometrician, entered into his service, and was +the first person who brought arithmetic into use in the exchequer in +Russia, where before that time, they made use only of the Tartarian +method of reckoning, with balls strung upon a wire; a method which +supplied the place of writing, but was very perplexing and imperfect, +because, after the calculation, there was no method of proving it, in +order to discover any error. The Indian ciphers, which are now in use, +were not introduced among us till the ninth century, by Arabs; and they +did not make their way into the Russian empire till one thousand years +afterwards. Such has been the fate of the arts, to make their progress +slowly round the globe. He took with him two young students from a +mathematical school,[46] and this was the beginning of the marine +academy, founded afterwards by Peter the Great. He observed and +calculated eclipses with Ferguson. Perry, the engineer, though greatly +discontented at not being sufficiently rewarded, acknowledges, that +Peter made himself a proficient in astronomy; that he perfectly well +understood the motions of the heavenly bodies, as well as the laws of +gravitation, by which they are directed. This force, now so evidently +demonstrated, and before the time of the great Newton so little known, +by which all the planets gravitate towards each other, and which retain +them in their orbits, was already become familiar to a sovereign of +Russia, while other countries amused themselves with imaginary vertices, +and, in Galileo's nation, one set of ignorant persons ordered others, as +ignorant, to believe the earth to be immoveable. + +Perry set out in order to effect a communication between rivers, to +build bridges, and construct sluices. The czar's plan was to open a +communication by means of canals between the Ocean, the Caspian, and the +Black Seas. + +We must not forget to observe, that a set of English merchants, with the +marquis of Caermarthen[47] at their head, gave Peter fifteen thousand +pounds sterling, for the permission of vending tobacco in Russia. The +patriarch, by a mistaken severity, had interdicted this branch of trade; +for the Russian church forbid smoking, as an unclean and sinful action. +Peter, who knew better things, and who, amongst his many projected +changes, meditated a reformation of the church, introduced this +commodity of trade into his dominions. + +Before Peter left England, he was entertained by king William with a +spectacle worthy such a guest: this was a mock sea-fight. Little was it +then imagined, that the czar would one day fight a real battle on this +element against the Swedes, and gain naval victories in the Baltic. In +fine, William made him a present of the vessel in which he used to go +over to Holland, called the Royal Transport, a beautiful yacht, and +magnificently adorned. In this vessel Peter returned to Holland the +latter end of 1698, taking with him three captains of ships of war, five +and twenty captains of merchant ships, forty lieutenants, thirty pilots, +as many surgeons, two hundred and fifty gunners, and upwards of three +hundred artificers. This little colony of persons skilful in all +branches, sailed from Holland to Archangel, on board the Royal +Transport, and from thence were distributed into all the different +places where their services were necessary. Those who had been engaged +at Amsterdam went by the way of Narva, which then belonged to the +Swedes. + +While he was thus transplanting the arts and manufacture of England and +Holland into his own country, the officers, whom he had sent to Rome, +and other places in Italy, had likewise engaged some artists in his +service. General Sheremeto, who was at the head of his embassy to Italy, +took the tour of Rome, Naples, Venice, and Malta, while the czar +proceeded to Vienna with his other ambassadors. He had now only to view +the military discipline of the Germans, after having seen the English +fleets, and the dock-yards of Holland. Politics had likewise as great a +share in this journey as the desire of instruction. The emperor was his +natural ally against the Turks. Peter had a private audience of Leopold, +and the two monarchs conferred standing, to avoid the trouble of +ceremony. + +There happened nothing worthy remark during his stay at Vienna, except +the celebration of the ancient feast of the landlord and landlady, which +had been disused for a considerable time, and which Leopold thought +proper to revive on the czar's account. This feast, which by the Germans +is called Wurtchafft, is celebrated in the following manner:-- + +The emperor is landlord and the empress landlady, the king of the +Romans, the archdukes and the archduchesses are generally their +assistants: they entertain people of all nations as their guests, who +come dressed after the most ancient fashion of their respective +countries: those who are invited to the feast, draw lots for tickets, on +each of which is written the name of the nation, and the character or +person they are to represent. One perhaps draws a ticket for a Chinese +mandarin; another for a Tartarian mirza; a third a Persian satrap; and a +fourth for a Roman senator; a princess may, by her ticket, be a +gardener's wife, or a milk-maid; a prince a peasant, or a common +soldier. Dances are composed suitable to all those characters, and the +landlord and landlady with their family wait at table. Such was the +ancient institution; but on this occasion[48] Joseph, king of the +Romans, and the countess of Traun, represented the ancient Egyptians. +The archduke Charles, and the countess of Walstein, were dressed like +Flemings in the time of Charles the Fifth. The archduchess Mary +Elizabeth and count Traun were in the habits of Tartars; the archduchess +Josephina and the count of Workslaw were habited like Persians, and the +archduchess Mariamne and prince Maximilian of Hanover in the character +of North Holland peasants. Peter appeared in the dress of a Friesland +boor, and all who spoke to him addressed him in that character, at the +same time talking to him of the great czar of Muscovy. These are +trifling particulars; but whatever revives the remembrance of ancient +manners and customs, is in some degree worthy of being recorded. + +Peter was ready to set out from Vienna, in order to proceed to Venice, +to complete his tour of instruction, when he received the news of a +rebellion, which had lately broke out in his dominions. + + + + +CHAP. X. + + A conspiracy punished.--The corps of strelitzes abolished, + alterations in customs, manners, church, and state. + + +Czar Peter, when he left his dominions to set out on his travels, had +provided against every incident, even that of rebellion. But the great +and serviceable things he had done for his country, proved the very +cause of this rebellion. + +Certain old boyards, to whom the ancient customs were still dear, and +some priests, to whom the new ones appeared little better than +sacrilege, began these disturbances, and the old faction of the princess +Sophia took this opportunity to rouse itself anew. It is said, that one +of her sisters, who was confined to the same monastery, contributed not +a little to excite these seditions. Care was taken to spread abroad the +danger to be feared from the introduction of foreigners to instruct the +nation. In short, who would believe, that[49] the permission which the +czar had given to import tobacco into his empire, contrary to the +inclination of the clergy, was one of the chief motives of the +insurrection? Superstition, the scourge of every country, yet the +darling of the multitude, spread itself from the common people to the +strelitzes, who had been scattered on the frontiers of Lithuania: they +assembled in a body, and marched towards Moscow, with the intent to +place the princess Sophia on the throne, and for ever to prevent the +return of a czar who had violated the established customs,[50] by +presuming to travel for instruction among foreigners. The forces +commanded by Schein and Gordon, who were much better disciplined than +the strelitzes, met them fifteen leagues from Moscow, gave them battle, +and entirely defeated them: but this advantage, gained by a foreign +general over the ancient militia, among whom were several of the +burghers of Moscow, contributed still more to irritate the people. + +To quell these tumults, the czar sets out privately from Vienna, passes +through Poland, has a private interview with Augustus, concerts measures +with that prince for extending the Russian dominions on the side of the +Baltic, and at length arrived at Moscow, where he surprised every one +with his presence: he then confers rewards on the troops who had +defeated the strelitzes, (Sept. 1698,) of whom the prisons were now +full. If the crimes of these unhappy wretches were great, their +punishment was no less so. Their leaders, with several of their officers +and priests, were condemned to death; some were broken upon the +wheel,[51] and two women were buried alive; upwards of two thousand of +the strelitzes were executed, part of whom were hung round about the +walls of the city, and others put to death in different manners, and +their dead bodies remained exposed for two days in the high roads,[52] +particularly about the monastery where the princesses Sophia and Eudocia +resided.[53] Monuments of stone were erected, on which their crimes and +punishments were set forth. A great number of them who had wives and +children at Moscow, were dispersed with their families into Siberia, the +kingdom of Astracan, and the country of Azoph. This punishment was at +least of service to the state, as they helped to cultivate and people a +large tract of waste land. + +Perhaps, if the czar had not found it absolutely necessary to make such +terrible examples, he might have employed part of those strelitzes whom +he put to death, upon the public works; whereas they were now lost both +to him and the state: the lives of men ought to be held in great +estimation, especially in a country where the increase of inhabitants +ought to have been the principal care of the legislature: but he thought +it necessary to terrify and break the spirit of the nation by +executions, and the parade attending them. The entire corps of the +strelitzes, whose number not one of his predecessors had even dared to +think of diminishing, was broke for ever, and their very name abolished. +This change was effected without any resistance, because matters had +been properly prepared beforehand. The Turkish sultan, Osman, as I have +already remarked, was deposed and murdered in the same century, only for +giving the janissaries room to suspect that he intended to lessen their +number. Peter had better success, because he had taken better measures. + +Of this powerful and numerous body of the strelitzes, he left only two +feeble regiments, from whom there could no longer be any danger; and yet +these still retaining their old spirit of mutiny, revolted again in +Astracan, in the year 1705, but were quickly suppressed. + +But while we are relating Peter's severity in this affair of state, let +us not forget to commemorate the more than equal humanity he shewed some +time afterwards, when he lost his favourite Le Fort, who was snatched +away by an untimely fate, March 12, N. S. 1699, at the age of 46. He +paid him the same funeral honours as are bestowed on the greatest +sovereigns, and assisted himself in the procession, carrying a pike in +his hand, and marching after the captains, in the rank of a lieutenant, +which he held in the deceased general's regiment, hereby setting an +example to his nobles, of the respect due to merit and the military +rank. + +After the death of Le Fort, it appeared plainly, that the changes in the +state were not owing to that general, but to the czar himself. Peter had +indeed been confirmed in his design by his several conversations with Le +Fort; but he had formed and executed them all without his assistance. + +As soon as he had suppressed the strelitzes, he established regular +regiments on the German model, who were all clothed in a short and +commodious uniform, in the room of those long and troublesome coats, +which they used to wear before; and, at the same time, their exercise +was likewise more regular. + +The regiment of Preobrazinski guards was already formed; it had taken +its name from the first company of fifty men, whom the czar had trained +up in his younger days, in his retreat at Preobrazinski, at the time +when his sister Sophia governed the state, and the other regiment of +guards was also established. + +As he had himself passed through the lowest degrees in the army, he was +resolved that the sons of his boyards and great men, should serve as +common soldiers before they were made officers. He sent some of the +young nobility on board of his fleet at Woronitz and Azoph, where he +obliged them to serve their apprenticeship as common seamen. No one +dared to dispute the commands of a master who had himself set the +example. The English and Dutch he had brought over with him were +employed in equipping this fleet for sea, in constructing sluices, and +building docks, for careening the ships, and to resume the great work of +joining the Tanais, or Don, and the Wolga, which had been dropped by +Brekel, the German. And now he began to set about his projected +reformations in the council of state, in the revenue, in the church, and +even in society itself. + +The affairs of the revenue had been hitherto administered much in the +same manner as in Turkey. Each boyard paid a stipulated sum for his +lands, which he raised upon the peasants, his vassals; the czar +appointed certain burghers and burgomasters to be his receivers, who +were not powerful enough to claim the right of paying only such sums as +they thought proper into the public treasury. This new administration of +the finances, was what cost him the most trouble: he was obliged to try +several methods before he could fix upon a proper one. + +The reformation of the church, which in all other countries is looked +upon as so dangerous and difficult an attempt, was not so to him. The +patriarchs had at times opposed the authority of the crown, as well as +the strelitzes; Nicon with insolence, Joachin, one of his successors, in +an artful manner. + +The bishops had arrogated the power of life and death, a prerogative +directly contrary to the spirit of religion, and the subordination of +government. This assumed power, which had been of long standing, was now +taken from them. The patriarch Adrian, dying at the close of this +century, Peter declared that there should for the future be no other. + +This dignity then was entirely suppressed, and the great income +belonging thereto was united to the public revenue, which stood in need +of this addition. Although the czar did not set himself up as the head +of the Russian church, as the kings of Great Britain have done in regard +to the church of England; yet he was, in fact, absolute master over it, +because the synods did not dare either to disobey the commands of a +despotic sovereign, or to dispute with a prince who had more knowledge +than themselves. + +We need only to cast an eye on the preamble to the edict, concerning his +ecclesiastical regulations, issued in 1721, to be convinced that he +acted at once as master and legislator: 'We should deem ourselves guilty +of ingratitude to the Most High, if, after having reformed the military +and civil orders, we neglect the spiritual, &c. For this cause, +following the example of the most ancient kings, who have been famed for +piety, we have taken upon us to make certain wholesome regulations, +touching the clergy.' It is true, he convened a synod for carrying into +execution his ecclesiastical decrees, but the members of this synod, at +entering upon their office, were to take an oath, the form of which had +been drawn up and signed by himself. This was an oath of submission and +obedience, and was conceived in the following terms: 'I swear to be a +faithful and obedient servant and subject to my true and natural +sovereign, and to the august successors whom it shall please him to +nominate, in virtue of the incontestable right of which he is possessed: +I acknowledge him to be the supreme judge of this spiritual college: I +swear by the all-seeing God, that I understand and mean this oath in the +full force and sense, which the words convey to those who read or hear +it.' This oath is much stronger than that of the supremacy in England. +The Russian monarch was not, indeed, one of the fathers of the synod, +but he dictated their laws; and, though he did not touch the holy +censer, he directed the hands that held it. + +Previous to this great work, he thought, that in a state like his, which +stood in need of being peopled, the celibacy of the monks was contrary +to nature, and to the public good. It was the ancient custom of the +Russian church, for secular priests to marry at least once in their +lives: they were even obliged so to do: and formerly they ceased to be +priests as soon as they lost their wives. But that a multitude of young +people of both sexes should make a vow of living useless in a cloister, +and at the expense of others, appeared to him a dangerous institution. +He, therefore, ordered that no one should be admitted to a monastic +life, till they were fifty years old, a time of life very rarely subject +to a temptation of this kind; and he forbid any person to be admitted, +at any age soever, who was actually in possession of any public employ. + +This regulation has been repealed since his death, because the +government has thought proper to shew more complaisance to the +monasteries: but the patriarchal dignity has never been revived, and its +great revenues are now appropriated to the payment of the troops. + +These alterations at first excited some murmurings. A certain priest +wrote, to prove that Peter was antichrist, because he would not admit of +a patriarch; and the art of printing, which the czar encouraged in his +kingdom, was made use of to publish libels against him: but, on the +other hand, there was another priest who started up to prove that Peter +could not be antichrist, because the number 666 was not to be found in +his name, and that he had not the sign of the Beast. All complaints, +however, were soon quieted. Peter, in fact, gave much more to the church +than he took from it; for he made the clergy, by degrees, more regular +and more learned. He founded three colleges at Moscow, where they teach +the languages, and where those who are designed for the priesthood are +obliged to study. + +One of the most necessary reforms was the suppression, or at least the +mitigation of the Three Lents, an ancient superstition of the Greek +church, and as prejudicial with respect to those who are employed in +public works, and especially to soldiers, as was the old Jewish +superstition of not fighting on the sabbath-day. Accordingly the czar +dispensed with his workmen and soldiers at least, observing these lents, +in which, though they were not permitted to eat, they were accustomed to +get drunk. He likewise dispensed with their observance of meagre days; +the chaplains of the fleet and army were obliged to set the example, +which they did without much reluctance. + +The calendar, another important object. Formerly, in all the countries +of the world, the chiefs of religion had the care of regulating the +year, not only on account of the feasts to be observed, but because, in +ancient times, the priests were the only persons who understood +astronomy. + +The year began with the Russians on the 1st of September. Peter ordered, +that it should for the future commence the first day of January, as +among the other nations of Europe. This alteration was to take place in +the year 1700, at the beginning of the century, which he celebrated by a +jubilee, and other grand solemnities. It was a matter of surprise, to +the common people, how the czar should be able to change the course of +the sun. Some obstinate persons, persuaded that God had created the +world in September, continued their old style: but the alteration took +place in all the public offices, in the whole court of chancery, and in +a little time throughout the whole empire. Peter did not adopt the +Gregorian calendar, because it had been rejected by the English +mathematicians; but which must, nevertheless, be one day received in all +countries. + +Ever since the 5th century, the time when letters first came into use +amongst them, they had been accustomed to write upon long rolls, made +either of the bark of trees, or of parchment, and afterwards of paper; +and the czar was obliged to publish an edict, ordering every one, for +the future, to write after our manner. + +The reformation now became general. Their marriages were made formerly +after the same manner as in Turkey and Persia, where the bridegroom does +not see his bride till the contract is signed, and they can no longer go +from their words. This custom may do well enough among those people, +where polygamy prevails, and where the women are always shut up; but it +is a very bad one in countries where a man is confined to one wife, and +where divorces are seldom allowed. + +The czar was willing to accustom his people to the manners and customs +of the nations which he had visited in his travels, and from whence he +had taken the masters who were now instructing them. + +It appeared necessary that the Russians should not be dressed in a +different manner from those who were teaching them the arts and +sciences; because the aversion to strangers, which is but too natural to +mankind, is not a little kept up by a difference of dress. The full +dress, which at that time partook of the fashions of the Poles, the +Tartars, and the ancient Hungarians, was, as we have elsewhere observed, +very noble; but the dress of the burghers and common people resembled +those jackets plaited round the waist, which are still given to the poor +children in some of the French hospitals.[54] In general, the robe was +formerly the dress of all nations, as being a garment that required the +least trouble and art; and, for the same reason, the beard was suffered +to grow. The czar met with but little difficulty in introducing our mode +of dress, and the custom of shaving among his courtiers; but the people +were more obstinate, he found himself obliged to lay a tax on long coats +and beards. Patterns of close-bodied coats were hung up in public +places; and whoever refused to pay the tax were obliged to suffer their +robes and their beards to be curtailed: all this was done in a jocular +manner, and this air of pleasantry prevented seditions. + +It has ever been the aim of all legislators to render mankind more +sociable; but it is not sufficient to effect this end, that they live +together in towns, there must be a mutual intercourse of civility. This +intercourse sweetens all the bitterness of life. The czar, therefore, +introduced those assemblies which the Italians call _ridotti_. To these +assemblies he invited all the ladies of his court, with their daughters; +and they were to appear dressed after the fashions of the southern +nations of Europe. He was even himself at the pains of drawing up +rules for all the little decorums to be observed at these social +entertainments. Thus, even to good breeding among his subjects, all was +his own work, and that of time. + +To make his people relish these innovations the better, he abolished the +word _golut_, _slave_, always made use of by the Russians when they +addressed their czar, or presented any petition to him; and ordered, +that, for the future, they should make use of the word _raab_, which +signifies _subject_. This alteration in no wise diminished the obedience +due to the sovereign, and yet was the most ready means of conciliating +their affections. Every month produced some new change or institution. +He carried his attention even to the ordering painted posts to be set up +in the road between Moscow and Woronitz, to serve as mile stones at the +distance of every verst; that is to say, every seven hundred paces, and +had a kind of caravanseras, or public inns, built at the end of every +twentieth verst. + +While he was thus extending his cares to the common people, to the +merchants, and to the traveller, he thought proper to make an addition +to the pomp and splendour of his own court; for though he hated pomp or +show in his own person, he thought it necessary in those about him; he +therefore instituted the order of St. Andrew,[55] in imitation of the +several orders with which all the courts of Europe abound. Golowin, who +succeeded Le Fort in the dignity of high admiral, was the first knight +of this order. It was esteemed a high reward to have the honour of being +admitted a member. It was a kind of badge that entitled the person who +bore it to the respect of the people. This mark of honour costs nothing +to the sovereign, and flatters the self-love of a subject, without +rendering him too powerful. + +These many useful innovations were received with applause by the wiser +part of the nation; and the murmurings and complaints of those who +adhered to the ancient customs were drowned in the acclamations of men +of sound judgment. + +While Peter was thus beginning a new creation in the interior part of +his state, he concluded an advantageous truce with the Turks, which gave +him the liberty to extend his territories on another side. Mustapha the +Second, who had been defeated by prince Eugene, at the battle of Zeuta, +in 1697, stripped of the Morea by the Venetians, and unable to defend +Azoph, was obliged to make peace with his victorious enemies, which +peace was concluded at Carlowitz, (Jan. 26, 1699,) between Peterwaradin +and Salankamon, places made famous by his defeats. Temeswaer was made +the boundary of the German possessions, and of the Ottoman dominions. +Kaminieck was restored to the Poles; the Morea, and some towns in +Dalmatia, which had been taken by the Venetians, remained in their hands +for some time; and Peter the First continued in possession of Casaph, +and of a few forts built in its neighbourhood. + +It was not possible for the czar to extend his dominions on the side of +Turkey, without drawing upon him the forces of that empire, before +divided, but now united. His naval projects were too vast for the Palus +Mæotis, and the settlements on the Caspian Sea would not admit of a +fleet of men of war: he therefore turned his views towards the Baltic +Sea, but without relinquishing those in regard to the Tanais and Wolga. + + + + +CHAP. XI. + + War with Sweden.--The battle of Narva. + + +[Sidenote: 1700.] + +A grand scene was now opened on the frontiers of Sweden. One of the +principal causes of all the revolutions which happened from Ingria, as +far as Dresden, and which laid waste so many countries for the space of +eighteen years, was the abuse of the supreme power, by Charles XI. king +of Sweden, father of Charles XII. This is a fact which cannot be too +often repeated, as it concerns every crowned head, and the subjects of +every nation. Almost all Livonia, with the whole of Esthonia, had been +ceded by the Poles to Charles XI. king of Sweden, who succeeded Charles +X. exactly at the time of the treaty of Oliva. It was ceded in the +customary manner, with a reservation of rights and privileges. Charles +XI. shewing little regard to these privileges, John Reinhold Patkul, a +gentleman of Livonia, came to Stockholm in 1692, at the head of six +deputies from the province, and laid their complaints at the foot of the +throne, in respectful, but strong terms.[56] Instead of an answer, the +deputies were ordered to be imprisoned, and Patkul was condemned to lose +his honour and his life. But he lost neither, for he made his escape to +the country of Vaud, in Switzerland, where he remained some time; when +he afterwards was informed, that Augustus, elector of Saxony, had +promised, at his accession to the throne of Poland, to recover the +provinces that had been wrested from that kingdom; he hastened to +Dresden, to represent to that prince, how easily he might make himself +master of Livonia, and revenge upon a king, only seventeen years of age, +the losses that Poland had sustained by his ancestors. + +At this very time czar Peter entertained thoughts of seizing upon Ingria +and Carelia. These provinces had formerly belonged to the Russians, but +the Swedes had made themselves masters of them by force of arms, in the +time of the false Demetriuses, and had retained the possession of them +by treaties: another war and new treaties might restore them again to +Russia. Patkul went from Dresden to Moscow, and, by exciting up the two +monarchs to avenge his private causes, he cemented a close union between +them, and directed their preparations for invading all the places +situated to the east and south of Finland. + +Just at this period, the new king of Denmark, Frederick IV. entered into +an alliance with the czar and the king of Poland, against Charles, the +young king of Sweden, who seemed in no condition to withstand their +united forces. Patkul had the satisfaction of besieging the Swedes in +Riga, the capital of Livonia, and directing the attack in quality of +major-general. + +The czar marched near eighty thousand men into Ingria. It is true, that, +in this numerous army, he had not more than twelve thousand good +soldiers, being those he had disciplined himself; namely, the two +regiments of guards, and some few others, the rest being a badly armed +militia, with some Cossacks, and Circassian Tartars; but he carried +with him a train of a hundred and forty-five pieces of cannon. He laid +siege to Narva, a small town in Ingria, that had a very commodious +harbour, and it was generally thought the place would prove an easy +conquest. + +Sept.] It is known to all Europe, how Charles XII. when not quite +eighteen years of age, made head against all his enemies, and attacked +them one after another; he entered Denmark, put an end to the war in +that kingdom in less than six weeks, sent succours to Riga, obliged the +enemy to raise the siege, and marched against the Russians encamped +before Narva, through the midst of ice and snow, in the month of +November. + +The czar, who looked upon Narva as already in his possession, was gone +to Novogorod, (Nov. 18,) and had taken with him his favourite, +Menzikoff, then a lieutenant in the company of bombardiers, of the +Preobrazinski regiment, and afterwards raised to the rank of +field-marshal and prince; a man whose singular fortunes entitle him to +be spoken of more at large in another place. + +Peter left the command of the army, with his instructions for the siege, +with the prince of Croi; whose family came from Flanders, and who had +lately entered into the czar's service.[57] Prince Dolgorouki acted as +commissary of the army. The jealousy between these two chiefs, and the +absence of the czar, were partly the occasion of the unparalleled defeat +at Narva. + +Charles XII. having landed at Pernau, in Livonia, with his troops, in +the month of October advanced northward to Revel, where he defeated an +advanced body of Russians. He continued his march, and meeting with +another body, routed that likewise. The runaways returned to the camp +before Narva, which they filled with consternation. The month of +November was now far advanced; Narva, though unskilfully besieged, was +on the point of surrendering. The young king of Sweden had not at that +time above nine thousand men with him, and could bring only six pieces +of cannon to oppose to a hundred and forty-five, with which the Russian +intrenchments were defended. All the relations of that time, and all +historians without exception, concur in making the Russian army then +before Narva amount to eighty thousand men. The memoirs with which I +have been furnished say sixty thousand; be that as it may, it is +certain, that Charles had not quite nine thousand; and that this battle +was one of those which have proved, that the greatest victories have +been frequently gained by inferior numbers, ever since the famed one of +Arbela.[58] + +Nov. 30.] Charles did not hesitate one moment to attack with his small +troop this army, so greatly superior; and, taking advantage of a violent +wind, and a great storm of snow, which blew directly in the faces of the +Russians, he attacked their intrenchments under cover of some pieces of +cannon, which he had posted advantageously for the purpose. The Russians +had not time to form themselves in the midst of that cloud of snow, that +beat full in their faces, and astonished by the discharge of cannon, +that they could not see, and never imagined how small a number they had +to oppose. + +The duke de Croi attempted to give his orders, but prince Dolgorouki +would not receive them. The Russian officers rose upon the German +officers; the duke's secretary, with Colonel Lyon, and several others, +were murdered. Every one abandoned his post; and tumult, confusion, and +a panic of terror, spread through the whole army. The Swedish troops had +nothing more to do, but to cut in pieces those who were flying. Some +threw themselves into the river Narva, where great numbers were drowned; +others threw down their arms, and fell upon their knees before the +conquering Swedes. + +The duke de Croi, general Alland, and the rest of the general officers, +dreading the Russians more than the Swedes, went in a body and +surrendered themselves prisoners to count Steinbock. The king of Sweden +now made himself master of all the artillery. Thirty thousand of the +vanquished enemy laid down their arms at his feet, and filed off +bare-headed and disarmed before him. Prince Dolgorouki, and all the +Russian generals, came and surrendered themselves, as well as the +Germans, but did not know till after they had surrendered, that they had +been conquered by eight thousand men. Amongst the prisoners, was the son +of a king of Georgia, whom Charles sent to Stockholm: his name was +Mittelesky Czarovits, or czar's son, an additional proof that the title +of czar, or tzar, had not its original from the Roman Cæsars. + +Charles XII. did not lose more than one thousand two hundred men in this +battle. The czar's journal, which has been sent me from Petersburg, +says, that including those who died at the siege of Narva, and in the +battle, and those who were drowned in their flight, the Russians lost no +more than six thousand men. Want of discipline, and a panic that seized +the army, did all the work of that fatal day. The number of those made +prisoners of war, was four times greater than that of the conquerors; +and if we may believe Norberg,[59] count Piper, who was afterwards taken +prisoner by the Russians, reproached them, that the number of their +people made prisoners in the battle, exceeded by eight times the number +of the whole Swedish army. If this is truth, the Swedes must have made +upwards of seventy-two thousand prisoners. This shews how seldom writers +are well informed of particular circumstances. One thing, however, +equally incontestable and extraordinary, is, that the king of Sweden +permitted one half of the Russian soldiers to retire back, after having +disarmed them, and the other half to repass the river, with their arms; +by this unaccountable presumption, restoring to the czar troops that, +being afterwards well disciplined, became invincible.[60] + +Charles had all the advantages that could result from a complete +victory. Immense magazines, transports loaded with provisions, posts +evacuated or taken, and the whole country at the mercy of the Swedish +army, were consequences of the fortune of this day. Narva was now +relieved, the shattered remains of the Russian army did not shew +themselves; the whole country as far as Pleskow lay open; the czar +seemed bereft of all resource for carrying on the war; and the king of +Sweden, victor in less than twelve months over the monarchs of Denmark, +Poland, and Russia, was looked upon as the first prince in Europe, at +an age when other princes hardly presume to aspire at reputation. But +the unshaken constancy that made a part of Peter's character, prevented +him from being discouraged in any of his projects. + +A Russian bishop composed a prayer to St. Nicholas,[61] on account of +this defeat, which was publicly read in all the churches throughout +Russia. This composition shews the spirit of the times, and the +inexpressible ignorance from which Peter delivered his country. Amongst +other things, it says, that the furious and terrible Swedes were +sorcerers; and complains that St. Nicholas had entirely abandoned his +Russians. The prelates of that country would blush to write such stuff +at present; and, without any offence to the holy St. Nicholas, the +people soon perceived that Peter was the most proper person to be +applied to, to retrieve their losses. + + + + +CHAP. XII. + + Resources after the battle of Narva. That disaster entirely + repaired. Peter gains a victory near the same place. The person who + was afterwards empress made prisoner at the storming of a town. + Peter's successes. His triumph at Moscow.[62] + + The years 1701 and 1703. + + +The czar having, as has been already observed, quitted his army before +Narva, in the end of November, 1700, in order to go and concert matters +with the king of Poland, received the news of the victory gained by the +Swedes, as he was on his way. His constancy in all emergencies was equal +to the intrepidity and valour of Charles. He deferred the conference +with Augustus, and hastened to repair the disordered state of his +affairs. The scattered troops rendezvoused at Great Novogorod, and from +thence marched to Pleskow, on the lake Peipus. + +It was not a little matter to be able to stand upon the defensive, after +so severe a check: 'I know very well,' said Peter, 'that the Swedes will +have the advantage of us for some time, but they will teach us at length +to conquer them.' + +1701.] Having provided for the present emergency, and ordered recruits +to be raised on every side, he sent to Moscow to cast new cannon, his +own having been all taken before Narva. There being a scarcity of metal, +he took all the bells of the churches, and of the religious houses in +Moscow. This action did not savour much of superstition, but at the same +time it was no mark of impiety. With those bells he made one hundred +large cannon, one hundred and forty-three field-pieces, from three to +six pounders, besides mortars and howitzers, which were all sent to +Pleskow. In other countries the sovereign orders, and others execute; +but here the czar was obliged to see every thing done himself. While he +was hastening these preparations, he entered into a negotiation with the +king of Denmark, who engaged to furnish him with three regiments of +foot, and three of cavalry; an engagement which that monarch could not +fulfil. + +As soon as this treaty was signed, he hurried to the theatre of war. He +had an interview with king Augustus, at Birzen, (Feb. 27.) on the +frontiers of Courland and Lithuania. His object was, to confirm that +prince in his resolution of maintaining the war against Charles XII. and +at the same time to engage the Polish Diet to enter into the quarrel. It +is well known, that a king of Poland is no more than the head person in +a republic. The czar had the advantage of being always obeyed; but the +kings of Poland, and England, at present the king of Sweden, are all +obliged to treat with their subjects.[63] Patkul and a few Poles in the +interest of their monarch, assisted at these conferences. Peter promised +to aid them with subsidies, and an army of twenty-five thousand men. +Livonia was to be restored to Poland, in case the diet would concur with +their king, and assist in recovering this province: the diet hearkened +more to their fears, than to the czar's proposals. The Poles were +apprehensive of having their liberties restrained by the Saxons and +Russians, and were still more afraid of Charles XII. It was therefore +agreed by the majority, not to serve their king, and not to fight. + +The partisans of Augustus grew enraged against the contrary faction, and +a civil war was lighted up in the kingdom; because their monarch had an +intention to restore to it a considerable province. + +Feb.] Peter then had only an impotent ally in king Augustus, and feeble +succours in the Saxon troops; and the terror which Charles XII. inspired +on every side, reduced Peter to the necessity of depending entirely upon +his own strength. + +March 1.] After travelling with the greatest expedition from Moscow to +Courland, to confer with Augustus: he posted back from Courland to +Moscow, to forward the accomplishment of his promises. He actually +dispatched Prince Repnin, with four thousand men, to Riga, on the banks +of the Duna, where the Saxon troops were intrenched. + +July.] The general consternation was now increased; for Charles, passing +the Duna in spite of all the Saxons, who were advantageously posted on +the opposite side, gained a complete victory over them; and then, +without waiting a moment, he made himself master of Courland, advanced +into Lithuania, and by his presence encouraged the Polish faction that +opposed Augustus. + +Peter, notwithstanding all this, still pursued his designs. General +Patkul, who had been the soul of the conference at Birzen, and who had +engaged in his service, procured him some German officers, disciplined +his troops, and supplied the place of general Le Fort: the czar ordered +relays of horses to be provided for all the officers, and even for the +German, Livonian, and Polish soldiers, who came to serve in his armies. +He likewise inspected in person into every particular relating to their +arms, their clothing, and subsistence. + +On the confines of Livonia and Esthonia, and to the eastward of the +province of Novogorod, lies the great lake Peipus, which receives the +waters of the river Velika, from out of the middle of Livonia, and gives +rise in its northern part to the river Naiova, that washes the walls of +the town of Narva, near which the Swedes gained their famous victory. +This lake is upwards of thirty leagues in length, and from twelve to +fifteen in breadth. It was necessary to keep a fleet there, to prevent +the Swedish ships from insulting the province of Novogorod; to be ready +to make a descent upon their coasts, and above all, to be a nursery for +seamen. Peter employed the greatest part of the year 1701, in building +on this lake an hundred half gallies, to carry about fifty men each; and +other armed barks were fitted out on the lake Ladoga. He directed all +these operations in person, and set his new sailors to work: those who +had been employed in 1697, at the Palus Mæotis were then stationed near +the Baltic. He frequently quitted those occupations to go to Moscow, and +the rest of the provinces, in order to enforce the observance of the +late customs he had introduced, or to establish new ones. + +Those princes who have employed the leisure moments of peace in raising +public works, have acquired to themselves a name: but that Peter, just +after his misfortune at Narva, should apply himself to the junction of +the Baltic, Caspian, and the Black seas, by canals, has crowned him with +more real glory than the most signal victory. It was in the year 1702, +that he began to dig that deep canal, intended to join the Tanais and +the Wolga. Other communications were likewise to be made, by means of +lakes between the Tanais and the Duna; whose waters empty themselves +into the Baltic, in the neighbourhood of Riga. But this latter project +seemed to be still at a great distance, as Peter was far from having +Riga in his possession. + +While Charles was laying all Poland waste, Peter caused to be brought +from that kingdom, and from Saxony, a number of shepherds, with their +flocks, in order to have wool fit for making good cloth; he likewise +erected manufactories of linen and paper: gave orders for collecting a +number of artificers; such as smiths, braziers, armourers, and +founders, and the mines of Siberia were ransacked for ore. Thus was he +continually labouring for the embellishment and defence of his +dominions. + +Charles pursued the course of his victories, and left a sufficient body +of troops, as he imagined, on the frontiers of the czar's dominions, to +secure all the possessions of Sweden. He had already formed a design to +dethrone Augustus, and afterwards to pursue the czar with his victorious +army to the very gates of Moscow. + +There happened several slight engagements in the course of this year, +between the Russians and Swedes, in which the latter did not always +prove superior; and even in those where they had the advantage, the +Russians improved in the art of war. In short, in little more than +twelve months after the battle of Narva, the czar's troops were so well +disciplined, that they defeated one of the best generals belonging to +the king of Sweden. + +Peter was then at Pleskow, from whence he detached numerous bodies of +troops, on all sides, to attack the Swedes; who were now defeated by a +native of Russia, and not a foreigner. His general, Sheremeto, by a +skilful manoeuvre, beat up the quarters of the Swedish general, +Slipenbak, in several places, near Derpt, on the frontiers of Livonia; +and at last obtained a victory over that officer himself. (Jan. 11, +1702.) And now, for the first time, the Russians took from the Swedes +four of their colours; which was thought a considerable number. + +May.] The lakes Peipus and Ladoga were for some time afterwards the +theatres of sea-fights between the Russians and Swedes; in which the +latter had the same advantages as by land: namely, that of discipline +and long practice; but the Russians had some few successes with their +half gallies, at the lake Peipus, and the field-marshal Sheremeto took a +Swedish frigate. + +By means of this lake, the czar kept Livonia and Esthonia in continual +alarms; his gallies frequently landed several regiments in those +provinces; who reimbarked whenever they failed of success, or else +pursued their advantage: the Swedes were twice beaten in the +neighbourhood of Derpt, (June, July,) while they were victorious every +where else. + +In all these actions the Russians were always superior in number; for +this reason, Charles XII. who was so successful in every other place, +gave himself little concern about these trifling advantages gained by +the czar: but he should have considered, that these numerous forces of +his rival were every day growing more accustomed to the business of +fighting, and might soon become formidable to himself. + +While both parties were thus engaged, by sea and land, in Livonia, +Ingria, and Esthonia, the czar is informed that a Swedish fleet had set +sail, in order to destroy Archangel; upon which he immediately marched +thither, and every one was astonished to hear of him on the coasts of +the Frozen Sea, when he was thought to be at Moscow. He put the town +into a posture of defence, prevented the intended descent, drew the plan +of a citadel, called the New Dwina, laid the first stone, and then +returned to Moscow, and from thence to the seat of war. + +Charles made some alliances in Poland; but the Russians, on their side, +made a progress in Ingria and Livonia. Marshal Sheremeto marched to meet +the Swedish army, under the command of Slipenbak, gave that general +battle near the little river Embac, and defeated him, taking sixteen +colours, and twenty pieces of cannon. Norberg places this action on the +first of December, 1701; but the journal of Peter the Great, fixes it on +the nineteenth of July, 1702. + +6th Aug.] After this advantage, the Russian general marched onwards, +laid the whole country under contributions, and takes the little town of +Marienburg, on the confines of Ingria and Livonia. There are several +towns of this name in the north of Europe; but this, though it no longer +exists, is more celebrated in history than all the others, by the +adventure of the empress Catherine. + +This little town, having surrendered at discretion, the Swedes, who +defended it, either through mistake or design, set fire to the magazine. +The Russians, incensed at this, destroyed the town, and carried away all +the inhabitants. Among the prisoners was a young woman, a native of +Livonia, who had been brought up in the house of a Lutheran minister of +that place, named Gluck, and who afterwards became the sovereign of +those who had taken her captive, and who governed Russia by the name of +the empress Catherine. + +There had been many instances before this, of private women being raised +to the throne; nothing was more common in Russia, and in all Asiatic +kingdoms, than for crowned heads to marry their own subjects; but that a +poor stranger, who had been taken prisoner in the storming of a town, +should become the absolute sovereign of that very empire, whither she +was led captive, is an instance which fortune never produced before nor +since in the annals of the world. + +The Russian arms proved equally successful in Ingria: for their half +gallies on the lake Ladoga compelled the Swedish fleet to retire to +Wibourg,[64] a town at the other extremity of this great lake, from +whence they could see the siege of the fortress of Notebourg, which was +then carrying on by general Sheremeto. This was an undertaking of much +greater importance than was imagined at that time, as it might open a +communication with the Baltic Sea, the constant aim of Peter the Great. + +Notebourg was a strong fortified town, built on an island in the lake +Ladoga, which it entirely commands, and by that means, whoever is in +possession of it, must be masters of that part of the river Neva, which +falls into the sea not far from thence. The Russians bombarded the town +night and day, from the 18th of September to the 12th October; and at +length gave a general assault by three breaches. The Swedish garrison +was reduced to a hundred men only capable of defending the place; and, +what is very astonishing, they did defend it, and obtain, even in the +breach, an honourable capitulation: moreover, colonel Slipenbak, who +commanded there, would not surrender the town, but on condition of being +permitted to send for two Swedish officers from the nearest post, to +examine the breaches (Oct. 16.), in order to be witnesses for him to the +king his master, that eighty-three men, who were all then left of the +garrison capable of bearing arms, besides one hundred and fifty sick and +wounded, did not surrender to a whole army, till it was impossible for +them to fight longer, or to preserve the place. This circumstance alone +shews what sort of an enemy the czar had to contend with, and the +necessity there was of all his great efforts and military discipline. He +distributed gold medals among his officers on this occasion, and gave +rewards to all the private men; except a few, whom he punished for +running away during the assault. Their comrades spit in their faces, and +afterwards shot them to death; thus adding ignominy to punishment. + +Notebourg was repaired, and its name changed to that of Shlusselburg, or +the City of the Key; that place being the key of Ingria and Finland. The +first governor was that Menzikoff, whom we have already mentioned, and +who was become an excellent officer, and had merited this honour by his +gallant behaviour during the siege. His example served as an +encouragement to all who have merit without being distinguished by +birth. + +After this campaign of 1702, the czar resolved that Sheremeto, and the +officers who had signalized themselves, should make a triumphal entry +into Moscow. (Dec. 17.) All the prisoners taken in this campaign marched +in the train of the victors, who had the Swedish colours and standards +carried before them, together with the flag of the Swedish frigate taken +on the lake Peipus. Peter assisted in the preparations for this +triumphal pomp, as he had shared in the great actions it celebrated. + +These shows naturally inspired emulation, otherwise they would have been +no more than idle ostentation. Charles despised every thing of this +kind, and, after the battle of Narva, held his enemies, their efforts, +and their triumphs, in equal contempt. + + + + +CHAP. XIII. + + Reformation at Moscow.--Further successes.--Founding of + Petersburg.--The czar takes Narva, &c. + + +The short stay which the czar made at Moscow, in the beginning of the +winter 1703, was employed in seeing all his new regulations put into +execution, and in improving the civil as well as the military +government. Even his very amusements were calculated to inspire his +subjects with a taste for the new manner of living he had introduced +amongst them. In this view, he invited all the boyards, and principal +ladies of Moscow, to the marriage of one of his sisters, at which every +one was required to appear dressed after the ancient fashion. A dinner +was served up just in the same manner as those in the sixteenth +century.[65] By an old superstitious custom, no one was to light a fire +on the wedding-day, even in the coldest season. This custom was +rigorously observed upon this occasion. The Russians formerly never +drank wine, but only mead and brandy; no other liquors were permitted on +this day, and, when the guests made complaints, he replied, in a joking +manner, 'This was a custom with your ancestors, and old customs are +always the best.' This raillery contributed greatly to the reformation +of those who preferred past times to the present, at least it put a stop +to their murmurings; and there are several nations that stand in need of +the like example. + +A still more useful establishment than any of the rest, was that of a +printing-press, for Russian and Latin types; the implements of which +were all brought from Holland. They began by printing translations in +the Russian language of several books of morality and polite literature. +Ferguson founded schools for geometry, astronomy, and navigation. + +Another foundation, no less necessary, was that of a large hospital; not +one of those houses which encourage idleness, and perpetuate the misery +of the people, but such as the czar had seen at Amsterdam, where old +persons and children are employed at work, and where every one within +the walls is made useful in some way or other. + +He established several manufactories; and, as soon he had put in motion +all those arts to which he gave birth in Moscow, he hastened to +Woronitz, to give directions for building two ships, of eighty guns +each, with long cradles, or caserns, fitted to the ribs of the vessel, +to buoy her up, and carry her safely over the shoals and banks of sand +that lay about Azoph; an ingenious contrivance, similar to that used by +the Dutch in Holland, to get their large ships over the Pampus. + +Having made all the necessary preparations against the Turks, he turned +his attention, in the next place, against the Swedes. He went to visit +the ships that were building at Olonitz (March 30, 1703.), a town +between the lakes Ladago and Onega, where he had established a foundry +for making all kinds of arms; and, when every thing bore a military +aspect, at Moscow flourished all the arts of peace. A spring of mineral +waters, which has been lately discovered near Olonitz, has added to the +reputation of that place. From thence he proceeded to Shlusselburg, +which he fortified. + +We have already observed, that Peter was determined to pass regularly +through all the military degrees: he had served as lieutenant of +bombardiers, under prince Menzikoff, before that favourite was made +governor of Shlusselburg, and he now took the rank of captain, and +served under marshal Sheremeto. + +There was an important fortress near the lake Ladoga, and not far from +the river Neva, named Nyantz, or Nya.[66] It was necessary to make +himself master of this place, in order to secure his conquest, and +favour his other designs. He therefore undertook to transport a number +of small barks, filled with soldiers, and to drive off the Swedish +vessels that were bringing supplies, while Sheremeto had the care of the +trenches. (May 22.) The citadel surrendered, and two Swedish vessels +arrived, too late to assist the besieged, being both attacked and taken +by the czar. His journal says, that, as a reward for his service, 'The +captain of bombardiers was created knight of the order of St. Andrew by +admiral Golowin, the first knight of that order.' + +After the taking of the fort of Nya, he resolved upon building the city +of Petersburg, at the mouth of the Neva, upon the gulf of Finland. + +The affairs of king Augustus were in a desperate way; the excessive +victories of the Swedes in Poland had emboldened his enemies in the +opposition; and even his friends had obliged him to dismiss a body of +twenty thousand Russians, that the czar had sent him to reinforce his +army. They thought, by this sacrifice, to deprive the malcontents of all +pretext for joining the king of Sweden: but enemies are disarmed by +force, a show of weakness serving only to make them more insolent. These +twenty thousand men, that had been disciplined by Patkul, proved of +infinite service in Livonia and Ingria, while Augustus was losing his +dominions. This reinforcement, and, above all, the possession of Nya, +enabled the czar to found his new capital. + +It was in this barren and marshy spot of ground, which has communication +with the main land only by one way, that Peter laid the foundation of +Petersburg, in the sixtieth degree of latitude, and the forty-fourth and +a half of longitude. The ruins of some of the bastions of Nya was made +use of for the first stones of the foundation.[67] They began by +building a small fort upon one of the islands, which is now in the +centre of the city. The Swedes beheld, without apprehension, a +settlement in the midst of a morass, and inaccessible to vessels of +burden; but, in a very short time, they saw the fortifications advanced, +a town raised, and the little island of Cronstadt, situated over against +it, changed, in 1704, into an impregnable fortress, under the cannon of +which even the largest fleets may ride in safety. + +These works, which seemed to require a time of profound peace, were +carried on in the very bosom of war; workmen of every sort were called +together, from Moscow, Astracan, Casan, and the Ukraine, to assist in +building the new city. Neither the difficulties of the ground, that was +to be rendered firm, and raised, the distance of the necessary +materials, the unforeseen obstacles, which are for ever starting up in +all great undertakings; nor, lastly, the epidemical disorder, which +carried off a prodigious number of the workmen, could discourage the +royal founder; and, in the space of five months, a new city rose from +the ground. It is true, indeed, it was little better than a cluster of +huts, with only two brick houses, surrounded by ramparts; but this was +all that was then necessary. Time and perseverance accomplished the +rest. In less than five months, after the founding of Petersburg, a +Dutch ship came to trade there, (Nov.) the captain of which was +handsomely rewarded, and the Dutch soon found the way to Petersburg. + +While Peter was directing the establishment of this colony, he took care +to provide every day for its safety, by making himself master of the +neighbouring posts. A Swedish colonel, named Croniort, had taken post on +the river Sestra, and thence threatened the rising city. Peter, without +delay, marched against him with his two regiments of guards, defeated +him, (July 8.) and obliged him to repass the river. Having thus put his +town in safety, he repaired to Olonitz,(Sep.) to give directions for +building a number of small vessels, and afterwards returned to +Petersburg, on board a frigate that had been built by his direction, +taking with him six transport vessels, for present use, till the others +could be got ready. Even at this juncture he did not forget his ally, +the king of Poland, but sent him (Nov.) a reinforcement of twelve +thousand foot, and a subsidy in money of three hundred thousand rubles, +which make about one million five hundred thousand French livres.[68] It +has been remarked, that his annual revenue did not exceed then five +million rubles; a sum, which the expense of his fleets, of his armies, +and of his new establishments, seemed more than sufficient to exhaust. +He had, at almost one and the same time, fortified Novogorod, +Pleskow, Kiow, Smolensko, Azoph, Archangel, and founded a capital. +Notwithstanding all which, he had still a sufficiency left to assist his +ally with men and money. Cornelius le Bruine, a Dutchman, who was on his +travels, and at that time in Russia, and with whom he frequently +conversed very freely, as indeed he did with all strangers, says, that +the czar himself assured him, that he had still three hundred thousand +rubles remaining in his coffers, after all the expenses of the war were +defrayed. + +In order to put his infant city of Petersburg out of danger of insult, +he went in person to sound the depth of water thereabouts, fixed upon a +place for building the fort of Cronstadt; and, after making the model of +it in wood with his own hands, he employed prince Menzikoff to put it in +execution. From thence he went to pass the winter at Moscow, (Nov. 5.) +in order to establish, by degrees, the several alterations he had made +in the laws, manners, and customs of Russia. He regulated the finances, +and put them upon a new footing. He expedited the works that were +carrying on in the Woronitz, at Azoph, and in a harbour which he had +caused to be made on the Palus Mæotis, under the fort of Taganrock. + +Jan. 1704.] The Ottoman Porte, alarmed at these preparations, sent an +embassy to the czar, complaining thereof: to which he returned for +answer that he was master in his own dominions, as well as the grand +seignior was in Turkey, and that it was no infringement of the peace to +render the Russian power respectable on the Euxine Sea. + +March 30.] Upon his return to Petersburg, finding his new citadel of +Cronstadt, which had been founded in the bosom of the sea, completely +finished, he furnished it with the necessary artillery. But, in order to +settle himself firmly in Ingria, and entirely to repair the disgrace he +had suffered before Narva, he esteemed it necessary to take that city. +While he was making preparations for the siege, a small fleet appeared +on the lake of Peipus, to oppose his designs. The Russian half galleys +went out to meet them, gave them battle, and took the whole squadron, +which had on board ninety-eight pieces of cannon. After this victory, +the czar lays siege to Narva both by sea and land, (April.) and, which +was most extraordinary, he lays siege to the city of Derpt in Esthonia +at the same time. + +Who would have imagined, that there was a university in Derpt? Gustavus +Adolphus had founded one there, but it did not render that city more +famous, Derpt being only known by these two sieges. Peter was +incessantly going from the one to the other, forwarding the attacks, and +directing all the operations. The Swedish general Slipenbak was in the +neighbourhood of Derpt, with a body of two thousand five hundred men. + +The besiegers expected every instant when he would throw succours into +the place; but Peter, on this occasion, had recourse to a stratagem +worthy of more frequent imitation: he ordered two regiments of foot, and +one of horse, to be clothed in the same uniform, and to carry the same +standards and colours as the Swedes: these sham Swedes attack the +trenches, (June 27.) and the Russians pretend to be put to flight; the +garrison, deceived by appearances, make a sally; upon which the mock +combatants join their forces and fall upon the Swedes, one half of whom +were left dead upon the place, and the rest made shift to get back to +the town. Slipenbak arrives soon after with succours to relieve it, but +is totally defeated. At length Derpt was obliged to capitulate, (July +23.) just as the czar was preparing every thing for a general assault. + +At the same time Peter met with a considerable check, on the side of his +new city of Petersburg; but this did not prevent him either from going +on with the works of that place, or from vigorously prosecuting the +siege of Narva. It has already been observed, that he sent a +reinforcement of troops and money to king Augustus, when his enemies +were driving him from his throne; but both these aids proved useless. +The Russians having joined the Lithuanians in the interest of Augustus, +were totally defeated in Courland by the Swedish general Levenhaupt: +(July 31.) and had the victors directed their efforts towards Livonia, +Esthonia, and Ingria, they might have destroyed the czar's new works, +and baffled all the fruits of his great undertakings. Peter was every +day sapping the breast-work of Sweden, while Charles seemed to neglect +all resistance, for the pursuit of a less advantageous, though a more +brilliant fame. + +On the 13th of July, 1704, only a single Swedish colonel, at the head of +his detachment, obliged the Polish nobility to nominate a new king, on +the field of election, called Kolo, near the city of Warsaw. The +cardinal-primate of the kingdom, and several bishops, submitted to a +Lutheran prince, notwithstanding the menaces and excommunications of the +supreme pontiff: in short, every thing gave way to force. All the world +knows in what manner Stanislaus Leczinsky was elected king, and how +Charles XII. obliged the greatest part of Poland to acknowledge him. + +Peter, however, would not abandon the dethroned king, but redoubled his +assistance, in proportion to the necessities of his ally; and, while his +enemy was making kings, he beat the Swedish generals one after another +in Esthonia and Ingria; from thence he passed to the siege of Narva, and +gave several vigorous assaults to the town. There were three bastions, +famous at least for their names, called Victory, Honour, and Glory. The +czar carried them all three sword-in-hand. The besiegers forced their +way into the town, where they pillaged and exercised all those cruelties +which were but too customary at that time, between the Swedes and +Russians. + +August 20.] Peter, on this occasion, gave an example that ought to have +gained him the affections of all his new subjects: he ran every where in +person, to put a stop to the pillage and slaughter, rescues several +women out of the clutches of the brutal soldiery, and, after having, +with his own hand, killed two of those ruffians who had refused to obey +his orders, he enters the town-house, whither the citizens had ran in +crowds for shelter, and laying his sword, yet reeking with blood, upon +the table--'This sword,' said he, 'is not stained with the blood of your +fellow citizens, but with that of my own soldiers, which I have spilt to +save your lives'. + + + + +CHAP. XIV. + + Peter the Great keeps possession of all Ingria, while Charles XII. + is triumphant in other places.--Rise of Menzikoff.--Petersburg + secured.--The czar executes his designs notwithstanding the + victories of the king of Sweden.