f Columbia (Hntt)er^ttp intljfCttpofillfttjgDrk THE LIBRARIES PETER THE GREAT Vol. I. PETER TBE GREAT* PETER THE GREAT EMPEEOE OF EESSIA A STUDY OF HISTORICAL BIOGRAPHY BY EUGENE SCHUYLER, Ph.D., LL.D. AUTHOR OF ••TVKKISTAN"' IN TWO VOLUMES Vol. I. NEW YORK CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 1884 C?< \J '^A Copyright, 18S0, by EUGENE SCHUYLER Copyright, 1884. by CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SO^'S TROWS PRINTING AND BCOKBINOING COMPANY, NEW YORK. PREFACE. What is said in tlie followino; volumes is founded on the diligent — and I hope the impartial — study of original documents in the archives of various countries, of the Russian collections of laws and state paj^ers, of the memoirs and accounts of Peter's contemporaries, of the works of Russian historians, and of most of the imjDortant books written on the subject by foreigners. My views of portions of the history of the times under consideration differ in some respects from those generally entertained. I have not thought it necessary to emphasize them by attemj^ting to refute the views of others, or by disproving anecdotes and stories in such common circulation as to have become almost legendary. I have told the story of Peter's life and reign as I understand it, and I hope that my readers will believe that there is good evidence for every state- ment that I make. ^ r > fc I o i VI PREFACE. The books consulted are very nuiiiy, and it lias Ijeen impossible to cite tlieni all. As continual references to authorities which are chiefly Russian ANould appeal to very few of my readers, I have thought it best to avoid them, and have mentioned only my chief author- ities at the end of the chaj^ters. Historical students and those conversant with the literature of the j)eriod A\ill in this Avay readily find ^vhence I have taken my facts. For the convenience of the reader, I have avoided as far as possible the use of purely Russian words and titles, and ^vhere the English forms of pro|)er names are not used, an accentual mark has been T^laced to facilitate pi'onunciation. As circumstances have compelled me to live in five different countries since I began this work, often away from public libraries, and ^vith only my own ])ooks and my notes to rely upon, I must ask pardon for many deficiencies and slips. I owe especial thanks for their kind criticism and assistance to Professor Bestuzhef-Riumin of the Uni- versity of St. Petersburg, and Professor Briickner of the University of Dorpat, whose works I have had frequent occasion to cite, and which often ])ut me on the track of authorities that I might otherwise have PREFACE. Vll overlooked ; and more particularly to Professor Claes Annerstedt of the University of Upsala, who has been of great aid in procuring rare Swedish books for me. The portrait of Peter the Great is engraved after that by Carl de Moor, painted at the Hague in 1717, ^vhich was the picture most liked by Peter himself, and preferred for engravings. It ^vas for many years supposed to he lost, but I discovered it at Amsterdam in the possession of a private family, where it had come by inheritance from the painter Liotard, to whom it had been sent by the artist himself. EUGENE SCHUYLER. Legation of the United States, Athens: ' Tftanksgiving Day, November 29, 1883. EEKATA. Page 1, 11, 45, 53, 59, 105, 124, 138, 210, 215, 21G, 001 279, 296, 298, 311, 323, 334, 335, 336, 371, 385, 396, 409, 434, 443, line 23, fo?' Pskov, I'ead Pskof. {ticke) " Soltykofs, read Saltykofs. Tcherkasskj, read Tclierkasky. S(jltykof, " Salty kof. had given, " sent. Praskovia Soltykof, read Prascovia Saltykof. Oriekliovo, read Orekliovo. Lutzk, read Lutsk. Lubomirsky, read Lubomirski. Theodore, ** Yury. Soltykofs, " Saltykofs. Captain, *' Colonel. Pskov, read Pskof. Thessing, read Thesingh. add * Despatches ' of Polish Agent Bose in Dresden Ar- chives. 'Coll. of Russ. Imp. Hist. Soc.,' xx. 14, for von, read zu. 27, " Massalsky, read Masalsky. 25, 2, 10, 13, 15, 18, 20, 24, 27, 33, 3, 7, 8, 5, 23, for Cardis, read Kardis. 10, {ticice) 4, 37, 20, 23, 3, 29, 26, last^ 2, 14, 14, u il 1 ( u u (( u (( u u u for Kayserling, read Kaiser- lingk. 1', III., " IV. 27, Karlskrona, read Carlscrona. 3, Soltykof, " Saltykof. 27 Koporie, *' Koporie. 20, Lagau, * ' Lage. u Dec. 2, " Dec. 13. CONTENTS. PAGE INTRODUCTORY, 1 CHAPTER I. Second Marriage of the Tsar Alexis — Birth of Peter, . . 9 CHAPTER II. Life at Court, 19 CHAPTER III. Death of Alexis — Great Changes — Peter's Childhood, . . 27 CHAPTER IV. Court Intrigues — Death of Theodore — Election of Peter, ■. 32 CHAPTER V. Need of Reform — Abolition of Precedence — Grieyances of the Streltsi — Return of Matveief, . . . "' '. . . .39 CHAPTER VI. The Riot of the Streltst, 1682, 49 I' CHAPTER VII. Ivan Elected Tsar Jointly with Peter — Sophia Appointed Re- gent — Pacification of the Streltsi, 1682, . . . .64 CHAPTER VIII. The Dissenters Demand Discussion — Coronation of the Tsars, 1682, 71 X CONTENTS. CHAPTER IX. PAGE TiiK Riotous Disputation of the Dissenters, and its Ending, 1C82, 81 CHAPTER X. The Execution of Havansky — The Submission of the Streltsi, 89 CHAPTER XI. \y The Boyhood of Peter — His Military Exercises, and the Begin- ning OF Boat-building, 1G82-1688, 103 CHAPTER XII. Peter's Marriage— His Return to his Boats, 1G88-1G89, . .115 IV CHAPTER XIII. The Internal Administration of Sophia— Arrangement of the Dispute avith Sweden, 122 CHAPTER XIV. Eternal Peace with Poland— The Metropolis of Kief, . . 130 CHAPTER XV. Embassies to Vienna and Paris, 1687, 142 CHAPTER XVI. y Troubles with Turks and Tartars, 1687, 152 CHAPTER XVII. The Second Crimean Expedition, 1689, 161 CHAPTER XVIII. '\,i The Final Struggle Between Sophia and Peter, 1689, . . 169 CHAPTER XIX. Victory and Vengeance, 184 CHAPTER XX. Outburst of Fanaticism, 191 CONTENTS. Xi CHAPTER XXI. PAGB The German Suburb at Moscow, 198 ^^ CHAPTER XXII. Peter's Friends and Life in the German Suburb, . . . 208 \/^ CHAPTER XXin. Fireworks and Sham Fights, 1690-1692, 221 \/ CHAPTER XXIV. Peter Tries the Open Sea, 1693-1694, 227 k^^ CHAPTER XXY. The First Campaign Against Azof, 1695, 240 ^ CHAPTER XXVI. The Capture of Azof, 250 '^ CHAPTER XXVII. The Effect of the Victory — Building a Fleet in Earnest, .261 y CHAPTER XXVIII. Russians Abroad, 267 ^^ CHAPTER XXIX. The Journey of Peter to Western Europe, .... 274 i/^ CHAPTER XXX. Peter in Holland, 287 ^ CHAPTER XXXI. Visit of the Tsar to England, 299 ^y* CHAPTER XXXII. The Journey Home, 311 CHAPTER XXXIII. . . 72 The Revolt and the Punishment of the Streltsi. leff.), • • 85 Xll CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXXIV. PAGE TnE TsAKiTSA IS Sent to a Cloister, 332 CHAPTER XXXV. Foreign Fashions and First Reforms, 337 CHAPTER XXXVL Peter's Dejection, Anger, and Grief, 348 CHAPTER XXXVII. v/^ A Truce with Turkey, 354 CHAPTER XXXVIII. \y The League Against Sweden, 364 CHAPTER XXXIX. t- Russia Joins the League, 371 CHAPTER XL. Charles the Twelfth, 379 CHAPTER XLI. The Battle of Narva, 390 CHAPTER XLIL After the Battle, 400 CHAPTER XLIII. Negotiations for Mediation and Alliance, 1701, .... 409 ^ CHAPTER XLIV. t Russian Successes on the Neva and the Baltic Coast, 1701- 1704, 418 ■^j CHAPTER XLV. Menshikof and Catherine, 432 Outburst of Fan A LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS. •■Peter the Great, Fronti&piece. TO FACE PAGE •The IisTRODrcTiON of Christianity into Russia. (From a drawing by Charlemagne, Court-painter of Russia.), . : . . .1 Russian Hospitality in the Time of Ivan the Terrible. (From a painting by Schwartz.), ......... 3 •The Kremlin, Moscow, 12 • Ivan the Terrible in Old Age, 21 The Terem, or Women's Apartment, 23 ■ A Peasant Girl in Ancient Russian Dress. (From a painting by Makovsky.), 26 ' Tsar Theodore Burning the Books of Precedence, . . . 41 ' The Tsaritsa before the Rioters, 50 Sophia Feasting the Streltsi. (From a drawing by N. Dmitrieff.), 68 • The Dissenters Exhorting the People from the Red Staircase. (Drawn by N. Dmitrieff.), "^2 • The Disputation before Sophia. (Drawn by N. Dmitrieff.), . • 85 XIV LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. TO FACK l-Af.E Pktek Playing at Wah. (From a Russian painting.), • . . 100 TiMMEKMANX EXPLAINING TO PKTEU THE UsE OP THE ASTKOLAUE. (From a Russian painting.), . . . . . . . .110 Peteii FiNDiNii "THE Ghandfatheh OF THE RUSSIAN Fleet." (From a painting by Count Masoyedoff.), . . . . . . .112 Peter Launching '*the Grandfather of the Russian Fleet." (From a Russian painting.), . . . . . . . .114 A Group of Boyars — Krem»in in the Background, SoBiESKi Consenting to the Cession of Kief. (Drawn by P. L Szyndler.), ........... The Russian Ambassadors and the French Police Officials (From a drawing by Albert Adelfelt.), ..... Reception of a Russian Embassy at Versailles, . 128 136 145 148 Life in the Ukraine — *'The Return from the Market." (From tlie painting by Clielmonski.), ........ 155 Tartars Burning the Steppe in Advance of the Russian Ar^viy. (Drawn by Vierge.), 159 Kamenetz in Podolia. (Drawn by R. Riordan from a photo- graph.), ........ . . . 163 The Offending Picture of Sophia. (By Tarasevitch, with the in- scription by Sylvester Medvedief.), . . . . . .170 • Peter Awakened, . . .175 . Peter at the Troitsa Monastery Receiving the Deputations of the Streltsi, 177 Sophia's Appeal to her Partisans, 180 ' Novodevitchy Monastery-, . . 188 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. XV TO FACT. PAGE Rural Post in Russia. (From a painting by N. Swertchkofif. j, . . 206 Companions of Peter, 2L5 The Stone Jug. (From the original hy A. van Ostade in tlie museum at Vienna.), ........... 217 The Procession in Honor of the Persl\n Ambassadors, . . 223 Tartar Cavalry Attacking a Russian Commissariat Train, . . 241 The Message to Azof on the Xame's-day of the Tsar, . . 257 Peter Builds his First Fleet. (From a picture painted for tlie Rus- sian Government.), 265 289 291 Peter the Great at Zaandam. (From an engraving by Wappers.), Peter's House at Zaandam, Meeting of Peter the Great and William III. of England (Drawnby Victor Xeblig.), 299 Nicholas Witsen, Burgomaster of Amsterdam, .... 309 The Princess Sophia as the Nun Susanna in the Xovodevitchy Monastery, 327 The Streltsi Going to Execution, 330 The Tsar Cutting the Long Sleeves of the Boyars, . . . 340 Cutting off the Long Robes of the Boyars. (From an etching.), 342 Procession in Honor of Bacchus, 350 Oleg Nailing his Shield to the Gate of Constantinople. (From an etching by Professor Bruni.), ....••• 359 Charles XII. Bear-hunting, 383 Mad Frolic of Charles XII., 387 The Battle of Narva, 398 XVI LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. ILLUSTRATIONS IX THE TEXT. Russian Flag of Peter's Time, TsARiTSA Natalia, Mother of Peter the Great, . PAGE XX 10 The Great Bell of the Tower of Ivan Veliki, Rung at the Birth of Peter the Great, 13 Tsar Theodore (half-brother of Peter), . Tsarevitch Joann, or Ivan (half-brother of Peter), The Streltsi of 1613, The Streltsi of a Little Later Date, Officers of the Streltsi, Flag of the Streltsi of Moscow, Mat^-eief, The Patrl^rch Nikon, Ivan Naryshkin, . The Princess Sophia, Sister of Peter, The Baton of Prince Golitsyn, Cathedral of the Assumption, Moscow, Orthodox Sign of the Cross in Benediction, Orthodox Sign of the Cross in Prayer, . Dissenting Sign of the Cross, Double Throne used at Peter's Coronation, . 28 . 34 . 42 . 42 45 48 51 55 . 61 . 65 70 71 74 75 (6 77 Orb and Crown of Peter and Orb and Crown of Monomachus, 79 • • LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. XVll PAGE The Cross of Peter, 88 Guards of State at Receptions and Processions, . . .98 Globe of Metal from which Peter Studied Geography, for- merly owned by Alexis. Xow in the Treasury at Moscow. (Drawn by Maurice Howard from "The Russian Empire.";, .... 114 Mahomet IY., Sultan of Turkey, 116 Eudoxia Lopukhin, First Wife of Peter the Great, . . . 118 Jan Sobieski, King of Poland. (From an old engraving ), . . 132 Pope Innocent XI. (From an old engraving.), ..... 134 Peter's Travelling Sledge, 151 Medal Given to Prince Golitsyn for the Crimean Cam- paign, IGO Our Lady of Kazan, 171 Sabres of Mazeppa, Chief of the Cossacks (in the museum of Tsar- koe Selo), 189 Prince Boris Golitsyn, 191 General Patrick Gordon, 193 Arms of the Tsar's Body-guard — Partisan. (From. Antiquites deUi Bussie.), 199 Arms of the Tsar's Body-guard — Partisan. (From Antiquites de la Bussie.), 200 Arms made for Russians — Arquebuse of Tsar Alexander, made IN 1654. (From Antiquites de la Russie. ), 203 Lock of Arquebuse. {From. Antiquith de la Russie.), .... 204 I • • XVlll LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. , PAGB Model of a Ship built by Peter. (From the Marine Museum, St. Petersburg.), 222 Mazeppa, 242 Alexis Sii^in, 251 Peter in the Dress he Wore at Azof, 254 Peter in the Dress of Western Europe, 274 Peter at Work at Zaandam, 288 Sham Fight on the Y, 290 Peter in the Museum of Jacob de Wilde, 295 Copy of Etching by Peter, 296 Peter's Evening Pipe, 297 Saye's Court, 300 Spire of St. Stephan's Cathedral, Vienna, 312 West Front of St. Stephan's Cathedral, Vienna, . . . 