[69] + + +[Sidenote: 1704.] + +Peter being now master of all Ingria, conferred the government of that +province upon Menzikoff; and at the same time gave him the title of +prince, and the rank of major-general. Pride and prejudice might, in +other countries, find means to gainsay, that a pastry cook's boy should +be raised to be a general and governor, and to princely dignity; but +Peter had already accustomed his subjects to see, without surprise, +every thing given to merit, and nothing to mere nobility. Menzikoff, by +a lucky accident, had, while a boy, been taken from his original +obscurity, and placed in the czar's family,[70] where he learnt several +languages, and acquired a knowledge of public affairs, both in the +cabinet and field; and having found means to ingratiate himself with his +master, he afterwards knew how to render himself necessary. He greatly +forwarded the works at Petersburg, of which he had the direction; +several brick and stone houses were already built, with an arsenal and +magazines; the fortifications were completed, but the palaces were not +built till some time afterwards. + +Peter was scarcely settled in Narva, when he offered fresh succours to +the dethroned king of Poland; he promised him a body of troops over and +above the twelve thousand men he had already sent him, and actually +dispatched general Repnin (Aug. 19.) from the frontiers of Lithuania, +with six thousand horse, and the same number of foot. All this while he +did not lose sight of his colony of Petersburg: the buildings went on +very fast; his navy encreased daily; several ships and frigates were on +the stocks at Olmutz; these he took care to see finished, and brought +them himself into the harbour of Petersburg. + +Oct. 11.] Each time he returned to Moscow, was distinguished by +triumphal entries. In this manner did he revisit it this year, from +whence he made only one excursion, to be present at the launching of his +first ship of eighty guns upon the Woronitz, (Dec. 30.) of which ship he +himself had drawn the dimensions the preceding year. + +May, 1705.] As soon as the campaign could be opened in Poland, he +hastened to the army, which he had sent to the assistance of Augustus, +on the frontiers of that kingdom; but, while he was thus supporting his +ally, a Swedish fleet put to sea, to destroy Petersburg, and the +fortress of Cronslot, as yet hardly finished. This fleet consisted of +twenty-two ships of war, from fifty-four to sixty-four guns each, +besides six frigates, two bomb-ketches, and two fire-ships. The troops +that were sent on this expedition, made a descent on the little island +of Kotin; but a Russian colonel, named Tolbogwin, who commanded a +regiment there, ordered his soldiers to lie down flat on their bellies, +while the Swedes were coming on shore, and then suddenly rising up, they +threw in so brisk and well directed a fire, that the Swedes were put +into confusion, and forced to retreat with the utmost precipitation to +their ships, leaving behind them all their dead, and upwards of three +hundred prisoners. (June 7.) + +However, their fleet still continued hovering about the coast, and +threatened Petersburg. They made another descent, and were repulsed as +before (June 25.): a body of land-forces were also advancing from +Wiburn,[71] under the command of the Swedish general Meidel, and took +their route by Shlusselburg: this was the most considerable attempt that +Charles had yet made upon those territories, which Peter had either +conquered or new formed. The Swedes were every where repulsed, and +Petersburg remained in security. + +Peter, on the other hand, advanced towards Courland, with a design to +penetrate as far as Riga. His plan was to make himself master of +Livonia, while Charles XII. was busied in reducing the Poles entirely +under the obedience of the new king he had given them. The czar was +still at Wilnaw in Lithuania, and his general Sheremeto was approaching +towards Mittau, the capital of Courland; but there he was met by general +Levenhaupt, already famous by several victories, and a pitched battle +was fought between the two armies at a place called Gemavershoff, or +Gemavers. + +In all those actions where experience and discipline decide the day, the +Swedes, though inferior in number, had the advantage. The Russians were +totally defeated, (June 28.) and lost their artillery. Peter, +notwithstanding the loss of three battles, viz. at Gemavers, at +Jacobstadt, and at Narva, always retrieved his losses, and even +converted them to his advantage. + +After the battle of Gemavers, he marched his army into Courland; came +before Mittau, made himself master of the town, and afterwards laid +siege to the citadel, which he took by capitulation. + +Sept. 14, 1705.] The Russian troops at that time had the character of +distinguishing their successes by rapine and pillage; a custom of too +great antiquity in all nations. But Peter, at the taking of Narva, had +made such alterations in this custom, that the Russian soldiers +appointed to guard the vaults where the grand dukes of Courland were +buried, in the castle of Mittau, perceiving that the bodies had been +taken out of their tombs, and stripped of their ornaments, refused to +take possession of their post, till a Swedish colonel had been first +sent for to inspect the condition of the place; who gave them a +certificate that this outrage had been committed by the Swedes +themselves. + +A rumour which was spread throughout the whole empire, that the czar had +been totally defeated at the battle of Gemavers, proved of greater +prejudice to his affairs, than even the loss of that battle. The +remainder of the ancient strelitzes in garrison at Astracan, emboldened +by this false report, mutinied, and murdered the governor of the town. +Peter was obliged to send marshal Sheremeto with a body of forces to +quell the insurrection, and punish the mutineers. + +Every thing seemed now to conspire against the czar; the success and +valour of Charles XII.; the misfortunes of Augustus; the forced +neutrality of Denmark; the insurrection of the ancient strelitzes; the +murmurs of a people, sensible of the restraint, but not of the utility +of the late reform; the discontent of the grandees, who found themselves +subjected to military discipline; and, lastly, the exhausted state of +the finances, were sufficient to have discouraged any prince except +Peter: but he did not despond, even for an instant. He soon quelled the +revolt, and having provided for the safety of Ingria, and secured the +possession of the citadel of Mittau, in spite of the victorious +Levenhaupt, who had not troops enough to oppose him; he found himself at +liberty to march an army through Samojitia and Lithuania. + +He now shared with Charles XII. the glory of giving laws to Poland. He +advanced as far as Tikoczin: where he had an interview for the second +time with king Augustus; when he endeavoured to comfort him under his +misfortunes, promising to revenge his cause, and, at the same time, made +him a present of some colours, which Menzikoff had taken from the troops +of his rival. The two monarchs afterwards went together to Grodno, the +capital of Lithuania, where they staid till the 15th of December. At +their parting, Peter presented him both men and money, and then, +according to his usual custom, went to pass some part of the winter at +Moscow, (30 Dec.) to encourage the arts and sciences there, and to +enforce his new laws there, after having made a very difficult and +laborious campaign. + + + + +CHAP. XV. + + While Peter is strengthening his conquests, and improving the police + of his dominion, his enemy Charles XII. gains several battles: gives + laws to Poland and Saxony, and to Augustus, notwithstanding a + victory gained by the Russians.--Augustus resigns the crown, and + delivers up Patkul, the czar's ambassador.--Murder of Patkul, who is + sentenced to be broke upon the wheel. + + +[Sidenote: 1706.] + +Peter was hardly returned to Moscow, when he heard that Charles XII. +after being every where victorious, was advancing towards Grodno, to +attack the Russian troops. King Augustus had been obliged to fly from +Grodno, and retire with precipitation towards Saxony, with four +regiments of Russian dragoons; a step which both weakened and +discouraged the army of his protector. Peter found all the advances to +Grodno occupied by the Swedes, and his troops dispersed. + +While he was with the greatest difficulty assembling his troops in +Lithuania, the famous Schullemburg, who was the last support Augustus +had left, and who afterwards gained so much glory by the defence of +Corfu against the Turks, was advancing on the side of Great Poland, with +about twelve thousand Saxons, and six thousand Russians, taken from the +body troops with which the czar had entrusted that unfortunate prince. +Schullemburg expected with just reason, that he should be able to prop +the sinking fortunes of Augustus; he perceived that Charles XII. was +employed in Lithuania, and that there was only a body of ten thousand +Swedes under general Renschild to interrupt his march; he therefore +advanced with confidence as far as the frontiers of Silesia; which is +the passage out of Saxony into Upper Poland. When he came near the +village of Fraustadt, on the frontiers of that kingdom, he met marshal +Renschild, who was advancing to give him battle. + +Whatever care I take to avoid repeating what has been already mentioned +in the history of Charles XII., I am obliged in this place to take +notice once more, that there was in the Saxon army a French regiment, +that had been taken prisoners at the famous battle of Hochsted (or +Blenheim) and obliged to serve in the Saxon troops. My memoirs say, that +this regiment had the charge of the artillery, and add, that the French, +struck with the fame and reputation of Charles XII., and discontented +with the Saxon service, laid down their arms as soon as they came in +sight of the enemy (Feb.), and desired to be taken into the Swedish +army, in which they continued to the end of the war. This defection was +as the beginning, or signal of a total overthrow to the Russian army, of +which no more than three battalions were saved, and almost every man of +these was wounded; and as no quarter was granted, the remainder was cut +in pieces. + +Norberg, the chaplain, pretends, that the Swedish word at this battle +was, 'In the name of God,' and that of the Russians, 'Kill all;' but it +was the Swedes who killed all in God's name. The czar himself declares, +in one of his manifestoes,[72] that a number of Russians, Cossacks, and +Calmucks, that had been made prisoners, were murdered in cool blood +three days after that battle. The irregular troops on both sides had +accustomed their generals to these cruelties, than which greater were +never committed in the most barbarous times. I had the honour to hear +king Stanislaus himself say, that in one of those engagements which were +so frequent in Poland, a Russian officer who had formerly been one of +his friends, came to put himself under his protection, after the defeat +of the corps he commanded; and that the Swedish general Steinbock shot +him dead with a pistol, while he held him in his arms. + +This was the fourth battle the Russians had lost against the Swedes, +without reckoning the other victories of Charles XII. in Poland. The +czar's troops that were in Grodno, ran the risk of suffering a still +greater disgrace, by being surrounded on all sides; but he fortunately +found means to get them together, and even to strengthen them with new +reinforcements. But necessitated at once to provide for the safety of +this army, and the security of his conquests in Ingria, he ordered +prince Menzikoff to march with the army under his command eastward, and +from thence southward as far as Kiow. + +While his men were upon their march, he repairs to Shlusselburg, from +thence to Narva, and to his colony of Petersburg (August), and puts +those places in a posture of defence. From the Baltic he flies to the +banks of the Boristhenes, to enter into Poland by the way of Kiow, +making it still his chief care to render those victories of Charles, +which he had not been able to prevent, of as little advantage to the +victor as possible. At this very time he meditated a new conquest; +namely, that of Wibourg, the capital of Carelia, situated on the gulf of +Finland. He went in person to lay siege to this place, but for this time +it withstood the power of his arms; succours arrived in season, and he +was obliged to raise the siege. (Oct.) His rival, Charles XII. did not, +in fact, make any conquests, though he gained so many battles: he was +at that time in pursuit of king Augustus in Saxony, being always more +intent upon humbling that prince, and crushing him beneath the weight of +his superior power and reputation, than upon recovering Ingria, that had +been wrested from him by a vanquished enemy. + +He spread terror through all Upper Poland, Silesia, and Saxony. King +Augustus's whole family, his mother, his wife, his son, and the +principal nobility of the country, were retired into the heart of the +empire. Augustus now sued for peace, choosing rather to trust himself to +the mercy of his conqueror, than in the arms of his protector. He +entered into a treaty which deprived him of the crown of Poland, and +covered him at the same time with ignominy. This was a private treaty, +and was to be concealed from the czar's generals, with whom he had taken +refuge in Poland, while Charles XII. was giving laws in Leipsic, and +acting as absolute master throughout his electorate. + +His plenipotentiaries had already signed the fatal treaty (Sept. 14.), +by which he not only divested himself of the crown of Poland, but +promised never more to assume the title of king; at the same time he +recognized Stanislaus, renounced his alliance with the czar his +benefactor; and, to complete his humiliation, engaged to deliver up to +Charles XII. John Reinold Patkul, the czar's ambassador and general in +the Russian service, who was then actually fighting in his cause. He had +some time before ordered Patkul to be arrested upon false suspicions, +contrary to the law of nations; and now, in direct violation of these +laws, he delivered him up to the enemy. It had been better for him to +have died sword-in-hand, than to have concluded such a treaty; a treaty, +which not only robbed him of his crown, and of his reputation, but +likewise endangered his liberty, because he was at that time in the +power of prince Menzikoff in Posnania, and the few Saxons that he had +with him, were paid by the Russians. + +Prince Menzikoff was opposed in that district by a Swedish army, +reinforced with a strong party of Poles, in the interest of the new king +Stanislaus, under the command of general Meyerfeld; and not knowing that +Augustus had engaged in a treaty with the enemies of Russia, had +proposed to attack them, and Augustus did not dare to refuse. The battle +was fought near Calish (Oct. 19.), in the palatinate belonging to +Stanislaus; this was the first pitched battle the Russians had gained +against the Swedes. Prince Menzikoff had all the glory of the action, +four thousand of the enemy were left dead on the field, and two thousand +five hundred and ninety-eight were made prisoners. + +It is difficult to comprehend how Augustus could be prevailed on, after +this battle, to ratify a treaty which deprived him of all the fruits of +his victory. But Charles was still triumphant in Saxony, where his +very name spread terror. The success of the Russians appeared so +inconsiderable, and the Polish party against Augustus was so strong, +and, in fine, that monarch was so ill-advised, that he signed the fatal +convention. Neither did he stop here: he wrote to his envoy Finkstein a +letter, that was, if possible, more shameful than the treaty itself; for +therein he asked pardon for having obtained a victory, 'protesting, that +the battle had been fought against his will; that the Russians and the +Poles, his adherents, had obliged him to it; that he had, with a view of +preventing it, actually made some movements to abandon Menzikoff; that +Meyerfeld might have beaten him, had he made the most of that +opportunity; that he was ready to restore all the Swedish prisoners, or +to break with the Russians; and that, in fine, he would give the king of +Sweden all possible satisfaction,' for having dared to beat his troops. + +This whole affair, unparalleled and inconceivable as it is, is, +nevertheless, strictly true. When we reflect, that, with all this +weakness, Augustus was one of the bravest princes in Europe, we may +plainly perceive, that the loss or preservation, the rise or decline of +empires, are entirely owing to fortitude of mind. + +Two other circumstances concurred to complete the disgrace of the king +of Poland elector of Saxony, and heighten the abuse which Charles XII. +made of his good fortune; the first was his obliging Augustus to write a +letter of congratulation to the new king Stanislaus on his election: the +second was terrible, he even compelled Augustus to deliver up Patkul, +the czar's ambassador and general.[73] It is sufficiently known to all +Europe, that this minister was afterwards broke alive upon the wheel at +Casimir, in the month of September, 1707. Norberg, the chaplain, +confesses that the orders for his execution were all written in +Charles's own hand. + +There is not a civilian in all Europe, nay even the vilest slave, but +must feel the whole horror of this barbarous injustice. The first crime +of this unfortunate man was, the having made an humble representation of +the rights and privileges of his country, at the head of six Livonian +gentlemen, who were sent as deputies from the whole province: having +been condemned to die for fulfilling the first of duties, that of +serving his country agreeable to her laws. This iniquitous sentence put +him in full possession of a right, which all mankind derive from nature, +that of choosing his country. Being afterwards made ambassador to one of +the greatest monarchs in the universe, his person thereby became sacred. +On this occasion the law of force violated that of nature and nations. +In former ages cruelties of this kind were hidden in the blaze of +success, but now they sully the glory of a conqueror. + + + + +CHAP. XVI. + + Attempts made to set up a third king of Poland.--Charles XII. sets + out from Saxony with a powerful army, and marches through Poland in + a victorious manner.--Cruelties committed.--Conduct of the + czar.--Successes of the king of Sweden, who at length advances + towards Russia. + + +[Sidenote: 1707.] + +Charles XII. enjoyed the fruits of his good fortune in Altranstadt near +Leipsic, whither the Protestant princes of the German empire repaired in +droves to pay homage to him, and implore his protection. He received +ambassadors from almost all the potentates in Europe. The emperor Joseph +implicitly followed his directions. Peter then perceiving that king +Augustus had renounced his protection and his own crown, and that a part +of the Polish nation had acknowledged Stanislaus, listened to the +proposals made him by Yolkova, of choosing a third king. + +A diet was held at Lublin, in which several of the palatines were +proposed; and among others, Prince Ragotski was put upon the list; that +prince, who was so long kept in prison, when young, by the emperor +Leopold, and who afterwards when he procured his liberty, was his +competitor for the throne of Hungary. + +This negotiation was pushed very far, and Poland was on the point of +having three kings at one time. Prince Ragotski not succeeding, Peter +thought to bestow the crown on Siniauski, grand general of the republic; +a person of great power and interest, and head of a third party, that +would neither acknowledge the dethroned king, nor the person elected by +the opposed party. + +In the midst of these troubles, there was a talk of peace, as is +customary on the like occasions. Besseval the French envoy in Saxony +interposed, in order to bring about a reconciliation between the czar +and the king of Sweden. It was thought at that time by the court of +France, that Charles, having no longer either the Russians or Poles to +fight against, might turn his arms against the emperor Joseph, with whom +he was not on very good terms, and on whom he had imposed several laws +during his stay in Saxony. But Charles made answer, that he would treat +with the czar in Moscow. It was on this occasion that Peter said, 'My +brother Charles wants to act the Alexander, but he shall not find a +Darius in me.' + +The Russians however were still in Poland, and were in the city of +Warsaw, while the king whom Charles XII. had set over the Poles was +hardly acknowledged by that nation. In the mean time, Charles was +enriching his army with the spoils of Saxony. + +Aug. 22.] At length he began his march from Altranstadt, at the head of +an army of forty-five thousand men; a force which it seemed impossible +for the czar to withstand, seeing he had been entirely defeated by eight +thousand only at Narva. + +Aug. 27.] It was in passing by the walls of Dresden, that Charles made +that very extraordinary visit to king Augustus, which, as Norberg says, +'will strike posterity with admiration.' It was running an unaccountable +risk, to put himself in the power of a prince whom he had deprived of +his kingdom. From thence he continued his march through Silesia, and +re-entered Poland. + +This country has been entirely ravaged by war, ruined by factions, and +was a prey to every kind of calamity. Charles continued advancing with +his army through the province of Muscovia, and chose the most difficult +ways he could take. The inhabitants, who had taken shelter in the +morasses, resolved to make him at least pay for his passage. Six +thousand peasants dispatched an old man of their body to speak to him: +this man who was of a very extraordinary figure, clad in white, and +armed with two carabines, made a speech to Charles; but as the standers +by did not well understand what he said, they, without any further +ceremony, dispatched him in his harangue, and before their king's face. +The peasants, in a rage, immediately withdrew, and took up arms. All who +could be found were seized, and obliged to hang one another; the last +was compelled to put the rope about his neck himself, and to be his own +executioner. All their houses were burnt to the ground. This fact is +attested by Norberg, who was an eye-witness, and therefore cannot be +contradicted, as it cannot be related without inspiring horror. + +1708, Feb. 6.] Charles being arrived within a few leagues of Grodno in +Lithuania, is informed of the czar's being there in person with a body +of troops; upon which, without staying to deliberate, he takes only +eight hundred of his guards, and sets out for Grodno. A German officer, +named Mulfels, who commanded a body of troops, posted at one of the +gates of the town, making no doubt, when he saw Charles, but that he was +followed by his whole army, instead of disputing the passage with him, +leaves it open, and takes to flight. The alarm is now spread through the +whole town; every one imagines the whole Swedish army already entered; +the few Russians who made any resistance, are cut in pieces by the +Swedish guards; and all the officers assure the czar, that the +victorious army had made itself master of the place. Hereupon Peter +retreats behind the ramparts, and Charles plants a guard of thirty men +at the very gate through which the czar had just before entered. + +In this confusion some of the Jesuits, whose college had been taken to +accommodate the king of Sweden, as being the handsomest structure in the +place, went by night to the czar, and for this time told the whole +truth. Upon this, Peter immediately returns into the town, and forces +the Swedish guards. An engagement ensues in the streets and public +places; but, at length, the whole Swedish army appearing in sight, the +czar is obliged to yield to superior numbers, and leaves the town in the +hands of the victor, who made all Poland tremble. + +Charles had augmented his forces in Livonia and Finland, and Peter had +every thing to fear, not only for his conquests on this side, together +with those in Lithuania, but also for his ancient territories, and even +for the city of Moscow itself. He was obliged then to provide at once +for the safety of all these different places, at such a distance from +each other. Charles could not make any rapid conquest to the eastward of +Lithuania in the depth of winter, and in a marshy country, subject to +epidemical disorders, which had been spread by poverty and famine, from +Warsaw, as far as Minski. Peter posted his troops so as to command the +passes of the rivers, (April 8.) guarded all the important posts, and +did every thing in his power to impede the marches of his enemy, and +afterwards hastened to put things in a proper situation at Petersburg. + +Though Charles was lording it in Poland, he took nothing from the czar; +but Peter, by the use he made of his new fleet, by landing his troops in +Finland, by the taking and dismantling the town of Borgau, (May 22.) and +by seizing a great booty, was procuring many real and great advantages +to himself, and distressing his enemy. + +Charles, after being detained a long time in Lithuania, by continual +rains, at length reached the little river of Berezine, some few leagues +from the Boristhenes. Nothing could withstand his activity: he threw a +bridge over the river in sight of the Russians; beat a detachment that +guarded the passage, and got to Holozin on the river Bibitsch, where the +czar had posted a considerable body of troops to check the impetuous +progress of his rival. The little river of Bibitsch is only a small +brook in dry weather; but at this time it was swelled by the rains to a +deep and rapid stream. On the other side was a morass, behind which the +Russians had thrown up an intrenchment for above a quarter of a league, +defended by a large and deep ditch, and covered by a parapet, lined with +artillery. Nine regiments of horse, and eleven of foot, were +advantageously posted in these lines, so that the passage of the river +seemed impracticable. + +The Swedes, according to the custom of war, got ready their pontoons, +and erected batteries to favour their passage; but Charles, whose +impatience to engage would not let him brook the least delay, did not +wait till the pontoons were ready. Marshal Schwerin, who served a long +time under him, has assured me several times, that one day that they +were to come to action, observing his generals to be very busy in +concerting the necessary dispositions, said tartly to them, 'When will +you have done with this trifling?' and immediately advanced in person at +the head of his guards, which he did particularly on this memorable day. + +He flung himself into the river, followed by his regiment of guards. +Their numbers broke the impetuosity of the current, but the water was as +high as their shoulders, and they could make no use of their firelocks. +Had the artillery of the parapet been but tolerably well served, or had +the infantry but levelled their pieces in a proper manner, not a single +Swede would have escaped. + +July 25.] The king, after wading the river, passed the morass on foot. +As soon as the army had surmounted these obstacles within sight of the +Russians, they drew up in order of battle, and attacked the enemies +intrenchments seven different times, and it was not till the seventh +attack that the Russians gave way. By the accounts of their own +historians, the Swedes took but twelve field-pieces, and twenty-four +mortars. + +It was therefore evident, that the czar had at length succeeded in +disciplining his troops, and this victory of Holozin, while it covered +Charles XII. with glory, might have made him sensible of the many +dangers he must have to encounter in adventuring into such distant +countries, where his army could march only in small bodies, through +woods, morasses, and where he would be obliged to fight out every step +of his way; but the Swedes, being accustomed to carry all before them, +dreaded neither danger nor fatigue.[74] + + + + +CHAP. XVII. + + Charles XII. crosses the Boristhenes, penetrates into the Ukraine, + but concerts his measures badly.--One of his armies is defeated by + Peter the Great: he loses his supply of provisions and ammunition: + advances forward through a desert country: his adventures in the + Ukraine. + + +[Sidenote: 1708.] + +At last Charles arrives on the borders of the Boristhenes, at a small +town called Mohilow. This was the important spot where it was to be +determined, whether he should direct his march eastward, towards Moscow; +or southwards, towards the Ukraine. His own army, his friends, his +enemies, all expected that he would direct his course immediately for +the capital of Russia. Which ever way he took, Peter was following him +from Smolensko with a strong army; no one expected that he would turn +towards the Ukraine. He was induced to take this strange resolution by +Mazeppa, hetman of the Cossacks, who, being an old man of seventy and +without children, ought to have thought only of ending his days in +peace: gratitude should have bound him to the czar, to whom he was +indebted for his present dignity; but whether he had any real cause of +complaint against that prince, or that he was dazzled with the lustre of +Charles's exploits, or whether, in time, he thought to make himself +independent, he betrayed his benefactor, and privately espoused the +interests of the king of Sweden, flattering himself with the hopes of +engaging his whole nation in a rebellion with himself. + +Charles made not the least doubt of subduing the Russian empire, as soon +as his troops should be joined by so warlike a people as the Cossacks. +Mazeppa was to furnish him with what provisions, ammunition, and +artillery, he should want; besides these powerful succours, he was to be +joined by an army of sixteen or seventeen thousand men, out of Livonia, +under the command of general Levenhaupt, who was to bring with him a +prodigious quantity of warlike stores and provisions. Charles was not at +the trouble of reflecting, whether the czar was within reach of +attacking the army, and depriving him of these necessary supplies. He +never informed himself whether Mazeppa was in a condition to observe his +promises; if that Cossack had credit enough to change the disposition of +a whole nation, who are generally guided only by their own opinion; or +whether his army was provided with sufficient resources in case of an +accident; but imagined, if Mazeppa should prove deficient in abilities +or fidelity, he could trust in his own valour and good fortune. The +Swedish army then advanced beyond the Boristhenes towards the Desna; it +was between these two rivers, that he expected to meet with Mazeppa. His +march was attended with many difficulties and dangers, on account of the +badness of the road, and the many parties of Russians that were hovering +about these regions. + +Sept. 11.] Menzikoff, at the head of some horse and foot, attacked the +king's advanced guard, threw them into disorder, and killed a number of +his men. He lost a great number of his own, indeed, but that did not +discourage him. Charles immediately hastened to the field of battle, and +with some difficulty repulsed the Russians, at the hazard of his own +life, by engaging a party of dragoons, by whom he was surrounded. All +this while Mazeppa did not appear, and provisions began to grow scarce. +The Swedish soldiers, seeing their king share in all their dangers, +fatigues, and wants, were not dispirited; but though they admired his +courage, they could not refrain from murmuring at his conduct. + +The orders which the king had sent to Levenhaupt to march forward with +all haste, to join him with the necessary supplies, were not delivered +by twelve days so soon as they should have been. This was a long delay +as circumstances then stood. However, Levenhaupt at length began his +march; Peter suffered him to pass the Boristhenes, but as soon as his +army was got between that river and the lesser ones, which empty +themselves into it, he crossed over after him, and attacked him with his +united forces, which had followed in different corps at equal distances +from one another. This battle was fought between the Boristhenes and the +Sossa.[75] + +Prince Menzikoff was upon his return with the same body of horse, with +which he had lately engaged Charles XII. General Baur followed him, and +the czar himself headed the flower of his army. The Swedes imagined they +had to deal with an army of forty thousand men, and the same was +believed for a long time on the faith of their relation; but my late +memoirs inform me, that Peter had only twenty thousand men in this day's +engagement, a number not much superior to that of the enemy: but his +vigour, his patience, his unwearied perseverance, together with that of +his troops, animated by his presence, decided the fate, not of that day +only, but of three successive days, during which the fight was renewed +at different times. + +They made their first attack upon the rear of the Swedish army, near the +village of Lesnau, from whence this battle borrows its name. This first +shock was bloody, without proving decisive. Levenhaupt retreated into a +wood, and thereby saved his baggage. (Oct. 7.) The next morning, when +the Swedes were to be driven from this wood, the fight was still more +bloody, and more to the advantage of the Russians. Here it was that the +czar, seeing his troops in disorder, cried out to fire upon the +runaways, and even upon himself, if they saw him turn back. The Swedes +were repulsed, but not thrown into confusion. + +At length a reinforcement of four thousand dragoons arriving, he fell +upon the Swedes a third time; who retreated to a small town called +Prospock, where they were again attacked; they then marched towards the +Desna, the Russians still pursuing them: yet they were never broken, +but lost upwards of eight thousand men, seventeen pieces of cannon, and +forty-four colours: the czar took fifty-six officers and near nine +hundred private men prisoners; and the great convoy of provisions and +ammunition that were going to Charles's army, fell into the hands of the +conqueror. + +This was the first time that the czar in person gained a pitched battle, +against an enemy who had distinguished himself by so many victories over +his troops: he was employed in a general thanksgiving for his success, +when he received advice that general Apraxin had lately gained an +advantage over the enemy in Ingria, (Sept. 17,) some leagues from Narva, +an advantage less considerable indeed than that of Lesnau; but this +concurrence of fortunate events greatly raised the hopes and courage of +his troops. + +Charles XII. heard of these unfortunate tidings just as he was ready to +pass the Desna, in the Ukraine. Mazeppa at length joined him; but +instead of twenty thousand men, and an immense quantity of provisions, +which he was to have brought with him, he came with only two regiments, +and appeared rather like a fugitive applying for assistance, than a +prince, who was bringing powerful succours to his ally. This Cossack had +indeed begun his march with near fifteen or sixteen thousand of his +people, whom he had told, at their first setting out, that they were +going against the king of Sweden; that they would have the glory of +stopping that hero on his march, and that he would hold himself +eternally obliged to them for so great a service. + +But when they came within a few leagues of the Desna, he made them +acquainted with his real design. These brave people received his +declaration with disdain: they refused to betray a monarch, against +whom they had no cause of complaint, for the sake of a Swede, who had +invaded their country with an armed force, and who, after leaving it, +would be no longer able to defend them, but must abandon them to the +mercy of the incensed Russians, and of the Poles, once their masters, +and always their enemies: they accordingly returned home, and gave +advice to the czar of the defection of their chief: Mazeppa found +himself left with only two regiments, the officers of which were in his +own pay. + +He was still master of some strong posts in the Ukraine, and in +particular of Bathurin, the place of his residence, looked upon as the +capital of the country of the Cossacks: it is situated near some forests +on the Desna, at a great distance from the place where Peter had +defeated general Levenhaupt. There were always some Russian regiments +quartered in these districts. Prince Menzikoff was detached from the +czar's army, and got thither by round-about marches. Charles could not +secure all the passes; he did not even know them all, and had neglected +to make himself master of the important post of Starowdoub, which leads +directly to the Bathurin, across seven or eight leagues of forest, +through which the Desna directs its course. His enemy had always the +advantage of him, by being better acquainted with the country. + +Menzikoff and prince Galitzin, who had accompanied him, easily made +their passage good, and presented themselves before the town of +Bathurin, (Nov. 14,) which surrendered almost without resistance, was +plundered, and reduced to ashes. The Russians made themselves masters of +a large magazine destined for the use of the king of Sweden, and of all +Mazeppa's treasures. The Cossacks chose another hetman, named +Skoropasky, who was approved by the czar, who being willing to impress a +due sense of the enormous crime of treason on the minds of the people, +by a striking example of justice, the archbishop of Kiow, and two other +prelates, were ordered to excommunicate Mazeppa publicly, (Nov. 22,) +after which he was hanged in effigy, and some of his accomplices were +broken upon the wheel. + +In the meanwhile, Charles XII. still at the head of about twenty-five or +twenty-seven thousand Swedes, who were reinforced by the remains of +Levenhaupt's army, and the addition of between two or three thousand +men, whom Mazeppa had brought with him, and still infatuated with the +same notion of making all the Ukraine declare for him, passed the Desna +at some distance from Bathurin, and near the Boristhenes, in spite of +the czar's troops which surrounded him on all sides; part of whom +followed close in the rear, while another part lined the opposite side +of the river to oppose his passage. + +He continued his march through a desert country, where he met with +nothing but burned or ruined villages. The cold began to set in at the +beginning of December so extremely sharp, that in one of his marches +near two thousand of his men perished before his eyes: the czar's troops +did not suffer near so much, being better supplied; whereas the king of +Sweden's army, being almost naked, was necessarily more exposed to the +inclemency of the weather. + +In this deplorable situation, count Piper, chancellor of Sweden, who +never gave his master other than good advice, conjured him to halt, and +pass at least the severest part of the winter in a small town of the +Ukraine, called Romna, where he might intrench himself, and get some +provisions by the help of Mazeppa; but Charles replied, that--He was not +a person to shut himself up in a town. Piper then intreated him to +re-pass the Desna and the Boristhenes, to return back into Poland, to +put his troops into winter quarters, of which they stood so much in +need, to make use of the Polish cavalry, which was absolutely necessary; +to support the king he had nominated, and to keep in awe the partisans +of Augustus, who began already to bestir themselves. Charles answered +him again--That this would be flying before the czar, that the season +would grow milder, and that he must reduce the Ukraine, and march on to +Moscow.[76] + +January, 1709.] Both armies remained some weeks inactive, on account of +the intenseness of the cold, in the month of January, 1709; but as soon +as the men were able to make use of their arms, Charles attacked all the +small posts that he found in his way; he was obliged to send parties on +every side in search of provisions; that is to say, to scour the country +twenty leagues round, and rob all the peasants of their necessary +subsistence. Peter, without hurrying himself, kept a strict eye upon all +his motions, and suffered the Swedish army to dwindle away by degrees. + +It is impossible for the reader to follow the Swedes in their march +through these countries: several of the rivers which they crossed are +not to be found in the maps: we must not suppose, that geographers are +as well acquainted with these countries, as we are with Italy, France, +and Germany: geography is, of all the arts, that which still stands the +most need of improvement, and ambition has hitherto been at more pains +to desolate the face of the globe, than to give a description of it. + +We must content ourselves then with knowing, that Charles traversed the +whole Ukraine in the month of February, burning the villages wherever he +came, or meeting with others that had been laid in ashes by the +Russians. He advancing south-east, came to those sandy deserts, bordered +by mountains that separate the Nogay Tartars from the Don Cossacks. To +the eastward of those mountains are the altars of Alexander. Charles was +now on the other side of the Ukraine, in the road that the Tartars take +to Russia; and when he was got there, he was obliged to return back +again to procure subsistence: the inhabitants, having retired with all +their cattle into their dens and lurking-places, would sometimes defend +their subsistence against the soldiers, who came to deprive them of it. +Such of these poor wretches, who could be found, were put to death, +agreeably to what are falsely called, the rules of war. I cannot here +forbear transcribing a few lines from Norberg.[77] 'As an instance,' +says he, 'of the king's regard to justice, I shall insert a note, which +he wrote with his own hand to colonel Heilmen. + + 'Colonel, + + 'I am very well pleased that you have taken those peasants, who + carried off a Swedish soldier; as soon as they are convicted of the + crime, let them be punished with death, according to the exigency of + the case. + + 'Charles; and lower down, Budis.' + +Such are the sentiments of justice and humanity shewn by a king's +confessor; but, had the peasants of the Ukraine had it in their power +to hang up some of those regimented peasants of East Gothland, who +thought themselves entitled to come so far to plunder them, their wives, +and families, of their subsistence, would not the confessors and +chaplains of these Ukrainers have had equal reason to applaud their +justice? + +Mazeppa had for a considerable time, been in treaty with the +Zaporavians, who dwell about the two shores of the Boristhenes, and of +whom part inhabit the islands on that river. It is this division that +forms the nation, of whom mention has already been made in the first +chapter of this history, and who have neither wives nor families, and +subsist entirely by rapine. During the winter they heap up provisions in +their islands, which they afterwards go and sell in the summer, in the +little town of Pultowa; the rest dwell in small hamlets, to the right +and left of this river. All together choose a particular hetman, and +this hetman is subordinate to him of the Ukraine. The person, at that +time at the head of the Zaporavians, came to meet Mazeppa; and these two +barbarians had an interview, at which each of them had a horse's tail, +and a club borne before him, as ensigns of honour. + +To shew what this hetman of the Zaporavians and his people were, I think +it not unworthy of history, to relate the manner in which this treaty +was concluded. Mazeppa gave a great feast to the hetman of the +Zaporavians, and his principal officers, who were all served in plate. +As soon as these chiefs had made themselves drunk with brandy, they took +an oath (without stirring from table) upon the Evangelists, to supply +Charles with men and provisions; after which they carried off all the +plate and other table-furniture. Mazeppa's steward ran after them, and +remonstrated, that such behaviour ill-suited with the doctrine of the +Gospels, on which they had so lately sworn. Some of Mazeppa's domestics +were for taking the plate away from them by force; but the Zaporavians +went in a body to complain to Mazeppa, of the unparalleled affront +offered to such brave fellows, and demanded to have the steward +delivered up to them, that they might punish him according to law. This +was accordingly complied with, and the Zaporavians, according to law, +tossed this poor man from one to another like a ball, and afterwards +plunged a knife to his heart. + +Such were the new allies that Charles XII. was obliged to receive; part +of whom he formed into a regiment of two thousand men; the remainder +marched in separate bodies against the Cossacks and Calmucks of the +czar's party, that were stationed about that district. + +The little town of Pultowa, with which those Zaporavians carry on a +trade, was filled with provisions, and might have served Charles for a +place of arms. It is situated on the river Worsklaw, near a chain of +mountains, which command it on the north side. To the eastward is a vast +desert. The western part is the most fruitful, and the best peopled. The +Worsklaw empties itself into the Boristhenes, about fifteen leagues +lower down; from Pultowa, one may go northward, through the defiles, +which communicate with the road to Moscow, a passage used by the +Tartars. It is very difficult of access, and the precautions taken by +the czar had rendered it almost impervious; but nothing appeared +impossible to Charles, and he depended upon marching to Moscow, as soon +as he had made himself master of Pultowa: with this view he laid siege +to that town in the beginning of May. + + + + +CHAP. XVIII. + + Battle of Pultowa. + + +Here it was that Peter expected him; he had disposed the several +divisions of his army at convenient distances for joining each other, +and marching all together against the besiegers: he had visited the +countries which surround the Ukraine; namely the duchy of Severia, +watered by the Desna, already made famous by his victory: the country of +Bolcho, in which the Occa has its source; the deserts and mountains +leading to the Palus Mæotis; and lately he had been in the neighbourhood +of Azoph, where he caused that harbour to be cleansed, new ships to be +built, and the citadel of Taganroc to be repaired. Thus did he employ +the time that passed between the battles of Lesnau and Pultowa, in +preparing for the defence of his dominions. As soon as he heard the +Swedes had laid siege to the town, he mustered all his forces; the +horse, dragoons, infantry, Cossacks, and Calmucks, advanced from +different quarters. His army was well provided with necessaries of every +kind; large cannon, field pieces, ammunition of all sorts, provisions, +and even medicines for the sick: this was another degree of superiority +which he had acquired over his rival. + +On the 15th day of June, 1709, he appeared before Pultowa, with an army +of about sixty thousand effective men; the river Worsklaw was between +him and Charles. The besiegers were encamped on the north-west side of +that river, the Russians on the south-east. + +Peter ascends the river above the town, fixes his barges, marches over +with his army, and draws a long line of intrenchments, (July 3.) which +were begun and completed in one night, in the face of the enemy. Charles +might then judge, whether the person, whom he had so much despised, and +whom he thought of dethroning at Moscow, understood the art of war. This +disposition being made, Peter posted his cavalry between two woods, and +covered it with several redoubts, lined with artillery. Having thus +taken all the necessary measures, (July 6.) he went to reconnoitre the +enemy's camp, in order to form the attack. + +This battle was to decide the fate of Russia, Poland, and Sweden, and of +two monarchs, on whom the eyes of all Europe were fixed. The greatest +part of those nations, who were attentive to these important concerns, +were equally ignorant of the place where these two princes were, and of +their situation: but knowing that Charles XII. had set out from Saxony, +at the head of a victorious army, and that he was driving his enemy +every where before him, they no longer doubted that he would at length +entirely crush him; and that, as he had already given laws to Denmark, +Poland, and Germany, he would now dictate conditions of peace in the +Kremlin of Moscow, and make a new czar, after having already made a new +king of Poland. I have seen letters from several public ministers to +their respective courts, confirming this general opinion. + +The risk was far from being equal between these two great rivals. If +Charles lost a life, which he had so often and wantonly exposed, there +would after all have been but one hero less in the world. The provinces +of the Ukraine, the frontiers of Lithuania, and of Russia, would then +rest from their calamities, and a stop would be put to the general +devastation which had so long been their scourge. Poland would, +together with her tranquillity, recover her lawful prince, who had been +lately reconciled to the czar, his benefactor; and Sweden, though +exhausted of men and money, might find motives of consolation under her +heavy losses. + +But, if the czar perished, those immense labours, which had been of such +utility to mankind, would be buried with him, and the most extensive +empire in the world would again relapse into the chaos from whence it +had been so lately taken. + +There had already been some skirmishes between the detached parties of +the Swedes and Russians, under the walls of the town. In one of these +rencounters, (June 27.) Charles had been wounded by a musket-ball, which +had shattered the bones of his foot: he underwent several painful +operations, which he bore with his usual fortitude, and had been +confined to his bed for several days. In this condition he was informed, +that Peter intended to give him battle; his notions of honour would not +suffer him to wait to be attacked in his intrenchments. Accordingly he +gave orders for quitting them, and was carried himself in a litter. +Peter the Great acknowledges, that the Swedes attacked the redoubts, +lined with artillery, that covered his cavalry, with such obstinate +valour, that, notwithstanding the strongest resistance, supported by a +continual fire, the enemy made themselves masters of two redoubts. Some +writers say, that when the Swedish infantry found themselves in +possession of the two redoubts, they thought the day their own, and +began to cry out--Victory. The chaplain, Norberg, who was at some great +distance from the field of battle, amongst the baggage (which was indeed +his proper place) pretends, that this was a calumny; but, whether the +Swedes cried victory or not, it is certain they were not victorious. The +fire from the other redoubts was kept up without ceasing, and the +resistance made by the Russians, in every part, was as firm as the +attack of their enemies was vigorous. They did not make one irregular +movement; the czar drew up his army without the intrenchments in +excellent order, and with surprising dispatch. + +The battle now became general. Peter acted as major-general; Baur +commanded the right wing, Menzikoff the left, and Sheremeto the centre. +The action lasted about two hours: Charles, with a pistol in his hand, +went from rank to rank, carried in a litter, on the shoulders of his +drabans; one of which was killed by a cannon-ball, and at the same time +the litter was shattered in pieces. He then ordered his men to carry him +upon their pikes; for it would have been difficult, in so smart an +action, let Norberg say as he pleases, to find a fresh litter ready +made. Peter received several shots through his clothes and his hat; both +princes were continually in the midst of the fire, during the whole +action. At length, after two hours desperate engagement, the Swedes were +taken on all sides, and fell into confusion; so that Charles was obliged +to fly before him, whom he had hitherto held in so much contempt. This +very hero, who could not mount his saddle during the battle, now fled +for his life on horseback; necessity lent him strength in his retreat: +he suffered the most excruciating pain, which was increased by the +mortifying reflection of being vanquished without resource. The Russians +reckoned nine thousand two hundred and twenty-four Swedes left dead on +the field of battle, and between two and three thousand made prisoners +in the action, the chief of which was cavalry. + +Charles XII. fled with the greatest precipitation, attended by the +remains of his brave army, a few field-pieces, and a very small quantity +of provisions and ammunition. He directed his march southward, towards +the Boristhenes, between the two rivers Workslaw and Psol, or Sol, in +the country of the Zaporavians. Beyond the Boristhenes, are vast +deserts, which lead to the frontiers of Turkey. Norberg affirms, that +the victors durst not pursue Charles; and yet he acknowledges, that +prince Menzikoff appeared on the neighbouring heights, (July 12.) with +ten thousand horse, and a considerable train of artillery, while the +king was passing the Boristhenes. + +Fourteen thousand Swedes surrendered themselves prisoners of war to +these ten thousand Russians; and Levenhaupt, who commanded them, signed +the fatal capitulation, by which he gave up those Zaporavians who had +engaged in the service of his master, and were then in the fugitive +army. The chief persons taken prisoners in the battle, and by the +capitulation, were count Piper, the first minister, with two secretaries +of state, and two of the cabinet; field-marshal Renschild, the generals +Levenhaupt, Slipenbak, Rozen, Stakelber, Creutz, and Hamilton, with +three general aides-de-camp, the auditor-general of the army, +fifty-nine staff-officers, five colonels, among whom was the prince of +Wirtemberg; sixteen thousand nine hundred and forty-two private men and +non-commissioned officers: in short, reckoning the king's own domestics, +and others, the conqueror had no less than eighteen thousand seven +hundred and forty-six prisoners in his power: to whom, if we add nine +thousand two hundred and twenty-four slain in battle, and nearly two +thousand that passed the Boristhenes with Charles, it appears, plainly, +that he had, on that memorable day, no less than twenty-seven thousand +effective men under his command.[78] + +Charles had begun his march from Saxony with forty-five thousand men, +Levenhaupt had brought upwards of sixteen thousand out of Livonia, and +yet scarce a handful of men was left of all this powerful army; of a +numerous train of artillery, part lost in his marches, and part buried +in the morasses; he had now remaining only eighteen brass cannon, two +howitzers, and twelve mortars; and, with inconsiderable force, he had +undertaken the siege of Pultowa, and had attacked an army provided with +a formidable artillery. Therefore he is, with justice, accused of having +shewn more courage than prudence, after his leaving Germany. On the side +of the Russians, there were no more than fifty-two officers and one +thousand two hundred and ninety-three private men killed; an undeniable +proof, that the disposition of the Russian troops was better than those +of Charles, and that their fire was infinitely superior to that of the +Swedes. + +We find, in the memoirs of a foreign minister to the court of Russia, +that Peter, being informed of Charles's design to take refuge in Turkey, +wrote a friendly letter to him, intreating him not to take so desperate +a resolution, but rather to trust himself in his hands, than in those +of the natural enemy of all Christian princes. He gave him, at the same +time, his word of honour, not to detain him prisoner, but to terminate +all their differences by a reasonable peace. This letter was sent by an +express as far as the river Bug, which separates the deserts of the +Ukraine from the grand seignior's dominions. As the messenger did not +reach that place till Charles had entered Turkey, he brought back the +letter to his master. The same minister adds further, that he had this +account from the very person who was charged with the letter.[79] This +anecdote is not altogether improbable; but I do not meet with it either +in Peter's journals, or in any of the papers entrusted to my care. What +is of greater importance, in relation to this battle, was its being the +only one, of the many that have stained the earth with blood, that, +instead of producing only destruction, has proved beneficial to mankind, +by enabling the czar to civilize so considerable a part of the world. + +There have been fought more than two hundred pitched battles in Europe, +since the commencement of this century to the present year. The most +signal, and the most bloody victories, have produced no other +consequences than the reduction of a few provinces ceded afterwards by +treaties, and retaken again by other battles. Armies of a hundred +thousand men have frequently engaged each other in the field; but the +greatest efforts have been attended with only slight and momentary +successes; the most trivial causes have been productive of the greatest +effects. There is no instance, in modern history, of any war that has +compensated, by even a better good, for the many evils it has +occasioned: but, from the battle of Pultowa, the greatest empire under +the sun has derived its present happiness and prosperity. + + + + +CHAP. XIX. + + Consequences of the battle of Pultowa.--Charles XII. takes refuge + among the Turks.--Augustus, whom he had dethroned, recovers his + dominions.--Conquests of Peter the Great. + + +[Sidenote: 1709.] + +The chief prisoners of rank were now presented to the conqueror, who +ordered their swords to be returned, and invited them to dinner. It is a +well known fact, that, on drinking to the officers, he said, 'To the +health of my masters in the art of war.' However, most of his masters, +particularly the subaltern officers, and all the private men, were soon +afterwards sent into Siberia. There was no cartel established here for +exchange of prisoners between the Russians and Swedes; the czar, indeed, +had proposed one before the siege of Pultowa, but Charles rejected the +offer, and his troops were in every thing the victims of his inflexible +pride. + +It was this unseasonable obstinacy that occasioned all the misfortunes +of this prince in Turkey, and a series of adventures, more becoming a +hero of romance than a wise or prudent king; for, as soon as he arrived +at Bender, he was advised to write to the grand-vizier, as is the custom +among the Turks; but this he thought would be demeaning himself too far. +The like obstinacy embroiled him with all the ministers of the Porte, +one after another, in short, he knew not how to accommodate himself +either to times or circumstances.[80] + +The first news of the battle of Pultowa produced a general revolution in +minds and affairs in Poland, Saxony, Sweden, and Silesia. Charles, while +all powerful in those parts, had obliged the emperor Joseph to take a +hundred and five churches from the catholics in favour of the Silesians +of the confession of Augsburg. The catholics then no sooner received +news of the defeat of Charles, than they repossessed themselves of all +the Lutheran temples. The Saxons now thought of nothing but being +revenged for the extortions of a conqueror, who had robbed them, +according to their own account, of twenty-three millions of crowns. + +The king of Poland, their elector, immediately protested against the +abdication that had been extorted from him, and being now reconciled to +the czar (Aug. 3.), he left no stone unturned to reascend the Polish +throne. Sweden, overwhelmed with consternation, thought her king for a +long time dead, and in this uncertainty the senate knew not what to +resolve. + +Peter in the mean time determined to make the best use of his victory, +and therefore dispatched marshal Sheremeto with an army into Livonia, on +the frontiers of which province that general had so often distinguished +himself. Prince Menzikoff was sent in haste with a numerous body of +cavalry to second the few troops left in Poland, to encourage the nobles +who were in the interest of Augustus to drive out his competitor, who +was now considered in no better light than a rebel, and to disperse a +body of Swedes and troops that were still left in that kingdom under the +command of general Crassau. + +The czar soon after sets out in person, marches through the province of +Kiow, and the palatinates of Chelm and Upper Volhinia, and at length +arrives at Lublin, where he concerts measures with the general of +Lithuania. He then reviews the crown troops, who all take the oath of +allegiance to king Augustus, from thence he proceeds to Warsaw, and at +Thera enjoyed the most glorious of all triumphs (Sept. 18.), that of +receiving the thanks of a king, whom he had reinstated in his dominions. +There it was that he concluded a treaty against Sweden, with the kings +of Denmark, Poland, and Prussia (Oct. 7.): in which he was resolved to +recover from Charles all the conquests of Gustavus Adolphus. Peter +revived the ancient pretensions of the czars to Livonia, Ingria, +Carelia, and part of Finland; Denmark laid claim to Scania, and the king +of Prussia to Pomerania. + +Thus had Charles XII. by his unsuccessful valour, shook the noble +edifice that had been erected by the prosperous bravery of his ancestor +Gustavus Adolphus. The Polish nobility came in on all sides to renew +their oaths to their king, or to ask pardon for having deserted him; and +almost the whole kingdom acknowledged Peter for its protector. + +To the victorious arms of the czar, to these new treaties, and to this +sudden revolution, Stanislaus had nothing to oppose but a voluntary +resignation: he published a writing called Universale, in which he +declares himself ready to resign the crown, if the republic required +it. + +Peter, having concerted all the necessary measures with the king of +Poland, and ratified the treaty with Denmark, set out directly to finish +his negotiation with the king of Prussia. It was not then usual for +sovereign princes to perform the function of their own ambassadors. +Peter was the first who introduced this custom, which has been followed +by very few. The elector of Brandenburg, the first king of Prussia, had +a conference with the czar at Marienverder, a small town situated in the +western part of Pomerania, and built by the old Teutonic knights, and +included in the limits of Prussia, lately erected into a kingdom. This +country indeed was poor, and of a small extent; but its new king, +whenever he travelled, displayed the utmost magnificence; with great +splendour he had received czar Peter at his first passing through his +dominions, when that prince quitted his empire to go in search of +instruction among strangers. But he received the conqueror of Charles +XII. in a still more pompous manner. (Oct. 20.) Peter for this time +concluded only a defensive treaty with him, which afterwards, however, +completed the ruin of Sweden. + +Not an instant of time was lost. Peter, having proceeded with the +greatest dispatch in his negotiations, which elsewhere are wont to take +up so much time, goes and joins his army, then before Riga, the capital +of Livonia; he began by bombarding the place (Nov. 21.), and fired off +the three first bombs himself; then changed the siege into a blockade; +and, when well assured that Riga could not escape him, he repaired to +his city of Petersburg, to inspect and forward the works carrying on +there, the new buildings, and finishing of his fleet; and having laid +the keel of a ship of fifty-four guns, (Dec. 3.) with his own hands, he +returned to Moscow. Here he amused himself with assisting in the +preparations for the triumphal entry, which he exhibited in the capital. +He directed every thing relating to that festival, and was himself the +principal contriver and architect. + +He opened the year 1710 with this solemnity, so necessary to his +subjects, whom it inspired with notions of grandeur, and was highly +pleasing to every one who had been fearful of seeing those enter their +walls as conquerors, over whom they now triumphed. Seven magnificent +arches were erected, under which passed in triumph, the artillery, +standards, and colours, taken from the enemy, with their officers, +generals, and ministers, who had been taken prisoners, all on foot, +amidst the ringing of bells, the sound of trumpets, the discharge of a +hundred pieces of cannon, and the acclamations of an innumerable +concourse of people, whose voices rent the air as soon as the cannon +ceased firing. The procession was closed by the victorious army, with +the generals at its head; and Peter, who marched in his rank of +major-general. At each triumphal arch stood the deputies of the several +orders of the state; and at the last was a chosen band of young +gentlemen, the sons of boyards, clad in Roman habits, who presented a +crown of laurels to their victorious monarch. + +This public festival was followed by another ceremony, which proved no +less satisfactory than the former. In the year 1708 happened an accident +the more disagreeable to Peter, as his arms were at that time +unsuccessful. Mattheof, his ambassador to the court of London, having +had his audience of leave of queen Anne, was arrested for debt, at the +suit of some English merchants, and carried before a justice of peace to +give security for the monies he owed there. The merchants insisted that +the laws of commerce ought to prevail before the privileges of foreign +ministers; the czar's ambassador, and with him all the public ministers, +protested against this proceeding, alleging, that their persons ought to +be always inviolable. The czar wrote to queen Anne, demanding +satisfaction for the insult offered him in the person of his ambassador. + +But the queen had it not in her power to gratify him; because, by the +laws of England, tradesmen were allowed to prosecute their debtors, +and there was no law that excepted public ministers from such +prosecution.[81] The murder of Patkul, the czar's ambassador, who had +been executed the year before by the order of Charles XII. had +encouraged the English to shew so little regard to a character which had +been so cruelly profaned. The other public ministers who were then at +the court of London, were obliged to be bound for the czar's ambassador; +and at length all the queen could do in his favour, was to prevail on +her parliament to pass an act, by which no one for the future could +arrest an ambassador for debt; but after the battle of Pultowa, the +English court thought proper to give satisfaction to the czar. + +The queen made by a formal embassy an excuse for what had passed. Mr. +Whitworth,[82] the person charged with this commission, began his +harangue with the following words.--(Feb. 16.) 'Most high and mighty +emperor.' He told the czar that the person who had presumed to arrest +his ambassador, had been imprisoned and rendered infamous. There was no +truth in all this, but it was sufficient that he said so, and the title +of emperor, which the queen had not given Peter before the battle of +Pultowa, shewed the consideration he had now acquired in Europe. + +This title had been already granted him in Holland, not only by those +who had been his fellow-workmen in the dock-yards at Saardam, and seemed +to interest themselves most in his glory, but likewise by the principal +persons in the state, who unanimously styled him emperor, and made +public rejoicings for his victory, even in the presence of the Swedish +minister. + +The universal reputation which he had acquired by his victory of +Pultowa, was still further increased by his not suffering a moment to +pass without making some advantages of it. In the first place, he laid +siege to Elbing, a Hans town of Regal Prussia in Poland, where the +Swedes had still a garrison. The Russians scaled the walls, entered the +town, and the garrison surrendered prisoners of war. (Mar. 11.) This was +one of the largest magazines belonging to Charles XII. The conquerors +found therein one hundred and eighty-three brass cannon, and one hundred +and fifty-seven mortars. Immediately after the reduction of Elbing, +Peter re-marched from Moscow to Petersburg (April 2.); as soon as he +arrived at this latter place, he took shipping under his new fortress of +Cronslot, coasted along the shore of Carelia, and notwithstanding a +violent storm, brought his fleet safely before Wiburg, the capital of +Carelia in Finland; while his land-forces advanced over the frozen +morasses, and in a short time the capital of Livonia beheld itself +closely blockaded (June 23.): and after a breach was made in the walls, +Wiburg surrendered, and the garrison, consisting of four thousand men, +capitulated, but did not receive the honours of war, being made +prisoners notwithstanding the capitulation. Peter charged the enemy with +several infractions of this kind, and promised to set these troops at +liberty, as soon as he should receive satisfaction from the Swedes, for +his complaints. On this occasion the king of Sweden was to be consulted, +who continued as inflexible as ever; and those soldiers, whom, by a +little concession, he might have delivered from their confinement, +remained in captivity. Thus did king William III. in 1695, arrest +marshal Boufflers, notwithstanding the capitulation of Namur. There have +been several instances of such violations of treaties, but it is to be +wished there never had been any. + +After the taking of this capital, the blockade of Riga was soon changed +into a regular siege, and pushed with vigour. They were obliged to break +the ice on the river Dwina, which waters the walls of the city. An +epidemical disorder, which had raged some time in those parts, now got +amongst the besiegers, and carried off nine thousand; nevertheless, the +siege was not in the least slackened; it lasted a considerable time, but +at length the garrison capitulated (July 15.): and were allowed the +honours of war; but it was stipulated by the capitulation, that all the +Livonian officers and soldiers should enter into the Russian service, as +natives of a country that had been dismembered from that empire, and +usurped by the ancestors of Charles XII. But the Livonians were restored +to the privileges of which his father had stripped them, and all the +officers entered into the czar's service: this was the most noble +satisfaction that Peter could take for the murder of his ambassador, +Patkul, a Livonian, who had been put to death, for defending those +privileges. The garrison consisted of near five thousand men. A short +time afterwards the citadel of Pennamund was taken, and the besiegers +found in the town and fort above eight hundred pieces of artillery of +different kinds. + +Nothing was now wanting, to make Peter entirely master of the province +of Carelia, but the possession of the strong town of Kexholm, built on +an island in the lake of Ladoga, and deemed impregnable; it was +bombarded soon after, and surrendered in a short time. (Sep. 19.) The +island of Oesel in the sea, bordering upon the north of Livonia, was +subdued with the same rapidity. (Sep. 23.) + +On the side of Esthonia, a province of Livonia, towards the north, and +on the gulf of Finland, are the towns of Pernau and Revel: by the +reduction of these Peter completed the conquest of all Livonia. Pernau +surrendered after a siege of a few days (Aug. 25.), and Revel +capitulated (Sep. 10.) without waiting to have a single cannon fired +against it; but the besieged found means to escape out of the hands of +the conquerors, at the very time that they were surrendering themselves +prisoners of war: for some Swedish ships, having anchored in the road, +under favour of the night, the garrison and most of the citizens +embarked on board, and when the besiegers entered the town, they were +surprised to find it deserted. When Charles XII. gained the victory of +Narva little did he expect that his troops would one day be driven to +use such artifices. + +In Poland, Stanislaus finding his party entirely ruined, had taken +refuge in Pomerania, which still belonged to Charles XII. Augustus +resumed the government, and it was difficult to decide who had acquired +most glory, Charles in dethroning him, or Peter in restoring him to his +crown. + +The subjects of the king of Sweden were still more unfortunate than that +monarch himself. The contagious distemper, which had made such havock +over Livonia, passed from thence into Sweden, where, in the city of +Stockholm, it carried off thirty thousand persons: it likewise desolated +the provinces, already thinned of their inhabitants; for during the +space of ten years successively, most of the able-bodied men had quitted +their country to follow their master, and perished in foreign climes. + +Charles's ill fortune pursued him also in Pomerania: his army had +retired thither from Poland, to the number of eleven thousand; the czar, +the kings of Denmark and Prussia, the elector of Hanover, and the duke +of Holstein, joined together to render this army useless, and to compel +general Crassau, who commanded it, to submit to neutrality. The regency +of Stockholm, hearing no news of their king, and distracted by the +mortality that raged in that city, were glad to sign this neutrality, +which seemed to deliver one of its provinces at least from the horrors +of war. The emperor of Germany favoured this extraordinary convention, +by which it was stipulated, that the Swedish army then in Pomerania +should not march from thence to assist their monarch in any other part +of the world; nay, it was furthermore resolved in the German empire, to +raise an army to enforce the execution of this unparalleled convention. +The reason of this was, that the emperor of Germany, who was then at war +with France, was in hopes to engage the Swedish army to enter into his +service. This whole negotiation was carried on while Peter was subduing +Livonia, Esthonia, and Carelia. + +Charles XII. who was all this time at Bender, putting every spring in +motion to engage the divan to declare war against the czar, received +this news as one of the severest blows his untoward fortune had dealt +him: he could not brook, that his senate at Stockholm should pretend to +tie up the hands of his army, and it was on this occasion that he wrote +them word, he would send one of his boots to govern them. + +The Danes, in the mean time, were making preparations to invade Sweden; +so that every nation in Europe was now engaged in war, Spain, Portugal, +Italy, France, Germany, Holland, and England, were contending for the +dominions left by Charles II. of Spain; and the whole North was up in +arms against Charles XII. There wanted only a quarrel with the Ottoman +empire, for every village in Europe to be exposed to the ravages of war. +This quarrel happened soon afterwards, when Peter had attained to the +summit of his glory, and precisely for that reason. + + + + +CHAP. XX. + + Campaign of Pruth. + + +Sultan Achmet III. declared war against Peter I. not from any regard to +the king of Sweden, but, as may readily be supposed, merely from a view +to his own interest. The Khan of the Crim Tartars could not without +dread, behold a neighbour so powerful as Peter I. The Porte had, for +some time, taken umbrage at the number of ships which this prince had on +the Palus Mæotis, and in the Black Sea, at his fortifying the city of +Azoph, and at the flourishing state of the harbour of Taganroc, already +become famous; and, lastly, at his great series of successes, and at the +ambition which success never fails to augment. + +It is neither true, nor even probable, that the Porte should have begun +the war against the czar, on the Palus Mæotis, for no other reason than +because a Swedish ship had taken a bark on the Baltic, on board of which +was found a letter from a minister, whose name has never been mentioned. +Norberg tells us, that this letter contained a plan for the conquest of +the Turkish empire; that it was carried to Charles XII. who was then in +Turkey, and was by him sent to the divan; and that immediately after the +receipt of this letter, war was declared. But this story carries the +mark of fiction with it. It was the remonstrances of the khan of +Tartary, who was more uneasy about the neighbourhood of Azoph, than the +Turkish divan, that induced this latter to give orders for taking the +field.