314 Trinity Column, Vienna, 316 Column of the Virgin, Vienna, 318 A Contemporary Caricature, 338 Token for Beard Duty, 339 Catherine II. in National Costume, 343 The Apostle Peter, 357 Patkul, 367 Queen Ulrica Eleanora, 379 King Charles XII., 381 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. XIX PAGE Bombardment of Xoteburg, 423 Defeat of the Swedish Flotilla, 427 Menshikof, 432 Guard-room of the AxcrENT Terem, 435 At the end of Volume. Map of Russl\ in Europe. Map of Russla. at the Tdie of Peter the Great. Russian Flag of Peter's Time. O I— I < o c c :^ l-H w PETER THE GREAT. INTRODUCTORY. A BROAD, open plain, with scarcely a hill, but everywhere intersected by navigable rivers, with its three zones of arid, saline steppe, of rich and fertile arable land, of forest and frozen moor, fitted in every respect to be the home of a united and homogeneous people, we find Russia a thousand years ago sparsely inhabited by disunited Slavonic tribes, frequently at war with each other, and unable to cope with their neighljoiu's of Finnish and Turkish race. Scandinavian heroes, as the legend runs, are called in; civilisation and strong govern- ment go rapidly hand in hand ; and a distinctively Russian nation is born from the two centres of Xovgorod and Kief. Christianity is introduced fi'om Constantinople, and with it Byzantine ideas of law and polity, which have never disap- peared, and of which the influence is still felt. Then comes the appanage period, when the whole of Russia is divided into independent yet related states, each governed by its Prince of the House of Rurik under the general headship of the oldest member of the family, the power passing, not from father to son, but, as now in Turkey and the East, to the oldest male member of the familv. The absolute power of the princes was, in some measure, controlled by the popular assemblies which existed in most of the larger towns. Pskov and Novgorod had already been greatly developed, and Russia seemed to have entered early Vol. I.— 1 2 PETER THE GREAT. that path of progress which would in time hav^e rendered her a free and constitutional country. Trade, especially with the west of Europe, through Novgorod and the Ilanse towns, had received a great impetus, and the court of Kief displayed a high civilisation, when the whole country, overrun by the Mongols and the Tartars, was obliged to submit to their yoke. The effect of the Mongol supremacy was not felt in mixture of race and very little in corruption of language, but chiefly in the ^^ arrest of all political and connnercial development, and in the introduction among the Grand Dukes of new maxims and methods of government. The Russian states were not ruled directly by the Mongols: they were merely vassal. The Grand Dukes received their confirmation from Tartary, but the only Tartar officials in Russia were those wdio resided in the larger to\ms for the collection of tribute. The greatest positive effects produced by the Tartar supremacy were the separation of Russia from Europe and its withdrawal from AVestern influences, the gradual union of the whole countiy imder the Grand Dukes of Moscow and the establishment of autocracy, which was indeed necessary to this union and to the expulsion of the Tartars. One state after another was swallowed up by the Grand Duchy of Moscow, and even the free cities of ]S^6vgorod and Pskof were mulcted of their privi- leges and received the tyrant. After the autocracy had justi- fied its existence by miifying the country and freeing it from the Mongol yoke, it reached its highest development under Ivan the Terrible, who succeeded for a time in entirely break- ing up the power of the aristocracy of boyars and in realising what has so often seemed the ideal of the Russian state — an equal people under an absolute monarch. The Russian people had suffered so much from their lords, the landed proprietors, the ofiicials, and almost the whole of the noble classes, that they had become convinced — as ignorant persons are apt to be — that it was only the nobility and the boyars who •■ darkened the counsels of the Tsar ' and prevented their happiness. For this reason Ivan the Terrible, in spite of liis cruelties, was very popular among the masses of the Rus- sian people, and even now" his name is mentioned rather with affection than hatred. The death of Ivan, who left only feeble RUSSIAN HOSPITALITY IN THE TIME OF IVAN THE TERHIBLE. INTRODUCTORY. 3 and minor children, gave a blow to aiitocracj and brought back the nobility into power. The firm hand of Boris Godimof, the usurper, for a time kept order, and accomplished what the 7iobilitj then thouf>-ht absokitely necessary to their existence as a power- ful class— /.6\, reduced nearly the whole of the ^^^^-1^^^- Eussian people to serfdom, an institution then first legally es- tablished. Then came the Troublous Time — that period of commotion, distress, and invasion, when pretender ^ 1605—1 S vied with pretender, and the son of the King of Po- land was crowned Tsar of Moscow. The strength of each of these pretenders was the measure of the hatred which the com- mon people bore to the nobility. That mysterious prince who bears in history the name of ' the false Dimitri,' in spite of his foreign ways, was popular among the people, although the old nobility stood aloof from him. He was overthrown, not by the force of popular commotion, but by the plotting of the nobles. Basil Shiiisky, who was placed on the throne by the voice of the nobles, was unable to maintain himself there, because the general sentiment of the country, which had not been consulted in the matter, was against him. Finally the Poles were turned out, and at the Diet, or general assembly, in which all classes and all districts in the country were pretty fairly represented, the young Michael Pomanof was elected Tsar. The whole reign of Michael was a struggle to rid the coun- try of the Poles and the Swedes, who were attacking it from without, and to put down the bands of robbers and ^ ^^ . , ^ marauders who were making disturbance within ; for the Troublous Time had left a great legacy of difficulty to the new ruler. The country was poor ; every one needed money, and no one more than the Tsar himself ; for officials and sol- diers were loudly clamouring for arrears of pay, and for indem- nity for the losses they had sustained during tlie wars. In order to raise money, and in order more firmly to establish the power of the Tsar, it was found necessary to have frequent re- course to the States-General, especially during the early part of the reign. Legislation was directed in part to providing for the administration of the government, but chiefly to settling the difficulties caused by peasants running away from the estates 4 PETKIl Till'] Gin: AT. of tlieir lords during tho Tr()iil)lou8 Time. As years went on and Michael hecanio more iirnily seated on his throne, recourse was less often had to the States-General, and the aristocracy to some extent regained its power. In the latter years of Michael's reign the government was practically carried on by a single noble, the Prime Minister, or Favourite, or, as the llussians of that time expressively styled him, ' the man of the hour.' In the reign of Alexis the States-General were seldom con- voked, and onl}^ for the settlement of the most important ques- "IfMr ^c ^^^^^s? ^^^^^^ ^s ^^'^^' ^^'^^^^ Poland and the protectorate over the Cossacks of the Ukraine. At one of these sessions the Tsar procured the ratification of his well-known code, which went further than anything had ever done to estab- . . lish autocracy on a regular basis, and to legalise arbi- trary government. Even then no discussion was al- lowed. The 315 deputies present were permitted merely to listen and to sign, and the majority of IGO that protested were exiled to the Solovetsky Monastery. Henceforward the Tsar managed all matters, both great and small, according to his own will and pleasure. The Tsar Alexis was a man of good impulses, and of such gentle and amiable character that he was called by his subjects ' The Most Debonair.' But his very good qualities rendered him one of the worst sovereigns of Pussia. The ])ower was exercised by his favourites — Morozof, Ordm-Xastchokin, and Matveief, and under the rule of the boyars everything seemed to go from bad to worse. The country was impoverished and iu places almost depopulated ; the administration was defectiNe and disorganised, and the ofiicials w^ere corrupt. Taxes were high and exactions fi-equent. A sedition Ijroke out among the distressed people at Moscow ; the Judge Plestcheief and the Okolnitchy T]-akhani6tof had to be given up by the Tsar to the furious populace, and were judged and executed by the mob. Morozof, the Prime Minister and brother-in-law of the Tsar, only saved his life by a timely flight. In Novgorod and Pskof the populace made themselves masters of the city, and were only put down when troops arrived and laid regular siege to those places. In the south-east of Pussia, Stenka Pazin, a Cos- sack of the Don, captured Astrakhan, and established himself INTRODUCTORY. 5 Oil the lower Yolga, wJience lie ravaged the whole of south- eastern Eiissia. Tlie nobles and boyars were killed, but the peasantry willingly ranged themselves under his banners, and Moscow was in imminent danger. Stenka Kazin was put down captured and executed, but his name was always a watchword and lives till now in popular songs. He was a popular hero, embodying the discontent of the common people, rather than a briij:and chief — a Russian Robin Hood. Most serious, however, in its ultimate consequences was the rise of Dissent in the Russian Church. Actuated by a spirit of reform which was in itself laudable, the Patriarch Xikon undertook the correction of all the printed and manuscript copies of the liturgy. Careful comparisons were made with the formularies and service books of the Eastern Church as accepted at Constantinople, and with the early copies existino* in the libraries of the Russian monasteries ; and, finally, by a decree of an Ecclesiastical Council, the corrected books were ordered to be the only ones used, and the destruction was commanded of all others. This measure excited the trreatest hostility on the part of some of the ignorant clergy as well as of those who were heretical, but who had concealed their heresy under the incorrectness of the books which they used. Still more strong was the feeling among the mass of the j^eople, especially in remote districts, who had a sincere, even if some- times a superstitious, attachment to the forms and ceremonies to which thev and their fathers had been accustomed. It seems certainly a matter of surprise that passions should be so excited and people be found willing to suifer martyrdom for such puerile questions as to whether the name of Jesus should be pronoimced * Isus ' or ' Yisus ' ; Avhether, in a certain portion of the morning service the word * hallelujah' should be re- peated twice or three times ; and whether the sign of the cross should be made with the two fore fingers extended, or with the two fore fingers and the thumb conjoined as denoting the Trinitv. But it will not seem so stran«;e when we consider the Evangelical clergy of the Church of England in their fierce and violent hati'ed to the ' eastward position,' or to preaching in a sm'plice instead of a black gown. However fallacious or erroneous the doctrines or ceremonies may have been, the Rus- 6 TETER THE GREAT. sian people lield to tliem, and tlie attempt at reform caused an explosion in the form of relii^ious rel)ellion of popular wrath and discontent wliich had loni:; l)een simmering. While the one-sided development of religious life in llussia, in which devotion to outward forms had obscured the spirit of Chris- tianity, was at the bottom of this great movement, yet the strength of Dissent lay in its democracy, both civil and relig- ious, and in its being a protest against autocracy both in Church and State. Fanatical as were the early Dissenters, they were by no means all ignorant, ^nd included many of the best and worthiest of the traders and the peasantry. Attempts were made to put down the Dissenters not only by spiritual persuasion but by the force of arms, and some of the most obstinate were executed ; but the monastery of Sol- ovetsk, in the White Sea, Avliere the ignorant monks had suc- ceeded in winninii: over the Streltsi and other soldiers settled there for the protection of the place — for it was also a frontier fortress — held out for eiii:ht vears ao:ainst all the forces which the Court of Moscow could send ; and in the east of Kussia, on the confines of Siberia, the inhabitants of whole villages shut themselves up in their houses and burnt themselves to death, rather than accept a new and, as they considered it, a diabolical religion. The Government had at last an apparent victorv, and the revised service books were introduced into the churches ; but in obscure convents and distant villages the ' Old Believers,' as they called themselves, still flourished. At the present day nearly one-half of Kussia belongs in spirit, if not openly, to the Dissenters, and the reconciliation which is by no means yet complete, between the Dissenters and the official Church has been only accomplished by relaxing the rigour of the laws of persecution. These riots and rebellions, accompanied as they generally were with clamorous petitions to the Tsar for the punishment of some noble who was charged with the guilt of misgovern- ment, brought about in the mind of Alexis a mistrust of his subjects. He showed himself more rarely in public, he sur- rounded himself with guards, approach to the precincts of the palace was forbidden to the multitude, petitions could no longer be presented in person, and it is reported that the Debonair INTRODUCTORY. 7 4 Tsar, in an excess of terror, once killed a suppliant wlio came too close to his equipage. Worst of all, that fountain of ills, the secret police, sprang up, and a system of spies and denun- ciation was soon in full force. The classes and categories of hio-h treason were rigorously defined, and much stress was laid on the length and fulness of the Tsar's title. An accidental omission of a single word or letter from this long and cumbrous official title — which was frequently repeated several times in the course of a document — was considered as an act of personal disrespect to the prince, almost equal to high treason, and was pmiished far more severely than many hein- ous crimes.' Then began, too, an endless dispute with the rep- resentatives of foreign countries, either in Moscow or when Russian missions were received at foreign courts, on the proper recoo-nition of the Tsar's title, on the exact words to be em- ployed therein, and on the most accurate translation thereof, together with complaints of diminution of title. An excuse was found for a war with Poland in ' diminution' and "errors in the Tsar's title in papers signed by Polish officials. The foreign policy of the reign of Alexis was not a success- ful one. The Tsar was at first victorious in his wars against Poland and Sweden, and succeeded in reconquering all those provinces inhabited by a Eussian population which in former years had formed part of the Russian principalities or of the Tsardom of Mosco\^. A wrong policy was pm-sued, reverses ^ The shortest title of the Tsar that could possibly be used, aud which it was necessary to repeat every time that the Tsar's name was used in a docu- ment, petition, or discourse, was : ' The Great Lord, Tsar, and Grand Duke, Alexis Michailovitch, of all Great and Little and White Russia, Autocrat.* The complete title, as amplified in 1667, was : ' By the grace of God, Great Lord, Tsar, and Grand Duke Alexis Michailovitch, of all Great and Little and White Russia, Autocrat ; of Moscow, Kief, Vladimir, Novgorod ; Tsar of Kasan, Tsar of Astrakhan, Tsar of Siberia, Lord of Pskof and Grand Duke of Lithuania, Smolensk. Tver, Volynia, Podolia, Yugoria, Perm, Viatka, Bulgaria, and others ; Lord and Grand Duke of Novgorod of the Lower Land of Tchemigof, Riazan, Polotsk, Rostof, Yaroslav, Bieloozero, Udoria, Obdo- ria, Condinia, Vitebsk, Mstislav, and of all the northern region ; ruler and Lord of the Iverian Land, of the Kartalinian and Georgian Tsars, and of the Kabardinian Land, of the Circassian and Mountaineer Princes, and of many other realms and lands. Eastern, Western, and Northern, Hereditary Posses- sor, Successor, Lord and Ruler.' 8 PETER THE GREAT. followed, and an ignominious peace was the result. The only 2:)erinanent advantage was the limited protectorate established over that thoroughly llussian iind orthodox population of ad- venturei's inhabiting the banks of the Dnieper known as the Cossacks of the Ukraine, who, under the leadership of Bog- dan Xhmelnitzky, had thrown oft" Polisli supremacy and ap- plied for the aid of their brethren of Moscow. I SECOND MARRIAGE OF THE TSAR ALEXIS— BIRTH OF PETER. Whex the Tsar Alexis was still in the prime of manhood — and it slionld be remembered that he was just two months older than Charles the Second of England — he lost his wife, the ^ ^ ^^ Princess Marie Ilmitchna Miloslavskv. Durins^ a mar- 1669 " ried life of barelv twentv-one years, she had o-iven birth to thirteen children, several of whom had died in their infancy ; and she herself expired in childbed on the 12th of March, 1669. Three months later, Simeon, the fourth son, died ; and half a year afterward, at the age of sixteen, Alexis, the eldest son and heir to the throne. Of the two sons still livii]g, Theodore was yery infirm and sickly ; and Joann, or lyan, Avas almost blind, had a defect of speech, and lacked little of being an idiot. Under the circumstances it seemed highly probable to every one that the Tsar would marry again, and the parents of all marriageable girls were busy preparing them for the customary and traditional inspection of candidates for the hand of the Tsar. All, however, were doomed to disappoint- ment. Alexis frequently visited his chief minister and tried friend, Artemon Sergheievitch Matveief, who spared nothing to make his house attractive and pleasant to the Tsar, providing concerts and other amusements, and havino- trairedies, histories, and even comedies performed in his private theati-e. This minister, who had served in the foreign regiments, leaned toward all that came from Western Europe, and, although he kept the same open house, had adopted different manners from most of the Muscovite aristocracy and officials. The females of the family, dressed in what were called German clothes, did not scruple to appear at table or in the presence of visitors. Indeed the wife 10 PETER THE GKEAT. of Matveief was a ITamilton, one of a Scotch family settled at Moscow. There were no daughters, but Matveief had living with him a ward, the daughter of an old conirade, Cyril Ka- rvshkin, a cliamberlain and a landed propi-ietor of the remote district of Tarus, one of a noble but little known family of Tartar origin, several members of which had died in arms for their country. There was a family tie, for Theodore Karyshkin, the brother of Cyril, had also married a Hamilton, the niece of Mat- veief's wife, under whose charge Natalia Karyshkin . was receiving her education at Moscow — a tall, shapely, black-eyed, black - haired girl. One evening, when the Tsar was at Matveief's house, the w^ife and the pretty ward of the Prime Minister came into the room, bring- ing, as usual, the cups of vodka, the caviare, the smoked fish, and the other whets to the appetite which are taken before the Rus- sian dinner or supper. The widowed Tsar, in the depth of his grief and gloom, was struck by the pretty face, and still more by the modest smile — neither forward nor too much abashed — and by the sensible answers he received to his questions. He ate with more than usual heartiness, and seemed to enjoy the evening, and on going away said to Matveief that he would find a bridegroom for his pretty ward. ]N^otice had already been served for the inspection and review, on the 11th of February, of the young girls, either in Moscow or the distant provinces, whose position and beauty rendered them suitable to be the Tsar's bride, and word was now sent to Natalia Xaryshkin to appear among the others. According to custom, all the maidens then present assembled again for inspection on the 28th of April. Report soon bruited it about that Natalia Naryshkin w^as the chosen one. This caused an unpleasant sensation in the Krem- lin. The daughters of the Tsar — several of them older than Natalia Naryshkin — objected to so young a stepmother. They Tsaritsa Natalia, Mother of Peter the Great. 1670. THE TSAEITSA NATALIA. 11 objected, too, for a more serious reason, as her relations, accord- ing to accepted usage, would immediately come into court favour, while their own, the Miloslavskys, would lose their po- sitions, and perhaps be sent into exile. There was jealousy on the part of many families of much higher position in the social and political world than the Xaryshkins, each one desiring to obtain for his own friends and adherents the places which would evidently be vacated by the Miloslavskys. The Milo- shivskys themselves would have preferred a bride belonging to some family which they could easily influence, and thus, per- haps, keep themselves in power. The opposition to the choice of the Tsar was carried to such a leno^th that there were fears of a repetition of the scenes which caused the ruin of the first bride of the Tsar Michael, and of the one first chosen for Alexis himself. In 1616, the Soltvkofs, at that time the ruliuic family at court, had so much disliked Marie Khlopof, whom the young Tsar Michael was about to marry, that they had drugged her till she was ill, representing her as incm-ably dis- eased, and caused her to be exiled with all her family to Sibe- ria, where she remained for seven years, till the fall of the Soltvkofs, when she was allowed to reside at Xizhni-Xovo-orod. The Princess Marie Dolgoriiky, the second bride of Michael, had been suddenly taken ill and had died on the day appointed for the marriage. In 1617, two years after he had ascended the throne, Alexis had resolved to marry, and out of two hundred young girls chose Euphemia Ysevolozhsky. TVhen she was at- tired for the first time in the roval robes, the ladies-in-waitino^ twisted her hair so tightly that she swooned in the Tsar's pres- ence. The court physicians were induced to declare that she was afiflicted with epilepsy, and Euphemia and all her relatives were exiled to Tinmen in Siberia. There was e^ddently danger for Xatalia Xaryshkin. Only four days after the second inspection two anommious letters were found on the porches of the palace, in which accu- sations were made against Matveief of sorcery and witchcraft, and of using magic herbs to attract the mind of the Tsar toward his ward. There was a strict investigation, accompanied, as was then customary, with torture, and the contemplated marriage was put off for nine months ; but it was finally celebrated on 12 PETEU THE GKEAT. the 1st of Febrnary, 1<*>T1, witli all the customary pomp, din- ners, feasts, and public rejoicing, of which the Tsar Alexis was so fond. In spite of the intrigues and dissatisfaction of the elder danghters of the Tsar and of their relatives, the Miloshlvskys, everything was pleasant on the surface; and all the young peo- ple of the court annised themselves as usual during the sunnner in the villas and palaces in the neighbourhood of Moscow. The Tsar was devoted to his wife, was never for a moment without her, and even took her to his park of Sokolniki, where he in- dulged in his favourite pastime of liawking. To the delight of the people, and of all who feared what might happen from the feeble health of the two remaining sons of the Tsar, a rejxirt was spread, during the winter, that the Tsaritsa was pregnant — a report which w^as shortly after officially coniirmed ; and at about one o'clock on tlie morning of Thursday, June 9, 1672 (May 30, and the festival of St. Isaac of Dalmatia according to the Tiussian calendar) a son was born who was christened Peter, and Avho subsequently became known as Peter the Great. Messengers were immediately sent to the Metropolitan — for the Patriarch was dead, and his successor had not yet been ^ .^^ elected — to the other clere^v, and to the chief monas- teries, both at Moscow and Sergliia-Troitsa, to all the officials, and to all the higher nobility in Moscow. At five o'clock in the morning the great bell of the tower of Ivan Yeliki announced tlie birth of a prince and gave the summons to prayer. The Tsar Alexis was exceedingly fond of ceremon- ial display, and spent much of his time in arranging the details of the great court ceremonies, the receptions of ambassadors, and the solemn religious state processions. In consequence of the great delight he felt at the birth of his son, additions were made to the customary ceremonial. A procession, headed by the Metropolitan and clergy in robes of cloth-of-gold, w4th ban- ners and crosses and swinging censers, left the palace of the ]vremlin and went slowly round the great square to the cathe- dral of the Assumption. After the clergy marched in due order the higher officials of the government, the nobility according to their several ranks, and the colonels of the army ; then all the members of the royal family — the princesses, beneath their c 5 £ BIKTH OF PETER. 