[83] + +It was in the month of August, and before the czar had completed the +reduction of Livonia, when Achmet III. resolved to declare war against +him. The Turks, at that time, could hardly have had the news of the +taking of Riga; and, therefore, the proposal of restoring to the king of +Sweden the value in money, of the effects he had lost at the battle of +Pultowa, would have been the most absurd thing imaginable, if not +exceeded by that of demolishing Petersburg. The behaviour of Charles +XII. at Bender, was sufficiently romantic; but the conduct of the +Turkish divan would have been much more so, if we suppose it to have +made any demands of this kind. + +Nov. 1710.] The khan of Tartary, who was the principal instigator of +this war, paid Charles a visit in his retreat at Bender. They were +connected by the same interests, inasmuch as Europe makes part of the +frontiers of Little Tartary. Charles and the khan were the two greatest +sufferers by the successes of the czar; but the khan did not command the +forces of the grand seignior. He was like one of the feudatory princes +of Germany, who served in the armies of the empire with their own +troops, and were subject to the authority of the emperor's generals for +the time being. + +Nov. 29, 1710.] The first step taken by the divan, was to arrest +Tolstoy, the czar's ambassador at the Porte, in the streets of +Constantinople, together with thirty of his domestics, who, with their +master, were all confined in the prison of the Seven Towers. This +barbarous custom, at which even savages would blush, is owing to the +Turks having always a number of foreign ministers residing amongst them +from other courts, whereas they never send any in return. They look upon +the ambassadors of Christian princes in no other light than as merchants +or consuls; and, having naturally as great a contempt for Christians as +they have for Jews, they seldom condescend to observe the laws of +nations, in respect to them, unless forced to it; at least, they have +hitherto persisted in this barbarous pride. + +The famous vizier, Achmet Couprougli, the same who took the island of +Candia, under Mahomet IV., insulted the son of the French ambassador, +and even carried his brutality so far as to strike him, and afterwards +to confine him in prison, without Lewis XIV., proud and lofty as he was, +daring to resent it, otherwise than by sending another minister to the +Porte. The Christian princes, who are so remarkably delicate on the +point of honour amongst themselves, and have even made it a part of the +law of nations, seem to be utterly insensible on this head in regard to +the Turks. + +Never did a crowned head suffer greater affronts in the persons of his +ministers, than czar Peter. In the space of a few years, his +ambassador at the court of London was thrown into jail for debt, his +plenipotentiary at the courts of Poland and Saxony was broke upon the +wheel, by order of the king of Sweden; and now his minister at the +Ottoman Porte was seized and thrown into a dungeon at Constantinople, +like a common felon.[84] + +We have already observed, in the first part of this history, that he +received satisfaction from queen Anne, of England, for the insult +offered to his ambassador at London. The horrible affront he suffered, +in the person of Patkul, was washed away in the blood of the Swedes +slain at the battle of Pultowa; but fortune permitted the violation of +the law of nations by the Turks to pass unpunished. + +Jan. 1711.] The czar now found himself obliged to quit the theatre of +war in the west, and march towards the frontiers of Turkey. He began by +causing ten regiments, which he had in Poland, to advance towards +Moldavia.[85] He then ordered marshal Sheremeto to set out from Livonia, +with his body of forces; and, leaving prince Menzikoff at the head of +affairs at Petersburg, he returned to Moscow, to give orders for opening +the ensuing campaign. + +Jan. 18.] He now establishes a senate of regency: the regiment of guards +begin their march, he issues orders for all the young nobility to follow +him to the field, to learn the art of war, and places some of them in +the station of cadets, and others in that of subaltern officers. Admiral +Apraxin goes to Azoph to take the command by sea and land. These several +measures being taken, the czar publishes an ordonnance in Moscow for +acknowledging a new empress. This was the person who had been taken +prisoner in Marienburg, in the year 1702. Peter had, in 1696, repudiated +his wife Eudoxia Lopoukin (or Lapouchin) by whom he had two children. +The laws of his church allow of no divorces; but, had they not, Peter +would have enacted a new law to permit them. + +The fair captive of Marienburg, who had taken the name of Catherine, had +a soul superior to her sex and her misfortunes. She rendered herself so +agreeable to the czar, that this prince would have her always near his +person. She accompanied him in all his excursions, and most fatiguing +campaigns: sharing in his toils, and softening his uneasiness by her +natural gaiety, and the great attention she shewed to oblige him on all +occasions, and the indifference she expressed for the luxury, dress, and +other indulgences, of which the generality of her sex are, in other +countries, wont to make real necessities. She frequently softened the +passionate temper of the czar, and, by making him more clement and +merciful, rendered him more truly great. In a word, she became so +necessary to him, that he married her privately, in 1707. He had already +two daughters by her, and the following year she bore him a third, who +was afterwards married to the duke of Holstein.[86] + +March 17, 1711.] The czar made this private marriage known the very day +he set out with her to try the fortune of his arms against the Turks. +The several dispositions he had made seemed to promise a successful +issue. The hetman of the Cossacks was to keep the Tartars in awe, who +had already began to commit ravages in the Ukraine. The main body of +the Russian army was advancing towards Niester, and another body of +troops, under prince Galitzin, were in full march through Poland. Every +thing went on favourably at the beginning: for Galitzin having met with +a numerous body of Tartars near Kiow, who had been joined by some +Cossacks and some Poles of king Stanislaus' party, as also a few Swedes, +he defeated them entirely, and killed near five thousand men. These +Tartars had, in their march through the open country, made about ten +thousand prisoners. It has been the custom of the Tartars, time +immemorial, to carry with them a much greater number of cords than +scimitars, in order to bind the unhappy wretches they surprise. The +captives were all set free, and those who had made them prisoners were +put to the sword. The whole Russian army, if it had been assembled +together, would have amounted to sixty thousand men. It was to have been +farther augmented by the troops belonging to the king of Poland. This +prince, who owed every thing to the czar, came to pay him a visit at +Jaroslaw, on the river Sana, the 3d of June, 1714, and promised him +powerful succours. War was now declared against the Turks, in the name +of these two monarchs: but the Polish diet, not willing to break with +the Ottoman Porte, refused to ratify the engagement their king had +entered into. It was the fate of the czar to have, in the king of +Poland, an ally who could never be of any service to him. He entertained +the same hopes of assistance from the princes of Moldavia and Walachia, +and was, in the like manner, disappointed. + +These two provinces ought to have taken this opportunity to shake off +the Turkish yoke. These countries were those of the ancient Daci, who, +together with the Gepidi, with whom they were intermixed, did, for a +long time, disturb the Roman empire. They were at length subdued by the +emperor Trajan, and Constantine the First made them embrace the +Christian religion. Dacia was one of the provinces of the eastern +empire; but shortly after these very people contributed to the ruin of +that of the west, by serving under the Odoacers and Theodorics. + +They afterwards continued to be subject to the Greek empire; and when +the Turks made themselves masters of Constantinople, were governed and +oppressed by particular princes; at length they were totally subjected +by the Padisha, or Turkish emperor, who now granted them an investiture. +The Hospodar, or Waiwod, chosen by the Ottoman Porte to govern these +provinces, is always a Christian of the Greek church. The Turks, by this +choice, give a proof of their toleration, while our ignorant declaimers +are accusing them of persecution. The prince, nominated by the Porte, is +tributary to, or rather farms these countries of the grand seignior; +this dignity being always conferred on the best bidder, or him who makes +the greatest presents to the vizier, in like manner as the Greek +patriarch, at Constantinople. Sometimes this government is bestowed on a +dragoman, that is to say, the interpreter to the divan. These provinces +are seldom under the government of the same Waiwod, the Porte choosing +to divide them, in order to be more sure of retaining them in +subjection. Demetrius Cantemir was at this time Waiwod of Moldavia. This +prince was said to be descended from Tamerlane, because Tamerlane's true +name was Timur, and Timur was a Tartarian khan; and so, from the name +Tamurkan, say they, came the family of Cantemir. + +Bassaraba Brancovan had been invested with the principality of +Walachia, but had not found any genealogist to deduce his pedigree from +the Tartarian conqueror. Cantemir thought the time now come to shake off +the Turkish yoke, and render himself independent by means of the czar's +protection. In this view he acted in the very same manner with Peter as +Mazeppa had done with Charles XII. He even engaged Bassaraba for the +present to join him in the conspiracy, of which he hoped to reap all the +benefit himself: his plan being to make himself master of both +provinces. The bishop of Jerusalem, who was at that time at Walachia, +was the soul of this conspiracy. Cantemir promised the czar to furnish +him with men and provisions, as Mazeppa did the king of Sweden, and kept +his word no better than he had done. + +General Sheremeto advanced towards Jassi, the capital of Moldavia, to +inspect and occasionally assist the execution of these great projects. +Cantemir came thither to meet him, and was received with all the honours +due to a prince: but he acted as a prince in no one circumstance, but +that of publishing a manifesto against the Turkish empire. The hospodar +of Walachia, who soon discovered the ambitious views of his colleague, +quitted his party, and returned to his duty. The bishop of Jerusalem +dreading, with reason, the punishment due to his perfidy, fled and +concealed himself: the people of Walachia and Moldavia continued +faithful to the Ottoman Porte, and those, who were to have furnished +provisions for the Russian army, carried them to the Turks. + +The vizier, Baltagi Mahomet had already crossed the Danube, at the head +of one hundred thousand men, and was advancing towards Jassi, along the +banks of the river Pruth (formerly the Hierasus), which falls into the +Danube, and which is nearly the boundary of Moldavia and Bessarabia. He +then dispatched count Poniatowsky,[87] a Polish gentleman, attached to +the fortunes of the king of Sweden, to desire that prince to make him a +visit, and see his army. Charles, whose pride always got the better of +his interest, would not consent to this proposal: he insisted that the +grand vizier should make him the first visit, in his asylum near Bender. +When Poniatowsky returned to the Ottoman camp, and endeavoured to excuse +this refusal of his master, the vizier, turning to the khan of the +Tartars, said, 'This is the very behaviour I expected from this proud +pagan.' This mutual pride, which never fails of alienating the minds of +those in power from each other, did no service to the king of Sweden's +affairs; and indeed that prince might have easily perceived, from the +beginning, that the Turks were not acting for his interest, but for +their own. + +While the Turkish army was passing the Danube, the czar advanced by the +frontiers of Poland, and passed the Boristhenes, in order to relieve +marshal Sheremeto, who was then on the banks of the Pruth, to the +southward of Jassi, and in danger of being daily surrounded by an army +of ten thousand Turks, and an army of Tartars. Peter, before he passed +the Boristhenes, was in doubt whether he should expose his beloved +Catherine to these dangers, which seemed to increase every day; but +Catherine, on her side, looked upon this solicitude of the czar, for her +ease and safety, as an affront offered to her love and courage; and +pressed her consort so strongly on this head, that he found himself +under a necessity to consent that she should pass the river with him. +The army beheld her with eyes of joy and admiration, marching on +horseback at the head of the troops, for she rarely made use of a +carriage. After passing the Boristhenes, they had a tract of desert +country to pass through, and then to cross the Bog, and afterwards the +river Tiras, now called the Niester, and then another desert to +traverse, before they came to the banks of the Pruth. Catherine, during +this fatiguing march, animated the whole army by her cheerfulness and +affability. She sent refreshments to such of the officers who were sick, +and extended her care even to the meanest soldier. + +July 4, 1711.] At length the czar brought his army in sight of Jassi. +Here he was to establish his magazine. Bassaraba, the hospodar of +Walachia, who had again embraced the interest of the Ottoman Porte, but +still, in appearance, continued a friend to the czar, proposed to that +prince to make peace with the Turks, although he had received no +commission from the grand vizier for that purpose. His deceit, however, +was soon discovered; and the czar contented himself with demanding only +provisions for his army, which Bassaraba neither could nor would +furnish. It was very difficult to procure any supplies from Poland; and +these, which prince Cantemir had promised, and which he vainly hoped to +procure from Walachia, could not be brought from thence. These +disappointments rendered the situation of the Russian army very +disagreeable; and, as an addition to their afflictions, they were +infested with an immense swarm of grasshoppers, that covered the face of +the whole country, and devoured, or spoiled, every thing where they +alighted. They were likewise frequently in want of water during their +march through sandy deserts, and beneath a scorching sun: what little +they could procure, they were obliged to have brought in vessels to the +camp, from a considerable distance. + +During this dangerous and fatiguing march, the czar, by a singular +fatality, found himself in the neighbourhood of his rival and +competitor, Charles; Bender not being above twenty-five leagues from the +place where the Russian army was encamped, near Jassi. Some parties of +Cossacks made excursions even to the place of that unfortunate monarch's +retreat; but the Crim Tartars, who hovered round that part of the +country, sufficiently secured him from any attempt that might be made to +seize his person; and Charles waited in his camp with impatience, and +did not fear the issue of the war. + +Peter, as soon as he had established some magazines, marched in haste +with his army to the right of the river Pruth. His essential object was +to prevent the Turks, who were posted to the left, and towards the head +of the river, from crossing it, and marching towards him. This effected, +he would then be master of Moldavia and Walachia: with this view, he +dispatched general Janus, with the vanguard of the army, to oppose the +passage of the Turks; but the general did not arrive till they had +already began to cross the river upon their bridges; upon which he was +obliged to retreat, and his infantry was closely pursued by the Turks, +till the czar came up in person to his assistance. + +The grand vizier now marched directly along the river towards the czar. +The two armies were very unequal in point of numbers: that of the Turks, +which had been reinforced by the Tartarian troops, consisted of nearly +two hundred and fifty thousand men, while that of the Russians hardly +amounted to thirty-five thousand. There was indeed a considerable body +of troops, headed by general Renne, on their march from the other side +of the Moldavian mountains; but the Turks had cut off all communication +with those parts. + +The czar's army now began to be in want of provisions, nor could, +without the greatest difficulty, procure water, though encamped at a +very small distance from the river; being exposed to a furious discharge +from the batteries, which the grand vizier had caused to be erected on +the left side of the river, under the care of a body of troops, that +kept up a constant fire against the Russians. By this relation, which is +strictly circumstantial and true, it appears that Baltagi Mahomet, the +Turkish vizier, far from being the pusillanimous, or weak commander, +which the Swedes have represented him, gave proofs, on this occasion, +that he perfectly well understood his business. The passing the Pruth in +the sight of the enemy, obliging him to retreat, and harassing him in +that retreat; the cutting off all communication between the czar's army, +and a body of cavalry that was marching to reinforce it; the hemming in +this army, without the least probability of a retreat; and the cutting +off all supplies of water and provisions, by keeping it constantly under +the check of the batteries on the opposite side of the river, were +manoeuvres that in no ways bespoke the unexperienced or indolent +general. + +Peter now saw himself in a situation even worse than that to which he +had reduced his rival, Charles XII. at Pultowa; being, like him, +surrounded by a superior army, and in greater want of provisions; and, +like him, having confided in the promises of a prince, too powerful to +be bound by those promises, he resolved upon a retreat; and endeavoured +to return towards Jassi, in order to choose a more advantageous +situation for his camp. + +July 20, 1711.] He accordingly decamped under favour of the night; but +his army had scarcely begun its march, when, at break of day, the Turks +fell upon his rear: but the Preobrazinski regiment turning about, and +standing firm, did, for a considerable time, check the fury of their +onset. The Russians then formed themselves, and made a line of +intrenchments with their waggons and baggage. The same day (July 21.) +the Turks returned again to the attack, with the whole body of their +army; and, as a proof that the Russians knew how to defend themselves, +let what will be alleged to the contrary, they also made head against +this very superior force for a considerable time, killed a great number +of their enemies, who in vain endeavoured to break in upon them. + +There were in the Ottoman army two officers belonging to the king of +Sweden, namely, count Poniatowsky and the count of Sparre, who had the +command of a body of Cossacks in that prince's interest. My papers +inform me, that these two generals advised the grand vizier to avoid +coming to action with the Russians, and content himself with depriving +them of supplies of water and provisions, which would oblige them either +to surrender prisoners of war, or to perish with famine. Other memoirs +pretend, on the contrary, that these officers would have persuaded +Mahomet to fall upon this feeble and half-starved army, in a weak and +distressed condition, and put all to the sword. The first of these seems +to be the most prudent and circumspect; but the second is more agreeable +to the character of generals who had been trained up under Charles XII. + +The real fact is, that the grand vizier fell upon the rear of the +Russian army, at the dawn of day, which was thrown into confusion, and +there remained only a line of four hundred men to confront the Turks. +This small body formed itself with amazing quickness, under the orders +of a German general, named Alard, who, to his immortal honour, made such +rapid and excellent dispositions on this occasion, that the Russians +withstood, for upwards of three hours, the repeated attack of the whole +Ottoman army, without losing a foot of ground. + +The czar now found himself amply repaid for the immense pains he had +taken to inure his troops to strict discipline. At the battle of Narva, +sixty thousand men were defeated by only eight thousand, because the +former were undisciplined; and here we behold a rear-guard, consisting +of only eight thousand Russians, sustaining the efforts of one hundred +and fifty thousand Turks, killing seven thousand of them, and obliging +the rest to return back. + +After this sharp engagement, both armies intrenched themselves for that +night: but the Russians still continued enclosed, and deprived of all +provisions, even water; for notwithstanding they were so near the river +Pruth, yet they did not dare approach its banks; for as soon as any +parties were sent out to find water, a body of Turks, posted on the +opposite shore, drove them back by a furious discharge from their +cannon, loaded with chain shot: and the body of the Turkish army, which +had attacked that of the czar the day before, continued to play upon +them from another quarter, with the whole force of their artillery. + +The Russian army appeared now to be lost beyond resource, by its +position, by the inequality of numbers, and by the want of provisions. +The skirmishes on both sides were frequent and bloody: the Russian +cavalry being almost all dismounted, could no longer be of any service, +unless by fighting on foot: in a word, the situation of affairs was +desperate. It was out of their power to retreat, they had nothing left +but to gain a complete victory; to perish to the last man, or to be made +slaves by the infidels. + +All the accounts and memoirs of those times unanimously agree, that the +czar, divided within himself, whether or not he should expose his wife, +his army, his empire, and the fruits of all his labours, to almost +inevitable destruction; retired to his tent, oppressed with grief, and +seized with violent convulsions, to which he was naturally subject, and +which the present desperate situation of his affairs brought upon him +with redoubled violence. In this condition he remained alone in his +tent, having given positive orders, that no one should be admitted to be +a witness to the distraction of his mind. But Catherine, hearing of his +disorders, forced her way in to him; and, on this occasion, Peter found +how happy it was for him that he had permitted his wife to accompany him +in this expedition. + +A wife, who, like her, had faced death in its most horrible shapes, and +had exposed her person, like the meanest soldier, to the fire of the +Turkish artillery, had an undoubted right to speak to her husband, and +to be heard. The czar accordingly listened to what she had to say, and +in the end suffered himself to be persuaded to try and send to the +vizier with proposals of peace. + +It has been a custom, from time immemorial, throughout the East, that +when any people apply for an audience of the sovereign, or his +representative, they must not presume to approach them without a +present. On this occasion, therefore, Catherine mustered the few jewels +that she had brought with her, on this military tour, in which no +magnificence or luxury were admitted; to these she added two black +foxes' skins, and what ready money she could collect; the latter was +designed for a present to the kiaia. She made choice herself of an +officer, on whose fidelity and understanding she thought she could +depend, who, accompanied with two servants, was to carry the presents to +the grand vizier, and afterwards to deliver the money intended for the +kiaia into his own hand. This officer was likewise charged with a letter +from marshal Sheremeto to the grand vizier. The memoirs of czar Peter +mentions this letter, but they take no notice of the other particulars +of Catherine's conduct in this business; however, they are sufficiently +confirmed by the declaration issued by Peter himself, in 1723, when he +caused Catherine to be crowned empress, wherein we find these +words:--'She has been of the greatest assistance to us in all our +dangers, and particularly in the battle of Pruth, when our army was +reduced to twenty-two thousand men.' If the czar had then indeed no more +men capable of bearing arms, the service which Catherine did him, on +that occasion, was fully equivalent to the honours and dignities +conferred upon her. The MS. journal of Peter the Great observes, that on +the day of the bloody battle (on the 20th July), he had thirty-one +thousand five hundred and fifty-four foot, and six thousand six hundred +and ninety-two horse, the latter almost all dismounted; he must then +have lost sixteen thousand two hundred and forty-six men in that +engagement. The same memoirs affirm, the loss sustained by the Turks +greatly exceeded that of the Russians; for as the former rushed upon the +czar's troops pell-mell, and without observing any order, hardly a +single fire of the latter missed its effect. If this is fact, the affair +of the 20th and 21st of July, was one of the most bloody that had been +known for many ages. + +We must either suspect Peter the Great of having been mistaken, in his +declaration at the crowning of the empress, when he acknowledges 'his +obligations to her of having saved his army, which was reduced to +twenty-two thousand men,' or accuse him of a falsity in his journal, +wherein he says, that the day on which the above battle was fought, his +army, exclusive of the succours he expected from the other side the +Moldavian mountains, amounted to thirty-one thousand five hundred and +fifty-four foot, and six thousand six hundred and ninety-two horse. +According to this calculation, the battle of Pruth must have been by far +more terrible than the historians or memorials have represented on +either side. There must certainly be some mistake here, which is no +uncommon thing in the relation of campaigns, especially when the writer +enters into a minute detail of circumstances. The surest method, +therefore, on these occasions, is to confine ourselves to the principal +events, the victory and the defeat; as we can very seldom know, with any +degree of certainty, the exact loss on either side. + +But however here the Russian army might be reduced in point of numbers, +there were still hopes that the grand vizier, deceived by their vigorous +and obstinate resistance, might be induced to grant them peace, upon +such terms as might be honourable to his master's arms, and at the same +time not absolutely disgraceful to those of the czar. It was the great +merit of Catherine to have perceived this possibility, at a time when +her consort and his generals expected nothing less than inevitable +destruction. + +Norberg, in his History of Charles XII. quotes a letter, sent by the +czar to the grand vizier, in which he expresses himself thus:--'If, +contrary to my intentions, I have been so unhappy as to incur the +displeasure of his highness, I am ready to make reparation for any cause +of complaint he may have against me; I conjure you, most noble general, +to prevent the further effusion of blood; give orders, I beseech you, to +put a stop to the dreadful fire of your artillery, and accept the +hostage I herewith send you.' + +This letter carries all the marks of falsity with it, as do indeed most +of the random pieces of Norberg: it is dated 11th July, N. S. whereas no +letter was sent to Baltagi Mahomet till the 21st, N. S. neither was it +the czar who wrote to the vizier, but his general Sheremeto: there were +no such expressions made use of as--'if the czar has had the misfortune +to incur the displeasure of his highness;' such terms being suitable +only to a subject, who implores the pardon of his sovereign, whom he has +offended. There was no mention made of any hostage, nor was any one +sent. The letter was carried by an officer, in the midst of a furious +cannonade on both sides. Sheremeto, in his letter, only reminded the +vizier of certain overtures of peace that the Porte had made at the +beginning of the campaign, through the mediation of the Dutch and +English ministers, and by which the divan demanded that the fort and +harbour of Taganroc should be given up, which were the real subjects of +the war. + +21st July, 1711.] Some hours elapsed before the messenger received an +answer from the grand vizier, and it was apprehended that he had either +been killed by the enemy's cannon, or that they detained him prisoner. A +second courier was therefore dispatched, with duplicates of the former +letters, and a council of war was immediately held, at which Catherine +was present. At this council ten general officers signed the following +resolution:-- + +'Resolved, If the enemy will not accept the conditions proposed, and +should insist upon our laying down our arms, and surrendering at +discretion, that all the ministers and general officers are unanimously +of opinion, to cut their way through the enemy sword in hand.' + +In consequence of this resolution, a line of intrenchments was thrown +round the baggage, and the Russians marched some few paces out of their +camp, towards the enemy, when the grand vizier caused a suspension of +arms to be proclaimed between the two armies. + +All the writers of the Swedish party have treated the grand vizier as a +cowardly and infamous wretch, who had been bribed to sell the honour of +his master's arms. In the same manner have several authors accused count +Piper of receiving money from the duke of Marlborough, to persuade the +king of Sweden to continue the war against the czar; and have laid to +the charge of the French minister, that he purchased the peace of +Seville for a stipulated sum. Such accusations ought never to be +advanced but on very strong proofs. It is very seldom that a minister +will stoop to such meannesses, which are always discovered, sooner or +later, by those who have been entrusted with the payment of the money, +or by the public registers, which never lie. A minister of state stands +as a public object to the eyes of all Europe. His credit and influence +depend wholly upon his character, and he is always sufficiently rich to +be above the temptation of becoming a traitor. + +The place of viceroy of the Turkish empire is so illustrious, and the +profits annexed to it, in time of war, so immense, there was such a +profusion of every thing necessary, and even luxurious, in the camp of +Baltagi Mahomet, and, on the other hand, so much poverty and distress in +that of the czar, that surely the grand vizier was rather in a condition +to give than to receive. The trifling present of a woman, who had +nothing to send but a few skins and some jewels, in compliance with the +established custom of all courts, or rather those in particular of the +East, can never be considered in the light of a bribe. The frank and +open conduct of Baltagi Mahomet seems at once to give the lie to the +black accusations with which so many writers have stained their +relations. Vice chancellor Shaffiroff paid the vizier a public visit in +his tent: every thing was transacted in the most open manner, on both +sides; and indeed it could not be otherwise. The very first article of +the negotiation was entered upon in the presence of a person wholly +devoted to the king of Sweden, a domestic of count Poniatowsky, who was +himself one of that monarch's generals. This man served as an +interpreter, and the several articles were publicly reduced to writing +by the vizier's chief secretary, Hummer Effendi. Moreover, count +Poniatowsky was there in person. The present sent to the kiaia was +offered probably in form, and every thing was transacted agreeable to +the oriental customs. Other presents were made by the Turks in return; +so that there was not the least appearance of treachery or contrivance. +The motives which determined the vizier to consent to the proposals +offered him, were, first that the body of troops under the command of +general Renne, on the borders of the river Sireth, in Moldavia, had +already crossed three rivers, and were actually in the neighbourhood of +the Danube, where Renne had already made himself master of the town and +castle of Brahila, defended by a numerous garrison, under the command of +a basha. Secondly, the czar had likewise another body of troops +advancing through the frontiers of Poland; and, lastly, it is more than +probable that the vizier was not fully acquainted with the extreme +scarcity that was felt in the Russian camp. One enemy seldom furnishes +another with an exact account of his provisions and ammunition; on the +contrary, either side are accustomed rather to make a parade of plenty, +even at a time when they are in the greatest necessity. There can be no +artifices practised to gain intelligence of the true state of an +adversary's affairs, by means of spies, between the Turks and the +Russians. The difference of their dress, of their religion, and of their +language, will not permit it. They are, moreover, strangers to that +desertion which prevails in most of our armies; and, consequently, the +grand vizier could not be supposed to know the desperate condition to +which the czar's army was reduced. + +Baltagi, who was not fond of war, and who, nevertheless, had conducted +this very well, thought that his expedition would be sufficiently +successful, if he put his master in possession of the towns and harbours +which made the subject of the war, stopt the progress of the victorious +army under Renne, and obliged that general to quit the banks of the +Danube, and return back into Russia, and for ever shut the entrance of +the Palus Mæotis, the Cimmerian Bosphorus, and the Black Sea, against an +enterprising prince; and, lastly, if he avoided taking these certain +advantages, on the hazard of a new battle (in which, after all, despair +might have got the better of superiority of numbers). The preceding day +only he had beheld his janissaries repulsed with loss; and there wanted +not examples of many victories having been gained by the weaker over the +strong. Such then were Mahomet's reasons for accepting the proposals of +peace. His conduct, however, did not merit the approbation of Charles's +officers, who served in the Turkish army, nor of the khan of Tartary. It +was the interest of the latter, and his followers, to reject all terms +of accommodation which would deprive them of the opportunity of ravaging +the frontiers of Russia and Poland. Charles XII. desired to be revenged +on his rival, the czar: but the general, and the first minister of the +Ottoman empire, was neither influenced by the private thirst of revenge, +which animated the Christian monarch, nor by the desire of booty, which +actuated the Tartar chief. + +As soon as the suspension of arms was agreed to, and signed, the +Russians purchased of the Turks the provisions, of which they stood in +need. The articles of the peace were not signed at that time, as is +related by La Motraye, and which Norberg has copied from him. The +vizier, among other conditions, demanded that the czar should promise +not to interfere any more in the Polish affairs. This was a point +particularly insisted upon by count Poniatowsky; but it was, in fact, +the interest of the Ottoman crown, that the kingdom of Poland should +continue in its then defenceless and divided state; accordingly this +demand was reduced to that of the Russian troops evacuating the +frontiers of Poland. The khan of Tartary, on his side, demanded a +tribute of forty thousand sequins. This point, after being long debated, +was at length given up. + +The grand vizier insisted a long time, that prince Cantemir should be +delivered up to him, as Patkul had been to the king of Sweden. Cantemir +was exactly in the same situation as Mazeppa had been. The czar caused +that hetman to be arraigned and tried for his defection, and afterwards +to be executed in effigy. The Turks were not acquainted with the nature +of such proceeding; they knew nothing of trials for contumacy, nor of +public condemnations. The affixing a sentence on any person, and +executing him in effigy, were the more unusual amongst them, as their +law forbids the representation of any human likeness whatever. The +vizier in vain insisted on Cantemir's being delivered up; Peter +peremptorily refused to comply, and wrote the following letter with his +own hand, to his vice-chancellor Shaffiroff. + +'I can resign to the Turks all the country, as far as Curtzka, because I +have hopes of being able to recover it again; but I will, by no means, +violate my faith, which, once forfeited, can never be retrieved. I have +nothing I can properly call my own, but my honour. If I give up that, I +cease to be longer a king.' + +At length the treaty was concluded, and signed, at a village called +Falksen, on the river Pruth. Among other things, it was stipulated, that +Azoph, and the territories belonging thereto, should be restored, +together with all the ammunition and artillery that were in the place, +before the czar made himself master thereof, in 1696. That the harbour +of Taganroc, in the Zabach Sea, should be demolished, as also that of +Samara, on the river of the same name; and several other fortresses. +There was likewise another article added, respecting the king of Sweden, +which article alone, sufficiently shews the little regard the vizier had +for that prince; for it was therein stipulated, that the czar should not +molest Charles, in his return to his dominions, and that afterwards the +czar and he might make peace with the other, if they were so inclined. + +It is pretty evident by the wording of this extraordinary article, that +Baltagi Mahomet had not forgot the haughty manner in which Charles XII. +had behaved to him a short time before, and it is not unlikely that this +very behaviour of the king of Sweden might have been one inducement with +Mahomet to comply so readily with his rival's proposals for peace. +Charles's glory depended wholly on the ruin of the czar: but we are +seldom inclinable to exalt those who express a contempt for us: however, +this prince, who refused the vizier a visit in his camp, on his +invitation, when it was certainly his interest to have been upon good +terms with him, now came thither in haste and unasked, when the work +which put an end to all his hopes was on the point of being concluded. +The vizier did not go to meet him in person, but contented himself with +sending two of his bashas, nor would he stir out of his tent, till +Charles was within a few paces of him. + +This interview passed, as every one knows, in mutual reproaches. Several +historians have thought, that the answer which the vizier made to the +king of Sweden, when that prince reproached him with not making the czar +prisoner, when he might have done it so easily, was the reply of a weak +man. 'If I had taken him prisoner,' said Mahomet, 'who would there be +to govern his dominions?' + +It is very easy, however, to comprehend, that this was the answer of a +man who was piqued with resentment, and these words which he +added--'For it is not proper that every crowned head should quit his +dominions'--sufficiently shewed that he intended to mortify the refugee +of Bender. + +Charles gained nothing by his journey, but the pleasure of tearing the +vizier's robe with his spurs; while that officer, who was in a condition +to make him repent this splenetic insult, seemed not to notice it, in +which he was certainly greatly superior to Charles. If any thing could +have made that monarch sensible, in the midst of his life, how easily +fortune can put greatness to the blush, it would have been the +reflection, that at the battle of Pultowa, a pastry-cook's boy had +obliged his whole army to surrender at discretion; and in this of Pruth +a wood-cutter was the arbiter of his fate, and that of his rival the +czar: for the vizier, Baltagi Mahomet, had been a cutter of wood in the +grand seignior's seraglio, as his name implied; and, far from being +ashamed of that title, he gloried in it: so much do the manners of the +eastern people differ from ours. + +When the news of this treaty reached Constantinople, the grand seignior +was so well pleased, that he ordered public rejoicings to be made for a +whole week, and Mahomet, the kiaia, or lieutenant-general, who brought +the tidings to the divan, was instantly raised to the dignity of boujouk +imraour, or master of the horse: a certain proof that the sultan did not +think himself ill served by his vizier. + +Norberg seems to have known very little of the Turkish government, when +he says, that 'the grand seignior was obliged to keep fair with Baltagi +Mahomet, that vizier having rendered himself formidable.' The +janissaries indeed have often rendered themselves formidable to their +sultans; but there is not one example of a vizier, who has not been +easily sacrificed to the will or orders of his sovereign, and Mahomet +was in no condition to support himself by his own power. Besides, +Norberg manifestly contradicts himself, by affirming in the same page, +that the janissaries were irritated against Mahomet, and that the sultan +stood in dread of his power. + +The king of Sweden was now reduced to the necessity of forming cabals in +the Ottoman court; and a monarch, who had so lately made kings by his +own power, was now seen waiting for audience, and offering memorials and +petitions which were refused. + +Charles ran through all the ambages of intrigue, like a subject who +endeavours to make a minister suspected by his master. In this manner he +acted against Mahomet, and against those who succeeded him. At one time +he addressed himself to the sultana Valide by means of a Jewess, who had +admission into the seraglio; at another, he employed one of the eunuchs +for the same purpose. At length he had recourse to a man who was to +mingle among the grand seignior's guards, and, by counterfeiting a +person out of his senses, to attract the attention of the sultan, and by +that means deliver into his own hand a memorial from Charles. From all +these various schemes, the king of Sweden drew only the mortification of +seeing himself deprived of his thaim; that is to say, of the daily +pension which the Porte of its generosity had assigned him for his +subsistence, and which amounted to about one thousand five hundred +French livres.[88] The grand vizier, instead of remitting this +allowance to him as usual, sent him an order, in the form of a friendly +advice, to quit the grand seignior's dominions. + +Charles, however, was absolutely determined not to depart, still +flattering himself with the vain hope, that he should once more re-enter +Poland and Russia with a powerful army of Turks. Every one knows what +was the issue of his inflexible boldness in the year 1714, and how he +engaged an army of janissaries, Spahis, and Tartars, with only himself, +his secretaries, his valet de chambre, cook, and stable men; that he was +taken prisoner in that country, where he had been treated with the +greatest hospitality; and that he at length got back to his own kingdom +in the disguise of a courier, after having lived five years in Turkey: +from all which it remains to be acknowledged, that if there was reason +in the conduct of this extraordinary prince, it was a reason of a very +different nature to that of other men. + + + + +CHAP. XXI. + + Conclusion of the Affairs of Pruth. + + +It is necessary in this place to repeat an event already related in the +History of Charles XII. It happened during the suspension of arms which +preceded the treaty of Pruth, that two Tartarian soldiers surprised and +took prisoners two Italian officers belonging to the czar's army, and +sold them to an officer of the Turkish janissaries. The vizier being +informed of this breach of public faith, punished the two Tartars with +death. How are we to reconcile this severe delicacy with the violation +of the law of nations in the person of Tolstoy, the czar's ambassador, +whom this very vizier caused to be arrested in the streets of +Constantinople, and afterwards imprisoned in the castle of the Seven +Towers? There is always some reason for the contradictions we find in +the actions of mankind. Baltagi Mahomet was incensed against the khan of +Tartary, for having opposed the peace he had lately made, and was +resolved to shew that chieftain that he was his master. + +The treaty was no sooner concluded, than the czar quitted the borders of +the Pruth, and returned towards his own dominions, followed by a body of +eight thousand Turks, whom the vizier had sent as an army of observation +to watch the motions of the Russian army during its march, and also to +serve as an escort or safeguard to them against the wandering Tartars +which infested those parts. + +Peter instantly set about accomplishing the treaty, by demolishing the +fortresses of Samara and Kamienska; but the restoring of Azoph, and the +demolition of the port of Taganroc, met with some difficulties in the +execution. According to the terms of the treaty it was necessary to +distinguish the artillery and ammunition which belonged to the Turks in +Azoph before that place was taken by the czar, from those which had been +sent thither after it fell into his hands. The governor of the place +spun out this affair to a tedious length, at which the Porte was greatly +incensed, and not without reason: the sultan was impatient to receive +the keys of Azoph. The vizier promised they should be sent from time to +time, but the governor always found means to delay the delivery of them. +Baltagi Mahomet lost the good graces of his master, and with them his +place. The khan of Tartary and his other enemies made such good use of +their interest with the sultan, that the grand vizier was deposed, +several bashas were disgraced at the same time; but the grand seignior, +well convinced of this minister's fidelity, did not deprive him either +of his life or estate, but only sent him to Mytilene to take on him the +command of that island. This simple removal from the helm of affairs +(Nov. 1711,), and the continuing to him his fortunes, and above all the +giving him the command in Mytilene, sufficiently contradicts all that +Norberg has advanced, to induce us to believe that this vizier had been +corrupted with the czar's money. + +Norberg asserts furthermore, that the Bostangi basha, who came to divest +him of his office, and to acquaint him of the grand seignior's sentence, +declared him at the same time, 'a traitor, one who had disobeyed the +orders of his sovereign lord, had sold himself to the enemy for money, +and was found guilty of not having taken proper care of the interests of +the king of Sweden.' In the first place, this kind of declarations are +not at all in use in Turkey: the orders of the grand seignior always +being issued privately, and executed with secresy. Secondly, if the +vizier had been declared a traitor, a rebel, and a corrupted person, +crimes of this nature would have been instantly punished with death in a +country where they are never forgiven. Lastly, if he was punishable for +not having sufficiently attended to the interests of the king of Sweden, +it is evident that this prince must have had such a degree of influence +at the Ottoman Porte, as to have made the other ministers to tremble, +who would consequently have endeavoured to gain his good graces; +whereas, on the contrary, the basha Jussuf, aga of the janissaries, who +succeeded Mahomet Baltagi as grand vizier, had the same sentiments as +his predecessor, in relation to Charles's conduct, and was so far from +doing him any service that he thought of nothing but how to get rid of +so dangerous a guest; and when count Poniatowsky, the companion and +confidant of that monarch, went to compliment the vizier on his new +dignity, the latter spoke to him thus. 'Pagan, I forewarn thee, that if +ever I find thee hatching any intrigues, I will, upon the first notice, +cause thee to be thrown into the sea with a stone about thy neck.' + +This compliment count Poniatowsky himself relates in the memoirs which +he drew up at my request, and is a sufficient proof of the little +influence his master had in the Turkish court. All that Norberg has +related touching the affairs of that empire, appear to come from +a prejudiced person, and one who was very ill informed of the +circumstances he pretends to write about. And we may count among the +errors of a party-spirit and political falsehoods, every thing which +this writer advances unsupported by proofs, concerning the pretended +corruption of a grand vizier, that is, of a person who had the disposal +of upwards of sixty millions per annum, without being subject to the +least account.[89] I have now before me the letter which count +Poniatowsky wrote to King Stanislaus immediately after the signing the +treaty of Pruth, in which he upbraids Baltagi Mahomet with the slight he +shewed to the king of Sweden, his dislike to the war, and the +unsteadiness of his temper; but never once hints the least charge of +corruption: for he knew too well what the place of grand vizier was, to +entertain an idea, that the czar was capable of setting a price upon the +infidelity of the second person in the Ottoman empire. + +Schaffirow and Sheremeto, who remained at Constantinople as hostages on +the part of the czar for his performance of the treaty, were not used in +the manner they would have been if known to have purchased this peace, +and to have joined with the vizier in deceiving his master. They were +left to go at liberty about the city, escorted by two companies of +janissaries. + +The czar's ambassador Tolstoy having been released from his confinement +in the Seven Towers, immediately upon the signing of the treaty of +Pruth, the Dutch and English ministers interposed with the new vizier to +see the several articles of that treaty put into execution. + +Azoph was at length restored to the Turks, and the fortresses mentioned +in the treaty were demolished according to stipulation. And now the +Ottoman Porte, though very little inclinable to interfere in the +differences between Christian princes, could not without vanity behold +himself made arbitrator between Russia, Poland, and the king of Sweden; +and insisted that the czar should withdraw his troops out of Poland, and +deliver the Turkish empire from so dangerous a neighbour; and, desirous +that the Christian princes might continually be at war with each other, +wished for nothing so much as to send Charles home to his own dominions, +but all this while had not the least intention of furnishing him with an +army. The Tartars were still for war, as an artificer is willing to +seize every opportunity to exercise his calling. The janissaries +likewise wished to be called into the field, but more out of hatred +against the Christians, their naturally restless disposition, and from a +fondness for rapine and licentiousness, than from any other motives. +Nevertheless, the English and Dutch ministers managed their negotiations +so well, that they prevailed over the opposite party: the treaty of +Pruth was confirmed, but with the addition of a new article, by which it +was stipulated that the czar should withdraw his forces from Poland +within three months, and that the sultan should immediately send Charles +XII. out of his dominions. + +We may judge from this new treaty whether the king of Sweden had that +interest at the Porte which some writers would have us to believe. He +was evidently sacrificed on this occasion by the new vizier, basha +Jussuf, as he had been before by Baltagi Mahomet. The historians of his +party could find no other expedient to colour over this fresh affront, +but that of accusing Jussuf of having been bribed like his predecessor. +Such repeated imputations, unsupported by any proofs, are rather the +clamours of an impotent cabal, than the testimonies of history; but +faction, when driven to acknowledge facts, will ever be endeavouring to +alter circumstances and motives; and, unhappily, it is thus that all the +histories of our times will be handed down to posterity so altered, that +they will be unable to distinguish truth from falsehoods. + + + + +CHAP. XXII. + + Marriage of the czarowitz.--The marriage of Peter and Catherine + publicly solemnized.--Catherine finds her brother. + + +This unsuccessful campaign of Pruth proved more hurtful to the czar than +ever the battle of Narva was; for after that defeat he had found means +not only to retrieve his losses, but also to wrest Ingria out of the +hands of Charles XII.; but by the treaty of Falksten, in which he +consented to give up to the sultan his forts and harbours on the Palus +Mæotis, he for ever lost his projected superiority in the Black Sea. +He had besides an infinite deal of work on his hands; his new +establishments in Russia were to be perfected, he had to prosecute his +victories over the Swedes, to settle king Augustus firmly on the Polish +throne, and to manage affairs properly with the several powers with whom +he was in alliance; but the fatigues he had undergone having impaired +his health, he was obliged to go to Carlsbad[90] to drink the waters of +that place. While he was there he gave orders for his troops to enter +Pomerania, who blockaded Stralsund, and took five other towns in the +neighbourhood. + +Pomerania is the most northern province of Germany, bounded on the east +by Prussia and Poland, on the west by Brandenburg, on the south by +Mecklenburg, and on the north by the Baltic Sea. It has changed masters +almost every century: Gustavus Adolphus got possession of it in his +famous thirty years war, and it was afterwards solemnly ceded to the +crown of Sweden by the treaty of Westphalia: with a reservation of the +little bishopric of Camin, and a few other small towns lying in Upper +Pomerania. The whole of this province properly belongs to the elector of +Brandenburg, in virtue of a family compact made with the dukes of +Pomerania, whose family being extinct in 1637, consequently by the laws +of the empire the house of Brandenburg had an undoubted right to the +succession; but necessity, the first of all laws, occasioned this family +compact to be set aside by the treaty of Osnaburg; after which, almost +the whole of Pomerania fell to the lot of the victorious Swedes. + +The czar's intention was to wrest from Sweden all the provinces that +crown was possessed of in Germany; and, in order to accomplish his +design, he found it necessary to enter into a confederacy with the +electors of Hanover and Brandenburg, and the king of Denmark. Peter drew +up the several articles of the treaty he projected with these powers, +and also a complete plan of the necessary operations for rendering him +master of Pomerania. + +In the meanwhile he went to Torgau, to be present at the nuptials of his +son the czarowitz Alexis with the princess of Wolfenbuttel (Oct. 23, +1711.), sister to the consort of Charles VI. emperor of Germany; +nuptials which, in the end, proved fatal to his own peace of mind, and +to the lives of the unfortunate pair. + +The czarowitz was born of the first marriage of Peter the Great to +Eudocia Lapoukin, to whom he was espoused in 1689: she was at that time +shut up in the monastery of Susdal; their son Alexis Petrowitz, who was +born the 1st of March, 1690, was now in his twenty-second year: this +prince was not then at all known in Europe; a minister, whose memoirs of +the court of Russia have been printed, says in a letter he writes to his +master, dated August 25, 1711, that 'this prince was tall and well made, +resembled his father greatly, was of an excellent disposition, very +pious, had read the Bible five times over, took great delight in the +ancient Greek historians, appeared to have a very quick apprehension and +understanding, was well acquainted with the mathematics, the art of war, +navigation, and hydraulics; that he understood the German language, and +was then learning the French, but that his father would never suffer him +to go through a regular course of study.' + +This character is very different from that which the czar himself gives +of his son some time afterwards, in which we shall see with how much +grief he reproaches him with faults directly opposite to those good +qualities, for which this minister seems so much to admire him. + +We must leave posterity, therefore, to determine between the testimony +of a stranger, who may have formed too slight a judgment, and the +declaration of a parent, who thought himself under a necessity of +sacrificing the dictates of nature to the good of his people. If the +minister was no better acquainted with the disposition of Alexis than he +seems to have been with his outward form, his evidence will have but +little weight; for he describes this prince as tall and well made, +whereas the memoirs sent me from Petersburg say, that he was neither the +one nor the other. + +His mother-in-law, Catherine, was not present at his nuptials; for +though she was already looked upon as czarina, yet she had not been +publicly acknowledged as such: and moreover, as she had only the title +of highness given her at the czar's court, her rank was not sufficiently +settled to admit of her signing the contract, or to appear at the +ceremony in a station befitting the consort of Peter the Great. She +therefore remained at Thorn in Polish Prussia. Soon after the nuptials +were celebrated, the czar sent the new-married couple away to +Wolfenbuttel (Jan. 9, 1712), and brought back the czarina to Petersburg +with that dispatch and privacy which he observed in all his journies. + +Feb. 19, 1712.] Having now disposed of his son, he publicly solemnized +his own nuptials with Catherine, which had been declared in private +before. This ceremony was performed with as much magnificence as could +be expected in a city but yet in its infancy, and from a revenue +exhausted by the late destructive war against the Turks, and that which +he was still engaged in against the king of Sweden. The czar gave orders +for, and assisted himself in, all the preparations for the ceremony, +according to the usual custom; and Catherine was now publicly declared +czarina, in reward for having saved her husband and his whole army. + +The acclamations with which this declaration was received at Petersburg +were sincere: the applauses which subjects confer on the actions of a +despotic sovereign are generally suspected; but on this occasion they +were confirmed by the united voice of all the thinking part of Europe, +who beheld with pleasure, on the one hand, the heir of a vast monarchy +with no other glory than that of his birth, married to a petty princess; +and, on the other hand, a powerful conqueror, and a law-giver, publicly +sharing his bed and his throne with a stranger and a captive, who had +nothing to recommend her but her merit: and this approbation became more +general as the minds of men grew more enlightened by that sound +philosophy, which has made so great a progress in our understandings +within these last forty years: a philosophy, equally sublime and +discerning, which teaches us to pay only the exterior respect to +greatness and authority, while we reserve our esteem and veneration for +shining talents and meritorious services. + +And here I think myself under an obligation to relate what I have met +touching this marriage in the dispatches of count Bassewitz, aulic +counsellor at Vienna, and long time minister from Holstein at the court +of Russia; a person of great merit, and whose memory is still held in +the highest esteem in Germany. In some of his letters he speaks thus: +'The czarina had not only been the main instrument of procuring the czar +that reputation which he enjoyed, but was likewise essentially necessary +in the preservation of his life. This prince was unhappily subject to +violent convulsion fits, which were thought to be the effects of poison +which had been given him while he was young. Catherine alone had found +the secret of alleviating his sufferings by an unwearied assiduity and +attention to whatever she thought would please him, and made it the +whole study of her life to preserve a health so valuable to the kingdom +and to herself, insomuch, that the czar finding he could not live +without her, made her the companion of his throne and bed.' I here only +repeat the express words of the writer himself. + +Fortune, which has furnished us with many extraordinary scenes in this +part of the world, and who had raised Catherine from the lowest abyss of +misery and distress to the pinnacle of human grandeur, wrought another +extraordinary incident in her favour some few years after her marriage +with the czar, and which I find thus related in a curious manuscript of +a person who was at that time in the czar's service, and who speaks of +it as a thing to which he was eye-witness. + +An envoy from king Augustus to the court of Peter the Great, being on +his return home through Courland, and having put up at an inn by the +way, heard the voice of a person who seemed in great distress, and whom +the people of the house were treating in that insulting manner which is +but too common on such occasions: the stranger, with a tone of +resentment, made answer, that they would not dare to use him thus, if he +could but once get to the speech of the czar, at whose court he had +perhaps more powerful protectors than they imagined. + +The envoy, upon hearing this, had a curiosity to ask the man some +questions, and, from certain answers he let fall, and a close +examination of his face, he thought he found in him some resemblance of +the empress Catherine; and, when he came to Dresden, he could not +forbear writing to one of his friends at Petersburg concerning it. This +letter, by accident, came to the czar's hands, who immediately sent an +order to prince Repnin, then governor of Riga, to endeavour to find out +the person mentioned in the letter. Prince Repnin immediately dispatched +a messenger to Mittau, in Courland, who, on inquiry, found out the man, +and learned that his name was Charles Scavronsky; that he was the son of +a Lithuanian gentleman, who had been killed in the wars of Poland, and +had left two children then in the cradle, a boy and a girl, who had +neither of them received any other education than that which simple +nature gives to those who are abandoned by the world. Scavronsky, who +had been parted from his sister while they were both infants, knew +nothing further of her than that she had been taken prisoner in +Marienburg, in the year 1704, and supposed her to be still in the +household of prince Menzikoff, where he imagined she might have made +some little fortune. + +Prince Repnin, agreeable to the particular orders he had received from +the czar, caused Scavronsky to be seized, and conducted to Riga, under +pretence of some crime laid to his charge; and, to give a better colour +to the matter, at his arrival there, a sham information was drawn up +against him, and he was soon after sent from thence to Petersburg, under +a strong guard, with orders to treat him well upon the road. + +When he came to that capital, he was carried to the house of an officer +of the emperor's palace, named Shepleff, who, having been previously +instructed in the part he was to play, drew several circumstances from +the young man in relation to his condition; and, after some time, told +him, that although the information, which had been sent up from Riga +against him, was of a very serious nature, yet he would have justice +done him; but that it would be necessary to present a petition to his +majesty for that purpose; that one should accordingly be drawn up in his +name, and that he (Shepleff) would find means that he should deliver it +into the czar's own hands. + +The next day the czar came to dine with Shepleff, at his own house, who +presented Scavronsky to him; when his majesty, after asking him +abundance of questions was convinced, by the natural answers he gave, +that he was really the czarina's brother; they had both lived in +Livonia, when young, and the czar found every thing that Scavronsky said +to him, in relation to his family affairs, tally exactly with what his +wife had told him concerning her brother, and the misfortunes which had +befallen her and her brother in the earlier part of their lives. + +The czar, now satisfied of the truth, proposed the next day to the +empress to go and dine with him at Shepleff's; and, when dinner was +over, he gave orders that the man, whom he had examined the day before, +should be brought in again. Accordingly he was introduced, dressed in +the same clothes he had wore while on his journey to Riga; the czar not +being willing that he should appear in any other garb than what his +unhappy circumstances had accustomed him to. + +He interrogated him again, in the presence of his wife; and the MS. +adds, that, at the end, he turned about to the empress, and said these +very words:--'This man is your brother; come hither, Charles, and kiss +the hand of the empress, and embrace your sister.' + +The author of this narrative adds further, that the empress fainted away +with surprise; and that, when she came to herself again, the czar said, +'There is nothing in this but what is very natural. This gentlemen is my +brother in-law; if he has merit, we will make something of him; if he +has not, we must leave him as he is.' + +I am of opinion, that this speech shews as much greatness as simplicity, +and a greatness not very common. My author says, that Scavronsky +remained a considerable time at Shepleff's house; that the czar assigned +him a handsome pension, but that he led a very retired life. He carries +his relation of this adventure no farther, as he made use of it only to +disclose the secret of Catherine's brother: but we know, from other +authorities, that this gentleman was afterwards created a count; that he +married a young lady of quality, by whom he had two daughters, who were +married to two of the principal noblemen in Russia. I leave to those, +who may be better informed of the particulars, to distinguish what is +fact in this relation, from what may have been added; and shall only +say, that the author does not seem to have told this story out of a +fondness for entertaining his readers with the marvellous, since his +papers were not intended to be published. He is writing freely to a +friend, about a thing of which he says he was an eye-witness. He may +have been mistaken in some circumstances, but the fact itself has all +the appearance of truth; for if this gentleman had known that his sister +was raised to so great dignity and power, he would not certainly have +remained so many years without having made himself known to her. And +this discovery, however extraordinary it may seem, is certainly not more +so than the exaltation of Catherine herself; and both the one and the +other are striking proofs of the force of destiny, and may teach us to +be cautious how we treat as fabulous several events of antiquity, which +perhaps are less contradictory to the common order of things, than the +adventures of this empress. + +The rejoicings made by the czar Peter for his own marriage, and that of +his son, were not of the nature of those transient amusements which +exhaust the public treasure, and are presently lost in oblivion. He +completed his grand foundry for cannon, and finished the admiralty +buildings. The highways were repaired, several ships built, and others +put upon the stocks; new canals were dug, and the finishing hand put to +the grand warehouses, and other public buildings, and the trade of +Petersburg began to assume a flourishing face. He issued an ordinance +for removing the senate from Moscow to Petersburg, which was executed in +the month of April, 1712. By this step he made his new city the capital +of the empire, and early he employed a number of Swedish prisoners in +beautifying this city, whose foundation had been laid upon their defeat. + + + + +CHAP. XXIII. + + Taking of Stetin.