13 closed canopies, being accompanied by the wives and tbe dangli- ters of tlie great nobles ; and then citizens of Moscow acting as deputations from the merchants and from the various classes and guilds. After prayers and a solemn thanksgiving service, the Metropolitan and clergy felicitated the Tsar upon the birth of The Great Bell of the Tower of Ivan Velfki. his son ; and then Prince Nicholas of Georgia, advancing with the princes of Siberia and Ivasimof, whawere living at Moscow under the protection of the Tsar, presented the congratulations of the nobles and the citizens, and pronounced an address prepared for the occasion. From the cathedral of the Assumption the 14 PETER THE GREAT. procession passed to tlie cathedral of St. Micliael the Arcliangel, then to the Miracle monastery and to the monastery of the As- cension, and finally to the cathedral of the Annnnciation, the nearest to the palace, where mass was celebrated. On return- ing to the palace the Tsar held a reception in the banqueting hall, and raised the father of the Tsaritsa, Cyril Xaryshkin, and the Prime Minister Matveief, from privy councillors to the dignity of oholnitchy, the highest official rank but one, and only inferior to that of a hoydr? An uncle of tlie Tsaritsa, Theodore Xaryshkin, was promoted, with others, to the rank of privy councillor. Then, in the ante-room, the usual refreshments on the birth of a child were given to the guests, the Tsar with his own hands passing about vodJta and foreign wines to the nobles and officials, while boyars, specially assigned to this duty, dis- tributed fruit and wines to the army officers who stood without the palace. The only deviation from the customary feast was that the distribution of confectionery, usual on these occasions, was postponed to another time. It was customary to give a large state banquet soon after the birth of a prince, but the fast of St. Peter beginning on Mon- day, and Saturday night being also the fast before the festival of All Saints, which the Russians celebrate on the day we call Trinity Sunday, it was not only impossible to prepare a ban- quet of the usual kind in two days, but it was also difficult for the guests to come provided with the customary birth presents. A small private supper was nevertheless given in the Golden Hall on the Sunday to the boyars alone, it being understood that there were to be no personal invitations and no precedence at table. The Tsar having decided to give the name of Peter to the new-born child, the christening was fixed, after the fasting pe- ^ The titles of Boydrin and Okblnitcliy^ given to the two highest classes of the old Muscovite officials, are even more untranslatable than Pasha and Bey. They were purely personal and not hereditary titles ; they conferred a rank in the state, but brought no special duties with them. They ceased to exist in the reign of Peter the Great. Other official titles, such as Dihnnol Diak^ Spdlny^ etc., which have likewise been abrogated, I have made a shift to translate so as to give an idea of their functions. Jusb as lately in Roumania, so in olden Russia, the word boyars was used by the common people as com- prehending all the nobility and officials. BIRTH OF PETER. 15 riod was over, for the Feast of SS. Peter and Paul, the 29th of June (old style), that is, according to our calendar, the 9th of July. The christening took place before mass, in the Miracle monastery, in the refectory of St. Alexis, the miracle-worker. The ceremony was performed by the Tsar's confessor, Andrei Savmovitch, priest of the cathedral of the Annunciation, and the child was held at the font by Theodore Xaryshkin, the elder brother of the Tsaritsa, who handed it to the Princess Irene, one of the daughters of the Tsar Michael and the sister of Alexis. The child was borne to the church in a cradle placed on wheels, while the priest most venerated for his sanctity — Xikita — sprin- kled the path with holy water. On the next day, the 10th of July, which was Sunday, the clergy, with their holy pictures, their crosses, and their gifts, the boyars and nobles, the dele- gates fi'om the merchants, and other citizens, both from Moscow and from the neighbouring towns and villages, all with the cus- tomary bii'th-gifts, met in the palace for morning service, after which the table was spread in the banqueting-hall. Banquets on occasions of birth differed from those given on other great occasions in the palace, especially in the variety of the confec- tionery and wines. The expense and account-books which have come down to us show that on this occasion the tables were fairly loaded with large pieces of sugar-work, which included immense representations of the Muscovite arms ; eagles, swans, and other birds, even larger than life ; a model of the Kremlin, with people going in and out, and also a large fortress, with can- non. At the same time the Tsaritsa gave a banquet to the wives and daughters of the boyars in her private apartments. Each of the guests at these two banquets received on departing a large plate filled with sweets of various kinds, the quantity, however, proportioned accurately to the rank of the guest. Smaller plates of sweets were sent to those notable persons who were not able to be present at the christening feast. Other banquets followed during four days. One of the first ceremonies after the birth of a Pussian prince was what was called 'taking his measure ' — that is, painting the image of his patron saint on a board of either cypress or linden wood, of the length and breadth of the child. The measure of Peter was taken on the third day after his birth, and the most 16 PETER THE GREAT. skilful artist of the time — Simeon TLsliakof — was ordered to paint a picture representing the Holy Trinity, together with the Apostle Peter, on a hoard of cypress wood nineteen and a quarter inches long and live and a quarter inches broad. Tliis artist, however, was taken ill and died before he had finished the picture, which was completed by another, Tlieodore Kozlof . This ' birth-measure ' of Peter, as it is called, was carefully preserved, and now hangs over his tomb in the Cathedral of SS. Peter and Panl, in the Fortress at St. Petersburg. A governess was found for Peter, first in the person of the Princess Juliana Golitsyn, and subsequently in the boyars wife, Matrena Leontief ; and a mirse, who was obliged to be ' a good and clean woman, with sweet and healthy milk,' in Xeon- ila Lvof . Besides the nurse and his governess, a prince in those days liad a special staff of dwarfs, to be companions and at the same time servants. He had also his own apartments. Peter and his nurse were at first placed in some small rooms in the upper and wooden part of the palace, the walls of which were hung with common cloth. Put only a year from his birth — in August, 1673 — we find orders for one of the rooms to be hung with leather stamped- with silver, and a year later new apart- ments were prepared, the walls of which were hung with fine red cloth, and the furniture covered with red and crimson, em- broidered with yellow and blue. In 1676 the walls and part of the ceiling were decorated with paintings. In his earliest years Peter enjoyed all the luxury which at that time surrounded a prince, and from which, later on, he so readily broke away. The curious books of accounts mention numerous articles or- dered for him in the first four or five vears of his life : cradles, covered with gold-embroidered Turkish velvet, sheets and pil- lows of white silk, coverlets of gold and silver stuffs ; caftans, coats, caps, stockings and shoes of velvet, silk and satm, em- broidered with gold and pearls ; buttons and tassels of pearls and emeralds ; a chest for his clothes, covered with dark -blue velvet and ornamented with mother-of-pearl ; and a miniature carriage, drawn by ponies, in which he was taken out to drive. K^or were playthings of all kinds wanting ; toy horses, miniature clavichords and musical instruments of various kinds, dolls, BIRTH OF PETER. 17 wooden figures, liobbj-horses, toy carriages and carts, and a swing. The most common toys, however, were miniature bows and arrows, pikes, spears, wooden guns, banners, and all sorts of military ecpiipments. But as military things were destined to play such an important part in Peter's military education, we shall leave this subject for a time. Physically, Peter developed rapidly. He was able to walk when six months old, and being active, bright, and intelligent, he took an interest in all that was going on around him. Being the pet of his parents, he constantly accompanied them in their excursions and visits in the neicj;hbom*hood of Moscow. In Mav, 1675, Matveief presented him with a small carriage of foreign workmanship, drawn by four small ponies, in which he was driven and guided by the court dwarfs, and began to take a part in the court and public processions. An eye-witness, Adolph Lyseck, an Austrian Secretary of Embassy, in describ- ing the court procession to the Troitsa monastery in September, 1675, savs : — ' Immediately after the carriage of the Tsar there appeared from another gate of the palace the carriage of the Tsaritsa. In front went the chamberlains with two hundred runners, after which twelve large snow-white horses, covered with silk hous- ings, drew the carriage of the Tsaritsa. Then followed the small carriage of the youngest prince, all glittering with gold, drawn by four dwarf ponies. At the side of it rode four dwarfs on ponies, and another one behind.' Lyseck in another place speaks of his oificial presentation to the Tsar Alexis at the palace of Kolomensky : — ' The door on one side suddenly opened, and Peter, three vears old, a curlv-headed bov, was seen for a moment holdinor his mothers hand and looking at the reception. This was to be the great astonishment of the court.' The favourite resort of the court at that time was the palace of Preobrazhenskv. Here Matveief had caused a small theatre to be built in one of the large haUs, and a company of German actors gave comedies, assisted by various boys and young people from the court and the children from the Mestchansky — a quar- ter of Moscow inhabited principally by Poles fi'om the western provinces. The first play performed was ' Judith ' ; another Vol. I.— 2 18 PETER THE GIIEAT. time the story of Esther was represented, in wliicli the spectators tlionght tliey saw references to contemporary events : Ahasu- erus and Esther portraying the Tsar and the Tsaritsa, Mordecai being Matveief, and the wicked Ilaman one of the Miloslav- skys. We find mention also of tlie histories of ' Joseph,' and ^ Tobit,' and finally even plays on historical subjects not scrip- tural, such as the invasion of Tamerlane. Usually, after the comedy, German musicians gave a concert, or jugglers per- formed feats of legerdemain. The comedies sometimes lasted five or six hours consecutively, and the feasting went on until morninof.' ' The authorities for the preceding- chapter are, chiefly, TJstrialof, History of the Reign of Peter the Great, vol. i. , St. Petersburg-, 1858; Pogodin, The First Seventeen Tears of the Life of Peter the Great, Moscow, 1875 ; Solovief , History of Russia i\o\. xiii., Moscow, 1870; Esipof, CoVection of Extracts from the Archives with regard to Peter the Great^ Moscow, 1879 ; Zabielin, Essays on Russian Antiquity and History, Moscow, 1873 ; Zabielin, Home Life of the Russian Tsars and 2'saritsas, Moscow, 18G2-69 ; Tumansky, Collection of Me- mairs, etc.. Relative to Peter the Great, St. Petersburg, 1787 ; Palace Archives ^ St. Petersburg, 1853 ; Astrof, The Childhood of Peter the Great, in Russian Archives for 1875. (All the above in Russian.) II. LIFE AT COURT. Whex the Tsar was in Moscow, life at court must have been Terj uniform and sometimes monotonous. Alexis usually rose at four o'clock, and after making his toilet with the assistance of his chamberlains and gentlemen of the bed-chamber, went immediately into his oratory, where the priest and the deacon of the palace chapel awaited him. Here he remained in prayer for fifteen or twenty minutes. After this the deacon read ex- tracts from devotional books suited to the day, the lesson beins: most frequently a portion of the sermons of St. John Chrjsos- tom. When the Tsar kissed the holy picture he was sprinkled by the priests with holy water which had been brought from some church or monastery, and had been consecrated on the festival of the saint to which that church was dedicated. After these early devotions the Tsar sent one of his chamberlains to the Tsaritsa to vrish her good-morning and inquire after her health, and soon after went in person to visit her. The Tsar and the Tsaritsa then Avent together to one of the palace chapels and heard matins and a short early mass. Meanwhile the nobles and courtiers had been collectintr in the palace since an early hour, and were awaiting in an ante- ? room the entry of the Tsar from his private ap-f,- tmeuts. As soon as Alexis appeared they all bowed many ttp'p•^^.