--Descent upon Finland.--Event of the year 1712. + + +Peter, now seeing himself happy in his own family, and in his state, and +successful in his war against Charles XII. and in the several +negotiations which he had entered into with other powers, who were +resolved to assist him in driving out the Swedes from the continent, and +cooping them up for ever within the narrow isthmus of Scandinavia, began +to turn his views entirely towards the north-west coasts of Europe, not +laying aside all thoughts of the Palus Mæotis, or Black Sea. The keys of +Azoph, which had been so long withheld from the basha, who was to have +taken possession of that place for the sultan, his master, were now +given up; and, notwithstanding all the endeavours of the king of Sweden, +the intrigues of his friends at the Ottoman Porte, and even some menaces +of a new war on the part of the Turks, both that nation and the Russian +empire continued at peace. + +Charles XII. still obstinate in his resolution not to depart from +Bender, tamely submitted his hopes and fortunes to the caprice of a +grand vizier; while the czar was threatening all his provinces, arming +against him the king of Denmark, and the elector of Hanover, and had +almost persuaded the king of Prussia, and even the Poles and Saxons, to +declare openly for him. + +Charles, ever of the same inflexible disposition, behaved in the like +manner towards his enemies, who now seemed united to overwhelm him, as +he had done in all his transactions with the Ottoman Porte; and, from +his lurking-place in the deserts of Bessarabia, defied the czar, the +kings of Poland, Denmark, and Prussia, the elector of Hanover (soon +afterwards king of England), and the emperor of Germany, whom he had so +greatly offended, when he was traversing Silesia with his victorious +troops, and who now shewed his resentment, by abandoning him to his ill +fortune, and refused to take under his protection any of those +countries, which as yet belonged to the Swedes in Germany. + +1712.] It would have been no difficult matter for him to have broken the +league which was forming against him, would he have consented to cede +Stetin, in Pomerania, to Frederick (the first) king of Prussia, and +elector of Brandenburg, who had a lawful claim thereto; but Charles did +not then look upon Prussia as a power of any consequence: and indeed +neither he, nor any other person, could at that time foresee, that this +petty kingdom, and the electorate of Brandenburg, either of which were +little better than deserts, would one day become formidable. Charles +therefore would not listen to any proposal of accommodation, but +determined rather to stake all than to give up any thing, sent orders to +the regency of Stockholm, to make all possible resistance, both by sea +and land: and these orders were obeyed, notwithstanding that his +dominions were almost exhausted of men and money. The senate of +Stockholm fitted out a fleet of thirteen ships of the line, and every +person capable of bearing arms came voluntarily to offer their service: +in a word, the inflexible courage and pride of Charles seemed to be +infused into all his subjects, who were almost as unfortunate as their +master. + +It can hardly be supposed, that Charles's conduct was formed upon any +regular plan. He had still a powerful party in Poland, which assisted by +the Crim Tartars, might indeed have desolated that wretched country, but +could not have replaced Stanislaus on the throne; and his hope of +engaging the Ottoman Porte to espouse his cause, or convincing the divan +that it was their interest to send ten or twelve thousand men to the +assistance of his friends, under pretence that the czar was supporting +his ally, Augustus, in Poland, was vain and chimerical. + +Sep. 1712.] Nevertheless, he continued still at Bender, to wait the +issue of these vain projects, while the Russians, Danes, and Saxons, +were overrunning Pomerania. Peter took his wife with him on this +expedition. The king of Denmark had already made himself master of +Stade, a sea-port town in the duchy of Bremen, and the united forces of +Russia, Saxony, and Denmark, were already before Stralsund. + +Oct. 1712.] And now king Stanislaus, seeing the deplorable state of so +many provinces, the impossibility of his recovering the crown of Poland, +and the universal confusion occasioned by the inflexibility of Charles, +called a meeting of the Swedish generals, who were covering Pomerania +with an army of eleven thousand men, as the last resource they had left +in those provinces. + +When they were assembled, he proposed to them to make their terms with +king Augustus, offering himself to be the victim of this reconciliation. +On this occasion, he made the following speech to them, in the French +language, which he afterwards left in writing, and which was signed by +nine general officers, amongst whom happened to be one Patkul, +cousin-german to the unfortunate Patkul, who lost his life on the wheel, +by the order of Charles XII. + +'Having been hitherto the instrument of procuring glory to the Swedish +arms, I cannot think of proving the cause of their ruin. I therefore +declare myself ready to sacrifice the crown, and my personal interests, +to the preservation of the sacred person of their king, as I can see no +other method of releasing him from the place where he now is.' + +Having made this declaration (which is here given in his own words), he +prepared to set out for Turkey, in hopes of being able to soften the +inflexible temper of his benefactor, by the sacrifice he had made for +him. His ill fortune would have it, that he arrived in Bessarabia at the +very time that Charles, after having given his word to the sultan, that +he would depart from Bender, and having received the necessary +remittances for his journey, and an escort for his person, took the mad +resolution to continue there, and opposed a whole army of Turks and +Tartars, with only his own domestics. The former, though they might +easily have killed him, contented themselves with taking him prisoner. +At this very juncture, Stanislaus arriving, was seized himself; so that +two Christian kings were prisoners at one time in Turkey. + +At this time, when all Europe was in commotion, and that France had just +terminated a war equally fatal against one part thereof, in order to +settle the grandson of Lewis XIV. on the throne of Spain, England gave +peace to France, and the victory gained by Marshal Villars at Denain in +Flanders, saved that state from its other enemies. France had been, for +upwards of a century, the ally of Sweden, and it was the interest of the +former, that its ally should not be stript of his possessions in +Germany. Charles, unhappily, was at such a distance from his dominions, +that he did not even know what was transacting in France. + +The regency of Stockholm, by a desperate effort, ventured to demand a +sum of money from the French court, at a time when its finances were at +so low an ebb, that Lewis XIV. had hardly money enough to pay his +household servants. Count Sparre was sent with a commission to +negotiate this loan, in which it was not to be supposed he would +succeed. However, on his arrival at Versailles, he represented to the +marquis de Torci the inability of the regency to pay the little army +which Charles had still remaining in Pomerania, and which was ready to +break up and dispute of itself on account of the long arrears due to the +men; and that France was on the point of beholding the only ally she had +left, deprived of those provinces which were so necessary to preserve +the balance of power; that indeed his master, Charles, had not been +altogether so attentive to the interests of France in the course of his +conquests as might have been expected, but that the magnanimity of Lewis +XIV. was at least equal to the misfortunes of his royal brother and +ally. The French minister, in answer to this speech, so effectually set +forth the incapacity of his court to furnish the requested succours, +that count Sparre despaired of success. + +It so happened, however, that a private individual did that which Sparre +had lost all hopes of obtaining. There was at that time in Paris, a +banker, named Samuel Bernard, who had accumulated an immense fortune by +making remittances for the government to foreign countries, and other +private contracts. This man was intoxicated with a species of pride very +rarely to be met with from people of his profession. He was immoderately +fond of every thing that made an éclat, and knew very well, that one +time or another the government would repay with interest those who +hazarded their fortune to supply its exigencies. Count Sparre went one +day to dine with him, and took care to flatter his foible so well, that +before they rose from table the banker put six hundred thousand +livres[91] into his hand; and then immediately waiting on the marquis +de Torci, he said to him--'I have lent the crown of Sweden six hundred +thousand livres in your name, which you must repay me when you are +able.' + +Count Steinbock, who at that time commanded Charles's army in Pomerania, +little expected so seasonable a supply; and seeing his troops ready to +mutiny, to whom he had nothing to give but promises, and that the storm +was gathering fast upon him, and being, moreover, apprehensive of being +surrounded by the three different armies of Russia, Denmark, and Saxony, +desired a cessation of arms, on the supposition that Stanislaus' +abdication would soften the obstinacy of Charles, and that the only way +left him to save the forces under his command, was by spinning out the +time in negotiations. He therefore dispatched a courier to Bender, to +represent to the king of Sweden the desperate state of his finances and +affairs, and the situation of the army, and to acquaint him that he had +under these circumstances, found himself necessitated to apply for a +cessation of arms, which he should think himself very happy to obtain. +The courier had not been dispatched above three days, and Stanislaus was +not yet set out on his journey to Bender, when Steinbock received the +six hundred thousand livres from the French banker above-mentioned; a +sum, which was at that time an immense treasure in a country so +desolated. Thus unexpectedly reinforced with money, which is the grand +panacea for all disorders of state, Steinbock found means to revive the +drooping spirits of his soldiery; he supplied them with all they wanted, +raised new recruits, and in a short time saw himself at the head of +twelve thousand men, and dropping his former intention of procuring a +suspension of arms, he sought only for an opportunity of engaging the +enemy. + +This was the same Steinbock, who in the year 1710, after the defeat of +Pultowa, had revenged the Swedes on the Danes by the eruption he made +into Scania, where he marched against and engaged them with only a few +militia, whom he had hastily gathered together, with their arms slung +round them with ropes, and totally defeated the enemy. He was, like all +the other generals of Charles XII. active and enterprising; but his +valour was sullied by his brutality: as an instance of which, it will be +sufficient to relate, that having, after an engagement with the +Russians, given orders to kill all the prisoners, and perceiving a +Polish officer in the service of the czar, who had caught hold on king +Stanislaus' stirrup, then on horseback, in order to save his life, he, +Steinbock, shot him dead with his pistol in that prince's arms, as has +been already mentioned in the life of Charles XII. and king Stanislaus +has declared to the author of this History, that had he not been +withheld by his respect and gratitude to the king of Sweden, he should +immediately have shot Steinbock dead upon the spot. + +Dec. 9, 1712.] General Steinbock now marched by the way of Wismar to +meet the combined forces of the Russians, Danes, and Saxons, and soon +found himself near the Danish and Saxon army, which was advanced before +that of the Russians about the distance of three leagues. The czar sent +three couriers, one after another, to the king of Denmark, beseeching +him to wait his coming up, and thereby avoid the danger which threatened +him, if he attempted to engage the Swedes with an equality of force; but +the Danish monarch, not willing to share with any one the honour of a +victory which he thought sure, advanced to meet the Swedish general, +whom he attacked near a place called Gadebusch. This day's affair gave a +further proof of the natural enmity that subsisted between the Swedes +and Danes. The officers of these two nations fought with most +unparalleled inveteracy against each other, and neither side would +desist till death terminated the dispute. + +Steinbock gained a complete victory before the Russian army could come +up to the assistance of the Danes, and the next day received an order +from his master, Charles, to lay aside all thoughts of a suspension of +arms, who, at the same time, upbraided him for having entertained an +idea so injurious to his honour, and for which he told him he could make +no reparation, but by conquering or perishing. Steinbock had happily +obviated the orders and the reproach by the victory he had gained. + +But this victory was like that which had formerly brought such a +transient consolation to king Augustus, when in the torrent of his +misfortunes he gained the battle of Calish against the Swedes, who were +conquerors in every other place, and which only served to aggravate his +situation, as this of Gadebusch only procrastinated the ruin of +Steinbock and his army. + +When the king of Sweden received the news of Steinbock's success, he +looked upon his affairs as retrieved, and even flattered himself with +hopes to engage the Ottoman Porte to declare for him, who at that time +seemed disposed to come to a new rupture with the czar: full of these +fond imaginations, he sent orders to general Steinbock to fall upon +Poland, being still ready to believe, upon the least shadow of success, +that the day of Narva, and those in which he gave laws to his enemies, +were again returned. But unhappily he too soon found these flattering +hopes utterly blasted by the affair of Bender, and his own captivity +amongst the Turks. + +The whole fruits of the victory at Gadebusch were confined to the +surprising in the night-time, and reducing to ashes, the town of Altena, +inhabited by traders and manufacturers, a place wholly defenceless, and +which, not having been in arms, ought, by all the laws of war and +nations, to have been spared; however, it was utterly destroyed, several +of the inhabitants perished in the flames, others escaped with their +lives, but naked, and a number of old men, women, and children, perished +with the cold and fatigue they suffered, at the gates of Hamburg. Such +has too often been the fate of several thousands of men for the quarrels +of two only; and this cruel advantage was the only one gained by +Steinbock; for the Russians, Danes, and Saxons pursued him so closely, +that he was obliged to beg for an asylum in Toningen, a fortress in the +duchy of Holstein, for himself and army. + +This duchy was at that time subjected to the most cruel ravages of any +part of the North, and its sovereign was the most miserable of all +princes. He was nephew to Charles XII. and it was on his father's +account, who had married Charles's sister, that that monarch carried his +arms even into the heart of Copenhagen, before the battle of Narva, and +for whom he likewise made the treaty of Travendahl, by which the dukes +of Holstein were restored to their rights. + +This country was in part the cradle of the Cimbri, and of the old +Normans, who overrun the province of Neustria, in France, and conquered +all England, Naples, and Sicily; and yet, at this present time, no +state pretends less to make conquests than this part of the ancient +Cimbrica Chersonesus, which consists only of two petty duchies; namely, +that of Sleswic, belonging in common to the king of Denmark and the duke +of Holstein, and that of Gottorp, appertaining to the duke alone. +Sleswic is a sovereign principality; Holstein is a branch of the German +empire, called the Roman empire. + +The king of Denmark, and the duke of Holstein-Gottorp, were of the same +family; but the duke, nephew to Charles XII. and presumptive heir to his +crown, was the natural enemy of the king of Denmark, who had endeavoured +to crush him in the very cradle. One of his father's brothers, who was +bishop of Lubec, and administrator of the dominions of his unfortunate +ward, now beheld himself in the midst of the Swedish army, whom he durst +not succour, and those of Russia, Denmark, and Saxony, that threatened +his country with daily destruction. Nevertheless, he thought himself +obliged to try to save Charles's army, if he could do it without +irritating the king of Denmark, who had made himself master of his +country, which he exhausted, by raising continual contributions. + +This bishop and administrator was entirely governed by the famous baron +Gortz, the most artful and enterprising man of his age, endowed with a +genius amazingly penetrating, and fruitful in every resource: with +talents equal to the boldest and most arduous attempts; he was as +insinuating in his negotiations as he was hardy in his projects; he had +the art of pleasing and persuading in the highest degree, and knew how +to captivate all hearts by the vivacity of his genius, after he had won +them by the softness of his eloquence. He afterwards gained the same +ascendant over Charles XII. which he had then over the bishop; and all +the world knows, that he paid with his life the honour he had of +governing the most ungovernable and obstinate prince that ever sat upon +a throne. + +Gortz had a private conference with general Steinbock,[92] at which he +promised to deliver him up the fortress of Toningen,[93] without +exposing the bishop administrator, his master, to any danger: and, at +the same time, gave the strongest assurances to the king of Denmark, +that he would defend the place to the uttermost. In this manner are +almost all negotiations carried on, affairs of state being of a very +different nature from those of private persons; the honour of ministers +consisting wholly in success, and those of private persons in the +observance of their promises. + +General Steinbock presented himself before Toningen: the commandant +refused to open the gates to him, and by this means put it out of the +king of Denmark's power to allege any cause of complaint against the +bishop administrator; but Gortz causes an order to be given in the name +of the young duke, a minor, to suffer the Swedish army to enter the +town. The secretary of the cabinet, named Stamke, signs this order in +the name of the duke of Holstein: by this means Gortz preserves the +honour of an infant who had not as yet any power to issue orders; and he +at once serves the king of Sweden, to whom he was desirous to make his +court, and the bishop administrator his master, who appeared not to have +consented to the admission of the Swedish troops. The governor of +Toningen, who was easily gained, delivered up the town to the Swedes, +and Gortz excused himself as well as he could to the king of Denmark, by +protesting that the whole had been transacted without his consent. + +The Swedes retired partly within the walls, and partly under the cannon +of the town: but this did not save them: for general Steinbock was +obliged to surrender himself prisoner of war, together with his whole +army, to the number of eleven thousand men, in the same manner as about +sixteen thousand of their countrymen had done at the battle of Pultowa. + +By this convention it was agreed, that Steinbock with his officers and +men might be ransomed or exchanged. The price for the general's ransom +was fixed at eight thousand German crowns;[94] a very trifling sum, but +which Steinbock however was not able to raise; so that he remained a +prisoner in Copenhagen till the day of his death. + +The territories of Holstein now remained at the mercy of the incensed +conqueror. The young duke became the object of the king of Denmark's +vengeance, and was fated to pay for the abuse which Gortz had made of +his name: thus did the ill fortune of Charles XII. fall upon all his +family. + +Gortz perceiving his projects thus dissipated, and being still resolved +to act a distinguished part in the general confusion of affairs, +recalled to mind a scheme which he had formed to establish a neutrality +in the Swedish territories in Germany. + +The king of Denmark was ready to take possession of Toningen; George, +elector of Hanover, was about to seize Bremen and Verden, with the city +of Stade; the new-made king of Prussia, Frederick William, cast his +views upon Stetin, and czar Peter was preparing to make himself master +of Finland; and all the territories of Charles XII. those of Sweden +excepted, were going to become the spoils of those who wanted to share +them. How then could so many different interests be rendered compatible +with a neutrality? Gortz entered into negotiation at one and the same +time with all the several princes who had any views in this partition; +he continued night and day passing from one province to the other; he +engaged the governor of Bremen and Verden to put those two duchies into +the hands of the elector of Hanover by way of sequestration, so that the +Danes should not take possession of them for themselves: he prevailed +with the king of Prussia to accept jointly with the duke of Holstein, of +the sequestration of Stetin and Wismar, in consideration of which, the +king of Denmark was to act nothing against Holstein, and was not to +enter Toningen. It was most certainly a strange way of serving Charles +XII. to put his towns into the hands of those who might choose if they +would ever restore them; but Gortz, by delivering these places to them +as pledges, bound them to a neutrality, at least for some time; and he +was in hopes to be able afterwards to bring Hanover and Brandenburg to +declare for Sweden: he prevailed on the king of Prussia whose ruined +dominions stood in need of peace, to enter into his views, and in short +he found means to render himself necessary to all these princes, and +disposed of the possessions of Charles XII. like a guardian, who gives +up one part of his ward's estate to preserve the other, and of a ward +incapable of managing his affairs himself; and all this without any +regular authority or commission, or other warrant for his conduct, than +full powers given him by the bishop of Lubec, who had no authority to +grant such powers from Charles himself. + +Such was the baron de Gortz, and such his actions, which have not +hitherto been sufficiently known. There have been instances of an +Oxenstiern, a Richlieu, and an Alberoni, influencing the affairs of all +parts of Europe; but that the privy counsellor of a bishop of Lubec +should do the same as they, without his conduct being avowed by any one, +is a thing hitherto unheard of. + +June, 1713.] Nevertheless he succeeded to his wishes in the beginning; +for he made a treaty with the king of Prussia, by which that monarch +engaged, on condition of keeping Stetin in sequestration, to preserve +the rest of Pomerania for Charles XII. In virtue of this treaty, Gortz +made a proposal to the governor of Pomerania, Meyerfeld, to give up the +fortress of Stetin to the king of Prussia for the sake of peace, +thinking that the Swedish governor of Stetin would prove as easy to be +persuaded as the Holsteiner who had the command of Toningen; but the +officers of Charles XII. were not accustomed to obey such orders. +Meyerfeld made answer, that no one should enter Stetin but over his dead +body and the ruins of the place, and immediately sent notice to his +master of the strange proposal. The messenger at his arrival found +Charles prisoner at Demirtash, in consequence of his adventure at +Bender, and it was doubtful, at that time, whether he would not remain +all his life in confinement in Turkey, or else be banished to some of +the islands in the Archipelago, or some part of Asia under the dominion +of the Ottoman Porte. However Charles from his prison sent the same +orders to Meyerfeld, as he had before done to Steinbock; namely, rather +to perish than to submit to his enemies, and even commanded him to take +his inflexibility for his example. + +Gortz, finding that the governor of Stetin had broke in upon his +measures, and would neither hearken to a neutrality nor a sequestration, +took it into his head, not only to sequester the town of Stetin of his +own authority, but also the city of Stralsund, and found means to make +the same kind of treaty (June, 1713,) with the king of Poland, elector +of Saxony, for that place, which he had done with the elector of +Brandenburg for Stetin. He clearly saw how impossible it would be for +the Swedes to keep possession of those places without either men or +money, while their king was a captive in Turkey, and he thought himself +sure of turning aside the scourge of war from the North by means of +these sequestrations. The king of Denmark himself at length gave into +the projects of Gortz: the latter had gained an entire ascendant over +prince Menzikoff, the czar's general and favourite, whom he had +persuaded that the duchy of Holstein must be ceded to his master, and +flattered the czar with the prospect of opening a canal from Holstein +into the Baltic Sea; an enterprise perfectly conformable to the +inclination and views of this royal founder: and, above all, he laboured +to insinuate to him, that he might obtain a new increase of power, by +condescending to become one of the powers of the empire, which would +entitle him to a vote in the diet of Ratisbon, a right that he might +afterwards for ever maintain by that of arms. + +In a word, no one could put on more different appearances, adapt himself +to more opposite interests, or act a more complicated part, than did +this skilful negotiator; he even went so far as to engage prince +Menzikoff to ruin the very town of Stetin, which he was endeavouring to +save; and in which, at length, to his misfortune, he succeeded but too +well. + +When the king of Prussia saw a Russian army before Stetin, he found that +place would be lost to him, and remain in the possession of the czar. +This was just what Gortz expected and waited for. Prince Menzikoff was +in want of money; Gortz got the king of Prussia to lend him four hundred +thousand crowns: he afterwards sent a message to the governor of the +place, to know of him--whether he would rather choose to see Stetin in +ashes, and under the dominion of Russia, or to trust it in the hands of +the king of Prussia, who would engage to restore it to the king, his +master?--The commandant at length suffered himself to be persuaded, and +gave up the place, which Menzikoff entered; and, in consideration of the +four hundred thousand crowns, delivered it afterwards, together with all +the territories thereto adjoining, into the hands of the king of +Prussia, who, for form's sake, left therein two battalions of the troops +of Holstein, and has never since restored that part of Pomerania. + +From this period, the second king of Prussia, successor to a weak and +prodigal father, laid the foundation of that greatness, to which his +state has since arrived by military discipline and economy. + +The baron de Gortz, who put so many springs in motion, could not, +however, succeed in prevailing on the Danes to spare the duchy of +Holstein, or forbear taking possession of Toningen. He failed in what +appeared to have been his first object, though he succeeded in all his +other views, and particularly in that of making himself the most +important personage of the North, which, indeed, was his principal +object. + +The elector of Hanover then had secured to himself Bremen and Verden, of +which Charles XII. was now stripped. The Saxon army was before Wismar +(Sept. 1715); Stetin was in the hands of the king of Prussia; the +Russians were ready to lay siege to Stralsund, in conjunction with the +Saxons; and these latter had already landed in the island of Rugen, and +the czar, in the midst of the numberless negotiations on all sides, +while others were disputing about neutralities and partitions, makes a +descent upon Finland. After having himself pointed the artillery against +Stralsund, he left the rest to the care of his allies and prince +Menzikoff, and, embarking in the month of May, on the Baltic Sea, on +board a ship of fifty guns, which he himself caused to be built at +Petersburg, he sailed for the coast of Finland, followed by a fleet of +ninety-two whole, and one hundred and ten half-gallies, having on board +near sixteen thousand troops. He made his descent at Elsingford, (May +22. N. S. 1713.) the most southern part of that cold and barren country, +lying in 61 degrees north latitude; and, notwithstanding the numberless +difficulties he had to encounter, succeeded in his design. He caused a +feint attack to be made on one side of the harbour, while he landed his +troops on the other, and took possession of the town. He then made +himself master of Abo, Borgo, and the whole coast. The Swedes now seemed +not to have one resource left; for it was at this very time, that their +army, under the command of general Steinbock, was obliged to surrender +prisoners of war at Toningen. + +These repeated disasters which befel Charles, were, as we have already +shewn, followed by the loss of Bremen, Verden, Stetin, and a part of +Pomerania; and that prince himself, with his ally and friend, +Stanislaus, were afterwards both prisoners in Turkey: nevertheless, he +was not to be undeceived in the flattering notion he had entertained of +returning to Poland, at the head of an Ottoman army, replacing +Stanislaus on the throne, and once again making his enemies tremble. + + + + +CHAP. XXIV. + + Successes of Peter the Great.--Return of Charles XII. into his own + dominions. + + +[Sidenote: 1713.] + +Peter, while he was following the course of his conquests, completed the +establishment of his navy, brought twelve thousand families to settle in +Petersburg, kept all his allies firm to his person and fortunes, not +withstanding they had all different interests and opposite views; and +with his fleet kept in awe all the sea-ports of Sweden, on the gulfs of +Finland and Bothnia. + +Prince Galitzin, one of his land-generals, whom he had formed himself, +as he had done all his other officers, advanced from Elsingford, where +the czar had made his descent, into the midst of the country, near the +village of Tavasthus, which was a post that commanded the gulf of +Bothnia, and was defended by a few Swedish regiments, and about eight +thousand militia. In this situation, a battle was unavoidable, (Mar. 13, +1714.) the event of which proved favourable to the Russians, who +entirely routed the whole Swedish army, and penetrated as far as Vaza, +so that they were now masters of about eighty leagues of country. + +The Swedes were still in possession of a fleet, with which they kept the +sea. Peter had, for a considerable time, waited with impatience for an +opportunity of establishing the reputation of his new marine. +Accordingly he set out from Petersburg, and having got together a fleet +of sixteen ships of the line, and one hundred and eighty galleys, fit +for working among the rocks and shoals that surround the island of +Aland, and the other islands in the Baltic Sea, bordering upon the +Swedish coast, he fell in with the fleet of that nation near their own +shores. This armament greatly exceeded his in the largeness of the +ships, but was inferior in the number of galleys, and more proper for +engaging in the open sea, than among rocks, or near the shore. The +advantage the czar had in this respect was entirely owing to himself: he +served in the rank of rear-admiral on board his own fleet, and received +all the necessary orders from admiral Apraxin. Peter resolved to make +himself master of the island of Aland, which lies only twelve leagues +off the Swedish coast; and, though obliged to pass full in view of the +enemy's fleet, he effected this bold and hazardous enterprise. His +galleys forced a passage through the enemy, whose cannon did not fire +low enough to hurt them, and entered Aland; but as that coast is almost +surrounded with rocks, the czar caused eighty small galleys to be +transported by men over a point of land, and launched into the sea, at a +place called Hango, where his large ships were at anchor. Erenschild, +the Swedish rear-admiral, thinking that he might easily take or sink all +these galleys, stood in shore, in order to reconnoitre their situation, +but was received with so brisk a fire from the Russian fleet, that most +of his men were killed or wounded; and all the galleys and praams he had +brought with him were taken, together with his own ship. (Aug. 8.) The +admiral himself endeavoured to escape in a boat, but being wounded, was +obliged to surrender himself prisoner, and was brought on board the +galley where the czar was, navigating it himself. The scattered remains +of the Swedish fleet made the best of their way home; and the news of +this accident threw all Stockholm into confusion, which now began to +tremble for its own safety. + +Much about the same time, colonel Scouvalow Neuschlof attacked the only +remaining fortress on the western side of Finland, and made himself +master of it, after a most obstinate resistance on the part of the +besieged. + +This affair of Aland was, next to that of Pultowa, the most glorious +that had ever befallen the arms of Peter the Great, who now saw himself +master of Finland, the government of which he committed to prince +Galitzin, and returned to Petersburg (Sept. 15.), victorious over the +whole naval force of Sweden, and more than ever respected by his allies; +the stormy season now approaching, not permitting him to remain longer +with his ships in the Finlandish and Bothnic seas. His good fortune also +brought him back to his capital, just as the czarina was brought to bed +of a princess, who died, however, about a year afterwards. He then +instituted the order of St. Catherine, in honour of his consort,[95] and +celebrated the birth of his daughter by a triumphal entry, which was of +all the festivals to which he had accustomed his subjects, that which +they held in the greatest esteem. This ceremony was ushered in by +bringing nine Swedish galleys, and seven praams filled with prisoners, +and rear-admiral Erenschild's own ship, into the harbour of Cronstadt. + +The cannon, colours, and standards, taken in the expedition to Finland, +and which had come home in the Russian admiral's ship, were brought on +this occasion to Petersburg, and entered that metropolis in order of +battle. A triumphal arch, which the czar had caused to be erected, and +which, as usual, was made from a model of his own, was decorated with +the insignia of his conquests. Under this arch the victors marched in +procession, with admiral Apraxin, at their head; then followed the czar +in quality of rear-admiral, and the other officers according to their +several ranks. They were all presented one after another to the +vice-admiral Rodamonoski, who, at this ceremony represented the +sovereign. This temporary vice-emperor distributed gold medals amongst +all the officers, and others of silver to the soldiers and sailors. The +Swedish prisoners likewise passed under the triumphal arch, and admiral +Erenschild followed immediately after the czar, his conqueror. When they +came to the place where the vice-czar was seated on his throne, admiral +Apraxin presented to him rear-admiral Peter, who demanded to be made +vice-admiral, in reward for his services. It was then put to the vote, +if his request should be granted; and it may easily be conceived that he +had the majority on his side. + +After this ceremony was over, which filled every heart with joy, and +inspired every mind with emulation, with a love for his country, and a +thirst of fame, the czar made the following speech to those present: a +speech which deserves to be transmitted to the latest posterity. + +'Countrymen and friends! what man is there among you, who could have +thought, twenty years ago, that we should one day fight together on the +Baltic Sea, in ships built by our own hands; and that we should +establish settlements in countries conquered by our own labours and +valour?--Greece is said to have been the ancient seat of the arts and +sciences: they afterwards took up their abode in Italy, from whence they +spread themselves through every part of Europe. It is now our turn to +call them ours, if you will second my designs, by joining study to +obedience. The arts circulate in this globe, as the blood does in the +human body; and perhaps they may establish their empire amongst us, on +their return back to Greece, their mother country; and I even venture to +hope, that we may one day put the most civilized nations to the blush, +by our noble labours and the solid glory resulting therefrom.' + +Here is the true substance of this speech, so every way worthy of a +great founder, and which has lost its chief beauties in this, and every +other translation; but the principal merit of this eloquent harangue is, +its having been spoken by a victorious monarch, at once the founder and +lawgiver of his empire. + +The old boyards listened to this speech with greater regret for the +abolition of their ancient customs, than admiration of their master's +glory; but the young ones could not hear him without tears of joy. + +The splendour of these times were further heightened by the return of +the Russian ambassadors from Constantinople, (Sept. 15, 1714.) with a +confirmation of the peace with the Turks: an ambassador sent by Sha +Hussein from Persia, had arrived some time before with a present to the +czar of an elephant and five lions. He received, at the same time, an +ambassador from Mahomet Babadir, khan of the Usbeck Tartars, requesting +his protection against another tribe of Tartars; so that both +extremities of Asia and Europe seemed to join to offer him homage, and +add to his glory. + +The regency of Stockholm, driven to despair by the desperate situation +of their affairs, and the absence of their sovereign, who seemed to have +abandoned his dominions, had come to a resolution no more to consult him +in relation to their proceedings; and, immediately after the victory the +czar gained over their navy, they sent to the conqueror to demand a +passport, for an officer charged with proposals of peace. The passport +was sent; but, just as the person appointed to carry on the negotiation +was on the point of setting out, the princess Ulrica Eleonora, sister to +Charles XII. received advice from the king her brother, that he was +preparing, at length, to quit Turkey, and return home to fight his own +battles. Upon this news the regency did not dare to send the negotiator +(whom they had already privately named) to the czar; and, therefore, +resolved to support their ill-fortune till the arrival of Charles to +retrieve it. + +In effect, Charles, after a stay of five years and some months in +Turkey, set out from that kingdom in the latter end of October, 1714. +Every one knows that he observed the same singularity in his journey, +which characterized all the actions of his life. He arrived at Stralsund +the 22d of November following. As soon as he got there, baron de Gortz +came to pay his court to him; and, though he had been the instrument of +one part of his misfortunes, yet he justified his conduct with so much +art, and filled the imagination of Charles with such flattering hopes, +that he gained his confidence, as he had already done that of +every other minister and prince with whom he had entered into any +negotiations. In short, he made him believe, that means might be found +to draw off the czar's allies, and thereby procure an honourable peace, +or at least to carry on the war upon an equal footing; and from this +time Gortz gained a greater ascendancy over the mind of the king of +Sweden than ever count Piper had. + +The first thing which Charles did after his arrival at Stralsund was to +demand a supply of money from the citizens of Stockholm, who readily +parted with what little they had left, as not being able to refuse any +thing to a king, who asked only to bestow, who lived as hard as the +meanest soldier, and exposed his life equally in defence of his country. +His misfortunes, his captivity, his return to his dominions, so long +deprived of his presence, were arguments which prepossessed alike his +own subjects and foreigners in his favour, who could not forbear at once +to blame and admire, to compassionate and to assist him. His reputation +was of a kind totally differing from that of Peter the Great: it +consisted not in cherishing the arts and sciences, in enacting laws, in +establishing a form of government, nor in introducing commerce among his +subjects; it was confined entirely to his own person. He placed his +chief merit in a valour superior to what is commonly called courage. He +defended his dominions with a greatness of soul equal to that valour, +and aimed only to inspire other nations with awe and respect for him: +hence he had more partizans than allies. + + + + +CHAP. XXV. + + State of Europe at the return of Charles XII. Siege of Stralsund. + + +When Charles XII. returned to his dominions in the year 1714, he found +the state of affairs in Europe very different from that in which he had +left them. Queen Anne of England was dead, after having made peace with +France. Lewis XIV. had secured the monarchy of Spain for his grandson +the duke of Anjou, and had obliged the emperor Charles VI. and the Dutch +to agree to a peace, which their situation rendered necessary to them; +so that the affairs of Europe had put on altogether a new face. + +Those of the north had undergone a still greater change. Peter was +become sole arbiter in that part of the world: the elector of Hanover, +who had been called to fill the British throne, had views of extending +his territories in Germany, at the expense of Sweden, who had never had +any possessions in that country, but since the reign of the great +Gustavus. The king of Denmark aimed at recovering Scania, the best +province of Sweden, which had formerly belonged to the Danes. The king +of Prussia, as heir to the dukes of Pomerania, laid claim to a part of +that province. On the other hand, the Holstein family, oppressed by the +king of Denmark, and the duke of Mecklenburg, almost at open war with +his subjects, were suing to Peter the Great to take them under his +protection. The king of Poland, elector of Saxony, was desirous to have +the duchy of Courland annexed to Poland; so that, from the Elbe to the +Baltic Sea, Peter the First was considered as the support of the several +crowned heads, as Charles XII. had been their greatest terror. + +Many negotiations were set on foot after the return of Charles to his +dominions, but nothing had been done. That prince thought he could raise +a sufficient number of ships of war and privateers, to put a stop to the +rising power of the czar by sea; with respect to the land war, he +depended upon his own valour; and Gortz, who was on a sudden become his +prime minister, persuaded him, that he might find means to defray the +expense, by coining copper money, to be taken at ninety-six times less +than its real value, a thing unparalleled in the histories of any state; +but in the month of April, 1715, the first Swedish privateers that put +to sea were taken by the czar's men of war, and a Russian army marched +into the heart of Pomerania. + +The Prussians, Danes, and Saxons, now sat down with their united forces +before Stralsund, and Charles XII. beheld himself returned from his +confinement at Demirtash and Demirtoca on the Black Sea, only to be more +closely pent up on the borders of the Baltic. + +We have already shewn, in the history of this extraordinary man, with +what haughty and unembarrassed resolution he braved the united forces of +his enemies in Stralsund; and shall therefore, in this place, only add a +single circumstance, which, though trivial, may serve to shew the +peculiarity of his character. The greatest part of his officers having +been either killed or wounded during the siege, the duty fell hard upon +the few who were left. Baron de Reichel, a colonel, having sustained a +long engagement upon the ramparts, and being tired out by repeated +watchings and fatigues, had thrown himself upon a bench to take a little +repose; when he was called up to mount guard again upon the ramparts. As +he was dragging himself along, hardly able to stand, and cursing the +obstinacy of the king his master, who subjected all those about him to +such insufferable and fruitless fatigues, Charles happened to overhear +him. Upon which, stripping off his own cloak, he spread it on the ground +before him, saying, 'My dear Reichel, you are quite spent; come, I have +had an hour's sleep, which has refreshed me, I'll take the guard for +you, while you finish your nap, and will wake you when I think it is +time;' and so saying, he wrapt the colonel up in his cloak; and, +notwithstanding all his resistance, obliged him to lie down to sleep, +and mounted the guard himself. + +It was during this siege that the elector of Hanover, lately made king +of England, purchased of the king of Denmark the province of Bremen and +Verden, with the city of Stade, (Oct. 1715.) which the Danes had taken +from Charles XII. This purchase cost king George eight hundred thousand +German crowns. In this manner were the dominions of Charles bartered +away, while he defended the city of Stralsund, inch by inch, till at +length nothing was left of it but a heap of ruins, which his officers +compelled him to leave; (Dec. 1713.) and, when he was in a place of +safety, general Ducker delivered up those ruins to the king of Prussia. + +Some time afterwards, Ducker, being presented to Charles, that monarch +reproached him with having capitulated with his enemies; when Ducker +replied, 'I had too great a regard for your majesty's honour, to +continue to defend a place which you was obliged to leave.' However the +Prussians continued in possession of it no longer than the year 1721, +when they gave it up at the general peace. + +During the siege of Stralsund, Charles received another mortification, +which would have been still more severe, if his heart had been as +sensible to the emotions of friendship, as it was to those of fame and +honour. His prime minister, count Piper, a man famous throughout all +Europe, and of unshaken fidelity to his prince (notwithstanding the +assertions of certain rash persons, or the authority of a mistaken +writer): this Piper, I say, had been the victim of his master's ambition +ever since the battle of Pultowa. As there was as that time no cartel +for the exchange of prisoners subsisting between the Russians and +Swedes, he had remained in confinement at Moscow; and though he had not +been sent into Siberia, as the other prisoners were, yet his situation +was greatly to be pitied. The czar's finances at that time were not +managed with so much fidelity as they ought to be, and his many new +establishments required an expense which he could with difficulty +answer. In particular, he owed a considerable sum of money to the Dutch, +on account of two of their merchant-ships which had been burnt on the +coast of Finland, in the descent the czar had made on that country. +Peter pretended that the Swedes were to make good the damage, and wanted +to engage count Piper to charge himself with this debt: accordingly he +was sent for from Moscow to Petersburg, and his liberty was offered him, +in case he could draw upon Sweden letters of exchange to the amount of +sixty thousand crowns. It is said he actually did draw bills for this +sum upon his wife at Stockholm, but that she being unable or unwilling +to take them up, they were returned, and the king of Sweden never gave +himself the least concern about paying the money. Be this as it may, +count Piper was closely confined in the castle of Schlusselburg, where +he died the year after, at the age of seventy. His remains were sent to +the king of Sweden, who gave them a magnificent burial; a vain and +melancholy return to an old servant, for a life of suffering, and so +deplorable an end! + +Peter was satisfied with having got possession of Livonia, Esthonia, +Carelia, and Ingria, which he looked upon as his own provinces, and to +which he had, moreover, added almost all Finland, which served as a kind +of pledge, in case his enemies should conclude a peace. He had married +one of his nieces to Charles Leopold, duke of Mecklenburg, in the month +of April of the same year, (1715.) so that all the sovereigns of the +north were now either his allies or his creatures. In Poland, he kept +the enemies of king Augustus in awe; one of his armies, consisting of +about eight thousand men, having, without any loss, quelled several of +those confederacies, which are so frequent in that country of liberty +and anarchy: on the other hand, the Turks, by strictly observing their +treaties, left him at full liberty to exert his power, and execute his +schemes in their utmost extent. + +In this flourishing situation of his affairs, scarcely a day passed +without being distinguished by new establishments, either in the navy, +the army, or the legislature: he himself composed a military code for +the infantry. + +Nov. 8.] He likewise founded a naval academy at Petersburg; dispatched +Lange to China and Siberia, with a commission of trade; set +mathematicians to work, in drawing charts of the whole empire; built a +summer's palace at Petershoff; and at the same time built forts on the +banks of the Irtish, stopped the incursions and ravages of the +Bukari[96] on the one side, and, on the other, suppressed the Tartars of +Kouban. + +1715.] His prosperity seemed now to be at its zenith, by the empress +Catherine's being delivered of a son, and an heir to his dominions being +given him, in a prince born to the czarowitz Alexis; but the joy for +these happy events, which fell out within a few days of each other, was +soon damped by the death of the empress's son; and the sequel of this +history will shew us, that the fate of the czarowitz was too +unfortunate, for the birth of a son to this prince to be looked upon as +a happiness. + +The delivery of the czarina put a stop for some time to her +accompanying, as usual, her royal consort in all his expeditions by sea +and land; but, as soon as she was up again, she followed him to new +adventures. + + + + +CHAP. XXVI. + + New travels of the czar. + + +Wismar was at this time besieged by the czar's allies. This town, which +belonged of right to the duke of Mecklenburg, is situated on the Baltic, +about seven leagues distant from Lubec, and might have rivalled that +city in its extensive trade, being once one of the most considerable of +the Hans Towns, and the duke of Mecklenburg exercised therein a full +power of protection, rather than of sovereignty. This was one of the +German territories yet remaining to the Swedes, in virtue of the peace +of Westphalia: but it was now obliged to share the same fate with +Stralsund. The allies of the czar pushed the siege with the greatest +vigour, in order to make themselves masters of it before that prince's +troops should arrive; but Peter himself coming before the place in +person, after the capitulation, (Feb. 1716,) which had been made without +his privacy, made the garrison prisoners of war. He was not a little +incensed, that his allies should have left the king of Denmark in +possession of a town which was the right of a prince, who had married +his niece; and his resentment on this occasion (which that artful +minister, de Gortz, soon after turned to his own advantage) laid the +first foundation of the peace, which he meditated to bring about between +the czar and Charles XII. + +Gortz took the first opportunity to insinuate to the czar, that Sweden +was sufficiently humbled, and that he should be careful not to suffer +Denmark and Prussia to become too powerful. The czar joined in opinion +with him, and as he had entered into the war, merely from motives of +policy, whilst Charles carried it on wholly on the principles of a +warrior; he, from that instant, slackened in his operations against the +Swedes, and Charles, every where unfortunate in Germany, determined to +risk one of those desperate strokes which success only can justify, and +carried the war into Norway. + +In the meantime, Peter was desirous to make a second tour through +Europe. He had undertaken his first, as a person who travelled for +instruction in the arts and sciences: but this second he made as a +prince, who wanted to dive into the secrets of the several courts. He +took the czarina with him to Copenhagen, Lubec, Schwerin, and Nystadt. +He had an interview with the king of Prussia at the little town of +Aversburg, from thence he and the empress went to Hamburg, and to +Altena, which had been burned by the Swedes, and which they caused to be +rebuilt. Descending the Elbe as far as Stade, they passed through +Bremen, where the magistrates prepared a firework and illuminations for +them, which formed, in a hundred different places, these words--'Our +deliverer is come amongst us.' At length he arrived once more at +Amsterdam, (Dec. 17, 1716,) and visited the little hut at Saardam, where +he had first learned the art of ship-building, about eighteen years +before, and found his old dwelling converted into a handsome and +commodious house, which is still to be seen, and goes by the name of the +Prince's House. + +It may easily be conceived, with what a kind of idolatry he was received +by a trading and seafaring set of people, whose companion he had +heretofore been, and who thought they saw in the conqueror of Pultowa, a +pupil who had learned from them to gain naval victories; and had, after +their example, established trade and navigation in his own dominions. In +a word, they looked upon him as a fellow-citizen, who had been raised to +the imperial dignity. + +The life, the travels, the actions of Peter the Great, as well as of his +rival, Charles of Sweden, exhibit a surprising contrast to the manners +which prevail amongst us, and which are, perhaps, rather too delicate; +and this may be one reason, that the history of these two famous men so +much excites our curiosity. + +The czarina had been left behind at Schwerin indisposed, being greatly +advanced in her pregnancy; nevertheless, as soon as she was able to +travel, she set out to join the czar in Holland, but was taken in labour +at Wesel, and there delivered of a prince, (Jan. 14, 1717,) who lived +but one day. It is not customary with us for a lying-in-woman to stir +abroad for some time; but the czarina set out, and arrived at Amsterdam +in ten days after her labour. She was very desirous to see the little +cabin her husband had lived and worked in. Accordingly, she and the czar +went together, without any state or attendance, excepting only two +servants, and dined at the house of a rich ship-builder of Saardam, +whose name was Kalf, and who was one of the first who had traded to +Petersburg. His son had lately arrived from France, whither Peter was +going. The czar and czarina took great pleasure in hearing an adventure +of this young man, which I should not mention here, only as it may serve +to shew the great difference between the manners of that country and +ours. + +Old Kalf, who had sent this son of his to Paris, to learn the French +tongue, was desirous that he should live in a genteel manner during his +stay there; and accordingly had ordered him to lay aside the plain garb +which the inhabitants of Saardam are in general accustomed to wear, and +to provide himself with fashionable clothes at Paris, and to live, in a +manner, rather suitable to his fortune than his education; being +sufficiently well acquainted with his son's disposition to know, that +this indulgence would have no bad effect on his natural frugality and +sobriety. + +As a calf is in the French language called veau, our young traveller, +when he arrived at Paris, took the name of De Veau. He lived in a +splendid manner, spent his money freely, and made several genteel +connexions. Nothing is more common at Paris, than to bestow, without +reserve, the title of count and marquis, whether a person has any claim +to it or not, or even if he is barely a gentleman. This absurd practice +has been allowed by the government, in order that, by thus confounding +all ranks, and consequently humbling the nobility, there might be less +danger of civil wars, which, in former times, were so frequent and +destructive to the peace of the state. In a word, the title of marquis +and count, with possessions equivalent to that dignity, are like those +of knight, without being of any order; or abbé, without any church +preferment; of no consequence, and not looked upon by the sensible part +of the nation. + +Young Mr. Kalf was always called the count de Veau by his acquaintance +and his own servants: he frequently made one in the parties of the +princesses; he played at the duchess of Berri's, and few strangers were +treated with greater marks of distinction, or had more general +invitations among polite company. A young nobleman, who had been always +one of his companions in these parties, promised to pay him a visit at +Saardam, and was as good as his word: when he arrived at the village, he +inquired for the house of count Kalf; when, being shewn into a +carpenter's work-shop, he there saw his former gay companion, the young +count, dressed in a jacket and trowsers, after the Dutch fashion, with +an axe in his hand, at the head of his father's workmen. Here he was +received by his friend, in that plain manner to which he had been +accustomed from his birth, and from which he never deviated. The +sensible reader will forgive this little digression, as it is a satire +on vanity, and a panegyric on true manners. + +The czar continued three months in Holland, during which he passed his +time in matters of a more serious nature than the adventure just +related. Since the treaties of Nimeguen, Ryswic, and Utrecht, the Hague +had preserved the reputation of being the centre of negotiations in +Europe. This little city, or rather village, the most pleasant of any in +the North, is chiefly inhabited by foreign ministers, and by travellers, +who come for instruction to this great school. They were, at that time, +laying the foundation of a great revolution in Europe. The czar, having +gotten intelligence of the approaching storm, prolonged his stay in the +Low Countries, that he might be nearer at hand, to observe the +machinations going forward, both in the North and South, and prepare +himself for the part which it might be necessary for him to act therein. + + + + +CHAP. XXVII. + + Continuation of the Travels of Peter the Great.--Conspiracy of baron + Gortz.--Reception of the czar in France. + + +He plainly saw that his allies were jealous of his power, and found that +there is often more trouble with friends than with enemies. + +Mecklenburg was one of the principal subjects of those divisions, which +almost always subsist between neighbouring princes, who share in +conquests. Peter was not willing that the Danes should take possession +of Wismar for themselves, and still less that they should demolish the +fortifications, and yet they did both the one and the other. + +He openly protected the duke of Mecklenburg, who had married his niece, +and whom he regarded like a son-in-law, against the nobility of the +country, and the king of England as openly protected these latter. On +the other hand, he was greatly discontented with the king of Poland, or +rather with his minister, count Flemming, who wanted to throw off that +dependance on the czar, which necessity and gratitude had imposed. + +The courts of England, Poland, Denmark, Holstein, Mecklenburg, and +Brandenburg, were severally agitated with intrigues and cabals. + +Towards the end of the year 1716, and beginning of 1717, Gortz, who, as +Bassewitz tells us in his Memoirs, was weary of having only the title of +counsellor of Holstein, and being only private plenipotentiary to +Charles XII. was the chief promoter of these intrigues, with which he +intended to disturb the peace of all Europe. His design was to bring +Charles XII. and the czar together, not only with a view to finish the +war between them, but to unite them in friendship, to replace Stanislaus +on the crown of Poland, and to wrest Bremen and Verden out of the hands +of George I., king of England, and even to drive that prince from the +English throne, in order to put it out of his power to appropriate to +himself any part of the spoils of Charles XII. + +There was at the same time a minister of his own character, who had +formed a design to overturn the two kingdoms of England and France: this +was cardinal Alberoni, who had more power at that time in Spain, than +Gortz had in Sweden, and was of as bold and enterprising a spirit as +himself, but much more powerful, as being at the head of affairs in a +kingdom infinitely more rich, and never paid his creatures and +dependants in copper money. + +Gortz, from the borders of the Baltic Sea, soon formed a connexion with +Alberoni in Spain. The cardinal and he both held a correspondence with +all the wandering English who were in the interest of the house of +Stuart. Gortz made visits to every place where he thought he was likely +to find any enemies of king George, and went successively to Germany, +Holland, Flanders, and Lorrain, and at length came to Paris, about the +end of the year 1716. Cardinal Alberoni began, by remitting to him in +Paris a million of French livres, in order (to use the cardinal's +expression) to set fire to the train. + +Gortz proposed, that Charles XII. should yield up several places to the +czar, in order to be in a condition to recover all the others from his +enemies, and that he might be at liberty to make a descent in Scotland, +while the partisans of the Stuart family should make an effectual rising +in England: after their former vain attempts to effect these views, it +was necessary to deprive the king of England of his chief support, which +at that time was the regent of France. It was certainly very +extraordinary, to see France in league with England, against the +grandson of Lewis XIV., whom she herself had placed on the throne of +Spain, at the expence of her blood and treasure, notwithstanding the +strong confederacy formed to oppose him; but it must be considered, that +every thing was now out of its natural order, and the interests of the +regent not those of the kingdom. Alberoni, at that time, was carrying on +a confederacy in France against this very regent.