^.71/I pre- sented petitions and reports. Some of the offis^d.. ; wed f<» the ground as many as thirty times in gratitude- 1l>r favoiu-s re- ceived. After some conversation about affairs of state, the Tsar, accompanied by all the nobles, went at nine o'clock to his chapel to hear mass, which at ordinary times lasted about two hours. At convenient intervals durino; the service the Tsar re- ceived reports from the various departments and officials, gave 20 1»ETEK THE GKEAT. answers, and consulted the boydrs about public matters, very niucli as tliouij:h be were in tliecouncil-ebauiber. On great fes- tival days, instead of liearing mass in the j)alace cliapel, the Tsar and l)is court went to one of tbe large catbedrals, or to some cburcli or monastery in which the festival was particu- larly celebrated. In this case there was a solemn procession, in which Alexis displayed all his accustomed magnificence. Al- though the Tsar had the habit of discussing state business dur- ing divine service, there was scarcely any one in the country so pious as he. Doctor Collins, an Englishman, who was the Tsar's physician for nine years, says that during Lent he would stand in the church for five and six hours at a time, and make as many as a thousand j)rostrations — on great holidays even fifteen hundred. After mass the Tsar and his nobles returned to the recep- tion-room, where he continued to i-eceive reports, which were read by one of the secretaries, who also made suggestions to him relating to the proper answers. During the time that busi- ness was being conducted none of the nobles in the reception- room dared sit down. Everyone, except the Tsar, remained standing, although the boyars frequently went out into the halls, or even outside into the courtyard, in order to sit down and rest themselves. At the regular official meetings of the council, however, the boyars and all the officials sat down in their proper places, one after the other, according to their rank, those high in position being nearest the Tsar. The business of state was usually finished by twelve o'clock, Avhen the nobles retired, and the Tsar went to his dinner, to which he occasionallv invited some of the more distino^uished bo^^ars, though generally he ate alone. lie was served by nobles of high' position, who had the title of carvers, butlers, cup-bearers, and table-companions. Every dish which was brought to him was carefully guarded by special officials from the time it left the cook's hands until it was placed on the table. In the same wav the wines and beer were tasted several times before they reached the Tsar ; and the cup-bearer, who held the pitcher of wine constantly in his hands, tasted it afresh every time he poured out for the Tsar. The private table of Alexis was usually xevy plain. He ate the simplest dishes ; w o o n LIFE AT COURT. 21 the bread was the common Russian rice bread ; he drank only a little wine or light beer, or sometimes a little cinnamon water, or had a few drops of oil of cinnamon in his beer, for cinna- mon. Doctor Collins tells us, was the aroma iinjyeriale. This, however, was nothing in comparison with his simplicity during the fasts. Dr. Collins says : ' In the great fasts he eats but three meals a week — viz. on Thursday, Saturday, Sunday ; for the rest, he takes a piece of brown bread and salt, a pickled mushroom or cucumber, and drinks a cup of small beer. He eats fish but twice in the great Lent, and observes it seven weeks altogether, besides Maslinets week, wherein they eat milk and eggs. Out of the fast he ob- serves Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and will not then eat anything that comes of flesh. In fine, no monk is more ob- servant of canonical hours than he is of fasts. We may reckon the fasts almost eight months in twelve, with the six weeks' fast before Christmas, and two other small fasts.' On festivals, however, as many as seventy dishes were served at the Tsar's table, and nearly all these were given away, ac- cording to custom, as presents to the boyars. Somethnes, as a mark of special honour, the Tsar would select his favourite dish for some particular friend. After dinner the Tsar took a nap, which lasted about three hours, until vespers. The nobles again assembled in the palace for vespers, and during the intervals of the service the affairs of the state were again the subject of conversation and consultation, which sometimes continued, in the form of an irregular council, after service, although as a general rule the time until supper was spent by the Tsar with his family, or with those who were most intimate with him. All the latter part of the day was given up to amusement, which at that time often consisted in hearing books read aloud. Most of these books w^ere of an ecclesiastical character, and re- lated either to sacred or church history, to religious dogmas, or to the lives of the saints. The Tsars were frequently among the most learned men of their age in theology and church liis- tory, and the most notable example in this respect was Ivan the Terrible. Alexis was very fond, too, of having some one to read to him passages from the old chronicles of the Empire and 22 PETER THE GREAT. extracts from the reports of his ambassadors abroad, and liad transhited for him the couranU^ or newspapers, then published in Western Europe. Besides these he loved stories of travel and of life in foreign parts and in remote regions of Russia, and kept in the pahice, under the name of pilgrims and beadsmen, a number of old men who had wandered far and seen much, and who had the gift of telling in lively style what they had seen and passed through. The dryness of official history was in this way relieved by anecdotes and sketches taken from life. The Tsar had great respect for these beadsmen, and when one of them died he was buried wdth a considerable amount of pomp and ceremony in the chm-ch of the Trinity hostelry, the Tsar himself attending the funeral. Alexis was also fond of various games — draughts, backgammon, and especially chess; and frequently had spectacles of various kinds, such as wi-est- ling matches and other contests, in the hall specially devoted to that purpose. During the w^inter he occasionally visited a bear fight. He was fond, too, of inspecting the work of jewellers, armourers, and other handicraftsmen, which was brought to the palace. Of out-door sports he especially affected hawking, and when he went to Sokolniki, one of his favourite resorts for this kind of amusement, the whole order of things was changed. In general, during his visits to the country he paid less atten- tion to the affairs of the state, was less strict in his religious ex- ercises, and devoted far more of his time to amusement. The Muscovite ideal of woman, founded on the teachings and traditions of Byzantine theology, was purely a monastic one. The virtues of the cloister, faith, prayer, charity, obedi- ence, and industry, were the highest virtues of a woman, and the life of the cloister was best suited to preserve her purity. Socially, woman was not an independent being ; she was an in- ferior creation, dependent on her husband, for except as a wife her existence was scarcely recognized. Of this theoretical posi- tion of woman abundant proof is given in all the early didactic literature of Kussia, and especially in the ' Domostroi',' that curious manual of household economy written in the time of Ivan the Terrible. The wdfe should be blindly obedient in all things, and for her faults should be severely whipped, though not in anger. Her duty was to keep the house, to look after "Ilf*;;^" ^--.fe ■ , „...,.■;. .^^^-'i < ' .•'••' -^i*. .•'■::' ^ <- ■' H^>^ >^^H9^|^V^^^^Q|||UB^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^P^^'^^^^L^^^^^^^^^^H ''''' ■ '^m^s^M ■.-.-;.... i:^i^0l^rj'' - ■- i"!*- -"^ V '■'^B^-'ii 1 ^j,;;ii:;|^'::i ;'::,, \J •^^^w^'^'Wi in lic affairs would be for a long time in tlie hands of Matveief ; but Matveief was a man who had never offended the great nobles, either by his manners toward them, or by the introduction of any reforms trenching upon their privileges. He employed them, as far as he could ; at all events, he respected their rank, and so few of them at that time were fit to take part in public affairs that this was all they cared for. Only two great mag- nates took the side of Ivan — Prince Yasilievitch Golits^Ti and Prince Ivan Andreievitch Havansky. Golitsyn had been brought into great antagonism to the aristocracy by the part he had played in the reform movement under Theodore, of which we shall speak presently ; but there is also some reason to believe that he was already in such intimate personal relations with the Princess Sophia, of whom he was afterward the acknowledged lover, that he saw through her means, in case of the election of Ivan, the possibility of his rising to the highest power and in- fluence in the state. Prince Havansky, an empty and addle- pated man, of no special ability, prided himself on his descent from King Gedimin of Lithuania, and had a great opinion of his own personal importance. Without any claim to important public positions, his life had been passed in continual surprises that the high places of state were, one after the other, filled by some other than Prince Havansky. He had been deprived of command at Pskof — the only important position he had ever held — for cruelty, immorality, and notorious incompetency, and the Tsar Alexis had said to him, ' Though I picked you out and put you into service, eveiybody calls you a fool.' Without ideas, he talked incessantly, bustled noisily about with no defi- nite object, and was such a braggart and boaster that he acquired the popular nickname of Taranit, expressive at once of the in- constancy of the weather-cock and the exultation of the barn- yard fowl. As from Matveief and the Xaryshkins he had nothing to hope for himself, and consequently for Pussia, he opposed Peter and took the side of Ivan. The sisters of Theo- dore and the Miloslavsky party had, therefore, Httle support to expect for their candidate in the council which would decide the election of the Tsar, for, under the circumstances, it was felt that nothing less than a ratification by the representatives of all 30 PETER THE GREAT. Eui^sia, as in tlie case of the election of Michael, would fix the crown' t)n Peter's head witlnnit the liability to further disputes. Ihit as the Miloshivskys had not been sparing of the step- mother and her children in the moment of their triumph, dur- ing the early i)art of the reign of Theodore, they had to fear the worst, and therefore had to do something in self-defence. I>y a plentiful use of money and promises, they won over a munber of ' young men ' — that is, persons without high position, but who, nevertheless, could exercise considerable influence — some courtiers, others delegates of the Streltsi, or National Guard, amoTig whom there was a great deal of discontent. Their plans, however, were not yet matured when Theodore died, ^[any of the aristocratic party, which used the name of Peter for its watchword, ascertaining the movements of the Miloshivskys, feared that the election would result in bloodshed, and came to the palace with coats of mail under their gowns. This time, however, there was no trouble. AVhen all, according to custom, had given a farewell kiss to the hand of the dead Theodore, and had paid their salutations to Princes Ivan and Peter, the Patriarch, tlie archbishops, and the abbots of the chief monasteries came into the ante-room. The Patriarch, who was himself a boyar, belonging to the Sa- belief family, put to the assembled nobles the question : ' Which of the two Princes shall be Tsar ? ' The nobles at once replied that this should be decided by the people of all the ranks of the Muscovite state. Xow delegates from the whole country, two fi'om each district, were in Moscow, having come on the summons of Theodore, in order at a session of the States- General to decide on a fundamental reform of the tax system. Ko pains, however, were taken to collect these delegates, and the nobles meant by their words merely their adherents, who had collected in the Great Square of the Kremlin, adjoining the palace. The Tsar Shiiisky had been overturned because he had been elected by Moscow alone, and therefore, the States-General had been convened when Michael Pomanof was chosen. The ' Muscovite State ' in the present case meant, practically, a Moscow crowd. The Patriarch and the archbishops then proceeded to the balcony overlooking the Grand Square of the Kremlin, in front .. ELECTIOI^^ OF TSAR. 37 of the church of the Saviour, and the question was again put : ' To which of the two Princes do you give the rule t ' There were loud cries everywhere of ' Peter Alexeivitch,' there were some cries of ' Ivan Alexeivitch,' but these were soon drowned. The matter was thus decided by the crowd of people of all ranks ; and the Patriarch returned mto the palace, and gave his blessing to Peter as Tsar. The name of only one person whp shouted for Ivan is known — Maxim Sumbiilof — and an anecdote is told of his subsequent meeting with Peter. Once, when at mass at the Miracle monaster v, Peter noticed that one monk did not go up to receive the antidoron, or morsels of holy bread distributed at the end of the mass. Peter asked who he was, and was told it was Sumbiilof. lie then called the monk, and asked him why he did not receive the antidoron. The monk answered : ' I did not dare to go by you. Lord, and raise my eyes to you.' The Tsar bade him go for the antido- ron, and subsequently calling him again asked : ' Why did I not suit you in the election for Tsar? ' Sumbiilof replied : ' Judas sold Christ for thirty pieces of silver, although he was his disciple ; and I, Lord, was never your disciple. Is it strange, then, that I — a petty nobleman — should sell you to become a boyar ? ' All this was in the spring of 16S2, when the Whigs were conspiring against Charles