[97] And the +foundations of this grand project were laid almost as soon as the plan +itself had been formed. Gortz was the first who was let into the secret, +and was to have made a journey into Italy in disguise, to hold a +conference with the pretender, in the neighbourhood of Rome; from +thence he was to have hastened to the Hague, to have an interview with +the czar, and then to have settled every thing with the king of Sweden. + +The author of this History is particularly well informed of every +circumstance here advanced, for baron Gortz proposed to him to accompany +him in these journies; and, notwithstanding he was very young at that +time, he was one of the first witnesses to a great part of these +intrigues. + +Gortz returned from Holland in the latter part of 1716, furnished with +bills of exchange from cardinal Alberoni, and letters plenipotentiary +from Charles XII. It is incontestable that the Jacobite party were to +have made a rising in England, while Charles, in his return from Norway, +was to make a descent in the north of Scotland. This prince, who had not +been able to preserve his own dominions on the continent, was now going +to invade and overrun those of his neighbours, and just escaped from his +prison in Turkey, and from amidst the ruins of his own city of +Stralsund, Europe might have beheld him placing the crown of Great +Britain on the head of James III. in London, as he had before done that +of Poland on Stanislaus at Warsaw. + +The czar, who was acquainted with a part of Gortz's projects, waited for +the unfolding of the rest, without entering into any of his plans, or +indeed knowing them all. He was as fond of great and extraordinary +enterprises as Charles XII., Gortz, or Alberoni; but then it was as the +founder of a state, a lawgiver, and a sound politician; and perhaps +Alberoni, Gortz, and even Charles himself, were rather men of restless +souls, who sought after great adventures, than persons of solid +understanding, who took their measures with a just precaution; or +perhaps, after all, their ill successes may have subjected them to the +charge of rashness and imprudence. + +During Gortz's stay at the Hague, the czar did not see him, as it would +have given too much umbrage to his friends the states-general, who were +in close alliance with, and attached to, the party of the king of +England; and even his ministers visited him only in private, and with +great precaution, having orders from their master to hear all he had to +offer, and to flatter him with hopes, without entering into any +engagement, or making use of his (the czar's) name in their conferences. +But, notwithstanding all these precautions, those who understood the +nature of affairs, plainly saw by his inactivity, when he might have +made a descent upon Scania with the joint fleets of Russia and Denmark, +by his visible coolness towards his allies, and the little regard he +paid to their complaints, and lastly, by this journey of his, that there +was a great change in affairs, which would very soon manifest itself. + +In the month of January, 1717, a Swedish packet-boat, which was carrying +letters over to Holland, being forced by a storm upon the coast of +Norway, put into harbour there. The letters were seized, and those of +baron de Gortz and some other public ministers being opened, furnished +sufficient evidence of the projected revolution. The court of Denmark +communicated these letters to the English ministry, who gave orders for +arresting the Swedish minister, Gillembourg, then at the court of +London, and seizing his papers; upon examining which they discovered +part of his correspondence with the Jacobites. + +Feb. 1717.] King George immediately wrote to the states-general, +requiring them to cause the person of baron Gortz to be arrested, +agreeable to the treaty of union subsisting between England and that +republic for their mutual security. But this minister, who had his +creatures and emissaries in every part, was quickly informed of this +order; upon which he instantly quitted the Hague, and was got as far as +Arnheim, a town on the frontiers, when the officers and guards, who were +in pursuit of him, and who are seldom accustomed to use such diligence +in that country, came up with and took him, together with all his +papers: he was strictly confined and severely treated; the secretary +Stank, the person who had counterfeited the sign manual of the young +duke of Holstein, in the affair of Toningen, experienced still harsher +usage. In fine, the count of Gillembourg, the Swedish envoy to the court +of Great Britain, and the baron de Gortz, minister plenipotentiary from +Charles XII. were examined like criminals, the one at London, and the +other at Arnheim, while all the foreign ministers exclaimed against this +violation of the law of nations. + +This privilege, which is much more insisted upon than understood, and +whose limits and extent have never yet been fixed, has, in almost every +age, received violent attacks. Several ministers have been driven from +the courts where they resided in a public character, and even their +persons have been more than once seized upon, but this was the first +instance of foreign ministers being interrogated at the bar of a court +of justice, as if they were natives of the country. The court of London +and the states-general laid aside all rules upon seeing the dangers +which menaced the house of Hanover; but, in fact, this danger, when once +discovered, ceased to be any longer danger, at least at that juncture. + +The historian Norberg must have been very ill informed, and have had a +very indifferent knowledge of men and things, or at least have been +strangely blinded by partiality, or under severe restrictions from his +own court, to endeavour to persuade his readers, that the king of Sweden +had not a very great share in this plot. + +The affront offered to his ministers fixed Charles more than ever in his +resolution to try every means to dethrone the king of England. But here +he found it necessary, once in his life time, to make use of +dissimulation. He disowned his ministers and their proceedings, both to +the regent of France and the states-general; from the former of whom he +evicted a subsidy, and with the latter it was for his interest to +keep fair. He did not, however, give the king of England so much +satisfaction, and his ministers, Gortz and Gillembourg, were kept six +months in confinement, and this repeated insult animated in him the +desire of revenge. + +Peter, in the midst of all these alarms and jealousies, kept himself +quiet, waiting with patience the event of all from time; and having +established such good order throughout his vast dominions, as that he +had nothing to fear, either at home or from abroad, he resolved to make +a journey to France. Unhappily he did not understand the French +language, by which means he was deprived of the greatest advantage he +might have reaped from his journey; but he thought there might be +something there worthy observation, and he had a mind to be a nearer +witness of the terms on which the regent stood with the king of England, +and whether that prince was staunch to his alliance. + +Peter the Great was received in France as such a monarch ought to be. +Marshal Tessé was sent to meet him, with a number of the principal +lords of the court, a company of guards and the king's coaches; but he, +according to his usual custom, travelled with such expedition, that he +was at Gournay when the equipages arrived at Elbeuf. Entertainments were +made for him in every place on the road where he chose to partake of +them. On his arrival he was received in the Louvre, where the royal +apartments were prepared for him, and others for the princes Kourakin +and Dolgorouki, the vice-chancellor Shaffiroff, the ambassador Tolstoy, +the same who had suffered in his person that notorious violation of the +laws of nations in Turkey, and for the rest of his retinue. Orders were +given for lodging and entertaining him in the most splendid and +sumptuous manner: but Peter, who was come only to see what might be of +use to him, and not to suffer these ceremonious triflings, which were a +restraint upon his natural plainness, and consumed a time that was +precious to him, went the same night to take up his lodgings at the +other end of the city in the hotel of Lesdiguiére, belonging to marshal +Villeroi, where he was entertained at the king's expense in the same +manner as he would have been at the Louvre. The next day (May 8, 1717.) +the regent of France went to make him a visit in the before mentioned +hotel, and the day afterwards the young king, then an infant, was sent +to him under the care of his governor, the marshal de Villeroi, whose +father had been governor to Lewis XIV. On this occasion, they, by a +polite artifice, spared the czar the troublesome restraint of returning +this visit immediately after receiving it, by allowing an interview of +two days for him to receive the respects of the several corporations of +the city; the second night he went to visit the king: the household were +all under arms, and they brought the young king quite to the door of +the czar's coach. Peter, surprised and uneasy at the prodigious +concourse of people assembled about the infant monarch, took him in his +arms, and carried him in that manner for some time. + +Certain ministers, of more cunning than understanding, have pretended in +their writings, that marshal de Villeroi wanted to make the young king +of France take the upper hand on this occasion, and that the czar made +use of this stratagem to overturn the ceremonial under the appearance of +good nature and tenderness; but this notion is equally false and absurd. +The natural good breeding of the French court, and the respect due to +the person of Peter the Great, would not permit a thought of turning the +honours intended him into an affront. The ceremonial consisted in doing +every thing for a great monarch and a great man, that he himself could +have desired, if he had given any attention to matters of this kind. The +journeys of the emperor Charles IV. Sigismund, and Charles V. to France, +were by no means comparable, in point of splendour, to this of Peter the +Great. They visited this kingdom only from motives of political +interest, and at a time when the arts and sciences, as yet in their +infancy, could not render the era of their journey so memorable: but +when Peter the Great, on his going to dine with the duke d'Antin, in the +palace of Petitbourg, about three leagues out of Paris, saw his own +picture, which had been drawn for the occasion, brought on a sudden, and +placed in a room where he was, he then found that no people in the world +knew so well how to receive such a guest as the French. + +He was still more surprised, when, on going to see them strike the +medals in the long gallery of the Louvre, where all the king's artists +are so handsomely lodged; a medal, which they were then striking, +happening to fall to the ground, the czar stooped hastily down to take +it up, when he beheld his own head engraved thereon, and on the reverse +a Fame standing with one foot upon a globe, and underneath these words +from Virgil--'Vires acquirit eundo;' an allusion equally delicate and +noble, and elegantly adapted to his travels and his fame. Several of +these medals in gold were presented to him, and to all those who +attended him. Wherever he went to view the works of any artists, they +laid the master-pieces of their performances at his feet, which they +besought him to accept. In a word, when he visited the manufactories of +the Gobelins, the workshop of the king's statuaries, painters, +goldsmiths, jewellers, or mathematical instrument-makers, whatever +seemed to strike his attention at any of those places, were always +offered him in the king's name. + +Peter, who was a mechanic, an artist, and a geometrician, went to visit +the academy of sciences, who received him with an exhibition of every +thing they had most valuable and curious; but they had nothing so +curious as himself. He corrected, with his own hand, several +geographical errors in the charts of his own dominions, and especially +in those of the Caspian Sea. Lastly, he condescended to become one of +the members of that academy, and afterwards continued a correspondence +in experiments and discoveries with those among whom he had enrolled +himself as a simple brother. If we would find examples of such +travellers as Peter, we must go back to the times of a Pythagoras and an +Anacharsis, and even they did not quit the command of a mighty empire, +to go in search of instruction. + +And here we cannot forbear recalling to the mind of the reader the +transport with which Peter the Great was seized on viewing the monument +of cardinal Richelieu. Regardless of the beauties of the sculpture, +which is a master-piece of its kind, he only admired the image of a +minister who had rendered himself so famous throughout Europe by +disturbing its peace, and restored to France that glory which she had +lost after the death of Henry IV. It is well known, that, embracing the +statue with rapture, he burst forth into this exclamation--'Great man! I +would have bestowed one half of my empire on thee, to have taught me to +govern the other.' And now, before he quitted France, he was desirous to +see the famous madame de Maintenon, whom he knew to be, in fact, the +widow of Lewis XIV. and who was now drawing very near her end; and his +curiosity was the more excited by the kind of conformity he found +between his own marriage and that of Lewis; though with this difference +between the king of France and him, that he had publickly married an +heroine, whereas Lewis XIV. had only privately enjoyed an amiable wife. + +The czarina did not accompany her husband in this journey: he was +apprehensive that the excess of ceremony would be troublesome to her, as +well as the curiosity of a court little capable of distinguishing the +true merit of a woman, who had braved death by the side of her husband +both by sea and land, from the banks of the Pruth to the coast of +Finland. + + + + +CHAP. XXVIII. + + Of the return of the czar to his dominions.--Of his politics and + occupations. + + +The behaviour of the Sorbonne to Peter, when he went to visit the +mausoleum of cardinal Richelieu, deserves to be treated of by itself. + +Some doctors of this university were desirous to have the honour of +bringing about a union between the Greek and Latin churches. Those who +are acquainted with antiquity need not be told, that the Christian +religion was first introduced into the west by the Asiatic Greeks: that +it was born in the east, and that the first fathers, the first councils, +the first liturgies, and the first rites, were all from the east; that +there is not a single title or office in the hierarchy, but was in +Greek, and thereby plainly shews the same from whence they are all +derived to us. Upon the division of the Roman empire, it was next to +impossible, but that sooner or later there must be two religions as well +as two empires, and that the same schism should arise between the +eastern and western Christians, as between the followers of Osman and +the Persians. + +It is this schism which certain doctors of the Sorbonne thought to crush +all at once by means of a memorial which they presented to Peter the +Great, and effect what Pope Leo XI. and his successors had in vain +laboured for many ages to bring about, by legates, councils, and even +money. These doctors should have known, that Peter the Great, who was +the head of the Russian church, was not likely to acknowledge the pope's +authority. They expatiated in their memorial on the liberties of the +Gallican church, which the czar gave himself no concern about. They +asserted that the popes ought to be subject to the councils, and that a +papal decree is not an article of faith: but their representations were +in vain; all they got by their pains, was to make the pope their enemy +by such free declarations, at the same time that they pleased neither +the czar nor the Russian church. + +There were, in this plan of union, certain political views, which the +good fathers did not understand, and some points of controversy which +they pretended to understand, and which each party explained as they +thought proper. It was concerning the Holy Ghost, which, according to +the Latin church, proceeds from the Father and Son, and which, at +present, according to the Greeks, proceeds from the Father through the +Son, after having, for a considerable time, proceeded from the Father +only: on this occasion they quoted a passage in St. Epiphanius, where it +is said, 'That the Holy Ghost is neither brother to the Son, nor +grandson to the Father.' + +But Peter, when he left Paris, had other business to mind, than that of +clearing up passages in St. Epiphanius. Nevertheless, he received the +memorial of the Sorbonne with his accustomed affability. That learned +body wrote to some of the Russian bishops, who returned a polite answer, +though the major part of them were offended at the proposed union. It +was in order to remove any apprehensions of such a union, that Peter, +some time afterwards, namely, in 1718, when he had driven the jesuits +out of his dominions, instituted the ceremony of a burlesque conclave. + +He had at his court an old fool, named Jotof, who had learned him to +write, and who thought he had, by that trivial service, merited the +highest honours and most important posts: Peter, who sometimes softened +the toils of government, by indulging his people in amusements, which +befitted a nation as yet not entirely reformed by his labours, promised +his writing-master, to bestow on him one of the highest dignities in the +world; accordingly, he appointed him knéz papa, or supreme pontiff, with +an appointment of two thousand crowns, and assigned him a house to live +in, in the Tartarian quarter at Petersburg. He was installed by a number +of buffoons, with great ceremony, and four fellows who stammered were +appointed to harangue him on the accession. He created a number of +cardinals, and marched in procession at their head, and the whole sacred +college was made drunk with brandy. After the death of this Jotof, an +officer, named Buturlin, was made Pope: this ceremony has been thrice +renewed at Moscow and Petersburg, the ridiculousness of which, though it +appeared of no moment, yet has by its ridiculousness confirmed the +people in their aversion to a church, which pretended to the supreme +power, and whose church had anathematized so many crowned heads. In this +manner did the czar revenge the cause of twenty emperors of Germany, ten +kings of France, and a number of other sovereigns; and this was all the +advantage the Sorbonne gained from its impolitic attempt to unite the +Latin and Greek churches. + +The czar's journey to France proved of more utility to his kingdom, by +bringing about a connexion with a trading and industrious people, than +could have arisen from the projected union between two rival churches; +one of which will always maintain its ancient independence, and the +other its new superiority. + +Peter carried several artificers with him out of France, in the same +manner as he had done out of England; for every nation, which he +visited, thought it an honour to assist him in his design of +introducing the arts and sciences into his new-formed state, and to be +instrumental in this species of new creation. + +In this expedition, he drew up a sketch of a treaty of commerce with +France, and which he put into the hands of his ministers at Holland, as +soon as he returned thither, but it was not signed by the French +ambassador, Chateauneuf, till the 15th August, 1717, at the Hague. This +treaty not only related to trade, but likewise to bringing about peace +in the North. The king of France and the elector of Brandenburg accepted +of the office of mediators, which Peter offered them. This was +sufficient to give the king of England to understand, that the czar was +not well pleased with him, and crowned the hopes of baron Gortz, who +from that time, left nothing undone to bring about a union between +Charles and Peter, to stir up new enemies against George I. and to +assist cardinal Alberoni in his schemes in every part of Europe. Gortz +now paid and received visits publicly from the czar's ministers at the +Hague, to whom he declared, that he was invested with full power from +the court of Sweden to conclude a peace. + +The czar suffered Gortz to dispose all his batteries, without assisting +therein himself, and was prepared either to make peace with the king of +Sweden, or to carry on the war, and continued still in alliance with the +kings of Denmark, Poland, and Russia, and in appearance with the elector +of Hanover. + +It was evident, that he had no fixed design, but that of profiting of +conjunctures and circumstances, and that his main object was to complete +the general establishments he had set on foot. He well knew, that +the negotiations and interests of princes, their leagues, their +friendships, their jealousies, and their enmities, were subject to +change with each revolving year, and that frequently not the smallest +traces remain of the greatest efforts in politics. A simple manufactory, +well established, is often of more real advantage to a state than twenty +treaties. + +Peter having joined the czarina, who was waiting for him in Holland, +continued his travels with her. They crossed Westphalia, and arrived at +Berlin in a private manner. The new king of Prussia was as much an enemy +to ceremonious vanities, and the pomp of a court, as Peter himself; and +it was an instructive lesson to the etiquette of Vienna and Spain, the +punctilio of Italy, and the politesse of the French court, to see a +king, who only made use of a wooden elbow-chair, who went always in the +dress of a common soldier, and who had banished from his table, not only +all the luxuries, but even the more moderate indulgences of life. + +The czar and czarina observed the same plain manner of living; and had +Charles been with them, the world might have beheld four crowned heads, +with less pomp and state about them than a German bishop, or a cardinal +of Rome. Never were luxury and effeminacy opposed by such noble +examples. + +It cannot be denied, that if one of our fellow-subjects had, from mere +curiosity, made the fifth part of the journeys that Peter I. did for the +good of his kingdom, he would have been considered as an extraordinary +person, and one who challenged our consideration. From Berlin he went to +Dantzic, still accompanied by his wife, and from thence to Mittau, where +he protected his niece, the duchess of Courland, lately become a widow. +He visited all the places he had conquered, made several new and useful +regulations in Petersburg; he then goes to Moscow, where he rebuilds the +houses of several persons that had fallen to ruin; from thence he +transports himself to Czaritsin, on the river Wolga, to stop the +incursions of the Cuban Tartars, constructs lines of communication from +the Wolga to the Don, and erects forts at certain distances, between the +two rivers. At the same time he caused the military code, which he had +lately composed, to be printed, and erected a court of justice, to +examine into the conduct of his ministers, and to retrieve the disorders +in his finances; he pardons several who were found guilty, and punishes +others. Among the latter was the great prince Menzikoff himself, who +stood in need of the royal clemency. But a sentence more severe, which +he thought himself obliged to utter against his own son, filled with +bitterness those days, which were, in other respects, covered with so +much glory. + + + + +CHAP. XXIX. + + Proceedings against prince Alexis Petrowitz. + + +Peter the Great, at the age of seventeen, had married, in the year 1689, +Eudocia Theodora, or Theodorouna Lapoukin. Bred up in the prejudices of +her country, and incapable of surmounting them like her husband, the +greatest opposition he met with in erecting his empire, and forming his +people, came from her: she was, as is too common to her sex, a slave to +superstition; every new and useful alteration she looked upon as a +species of sacrilege; and every foreigner, whom the czar employed to +execute his great designs, appeared to her no better than as corruptors +and innovators. + +Her open and public complaints gave encouragement to the factious, and +those who were the advocates for ancient customs and manners. Her +conduct, in other respects, by no means made amends for such heavy +imperfections. The czar was at length obliged to repudiate her in 1696, +and shut her up in a convent at Susdal, where they obliged her to take +the veil under the name of Helena. + +The son, whom he had by her in 1690, was born unhappily with the +disposition of his mother, and that disposition received additional +strength from his very first education. My memoirs say, that he was +entrusted to the care of superstitious men, who ruined his understanding +for ever. 'Twas in vain that they hoped to correct these first +impressions, by giving him foreign preceptors; their very quality of +being foreigners disgusted him. He was not born destitute of genius; he +spoke and wrote German well; he had a tolerable notion of designing, and +understood something of mathematics: but these very memoirs affirm, that +the reading of ecclesiastical books was the ruin of him. The young +Alexis imagined he saw in these books a condemnation of every thing +which his father had done. There were some priests at the head of the +malcontents, and by the priests he suffered himself to be governed. + +They persuaded him that the whole nation looked with horror upon the +enterprises of Peter; that the frequent illnesses of the czar promised +but a short life; and that his son could not hope to please the nation, +but by testifying his aversion for all changes of custom. These murmurs, +and these counsels, did not break out into an open faction or +conspiracy, but every thing seemed to tend that way, and the tempers of +the people were inflamed. + +Peter's marriage with Catherine in 1707, and the children which he had +by her, began to sour the disposition of the young prince. Peter tried +every method to reclaim him: he even placed him at the head of the +regency for a year; he sent him to travel; he married him in 1711, at +the end of the campaign of Pruth, to the princess of Brunswick. This +marriage was attended with great misfortunes. Alexis, now twenty years +old, gave himself up to the debauchery of youth, and that boorishness of +ancient manners he so much delighted in. These irregularities almost +brutalized him. His wife, despised, ill-treated, wanting even +necessaries, and deprived of all comforts, languished away in +disappointment, and died at last of grief, the first of November, 1715. + +She left the prince Alexis one son; and according to the natural order, +this son was one day to become heir to the empire. Peter perceived with +sorrow, that when he should be no more, all his labours were likely to +be destroyed by those of his own blood. After the death of the princess, +he wrote a letter to his son, equally tender and resolute: it finished +with these words: 'I will still wait a little time, to see if you will +correct yourself; if not, know that I will cut you off from the +succession, as we lop off a useless member. Don't imagine, that I mean +only to intimidate you; don't rely upon the title of being my only son; +for if I spare not my own life for my country, and the good of my +people, how shall I spare you? I will rather choose to leave my kingdom +to a foreigner who deserves it, than to my own son, who makes himself +unworthy of it.' + +This is the letter of a father, but it is still more the letter of a +legislator; it shews us, besides, that the order of succession was not +invariably established in Russia, as in other kingdoms, by those +fundamental laws which take away from fathers the right of disinheriting +their children; and the czar believed he had an undoubted prerogative to +dispose of an empire which he had founded. + +At this very time the empress Catherine was brought to bed of a prince, +who died afterwards in 1719. Whether this news sunk the courage of +Alexis, or whether it was imprudence or bad counsel, he wrote to his +father, that he renounced the crown, and all hopes of reigning. 'I take +God to witness,' says he, 'and I swear by my soul that I will never +pretend to the succession. I put my children into your hands, and I +desire only a provision for life.' + +The czar wrote him a second letter, as follows:[98]--'You speak of the +succession, as if I stood in need of your consent in the disposal +thereof. I reproached you with the aversion you have shewn to all kind +of business, and signified to you, that I was highly dissatisfied with +your conduct in general; but to these particulars you have given me no +answer. Paternal exhortations make no impression on you, wherefore I +resolved to write you this once for the last time. If you despise the +advice I give you while I am alive, what regard will you pay to them +after my death? But though you had the inclination at present to be true +to your promises, yet a corrupt priesthood will be able to turn you at +pleasure, and force you to falsify them. They have no dependance but +upon you. You have no sense of gratitude towards him who gave you your +being. Have you ever assisted him in toils and labours since you arrived +at the age of maturity? Do you not censure and condemn, nay, even affect +to hold in detestation, whatever I do for the good of my people? In a +word, I have reason to conclude, that if you survive me, you will +overturn every thing that I have done. Take your choice, either +endeavour to make yourself worthy of the throne, or embrace a monastic +state. I expect your answer, either in writing, or by word of mouth, +otherwise I shall treat you as a common malefactor.' + +This letter was very severe, and it was easy for the prince to have +replied, that he would alter his conduct; instead of which, he only +returned a short answer to his father, desiring permission to turn +monk.[100] + +This resolution appeared altogether unnatural; and it may furnish matter +of surprise, that the czar should think of travelling, and leaving a son +at home so obstinate and ill-affected; but, at the same time, his doing +so, is next to a proof, that he thought he had no reason to apprehend a +conspiracy from that son. + +The czar, before he set out for Germany and France, went to pay his son +a visit. The prince, who was at that time ill, or at least feigned +himself so, received his father in his bed, where he protested, with the +most solemn oaths, that he was ready to retire into a cloister. The czar +gave him six months to consider of it, and then set out on his travels +with the czarina. + +No sooner was he arrived at Copenhagen, than he heard (what he might +reasonably expect) that the czarowitz conversed only with factions and +evil-minded persons, who strove to feed his discontent. Upon this the +czar wrote to him, that he had to choose between a throne and a convent; +and that, if he had any thoughts of succeeding him, he must immediately +set out and join him at Copenhagen. + +But the confidants of the prince remonstrating to him how dangerous it +would be to trust himself in a place where he could have no friends to +advise him, and where he would be exposed to the anger of an incensed +father, and the machinations of a revengeful step-mother; he, under +pretence of going to join his father at Copenhagen, took the road to +Vienna, and threw himself under the protection of the emperor Charles +VI. his brother-in-law, intending to remain at his court till the death +of the czar. + +This adventure of the czarowitz was nearly the same as that of Lewis XI. +of France, who, when he was dauphin, quitted the court of his father +Charles VII. and took refuge with the duke of Burgundy; but the dauphin +was much more culpable than Alexis, inasmuch as he married in direct +opposition to his father's will, raised an army against him, and threw +himself into the arms of a prince, who was Charles's declared enemy, and +refused to hearken to the repeated remonstances of his father, to return +back to his court. + +The czarowitz, on the contrary, had married only in compliance with his +father's orders, had never rebelled against him, nor raised an army, nor +taken refuge in the dominions of an enemy, and returned to throw himself +at his feet, upon the very first letter he received from him; for, as +soon as Peter knew that his son had been at Vienna, and had afterwards +retired to Tyrol, and from thence to Naples, which, at that time, +belonged to the emperor, he dispatched Romanzoff, a captain of his +guards, and the privy-counsellor Tolstoy, with a letter written with his +own hand, and dated at Spa, the 21st of July, N. S. 1717. They found the +prince at Naples, in the castle of St. Elme, and delivered to him his +father's letter, which was as follows:-- + +'I now write to you for the last time, to acquaint you, that you must +instantly comply with my orders, which will be communicated to you by +Tolstoy and Romanzoff. If you obey, I give you my sacred word and +promise, that I will not punish you; and that, if you will return home, +I will love you more than ever; but, if you do not, I, as your father, +and in virtue of the authority which God has given me over you, denounce +against you my eternal curse; and, as your sovereign, declare to you, +that I will find means to punish your disobedience, in which I trust God +himself will assist me, and espouse the just cause of an injured parent +and king. + +'For the rest, remember that I have never laid any restraint upon you. +Was I obliged to leave you at liberty to choose your way of life? Had I +not the power in my own hands to oblige you to conform to my will? I had +only to command, and make myself obeyed.' + +The viceroy of Naples found it no difficult matter to persuade the +czarowitz to return to his father. This is an incontestable proof that +the emperor had no intention to enter into any engagements with the +prince, that might give umbrage to his father. Alexis therefore returned +with the envoys, bringing with him his mistress, Aphrosyne, who had been +the companion of his elopement. + +We may consider the czarowitz as an ill-advised young man, who had gone +to Vienna and to Naples, instead of going to Copenhagen, agreeable to +the orders of his father and sovereign. Had he been guilty of no other +crime than this, which is common enough with young and giddy persons, it +was certainly very excusable. The prince determined to return to his +father, on the faith of his having taken God to witness, that he not +only would pardon him, but that he would love him better than ever. But +it appears by the instructions given to the two envoys who went to fetch +him, and even by the czar's own letter, that his father required him to +declare the persons who had been his counsellors, and also to fulfil +the oath he had made of renouncing the succession. + +It seemed difficult to reconcile this exclusion of the czarowitz from +the succession, with the other part of the oath, by which the czar had +bound himself in his letter, namely that of loving his son better than +ever. Perhaps divided between paternal love, and the justice he owed to +himself and people, as a sovereign, he might limit the renewal of his +affection to his son in a convent, instead of to that son on a throne: +perhaps, likewise, he was in hopes to reduce him to reason, and to +render him worthy of the succession at last, by making him sensible of +the loss of a crown which he had forfeited by his own indiscretion. In a +circumstance so uncommon, so intricate, and so afflicting, it may be +easily supposed that the minds of both father and son were under equal +perturbation, and hardly consistent with themselves. + +The prince arrived at Moscow on the 13th of February, N. S. 1717; and +the same day went to throw himself at his father's feet, who was +returned to the city from his travels. They had a long conference +together, and a report was immediately spread through the city, that the +prince and his father were reconciled, and that all past transactions +were buried in oblivion. But the next day, orders were issued for the +regiments of guards to be under arms at break of day, and for all the +czar's ministers, boyards, and counsellors, to repair to the great hall +of the castle; as also for the prelates, together with two monks of St. +Basile, professors of divinity, to assemble in the cathedral, at the +tolling of the great bell. The unhappy prince was then conducted to the +great castle like a prisoner, and being come in his father's presence, +threw himself in tears at his feet, and presented a writing, containing +a confession of his faults, declaring himself unworthy of the +succession, and imploring only that his life might be spared.[101] + +The czar, raising up his son, withdrew with him into a private room, +where he put many questions to him, declaring to him at the same time, +that if he concealed any one circumstance relating to his elopement, his +life should answer for it. The prince was then brought back to the great +hall, where the council was assembled, and the czar's declaration, which +had been previously prepared, was there publicly read in his +presence.[102] + +In this piece the czar reproaches his son with all those faults we have +before related, namely, his little application to study, his connexions +with the favourers of the ancient customs and manners of the country, +and his ill-behaviour to his wife.--'He has even violated the conjugal +faith,' saith the czar in his manifesto, 'by giving his affection to a +prostitute of the most servile and low condition, during the life-time +of his lawful spouse.' It is certain that Peter himself had repudiated +his own wife in favour of a captive, but that captive was a person of +exemplary merit, and the czar had just cause for discontent against his +wife, who was at the same time his subject. The czarowitz, on the +contrary, had abandoned his princess for a young woman, hardly known to +any one, and who had no other merit but that of personal charms. So far +there appears some errors of a young man, which a parent ought to +reprimand in secret, and which he might have pardoned. + +The czar, in his manifesto, next reproaches his son with his flight to +Vienna, and his having put himself under the emperor's protection; and +adds, that he had calumniated his father, by telling the emperor that he +was persecuted by him; and that he had compelled him to renounce the +succession; and, lastly, that he had made intercession with the emperor +to assist him with an armed force. + +Here it immediately occurs, that the emperor could not, with any +propriety, have entered into a war with the czar on such an occasion; +nor could he have interposed otherwise between an incensed father and a +disobedient son, than by his good offices to promote a reconciliation. +Accordingly we find, that Charles VI. contented himself with giving a +temporary asylum to the fugitive prince, and readily sent him back on +the first requisition of the czar, in consequence of being informed of +the place his son had chosen for his retreat. + +Peter adds, in this terrible piece, that Alexis had persuaded the +emperor, that he went in danger of his life, if he returned back to +Russia. Surely it was in some measure justifying these complaints of the +prince, to condemn him to death at his return, and especially after so +solemn a promise to pardon him; but we shall see, in the course of this +history, the cause which afterwards moved the czar to denounce this +ever-memorable sentence. For the present let us turn our eyes upon an +absolute prince, pleading against his son before an august assembly.-- + +'In this manner,' says he, 'has our son returned; and although, by his +withdrawing himself and raising calumnies against us, he has deserved to +be punished with death, yet, out of our paternal affection, we pardon +his crimes; but, considering his unworthiness, and the series of his +irregular conduct, we cannot in conscience leave him the succession to +the throne of Russia; foreseeing that, by his vicious courses, he would, +after our decease, entirely destroy the glory of our nation, and the +safety of our dominions, which we have recovered from the enemy. + +'Now, as we should pity our states and our faithful subjects, if, by +such a successor, we should throw them back into a much worse condition +than ever they were yet; so, by the paternal authority, and, in quality +of sovereign prince, in consideration of the safety of our dominions, we +do deprive our said son Alexis, for his crimes and unworthiness, of the +succession after us to our throne of Russia, even though there should +not remain one single person of our family after us. + +'And we do constitute and declare successor to the said throne after us, +our second son, Peter,[103] though yet very young, having no successor +that is older. + +'We lay upon our said son Alexis our paternal curse, if ever at any time +he pretends to, or reclaims, the said succession. + +'And we desire our faithful subjects, whether ecclesiastics or seculars, +of all ranks and conditions, and the whole Russian nation, in conformity +to this constitution and our will, to acknowledge and consider our son +Peter, appointed by us to succeed, as lawful successor, and agreeably to +this our constitution, to confirm the whole by oath before the holy +altar, upon the holy gospel, kissing the cross. + +'And all those who shall ever at any time oppose this our will, and who, +from this day forward, shall dare to consider our son Alexis as +successor, or assist him for that purpose, declare them traitors to us +and our country. And we have ordered that these presents shall be every +where published and promulgated, to the end that no person may pretend +ignorance.' + +It would seem that this declaration had been prepared beforehand for the +occasion, or that it had been drawn up with astonishing dispatch: for +the czarowitz did not return to Moscow till the 13th of February, and +his renunciation in favour of the empress Catherine's son is dated the +14th. + +The prince on his part signed his renunciation, whereby he acknowledges +his exclusion to be just, as having merited it by his own fault and +unworthiness; 'And I do hereby swear,' adds he, 'in presence of God +Almighty in the Holy Trinity, to submit in all things to my father's +will,' &c. + +These instruments being signed, the czar went in procession to the +cathedral, where they were read a second time, when the whole body of +clergy signed their approbation with their seals at the bottom, to a +copy prepared for that purpose.[104] No prince was ever disinherited in +so authentic a manner. There are many states in which an act of this +kind would be of no validity; but in Russia, as in ancient Rome, every +father has a power of depriving his son of his succession, and this +power was still stronger in a sovereign than in a private subject, and +especially in such a sovereign as Peter. + +But, nevertheless, it was to be apprehended, that those who had +encouraged the prince in his opposition to his father's will, and had +advised him to withdraw himself from his court, might one day endeavour +to set aside a renunciation which had been procured by force, and +restore to the eldest son that crown which had been violently snatched +from him to place on the head of a younger brother by a second marriage. +In this case it was easy to foresee a civil war, and a total subversion +of all the great and useful projects which Peter had so much laboured to +establish; and therefore the present matter in question was to determine +between the welfare of near eighteen millions of souls (which was nearly +the number which the empire of Russia contained at that time), and the +interest of a single person incapable of governing. Hence it became +necessary to find out those who were disaffected, and accordingly the +czar a second time threatened his son with the most fatal consequences +if he concealed any thing: and the prince was obliged to undergo a +judicial examination by his father, and afterwards by the commissioners +appointed for that purpose. + +One principal article of the charge brought against him, and that which +served chiefly to his condemnation, was, a letter from one Beyer, the +emperor's resident at the court of Russia, dated at Petersburg, after +the flight of the prince. This letter makes mention of a mutiny in the +Russian army then assembled at Mecklenburg, and that several officers +talked of clapping up Catherine and her son in the prison where the late +empress, whom Peter had repudiated, was then confined, and of placing +the czarowitz on the throne, as soon as he could be found out and +brought back. These idle projects fell to the ground of themselves, and +there was not the least appearance that Alexis had ever countenanced +them. The whole was only a piece of news related by a foreigner; the +letter itself was not directed to the prince, and he had only a copy +thereof transmitted him while at Vienna. + +But a charge of a more grievous nature appeared against him, namely, the +heads of a letter written with his own hand, and which he had sent, +while at the court of Vienna, to the senators and prelates of Russia, in +which were the following very strong assertions:--'The continual +ill-treatment which I have suffered without having deserved it, have at +length obliged me to consult my peace and safety by flight. I have +narrowly escaped being confined in a convent, by those who have already +served my mother in the same manner. I am now under the protection of a +great prince, and I beseech you not to abandon me in this conjuncture.' + +The expression, _in this conjuncture_, which might be construed into a +seditious meaning, appeared to have been blotted out, and then inserted +again by his own hand, and afterwards blotted out a second time; which +shewed it to be the action of a young man disturbed in his mind, +following the dictates of his resentment, and repenting of it at the +very instant. There were only the copies of these letters found: they +were never sent to the persons they were designed for, the court of +Vienna having taken care to stop them; a convincing proof that the +emperor never intended to break with the czar, or to assist the son to +take up arms against his father. + +Several witnesses were brought to confront the prince, and one of them, +named Afanassief, deposed, that he had formerly heard him speak these +words,--'I shall mention something to the bishops, who will mention it +again to the lower clergy, and they to the parish priests, and the crown +will be placed on my head whether I will or not.' + +His own mistress, Aphrosyne, was likewise brought to give evidence +against him. The charge, however, was not well supported in all its +parts; there did not appear to have been any regular plan formed, any +chain of intrigues, or any thing like a conspiration or combination, nor +the least shadow of preparation for a change in the government. The +whole affair was that of a son, of a depraved and factious disposition, +who thought himself injured by his father, who fled from him, and who +wished for his death; but this son was heir to the greatest monarchy in +our hemisphere, and in his situation and place he could not be guilty of +trivial faults. + +After the accusations of his mistress, another witness was brought +against him, in relation to the former czarina his mother, and the +princess Mary his sister. He was charged with having consulted the +former in regard to his flight, and of having mentioned it to the +princess Mary. The bishop of Rostow, who was the confidant of all three, +having been seized, deposed, that the two princesses, who were then shut +up in a convent, had expressed their wishes for a revolution in affairs +that might restore them their liberty, and had even encouraged the +prince, by their advice, to withdraw himself out of the kingdom. The +more natural their resentment was, the more it was to be apprehended. We +shall see, at the end of this chapter, what kind of a person the bishop +of Rostow was, and what had been his conduct. + +The czarowitz at first denied several facts of this nature which were +alleged against him, and by this very behaviour subjected himself to the +punishment of death, with which his father had threatened him in case he +did not make an open and sincere confession. + +At last, however, he acknowledged several disrespectful expressions +against his father, which were laid to his charge, but excused himself +by saying, he had been hurried away by passion and drink. + +The czar himself drew up several new interrogations. The fourth ran as +follows:-- + +'When you found by Beyer's letter that there was a mutiny among the +troops in Mecklenburg, you seemed pleased with it; you must certainly +have had some reason for it; and I imagine you would have joined the +rebels even during my life-time?' + +This was interrogating the prince on the subject of his private +thoughts, which, though they might be revealed to a father, who may, by +his advice, correct them, yet might they also with justice be concealed +from a judge, who decides only upon acknowledged facts. The private +sentiments of a man's heart have nothing to do in a criminal process, +and the prince was at liberty either to deny them or disguise them, in +such manner as he should think best for his own safety, as being under +no obligation to lay open his heart, and yet we find him returning the +following answer: 'If the rebels had called upon me during your +life-time, I do verily believe I should have joined them, supposing I +had found them sufficiently strong.' + +It is hardly conceivable that he could have made this reply of himself, +and it would be full as extraordinary, at least according to the custom +in our part of the world, to condemn a person for confessing that he +might have thought in a certain manner in a conjuncture that never +happened. + +To this strange confession of his private thoughts, which had till then +been concealed in the bottom of his heart, they added proofs that could +hardly be admitted as such in a court of justice in any other country. + +The prince, sinking under his misfortunes, and almost deprived of his +senses, studied within himself, with all the ingenuity of fear, for +whatever could most effectually serve for his destruction; and at length +acknowledged, that in private confession to the archpriest James, he had +wished his father dead; and that his confessor made answer, 'God will +pardon you this wish: we all wish the same.' + +The canons of our church do not admit of proofs resulting from private +confession, inasmuch as they are held inviolable secrets between God and +the penitent: and both the Greek and Latin churches are agreed, that +this intimate and secret correspondence between a sinner and the Deity +are beyond the cognizance of a temporal court of justice. But here the +welfare of a kingdom and a king were concerned. The archpriest, being +put to the torture, confirmed all that the prince had revealed; and this +trial furnished the unprecedented instance of a confessor accused by his +penitent, and that penitent by his own mistress. To this may be added +another singular circumstance, namely, the archbishop of Rezan having +been involved in several accusations on account of having spoken too +favourably of the young czarowitz in one of his sermons, at the time +that his father's resentment first broke out against him; that weak +prince declared, in his answer to one of the interrogations, that he had +depended on the assistance of that prelate, at the same time that he was +at the head of the ecclesiastical court, which the czar had consulted in +relation to this criminal process against his son, as we shall see in +the course of this chapter. + +There is another remark to be made in this extraordinary trial, which we +find so very lamely related in the absurd History of Peter the Great, by +the pretended bojar Nestersuranoy, and that is the following: + +Among other answers which the czarowitz Alexis made to the first +question put to him by his father, he acknowledges, that while he was at +Vienna, finding that he could not be admitted to see the emperor, he +applied himself to count Schonborn, the high chamberlain, who told him, +the emperor would not abandon him, and that as soon as occasion should +offer, by the death of his father, that he would assist him to recover +the throne by force of arms. 'Upon which,' adds the prince, 'I made him +the following answer: "This is what I by no means desire: if the emperor +will only grant me his protection for the present, I ask no more."' This +deposition is plain, natural, and carries with it strong marks of the +truth; for it would have been the height of madness to have asked the +emperor for an armed force to dethrone his father, and no one would have +ventured to have made such an absurd proposal, either to the emperor, +prince Eugene, or to the council. This deposition bears date in the +month of February, and four months afterwards, namely, after the 1st of +July, and towards the latter end of the proceedings against the +czarowitz, that prince is made to say, in the last answers he delivered +in writing:-- + +'Being unwilling to imitate my father in any thing, I endeavoured to +secure myself the succession by any means whatever, _excepting such as +were just_. I attempted to get it by a foreign assistance; and, had I +succeeded, and that the emperor had fulfilled _what he had promised me_, +to replace me on the throne of Russia even by force of arms, I would +have left nothing undone to have got possession of it. For instance, if +the emperor had demanded of me, in return for his services, a body of my +own troops to fight for him against any power whatever, that might be in +arms against him, or a large sum of money to defray the charges of a +war, I should have readily granted every thing he asked, and should have +gratified his ministers and generals with magnificent presents. I would +at my own expense have maintained the auxiliary troops he might have +furnished to put me in possession of the crown; and, in a word, I should +have thought nothing too much to have accomplished my ends.' + +This answer seems greatly strained, and appears as if the unhappy +deponent was exerting his utmost efforts to appear more culpable than he +really was; nay, he seems to have spoken absolutely contrary to truth in +a capital point. He says the emperor had promised to procure him the +crown by force of arms. This is absolutely false: Schonborn had given +him hopes that, after the death of his father, the emperor might assist +him to recover his birth-right; but the emperor himself never made him +any promise. And lastly, the matter in question was not if he should +take arms against his father, but if he should succeed him after his +death? + +By this last deposition he declares what he believes he should have +done, had he been obliged to dispute his birth-right, which he had not +formally renounced till after his journey to Vienna and Naples. Here +then we have a second deposition, not of any thing he had already done, +and the actual commission of which, would have subjected him to the +rigorous inquiry of the law, but of what he imagines he should have done +had occasion offered, and which consequently is no subject of a +juridical inquiry. Thus does he twice together accuse himself of private +thoughts that he might have entertained in a future time. The known +world does not produce an instance of a man tried and condemned for +vague and inconsequential notions that came into his head, and which he +never communicated to any one; nor is there a court of justice in Europe +that will hear a man accuse himself of criminal thoughts; nay, we +believe that they are not punished by God himself, unless accompanied by +a fixed resolution to put them in practice. + +To these natural reflections it may be answered, that the czarowitz had +given his father a just right to punish him, by having withheld the +names of several of the accomplices of his flight. His pardon was +promised him only on condition of making a full and open confession, +which he did not till it was too late. Lastly, after so public an +affair, it was not in human nature that Alexis should ever forgive a +brother in favour of whom he had been disinherited; therefore, it was +thought better to punish one guilty person, than to expose a whole +nation to danger, and herein the rigour of justice and reasons of state +acted in concert. + +We must not judge of the manners and laws of one nation by those of +others. The czar was possessed of the fatal, but incontestable right of +punishing his son with death, for the single crime of having withdrawn +himself out of the kingdom against his consent; and he thus explains +himself in his declaration addressed to the prelates and others, who +composed the high courts of justice. 'Though, according to all laws, +civil and divine, and especially those of this empire, which grant an +absolute jurisdiction to fathers over their children (even fathers in +private life) we have a full and unlimited power to judge our son for +his crimes according to our pleasure, without asking the advice of any +person whatsoever: yet, as men are more liable to prejudice and +partiality in their own affairs, than in those of others, and as the +most eminent and expert physicians rely not on their judgment concerning +themselves, but call in the advice and assistance of others; so we, +under the fear of God, and an awful dread of offending him, in like +manner make known our disease, and apply to you for a cure; being +apprehensive of eternal death, if ignorant perhaps of the nature of our +distemper, we should attempt to cure ourselves; and the rather as in a +solemn appeal to Almighty God, I have signed, sworn, and confirmed a +promise of pardon to my son, in case he should declare to me the truth. + +'And though he has violated this promise, by concealing the most +important circumstances of his rebellious design against us; yet that we +may not in any thing swerve from our obligations, we pray you to +consider this affair with seriousness and attention, and report what +punishment he deserves without favour or partiality either to him or +me; for should you apprehend that he deserves but a slight punishment, +it will be disagreeable to me. I swear to you by the great God and his +judgments, that you have nothing to fear on this head. + +'Neither let the reflection of your being to pass sentence on the son of +your prince have any influence on you, but administer justice without +respect of persons, and destroy not your own souls and mine also, by +doing any thing to injure our country, or upbraid our consciences in the +great and terrible day of judgment.' + +The czar afterwards addressed himself to the clergy,[105] by another +declaration to the same purpose; so that every thing was transacted in +the most authentic manner, and Peter's behaviour through the whole of +this affair was so open and undisguised, as shewed him to be fully +satisfied of the justice of his cause. + +On the first of July the clergy delivered their opinion in writing. In +fact, it was their opinion only, and not a judgment, which the czar +required of them. The beginning is deserving the attention of all +Europe. + +'This affair (say the prelates and the rest of the clergy) does in no +wise fall within the verge of the ecclesiastical court, nor is the +absolute power invested in the sovereign of the Russian empire subject +to the cognizance of his people; but he has an unlimited power of acting +herein as to him shall seem best, without any inferior having a right to +intermeddle therein.' + +After their preamble they proceed to cite several texts of scripture, +particularly Leviticus, wherein it is said, 'Cursed be he that curseth +his father or mother;' and the gospel of St. Matthew, which repeats this +severe denunciation. And they concluded, after several other +quotations,[106] with these remarkable words: + +'If his majesty is inclinable to punish the offender according to his +deeds and the measure of his crimes, he has before him the examples in +the Old Testament, if on the other hand, he is inclined to shew mercy, +he has a pattern in our Lord Jesus Christ, who receives the prodigal +son, when returning with a contrite heart, who set free the woman taken +in adultery, whom the law sentenced to be stoned to death, and who +prefers mercy to burnt-offerings. He has likewise the example of David, +who spared his son Absalom, who had rebelled against and persecuted him, +saying to his captains, when going forth to the fight, "Spare my son +Absalom." The father was here inclinable to mercy, but divine Justice +suffered not the offender to go unpunished. + +'The heart of the czar is in the hands of God; let him take that side to +which it shall please the Almighty to direct him.' + +This opinion was signed by eight archbishops and bishops, four +archpriests, and two professors of divinity; and, as we have already +observed, the metropolitan archbishop of Rezan, the same with whom the +prince had held a correspondence, was the first who signed. + +As soon as the clergy had signed this opinion, they presented it to the +czar. It is easy to perceive that this body was desirous of inclining +his mind to clemency; and nothing can be more beautiful than the +contrast between the mercy of Jesus Christ, and the rigour of the Jewish +law, placed before the eyes of a father, who was the prosecutor of his +own son. + +The same day the czarowitz was again examined for the last time, and +signed his final confession in writing, wherein he acknowledges himself +'to have been a bigot in his youthful days, to have frequented the +company of priests and monks, to have drank with them, and to have +imbibed from their conversations the first impressions of dislike to the +duties of his station, and even to the person of his father.' + +If he made this confession of his own accord, it shews that he must have +been ignorant of the mild advice the body of clergy, whom he thus +accuses, had lately given his father; and it is a still stronger proof, +how great a change the czar had wrought in the manners of the clergy of +his time, who, from a state of the most deplorable ignorance, were in so +short a time become capable of drawing up a writing, which for its +wisdom and eloquence might have been owned, without a blush, by the most +illustrious fathers of the church. + +It is in this last confession that the czarowitz made that declaration +on which we have already commented, viz. that he endeavoured to secure +to himself the succession by any means whatever, except such as were +just. + +One would imagine, by this last confession, that the prince was +apprehensive he had not rendered himself sufficiently criminal in the +eyes of his judges, by his former self-accusations, and that, by giving +himself the character of a dissembler and a bad man, and supposing how +he might have acted had he been the master, he was carefully studying +how to justify the fatal sentence which was about to be pronounced +against him, and which was done on the 5th of July. This sentence will +be found, at length, at the end of this volume; therefore, we shall only +observe in this place that it begins, like the opinion of the clergy, by +declaring, that 'it belongs not to subjects to take cognizance of such +an affair, which depends solely on the absolute will of the sovereign, +whose authority is derived from God alone;' and then, after having set +forth the several articles of the charge brought against the prince, the +judges express themselves thus: 'What shall we think of a rebellious +design, almost unparalleled in history, joined to that of a horrid +parricide against him, who was his father in a double capacity?' + +Probably these words have been wrong translated from the trial printed +by order of the czar; for certainly there have been instances in history +of much greater rebellions; and no part of the proceedings against the +czarowitz discover any design in him of killing his father. Perhaps, by +the word parricide, is understood the deposition made by the prince, +that one day he declared at confession, that he had wished for the death +of his father. But, how can a private declaration of a secret thought, +under the seal of confession, be a double parricide? + +Be this as it may, the czarowitz was unanimously condemned to die, but +no mention was made in the sentence of the manner in which he was to +suffer. Of one hundred and forty-four judges, there was not one who +thought of a lesser punishment than death. Whereas, an English tract, +which made a great noise at that time, observes, that if such a cause +had been brought before an English parliament, there would not have been +one judge out of one hundred and forty-four, that would have inflicted +even a penalty. + +There cannot be a stronger proof of the difference of times and places. +The consul Manlius would have been condemned by the laws of England to +lose his own life, for having put his son to death; whereas he was +admired and extolled for that action by the rigid Romans: but the same +laws would not punish a prince of Wales for leaving the kingdom, who, as +a peer of the realm, has a right to go and come when he pleases.[107] A +criminal design, not perpetrated, is not punishable by the laws in +England[108] or France, but it is in Russia. A continued formal and +repeated disobedience of commands would, amongst us, be considered only +an error in conduct, which ought to be suppressed; but, in Russia, it +was judged a capital crime in the heir of a great empire, whose ruin +might have been the consequence of that disobedience. Lastly, the +czarowitz was culpable towards the whole nation, by his design of +throwing it back into that state of darkness and ignorance, from which +his father had so lately delivered it. + +Such was the acknowledged power of the czar, that he might put his son +to death for disobedience to him, without consulting any one; +nevertheless, he submitted the affair to the judgment of the +representatives of the nation, so that it was in fact the nation itself +who passed sentence on the prince; and Peter was so well satisfied with +the equity of his own conduct, that he voluntarily submitted it to the +judgment of every other nation, by causing the whole proceedings to be +printed and translated into several languages. + +The law of history would not permit us to disguise or palliate aught in +the relation of this tragic event. All Europe was divided in its +sentiments, whether most to pity a young prince, prosecuted by his own +father, and condemned to lose his life, by those who were one day to +have been his subjects; or the father, who thought himself under a +necessity to sacrifice his own son to the welfare of his nation. + +It was asserted in several books, published on this subject, that the +czar sent to Spain for a copy of the proceedings against Don Carlos, who +had been condemned to death by his father, king Philip II. But this is +false, inasmuch as Don Carlos was never brought to his trial: the +conduct of Peter I. was totally different from that of Philip. The +Spanish monarch never made known to the world the reasons for which he +had confined his son, nor in what manner that prince died. He wrote +letters on this occasion to the pope and the empress, which were +absolutely contradictory to each other. William prince of Orange accused +Philip publicly of having sacrificed his son and his wife to his +jealousy, and to have behaved rather like a jealous and cruel husband, +and an unnatural and murderous father, than a severe and upright judge. +Philip suffered this accusation against him to pass unanswered: Peter, +on the contrary, did nothing but in the eye of the world; he openly +declared, that he preferred his people to his own son, submitted his +cause to the judgment of the principal persons of his kingdom, and made +the whole world the judge of their proceedings and his own. + +There was another extraordinary circumstance attending this unhappy +affair, which was, that the empress Catherine, who was hated by the +czarowitz, and whom he had publicly threatened with the worst of +treatment, whenever he should mount the throne, was not in any way +accessary to his misfortunes; and was neither accused, nor even +suspected by any foreign minister residing at the court of Russia, of +having taken the least step against a son-in-law, from whom she had so +much to fear. It is true, indeed, that no one pretends to say she +interceded with the czar for his pardon: but all the accounts of these +times, and especially those of the count de Bassewitz, agree, that she +was greatly affected with his misfortunes. + +I have now before me the memoirs of a public minister, in which I find +the following words: 'I was present when the czar told the duke of +Holstein, that the czarina Catherine, had begged of him to prevent the +sentence passed upon the czarowitz, being publicly read to that prince. +'Content yourself,' said she, 'with obliging him to turn monk; for this +public and formal condemnation of your son will reflect an odium on your +grandson.' + +The czar, however, would not hearken to the intercession of his spouse; +he thought there was a necessity to have the sentence publicly read to +the prince himself, in order that he might have no pretence left to +dispute this solemn act, in which he himself acquiesced, and that being +dead in law, he could never after claim a right to the crown. + +Nevertheless, if, after the death of Peter, a formidable party had arose +in favour of Alexis, would his being dead in law have prevented him from +ascending the throne? + +The prince then had his sentence read to him: and the memoirs I have +just mentioned observe, that he fell into a fit on hearing these words: +'The laws divine and ecclesiastical, civil and military, condemn to +death, without mercy, those whose attempts against their father and +their sovereign have been fully proved.' These fits it is said, turned +to an apoplexy, and it was with great difficulty he was recovered at +that time. Afterwards, when he came a little to himself, and in the +dreadful interval, between life and death, he sent for his father to +come to him: the czar accordingly went, and both father and son burst +into a flood of tears. The unhappy culprit asked his offended parent's +forgiveness, which he gave him publicly: then, being in the agonies of +death, extreme unction was administered to him in the most solemn +manner, and soon after he expired in the presence of the whole court, +the day after the fatal sentence had been pronounced upon him. His body +was immediately carried to the cathedral, where it lay in state, exposed +to public view for four days, after which it was interred in the church +of the citadel, by the side of his late princess; the czar and czarina +assisting at the funeral. + +And here I think myself indispensably obliged to imitate, in some +measure, the conduct of the czar; that is to say, to submit to the +judgment of the public, the several facts which I have related with the +most scrupulous exactness, and not only the facts themselves, but +likewise the various reports which were propagated in relation to them, +by authors of the first credit. Lamberti, the most impartial of any +writer on this subject and at the same time the most exact, and who has +confined himself to the simple narrative of the original and authentic +pieces, relating to the affairs of Europe, seems in this matter to have +departed from that impartiality and discernment for which he is so +remarkable; for he thus expresses himself. + +'The czarina, ever anxious for the fortune of her own son, did not +suffer the czar to rest till she had obliged him to commence the +proceedings against the czarowitz, and to prosecute that unhappy prince +to death: and, what is still more extraordinary, the czar, after having +given him the knout (which is a kind of torture) with his own hand, was +himself his executioner, by cutting off his head, which was afterwards +so artfully joined to the body, that the separation could not be +perceived, when it was exposed to public view. Some little time +afterwards, the czarina's son died, to the inexpressible regret of her +and the czar. This latter, who had beheaded his own son, coming now to +reflect, that he had no successor, grew exceedingly ill-tempered. Much +about that time also, he was informed, that his spouse, the czarina, was +engaged in a secret and criminal correspondence with prince Menzikoff. +This, joined to the reflection, that she had been the cause of his +putting to death with his own hand his eldest son, made him conceive a +design to strip her of the imperial honours, and shut her up in a +convent, in the same manner as he had done his first wife, who is still +living there. It was a custom with the czar to keep a kind of diary of +his private thoughts in his pocket book, and he had accordingly entered +therein a memorandum of this his intention. The czarina having found +means to gain over to her interest all the pages of the czar's +bed-chamber, one of them finding his pocket-book, which he had +carelessly left on the table, brought it to Catherine, who upon reading +this memorandum, immediately sent for prince Menzikoff, and communicated +it to him, and, in a day or two afterwards, the czar was seized with a +violent distemper, of which he died. This distemper was attributed to +poison, on account of its being so sudden and violent, that it could not +be supposed to proceed from a natural cause, and that the horrible act +of poisoning was but too frequently used in Russia.' + +These accusations, thus handed down by Lamberti, were soon spread +throughout Europe; and, as there still exist a great number of pieces, +both in print and manuscript, which may give a sanction to the belief of +this fact to the latest posterity, I think it is my duty to mention, in +this place, what is come to my knowledge from unexceptionable authority. + +In the first place, then, I take it upon me to declare, that the person +who furnished Lamberti with this strange anecdote, was in fact a native +of Russia, but of a foreign extraction, and who himself did not reside +in that country, at the time this event happened, having left it several +years before. I was formerly acquainted with him; he had been in company +with Lamberti, at the little town of Nyon,[109] whither that writer had +retired, and where I myself have often been. This very man declared to +me, that he had never told this story to Lamberti, but in the light of a +report, which had been handed about at that time. + +This example may suffice to shew, how easy it was in former times, +before the art of printing was found out, for one man to destroy the +reputation of another, in the minds of whole nations, by reason that +manuscript histories were in a few hands only, and not exposed +to general examination and censure, or of the observations of +contemporaries, as they now are. A single line in Tacitus or Sallust, +nay, even in the authors of the most fabulous legends was enough to +render a great prince odious to the half of mankind, and to perpetuate +his name with infamy to successive generations. + +How was it possible that the czar could have beheaded his son with his +own hand, when extreme unction was administered to the latter in the +presence of the whole court? Was he dead when the sacred oil was poured +upon his head? When or how could this dissevered head have been rejoined +to its trunk? It is notorious, that the prince was not left alone a +single moment, from the first reading of his sentence to him to the +instant of his death. + +Besides, this story of the czar's having had recourse to the sword, +acquits him at least of having made use of poison. I will allow, that it +is somewhat uncommon, that a young man in the vigour of his days should +die of a sudden fright, occasioned by hearing the sentence of his own +death read to him, and especially when it was a sentence that he +expected; but, after all, physicians will tell us that this is not a +thing impossible. + +If the czar dispatched his son by poison, as so many authors would +persuade us, he by that means deprived himself of every advantage he +might expect from this fatal process, in convincing all Europe that he +had a right to punish every delinquent. He rendered all the reasons for +pronouncing the condemnation of the czarowitz suspected; and, in fact, +accused himself. If he was desirous of the death of his son, he was in +possession of full power to have caused the sentence to be put in +execution: would a man of any prudence then, would a sovereign, on whom +the eyes of all his neighbours were fixed, have taken the base and +dastardly method of poisoning the person, over whose devoted head he +himself already held the sword of justice? Lastly, would he have +suffered his memory to have been transmitted to posterity as an assassin +and a poisoner, when he could so easily have assumed the character of an +upright though severe judge? + +It appears then, from all that has been delivered on this subject in the +preceding pages, that Peter was more the king than the parent; and that +he sacrificed his own son to the sentiments of the father and lawgiver +of his country, and to the interest of his people, who, without this +wholesome severity, were on the verge of relapsing again into that state +from which he had taken them. It is evident that he did not sacrifice +this son to the ambition of a step-mother, or to the son he had by her, +since he had often threatened the czarowitz to disinherit him, before +Catherine brought him that other son, whose infirm infancy gave signs of +a speedy death, which actually happened in a very short time afterwards. +Had Peter taken this important step merely to please his wife, he must +have been a fool, a madman, or a coward; neither of which, most +certainly, could be laid to his charge. But he foresaw what would be the +fate of his establishments, and of his new-born nation, if he had such a +successor as would not adopt his views. The event has verified this +foresight: the Russian empire is become famous and respectable +throughout Europe, from which it was before entirely separated; whereas, +had the czarowitz succeeded to the throne, every thing would have been +destroyed. In fine, when this catastrophe comes to be seriously +considered, the compassionate heart shudders, and the rigid applauds. + +This great and terrible event is still fresh in the memories of mankind; +and it is frequently spoken of as a matter of so much surprise, that it +is absolutely necessary to examine what contemporary writers have said +of it. One of these hireling scribblers, who has taken on him the title +of historian, speaks thus of it in a work which he has dedicated to +count Bruhl, prime minister to his Polish majesty, whose name indeed may +seem to give some weight to what he advances. 'Russia was convinced that +the czarowitz owed his death to poison, which had been given him by his +mother-in-law.' But this accusation is overturned by the declaration +which the czar made to the duke of Holstein, that the empress Catherine +had advised him to confine his son in a monastery. + +With regard to the poison which the empress is said to have given +afterwards to her husband, that story is sufficiently destroyed by the +simple relation of the affair of the page and pocket-book. What man +would think of making such a memorandum as this, 'I must remember to +confine my wife in a convent?' Is this a circumstance of so trivial a +nature, that it must be set down lest it should be forgotten? If +Catherine had poisoned her son-in-law and her husband she would have +committed crimes; whereas, so far from being suspected of cruelty, she +had a remarkable character for lenity and sweetness of temper. + +It may now be proper to shew what was the first cause of the behaviour +of the czarowitz, of his flight, and of his death, and that of his +accomplices, who fell by the hands of the executioner. It was owing then +to mistaken notions in religion, and to a superstitious fondness for +priests and monks. That this was the real source from whence all his +misfortunes were derived, is sufficiently apparent from his own +confession, which we have already set before the reader, and in +particular, by that expression of the czar in his letter to his unhappy +son, 'A corrupt priesthood will be able to turn you at pleasure.' + +The following is, almost word for word, the manner in which a certain +ambassador to the court of Russia explains these words.--Several +ecclesiastics, says he, fond of the ancient barbarous customs, and +regretting the authority they had lost by the nation having become more +civilized, wished earnestly to see prince Alexis on the throne, from +whose known disposition they expected a return of those days of +ignorance and superstition which were so dear to them. In the number of +these was Dozitheus, bishop of Rostow. This prelate feigned a revelation +from St. Demetrius, and that the saint had appeared to him, and had +assured him as from God himself, that the czar would not live above +three months; that the empress Eudocia, who was then confined in the +convent of Susdal (and had taken the veil under the name of sister +Helena), and the princess Mary the czar's sister, should ascend the +throne and reign jointly with prince Alexis. Eudocia and the princess +Mary were weak enough to credit this imposture, and were even so +persuaded of the truth of this prediction, that the former quitted her +habit and the convent, and throwing aside the name of sister Helena, +reassumed the imperial title and the ancient dress of the czarina's, +and caused the name of her rival Catherine to be struck out of the form +of prayer. And when the lady abbess of the convent opposed these +proceedings, Eudocia answered her haughtily--That as Peter had punished +the strelitzes who had insulted his mother, in like manner would prince +Alexis punish those who had offered an indignity to his. She caused the +abbess to be confined to her apartment. An officer named Stephen Glebo +was introduced into the convent; this man Eudocia made use of as the +instrument of her designs, having previously won him over to her +interest by heaping favours on him. Glebo caused Dozitheus's prediction +to be spread over the little town of Susdal, and the neighbourhood +thereof. But the three months being nearly expired, Eudocia reproached +the bishop with the czar's being still alive, 'My father's sins,' +answered Dozitheus, 'have been the cause of this; he is still in +purgatory, and has acquainted me therewith.' Upon this Eudocia caused a +thousand masses for the dead to be said, Dozitheus assuring her that +this would not fail of having the desired effect: but in about a month +afterwards, he came to her and told, that his father's head was already +out of purgatory; in a month afterwards he was freed as far as his +waist, so that then he only stuck in purgatory by his feet; but as soon +as they should be set free, which was the most difficult part of the +business, the czar would infallibly die. + +The princess Mary, persuaded by Dozitheus, gave herself up to him, on +condition that his father should be immediately released from purgatory, +and the prediction accomplished, and Glebo continued his usual +correspondence with the old czarina. + +It was chiefly on the faith of these predictions that the czarowitz +quitted the kingdom, and retired into a foreign country, to wait for the +death of his father. However the whole scheme was soon discovered; +Dozitheus and Glebo were seized; the letters of the princess Mary to +Dozitheus, and those of sister Helena to Glebo, were read in the open +senate. In consequence of which, the princess Mary was shut up in the +fortress of Schusselbourg, and the old czarina removed to another +convent, where she was kept a close prisoner. Dozitheus and Glebo, +together with the other accomplices of these idle and superstitious +intrigues, were put to the torture, as were likewise the confidants of +the czarowitz's flight. His confessor, his preceptor, and the steward of +his household, all died by the hands of the executioner. + +Such then was the dear and fatal price at which Peter the Great +purchased the happiness of his people, and such were the numberless +obstacles he had to surmount in the midst of a long and dangerous war +without doors, and an unnatural rebellion at home. He saw one half of +his family plotting against him, the majority of the priesthood +obstinately bent to frustrate his designs, and almost the whole nation +for a long time opposing its own felicity, of which as yet it was not +become sensible. He had prejudices to overcome, and discontents to +sooth. In a word, there wanted a new generation formed by his care, who +would at length entertain the proper ideas of happiness and glory, which +their fathers were not able to comprehend or support. + + + + +CHAP. XXX. + + Works and establishments in 1718, and the following years. + + +Throughout the whole of the foregoing dreadful catastrophe, it appeared +clearly, that Peter had acted only as the father of his country, and +that he considered his people as his family. The punishments he had been +obliged to inflict on such of them, who had endeavoured to obstruct or +impede the happiness of the rest, were necessary, though melancholy +sacrifices, made to the general good. + +1718.] This year, which was the epoch of the disinheriting and death of +his eldest son, was also that of the greatest advantage he procured to +his subjects, by establishing a general police hitherto unknown; by the +introduction or improvement of manufactures and works of every kind, by +opening new branches of trade, which now began to flourish, and by the +construction of canals, which joined rivers, seas, and people, +that nature had separated from each other. We have here none of +those striking events which charm common readers; none of those +court-intrigues which are the food of scandal and malice, nor of those +great revolutions which amaze the generality of mankind; but we behold +the real springs of public happiness, which the philosophic eye delights +to contemplate. + +He now appointed a lieutenant-general of police over the whole empire, +who was to hold his court at Petersburg, and from thence preserve order +from one end of the kingdom to the other. Extravagance in dress, and the +still more dangerous extravagance of gaming, were prohibited under +severe penalties; schools for teaching arithmetic, which had been first +set on foot in 1716, were now established in many towns in Russia. The +hospitals, which had been began, were now finished, endowed, and filled +with proper objects. + +To these we may add the several useful establishments which had been +projected some time before, and which were completed a few years +afterwards. The great towns were now cleared of those innumerable swarms +of beggars, who will not follow any other occupation but that of +importuning those who are more industrious than themselves, and who lead +a wretched and shameful life at the expense of others: an abuse too much +overlooked in other nations. + +The rich were obliged to build regular and handsome houses in +Petersburg, agreeable to their circumstances, and, by a master-stroke of +police, the several materials were brought carriage free to the city, by +the barks and waggons which returned empty from the neighbouring +provinces. + +Weights and measures were likewise fixed upon an uniform plan, in the +same manner as the laws. This uniformity, so much, but in vain desired, +in states that have for many ages been civilized, was established in +Russia without the least difficulty or murmuring; and yet we fancy that +this salutary regulation is impracticable amongst us. + +The prices of the necessaries of life were also fixed. The city of +Petersburg was well lighted with lamps during the night; a convenience +which was first introduced in Paris by Louis XIV., and to which Rome is +still a stranger. Pumps were erected for supplying water in cases of +fire; the streets were well paved, and rails put up for the security of +foot passengers: in a word, every thing was provided that could minister +to safety, decency, and good order, and to the quicker dispatch and +convenience of the inland trade of the country. Several privileges were +granted to foreigners, and proper laws enacted to prevent the abuse of +those privileges. In consequence of these useful and salutary +regulations, Petersburg and Moscow put on a new face. + +The iron and steel manufactories received additional improvements, +especially those which the czar had founded at about ten miles distance +from Petersburg, of which he himself was the first superintendant, and +wherein no less than a thousand workmen were employed immediately under +his eye. He went in person to give directions to those who farmed the +corn-mills, powder-mills, and mills for sawing timber, and to the +managers of the manufactories for cordage and sail-cloth, to the +brick-makers, slaters, and the cloth-weavers. Numbers of workmen in +every branch came from France to settle under him; these were the fruits +he reaped from his travels. + +He established a board of trade, which was composed of one half natives, +and the other half foreigners, in order that justice might be equally +distributed to all artists and workmen. A Frenchman settled a +manufactory for making fine looking-glass at Petersburg, with the +assistance of prince Menzikoff. Another set up a loom for working +curious tapestry, after the manner of the Gobelins; and this manufactory +still meets with great encouragement. A third succeeded in making of +gold and silver thread, and the czar ordered that no more than four +thousand marks of gold or silver should be expended in these works in +the space of a year; by this means to prevent the too great consumption +of bullion in the kingdom. + +He gave thirty thousand rubles, that is, about one hundred and fifty +thousand French livres,[110] together with all the materials and +instruments necessary for making the several kinds of woollen stuffs. By +this useful bounty he was enabled to clothe all his troops with the +cloth made in his own country; whereas, before that time, it was +purchased from Berlin and other foreign kingdoms. + +They made as fine linen cloth in Moscow as in Holland; and at his death +there were in that capital and at Jaroslaw, no less than fourteen linen +and hempen manufactories. + +It could certainly never be imagined, at the time that silk sold in +Europe for its weight in gold, that one day there would arise on the +banks of the lake Ladoga, in the midst of a frozen region, and among +unfrequented marshes, a magnificent and opulent city, where the silks of +Persia should be manufactured in as great perfection as at Ispahan. +Peter, however, undertook this great phenomenon in commerce, and +succeeded in the attempt. The working of iron mines was carried to their +highest degree of perfection; several other mines of gold and silver +were discovered, and the council of mines was appointed to examine and +determine, whether the working of these would bring in a profit adequate +to the expense. + +But, to make so many different arts and manufactures flourish, and to +establish so many various undertakings, it was not alone sufficient to +grant patents, or to appoint inspectors: it was necessary that our +great founder should behold all these pass under his own eye in their +beginnings, and work at them with his own hands, in the same manner as +we have already seen him working at the construction, the rigging, and +the sailing of a ship. When canals were to be dug in marshy and almost +impassable grounds, he was frequently seen at the head of the workmen +digging the earth, and carrying it away himself. + +In this same year (1718) he formed the plan of the canal and sluices of +Ladoga: this was intended to make a communication between the Neva and +another navigable river, in order for the more easy conveyance of +merchandize to Petersburg, without taking the great circuit of the lake +Ladoga, which, on account of the storms that prevailed on the coast, was +frequently impassable for barks or small vessels. Peter levelled the +ground himself, and they still preserve the tools which he used in +digging up and carrying off the earth. The whole court followed the +example of their sovereign, and persisted in a work, which, at the same +time, they looked upon as impracticable; and it was finished after his +death: for not one of his projects, which had been found possible to be +effected, was abandoned. + +The great canal of Cronstadt, which is easily drained of its waters, and +wherein they careen and clean the men of war, was also began at the same +time that he was engaged in the proceedings against his son. + +In this year also he built the new city of Ladoga. A short time +afterwards, he made the canal which joins the Caspian Sea to the gulf of +Finland and to the ocean. The boats, after sailing up the Wolga, came +first to the communication of two rivers, which he joined for that +purpose; from thence, by another canal, they enter into the lake of +Ilmen, and then fall into the canal of Ladoga, from whence goods and +merchandizes may be conveyed by sea to all parts of the world. + +In the midst of these labours, which all passed under his inspection, he +carried his views from Kamschatka to the most eastern limits of his +empire, and caused two forts to be built in these regions, which were so +long unknown to the rest of the world. In the meantime, a body of +engineers, who were draughted from the marine academy established in +1715, were sent to make the tour of the empire, in order to form exact +charts thereof, and lay before mankind the immense extent of country +which he had civilized and enriched. + + + + +CHAP. XXXI. + + Of the trade of Russia. + + +The Russian trade without doors was in a manner annihilated before the +reign of Peter. He restored it anew, after his accession to the throne. +It is notorious, that the current of trade has undergone several changes +in the world. The south part of Russia was before the time of Tamerlane, +the staple of Greece, and even of the Indies; and the Genoese were the +principal factors. The Tanais and the Boristhenes were loaded with the +productions of Asia: but when Tamerlane, towards the end of the +fourteenth century, had conquered the Taurican Chersonesus, afterwards +called Crimea or Crim Tartary, and when the Turks became masters of +Azoph, this great branch of trade was totally destroyed. Peter formed +the design of reviving it, by getting possession of Azoph; but the +unfortunate campaign of Pruth wrested this city out of his hands, and +with it all his views on the Black Sea: nevertheless he had it still in +his power to open as extensive a road to commerce through the Caspian +Sea. The English who, in the end of the fifteenth, and beginning of the +sixteenth century, had opened a trade to Archangel, had endeavoured to +do the same likewise by the Caspian Sea, but failed in all their +attempts for this purpose. + +It has been already observed, that the father of Peter the Great caused +a ship to be built in Holland, to trade from Astracan to the coast of +Persia. This vessel was burnt by the rebel Stenkorazin, which put an +immediate stop to any views of trading on a fair footing with the +Persians. The Armenians, who are the factors of that part of Asia, were +received by Peter the Great into Astracan; every thing was obliged to +pass through their hands, and they reaped all the advantage of that +trade; as is the case with the Indian traders, and the Banians, and with +the Turks, as well as several nations in Christendom, and the Jews: for +those who have only one way of living, are generally very expert in that +art on which they depend for a support; and others pay a voluntary +tribute to that knowledge in which they know themselves deficient. + +Peter had already found a remedy for this inconvenience, in the treaty +which he made with the sophi of Persia, by which all the silk, which was +not used for the manufactories in that kingdom, was to be delivered to +the Armenians of Astracan, and by them to be transported into Russia. + +The troubles which arose in Persia soon overturned this arrangement; and +in the course of this history, we shall see how the sha, or emperor of +Persia, Hussein, when persecuted by the rebels, implored the assistance +of Peter; and how that monarch, after having supported a difficult war +against the Turks and the Swedes, entered Persia, and subjected three of +its provinces. But to return to the article of trade. + + +_Of the Trade with China._ + +The undertaking of establishing a trade with China seemed to promise the +greatest advantages. Two vast empires, bordering on each other, and each +reciprocally possessing what the other stood in need of, seemed to be +both under the happy necessity of opening a useful correspondence, +especially after the treaty of peace, so solemnly ratified between these +two empires in the year 1689, according to our way of reckoning. + +The first foundation of this trade had been laid in the year 1653. There +was at that time two companies of Siberian and Bukarian families settled +in Siberia. Their caravans travelled through the Calmuck plains; after +they had crossed the deserts of Chinese Tartary, and made a considerable +profit by their trade; but the troubles which happened in the country of +the Calmucks, and the disputes between the Russians and the Chinese, in +regard to the frontiers, put a stop to this commerce. + +After the peace of 1689, it was natural for the two great nations to fix +on some neutral place, whither all the goods should be carried. The +Siberians, like all other nations, stood more in need of the Chinese, +than these latter did of them; accordingly permission was asked of the +emperor of China, to send caravans to Pekin, which was readily granted. +This happened in the beginning of the present century. + +It is worthy of observation, that the emperor Camhi had granted +permission for a Russian church in the suburbs of Pekin; which church +was to be served by Siberian priests, the whole at the emperor's own +expense, who was so indulgent to cause this church to be built for the +accommodation of several families of eastern Siberia; some of whom had +been prisoners before the peace of 1680, and the others were adventurers +from their own country, who would not return back again after the peace +of Niptchou. The agreeable climate of Pekin, the obliging manners of the +Chinese, and the ease with which they found a handsome living, +determined them to spend the rest of their days in China. The small +Greek church could not become dangerous to the peace of the empire, as +those of the Jesuits have been to that of other nations; and moreover, +the emperor Camhi was a favourer of liberty of conscience. Toleration +has, in all times, been the established custom in Asia, as it was in +former times all over the world, till the reign of the Roman emperor +Theodosius I. The Russian families, thus established in China, having +intermarried with the natives, have since quitted the Christian +religion, but their church still subsists. + +It was stipulated, that this church should be for the use of those who +come with the Siberian caravans, to bring furs and other commodities +wanted at Pekin. The voyage out and home, and the stay in the country, +generally took up three years. Prince Gagarin, governor of Siberia, was +twenty years at the head of this trade. The caravans were sometimes very +numerous; and it was difficult to keep the common people, who made the +greatest number, within proper bounds. + +They passed through the territories of a Laman priest, who is a kind of +Tartarian sovereign, resides on the sea-coast of Orkon, and has the +title of Koutoukas: he is the vicar of the grand Lama, but has rendered +himself independent, by making some change in the religion of the +country, where the Indian tenet of metempsychosis is the prevailing +opinion. We cannot find a more apt comparison for this priest than in +the bishops of Lubeck and Osnaburg, who have shaken off the dominion of +the church of Rome. The caravans, in their march, sometimes committed +depredations on the territories of this Tartarian prelate, as they did +also on those of the Chinese. This irregular conduct proved an +impediment to the trade of those parts; for the Chinese threatened to +shut the entrance into their empire against the Russians, unless a stop +was put to these disorders. The trade with China was at that time very +advantageous to the Russians, who brought from thence gold, silver, and +precious stones, in return for their merchandize. The largest ruby in +the world was brought out of China to prince Gagarin, who sent it to +prince Menzikoff; and it is now one of the ornaments of the imperial +crown. + +The exactions put in practice by prince Gagarin were of great prejudice +to that trade, which had brought him so much riches; and, at length, +they ended in his own destruction; for he was accused before the court +of justice, established by the czar, and sentenced to lose his head, a +year after the condemnation of the czarowitz, and the execution of all +those who had been his accomplices. + +About the same time, the emperor Camhi, perceiving his health to decay, +and knowing, by experience, that the European mathematicians were much +more learned in their art than those of his own nation, thought that +the European physicians must also have more knowledge than those of +Pekin, and therefore sent a message to the czar, by some ambassadors who +were returning from China to Petersburg, requesting him to send him one +of his physicians. There happened at that time to be an English surgeon +at Petersburg, who offered to undertake the journey in that character; +and accordingly set out in company with a new ambassador, and one +Laurence Lange, who has left a description of that journey. This embassy +was received, and all the expense of it defrayed with great pomp, by +Camhi. The surgeon, at his arrival, found the emperor in perfect health, +and gained the reputation of a most skilful physician. The caravans who +followed this embassy made prodigious profits; but fresh excesses having +been committed by this very caravan, the Chinese were so offended +thereat, that they sent back Lange, who was at that time resident from +the czar at the Chinese court, and with him all the Russian merchants +established there. + +The emperor Camhi dying, his son Yontchin, who had as great a share of +wisdom, and more firmness than his father, and who drove the Jesuits out +of his empire, as the czar had done from Russia in 1718, concluded a +treaty with Peter, by which the Russian caravans were no more to trade +on the frontiers of the two empires. There are only certain factors, +dispatched in the name of the emperor or empress of Russia, and these +have liberty to enter Pekin, where they are lodged in a vast house, +which the emperor of China formerly assigned for the reception of the +envoys from Corea: but it is a considerable time since either caravans +or factors have been sent from Russia thither so that the trade is now +in a declining way, but may possibly soon be revived. + + +_Of the Trade of_ PETERSBURG, _and the other ports of the_ RUSSIAN +EMPIRE. + +There were at this time above two hundred foreign vessels traded to the +new capital, in the space of a year. This trade has continued +increasing, and has frequently brought in five millions (French money) +to the crown. This was greatly more than the interest of the money which +this establishment had cost. This trade, however, greatly diminished +that of Archangel, and was precisely what the founder desired; for the +port of Archangel is too dangerous, and at too great distance from other +ports: besides that, a trade which is carried on immediately under the +eye of an assiduous sovereign, is always the most advantageous. That of +Livonia continued still on the same footing. The trade of Russia in +general has proved very successful; its ports have received from one +thousand to twelve hundred vessels in a year, and Peter discovered the +happy expedient of joining utility to glory. + + + + +CHAP. XXXII. + + Of the laws. + + +It is well known, that good laws are scarce, and that the due execution +of them is still more so. The greater the extent of any state, and the +variety of people of which it is composed, the more difficult it is to +unite them by the same body of laws. The father of czar Peter formed a +digest or code under the title of _Oulogenia_, which was actually +printed, but it by no means answered the end intended. + +Peter, in the course of his travels, had collected materials for +repairing this great structure, which was falling to decay in many of +its parts. He gathered many useful hints from the governments of +Denmark, Sweden, England, Germany, and France, selecting from each of +these different nations what he thought most suitable to his own. + +There was a court of boyards or great men, who determined all matters +_en dernier ressort_. Rank and birth alone gave a seat in this assembly; +but the czar thought that knowledge was likewise requisite, and +therefore this court was dissolved. + +He then instituted a procurator-general, assisted by four assistors, in +each of the governments of the empire. These were to overlook the +conduct of the judges, whose decrees were subject to an appeal to the +senate which he established. Each of those judges was furnished with a +copy of the _Oulogenia_, with additions and necessary alterations, until +a complete body of laws could be formed. + +It was forbid to these judges to receive any fees, which, however +moderate, are always an abusive tax on the fortunes and properties of +those concerned in suits of law. The czar also took care that the +expenses of the court were moderate, and the decisions speedy. The +judges and their clerks had salaries appointed them out of the public +treasury, and were not suffered to purchase their offices. + +It was in the year 1718, at the very time that he was engaged in the +process against his son, that he made the chief part of these +regulations. The greatest part of the laws he enacted were borrowed from +those of the Swedes, and he made no difficulty to admit to places in his +courts of judicature such Swedish prisoners who were well versed in the +laws of their own country, and who, having learnt the Russian language, +were willing to continue in that kingdom. + +The governor of each province and his assistors had the cognizance of +private causes within such government; from them there was an appeal to +the senate; and if any one, after having been condemned by the senate, +appealed to the czar himself, and such appeal was found unjust, he was +punished with death: but to mitigate the rigour of this law, the czar +created a master of the requests, who received the petitions of those +who had affairs depending in the senate, or in the inferior courts, +concerning which the laws then in force were not sufficiently +explanatory. + +At length, in 1722, he completed his new code, prohibiting all the +judges, under pain of death, to depart therefrom in their decrees, or to +set up their own private opinions in place of the general statutes. This +dreadful ordonnance was publicly fixed up, and still remains in all the +courts of judicature of the empire. + +He erected every thing anew; there was not, even to the common affairs +of society, aught but what was his work. He regulated the degrees +between man and man, according to their posts and employments, from the +admiral and the field-marshal to the ensign, without any regard to +birth. + +Having always in his own mind, and willing to imprint it on those of his +subjects, that services are preferable to pedigree, a certain rank was +likewise fixed for the women; and she who took a seat in a public +assembly, that did not properly belong to her, was obliged to pay a +fine. + +By a still more useful regulation, every private soldier, on being made +an officer, instantly became a gentleman; and a nobleman, if his +character had been impeached in a court of justice, was degraded to a +plebeian. + +After the settling of these several laws and regulations, it happened +that the increase of towns, wealth, and population in the empire, new +undertakings, and the creation of new employs, necessarily introduced a +multitude of new affairs and unforeseen cases, which were all +consequences of that success which attended the czar in the general +reformation of his dominions. + +The empress Elizabeth completed the body of laws which her father had +begun, in which she gave the most lively proofs of that mildness and +clemency for which she was so justly famed. + + + + +CHAP. XXXIII. + + Of Religion. + + +At this time Peter laboured more than ever to reform the clergy. He had +abolished the patriarchal office, and by this act of authority had +alienated the minds of the ecclesiastics. He was determined that the +imperial power should be free and absolute, and that of the church +respected, but submissive. His design was, to establish a council of +religion, which should always subsist, but dependent on the sovereign, +and that it should give no laws to the church, but such as should be +approved of by the head of the state, of which the church was a part. He +was assisted in this undertaking by the archbishop of Novogorod, named +Theophanes Procop, or Procopowitz, i.e. son of Procop. + +This prelate was a person of great learning and sagacity: his travels +through the different parts of Europe had afforded him opportunities of +remarks on the several abuses which reign amongst them. The czar, who +had himself been a witness of the same, had this great advantage in +forming all his regulations, that he was possessed of an unlimited power +to choose what was useful, and reject what was dangerous. He laboured, +in concert with the archbishop, in the years 1718 and 1719, to effect +his design. He established a perpetual synod, to be composed of twelve +members, partly bishops, and partly archpriests, all to be chosen by the +sovereign. This college was afterwards augmented to fourteen. + +The motives of this establishment were explained by the czar in a +preliminary discourse. The chief and most remarkable of these was, 'That +under the administration of a college of priests, there was less danger +of troubles and insurrections, than under the government of a single +head of the church; because the common people, who are always prone to +superstition, might, by seeing one head of the church, and another of +the state, be led to believe that they were in fact two different +powers.' And hereupon he cites as an example, the divisions which so +long subsisted between the empire and the papal see, and which stained +so many kingdoms with blood. + +Peter thought, and openly declared, that the notion of two powers in a +state, founded on the allegory of the two swords, mentioned in the +apostles, was absurd and erroneous. + +This court was invested with the ecclesiastical power of regulating all +penances, and examining into the morals and capacity of those nominated +by the court to bishoprics, to pass judgment _en dernier ressort_ in all +causes relating to religion, in which it was the custom formerly to +appeal to the patriarch, and also to take cognizance of the revenues of +monasteries, and the distribution of alms. + +This synod had the title of _most holy_, the same which the patriarchs +were wont to assume, and in fact the czar seemed to have preserved the +patriarchal dignity, but divided among fourteen members, who were all +dependant on the crown, and were to take an oath of obedience, which the +patriarchs never did. The members of this holy synod, when met in +assembly, had the same rank as the senators; but they were like the +senate, all dependant on the prince. But neither this new form of church +administration, nor the ecclesiastical code, were in full vigour till +four years after its institution, namely in 1722. Peter at first +intended, that the synod should have the presentation of those whom they +thought most worthy to fill the vacant bishoprics. These were to be +nominated by the emperor, and consecrated by the synod, Peter frequently +presided in person at the assembly. One day that a vacant see was to be +filled, the synod observed to the emperor, that they had none but +ignorant persons to present to his majesty: 'Well, then,' replied the +czar, 'you have only to pitch upon the most honest man, he will be worth +two learned ones.' + +It is to be observed, that the Greek church has none of that motley +order called secular abbots. The _petit collet_ is unknown there, +otherwise than by the ridiculousness of its character, but by another +abuse (as every thing in this world must be subject to abuse) the +bishops and prelates are all chosen from the monastic orders. The first +monks were only laymen, partly devotees, and partly fanatics, who +retired into the deserts, where they were at length gathered together by +St. Basil, who gave them a body of rules, and then they took vows, and +were reckoned as the lower order of the church, which is the first step +to be taken to arise at higher dignities. It was this that filled all +Greece and Asia with monks. Russia was overrun with them. They became +rich, powerful, and though excessively ignorant, they were, at the +accession of Peter to the throne, almost the only persons who knew how +to write. Of this knowledge they made such an abuse, when struck and +confounded with the new regulations which Peter introduced in all the +departments of government, that he was obliged in 1703 to issue an +edict, forbidding the use of pen and ink to the monks, without an +express order from the archimandrite, or prior of the convent, who in +that case was responsible for the behaviour of those to whom he granted +this indulgence. + +Peter designed to make this a standing law, and at first he intended, +that no one should be admitted into any order under fifty years of age; +but that appeared too late an age, as the life of man being in general +so limited, there was not time sufficient for such persons to acquire +the necessary qualifications for being made bishops; and therefore, with +the advice of his synod, he placed it at thirty years complete, but +never under; at the same time expressly prohibiting any person +exercising the profession of a soldier, or an husbandman, to enter into +a convent, without an immediate order from the emperor, or the synod, +and to admit no married man upon any account, even though divorced from +his wife; unless that wife should at the same time embrace a religious +life of her own pure will, and that neither of them had any children. No +person in actual employ under government can take the habit, without an +express order of the state for that purpose. Every monk is obliged to +work with his own hands at some trade. The nuns are never to go without +the walls of their convent, and at the age of fifty are to receive the +tonsure, as did the deaconesses of the primitive church; but if, before +undergoing that ceremony, they have an inclination to marry, they are +not only allowed, but even exhorted so to do. An admirable regulation in +a country where population is of infinitely greater use than a monastic +life. + +Peter was desirous that those unhappy females, whom God has destined to +people a kingdom, and who, by a mistaken devotion, annihilated in +cloisters that race of which they would otherwise become mothers, should +at least be of some service to society, which they thus injure; and +therefore ordered, that they should all be employed in some handy works, +suitable to their sex. The empress Catherine took upon herself the care +of sending for several handicrafts over from Brabant and Holland, whom +she distributed among these convents, and, in a short time, they +produced several kinds of work, which the empress and her ladies always +wore as a part of their dress. + +There cannot perhaps be any thing conceived more prudent than these +institutions; but what merits the attention of all ages, is the +regulation which Peter made himself, and which he addressed to the synod +in 1724. The ancient ecclesiastical institution is there very learnedly +explained, and the indolence of the monkish life admirably well exposed; +and he not only recommends an application to labour and industry, but +even commands it; and that the principal occupation of those people +should be, to assist and relieve the poor. He likewise orders, that sick +and infirm soldiers shall be quartered in the convents, and that a +certain number of monks shall be set apart to take care of them, and +that the most strong and healthy of these shall cultivate the lands +belonging to those convents. He orders the same regulations to be +observed in the monasteries for women, and that the strongest of these +shall take care of the gardens, and the rest to wait on sick or infirm +women, who shall be brought from the neighbouring country into the +convents for that purpose. He also enters into the minutest details +relating to these services; and lastly, he appoints certain monasteries +of both sexes for the reception and education of orphans. + +In reading this ordinance of Peter the Great, which was published the +31st January, 1724, one would imagine it to have been framed by a +minister of state and a father of the church. + +Almost all the customs in the Russian church are different from those of +ours. As soon as a man is made a sub-deacon, we prohibit him from +marrying, and he is accounted guilty of sacrilege if he proves +instrumental to the population of his country. On the contrary, when any +one has taken a sub-deacon's order in Russia, he is obliged likewise to +take a wife, and then may rise to the rank of priest, and arch-priest, +but he cannot be made a bishop, unless he is a widower and a monk. + +Peter forbid all parish-priests from bringing up more than one son to +the service of the church, unless it was particularly desired by the +parishioners; and this he did, lest a numerous family might in time come +to tyrannize over the parish. We may perceive in these little +circumstances relating to church-government, that the legislator had +always the good of the state in view, and that he took every precaution +to make the clergy properly respected, without being dangerous, and +that they should be neither contemptible nor powerful. + +In those curious memoirs, composed by an officer who was a particular +favourite of Peter the Great, I find the following anecdote:--One day a +person reading to the czar that number of the English Spectator, in +which a parallel is drawn between him and Lewis XIV. 'I do not think,' +said Peter, 'that I deserve the preference that is here given me over +that monarch; but I have been fortunate enough to have the superiority +over him in one essential point, namely, that of having obliged my +clergy to live in peace and submission; whereas my brother Lewis has +suffered himself to be ruled by his.' + +A prince, whose days were almost wholly spent in the fatigues of war, +and his nights in the compiling laws for the better government of so +large an empire, and in directing so many great labours, through a space +of two thousand leagues, must stand in need of some hours of amusement. +Diversions at that time were neither so noble or elegant as they now +are, and therefore we must not wonder if Peter amused himself with the +entertainment of the sham conclave, of which mention has been already +made, and other diversions of the same stamp, which were frequently at +the expense of the Romish church, to which he had a great dislike, and +which was very pardonable in a prince of the Greek communion, who was +determined to be master in his own dominions. He likewise gave several +entertainments of the same kind at the expense of the monks of his own +country; but of the ancient monks, whose follies and bigotry he wished +to ridicule, while he strove to reform the new. + +We have already seen that previous to his publishing his church-laws, +he created one of his fools pope, and celebrated the feast of the sham +conclave. This fool, whose name was Jotof, was between eighty and +ninety. The czar took it into his head to make him marry an old widow of +his own age, and to have their nuptials publicly solemnized; he caused +the invitation to the marriage guests to be made by four persons who +were remarkable for stammering. The bride was conducted to church by +decrepit old men, four of the most bulky men that could be found in +Russia acted as running footmen. The music were seated in a waggon drawn +by bears, whom they every now and then pricked with goads of iron, and +who, by their roaring, formed a full base, perfectly agreeable to the +concert in the cart. The married couple received the benediction in the +cathedral from the hands of a deaf and blind priest, who, to appear more +ridiculous, wore a large pair of spectacles on his nose. The procession, +the wedding, the marriage-feast, the undressing and putting to bed of +the bride and bridegroom, were all of a piece with the rest of this +burlesque ceremony. + +We may perhaps be apt to look upon this as a trivial and ridiculous +entertainment for a great prince; but is it more so than our carnival? +or to see five or six hundred persons with masks on their faces, and +dressed in the most ridiculous manner, skipping and jumping about +together, for a whole night in a large room, without speaking a word to +each other? + +In fine, were the ancient feasts of the fools and the ass, and the abbot +of the cuckolds, which were formerly celebrated in our churches, much +superior, or did our comedies of the foolish mother exhibit marks of a +greater genius? + + + + +CHAP. XXXIV. + + The congress of Aland or Oeland. Death of Charles XII., &c. The + treaty of Nystadt. + + +These immense labours, this minute review of the whole Russian empire, +and the melancholy proceedings against his unhappy son, were not the +only objects which demanded the attention of the czar; it was necessary +to secure himself without doors, at the same time that he was settling +order and tranquillity within. The war with Sweden was still carried on, +though faintly, in hopes of approaching peace. + +It is a known fact, that in the year 1717, cardinal Alberoni, prime +minister to Philip V. of Spain, and baron Gortz, who had gained an +entire ascendant over the mind of Charles XII. had concerted a project +to change the face of affairs in Europe, by effecting a reconciliation +between this last prince and the czar, driving George I. from the +English throne, and replacing Stanislaus on that of Poland, while +cardinal Alberoni was to procure the regency of France for his master +Philip. Gortz, as has been already observed, had opened his mind on this +head to the czar himself. Alberoni had begun a negotiation with prince +Kourakin, the czar's ambassador at the Hague, by means of the Spanish +ambassador, Baretti Landi, a native of Mantua, who had, like the +cardinal, quitted his own country to live in Spain. + +Thus a set of foreigners were about to overturn the general system, for +masters under whose dominion they were not born, or rather for +themselves. Charles XII. gave into all these projects, and the czar +contented himself with examining them in private. Since the year 1716 he +had made only feeble efforts against Sweden, and those rather with a +view to oblige that kingdom to purchase peace by restoring those places +it had taken in the course of the war, than with an intent to crush it +altogether. + +The baron Gortz, ever active and indefatigable in his projects, had +prevailed on the czar to send plenipotentiaries to the island of Oeland +to set on foot a treaty of peace. Bruce, a Scotchman, and grand master +of the ordnance in Russia, and the famous Osterman, who was afterwards +at the head of affairs, arrived at the place appointed for the congress +exactly at the time that the czarowitz was put under arrest at Moscow. +Gortz and Gillembourg were already there on the part of Charles XII. +both impatient to bring about a reconciliation between that prince and +Peter, and to revenge themselves on the king of England. It was an +extraordinary circumstance that there should be a congress, and no +cessation of arms. The czar's fleet still continued cruising on the +coasts of Sweden, and taking the ships of that nation. Peter thought by +keeping up hostilities to hasten the conclusion of a peace, of which he +knew the Swedes stood greatly in need, and which must prove highly +glorious to the conqueror. + +Notwithstanding the little hostilities which still continued, every +thing bespoke the speedy approach of peace. The preliminaries began by +mutual acts of generosity, which produce stronger effects than many +hand-writings. The czar sent back without ransom marshal Erenschild, +whom he had taken prisoner with his own hands, and Charles in return did +the same by Trubetskoy and Gallowin, who had continued prisoners in +Sweden ever since the battle of Narva. + +The negotiations now advanced apace, and a total change was going to be +made in the affairs of the North. Gortz proposed to the czar to put the +duchy of Mecklenburg into his hands. Duke Charles, its sovereign, who +had married a daughter of czar John, Peter's elder brother, was at +variance with the nobility of the country, who had taken arms against +him. And Peter, who looked upon that prince as his brother-in-law, had +an army in Mecklenburg ready to espouse his cause. The king of England, +elector of Hanover, declared on the side of the nobles. Here was another +opportunity of mortifying the king of England, by putting Peter in +possession of Mecklenburg, who, being already master of Livonia, would +by this means, in a short time, become more powerful in Germany than any +of its electors. The duchy of Courland was to be given to the duke of +Mecklenburg, as an equivalent for his own, together with a part of +Prussia at the expense of Poland, who was to have Stanislaus again for +her king. Bremen and Verden were to revert to Sweden; but these +provinces could not be wrested out of the hands of the king of England +but by force of arms; accordingly Gortz's project was (as we have +already said) to effect a firm union between Peter and Charles XII., and +that not only by the bands of peace, but by an offensive alliance, in +which case they were jointly to send an army into Scotland. Charles XII. +after having made himself master of Norway, was to make a descent on +Great Britain, and he fondly imagined he should be able to set a new +sovereign on the throne of those kingdoms, after having replaced one of +his own choosing on that of Poland. Cardinal Alberoni promised both +Peter and Charles to furnish them with subsidies. The fall of the king +of England would, it was supposed, draw with it that of his ally, the +regent of France, who being thus deprived of all support, was to fall a +victim to the victorious arms of Spain, and the discontent of the French +nation. + +Alberoni and Gortz now thought themselves secure of totally overturning +the system of Europe, when a cannon ball from the bastions of +Frederickshal in Norway confounded all their mighty projects. Charles +XII. was killed, the Spanish fleet was beaten by that of England, the +conspiracy which had been formed in France was discovered and quelled, +Alberoni was driven out of Spain, and Gortz was beheaded at Stockholm; +and of all this formidable league, so lately made, the czar alone +retained his credit, who by not having put himself in the power of any +one, gave law to all his neighbours. + +At the death of Charles XII. there was a total change of measures in +Sweden. Charles had governed with a despotic power, and his sister +Ulrica was elected Queen on express condition of renouncing arbitrary +government. Charles intended to form an alliance with the czar against +England and its allies, and the new government of Sweden now joined +those allies against the czar. + +The congress at Oeland, however, was not broken up; but the Swedes, now +in league with the English, flattered themselves that the fleets of that +nation sent into the Baltic would procure them a more advantageous +peace. A body of Hanoverian troops entered the dominions of the duke of +Mecklenburg (Feb. 1716.), but were soon driven from thence by the czar's +forces. + +Peter likewise had a body of troops in Poland, which kept in awe both +the party of Augustus, and that of Stanislaus; and as to Sweden, he had +a fleet always ready, either to make a descent on their coasts, or to +oblige the Swedish government to hasten matters in the congress. This +fleet consisted of twelve large ships of the line, and several lesser +ones, besides frigates and galleys. The czar served on board this fleet +as vice-admiral, under the command of admiral Apraxin. + +A part of this fleet signalized itself in the beginning against a +Swedish squadron, and, after an obstinate engagement, took one ship of +the line, and two frigates. Peter, who constantly endeavoured, by every +possible means, to encourage and improve the navy he had been at so much +pains to establish, gave, on this occasion, sixty thousand French +livres[111] in money among the officers of this squadron, with several +gold medals, besides conferring marks of honour on those who principally +distinguished themselves. + +About this time also the English fleet under admiral Norris came up the +Baltic, in order to favour the Swedes. Peter, who well knew how far he +could depend on his new navy, was not to be frightened by the English, +but boldly kept the sea, and sent to know of the English admiral if he +was come only as a friend to the Swedes, or as an enemy to Russia? The +admiral returned for answer, that he had not as yet any positive orders +from his court on that head: however Peter, notwithstanding this +equivocal reply, continued to keep the sea with his fleet. + +The English fleet, which in fact was come thither only to shew itself, +and thereby induce the czar to grant more favourable conditions of peace +to the Swedes, went to Copenhagen, and the Russians made some descents +on the Swedish coast, and even in the neighbourhood of Copenhagen, (July +1719.) where they destroyed some copper mines, burnt about fifteen +thousand houses, and did mischief enough to make the Swedes heartily +wish for a speedy conclusion of the peace. + +Accordingly the new queen of Sweden pressed a renewal of the +negotiations; Osterman himself was sent to Stockholm, and matters +continued in this situation during the whole of the year 1719. + +The following year the prince of Hesse, husband to the queen of Sweden, +and now become king, in virtue of her having yielded up the sovereign +power in his favour, began his reign by sending a minister to the court +of Petersburg, in order to hasten the so much desired peace; but the war +was still carried on in the midst of these negotiations. + +The English fleet joined that of the Swedes, but did not yet commit any +hostilities, as there was no open rupture between the courts of Russia +and England, and admiral Norris even offered his master's mediation +towards bringing about a peace; but as this offer was made with arms in +hand, it rather retarded than facilitated the negotiations. The coasts +of Sweden, and those of the new Russian provinces in the Baltic, are so +situated, that the former lay open to every insult, while the latter are +secured by their difficult access. This was clearly seen when admiral +Norris, after having thrown off the mask, (June 1720.) made a descent in +conjunction with the Swedish fleet on a little island in the province of +Esthonia, called Narguen, which belonged to the czar, where they only +burnt a peasant's house; but the Russians at the same time made a +descent near Wasa, and burnt forty-one villages, and upwards of one +thousand houses, and did an infinite deal of damage to the country round +about. Prince Galitzin boarded and took four Swedish frigates, and the +English admiral seemed to have come only to be spectator of that pitch +of glory to which the czar had raised his infant navy; for he had but +just shewn himself in those seas, when the Swedish frigates were carried +in triumph into the harbour of Cronslot before Petersburg.[112] On this +occasions methinks the English did too much if they came only as +mediators, and too little if as enemies. + +Nov. 1720.] At length, the new king of Sweden demanded a cessation of +arms; and as he found the menaces of the English had stood him in no +stead, he had recourse to the duke of Orleans, the French regent; and +this prince, at once an ally of Russia and Sweden, had the honour of +effecting a reconciliation between them. (Feb. 1721.) He sent Campredon, +his plenipotentiary, to the court of Petersburg, and from thence to that +of Stockholm. A congress was opened at Nystadt,[113] but the czar would +not agree to a cessation of arms till matters were on the point of being +concluded and the plenipotentiaries ready to sign. He had an army in +Finland ready to subdue the rest of that province, and his fleets were +continually threatening the Swedish coasts, so that he seemed absolute +master of dictating the terms of peace; accordingly they subscribed to +whatever he thought fit to demand. By this treaty he was to remain in +perpetual possession of all that his arms had conquered, from the +borders of Courland to the extremity of the gulf of Finland, and from +thence again of the whole extent of the country of Kexholm, and that +narrow slip of Finland which stretches out to the northward of the +neighbourhood of Kexholm; so that he remained master of all Livonia, +Esthonia, Ingria, Carelia, with the country of Wybourg, and the +neighbouring isles, which secured to him the sovereignty of the sea, as +likewise of the isles of Oessel, Dago, Mona, and several others: the +whole forming an extent of three thousand leagues of country, of unequal +breadth, and which altogether made a large kingdom, that proved the +reward of twenty years' immense pains and labour. + +The peace was signed at Nystadt the 10th September, 1721, N. S. by the +Russian minister Osterman, and general Bruce. + +Peter was the more rejoiced at that event, as it freed him from the +necessity of keeping such large armies on the frontiers of Sweden, as +also from any apprehensions on the part of England, or of the +neighbouring states, and left him at full liberty to exert his whole +attention to the modelling of his empire, in which he had already made +so successful a beginning, and to cherish arts and commerce, which he +had introduced among his subjects, at the expense of infinite labour and +industry. + +In the first transports of his satisfaction, we find him writing in +these terms to his plenipotentiaries; 'You have drawn up the treaty as +if we ourself had dictated and sent it to you to offer the Swedes to +sign. This glorious event shall be ever present to our remembrance.' + +All degrees of people, throughout the Russian empire, gave proofs of +their satisfaction, by the most extraordinary rejoicings of all kinds, +and particularly at Petersburg. The triumphal festivals, with which the +czar had entertained his people during the course of the war, were +nothing to compare to these rejoicings for the peace, which every one +hailed with unutterable satisfaction. The peace itself was the most +glorious of all his triumphs; and what pleased more than all the pompous +shows on the occasion, was a free pardon and general release granted to +all prisoners, and a general remission of all sums due to the royal +treasury for taxes throughout the whole empire, to the day of the +publication of the peace. In consequence of which a multitude of +unhappy wretches, who had been confined in prison, were set at +liberty, excepting only those guilty of highway-robbery, murder, or +treason.[114] + +It was at this time that the senate decreed Peter the titles of _Great_, +_Emperor_, and _Father of his Country_. Count Golofkin, the high +chancellor, made a speech to the czar in the great cathedral, in the +name of all the orders of the state, the senators crying aloud, _Long +live our emperor and father!_ in which acclamations they were joined by +the united voice of all the people present. The ministers of France, +Germany, Poland, Denmark, and the states-general, waited on him, with +their congratulations, on the titles lately bestowed on him, and +formally acknowledged for emperor him who had been always publicly known +in Holland by that title, ever since the battle of Pultowa. The names of +_Father_, and of _Great_, were glorious epithets, which no one in Europe +could dispute him; that of _Emperor_ was only a honorary title, given by +custom to the sovereigns of Germany, as titular kings of the Romans; and +it requires time before such appellations come to be formally adopted by +those courts where forms of state and real glory are different things. +But Peter was in a short time after acknowledged emperor by all the +states of Europe, excepting only that of Poland, which was still divided +by factions, and the pope, whose suffrage was become of very little +significance, since the court of Rome had lost its credit in proportion +as other nations became more enlightened. + + + + +CHAP. XXXV. + + Conquests in Persia. + + +The situation of Russia is such, as necessarily obliges her to keep up +certain connexions with all the nations that lie in the fifth degree of +north latitude. When under a bad administration, she was a prey by turns +to the Tartars, the Swedes, and the Poles; but when governed by a +resolute and vigorous prince, she became formidable to all her +neighbours. Peter began his reign by an advantageous treaty with the +Chinese. He had waged war at one and the same time against the Swedes +and the Turks, and now prepared to lead his victorious armies into +Persia. + +At this time Persia began to fall into that deplorable state, in which +we now behold her. Let us figure to ourselves the thirty years' war in +Germany, the times of the league, those of the massacre of St. +Bartholomew, and the reigns of Charles VI. and of king John in France, +the civil wars in England, the long and horrible ravages of the whole +Russian empire by the Tartars, or their invasion of China; and then we +shall have some slight conception of the miseries under which the +Persian empire has so long groaned. + +A weak and indolent prince, and a powerful and enterprising subject, are +sufficient to plunge a whole nation into such an abyss of disasters. +Hussein, sha, shaic, or sophi of Persia, a descendant of the great sha +Abbas, who sat at this time on the throne of Persia, had given himself +wholly up to luxury and effeminacy: his prime minister committed acts of +the greatest violence and injustice, which this great prince winked at, +and this gave rise to forty years' desolation and bloodshed. + +Persia, like Turkey, has several provinces, all governed in a different +manner; she has subjects immediately under her dominion, vassals, +tributary princes, and even nations, to whom the court was wont to pay a +tribute, under the name of subsidies; for instance, the people of +Daghestan, who inhabit the branches of mount Caucasus, to the westward +of the Caspian Sea, which was formerly a part of the ancient Albania; +for all nations have changed their appellation and their limits. These +are now called Lesgians, and are mountaineers, who are rather under the +protection, than the dominion, of Persia; to these the government paid +subsidies for defending the frontiers. + +At the other extremity of the empire, towards the Indies, was the prince +of Candahar, who commanded a kind of martial militia, called Aghwans. +This prince of Candahar was a vassal of the Persian, as the hospodars of +Walachia and Moldavia are of the Turkish empire: this vassalage was not +hereditary, but exactly the same with the ancient feudal tenures +established throughout Europe, by that race of Tartars who overthrew the +Roman empire. The Aghwan militia, of which the prince of Candahar was +the head, was the same with the Albanians on the coasts of the Caspian +Sea, in the neighbourhood of Daghestan, and a mixture of Circassians and +Georgians, like the ancient Mamelucks who enslaved Egypt. The name of +Aghwans is a corruption; Timur, whom we call Tamerlane, had led these +people into India, and they remained settled in the province of +Candahar, which sometimes belonged to the Mogul empire, and sometimes to +that of Persia. It was these Aghwans and Lesgians who began the +revolution. + +Mir-Weis, or Meriwitz, intendant of the province, whose office was only +to collect the tributes, assassinated the prince of Candahar, armed the +militia, and continued master of the province till his death, which +happened in 1717. His brother came quietly to the succession, by paying +a slight tribute to the Persian court. But the son of Mir-Weis, who +inherited the ambition of his father, assassinated his uncle, and began +to erect himself into a conqueror. This young man was called +Mir-Mahmoud, but he was known in Europe only by the name of his father, +who had begun the rebellion. Mahmoud reinforced his Aghwans, by adding +to them all the Guebres he could get together. These Guebres were an +ancient race of Persians, who had been dispersed by the caliph Omar, and +who still continued attached to the religion of the Magi (formerly +flourished in the reign of Cyrus), and were always secret enemies to the +new Persians. Having assembled his forces, Mahmoud marched into the +heart of Persia, at the head of a hundred thousand men. + +At the same time the Lesgians or Albanians, who, on account of the +troublesome times, had not received their subsidies from the court of +Persia, came down from their mountains with an armed force, so that the +flames of civil war were lighted up at both ends of the empire, and +extended themselves even to the capital. + +These Lesgians ravaged all that country which stretches along the +western borders of the Caspian Sea, as far as Derbent, or the Iron Gate. +In this country is situated the city of Shamache, about fifteen leagues +distant from the sea, and is said to have been the ancient residence of +Cyrus, and by the Greeks called Cyropolis, for we know nothing of the +situation or names of these countries, but what we have from the Greeks; +but as the Persians never had a prince called Cyrus, much less had they +any city called Cyropolis. It is much in the same manner that the Jews, +who commenced authors when they were settled in Alexandria, framed a +notion of a city called Scythopolis, which, said they, was built by the +Scythians in the neighbourhood of Judea, as if either Scythians or +ancient Jews could have given Greek names to their towns. + +The city of Shamache was very rich. The Armenians, who inhabit in the +neighbourhood of this part of the Persian empire, carried on an immense +traffic there, and Peter had lately established a company of Russian +merchants at his own expense, which company became very flourishing. The +Lesgians made themselves masters of this city by surprise, plundered it, +and put to death all the Russians who traded there under the protection +of shah Hussein, after having stripped all their warehouses. The loss on +this occasion was said to amount to four millions of rubles. + +Peter upon this sent to demand satisfaction of the emperor Hussein, who +was then disputing the throne with the rebel Mahmoud, who had usurped +it, and likewise of Mahmoud himself. The former of these was willing to +do the czar justice, the other refused it; Peter therefore resolved to +right himself, and take advantage of the distractions in the Persian +empire. + +Mir-Mahmoud still pushed his conquests in Persia. The sophi hearing that +the emperor of Russia was preparing to enter the Caspian Sea, in order +to revenge the murder of his subjects at Shamache, made private +application to him, by means of an Armenian, to take upon him at the +same time the defence of Persia. + +Peter had for a considerable time formed a project to make himself +master of the Caspian Sea, by means of a powerful naval force, and to +turn the tide of commerce from Persia and a part of India through his +own dominions. He had caused several parts of this sea to be sounded, +the coasts to be surveyed, and exact charts made of the whole. He then +set sail for the coast of Persia the 15th day of May, 1722. Catherine +accompanied him in this voyage, as she had done in the former. They +sailed down the Wolga as far as the city of Astracan. From thence he +hastened to forward the canals which were to join the Caspian, the +Baltic, and the Euxine seas, a work which has been since executed in +part under the reign of his grandson. + +While he was directing these works, the necessary provisions for his +expedition were arrived in the Caspian Sea. He was to take with him +twenty-two thousand foot, nine thousand dragoons, fifteen thousand +Cossacks, and three thousand seamen, who were to work the ships, and +occasionally assist the soldiery in making descents on the coast. The +horse were to march over land through deserts where there was frequently +no water to be had, and afterwards to pass over the mountains of +Caucasus, where three hundred men are sufficient to stop the progress of +a whole army; but the distracted condition in which Persia then was, +warranted the most hazardous enterprises. + +The czar sailed about a hundred leagues to the southward of Astracan, +till he came to the little town of Andrewhoff. It may appear +extraordinary to hear of the name of Andrew on the coasts of the +Hyrcanian Sea; but some Georgians, who were formerly a sect of +Christians, had built this town, which the Persians afterwards +fortified; but it fell an easy prey to the czar's arms. From thence he +continued advancing by land into the province of Daghestan, and caused +manifestoes to be circulated in the Turkish and Persian languages.