the Second, three years before the Revocation of the Edict of Xantes, and a year after Strasburg and Alsace had been annexed by Louis XIV., the same year that William Penn was colonising Pennsylvania and La Salle exploring Louisiana. The election was decided ; Peter was Tsar, and by custom, the step-mother, as head of the family, was the regent. What could the princesses and the Miloslavsky party do ? Pretence was useless ; open opposition was the expression almost of despair. On the day of the funeral of Theodore, the Princess Sophia, contrary to aU etiquette, insisted on accompanying the body to the church. Pemonstrances were in vain. She not only went, disregarding the Byzantine prescriptions which kept the princesses unseen behind a canopy, showing herself openly to the people, but she was also loud in the expression of lier grief, which was certainly sincere and not feigned. At last, 38 PETER THE GREAT. long before the ceremonies liad terminated, the widowed step- mother, iS'atalia, left the church, leading her son Peter. This excited remark, not only among the populace, but still more on the part of the Princess Tatiana, the eldest member of the family, the sister of the Tsar Alexis and the aunt of Theodore, highly respected for her charity and goodness, who sent at noon a message to Xatalia, saying : ' You're a fine relation — could you not wait till the end of the funeral.' Katalia excused her- self on the ground that Peter was so young that it would have l)een injurious to his health to have remained in church so long without eating, ller cousin, Ivan. Xaryshkin, who had just returned from exile, and was constantly causing trouble by his thoughtless remarks, said: 'Let him that is dead lie there. His Majesty the Tsar is not dead, but still lives.' On return- ing from the funeral Sophia wept bitterly, and turning to the people cried out : ' You see how our brother the Tsar Theodore has suddenly gone from this world. His ill-wishers and enemies have poisoned him. Have pity on us orphans. We have no father nor mother nor brother. Our eldest brother Ivan has not been elected Tsar, and if we are to blame before you and the boyars, let us go live in other lands which are ruled over by Christian Kings.' These words naturally pro- duced a deep impression.^ ' Solovief, vol. xiii. ; Ustrialof , ch. 1 ; Pogodin ; Esipof ; Astrof ; Mat- veief's Memoirs ; Causeless Imjynsonment of the Boydr MaUeief ; Medvedief's Menwirs ; Collins ; Zamyslofsky, The Reign of Theodore Alexeievitch (Russian), St. Petersburg, 1871. V. XEED OF REFORM.— ABOLITION OF PRECEDENCE. —GRIEVANCES OF THE STRELTSI.— RETURN OF MATVEIEF. So much for court intrigues. Struggles between courtiers for place and influence have always been carried on, and are often not devoid of political and historical importance. Court intrigues are, however, not everything. In cases where court intrigue seems to have shaped the destiny of a nation, there will usually be found some causes of popular discontent — some struggle in the mass of the nation, which either takes advan- tage of the intrigue of courtiers to make itself felt, or by means of which courtiers succeed in their ends. So it was here. Whatever might be the mutual feelings of the rival families and of the rival place-holders who surrounded Theodore, and who placed Peter on the throne, they are only of importance on account of the popular fermentation which they assisted in brino-ino; to lio-ht. The need of reform had long been felt everywhere — in the Church, in civil life, in education, in the administration, espe- cially of justice and of the finances, and more than anywhere else, in the army. : The defects of the army had caused the defeat of Russia both by Swedes and Poles, and the Tsar Alexis readily accepted officers, men, and arms from abroad. Pussia was beginning a period of transition, and a period of transition is always a period of discontent. She had arrived at that state when all thinking men saw very plamly that the old order of things had. been outlived and must soon come to an end. With new ideas new systems must be introduced fi-om Western Europe, and no one knew exactly how changes would take place, or how far they w^ould go. Feeble as the Tsar Theodore was physically, he entered fully into the reformatory spirit. 40 PETER THE GREAT. aiul his short reign was distinguished bj many sincere efforts to improve tlie condition of his country. He wished to re-or- i'anise tlie army, and he had a design of establishing an academy in Moscow for the better education of the people, and for the support of the Church. He also formed a project which seemed far in advance of the times, for completely separating the mili- tary and civil offices. His early death left many of his plans inchoate, but one great reform he was able to carry out — namely, the abolition of 7>/W6^^^;?t'^, which had long been a curse, and had greatly retarded the proper administration of public affairs. According to this system of precedence, every noble kept strict account of all services which he or his ancestors had rendered to the state, and of the positions and offices which they had held. He felt that he could not take a position less distin- guished than any of those which his ancestors had previously occupied — that he could not hold a subordinate office, or take a lower place at the table, or in the Council House, without de- rogating from his rank, or lowering and dishonouring himself and his family, in his own estimation and that of others. For this reason it was almost impossible to put capable men into positions Avhicli the public welfare required them to fill, because incapable men of higher social rank refused to serve under them. So detrimental was this system — which by the practice of so many years had become an inveterate custom — that the loss of several campaigns, growing entirely out of struggle for place, sometimes compelled the Tsars to declare, at the beiginning of a war, that it would be conducted ' without precedence ' — that is, that the offices and positions held during the campaign should not count in the books of precedence. This method of avoid- ing the custom had come into vogue as early as the time of Ivan the Terrible, and during the reigns of Michael and Alexis nearly all the campaigns had been carried on 'without precedence.' This of course led people to think that the Tsar might at some time issue a ukase entirely abolishing precedence, and accus- tomed the minds of the nobility to the possibility of such a reform. The campaign against the Turks in 1681, in spite of the great num])ers of men under arms, and the large sums ex- pended, had not resulted as had been wished. The Tsar Theo- dore therefore appointed a commission, presided over by Prince o Q W o w o so O o M K Eh O M « P p; o Q O w ABOLITION OF PEECEDEXCE. 41 Basil Golitsyn, to consider tlie subject of the re-organisation of the army on the Western basis. Tlie commission made a report on that subject, and as a preliminary to the system which they wished to introduce, proposed the total abolition of precedence. On January 22, 1682, Theodore called a special council of the boyars, to which he invited the Patriarch, the archbishops, and deleorates from the chief monasteries. At this council the Tsar urged the abolition of precedence as an absolute necessity for the welfare of the state, stating, in the language of that time, that ' precedence was an institution invented by the devil, for the purpose of destroying Christian love, and of increasing the hatred of brother to brother ; ' and he called attention to his father's efforts, as well as his o\yti, for the suppression of this custom, and put the question to the assembly whether the peti- tion of this commission should be accepted, and whetlier, in future, all ranks and offices should be without precedence, or, as hitherto, with precedence. The Patriarch, in the name of the archbishops and of the Church, followed with a violent attack on the system, and the assembly voted that the Tsar should accede to the petition, and to the opinions of the Holy Patriarch and the archbishops, and should order that ' hence- forward all ranks should be without precedence, because for- merly, in many military exploits, and embassies, and affairs of all kinds, much harm, disorganisation, ruin, and advantage to the enemy had been ^^Tought by this, and that it was a system opposed to God, intended to cause confusion and great hatred.' After that the Tsar ordered the official service books to be brought into his presence — the books in which, for many cen- turies, the official services of every noble family, and of all its members had been carefully noted down. He ordered, at the same time, that all who had such books of their own, either original or copies, should surrender them to the Government. These books were then delivered to an official, who took them into the court-yard, and in a fm-nace prepared for the occasion burned them in the presence of the Tsar and the nobles. A reform like this, however useful, could not be effected without exciting some discontent and opposition on the part of tlie nobility. The only matter of surprise is that it excited so little at the time. Everyone, however, who liad any patriot- 42 PETEK THE GREAT. ism, or any sense of public duty, felt tliat it was a necessity. They hairbeeii willing to sacrifice their feeling about rank on occasion* when the Tsar had specially connnanded that the ser- vice should be without precedence ; they were now willing to sacrifice it entirely. At the same time, if an occasion arose — if there were a time when precedence was not waived — they would risk every- rm thing r ather than allow their fam- ily to be dishonoured. But, while consenting to the measure, the great nol)les had bitter feelings ajxainst the authors of it, and es- pecially against Prince Basil Golit- syn. Taken with other things, this helped to make them unite their forces, and, as has been said, they The Streltsi of 1613. , n -n» i supported Peter. Reference has been made to the want of organisation in the army. The military forces of Russia at this time consisted of the armed peasants, who were brought into the tield by their lords and masters, after special summons, at the beginning of every campaign — an undisciplined and unwieldy mob ; a few regiments of ' soldiers,' officered by foreigners and drilled in European tactics ; and the Strel- tsi (literally, archers), a sort of na- tit)nal guard founded by Ivan the Terrible. The Streltsi, composed of twenty-two regiments named after their colonels, of about a thousand men each, served ex- clusively under Russian officers, and were o-overned bv the old rules of Russian tactics, though subjected to regular discipline. They were concentrated in Moscow, and a few other towns, where they The Streltsi of a Little Later Date. THE STRELTSI. 43 lived in quarters by themselves. They were subject to no taxes and were allowed certain privileges, such as being permitted to have their own mills and shops, and to trade on their own account when they were not actually engaged in military duties. They were for the most part married, their duties were hereditary, and their sons, as soon as they became old enough, entered into their fathers' regiments. In spite of their privileged posi- tion, the Streltsi were fair representatives of the mass of the Russian people, among whom they lived and married and had daily intercourse, and from whom they received accession to their ranks. Still, not only had their discipline become weaker by their exceptional position, but much disorder and corruption had crept into their organisation, and there were many com- plaints that their commanders withheld from them a portion of their pay, that they cheated them in their equipments, and that they compelled them to work as their servants and slaves, and thus prevented them from carrying on their own trade and sup- porting their families. In the winter before the death of Theodore, and about the time of the abolition of precedence, the Streltsi of the Pyzliof Regiment made a formal complaint that their colonel was re- taining half their pay, and subjecting them to further oppres- sion. Yazykof, to whom was given the duty of investigating the matter, decided against the Streltsi and took the side of the colonel — for a favourable answer to the petitioners might have offended Prince Dolgoriiky, the head of the Department of the Streltsi, an old magnate, wdiose goodwill it was at that time most necessary to keep — and ordered the more prominent of the petitioners to be punished, so as to teach the Streltsi in future not to complain, but to be obedient to the constituted authorities. Three days before the death of Theodore, the Streltsi accused another colonel, Simeon Griboyedof, of extor- tion, of cruel treatment, of withholding their pay, occupying their land, compelling them under pain of flogging to work for him, and especially of forcing them to work during the Easter festivities on a country house he was building near Moscow. To prevent what happened before, they this time sent a dele- gate with