[115] +It was necessary to keep fair with the Ottoman Porte, who reckoned among +its subjects, not only the Circassians and Georgians, who border upon +this country, but also several powerful vassals, who had of late put +themselves under the protection of the grand seignior. + +Among others there was one very powerful, named Mahmoud d'Utmich, who +took the title of sultan, and had the courage to attack the czar's +troops, by which he was totally defeated, and the story says, that his +whole country was made a bonfire on the occasion. + +Sept. 14, 1722.] In a short time afterwards Peter arrived at the city of +Derbent, by the Persians and Turks called Demir Capi, that is, the Iron +Gate, and so named from having formerly had an iron gate at the south +entrance. The city is long and narrow, its upper part joins to a rocky +branch of Mount Caucasus, and the walls of the lower part are washed by +the sea, which in violent storms make a breach over them. These walls +might pass for one of the wonders of antiquity, being forty feet in +height, and six in breadth, defended with square towers at the distance +of every fifty feet. The whole work seems one uniform piece, and is +built of a sort of brown free-stone mixed with pounded shells, which +served as mortar, so that the whole forms a mass harder than marble. The +city lies open from the sea, but part of it next the land appears +impregnable. There are still some ruins of an old wall like that of +China, which must have been built in the earliest times of antiquity, +and stretched from the borders of the Caspian Sea to the Pontus Euxinus; +and this was probably a rampart raised by the ancient kings of Persia +against those swarms of barbarians which dwelt between those two seas. + +According to the Persian tradition, the city of Derbent was partly +repaired and fortified by Alexander the Great. Arrian and Quintus +Curtius tell us, that Alexander absolutely rebuilt this city. They say +indeed that it was on the banks of the Tanais or Don, but then in their +time the Greeks gave the name of Tanais to the river Cyrus, which runs +by the city. It would be a contradiction to suppose that Alexander +should build a harbour in the Caspian Sea, on a river that opens into +the Black Sea. + +There were formerly three or four other ports in different parts of the +Caspian Sea, all which were probably built with the same view; for the +several nations inhabiting to the west, east, and north of that sea, +have in all times been barbarians, who had rendered themselves +formidable to the rest of the world, and from hence principally issued +those swarms of conquerors who subjugated Asia and Europe. + +And here I must beg leave to remark, how much pleasure authors in all +ages have taken to impose upon mankind, and how much they have preferred +a vain show of eloquence to matter of fact. Quintus Curtius puts into +the mouths of Scythians an admirable speech full of moderation and +philosophy, as if the Tartars of those regions had been all so many +sages, and that Alexander had not been the general nominated by the +Greeks against the king of Persia, sovereign of the greatest part of +southern Scythia and the Indies. Other rhetoricians, thinking to imitate +Quintus Curtius, have studied to make us look upon those savages of +Caucacus and its dreary deserts, who lived wholly upon rapine and +bloodshed, as the people in the world most remarkable for austere virtue +and justice, and have painted Alexander, the avenger of Greece, and the +conqueror of those who would have enslaved him and his country, as a +public robber, who had ravaged the world without justice or reason. + +Such writers do not consider, that these Tartars were never other than +destroyers, and that Alexander built towns in the very country which +they inhabited; and in this respect I may venture to compare Peter the +Great to Alexander; like him he was assiduous and indefatigable in his +pursuits, a lover and friend of the useful arts; he surpassed him as a +lawgiver, and like him endeavoured to change the tide of commerce in the +world, and built and repaired at least as many towns as that celebrated +hero of antiquity. + +On the approach of the Russian army, the governor of Derbent resolved +not to sustain a siege, whether he thought he was not able to defend the +place, or that he preferred the czar's protection to that of the tyrant +Mahmoud; brought the keys of the town and citadel (which were silver) +and presented them to Peter, whose army peaceably entered the city, and +then encamped on the sea-shore. + +The usurper, Mahmoud, already master of great part of Persia, in vain +endeavoured to prevent the czar from taking possession of Derbent: he +stirred up the neighbouring Tartars, and marched into Persia to the +relief of the place; but, too late, for Derbent was already in the hands +of the conqueror. + +Peter however was not in a condition to push his successes any further +at this time. The vessels which were bringing him a fresh supply of +provisions, horses, and recruits, had been cast away near Astracan, and +the season was far spent. He therefore returned to Moscow, Jan. 5. which +he entered in triumph; and after his arrival (according to custom) gave +a strict account of his expedition to the vice-czar Romadanowski, thus +keeping up this extraordinary farce, which, says his eulogium, +pronounced in the academy of sciences at Paris, ought to have been +performed before all the monarchs of the earth. + +The empire of Persia continued to be divided between Hussein and the +usurper Mahmoud. The first of these thought to find a protector in the +czar, and the other dreaded him as an avenger, who was come to snatch +the fruits of his rebellion out of his hands. Mahmoud exerted all his +endeavours to stir up the Ottoman Porte against Peter, and for this +purpose sent an embassy to Constantinople, while the princes of +Daghestan, who were under the protection of the grand seignior, and had +been stript of their territories by the victorious army of Peter, cried +aloud for vengeance. The divan was now alarmed for the safety of +Georgia, which the Turks reckon in the number of their dominions. + +The grand seignior was on the point of declaring war against the czar, +but was prevented by the courts of Vienna and Paris. The emperor of +Germany at the same time declared, that if Russia should be attacked by +the Turks, he must be obliged to defend it. The marquis de Bonac, the +French ambassador at Constantinople, made a dextrous use of the menaces +of the imperial court, and at the same time insinuated, that it was +contrary to the true interest of the Turkish empire, to suffer a rebel +and an usurper to set the example of dethroning sovereigns, and that the +czar had done no more than what the grand seignior himself ought to have +done. + +During these delicate negotiations, Mir Mahmoud was advanced to the +gates of Derbent, and had laid waste all the neighbouring country in +order to cut off all means of subsistence from the Russian army. That +part of ancient Hyrcania, now called Ghilan, was reduced to a desert, +and the inhabitants threw themselves under the protection of the +Russians, whom they looked upon as their deliverers. + +In this they followed the example of the sophi himself. That unfortunate +prince sent a formal embassy to Peter the Great, to request his +assistance; but the ambassador was hardly departed, when the rebel, Mir +Mahmoud, seized on Ispahan and the person of his master. + +Thamaseb, the son of the dethroned sophi, who was taken prisoner, found +means to escape out of the tyrant's hands, and got together a body of +troops, with which he gave the usurper battle. He seconded his father's +entreaties to Peter the Great for his protection, and sent to the +ambassador the same instructions which Shah Hussein had given him. + +This ambassador, whose name was Ishmael Beg, found that his negotiations +had proved successful, even before he arrived in person; for, on landing +at Astracan, he learnt that general Matufkin was going to set out with +fresh recruits to reinforce the army in Daghestan. The dey of Baku or +Bachu, which with the Persians gives to the Caspian Sea the name of the +Sea of Bacou, was not yet taken. The ambassador therefore gave the +Russian general a letter for the inhabitants, in which he exhorted them +in his master's name to submit to the emperor of Russia. The ambassador +then proceeded to Petersburg, and general Matufkin departed to lay siege +to the city of Bachu. (Aug. 1723.) The Persian ambassador arrived at the +czar's court the very day that tidings were brought of the reduction of +that city. + +Baku is situate near Shamache, but is neither so well peopled, nor so +rich as the latter. It is chiefly remarkable for the naptha, with which +it furnishes all Persia. Never was treaty so speedily concluded as that +of Ishmael Beg. (Sept. 1723.) Czar Peter promised to march with his +forces into Persia, in order to revenge the death of his subjects, and +to succour Thamaseb against the usurper of his crown, and the new sophi +in return was to cede to him, not only the towns of Bachu and Derbent, +but likewise the provinces of Ghilan, Mazanderan, and Asterabath. + +Ghilan is, as we have already observed, the ancient South Hyrcania; +Mazanderan, which joins to it, is the country of the Mardi, or Mardians; +and Asterabath borders upon Mazanderan. These were the three principal +provinces of the ancient Median kings; so that Peter beheld himself, by +the means of arms and treaties, in possession of the original kingdom of +Cyrus. + +It may not be foreign to our subject to observe, that by the articles of +this convention, the prices of necessaries to be furnished to the army +were settled. A camel was to cost only sixty franks (about twelve +rubles) a pound of bread no more than five farthings, the same weight of +beef about six. These prices furnish a convincing proof of the plenty +he found in these countries, that possessions in land are of the most +intrinsic value, and that money, which is only of nominal worth, was at +that time very scarce. + +Such was the deplorable state to which Persia was then reduced, that the +unfortunate sophi Thamaseb, a wanderer in his own kingdom, and flying +before the face of the rebel, Mahmoud, who had dipt his hands in the +blood of his father and his brothers, was necessitated to entreat the +court of Russia and the Turkish divan to accept of one part of his +dominions to preserve for him the rest. + +It was agreed then, between czar Peter, sultan Achmet III. and the sophi +Thamaseb, that the first of these should keep the three provinces +above-named, and that the Porte should have Casbin, Tauris, and Erivan, +besides what she had already taken from the usurper. Thus was this noble +kingdom dismembered at once by the Russians, the Turks, and the Persians +themselves. + +And now the emperor Peter might be said to extend his dominions from the +furthest part of the Baltic Sea, beyond the southern limits of the +Caspian. Persia still continued a prey to violations and devastations, +and its natives, till then opulent and polite, were now sunk in poverty +and barbarism, while the Russian people had arisen from indigence and +ignorance to a state of riches and learning. One single man, by a +resolute and enterprising genius, had brought his country out of +obscurity; and another, by his weakness and indolence, had brought +destruction upon his. + +Hitherto we know very little of the private calamities which for so long +a time spread desolation over the face of the Persian empire. It is +said, that shah Hussein was so pusillanimous as to place with his own +hands the tiara or crown of Persia on the head of the usurper Mahmoud, +and also that this Mahmoud afterwards went mad. Thus the lives of so +many thousands of men depend on the caprice of a madman or a fool. They +add furthermore, that Mahmoud, in one of his fits of frenzy, put to +death with his own hand all the sons and nephews of the shah Hussein to +the number of a hundred; and that he caused the gospel of St. John to be +read upon his head, in order to purify himself, and to receive a cure +for his disorder. These and such like Persian fables have been +circulated by our monks, and afterwards printed in Paris. + +The tyrant, after having murdered his uncle, was in his turn put to +death by his nephew Eshreff, who was as cruel and bloody a tyrant as +Mahmoud himself. + +Shah Thamaseb still continued imploring the assistance of Russia. This +Thamaseb or shah Thomas, was assisted and afterwards replaced on the +throne by the famous Kouli Khan, and was again dethroned by the same +Kouli Khan. + +The revolutions and wars which Russia had afterwards to encounter +against the Turks, and in which she proved victorious, the evacuating +the three provinces in Persia, which cost Russia more to keep than they +were worth, are events which do not concern Peter the Great, as they did +not happen till several years after his death; it may suffice to +observe, that he finished his military career by adding three provinces +to his empire on the part next to Persia, after having just before added +the same number on that side next to Sweden. + + + + +CHAP. XXXVI. + + Of the Coronation of the Empress Catherine I. and the Death of Peter + the Great. + + +Peter, at his return from his Persian expedition, found himself in a +better condition than ever to be the arbiter of the North. He now openly +declared himself the protector of Charles XII. whose professed enemy he +had been for eighteen years. He sent for the duke of Holstein, nephew to +that monarch, to his court, promised him his eldest daughter in +marriage, and began to make preparations for supporting him in his +claims on the duchy of Holstein Sleswick, and even engaged himself so to +do by a treaty of alliance, (Feb. 1724.) which he concluded with the +crown of Sweden. + +He continued the works he had begun all over his empire, to the further +extremity of Kamtshatka, and for the better direction of them, +established an academy of sciences at Petersburg. The arts began now to +flourish on every side: manufactures were encouraged, the navy was +augmented, the army well provided, and the laws properly enforced. He +now enjoyed his glory in full repose; but was desirous of sharing it in +a new manner with her who, according to his own declaration, by +remedying the disaster of the campaign of Pruth, had been in some +measure the instrument of his acquiring that glory. + +Accordingly, the coronation of his consort Catherine was performed at +Moscow, in presence of the duchess of Courland, his eldest brother's +daughter, and the duke of Holstein, his intended son-in-law. (May 28, +1724.) The declaration which he published on this occasion merits +attention: he therein cites the examples of several Christian princes +who had placed the crown on the heads of their consorts, as likewise +those of the heathen emperors, Basilides, Justinian, Heraclius, and Leo, +the philosopher. He enumerates the services Catherine had done to the +state, and in particular in the war against the Turks,--'Where my army,' +says he, 'which had been reduced to 22,000 men, had to encounter an army +above 200,000 strong.' He does not say, in this declaration, that the +empress was to succeed to the crown after his death; but this ceremony, +which was altogether new and unusual in the Russian empire, was one of +those means by which he prepared the minds of his subjects for such an +event. Another circumstance that might perhaps furnish a stronger reason +to believe that he destined Catherine to succeed him on the throne, was, +that he himself marched on foot before her the day of her coronation, as +captain of a new company, which he had created under the name of the +_knights of the empress_. + +When they arrived at the cathedral, Peter himself placed the crown on +her head; and when she would have fallen down and embraced his knees, he +prevented her; and, at their return from the church, caused the sceptre +and globe to be carried before her. The ceremony was altogether worthy +an emperor; for on every public occasion Peter shewed as much pomp and +magnificence as he did plainness and simplicity in his private manner of +living. + +Having thus crowned his spouse, he at length determined to give his +eldest daughter, Anna Petrowna, in marriage to the duke of Holstein. +This princess greatly resembled her father in the face, was very +majestic, and of a singular beauty. She was betrothed to the duke of +Holstein on the 24th of November, 1724, but with very little ceremony. +Peter having for some time past found his health greatly impaired, and +this, together with some family uneasiness, that perhaps rather +increased his disorder, which in a short time proved fatal, permitted +him to have but very little relish for feasts or public diversions in +this latter part of his life. [116] The empress Catherine had at that +time a young man for the chamberlain of her household, whose name was +Moens de la Croix, a native of Russia, but of Flemish parents, +remarkably handsome and genteel. His sister, madame de Balc, was +bed-chamber-woman to the empress, and these two had entirely the +management of her household. Being both accused of having taken +presents, they were sent to prison, and afterwards brought to their +trial by express order of the czar; who, by an edict in the year 1714, +had forbidden any one holding a place about court to receive any present +or other gratuity, on pain of being declared infamous, and suffering +death; and this prohibition had been several times renewed. + +The brother and sister were found guilty, and received sentence, and all +those who had either purchased their services or given them any gratuity +in return for the same, were included therein, except the duke of +Holstein and his minister count Bassewitz: as it is probable that the +presents made by that prince, to those who had a share in bringing about +his marriage with the czar's daughter, were not looked upon in a +criminal light. + +Moens was condemned to be beheaded, and his sister (who was the +empress's favourite) to receive eleven strokes of the knout. The two +sons of this lady, one of whom was an officer in the household, and the +other a page, were degraded, and sent to serve as private soldiers in +the army in Persia. + +These severities, though they shock our manners, were perhaps necessary +in a country where the observance of the laws is to be enforced only by +the most terrifying rigour. The empress solicited her favourite's +pardon; but the czar, offended at her application, peremptorily refused +her, and, in the heat of his passion, seeing a fine looking-glass in the +apartment, he, with one blow of his fist, broke it into a thousand +pieces; and, turning to the empress, 'Thus,' said he, 'thou seest I can, +with one stroke of my hand, reduce this glass to its original dust.' +Catherine, in a melting accent, replied, 'It is true, you have destroyed +one of the greatest ornaments of your palace, but do you think that +palace is the more charming for its loss?' This answer appeased the +emperor's wrath; but all the favour that Catherine could obtain for her +bed-chamber-woman was, that she should receive only five strokes of the +knout instead of eleven. + +I should not have related this anecdote, had it not been attested by a +public minister, who was eye-witness of the whole transaction, and who, +by having made presents to the unfortunate brother and sister, was +perhaps himself one of the principal causes of their disgrace and +sufferings. It was this affair that emboldened those who judge of every +thing in the worst light, to spread the report that Catherine hastened +the death of her husband, whose choleric disposition filled her with +apprehensions that overweighed the gratitude she owed him for the many +favours he had heaped upon her. + +These cruel suspicions were confirmed by Catherine's recalling to court +her woman of the bed-chamber immediately upon the death of the czar, and +reinstating her in her former influence. It is the duty of an historian +to relate the public reports which have been circulated in all times in +states, on the decease of princes who have been snatched away by a +premature death, as if nature was not alone sufficient to put a period +to the existence of a crowned head as well as that of a beggar; but it +is likewise the duty of an historian to shew how far such reports were +rashly or unjustly formed. + +There is an immense distance between the momentary discontent which may +arise from the morose or harsh behaviour of a husband, and the desperate +resolution of poisoning that husband, who is at the same time our +sovereign and benefactor in the highest degree. The danger attending +such a design would have been as great as it was criminal. Catherine had +at that time a powerful party against her, who epoused the cause of the +son of the deceased czarowitz. Nevertheless, neither that faction, nor +any one person about the court, once suspected the czarina; and the +vague rumours which were spread on this head were founded only on the +mistaken notions of foreigners, who were very imperfectly acquainted +with the affair, and who chose to indulge the wretched pleasure of +accusing of heinous crimes those whom they thought interested to commit +them. But it was even very doubtful whether this was at all the case +with Catherine. It was far from being certain that she was to succeed +her husband. She had been crowned indeed, but only in the character of +wife to the reigning sovereign, and not as one who was to enjoy the +sovereign authority after his death. + +Peter, in his declaration, had only ordered this coronation as a matter +of ceremony, and not as conferring a right of governing. He therein only +cited the examples of emperors, who had caused their consorts to be +crowned, but not of those who had conferred on them the royal authority. +In fine, at the very time of Peter's illness, several persons believed +that the princess Anna Petrowna would succeed him jointly with her +husband the duke of Holstein, or that the czar would nominate his +grandson for his successor; therefore, so far from Catherine's being +interested in the death of the emperor, she rather seemed concerned in +the preservation of his life. + +It is undeniable, that Peter had, for a considerable time, been troubled +with an abscess in the bladder, and a stoppage of urine. The mineral +waters of Olnitz, and some others, which he had been advised to use, had +proved of very little service to him, and he had found himself growing +sensibly weaker, ever since the beginning of the year 1724. His labours, +from which he would not allow himself any respite, increased his +disorder, and hastened his end: (Jan. 1723.) his malady became now more +and more desperate, he felt burning pains, which threw him into an +almost constant delirium,[117] whenever he had a moment's interval, he +endeavoured to write, but he could only scrawl a few lines that were +wholly unintelligible; and it was with the greatest difficulty that the +following words, in the Russian language, could be distinguished:--'_Let +every thing be given to ----_' + +He then called for the princess Anna Petrowna, in order to dictate to +her, but by that time she could come to his bed-side, he had lost his +speech, and fell into a fit, which lasted sixteen hours. The empress +Catherine did not quit his bed-side for three nights together. At +length, he breathed his last in her arms, on the 28th of Jan. 1725. +about four o'clock in the morning. + +His body was conveyed into the great hall of the palace, accompanied by +all the imperial family, the senate, all the principal personages of +state, and an innumerable concourse of people. It was there exposed on a +bed of state, and every one was permitted to approach and kiss his hand, +till the day of his interment, which was on the 10-21st of March, +1725.[118] + +It has been thought, and it has been asserted in print, that he had +appointed his wife Catherine to succeed him in the empire, by his last +will, but the truth is, that he never made any will, or at least none +that ever appeared; a most astonishing negligence in so great a +legislator, and a proof that he did not think his disorder mortal. + +No one knew, at the time of his death, who was to succeed him: he left +behind him his grandson Peter, son of the unfortunate Alexis, and his +eldest daughter Anna, married to the duke of Holstein. There was a +considerable faction in favour of young Peter; but prince Menzikoff, who +had never had any other interests than those of the empress Catherine, +took care to be beforehand with all parties, and their designs; and +accordingly, when the czar was upon the point of giving up the ghost, he +caused the empress to remove into another apartment of the palace, where +all their friends were assembled ready: he had the royal treasures +conveyed into the citadel, and secured the guards in his interest, as +likewise the archbishop of Novogorod; and then they held a private +council, in presence of the empress Catherine, and one Macarof, a +secretary, in whom they could confide, at which the duke of Holstein's +minister assisted. + +At the breaking up of this council, the empress returned to the czar's +bed-side, who soon after yielded up the ghost in her arms. As soon as +his death was made known, the principal senators and general officers +repaired to the palace, where the empress made a speech to them, which +prince Menzikoff answered in the name of all present. The empress being +withdrawn, they proceeded to consider the proper forms to be observed on +the occasion, when Theophanes, archbishop of Pleskow, told the assembly, +that, on the eve of the coronation of the empress Catherine, the +deceased czar had declared to him, that his sole reason for placing the +crown on her head, was, that she might wear it after his death; upon +which the assembly unanimously signed the proclamation, and Catherine +succeeded her husband on the throne the very day of his death. + +Peter the Great was regretted by all those whom he had formed, and the +descendants of those who had been sticklers for the ancient customs soon +began to look on him as their father: foreign nations, who have beheld +the duration of his establishments, have always expressed the highest +admiration for his memory, acknowledging that he was actuated by a more +than common prudence and wisdom, and not by a vain desire of doing +extraordinary things. All Europe knows that though he was fond of fame, +he coveted it only for noble principles; that though he had faults, they +never obscured his noble qualities, and that, though, as a man, he was +liable to errors, as a monarch he was always great: he every way forced +nature, in his subjects, in himself, by sea and land: but he forced her +only to render her more pleasing and noble. The arts, which he +transplanted with his own hands, into countries, till then in a manner +savage, have flourished, and produced fruits which are lasting +testimonies of his genius, and will render his memory immortal, since +they now appear as natives of those places to which he introduced them. +The civil, political, and military government, trade, manufactures, the +arts and the sciences, have all been carried on, according to his plan, +and by an event not to be paralleled in history: we have seen four women +successively ascend the throne after him, who have maintained, in full +vigour, all the great designs he accomplished, and have completed those +which he had begun. + +The court has undergone some revolutions since his death, but the empire +has not suffered one. Its splendour was increased by Catherine I. It +triumphed over the Turks and the Swedes under Anna Petrowna; and under +Elizabeth it conquered Prussia, and a part of Pomerania; and lastly, it +has tasted the sweets of peace, and has seen the arts flourish in +fulness and security in the reign of Catherine the Second.[119] + +Let the historians of that nation enter into the minutest circumstances +of the new creation, the wars and undertakings of Peter the Great: let +them rouse the emulation of their countrymen, by celebrating those +heroes who assisted this monarch in his labours, in the field, and in +the cabinet. It is sufficient for a stranger, a disinterested admirer of +merit, to have endeavoured to set to view that great man, who learned of +Charles XII. to conquer him, who twice quitted his dominions, in order +to govern them the better, who worked with his own hands, in almost all +the useful and necessary arts, to set an example of instruction to his +people, and who was the founder and the father of his empire.[120] + +Princes, who reign over states long since civilized, may say to +themselves, 'If a man, assisted only by his own genius, has been capable +of doing such great things in the frozen climes of ancient Scythia, what +may not be expected from us, in kingdoms where the accumulated labours +of many ages have rendered the way so easy?' + + + + +ORIGINAL PIECES RELATIVE TO THIS HISTORY, AGREEABLE TO THE TRANSLATIONS +MADE AT THEIR FIRST PUBLICATION, BY ORDER OF CZAR PETER I. + + +SENTENCE _Pronounced against the CZAROWITZ ALEXIS, June 24th, 1718._ + +By virtue of an express ordinance issued by his czarish majesty, and +signed by his own hand, on the 13th of June, for the judgment of the +czarowitz Alexis Petrowitz, in relation to his crimes and transgressions +against his father and sovereign; the undernamed ministers and senators, +estates military and civil, after having assembled several times in the +regency chamber of the senate of Petersburg, and having heard read the +original writings and testimonies given against the czarowitz, as also +his majesty's admonitory letters to that prince, and his answers to them +in his own writing, and other acts relating to the process, and likewise +the criminal informations, declarations and confessions of the +czarowitz, partly written with his own hand, and partly delivered by +word of mouth to his father and sovereign, before the several persons +undernamed, constituted by his czarish majesty's authority to the effect +of the present judgment, do acknowledge and declare, that though +according to the laws of the Russian empire, it belongs not to them, the +natural subjects of his czarish majesty's sovereign dominions, to take +cognizance of an affair of this nature, which for its importance depends +solely on the absolute will of the sovereign, whose power, unlimited by +any law, is derived from God alone; yet, in submission to his ordinance +who hath given them this liberty, and after mature reflection, observing +the dictates of their consciences without fear, flattery, or respect of +persons, having nothing before their eyes but the divine laws applicable +to the present case, the canons and rules of councils, the authority of +the holy fathers and doctors of the church, and taking also for their +rule the instruction of the archbishops and clergy assembled at +Petersburg on this occasion, and conforming themselves to the laws and +constitutions of this empire, which are agreeable to those of other +nations, especially the Greeks and the Romans, and other Christian +princes; they unanimously agreed and pronounced the czarowitz Alexis +Petrowitz _to be worthy of death_, for the aforesaid crimes and capital +transgressions against his sovereign and father, he being his czarish +majesty's son and subject; and that, notwithstanding the promise given +by his czarish majesty to the czarowitz, in a letter sent by M. Tolstoy +and captain Romanzoff, dated from Spaw, the 10th of July, 1717, to +pardon his elopement if he voluntarily returned, as the czarowitz +himself acknowledges with gratitude, in his answer to that letter, dated +from Naples, the 4th of October, 1717, wherein he returns thanks to his +majesty for the pardon he had promised him solely on condition of his +speedy and voluntary return; yet he hath forfeited and rendered himself +unworthy of that pardon, by renewing and continuing his former +transgressions, as is fully set forth in his majesty's manifesto of the +3d of February, in this present year, and for not returning voluntarily +and of his own accord. + +And although his majesty did, upon the arrival of the czarowitz at +Moscow, and his humbly confessing in writing his crimes, and asking +pardon for them, take pity on him, as is natural for every father to act +towards a son, and at the audience, held in the great hall of the +castle, dated the said 3d day of February, did promise him full pardon +for all his crimes and transgressions, it was only on condition that he +would declare, without reserve or restriction, all his designs, and who +were his counsellors and abettors therein, but that if he concealed any +one person or thing, that in such case the promised pardon should be +null and void, which conditions the czarowitz did at that time accept +and receive, with all outward tokens of gratitude and obedience, +solemnly swearing on the holy cross and the blessed evangelists, and in +the presence of all those assembled at that time and for that purpose in +the cathedral church, that he would faithfully, and without reserve, +declare the whole truth. + +His majesty did also the next day confirm to the czarowitz in writing +the said promise, in the interrogatories which hereafter follow, and +which his majesty caused to be delivered to him, having first written at +the begining what follows: + +'As you did yesterday receive your pardon, on condition that you would +confess all the circumstances of your flight, and whatever relates +thereto; but if you concealed any part thereof, you should answer for it +with your life; and, as you have already made some confessions, it is +expected of you, for our more full satisfaction, and your own safety, to +commit the same to writing, in such order as shall in the course of your +examination be pointed out to you.' + +And at the end, under the seventh question, there was again written, +with his czarish majesty's own hand: + +'Declare to us, and discover whatever hath any relation to this affair, +though it be not here expressed, and clear yourself as if it were at +confession; for if you conceal any thing that shall by any other means +be afterwards discovered, do not impute the consequence to us, since you +have been already told, that in such case the pardon granted you should +be null and void.' + +Notwithstanding all which, the answers and confessions of the czarowitz +were delivered without any sincerity; he not only concealing many of his +accomplices, but also the capital circumstances relating to his own +transgressions, particularly his rebellious design in usurping the +throne even in the life-time of his father, flattering himself that the +populace would declare in his favour; all which hath since been fully +discovered in the criminal process, after he had refused to make a +discovery himself, as hath appeared by the above presents. + +Thus it hath appeared by the whole conduct of the czarowitz, as well as +by the confessions which he both delivered in writing, and by word of +mouth, particularly, that he was not disposed to wait for the succession +in the manner in which his father had left it to him after his death, +according to equity, and the order of nature which God has established; +but intended to take the crown off the head of his father, while living, +and set it upon his own, not only by a civil insurrection, but by the +assistance of a foreign force, which he had actually requested. + +The czarowitz has hereby rendered himself unworthy of the clemency and +pardon, promised him by the emperor his father; and since the laws +divine and ecclesiastical, civil and military, condemn to death, without +mercy, not only those whose attempts against their father and sovereign +have been proved by testimonies and writings; but even such as have been +convicted of an intention to rebel, and of having formed a base design +to kill their sovereign, and usurp the throne; what shall we think of a +rebellious design, almost unparalleled in history, joined to that of a +horrid parricide, against him who was his father in a double capacity; a +father of great lenity and indulgence, who brought up the czarowitz from +the cradle with more than paternal care and tenderness; who earnestly +endeavoured to form him for government, and with incredible pains, and +indefatigable application, to instruct him in the military art, and +qualify him to succeed to so great an empire? with how much stronger +reason does such a design deserve to be punished with death? + +It is therefore with hearts full of affliction, and eyes streaming with +tears, that we, as subjects and servants, pronounce this sentence; +considering that it belongs not to us to give judgment in a case of so +great importance, and especially to pronounce against the son of our +most precious sovereign lord the czar. Nevertheless, it being his +pleasure that we should act in this capacity, we, by these presents, +declare our real opinion, and pronounce this sentence of condemnation +with a pure and Christian conscience, as we hope to be able to answer +for it at the just, awful, and impartial tribunal of Almighty God. + +We submit, however, this sentence, which we now pass, to the sovereign +power, the will, and merciful revisal of his czarish majesty, our most +gracious sovereign. + + +THE PEACE OF NYSTADT. + +In the name of the Most Holy and undivided Trinity. + +Be it known by these presents, that whereas a bloody, long, and +expensive war has arisen and subsisted for several years past, between +his late majesty king Charles XII. of glorious memory, king of Sweden, +of the Goths, and Vandals, &c. &c. his successors to the throne of +Sweden, the lady Ulrica queen of Sweden, of the Goths and Vandals, &c. +and the kingdom of Sweden, on the one part; and between his czarish +majesty Peter the First, emperor of all the Russias, &c. and the empire +of Russia, on the other part; the two powers have thought proper to +exert their endeavours to find out means to put a period to those +troubles, and prevent the further effusion of so much innocent blood; +and it has pleased the Almighty to dispose the hearts of both powers, to +appoint a meeting of their ministers plenipotentiary, to treat of, and +conclude a firm, sincere and lasting peace, and perpetual friendship +between the two powers, their dominions, provinces, countries, vassals, +subjects, and inhabitants; namely, Mr. John Liliensted, one of the most +honourable privy-council to his majesty the king of Sweden, his kingdom +and chancery, and baron Otto Reinhold Stroemfeld, intendant of the +copper mines and fiefs of Dalders, on the part of his said majesty; and +on the part of his czarish majesty, count Jacob Daniel Bruce, his +general adjutant, president of the colleges of mines and manufactories, +and knight of the order of St. Andrew and the White Eagle, and Mr. Henry +John Frederic Osterman, one of his said majesty's privy-counsellors in +his chancery: which plenipotentiary ministers, being assembled at +Nystadt, and having communicated to each other their respective +commissions, and imploring the divine assistance, did enter upon this +important and salutary enterprise, and have, by the grace and blessing +of God, concluded the following peace between the crown of Sweden and +his czarish majesty. + +Art. 1. There shall be now and henceforward a perpetual and inviolable +peace, sincere union, and indissoluble friendship, between his majesty +Frederic the First, king of Sweden, of the Goths and Vandals, his +successors to the crown and kingdom of Sweden, his dominions, provinces, +countries, villages, vassals, subjects, and inhabitants, as well within +the Roman empire as out of said empire, on the one side; and his czarish +majesty Peter the First, emperor of all the Russias, &c. his successors +to the throne of Russia, and all his countries, villages, vassals, +subjects, and inhabitants, on the other side; in such wise, that for +the future, neither of the two reconciled powers shall commit, or suffer +to be committed, any hostility, either privately or publicly, directly +or indirectly, nor shall in any wise assist the enemies of each other, +on any pretext whatever, not contract any alliance with them, that may +be contrary to this peace, but shall always maintain and preserve a +sincere friendship towards each other, and as much as in them lies, +support their mutual honour, advantage and safety; as likewise prevent, +to the utmost of their power, any injury or vexation with which either +of the reconciled parties may be threatened by any other power. + +Art. 2. It is further mutually agreed upon betwixt the two parties, that +a general pardon and act of oblivion for all hostilities committed +during the war, either by arms or otherwise, shall be strictly observed, +so far as that neither party shall ever henceforth either call to mind, +or take vengeance for the same, particularly in regard to persons of +state, and subjects who have entered into the service of either of the +two parties during the war, and have thereby become enemies to the +other, except only the Russian Cossacks, who enlisted in the service of +the king of Sweden, and whom his czarish majesty will not consent to +have included in the said general pardon, notwithstanding the +intercession made for them by the king of Sweden. + +Art. 3. All hostilities, both by sea and land, shall cease both here and +in the grand duchy of Finland in fifteen days, or sooner, if possible, +after the regular exchange of the ratifications; and to this intent the +conclusion of the peace shall be published without delay. And in case +that, after the expiration of the said term, any hostilities should be +committed by either party, either by sea or land, in any manner +whatsoever, through ignorance of the conclusion of the peace, such +offence shall by no means prejudice the conclusion of said peace; on the +contrary, each shall make a reciprocal exchange of both men and effects +that may be taken after the said term. + +Art. 4. His majesty the king of Sweden does, by the present treaty, as +well for himself as for his successors to the throne and kingdom of +Sweden, cede to his czarish majesty, and his successors to the Russian +empire, in full, irrevocable and everlasting possession, the provinces +which have been taken by his czarish majesty's arms from the crown of +Sweden during this war, viz. Livonia, Esthonia, Ingria, and a part of +Carelia, as likewise the district of the fiefs of Wybourg specified +hereafter in the article for regulating the limits; the towns and +fortresses of Riga, Dunamund, Pernau, Revel, Dorpt, Nerva, Wybourg, +Kexholm, and the other towns, fortresses, harbours, countries, +districts, rivers, and coasts, belonging to the provinces: as likewise +the islands of Oesel, Dagoe, Moen, and all the other islands from the +frontiers of Courland, towards the coasts of Livonia, Esthonia, and +Ingria, and on the east side of Revel, and in the road of Wybourg, +towards the south-east, with all the present inhabitants of those +islands, and of the aforesaid provinces, towns, and countries; and in +general, all their appurtenances, dependencies, prerogatives, rights, +and advantages, without exception, in like manner as the crown of Sweden +possessed them. + +To which purpose, his majesty the king of Sweden renounces for ever, in +the most solemn manner, as well for his own part, as for his successors, +and for the whole kingdom of Sweden, all pretensions which they have +hitherto had, or could have, to the said provinces, islands, countries, +and towns; and all the inhabitants thereof shall, by virtue of these +presents, be discharged from the oath of allegiance, which they have +taken to the crown of Sweden, in such wise as that his Swedish majesty, +and the kingdom of Sweden, shall never hereafter either claim or demand +the same, on any pretence whatsoever; but, on the contrary, they shall +be and remain incorporated for ever into the empire of Russia. Moreover, +his Swedish majesty, and the kingdom of Sweden, promise by these +presents to assist and support from henceforth his czarish majesty, and +his successors to the empire of Russia, in the peaceable possession of +the said provinces, islands, countries, and towns; and that they will +find out and deliver up to the persons authorized by his czarish majesty +for that purpose, all the records and papers principally belonging to +those places which have been taken away and carried into Sweden during +the war. + +Art 5. His czarish majesty, in return, promises to evacuate and restore +to his Swedish majesty, and the kingdom of Sweden, within the space of +four weeks after the exchange of the ratifications of this treaty, or +sooner if possible, the grand duchy of Finland, except only that part +thereof which has been reserved by the following regulation of the +limits which shall belong to his czarish majesty, so that his said +czarish majesty, and his successors, never shall have or bring the least +claim or demand on the said duchy, on any pretence whatever. His czarish +majesty further declares and promises, that certain and prompt payment +of two millions of crowns shall be made without any discount to the +deputies of the king of Sweden, on condition that they produce and give +sufficient receipts, as agreed upon; and the said payment shall be made +in such coin as shall be agreed upon by a separate article, which shall +be of equal force as if inserted in the body of this treaty. + +Art. 6. His majesty the king of Sweden does further reserve to himself, +in regard to trade, the liberty of buying corn yearly at Riga, Revel, +and Arensbourg, to the amount of fifty thousand rubles, which corn shall +be transported from thence into Sweden, without paying duty or any other +taxes, on producing a certificate, shewing that such corn has been +purchased for the use of his Swedish majesty, or by his subjects, +charged with the care of making this purchase by his said majesty; and +such right shall not be subject to, or depend on any exigency, wherein +his czarish majesty may find it necessary, either on account of a bad +harvest, or some other important reasons, to prohibit in general the +exportation of corn to any other nation. + +Art. 7. His czarish majesty does also promise, in the most solemn +manner, that he will in no wise interfere with the private affairs of +the kingdom of Sweden, nor with the form of government, which has been +regulated and established by the oath of allegiance, and unanimous +consent of the states of said kingdom; neither will he assist therein +any person whatever, in any manner, directly or indirectly; but, on the +contrary, will endeavour to hinder and prevent any disturbance +happening, provided his czarish majesty has timely notice of the same, +who will on all such occasions act as a sincere friend and good +neighbour to the crown of Sweden. + +Art. 8. And as they mutually intend to establish a firm sincere and +lasting peace, to which purpose it is very necessary to regulate the +limits so, that neither of the parties can harbour any jealousy, but +that each shall peaceably possess whatever has been surrendered to him +by this treaty of peace, they have thought proper to declare, that the +two empires shall from henceforth and for ever have the following +limits, beginning on the northern coast of the Bothnic gulf, near +Wickolax, from whence they shall extend to within half a league of the +sea-coast inland, and from the distance of half a league from the sea as +far as opposite to Willayoki, and from thence further inland; so that +from the sea-side, and opposite to Rohel, there shall be a distance of +about three-quarters of a league, in a direct line, to the road which +leads from Wibourg to Lapstrand, at three leagues distance from Wibourg, +and which proceeds the same distance of three leagues towards the north +by Wibourg, in a direct line to the former limits between Russia and +Sweden, even before the reduction of the district of Kexholm under the +government of the king of Sweden. Those ancient limits extend eight +leagues towards the north, from thence they run in a direct line through +the district of Kexholm, to the place where the harbour of Porogerai, +which begins near the town of Kudumagube, joins to the ancient limits, +between Russia and Sweden, so that his majesty the king and kingdom of +Sweden, shall henceforth possess all that part lying west and north +beyond the above specified limits, and his czarish majesty and the +empire of Russia all that part which is situated east and south of the +said limits. And as his czarish majesty surrenders from henceforth to +his Swedish majesty and the kingdom of Sweden, a part of the district of +Kexholm, which belonged heretofore to the empire of Russia, he promises, +in the most solemn manner, in regard to himself and successors to the +throne of Russia, that he never will make any future claim to this said +district of Kexholm, on any account whatever; but the said district +shall hereafter be and remain incorporated into the kingdom of Sweden. +As to the limits in the country of Lamparque, they shall remain on the +same footing as they were before the beginning of this war between the +two empires. It is further agreed upon, that commissaries shall be +appointed by each party, immediately after the ratification of this +treaty to regulate the limits as aforesaid. + +Art. 9. His czarish majesty further promises to maintain all the +inhabitants of the provinces of Livonia, Esthonia, and Oesel, as well +nobles as plebeians, and the towns, magistrates, companies, and trades, +in the full enjoyment of the said privileges, customs and prerogatives, +which they have enjoyed under the dominion of his Swedish majesty. + +Art. 10. There shall not hereafter be any violence offered to the +consciences of the inhabitants of the ceded countries; on the contrary, +his czarish majesty engages on his side to preserve and maintain the +evangelical (Lutheran) religion on the same footing as under the Swedish +government, provided there is likewise a free liberty of conscience +allowed to those of the Greek religion. + +Art. 11. In regard to the reductions and liquidations made in the reign +of the late king of Sweden in Livonia, Esthonia, and Oesel, to the great +injury of the subjects and inhabitants of those countries, which, +conformable to the justice of the affair in question, obliged his late +majesty the king of Sweden, of glorious memory, to promise, by an +ordinance (which was published the 13th day of April, 1700, that if any +one of his subjects could fairly prove, that the goods which had been +confiscated were their property justice should be done them, whereby +several subjects of the said countries have had such their confiscated +effects restored to them) his czarish majesty engages and promises, that +justice shall be done to every person, whether residing or not, who has +a just claim or pretension to any lands in Livonia, Esthonia, or the +province of Oesel, and can make full proof thereof, and that such person +shall be reinstated in the possession of his lands and effects. + +Art. 12. There shall likewise be immediate restitution made, conformable +to the general amnesty regulated and agreed by the second article, to +such of the inhabitants of Livonia, Esthonia, and the island of Oesel, +who may during this war have joined the king of Sweden, together with +all their effects, lands, and houses, which have been confiscated and +given to others, as well in the towns of these provinces, as in those of +Narva and Wibourg, notwithstanding they may have passed during the said +war by inheritance or otherwise into other hands, with any exception or +restraint, even though the proprietors should be actually in Sweden, +either as prisoners or otherwise; and such restitution shall take place +so soon as each person is re-naturalized by his respective government, +and produces his documents relating to his right; on the other hand, +these proprietors shall by no means lay claim to, or pretend to any part +of, the revenues, which may have been received by those who were in +possession in consequence of the confiscation, nor to any other +compensation for their losses in the war or otherwise. And all persons, +who are thus put in re-possession of their effects and lands, shall be +obliged to do homage to his czarish majesty, their present sovereign, +and further to behave themselves as faithful vassals and subjects; and +when they have taken the usual oath of allegiance, they shall be at +liberty to leave their own country to go and live in any other, which is +in alliance and friendship with the Russian empire, as also to enter +into the service of neutral powers, or to continue therein, if already +engaged, as they shall think proper. On the other hand, in regard to +those, who do not choose to do homage to his czarish majesty, they shall +be allowed the space of three years from the publication of the peace, +to sell or dispose of their effects, lands, and all belonging to them, +to the best advantage, without paying any more than is paid by every +other person, agreeably to the laws and statutes of the country. And if +hereafter, it should happen that an inheritance should devolve to any +person according to the laws of the country, and that such person shall +not as yet have taken the oath of allegiance to his czarish majesty, he +shall in such case be obliged to take the same at the time of entering +on the possession of his inheritance, otherwise to sell off all his +effects in the space of one year. + +Also those who have advanced money on lands in Livonia, Esthonia, and +the island of Oesel, and have lawful security for the same, shall enjoy +their mortgages peaceably, until both capital and interest are +discharged; on the other hand, the mortgages shall not claim any +interest, which expired during the war, and which have not been demanded +or paid; but those who in either of these cases have the administration +of the said effects, shall be obliged to do homage to his czarish +majesty. This likewise extends to all those who remain in his czarish +majesty's dominions, and who shall have the same liberty to dispose of +their effects in Sweden, and in those countries which have been +surrendered to that crown by this peace. Moreover, the subjects of each +of the reconciled powers shall be mutually supported in all their lawful +claims and demands, whether on the public, or on individuals within the +dominions of the two powers, and immediate justice shall be done them, +so that every person may be reinstated in the possession of what justly +belongs to him. + +Art. 13. All contributions in money shall from the signing of this +treaty cease in the grand duchy of Finland, which his czarish majesty by +the fifth article of this treaty cedes to his Swedish majesty and the +kingdom of Sweden; on the other hand the duchy of Finland shall furnish +his czarish majesty's troops with the necessary provisions and forage +gratis, until they shall have entirely evacuated the said duchy, on the +said footing as has been practised heretofore; and his czarish majesty +shall prohibit and forbid, under the severest penalties, the dislodging +any ministers or peasants of the Finnish nation, contrary to their +inclinations, or that the least injury be done to them. In consideration +of which, and as it will be permitted his czarish majesty, upon +evacuating the said countries and towns, to take with him his great and +small cannon, with their carriages and other appurtenances, and the +magazines and other warlike stores which he shall think fit. The +inhabitants shall furnish a sufficient number of horse and waggons as +far as the frontiers; and also, if the whole of this cannot be executed +according to the stipulated terms, and that any part of such artillery, +&c. is necessitated to be left behind, then, and in such cases, that +which is so left shall be properly taken care of, and afterwards +delivered to his czarish majesty's deputies, whenever it shall be +agreeable to them, and likewise be transported to the frontiers in +manner as above. If his czarish majesty's troops shall have found and +sent out of the country any deeds or papers belonging to the grand duchy +of Finland, strict search shall be made for the same, and all of them +that can be found shall be faithfully restored to deputies of his +Swedish majesty. + +Art. 14. All the prisoners on each side, of whatsoever nation, rank, and +condition, shall be set at liberty immediately after the ratification of +this treaty, without any ransom, at the same time every prisoner shall +either pay or give sufficient security for the payment of all debts by +them contracted. The prisoners on each side shall be furnished with the +necessary horses and waggons gratis during the time allotted for their +return home, in proportion to the distance from the frontiers. In regard +to such prisoners, who shall have sided with one or the other party, or +who shall choose to settle in the dominions of either of the two powers, +they shall have full liberty so to do without restriction: and this +liberty shall likewise extend to all those who have been compelled to +serve either party during the war, who may in like manner remain where +they are, or return home; except such who have voluntarily embraced the +Greek religion, in compliance to his czarish majesty; for which purpose +each party shall order that the edicts be published and made known in +their respective dominions. + +Art. 15. His majesty the king, and the republic of Poland, as allies to +his czarish majesty, are expressly comprehended in this treaty of peace, +and have equal right thereto, as if the treaty of peace between them and +the crown of Sweden had been inserted here at full length: to which +purpose all hostilities whatsoever shall cease in general throughout all +the kingdoms, countries, and patrimonies belonging to the two reconciled +parties, whether situated within or out of the Roman empire, and there +shall be a solid and lasting peace established between the two aforesaid +powers. And as no plenipotentiary on the part of his Polish majesty and +the republic of Poland has assisted at this treaty of peace, held at +Nystadt, and that consequently they could not at one and the same time +renew the peace by a solemn treaty between his majesty the king of +Poland and the crown of Sweden, his majesty the king of Sweden does +therefore engage and promise, that he will send plenipotentiaries to +open the conferences, so soon as a place shall be appointed for the said +meeting, in order to conclude, through the mediation of his czarish +majesty, a lasting peace between the two crowns, provided nothing is +therein contained which may be prejudicial to the treaty of perpetual +peace made with his czarish majesty. + +Art. 16. A free trade shall be regulated and established as soon as +possible, which shall subsist both by sea and land between the two +powers, their dominions, subjects, and inhabitants, by means of a +separate treaty on this head, to the good and advantage of their +respective dominions; and in the mean time the subjects of Russia and +Sweden shall have leave to trade freely in the empire of Russia and +kingdom of Sweden, so soon as the treaty of peace is ratified, after +paying the usual duties on the several kinds of merchandise; so that, +the subjects of Russia and Sweden shall reciprocally enjoy the same +privileges and prerogatives as are enjoyed by the closest friends of +either of the said states. + +Art. 17. Restitution shall be made on both sides, after the ratification +of the peace, not only of the magazines which were before the +commencement of the war established in certain trading towns belonging +to the two powers, but also liberty shall be reciprocally granted to the +subjects of his czarish majesty and the king of Sweden to establish +magazines in the towns, harbours, and other places subject to both or +either of the said powers. + +Art. 18. If any Swedish ships of war or merchant vessels shall have the +misfortune to be wrecked, or cast away by stress of weather, or any +other accident, on the coasts and harbours of Russia, his czarish +majesty's subjects shall be obliged to give them all aid and assistance +in their power to save their rigging and effects, and faithfully to +restore whatever may be drove on shore, if demanded, provided they are +properly rewarded. And the subjects of his majesty the king of Sweden +shall do the same in regard to such Russian ships and effects as may +have the misfortune to be wrecked or otherwise lost on the coasts of +Sweden; for which purpose, and to prevent all ill treatment, robbing, +and plundering, which commonly happens on such melancholy occasions, his +czarish majesty and the king of Sweden will cause a most rigorous +prohibition to be issued, and all who shall be found transgressing in +this point shall be punished on the spot. + +Art. 19. And to prevent all possible cause or occasion of +misunderstanding between the two parties, in relation to sea affairs, +they have concluded and determined, that any Swedish ships of war, of +whatever number or size, that shall hereafter pass by any of his czarish +majesty's forts or castles, shall salute the same with their cannon, +which compliment shall be directly returned in the same manner by the +Russian fort or castle; and, _vice versa_, any Russian ships of war, of +whatever number or size, that shall hereafter pass by any fort or castle +belonging to his Swedish majesty, shall salute the same with a discharge +of their cannon, which compliment shall be instantly returned in the +same manner by the Swedish fort; and in case any one or more Swedish and +Russian ships shall meet at sea, or in any harbour or elsewhere, they +shall salute each other with a common discharge, as is usually practised +on such occasions between the ships of Sweden and Denmark. + +Art. 20. It is mutually agreed between the two powers, no longer to +defray the expenses of the ministers of the two powers, as have been +done hitherto; but their representative ministers, plenipotentiaries, +and envoys, shall hereafter defray their own expenses and those of their +own attendants, as well on their journey as during their stay, and back +to their respective place of residence. On the other hand, either of the +two parties, on receiving timely notice of the arrival of an envoy, +shall order that their subjects give them all the assistance that may be +necessary to escort them safe on their journey. + +Art. 21. His majesty the king of Sweden does on his part comprehend his +majesty the king of Great Britain in this treaty of peace, reserving +only the differences subsisting between their czarish and his Britannic +majesties, which they shall immediately endeavour to terminate in a +friendly manner; and such other powers, who shall be named by the two +reconciled parties within the space of three months, shall likewise be +included in this treaty of peace. + +Art. 22. In case any misunderstanding shall hereafter arise between the +states and subjects of Sweden and Russia, it shall by no means prejudice +this treaty of perpetual peace; which shall nevertheless always be and +remain in full force agreeable to its intent, and commissaries shall +without delay be appointed on each side to inquire into and adjust all +disputes. + +Art. 23. All those who have been guilty of high treason, murder, theft, +and other crimes, and those who deserted from Sweden to Russia, and from +Russia to Sweden, either singly or with their wives and children, shall +be immediately sent back, provided the complaining party of the country +from whence they made their escape, shall think fit to recal them, let +them be of what nation soever, and in the same condition as they were at +their arrival, together with their wives and children, as likewise with +all they had stolen, plundered, or taken away with them in their flight. + +Art. 24. The exchange of the ratification of this treaty of peace, shall +be reciprocally made at Nystadt within the space of three weeks, after +the day of signing the same, or sooner, if possible. In witness whereof, +two copies of this treaty, exactly corresponding with each other, have +been drawn up, and confirmed by the plenipotentiary ministers on each +side, in virtue of the authority they have received from their +respective sovereigns; which copies they have signed with their own +hands, and sealed with their own seals. Done at Nystadt, this 30th day +of August, in the year of our Lord 1721. O. S. + + Jean Liliensted. + Otto Reinhold Stroemfeld. + Jacob Daniel Bruce. + Henry-John-Frederic Osterman. + + +_Ordinance of the Emperor Peter I. for the crowning of the Empress +Catherine._ + +We, Peter the First, emperor and autocrator of all the Russias, &c. to +all our officers ecclesiastical, civil, and military, and all others of +the Russian nation, our faithful subjects. + +No one can be ignorant that it has been a constant and invariable custom +among the monarchs of all Christian states, to cause their consorts to +be crowned, and that the same is at present practised, and hath +frequently been in former times by those emperors who professed the +holy faith of the Greek church; to wit, by the emperor Basilides, who +caused his wife Zenobia to be crowned; the emperor Justinian, his wife +Lucipina; the emperor Heraclius, his wife Martina: the emperor Leo, the +philosopher, his wife Mary; and many others, who have in like manner +placed the imperial crown on the head of their consorts, and whom it +would be too tedious here to enumerate. + +It is also well known to every one how much we have exposed our person, +and faced the greatest dangers, for the good of our country during the +one and twenty years' course of the late war, which we have by the +assistance of God terminated in so honourable and advantageous a manner, +that Russia hath never beheld such a peace, nor ever acquired so great +glory as in the late war. Now the empress Catherine, our dearly beloved +wife, having greatly comforted and assisted us during the said war, and +also in several other our expeditions, wherein she voluntarily and +cheerfully accompanied us, assisting us with her counsel and advice in +every exigence, notwithstanding the weakness of her sex, particularly in +the battle against the Turks, on the banks of the river Pruth, wherein +our army was reduced to twenty thousand men, while that of the Turks +amounted to two hundred and seventy thousand, and on which desperate +occasion she signalized herself in a particular manner, by a courage and +presence of mind superior to her sex, which is well known to all our +army, and to the whole Russian empire: therefore, for these reasons, and +in virtue of the power which God has given us, we have resolved to +honour our said consort Catherine with the imperial crown, as a reward +for her painful services; and we propose, God willing, that this +ceremony shall be performed the ensuing winter at Moscow. And we do +hereby give notice of this our resolution to all who are faithful +subjects, in favour of whom our imperial affection is unalterable. + + + THE END. + + + _S. Johnson & Son, Printers, Livesey St., Manchester._ + + + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] A French league contains three English miles. + +[2] The Boristhenes, or Dnieper, is one of the largest rivers in Europe; +it rises in the Walchonske Forest, runs through Lithuania, the country +of the Zoporag Cossacks, and that of the Nagisch Tartars, and falls into +the Black Sea near Oczakow. It has thirteen cataracts within a small +distance. + +[3] The reader will easily perceive, that the whole of this paragraph +relates only to the French language, for in English we make no such +distinctions in the name of these people, but always call them Russians. + +[4] A collection of water lying between the gulf of Finland and lake +Onega; it is the largest, and said to contain a greater number of fish +than any other in Europe. + +[5] We must not confound this river with another of the same name that +runs through Lithuania in Poland, and dividing Livonia and Courland, +falls into the Baltic at Dunamunder fort, below Riga. + +[6] This was by the ancients reckoned among the most famous rivers in +the world, and the boundary between Asia and Europe. It issues from St. +John's Lake, not far from Tula, and after a long course, divides itself +into three arms, and falls into the sea below Azoph. + +[7] A promontory of the island of Maggero in the north of Norway, and is +the most northern point in Europe. + +[8] Grod, or gorod, signifies city in the Russian language. + +[9] Memoirs of Strahlemberg, confirmed by those sent me from Russia. + +[10] Memoirs sent from Petersburg. + +[11] Memoirs sent from Petersburg. + +[12] Called also the Ob. This large river issues from the lake Altin in +Calmuck Tartary, in Asia, from whence running north it forms the +boundary between Europe and Asia, and after traversing a vast tract of +above two thousand miles, it falls into a bay of the Frozen Sea. + +[13] In the Russian language Irtish. This river runs from N. to S. +through all Russia, and falling into the former river, forms part of the +boundary between Asia and Europe. + +[14] In the Russian language Tobolsky. + +[15] His name was Sowastowslaw. + +[16] This anecdote is taken from a private MS. entitled 'The +Ecclesiastical Government of Russia,' which is like wise deposited in +the public library. + +[17] See page 35. + +[18] Thus the Russians call this young man; but in all French authors we +find Romano, that language having no such letter as the W; others again +call him Romanoff. + +[19] Or Chotsin, a town of Upper Moldavia in European Turkey, well +fortified both by nature and art, situated on the Dniester, and subject +to the Turks, from whom it was taken by the Russians in 1739. + +[20] This must certainly be a mistake of M. de Voltaire, or an error in +the press; for the lady here spoken of was the daughter of Matthias +Apraxim, a person on whom Theodore had lately conferred nobility. + +[21] Extracted wholly from the memoirs sent from Moscow and Petersburg. + +[22] Here M. de Voltaire seems to have greatly mistaken the sense of +this word. Raspop not being a proper name, in which sense he takes it, +but signifies a degraded priest. + +[23] We suppose the author means Moscow. + +[24] Or Cossano, a small town and abbey in the Milanese. On the Adda, +near this place, an obstinate battle was fought between the Germans and +French, in 1705, when prince Eugene defeated the duke of Vendome. + +[25] A town and abbey on the borders of Westphalia, in Germany; the +abbot of which is a sovereign prince, and has a seat in the imperial +diet. + +[26] Or Fuld, a town and abbey of Hesse, in Germany; situate on a river +of the same name. It is governed by an abbot, who is a prince of the +empire. + +[27] An imperial city of Suabia, in Germany, situate on the Ifar. + +[28] How are we to reconcile this with what the author tells us in the +latter part of the third chapter, where he says, that this princess, +perceiving that her brother Theodore was near his end, declined retiring +to a convent, as was the usual custom of the princesses of the imperial +family. + +[29] We find, in the memoirs of count Strahlemberg, a Swedish officer, +who was taken prisoner at the battle of Pultowa, and continued many +years at the court of czar Peter, the following account of the true +cause of this extraordinary kind of hydrophobia. When Peter was about +five years of age, his mother took him with her in a coach for an +airing, and having to pass a dam, where there was a great fall of water +the child, who was then sleeping in his nurse's lap, was so terrified by +the rushing of the water (the noise of which waked him suddenly out of +his sleep), that he was seized with a violent fever, and, after his +recovery, he retained such a dread of that element, that he could not +bear the sight even of any standing water, much less to hear a running +stream. + +[30] Memoirs of Petersburg and Moscow. + +[31] This should certainly be four years; as we can hardly suppose a boy +of fourteen years and a half, would be received into the military +service of any country, and much less by the Dutch at that period of +time, when they stood in need of able and experienced soldiers, to +withstand the attacks of the French, who breathed nothing less than the +utter subversion of their state. + +[32] General Le Fort's MSS. + +[33] General Le Fort's MSS. + +[34] Extracted from memoirs sent from China; also from Petersburg, and +from letters published in Du Halde's History of China. + +[35] A famous and considerable river of the Asiatic part of the empire +of Russia, which falls into the eastern ocean. It was formerly called +Charan Muran, but at present the Chinese and Mauschurs give it the name +of Sagalin Ula. It also bears the several appellations of Jamur, Onon, +Helong, Kiang, and Skilka. It is formed by the junction of the rivers +Sckilk and Argun, and is navigable to the sea. + +[36] Busching, the famous geographer, says, that its whole length is no +more than four hundred miles, so that there must be a very great error +in one or other of these authors. + +[37] Memoirs of the jesuits Pereira and Gerbillon. + +[38] 1689, Sept. 8, new style. Memoirs of China. + +[39] The present reigning empress Catharine seems even to exceed her +aunt in lenity, which together with the superior qualifications of this +princess, affords her people the most happy presage of a glorious reign; +and it is not without reason, that the most sensible amongst them +flatter themselves with the hope, that under this august princess, the +Russian empire will arrive at its highest pinnacle of glory. + +[40] Le Fort's Memoirs. + +[41] It is in consequence of this glorious and equitable distinction, +that at this day we find nobility gives no precedence in the court of +Russia; nor can the son of a prince appear there in any other rank, than +that which his situation in the army gives him; while a private citizen, +who by his merit has raised himself above his condition, receives all +the honours due to his post; or more properly speaking, to the merit +which obtained him that post. A reputation of this kind would, methinks, +be attended with great advantages, both in England and France, as it +would be a means to raise in the youth of all ranks, a virtuous and +noble emulation. + +[42] General Le Fort's MSS. + +[43] The Petersburg Memoirs, and Memoirs of Le Fort. + +[44] Le Fort's MS. memoirs. + +[45] Precop, or Perekop, once a fortress on the Isthmus, which joins the +peninsula of Crim Tartary to the main land of little Tartary, in +European Turkey, and thence considered as the key to that country. It +has its name from the ditches cut across for the defence of the +peninsula. + +[46] These were two scholars from Christ Church Hospital, commonly +called blue coat boys. + +[47] The czar was particularly fond of this nobleman, because he was a +great lover of maritime affairs, frequently rowed and sailed with him +upon the water, and gave him what information he could concerning +shipping. + +[48] Le Fort's MSS. and those of Petersburg. + +[49] Le Fort's MSS. + +[50] A most extraordinary instance of the obstinate attachment of the +Russians to their old customs, happened in the time of the czar +Bassilowitz, and undoubtedly influenced him not a little in the severity +with which he treated his people. The king of Poland, Stephen Battori, +having recovered Livonia, went himself into that province to establish a +new form of government. According to the constant custom there, when any +peasant, all of whom were treated as slaves, had committed a fault, he +was whipped with a rod till the blood came. The king was willing to +commute this barbarous punishment for one that was more moderate; but +the peasants, insensible of the favour designed them, threw themselves +at his feet, and intreated him not to make any alterations in their +ancient customs, because they had experienced, that all innovations, far +from procuring them the least redress, had always made their burthens +sit the heavier on them. + +[51] Memoirs of captain Perry, the engineer, employed by Peter the +Great, in Russia, and MSS. of Le Fort. + +[52] Captain Perry, in p. 184 of his memoirs, says, that these +executions being performed in the depth of winter, their bodies were +immediately frozen; those who were beheaded, were ordered to be left in +the same posture as when executed, in ranks upon the ground, with their +heads lying by them: and those who were hanged round the three walls of +the city, were left hanging the whole winter, to the view of the people, +till the warm weather began to come on in the spring, when they were +taken down and buried together in a pit, to prevent infection. This +author adds, that there were other gibbets placed on all the public +roads leading to Moscow, where others of these rebels were hanged. + +[53] MSS. of Le Fort. + +[54] Somewhat like those of our blue coat boys in England. + +[55] 20th Sept. 1698. It is to be observed, that I always follow the new +style in my dates. + +[56] Norberg, chaplain and confessor to Charles XII. says, in his +history, 'That he had the insolence to complain of oppressions, and that +he was condemned to lose his honour and life.' This is speaking like the +high-priest of despotism. He should have observed, that no one can +deprive a citizen of his honour for doing his duty. + +[57] See the History of Charles XII. + +[58] A town on the river Lycus, in the province of Assyria, now called +Curdestan, where Alexander the Great fought his third and decisive +battle, with Darius, king of Persia. + +[59] Vol. I. p. 439, of the 4to. edition, printed at the Hague. + +[60] The chaplain Norberg, pretends, that, immediately after the battle +of Narva, the Grand Seignior wrote a letter of congratulation to the +king of Sweden, in these terms. 