the petition to Prince Dolgoriiky himself at the de- partment. Dolgoriiky, to whom it was reported that the peti- 44 PETER THE GREAT. tion liad ])ecn ln'oui^lit by a drunken and foul-mouthed soldier, ordereil the delegate to be whipped. But as he was being taken to siifter his punishment before the eyes of his comrades, he said : ' Brothers, why do you give me up ? I gave the petition by your orders, and fur you.' The Streltsi thereupon attacked tlie guard and rescued their delegate. This affair excited their aui^er, and in all the regiments complaints began to be louder and more persistent. Finally the Government yielded, or ap- peared to yield, and an order was given that Griboyedof should be removed and sent to Siberia, and that his property should be conliscated. He was imprisoned for a day and then rein- stated. The Streltsi then became frightened, and fearing the fate of the first petitioners, began to take measures for their own safety. The death of Theodore, however, put for a mo- ment a stop to all proceedings, and the Streltsi quietly took the oath of allegiance to Peter. The men of one regiment only refused at first to take the oath, but they were soon won over by the boyai-s who were sent to talk with them, and kissed the cross. The Miloslavsky party, in their efforts for self-defence, naturally took advantage of the discontent of the Streltsi. Ivan Miloslavsky gave himself out as ill and received no guests, but he easily found aid in his nephew and ev^en among the Streltsi. Disquieting rumours were spread. Much talk w^as made about the burdens that would be laid upon the Streltsi by the Na- ryshkins when they came into power, and it was whispered about that the boyars, with the help of the German doctors, had poi- soned the Tsar Theodore, that they had unjustly elected Peter, passing over the claims of Ivan, his elder brother, in order that they might rule under his name, and that they had openly threatened many of the Streltsi with death for their previous complaints. The absence of Matveief was favourable to any plans for working on the Streltsi against the Xaryshkins. He w^as so much loved by the Streltsi, that, had he been present, he could easily have counteracted such schemes by promising jus- tice. Some regiments assumed a hostile attitude, while others wavered, and one — the Siikharef regiment — refused to listen to these intrigues and remained faithful. In others the officers who endeavoured to restore order and bring the men to some THE STRELTSI. 45 sense of tlieir obedience to the crown were insulted and attacked. On May 9, the Streltsi presented petitions against twelve of their colonels and officers for acts of violence, unjust imposts and other illegalities, and demanded immediate satisfaction, threatening, in case it were not granted them, to take the law into tlieir own hands and recover their losses out of the prop- erty of the officers. The new Government had no counsellors on whom to rely. Among all the nobles of old and venerated names who made up the aristocratic party, and who had gath- ered round Peter — Odoiefsky, Tcherkassky, Dolgoriiky, Rep- nin, Troekiirof, Eamodanufsky, Sheremetief, Shein, Ivurakin, Lykof, Urusof — there was not one who seemed capable of ad- ministering a department, and cer- tainly not of appeasing a storm like this when tact as well as good sense was required. There were no men of experience in the new Government. The iSTaryshkins were vouno- and untried. Yaz vkof , Likhatchef and Miloslavsky ref us- ed to interfere, as it was none of their business to help out the new Government ; and to increase the alarm, Matveief was still far awav. The settlement of the matter was at last confided to the Patriarch, who endeavoured to arrano-e mat- ters with the Streltsi and to satisfy them with the promise that all would be set right. The Streltsi, however, demanded that the colonels should be given up to them. The boyars were so much frightened that they were inclined to consent to this demand ; but the Patriarch sent the metropoli- tans and archbishops to the Streltsi, in the hope of persuading them to thank the Tsar for his promise, and to abandon the idea of themselves punishing their commanders. JS^ext day all the colonels were removed from their offices and put into prison, and an order was given to confiscate all their property, and pay all the claims of the Streltsi. On the 12th, Simeon Griboyedof and Alexander Karandeyef, two of the colonels, were Officers of the Streltsi. 40 PETER THE GREAT. wliipped witb tlic knout, and twelve otliers with rods. Before the execution bei^an, the accusations were read over, and the Streltsi, who stood ai)ont, were allowed to fix the measure of punishment, sometimes exclaiming ' liarder,' and sometimes ' enough.' Yielding to a demand which was probably intended as a test of weakness, the Government forbade Yazykof and the Likhatchef and several of their immediate supporters to come to court or to ai)pear before the ' Shining Eyes ' of the Sovereign. On May 14, the Streltsi presented a new petition against their colonels, demanding the recovery from them of the losses which they had sustained, and the next day the colonels were submitted to the j)?'avezh — that is, they were publicly tortured or beaten, until they consented to pay the amount claimed. This semi-judicial proceeding lasted for eight days, until every farthing which had been claimed was made up ; and the colonels were then allowed to retire to their houses in the country. As the Streltsi had now been satisfied, and their claims, just and unjust, had been granted, the Government hoped to have a little quiet ; and in order to act upon public opinion, resolved that on May 17 there should be a public procession of the Tsar and the com^t officials to the Cathedrals of the Kremlin. At the same time there was to be a reception at the Palace of the nobility of the province of Smolensk, of foreigners and of officials. This was very well in its way, but at the same time the great mistake was made of conferring the rank of ' boyar ' and ' armourer ' on the eldest brother of the Tsaritsa, Ivan Xaryshkin, a young man only twenty-three years old. Other relations of the Tsaritsa also re- ceived increase of rank. These new favours of the Xaryshkins displeased not only the Miloslavsky party, but the Streltsi, with whom they were unpopular. It was said that the Karyshkins were trying to get the power on their ovm side in order to use it for their own personal ends ; and it was rumoured that Ivan Xarvshkin had tried on the Imperial Crown with the remark that it looked better on him than on anybody else, and that he had rudely pushed aside the Princess Sophia, who had remon- strated with him. It was said, too — ^for the most absurd re- ports will circulate in an ignorant community — that the Xa- rvshkins wished to destroy all the descendants of the Tsars, and themselves take possession of the throne. KETUEX OF MATVEIEF. 47 Meanwhile Matveief, who had been restored to all his ranks and titles on the first day of the accession of Peter, and was then on his estate only two days' journey fi'om town, had re- ceived numerous messages recalling him to Moscow, and urging him to hasten. Xevertheless he lingered. He received daily accounts of what was going on at the capital, for even before Theodore's death, many of his old enemies, seeing which way the wind was blowing, and what were the chances of the future, had made conciliatory advances. According to his son's account, seven faithful Streltsi went out to meet him, warned him of the disaffection asrainst the Government and the jS'arvshkins, and of the threats which had been uttered against him, and advised him not to go on to Moscow. He probably lingered to see if the storm would not blow over, but thinking that, as once he had been such a favourite with the Streltsi that they had even brought with their own hands stones from the graves of their fathers to build his house, he would be able to complete the pacification, he set out for Moscow. After stopping a day to rest at the Troitsa monasteiy and receiving the blessing of the Archimandrite, he was met at the villao^e of Bratovstchina bv a state carriage and by Athanasius Karyshkin, who had been sent to greet him in the name of the Tsar and of the Tsaritsa. Late in the evening of May 21, the old man returned to his house after six years of exile passed amidst the greatest privations. The next day he had an interview with the Tsaritsa ; and had the pleasure of embracing her son, the Tsar Peter. The family and the adherents of the Tsar now thought that all would be right, that the old man with his long experience and good sense, and the creneral love felt toward him, would be able to overcome all difl[iculties and to establish order. For three days the house of Matveief was filled with visitors of all classes and conditions of Moscow. Every one came to congratulate him, even the members of the Miloslavsky party, except Ivan Miloslavsky himself, who still gave himself out to be ill. All who came brought presents of one kind or another ; ' sweet money on the sharp knife,' as his son expressed it. So many gifts of all descriptions, especially of provisions, were brought to his court-yard, that there was no lonojer anv room for them in the cellars and store-houses. With tears of joy streaming down his face, the old man re- / 48 PETER THE GREAT. eoivod all wlio came ; inwardly he must have experienced feel- ings of triunij>h at being received in this way in Moscow, after his unjust exile. J)aron van Keller, writing a few days earlier, says : 'The discontent of the Streltsi continues. The Dutch merchants liave been much frightened, but the Streltsi have done no harm except to those who have given them cause for dissatisfaction. As a pi'oof that their complaints and griefs are not unfounded, His Tsarish Majesty has shown them much goodness, but has entirely disapproved of their manner of acting, as too vehe- ment and irregular, resembling the proceedings of the neigh- bours the Turkish Janissaries, who likewise have washed to be their own judges, and have caused great confusion and loss When the tempest is over Hegents will be chosen Meanwhile all public affairs are at a stand- still Great calamities are feared, and not without cause, for the might of the Streltsi is great and redoubtable, and no resistance can be opposed to them. Their grievances should be corrected so as to avoid bad consequences.' ^ ' Reports of Dutch Residents at Moscow in the Archives at the Hague ; Ustrialof , ch. ii, ; Solovief , vol. xiii. ; Pogodin ; Matveief s Memoirs ; Medve- dief s Memoirs ; N. Aristof , The Moscow 'Troubles in the Eeign of Sophia, (Russian), Warsaw, 1871. Flag of the Streltsi of Moscow. VI. THE RIOT OF THE STRELTSI, 1683. Ox May 25, tlie Streltsi, armed from head to foot witli swords, halberds and muskets, began to collect at a very early horn* m then- chm*ches in the most opposite quarters of the city, as if waitino' for some watchword. Soon a watchword came. About nine o'clock in the morning a man rode hurriedly through the streets crying out: 'The Xaryshkins have murdered the Tsarevitch Ivan ! To the Kremlin ! The IS^aryshkins wish to kill all the royal family ! To arms ! Punish the traitors ! Save the Tsar ! ' A general alarm was at once sounded. Drums were beaten, bells rung, and the regimental cannon were brought out. The Streltsi, with their broad banners embroidered with pictures of the Virgin, advanced from all sides toward the Kremlin, as if to attack an enemy, compelling their colonels to lead them on. The peaceable citizens who met them were as- tonished at this onset ; but to their inquiries as to its cause the answer returned was : ' We are going to destroy the traitors and murderers of the family of the Tsar.' Xo doubt the majority of them sincerely believed that the Tsar was really in danger, that the Xaryshkins were desirous of mounting the throne, and that they were patriots going to save their country, and to res- cue their ruler from the traitors and the hated boyars. x\s they advanced they cut off the long handles of their spears, so as to manage them more easily. Meanwhile the boyars were quietly sitting in the public offices and in the palace, without the slight- est idea of what was passing in the city, or, after finishing the morning's official duties, they were strolling about previous to their .midday dinner. Matveief, on coming out upon the stair- case leading to the bed-chamber porch, saw Prince Theodore Uriisof hastily running toward him, with scarcely breath enough Vol. I.