'The sultan Basha, by the grace of God, +to Charles XII. &c.' The letter was dated from the æra of the creation +of the world. + +[61] See History of Charles XII. + +[62] This chapter and the following, are taken entirely from the journal +of Peter the Great, sent me from Petersburg. + +[63] We must beg leave to remark in this place, that a king of England +has the power of doing good in virtue of his own authority, and may do +evil if so disposed, by having a majority in a corrupt parliament; +whereas, a king of Poland can neither do good nor evil, not having it in +his power to dispose even of a pair of colours. + +[64] This seems a mistake; our author probably meant to say Kercholme, +because Wibourg is not on the lake Ladoga, but on the gulf of Finland. + +[65] Taken from the journal of Peter the Great. + +[66] Some writers call it Nyenschantz. + +[67] Petersburg was founded on Whitsunday, the 27th May, 1703. + +[68] About sixty thousand pounds sterling. + +[69] All the foregoing chapters, and likewise those which follow, are +taken from the journals of Peter the Great, and the papers sent me from +Petersburg, carefully compared with other memoirs. + +[70] Menzikoff's parents were vassals of the monastery of Cosmopoly: at +the age of thirteen, he went to Moscow, and was taken into the service +of a pastry-cook. His employment was singing ballads, and crying puffs +and cakes about the streets. One day, as he was following this +occupation, the czar happening to hear him, and to be diverted with one +of his songs, sent for him, and asked him if he would sell his pies and +his basket? The boy answered, that his business was to sell his pies, +but he must ask his master's leave to sell his basket; yet as every +thing belonged to his prince, his majesty had only to lay his commands +upon him. The czar was so pleased with this answer, that he immediately +ordered him to court, where he gave him at first a mean employment; but +being every day more pleased with his wit, he thought fit to place him +about his person, and to make him groom of his bed-chamber, from whence +he gradually raised him to the highest preferments. He was tall and well +shaped. At his first coming into the czar's service, he inlisted in Le +Fort's company, and acquired, under that general's instruction, such a +degree of knowledge and skill, as enabled him to command armies, and to +become one of the bravest and most successful generals in Russia. + +[71] M. de Voltaire calls this city Wibourg, in this and some other +places of his history. The French are not always very attentive to the +right names of places, but here it is of some consequence. Wibourg is +the capital of Jutland in Denmark. Wiburn, the city here meant, is the +capital of Carelia in Russian Finland. + +[72] The czar's manifesto in the Ukraine, 1709. + +[73] The impartiality of an historian obliges us in this place to +advertise our readers, that it was not the fault of Augustus, that +Patkul was delivered up to the king of Sweden; Augustus having privately +sent orders to the commandant of the fort of Konigstein, where Patkul +was then confined, to suffer his prisoner to make his escape in time. +But the avarice of this officer proved fatal to the life of the unhappy +captive, and to the character of his own prince; for while he was +endeavouring to make the best bargain he could for himself, the time +slipped inconceivably away; and while they were yet debating upon the +price of the proposed releasement, the guards sent by Charles came and +demanded Patkul in the name of their sovereign. The commandant was +forced to obey, and the unhappy victim was delivered up, contrary to the +intentions of Augustus. + +[74] What would those Swedes say, were they living, to see the pitiful +figure their descendants have made in this war. + +[75] In the Russian language, Soeza. + +[76] This is acknowledged by Norberg himself, vol. ii. p. 263. + +[77] Vol. II. page 279. + +[78] The Memoirs of Peter the Great, by the pretended boyard Iwan +Nestesuranoy, printed at Amsterdam, in 1730, say, that the king of +Sweden, before he passed the Boristhenes, sent a general officer with +proposals of peace to the czar. The four volumes of these Memoirs are +either a collection of untruths and absurdities, or compilations from +common newspapers. + +[79] This fact is likewise found in a letter, printed before the +Anecdotes of Russia, p. 23. + +[80] La Motraye, in the relation of his travels, quotes a letter from +Charles XII. to the grand vizier; but this letter is false, as are most +of the relations of that mercenary writer; and Norberg himself +acknowledges that the king of Sweden never could be prevailed on to +write to the grand vizier. + +[81] The czar, says the preface to lord Whitworth's account of Russia, +who had been absolute enough to civilize savages, had no idea, could +conceive none, of the privileges of a nation civilized in the only +rational manner by laws and liberties. He demanded immediate and severe +punishment of the offenders: he demanded it of a princess, whom he +thought interested, to assert the sacredness of the persons of monarchs, +even in their representatives; and he demanded it with threats of +wreaking his vengeance on all English merchants and subjects established +in his dominions. In this light the menaces were formidable; otherwise, +happily, the rights of the whole people were more sacred here than the +persons of foreign ministers. The czar's memorials urged the queen with +the satisfaction which she herself had extorted, when only the boat and +servants of the earl of Manchester had been insulted at Venice. That +state had broken through the fundamental laws, to content the queen of +Great Britain. How noble a picture of government, when a monarch, that +can force another nation to infringe its constitution, dare not violate +his own? One may imagine with what difficulty our secretaries of state +must have laboured through all the ambages of phrase in English, French, +German, and Russ, to explain to Muscovite ears and Muscovite +understandings, the meaning of indictments, pleadings, precedents, +juries, and verdicts; and how impatiently Peter must have listened to +promises of a hearing next term? With what astonishment must he have +beheld a great queen, engaging to endeavour to prevail on her parliament +to pass an act to prevent any such outrage for the future? What honour +does it not reflect on the memory of that princess to own to an +arbitrary emperor, that even to appease him she dare not put the meanest +of her subjects to death uncondemned by law!--There are, says she, in +one of her dispatches to him, insuperable difficulties, with respect to +the ancient and fundamental laws of the government of our people; which +we fear do not permit so severe and rigorous a sentence to be given, as +your imperial majesty at first seemed to expect in this case; and we +persuade ourself, that your imperial majesty, who are a prince famous +for clemency and exact justice, will not require us, who are the +guardian and protectress of the laws, to inflict a punishment upon our +subjects, which the law does not impower us to do. Words so venerable +and heroic, that this broil ought to become history, and be exempted +from the oblivion due to the silly squabbles of ambassadors and their +privileges. If Anne deserved praise for her conduct on this occasion, it +reflects still greater glory on Peter, that this ferocious man should +listen to these details, and had moderation and justice enough to be +persuaded by the reason of them. + +[82] Afterwards created lord Whitworth, by king George I. + +[83] The account this chaplain gives of the demands of the grand +seignior is equally false and puerile. He says, that sultan Achmet, +previous to his declaring war against the czar, sent to that prince a +paper, containing the conditions on which he was willing to grant him +peace. These conditions, Norberg tells us, were as follows: 'That Peter +should renounce his alliance with Augustus, reinstate Stanislaus in the +possession of the crown of Poland, restore all Livonia to Charles XII., +and pay that prince the value in ready money of what he had taken from +him at the battle of Pultowa; and, lastly, that the czar should demolish +his newly-built city of Petersburg.' This piece was forged by one +Brazey, a half-starved pamphleteer, and author of a work entitled, +Memoirs, Satirical, Historical, and Entertaining. It was from this +fountain Norberg drew his intelligence; and however he may have been the +confessor of Charles XII. he certainly does not appear to have been his +confidant. + +[84] The new vizier embraced every opportunity of affronting the czar, +in the person of his envoy, and particularly in giving the French +ambassador the preference. It was customary, on the promotion of the +grand vizier, for all the foreign ministers to request an audience of +congratulation. Count Tolstoy was the first who demanded that audience; +but was answered--That the precedence had always been given to the +ambassador of France: whereupon Tolstoy informed the vizier--That he +must be deprived of the pleasure of waiting on him at all: which, being +maliciously represented, as expressing the utmost contempt of his +person, and the khan of Tartary being at the same time instigated to +make several heavy complaints against the conduct of the Russians on the +frontiers, count Tolstoy was immediately committed to the castle of the +Seven Towers. + +[85] It is very strange that so many writers always confound Walachia +and Moldavia together. + +[86] This duke of Holstein, at the time he married the daughter of Peter +I. was a prince of very inconsiderable power, though of one of the most +ancient houses in Germany. His ancestors had been stripped of great part +of their dominions by the kings of Denmark; so that, at the time of this +marriage, he found himself greatly circumscribed in point of +possessions; but, from this epoch of his alliance with the czar of +Muscovy, we may date the rise of the ducal branch of Holstein, which now +fills the thrones of Russia and Sweden, and is likewise in possession of +the bishopric of Lubec, which, in all probability, will fall to this +house, notwithstanding the late election, which at present is the +subject of litigation, the issue of which will, to all appearance, +terminate in favour of the prince, son to the present bishop, through +the protection of the courts of Vienna and Petersburg. The empress +Catherine, who now sits on the throne of Russia is herself descended +from this august house, by the side of her mother, who was sister to the +king of Sweden, to the prince-bishop of Lubec, and to the famous prince +George of Holstein, whose achievements made so much noise during the +war. This princess, whose name was Elizabeth, married the reigning +prince of Anbak Zerbst, whose house was indisputably the most ancient; +and, in former times, the most powerful in all Germany, since they can +trace their pedigree from the dukes of Ascania, who were formerly +masters of the two electorates of Saxony and Brandenburg, as appears by +their armorial bearings, which are, quarterly, the arms of Saxony and +Brandenburg. Of this branch of Zerbst there is remaining only the +present reigning prince, brother to the empress Catherine, who, in case +he should die without issue, will succeed to the principality of Yevern, +in East Friesland; from all which it appears already, that the family of +Holstein is at present the most powerful in Europe, as being in +possession of three crowns in the North.--[Since the above was written +important changes have taken place.] + +[87] This same count Poniatowsky, who was at that time in the service of +Charles XII., died afterwards castellan of Cracovia, and first senator +of the republic of Poland, after having enjoyed all the dignities to +which a nobleman of that country can attain. His connexions with Charles +XII. during that prince's retirement at Bender, first made him taken +notice of; and, it is to be wished, for the honour of his memory, that +he had waited till the conclusion of a peace between Sweden and Poland, +to be reconciled to king Augustus; but following the dictates of +ambition, rather than those of strict honour, he sacrificed the +interests of both Charles and Stanislaus, to the care of his own +fortune; and, while he appeared the most zealous in their cause, he +secretly did them all the ill services he could at the Ottoman Porte: to +this double dealing he owed the immense fortune of which he was +afterwards possessed. He married the princess Czartoriski, daughter of +the castellan of Vilna, a lady, for her heroic spirit, worthy to have +been born in the times of ancient Rome: when her eldest son, the present +grand chamberlain of the crown, had that famous dispute with Count +Tarlo, palatine of Lublin; a dispute which made so much noise in all the +public papers in the year 1742, this lady, after having made him shoot +at a mark every day, for three weeks, in order to be expert at firing, +said to him, as he was mounting his horse, to go to meet his +adversary--'Go, my son; but, if you do not acquit yourself with honour +in this affair, never appear before me again.' This anecdote may serve +as a specimen of the character of our heroine. The family of Czartoriski +is descended from the ancient Jagellins, who were, for several ages, in +lineal possession of the crown of Poland; and is, at this day, extremely +rich and powerful, by the alliances it has contracted, but they have +never been able to acquire popularity; and so long as count Tarlo (who +was killed in a duel with the young count Poniatowsky) lived, had no +influence in the dictines, or lesser assembly of the states, because +Tarlo, who was the idol of the nobles, and a sworn enemy to the +Czartoriski family, carried every thing before him, and nothing was done +but according to his pleasure. + +[88] About seventy pounds sterling. + +[89] French money, which is always counted by livres and makes about +three millions sterling. + +[90] A town in Bohemia famous for its mineral springs. + +[91] About fifty thousand pounds sterling. + +[92] Private memoirs of Bassowitz, Jan. 21, 1712. + +[93] A town of Sleswic, in Denmark, situated on the river Eyder, +fourteen miles from the German Ocean, having a very commodious harbour. + +[94] About twelve hundred pounds sterling. + +[95] In the preamble to this institution, the czar declared, that it was +to perpetuate the memory of her love in his distressed condition on the +banks of the river Pruth. He invested her with full power to bestow it +on such of her own sex as she should think proper. The ensigns of this +order are, a broad white riband, and wore over the right shoulder, with +a medal of St. Catherine, adorned with precious stones, and the motto, +'Out of love and fidelity.' + +[96] Inhabitants of a small town of Hungarian Dalmatia, with a harbour, +from whence the neighbouring sea takes the name of Golfo di Bickariga. + +[97] The conspiracy carried on in France by cardinal Alberoni, was +discovered in a very singular manner. The Spanish ambassador's +secretary, who used frequently to go to the house of one La Follon, a +famous procuress of Paris, to amuse himself for an hour or two after the +fatigues of business, had appointed a young nymph, whom he was fond of, +to meet him there at nine o'clock in the evening, but did not come to +her till near two o'clock in the morning. The lady, as may be supposed, +reproached him with the little regard he paid to her charms, or his own +promise; but he excused himself, by saying, that he had been obliged to +stay to finish a long dispatch in ciphers, which was to be sent away +that very night by a courier to Spain: so saying, he undressed and threw +himself into bed, where he quietly fell asleep. In pulling off his +clothes, he had, by accident, dropped a paper out of his pocket, which, +by its bulk, raised in the nymph that curiosity so natural to her sex. +She picked it up, and read it partly over, when the nature of its +contents made her resolve to communicate them to La Follon: accordingly, +she framed some excuse for leaving the room, and immediately went to the +apartment of the old lady, and opened her budget. La Follon, who was a +woman of superior understanding to most in her sphere, immediately saw +the whole consequence of the affair; and, after having recommended to +the girl, to amuse her gallant as long as possible, she immediately went +to waken the regent, to whom she had access at all hours, for matters of +a very different nature to the present. This prince, whose presence of +mind was equal to every exigency, immediately dispatched different +couriers to the frontiers; in consequence of which, the Spanish +ambassador's messenger was stopped at Bayonne, and his dispatches taken +from him; upon deciphering of which, they were found exactly to agree +with the original delivered to the regent by La Follon: upon this the +prince of Cellamar, the Spanish ambassador was put under an arrest, and +all his papers seized; after which he was sent under a strong guard to +the frontiers, where they left him to make the best of his way to his +own country. Thus an event, which would have brought the kingdom of +France to the verge of destruction, was frustrated by a votary of Venus, +and a priestess of the temple of pleasure. + +[98] As these letters and answers afford the most striking evidence of +the czar's prudence, and the prince's insincerity, and will convey to +the reader a clear idea of the grounds and motives of this extraordinary +transaction, we have inserted the following translation of them. The +first letter from the czar to his son, is dated the 27th of October, +1715, and displays a noble spirit of religion, with the most ardent +desire of leaving a successor who should perpetuate his name and glory +to future ages. + +'Son,' says the czar to him, 'you cannot be ignorant of what is known to +all the world, that our people groaned under the oppression of the +Swedes, before the beginning of this present war. By the usurped +possession of many of our maritime ports, so necessary to our state, +they cut us off from all commerce with the rest of mankind; and we saw, +with deep regret, that they had even cast a mist over the eyes of +persons of the greatest discernment, who tamely brooked their slavery, +and made no complaints to us. You know how much it cost us at the +beginning of this war, to make ourselves thoroughly experienced, and +to stand our ground in spite of all the advantages which our +irreconcileable enemies gained over us. The Almighty alone has conducted +us by his hand, and conducts us still. We submitted to that probationary +state with resignation to the will of God, not doubting but it was he +who made us pass through it: he has accepted our submission; and the +same enemy, before whom we were wont to tremble, now trembles before us. +These are effects, which, under God's assistance, we owe to our labour, +and those of our faithful and affectionate sons, and Russian subjects. +But while I survey the successes with which God has blessed our arms, if +I turn my eyes on the posterity that is to succeed me, my soul is +pierced with anguish; and I have no enjoyment of my present happiness, +when I carry my views into futurity. All my felicity vanishes away like +a dream, since you, my son, reject all means of rendering yourself +capable of governing well after me. Your incapacity is voluntary; for +you cannot excuse yourself from want of genius: it is inclination alone +you want. Far less can you plead the want of bodily strength, as if God +had not furnished you sufficiently in that respect: for though your +constitution be none the strongest, it cannot be reckoned weak. Yet you +will not so much as hear of warlike exercises; though it is by those +means we are risen from that obscurity in which we were buried, and have +made ourselves known to the nations about us, whose esteem we now enjoy. +I am far from desiring you to cherish in yourself a disposition to make +war for its own sake, and without just reasons: all I demand of you is, +that you would apply yourself to learn the military art; because, +without understanding the rules of war, it is impossible to be qualified +for government. I might set before your eyes many examples of what I +propose to you; but shall only mention the Greeks, with whom we are +united by the same profession of faith. Whence came the declension of +their empire, but from the neglect of arms? Sloth and inaction have +subjected them to tyrants, and that slavery under which they have +groaned. You are much mistaken if you imagine it is enough for a prince +that he have good generals to act under his orders: no, my son, it is +upon the chief himself that the eyes of the world are fixed; they study +his inclinations, and easily slide into the imitation of his manners. My +brother, during his reign, loved magnificence in dress, and splendid +equipages, and horses richly caparisoned; the taste of this country was +not much formed that way; but the pleasures of the prince soon became +those of the subjects, who are readily led to imitate him both in the +objects of his love and disgust. If people are so easily disengaged from +things that are only for pleasure, will they not be still more prone to +forget, and in process of time wholly to lay aside the use of arms, the +exercise of which grows the more irksome the less they are habituated to +them? You have no inclination to learn the profession of war; you do not +apply yourself to it; and consequently will never know it. How then will +you be able to command others, and to judge of the rewards which those +subjects deserve who do their duty, or of the punishment due to such as +fall short of obedience? You must judge only by other people's eyes; and +will be considered as a young bird, which reaching out its beak, is as +ready to receive poison as proper nourishment. You say, the infirm state +of your health makes you unfit to bear the fatigues of war; but that is +a frivolous excuse. I desire you not to undergo the fatigues of that +profession, though it is there that all great captains are begun; but I +wish you had an inclination to the military art; and reason may give it +you, if you have it not from nature. Had you once this inclination, it +would occupy your thoughts at all times, even in your hours of sickness. +Ask those who remember my brother's reign: his state of health was much +more infirm than your's; he could not manage a horse of never so little +mettle, nor hardly mount him: yet he loved horses, and perhaps there +never will be in the country finer stables than his. Hence you see, that +success does not always depend upon personal labour, but upon the +inclination. If you think that there are princes, whose affairs fail not +to succeed, though they go not to war in person, you are in the right; +but if they go not to the field of battle, they have, however, an +inclination to go, and are acquainted with the military art. For +instance, the late king of France did not always take the field himself; +but we know to what a degree he was a lover of war, and how many +glorious exploits he performed therein; which made his campaigns be +called the theatre and school of the world. The bent of that prince's +mind was not turned to military affairs only, he had also a taste for +the polite arts, for manufactures, and other institutions, which have +made his kingdom more flourishing than any other. After all these +remonstrances which I have laid before you, I return to my first +subject, which immediately concerns yourself. I am a man, and +consequently must die: to whom shall I leave the care of finishing what, +by God's grace, I have begun, and of preserving what I have in part +recovered? To a son who, like that slothful servant in the gospel, +buries his talent in the earth, and neglects to improve what God has +committed to his trust? How often have I reproached you for your +sullenness and indocility? I have been obliged to chastise you on that +account. For these several years past I have hardly spoke to you, +because I almost despair of bringing you back to the right way; +discouraged and disheartened by the fruitlessness of all my endeavours. +You loiter on in supine indolence; abandoning yourself to shameful +pleasures, without extending your foresight to the dangerous +consequences which such a conduct must produce both to yourself and the +whole state: you confine yourself to the government of your own house, +and in that station you acquit yourself very ill; St. Paul has told us, +'he that knows not how to govern his own house, how shall he be able to +rule the church of God?' In like manner I say to you, since you know not +how to manage your domestic affairs, how can you be able to govern a +kingdom? I am determined, at last, to signify to you my final purpose; +being willing, however, to defer the execution of it for a short time, +to see if you will reform: if not, know that I am resolved to deprive +you of the succession, as I would lop off a useless branch. Do not +imagine, that because I have no other child but you,[99] I mean by this +only to intimidate you: I will most certainly execute my resolution; and +God requires it of me: for, since I spare not my own life for the sake +of my country, and the welfare of my people, why should I allow an +effeminate prince to ascend the throne after me, who would sacrifice the +interest of the subject to his pleasures? and should he be obliged to +expose his life in their behalf, would leave them to perish, rather than +redress their grievances. I will call in a mere stranger to the crown, +if he be but worthy of that honour, sooner than my own son, if he is +unworthy. + + 'PETER.' + +To this letter the czarowitz replied: 'Most gracious sovereign and +father, I have read the letter which your majesty sent me of the 27th of +October, 1715, after the interment of my wife; and all the answer I can +make to it is, that if your majesty is determined to deprive me of the +succession to the crown of Russia, on account of my inability, your will +be done. I even request it of you very earnestly; because I judge not +myself fit for government. My memory is greatly impaired; and without +memory there is no managing affairs. The powers both of my body and mind +are much weakened by the diseases to which I have been incident, and I +am thereby incapacitated for the rule of so great a people. Such a +charge requires a man far more vigorous than I am. For these reasons I +am not ambitious to succeed you (whom God preserve through a length of +years) in the crown of Russia, even though I had no brother, as I have +one at present, whom God long preserve. As little will I for the future +set up any claim to the succession: to the truth of which I solemnly +swear, taking God to be my witness; and in testimony thereof I write and +sign these presents. I put my children into your hands: and for myself I +ask no more of you than a bare maintenance during my life, leaving the +whole to your pleasure. + + 'Your humble servant and son, + + 'ALEXIS.' + +Peter soon penetrated through the disguise his son had assumed, and +therefore wrote him the above letter, dated January 19, 1716, and which +he called his 'Last Admonition.' + +[99] This letter was written about eight days before the birth of Peter +Patrowitz, the czar's second son. + +[100] This letter was couched in the following terms:--'Most gracious +sovereign and father, yesterday morning I received your letter, of the +19th of this month: my indisposition hinders me from writing to you at +large, but I am willing to embrace the monastic state, and I beg your +gracious consent thereto. + + 'Your servant, and unworthy son, + + 'ALEXIS.' + +[101] The prince's renunciation was couched in the following terms:--'I, +the undernamed, declare upon the holy gospel, that on account of the +crimes I have committed against his czarish majesty, my father and +sovereign, as set forth in his manifesto, I am, through my own fault, +excluded from the throne of Russia. Therefore I confess and acknowledge +that exclusion to be just, as having merited it by my own fault and +unworthiness; and I hereby oblige myself, and swear in the presence of +Almighty God, in unity of nature, and trinity of persons, as my supreme +Judge, to submit in all things to my father's will, never to set up a +claim or pretension to the succession, or accept of it under any pretext +whatever, acknowledging my brother Peter Petrowitz as lawful successor +to the crown. In testimony whereof, I kiss the holy cross, and sign +these presents with my own hand. + + 'ALEXIS.' + +[102] As this extraordinary piece cannot fail of being interesting to +most part of our readers, we have ventured to subjoin the whole of it in +a note, our author having only given some few extracts. + + +_The Czar's Declaration._ + +Peter I. by the grace of God, czar, emperor of Russia, &c. to all our +faithful subjects, ecclesiastical, military, and civil, of all the +states of the Russian nation. It is notorious, and well known to the +greatest part of our faithful subjects, and chiefly to those who live in +the places of our residence, or who are in our service, with how much +care and application we have caused our eldest son Alexis to be brought +up and educated; having given him for that purpose, from his infancy, +tutors to teach him the Russian tongue, and foreign languages, and to +instruct him in all arts and sciences, in order not only to bring him up +in our Christian orthodox faith of the Greek profession, but also in the +knowledge of political and military affairs, and likewise in the +constitution of foreign countries, their customs and languages; through +the reading of history, and other books, in all manner of sciences, +becoming a prince of his high rank, he might acquire the qualifications +worthy of a successor to our throne of Great Russia. Nevertheless, we +have seen with grief, that all attention and care, for the education and +instruction of our son, proved ineffectual and useless, seeing he always +swerved from his filial obedience, shewing no application for what was +becoming a worthy successor, and slighting the precepts of the masters +we had appointed for him; but, on the contrary, frequenting disorderly +persons, from whom he could learn nothing good, or that would be +advantageous and useful to him. We have not neglected often to endeavour +to reclaim, and bring him back to his duty, sometimes by caresses and +gentle means, sometimes by reprimands, sometimes by paternal +corrections. We have more than once taken him with us into our army and +the field, that he might be instructed in the art of war, as one of the +chief sciences for the defence of his country; guarding him, at the same +time, from all hazard of the succession, though we exposed ourself to +manifest perils and dangers. We have at other times left him at Moscow, +putting into his hands a sort of regency in the empire, in order to form +him in the art of government, and that he might learn how to reign after +us. We have likewise sent him into foreign countries, in hopes and +expectation, that seeing, in his travels, governments so well regulated, +this would excite in him some emulation and an inclination to apply +himself to do well. But all our care has been fruitless, and like the +seed of the doctrine fallen upon a rock; for he has not only refused to +follow that which is good, but even is come to hate it, without shewing +any inclination, or disposition, either for military or political +affairs; hourly and continually conversing with base and disorderly +persons, whose morals are rude and abominable. As we were resolved to +endeavour, by all imaginable means, to reclaim him from that disorderly +course, and to inspire him with an inclination to converse with persons +of virtue and honour; we exhorted him to choose a consort among the +chief foreign houses, as is usual in other countries, and hath been +practised by our ancestors, the czars of Russia, who have contracted +alliances by marriages with other sovereign houses, and we have left him +at liberty to make a choice. He declared his inclination for the +princess, grand-daughter of the duke of Wolfenbuttle, then reigning, +sister-in-law to his imperial majesty the emperor of the Romans, now +reigning, and cousin to the king of Great Britain; and having desired us +to procure him that alliance, and permit him to marry that princess, we +readily consented thereunto, without any regard to the great expense +which was necessarily occasioned by that marriage: but, after its +consummation, we found ourselves disappointed of the hopes we had, that +the change in the condition of our son would produce good fruits, and +change his bad inclinations; for, notwithstanding his spouse was, as far +as we have been able to observe, a wise, sprightly princess, and of a +virtuous conduct, and that he himself had chosen her, he nevertheless +lived with her in the greatest disunion, while he redoubled his +affection for lewd people, bringing thereby a disgrace upon our house in +the eyes of foreign powers to whom that princess was related, which drew +upon us many complaints and reproaches. Our frequent advices and +exhortations to him, to reform his conduct, proved ineffectual, and he +at last violated the conjugal faith, and gave his affection to a +prostitute of the most servile and low condition, living publicly in +that crime with her, to the great contempt of his lawful spouse, who +soon after died; and it was believed that her grief, occasioned by the +disorderly life of her husband, hastened the end of her days. When we +saw his resolution to persevere in his vicious courses, we declared to +him, at the funeral of his consort, that if he did not for the future +conform to our will, and apply himself to things becoming a prince, +presumptive heir to so great an empire, we would deprive him of the +succession, without any regard to his being our only son (our second son +was not then born) and that he ought not to rely upon his being such, +because we would rather choose for our successor a stranger worthy +thereof, than an unworthy son; that we would not leave our empire to +such a successor, who would ruin and destroy what we have, by God's +assistance, established, and tarnish the glory and honour of the Russian +nation, for the acquiring of which we had sacrificed our ease and our +health, and willingly exposed our life on several occasions; besides, +that the fear of God's judgment would not permit us to leave the +government of such vast territories in the hands of one whose +insufficiency and unworthiness we were not ignorant of. In short, we +exhorted him in the most pressing terms we could make use of, to behave +himself with discretion, and gave him time to repent and return to his +duty. His answer to these remonstrances was, that he acknowledged +himself guilty in all these points; but alleged the weakness of his +parts and genius, which did not permit him to apply himself to the +sciences, and other functions recommended to him: he owned himself +incapable of our succession, and desired us to discharge him from the +same. Nevertheless, we continued to exhort him with a paternal +affection, and joining menaces to our exhortations; we forgot nothing to +bring him back to the right way. The operations of the war having +obliged us to repair to Denmark, we left him at Petersburg, to give him +time to return to his duty, and amend his ways; and, afterwards, upon +the repeated advices we received of the continuance of his disorderly +life, we sent him orders to come to us at Copenhagen, to make the +campaign, that he might thereby the better form himself. But, forgetting +the fear and commandments of God, who enjoins obedience even to private +parents, and much more to those who are at the same time sovereigns, our +paternal cares had no other return than unheard-of ingratitude; for, +instead of coming to us as we ordered, he withdrew, with large sums of +money, and his infamous concubine, with whom he continued to live in a +criminal course, and put himself under the protection of the emperor, +raising against us, his father and his lord, numberless calumnies and +false reports, as if we did persecute him, and intended, without cause, +to deprive him of the succession; alleging, moreover, that even his life +was not safe if he continued with us, and desired the emperor not only +to give him refuge in his dominions, but also to protect him against us +by force of arms. Every one may judge, what shame and dishonour this +conduct of our son hath drawn upon us and our empire, in the face of the +whole world; the like instance is hardly to be found in history. The +emperor, though informed of his excesses, and how he had lived with his +consort, sister-in-law to his imperial majesty, thought fit, however, +upon these pressing instances, to appoint him a place where he might +reside; and he desired farther, that he might be so private there, that +we might not come to the knowledge of it. Meanwhile his long stay having +made us fear, out of a tender and fatherly affection for him, that some +misfortune had befallen him, we sent persons several ways to get +intelligence of him, and, after a great deal of trouble, we were at last +informed by the captain of our guard, Alexander Romanzoff, that he was +privately kept in an imperial fortress at Tyrol; whereupon we wrote a +letter, with our own hand, to the emperor, to desire that he might be +sent back to us: but, notwithstanding the emperor acquainted him with +our demands, and exhorted him to return to us, and submit to our will, +as being his father and lord; yet he alleged, with a great many +calumnies against us, that he ought not to be delivered into our hands, +as if we had been his enemy, and a tyrant, from whom he had nothing to +expect but death. In short, he persuaded his imperial majesty, instead +of sending him back at that time to us, to remove him to some remote +place in his dominions, namely, Naples in Italy, and keep him there +secretly in the castle, under a borrowed name. Nevertheless, we having +notice of the place where he was, did thereupon dispatch to the emperor +our privy-counsellor, Peter Tolstoy, and the captain of our guard, +aforesaid, with a most pressing letter, representing how unjust it would +be to detain our son, contrary to all laws, divine and human, according +to which private parents, and with much more reason those who are +besides invested with a sovereign authority as we are, have an unlimited +power over their children, independently of any other judge; and we set +forth on one side, the just and affectionate manner with which we had +always used our son, and, on the other, his disobedience; representing, +in the conclusion, the ill consequences and animosities which the +refusal of delivering up our son to us might occasion, because we would +not leave this affair in that condition. We, at the same time, ordered +those we sent with that letter, to make verbal remonstrances even in +more pressing terms, and to declare that we should be obliged to +revenge, by all possible methods, such detaining our son. We wrote +likewise a letter to him with our own hand, to represent to him the +horror and impiety of his conduct, and the enormity of the crime he had +committed against us his father, and how God threatened in his laws to +punish disobedient children with eternal death: we threatened him, as a +father, with our curses, and, as his lord, to declare him a traitor to +his country, unless he returned, and obeyed our commands; and gave him +assurance, that if he did as we desired, and returned, we would pardon +his crime. Our envoys, after many solicitations, and the above +representation, made by us in writing, at last obtained leave of the +emperor to go and speak to our son, in order to dispose him to return +home. The imperial minister gave them at the same time to understand, +that our son had informed the emperor that we persecuted him, and that +his life was not safe with us, whereby he moved the emperor's +compassion, and induced him to take him into his protection; but that +the emperor, taking now into his consideration our true and solid +representations, promised to use his utmost endeavour to dispose him to +return to us; and would, moreover, declare to him, that he could not in +justice and equity refuse to deliver him to his father, or have any +difference with us on that account. Our envoys, upon their arrival at +Naples, having desired to deliver to him our letter, written with our +hand, sent us word, that he did refuse to admit them; but that the +emperor's viceroy had found means, by inviting him to his house, to +present them to him afterwards, much against his will. He did then, +indeed, receive our letter, containing our paternal exhortation, and +threatening our curse, but without shewing the least inclination to +return; alleging still a great many falsities and calumnies against us, +as if, by reason of several dangers he had to apprehend from us, he +could not, nor would not return; and boasting, that the emperor had not +only promised to defend and protect him against us, but even to set him +upon the throne of Russia against our will, by force of arms. Our envoys +perceiving this evil disposition, tried all imaginable ways to prevail +with him to return, they intreated him, they expatiated by turns upon +the graciousness of our assurances towards him, and upon our threats in +case of disobedience, and that we would even bring him away by force of +arms; they declared to him that the emperor would not enter into a war +with us on his account, and many other such-like representations did +they make to him. But he paid no regard to all this, nor shewed any +inclination to return to us, until the imperial viceroy, convinced at +last of his obstinacy, told him in the emperor's name, that he ought to +return; for that his imperial majesty could not by any law keep him from +us, nor, during the present war with Turkey, and also in Italy with +Spain, embroil himself with us upon his account. When he saw how the +case stood, fearing he should be delivered up to us, whether he would or +not, he at length resolved to return home; and declared his mind to our +envoys, and to the imperial viceroy: he likewise wrote the same thing to +us, acknowledging himself to be a criminal, and blameworthy. Now +although our son, by so long a course of criminal disobedience against +us, his father and lord, for many years, and particularly for the +dishonour he hath cast upon us in the face of the world, by withdrawing +himself, and raising calumnies against us, as if we were an unnatural +father, and for opposing his sovereign, hath deserved to be punished +with death; yet our paternal affection inclines us to have mercy upon +him, and we therefore pardon his crimes, and exempt him from all +punishment for the same. But considering his unworthiness, we cannot in +conscience, leave him after us the succession to the throne of Russia; +foreseeing that, by his vicious courses, he would entirely destroy the +glory of our nation and the safety of our dominions, which, through +God's assistance, we have acquired and established by incessant +application; for it is notorious and known to every one, how much it +hath cost us, and with what efforts we have not only recovered the +provinces which the enemy had usurped from our empire, but also +conquered several considerable towns and countries, and with what care +we have caused our people to be instructed in all sorts of civil and +military sciences, to the glory and advantage of the nation and empire. +Now, as we should pity our states and faithful subjects, if, by such a +successor, we should throw them back into a much worse condition than +ever they were yet; so, by the paternal authority, in virtue of which, +by the laws of our empire, any of our subjects may disinherit a son, and +give his succession to such other of his sons, as he pleases; and, in +quality of sovereign prince, in consideration of the safety of our +dominions, we do deprive our said son Alexis, for his crimes and +unworthiness, of the succession after us to the throne of Russia, even +though there should not remain one single person of our family after us. +And we do constitute and declare successor to the said throne after us, +our second son Peter, though yet very young, having no successor that is +older. We lay upon our said son Alexis our paternal curse, if ever at +any time he pretends to, or reclaims, the said succession; and we desire +our faithful subjects, whether ecclesiastics or seculars, of all ranks +and conditions, and the whole Russian nation, in conformity to this +constitution and our will, to acknowledge and consider our said son +Peter, appointed by our constitution, to confirm the whole by oath, +before the holy altar, upon the holy gospel, kissing the cross; and all +those who shall ever, at any time, oppose this our will, and who, from +this day forward, shall dare to consider our son Alexis, as successor, +or to assist him for that purpose, declare them traitors to us and their +country. And we have ordered that these presents shall be every where +published and promulgated, to the end that no person may pretend +ignorance.--Given at Moscow, the third of February, 1718. Signed with +our hand, and sealed with our seal. + + 'PETER.' + +[103] This was the son of the empress Catherine, who died April 15, +1719. + +[104] At the same time confirming it by an oath, the form of which was +as follows: 'I swear before Almighty God, and upon his holy gospel, that +whereas our most gracious sovereign, the czar Peter Alexiowitz, has +caused circular letters to be published through his empire, to notify +that he has thought fit to exclude his son, prince Alexis Petrowitz, +from the throne of Russia, and to appoint for his successor to the crown +his second son, the prince royal Peter Petrowitz; I do acknowledge this +order and regulation made by his majesty in favour of the said prince +Peter Petrowitz, to be just and lawful, and entirely conform and submit +myself to the same; promising always to acknowledge the said prince +royal Peter Petrowitz for his lawful successor, and to stand by him on +all occasions, even to the loss of my life, against all such as shall +presume to oppose the said succession; and that I never will, on any +pretence whatsoever assist the prince Alexis Petrowitz, nor in any +manner whatsoever contribute to procure him the succession. And this I +solemnly promise by my oath on the holy gospel, kissing the holy cross +thereupon.' + +[105] His declaration to the clergy concluded in this manner:--'Though +this affair does not fall within the verge of the spiritual, but of the +civil jurisdiction, and we have this day referred it to the imperial +decision of the secular court, but remembering that passage in the word +of God, which requires us on such occasions to consult the priests and +elders of the church, in order to know the will of Heaven, and being +desirous of receiving all possible instructions in a matter of such +importance, we desire of you, the archbishops, and the whole +ecclesiastical state, as teachers of the word of God, not to pronounce +judgment in this case, but to examine and give us your opinion +concerning it, according to the sacred oracles, from whom we may be best +informed what punishment my son deserves, and that you will give it us +in writing under your hands, that being properly instructed herein, we +may lay no burthen on our conscience. We therefore repose our confidence +in you, that, as guardians of the divine laws, as faithful pastors of +the Christian flock, and as well affected towards your country, you will +act suitable to your dignity, conjuring you by that dignity, and the +holiness of your function, to proceed without fear or dissimulation. + +[106] Besides the particular passages in holy writ cited on this +occasion, which were, Levit. xx. 1, 9. Deut. xxxi. Matt. xx. 1. Mark +vii. 9. Rom. i. 28. Ephes vi. 1. those from the constitutions of the +empire were as follows: 'If any person, by any ill design, forms any +attempt against the health of the czar, or does any thing to his +prejudice, and is found inclined to execute his pernicious designs, let +him be put to death, after he is convicted thereof.' Stat. 1. 'In like +manner, if any one, during the reign of his czarian majesty, through a +desire to reign in the empire of Russia, and put the czar to death, +shall begin to raise troops with this pernicious view; or if any one +shall form an alliance with the enemies of his czarian majesty, or hold +a correspondence with them, or assist them to arrive at the government, +or raise any other disorder; if any one declare it, and the truth be +found out upon such declaration, let the traitor suffer death upon +conviction of the treason.' Stat. 2. From the military laws the +following citations were made; chap. 3. art. 19. 'If any subject raises +men, and takes up arms against the czarian majesty; or if any person +forms a design of taking his majesty prisoner, or killing him; or if he +offers any violence to him; he and all his abettors and adherents shall +be quartered, as guilty of treason, and their goods confiscated.' To +which article the following explanation was added: 'They also shall +suffer the same punishment, who, though they have not been able to +execute their crime, shall be convicted of inclination and desire to +commit it; and likewise, those who shall not have discovered it when it +came to their knowledge,' chap. 26. art. 37. 'He who forms a design of +committing any treason, or any other matter of the like nature, shall be +punished with the same capital punishments as if he had actually +executed his design.' + +[107] M. de Voltaire is mistaken in this point; for, by our laws, no +peer of the realm can absent himself from the service of the parliament +during its session, without the liberty of the king or the house. + +[108] This is another mistake; for it is death by our law to compass or +imagine the death of the sovereign. + +[109] Or Nions, the capital of Montauban, in Dauphine, in France, +situate on the river Aigues, over which is a bridge, said to be a Roman +work. + +[110] At twenty-four to the pound sterling. + +[111] About three thousand pounds sterling. + +[112] The czar celebrated this victory by a naval triumph at Petersburg, +caused a gold medal to be struck to perpetuate the glory of the action, +presented prince Galitzin with a sword set with diamonds, and +distributed a large sum of money among the officers and sailors who had +given such signal proofs of their valour. + +[113] A little town of the Bothnick gulf in North Finland. + +[114] Notwithstanding the great rejoicings made on this occasion, Peter +was noways inattentive to the affairs of state; but held frequent +councils thereon: and being desirous, as his son Peter Petrowitz was +dead, to settle the succession on a prince who would follow his maxims, +and prosecute the great designs which he had begun for civilizing his +people, he ordered public notice to be given, on the 23d of February, to +all his subjects inhabiting the city of Moscow, to repair the next day +to Castle-church; which they having done, printed papers were delivered +to them all, signifying, 'That it was his imperial majesty's pleasure, +that every man should swear, and give under his hand, that he would not +only approve the choice his majesty would make of a successor, but +acknowledge the person he should appoint as emperor and sovereign.' An +order was likewise published a few days after at Petersburg, requiring +the magistrates and all persons to subscribe the same declaration; and +all the grandees of the empire were commanded, on pain of death and +confiscation, to repair to Moscow by the latter end of March for that +purpose, except those inhabiting Astracan and Siberia, who, living at +too great a distance, were excused from giving their personal +attendance, and permitted to subscribe before their respective +governors. This oath was readily taken by all ranks and degrees of the +people, who were well assured that their emperor would make choice of +one who was every way worthy of the succession, and capable of +supporting the dignity intended for him: but they were still in the dark +as to the identical person, though it was generally believed to be +prince Nariskin, who was nearly related to the emperor, and allowed to +have all the qualities requisite for his successor: but a little time +shewed them, that this conjecture was groundless. + +[115] These he published and distributed along the borders of the +Caspian Sea, therein declaring--That he came not upon the frontiers of +Persia, with an intention of reducing any of the provinces of that +kingdom to his obedience, but only to maintain the lawful possessor of +them on his throne, and to defend him powerfully, together with his +faithful subjects, against the tyranny of Mir Mahmoud, and to obtain +satisfaction from him and his Tartars, for the robberies and mischiefs +which they had committed in the Russian empire. + +[116] Memoirs of Bassewitz. + +[117] MS. memoirs of count de Bassewitz. + +[118] Catherine paid the last duties to her husband's ashes, with a pomp +becoming the greatest monarch that Russia, or perhaps any other country, +had ever known; and though there is no court of Europe where splendour +and magnificence is carried to a greater height on these occasions than +in that of Russia, yet it may with great truth be said, that she even +surpassed herself in the funeral honours paid to her great Peter. She +purchased the most precious kinds of marble, and employed some of the +ablest sculptors of Italy to erect a mausoleum to this hero, which +might, if possible, transmit the remembrance of his great actions to the +most distant ages. Not satisfied with this, she caused a medal to be +struck, worthy of the ancients. On one side was represented the bust of +the late emperor, with these words--'_Peter the Great, Emperor and +Sovereign of all Russia, born May 30, 1672_. On the reverse was the +empress sitting, with the crown on her head, the globe and sceptre by +her side on a table, and before her were a sphere, sea charts, plans, +mathematical instruments, arms, and a caduceus. At distances, in three +different places, were represented an edifice on the sea coast, with a +platform before it, a ship and galley at sea, and the late emperor in +the clouds, supported by eternity, looking on the empress, and shewing +her with his right hand all the treasures he had left her, with these +words, 'Behold what I have left you.' In the exergue, 'Deceased 28 +January, 1725.' Several of these medals she ordered to be struck in +gold, to the weight of fifty ducats and distributed among the foreign +ministers, and all the grandees of the empire, as a testimony of her +respect and gratitude to the memory of her late husband, to whose +generosity she took a pleasure in owning herself indebted for her +present elevated station. + +Mottley gives us the following, as the czar's epitaph: + + Here lieth, + All that could die of a man immortal, + PETER ALEXIOWITZ: + It is almost superfluous to add, + _Great Emperor of Russia!_ + A title, + Which, instead of adding to his glory, + Became glorious by his wearing it. + Let antiquity be dumb, + Nor boast her Alexander, or her Cæsar. + How easy was victory + To leaders who were followed by heroes! + And whose soldiers felt a noble disdain + At being thought less vigilant than their generals! + But he, + Who in this place first knew rest, + Found subjects base and inactive, + Unwarlike, unlearned, untractable; + Neither covetous of fame, nor fearless of danger; + Creatures with the names of men, + But with qualities rather brutal than rational! + Yet, even these + He polished from their native ruggedness; + And, breaking out like a new sun, + To illuminate the minds of a people, + Dispelled their night of hereditary darkness; + And, by force of his invincible influence, + Taught them to conquer + Even the conquerors of Germany. + Other princes have commanded victorious armies; + This commander created them. + Blush, O Art! at a hero who owed thee nothing + Exult, O Nature! for thine was this prodigy. + +[119] The distinguished regard which this princess shews for the arts +and sciences, and her endeavours to attract the great geniuses of all +nations to reside in her dominions, by every possible encouragement, +affords the strongest presumptions, that in her reign we shall see a +second age of Louis XIV. and of this we have had a recent proof, in the +obliging letter which this august princess wrote with her own hand to M. +d'Alembert, and the choice she has since made of M. Duplex, a member of +the royal academy of sciences at Paris, when the beforementioned +gentleman thought fit to decline the gracious offers she made him. In +which choice she has shewn that it is not birth nor rank, but true merit +and virtue, which she considers as the essential qualifications in a +person to whom she would confide the most sacred of all trusts, that of +the education of the grand duke, her son. What then may not be expected +from the administration of a sovereign so superior to vulgar prejudice? +And especially when assisted by a Woronzoff and a Galitzin, both the +professed friends and patrons of literature and the fine arts, which +they themselves have not disdained to cultivate, when business and the +weighty affairs of state have allowed them a few moments leisure. + +[120] The following anecdote, communicated by a nobleman of the +strictest probity, who was himself an eye-witness of the fact, will give +us a clear insight into the character and disposition of Peter I. In one +of the many plots which was formed against the life and government of +this monarch, there was among the number of those seized a soldier, +belonging to his own regiment of guards. Peter being told by his +officers that this man had always behaved extremely well, had a +curiosity to see him, and learn from his own mouth what might have been +his inducement to be concerned in a plot against him; and to this +purpose he dressed himself in a plain garb, and so as not to be known by +the man again, and went to the prison where he was confined, when, after +some conversation, 'I should be glad to know, friend,' said Peter, 'what +were your reasons for being concerned in an attempt against the emperor +your master, as I am certain that he never did you any injury, but on +the contrary, has a regard for you, as being a brave soldier, and one +who have always done your duty in the field; and therefore, if you were +to shew the least remorse for what you have done, I am persuaded that +the emperor would forgive you: but before I interest myself in your +behalf, you must tell me what motives you had to join the mutineers; and +repeat to you again, that the emperor is naturally so good and +compassionate, that I am certain he will give you your pardon.' + +'I know little or nothing of the emperor,' replied the soldier, 'for I +never saw him but at a distance; but he caused my father's head to be +cut off some time ago, for being concerned in a former rebellion, and it +is the duty of a son to revenge the death of his father, by that of the +person who took away his life. If then the emperor is really so good and +merciful as you have represented him, counsel him, for his own safety +not to pardon me; for were he to restore me my liberty, the first use I +should make of it would be, to engage in some new attempt against his +life, nor should I ever rest till I had accomplished my design; +therefore the securest method he can take, will be to order my head to +be struck off immediately, without which his own life is not in safety.' +The czar in vain used all the arguments he could think of, to set before +this desperado the folly and injustice of such sentiments; he still +persisted in what he had declared, and Peter departed, greatly chagrined +at the bad success of his visit, and gave orders for the execution of +this man and the rest of his accomplices. + + + + + Transcriber's notes: + + The following is a list of changes made to the original. + The first line is the original line, the second the corrected one. + + of procelain, the court magazines, the foundery, + of porcelain, the court magazines, the foundery, + + and brought martins and black foxes, + and brought martens and black foxes, + + Labourers in the mines belonging to the crown 300 + Labourers in the mines belonging to the crown 3000 + + dicipline by land: nay, the most common + discipline by land: nay, the most common + + and encouragement on the part of a govornment; + and encouragement on the part of a government; + + situated on the Driester, and subject to the Turks, + situated on the Dniester, and subject to the Turks, + + in a word, he was worthy of being the father of + In a word, he was worthy of being the father of + + to the empire, the reigns of which she intended + to the empire, the reins of which she intended + + He led a retired life, and died in 1646. + He led a retired life, and died in 1696. + + retook from Lewis XIV. in 1694. After this, + retook from Lewis XIV. in 1674. After this, + + up the renegado, Jacob, to the conquerors. + up the renegade, Jacob, to the conquerors. + + cruizing on the coast of Crim Tartary. The Ottoman + cruising on the coast of Crim Tartary. The Ottoman + + Marshal Sheremeto, the general Gordons and Schein, + Marshal Sheremeto, the generals Gordon and Schein, + + Accordingly, in the month of March 1677, he sent + Accordingly, in the month of March 1697, he sent + + by king Willian with a spectacle worthy such a + by king William with a spectacle worthy such a + + is signed, and they cad no longer go from their + is signed, and they can no longer go from their + + This is speaking like the high-priest of depotism. + This is speaking like the high-priest of despotism. + + he invited all the boyards, and principa lladies + he invited all the boyards, and principal ladies + + gained a pitched battle, againsr an enemy who + gained a pitched battle, against an enemy who + + ignorant of the place where these two princes where, + ignorant of the place where these two princes were, + + gave up those Zoporavians who had engaged in + gave up those Zaporavians who had engaged in + + prisoners. Is has been the custom of the + prisoners. It has been the custom of the + + Demetrius Cantemir, was at this time Waiwod of Moldavia. + Demetrius Cantemir was at this time Waiwod of Moldavia. + + perish with famine. other memoirs pretend, on + perish with famine. Other memoirs pretend, on + + and six thousand six hundred and nine-two + and six thousand six hundred and ninety-two + + almost every century: Gustavus Adolphus get possession + almost every century: Gustavus Adolphus got possession + + took great delight in the ancient Green historians, + took great delight in the ancient Greek historians, + + he gave orders that the man, whom he had exmained + he gave orders that the man, whom he had examined + + transmitted to the latest postesity. + transmitted to the latest posterity. + + And here we cannnot forbear recalling to the + And here we cannot forbear recalling to the + + Caspian Sea, in the neigbourhood of Daghestan, + Caspian Sea, in the neighbourhood of Daghestan, + + head of James II. in London, as he had before + head of James III. in London, as he had before + + not been attested by a a public minister, who was + not been attested by a public minister, who was + + Gods's assistance, we owe to our labour, and those of our + God's assistance, we owe to our labour, and those of our + + of the country, and his ill-behaviour to his wife.' + of the country, and his ill-behaviour to his wife. + + us word, that he did rufuse to admit them; but that the + us word, that he did refuse to admit them; but that the + + materials for reparing this great structure, which + materials for repairing this great structure, which + + who, was to have Stanislaus again for her king. + who was to have Stanislaus again for her king. + + of renouncing arbitary government. Charles + of renouncing arbitrary government. Charles + + in this situation during the whole of the pear 1719. + in this situation during the whole of the year 1719. + + them on his throne, and to defend him powerfully, toge- + them on his throne, and to defend him powerfully, together + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The History of Peter the Great, +Emperor of Russia, by Voltaire + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 42540 *** |