— 4 no PETER THE GKEAT to crv out that tlic Streltsi liad risen, and that all the regiments, fully armed and with beating drums, were advancing towards the 7vi-(MHlin. Matveief, astonished, immediately returned to the palace with Uriisof, to inform the Tsaritsa Xatalia. The words were scarcely out of his mouth before three messengers came in, one after another, each with worse news than the pre- ceding. The Streltsi were already in the old town and near the Krendin walls. Orders were immediately given to close the Krendin gates and to ])repare whatever means of defence there miirht be, and the Patriarch was hastilv sent for. The officer of the guard, however, came with the intelligence that it w^as im- possible to shut the gates, as the Streltsi had already passed them and were now in the Kremlin. All the carriages of the boyars had been driven back to the Ivan place, and the drivers were some wounded and some killed, while the horses were either cut to pieces or removed from the vehicles. ]S^o one could get into the Kremlin or out of it, and the frio:htened bovars took refuge, one after another, in the banqueting-liall of the palace. The Streltsi surrounded the palace, and stopped before the red staircase. Amid the din, the cries and the uproar it was barel}' possible to distinguish the words : ' "Where's the Tsar- evitch Ivan ? Give us the Xarj'shkins and Matveief ! Death to the traitors ! ' A brief council having been held in the ban- queting-hall, it was decided to send some boyars out to the Streltsi, to demand of them what thev wanted. Prince Tcher- kaskv. Prince Ilavanskv, Prince Golitsvn and Sheremetief then went out and asked the Streltsi why they had come to the palace in this riotous way. ' We wish to punish the traitors,' was their reply ; ' they have killed the Tsarevitch. They will destroy all the royal family. Give up to us the Karyshkins and the other traitors.' When the boyars brought back this answer, the Tsaritsa was advised by her father, Matveief, and others to go out on the red staircase and show to tlie Streltsi both the Tsar Peter and the Tsarevitch Ivan. Trembling w^ith terror, she took by the hands her son and her step-son, and — accom- panied by the Patriarch, the boyars, and the other officials — went out upon the red staircase. ^ Here is the Tsar, Peter Alexeievitch ; here is the Tsarevitch, Ivan Alexeievitch,' the boyars cried out in loud voices, as they came out with the Tsar- o ►H O n 02 H (-1 1682.] EIOT OF THE STRELTSI. 51 itsa and pointed tlie children out to the Streltsi. ' By God's mercy they are safe and welL There are no traitors in the royal palace. Be quiet ; you have been deceived.' The Streltsi placed ladders against the rails, and some of them climbed up to the j^latform where the Tsar's family stood, in order the more closely to examine them. Peter stood still and looked at them, face to face, without blanching or showing the least sign of fear. On coming to the Tsarevitch Ivan, the Streltsi asked him if he really were Ivan Alexeie- vitch. ' Yes,' answered the youth, in an almost inaudible voice. Again the question was repeated. ' Are you really he ? ' ' Yes, I am he,' was the reply. The Patri- arch then wished to descend the staircase and talk with the rioters ; but the cry came up from below, ' AYe have no need of your advice ; we know what to do,' and many men forced their way up past him. The Tsaritsa, seeing their rudeness and fearing the con- sequences, took the children back into the palace. Matveief, who had for- merly been a favourite com- mander of the Streltsi, went down outside of the wicket and spoke to them in a confident yet propitiatory tone, reminding them of their former faithful services, especially during the time of the Kolomensky riots,' and of their good reputation which they were now destroying by their proceedings, and explaining to them that they were anxious without reason by believing false reports. He told them that there was no cause for their alarm ^ There were very serious riots during the reign of Alexis, in 1663, origi- nating in the misery and discontent produced by the debasement of the cur- rency. The rioters marched out from Moscow to the country-house of the Tsar at Kolomensky. Matveief. 52 PETER THE GREAT. about tlie royal family, which, as they had just seen with their own eyes, was in perfect safety, lie advised them to beg pardon for the distm'bance which they had made, which had been caused by their excessive loyalty, and he would persuade the Tsar to overlook it and restore them to favour. These sensible, good-natured words wrought a deep impression. The men in the front grew quiet; and it was evident that they had be^'un to reflect. Further off were still heard voices in discus- sion and conversation, as though a better feeling were taking possession of the nuiltitude. It gradually became calmer. Matveief hastened back into the palace to allay the fears of the Tsaritsa, when, unfortunately. Prince Michael Dolgoruky, the second in command of the Department of the Streltsi, came out and, relying on the words of Matveief, and thinking that all irritation was over, wished to put himself forward and to show his powers of command. In his rudest and roughest tones he ordered the Streltsi to go home immediately, and to attend to their own business. All the good impression which ^latveief's words had produced w^as immediately dispelled. The opponents of the I^aryshkins, who had been rendered silent by the changed disposition of the multitude, again began to raise their voices ; and some of the Streltsi, w^ho were more drunken or riotous than the rest, seized Dolgoruky by his long gown, threw him down from the platform into the square, ask- ing the crowd at the same time whether such was their will, while the men below caught him on their spears, exclaiming ' Y es, yes,' cut him to pieces. This first act of bloodshed was the signal for more. Lower- ing their spears, the Streltsi rushed into the rooms of the palace, which some had already succeeded in entering from another side, in order to seize upon Matveief, wdio was in the ante-room of the banqueting-hall, with the Tsaritsa and her son. The Streltsi moved toward him ; the Tsaritsa wished to protect him with her own person, but in vain. Prince Tcherkasky tried to get him away, and had his coat torn off in the struggle. At last, in spite of the Tsaritsa, the Streltsi pulled Matveief away, dragged him to the red staircase, and with exultant cries, threw him down into the square, where he was instantly cut to pieces by those below. 1682.] EIOT OF THE STRELTSI. 53 The Streltsi then burst again into the palace, and went through all the rooms, seeking for those they called traitors. The boyars hid themselves where they could. The Patriarch was scarcely able to escape into the Cathedral of the Assump- tion, while the Tsaritsa Xatalia and her son took refuge in the banqueting-hall. The Streltsi ran through all the inner rooms of the jDalace, looked into the store-rooms, under the beds, into the chapels, thrust their spears under the altars, and left no place without a visit. From a distance they saw Theodore Soltykof going into one of the chapels. Some one cried out : ^ There goes Ivan Karyshkin,' and the unlucky man was so fi-ightened that he could not pronounce a single word, or even tell his name. He was at once killed, and his body thrown below. When it was ascertained who it was, and that he was not a Xaryshkin, the Streltsi sent the bodv to old Soltvkof, and excused themselves by saying that his son had been killed by mistake. ' God's will be done,' said the old man, who had even the presence of mmd to give the messengers something to eat and drink. After they had left the house, in trying to console his weeping daughter-in-law, he quoted a Russian proverb to the effect that ' their turn will come next.' A servant who had overheard this, and who had a grudge against his master, immediately rushed out, and told the Streltsi that his master had threatened them. They returned and murdered him on the spot. In the Church of the Resurrection the Streltsi met one of the court dwarfs, named Ilomvak. ' Tell me where the Xarvsh- kins, the Tsaritsa's brothers, are hid ? ' they asked. He pointed to the altar, and they pulled out xVthanasius Xaryshkin, dragged him by the hair to the chancel steps, and there cut him to pieces. His younger brothers, his father, and his other relatives, as well as Matveief^s son, whose description of these events we chiefly follow, took refuge in the apartments of the little Princess Xatalia, Peter's sister, which apparently were not searched. On the portico between the banqueting-hall and the Cathe- dral of the Annunciation the Streltsi killed the privy-councillor and director of foreign affairs, Larion Ivanof, who had been one of those sent to negotiate with them, his son Basil, and two 54 PETEK THE GREAT. lieutenant-colonels. Between the Patriarch's palace and the Miracle Monastery, opposite the Department of Foreign Af- fairs, the Streltsi eaiiii'ht the old boyar Eaniodanofsky, seized him l)y the beard and dragged him to the Office of Expeditions. There"^ they raised him up on the points of their spears, and then threw him to the ground and cut hnn to pieces, because, as they said, he had been too severe with them in the expedition to Tchigirin. The dead bodies, with the spears still sticking in them, were dragged along by the feet to the gates of the Kremlin, amidst cries of ' Here goes the Boyar Artemon Sergheievitch Matveicf'.' 'This is the Boyar Prince Gregory Gregorie- vitch Eaniodanofsky ! ' ' Here goes a privy-comicillor— make room for them ! ' AVhen the bodies had been dragged to the Lobnoe place, where the tribune used at popular assemblies stood, they were hacked into small pieces, amidst cries of ' They loved to exalt themselves; this is their reward.' The crowd that stood around was obliged to express its satisfaction, be- cause everybody who was silent was accused of being a traitor, and as such was beaten. Peter Xaryshkin, who knew nothing of what was going on, was found in a house on the other side of the river Moskva, and was tortured and killed. Great efforts were made to find Doctor Daniel von Gaden, a Jew by birth, w^hom the Streltsi believed to have poisoned the Tsar Theodore. The rioters went to his house, which was near the Pogany pond, and arrested his wife. They also searched the house of his partner. Doctor Jan Gutmensch, but as they found no one, they went away. A new crew came, and succeeded in finding a frightened man, who had hidden himself in the garret, and took him to the Kremlin together with Yon Gaden's wife, threatening to keep them until the Doctor was found, and in case of his not being dis- covered, to kill them both. Partly from anger against the boyars, and partly fi'om genu- ine sympathy, the Streltsi took up the cause of the serfs. Many of them had been serfs themselves, and knew the oppressions to which they were subject. They wished not only to set the serfs free and 'restore right and justice to the land,' but also to gain adherents to their own cause. With this aim they attacked 1682.] EIOT OF THE STRELTSI. 55 the Departments of Justice and of Serfage, broke open the chests of papers and scattered them through the streets ; and then, going afterward to the houses of the chief boyars, declared to the serfs that they were free. This action produced Httle effect; they were joined by few of the common people, who were slow to move and were frightened, rather than excited, by the events of the day. The Streltsi were a mob, but still a mob of soldiers. As in many similar cases, a few nobles were betrayed and given up by their servants. A few others owed their safety to the devotion of their faithful slaves. That night strong guards were left at the gates of the Krem- lin with strict orders to let no one in or out. Pickets were also stationed at the gates of the Kitai Gorod and the White Town. On their way home parties of Streltsi entered various houses and demand- ed refreshments. If any one dared refuse them they beat the masters and servants, and excited general terror. But such conduct excited the reprobation of the leaders. Earlv the next dav, the 26th, the Streltsi came again, fully armed, and, with beat- ino; drums advancino; to the gilded lattice near the apart- ment of the Tsar, demanded with loud cries the surrender of Ivan ^N^aryshkin, the Councillor Kirilof, and the two doctors, Daniel the Jew and Jan Gutmensch. The princesses endeav- oured to save the lives of these people, but they were obliged to surrender Kirilof and Doctor Gutmensch, although they suc- ceeded in concealino; the wife of Doctor Daniel von Gaden in the room of the young Tsaritsa Martha, the widow of Theodore. The others were killed. The Streltsi then w^ent to the residence of the Patriarch and threatened with spears and halberds not only the servants l^ut The Patriarch Nikon. 56 PETER THE GREAT. the Patriarch himself, demanding the surrender of the traitors concealed there ; looked through the cellars and outhouses ; turned topsy-turvy boxes and beds, and not finding anyone, again came to the Patriarch and repeated their demands. The Patriarch, who had put on his robes, replied that there were no traitors in his house, but that he himself was ready to die. One band went to the house of the Danish resident, Buten- ant von Posenbusch, because they had heard from some one that Doctor von Gad en and his son were sheltered there. 'In the night between Monday and Tuesday,' Posenbusch himself relates, ' a sharp search was made for a doctor named Daniel von Gaden. At break of day the Okolnitchy Kirilo Ossipovitch Khlopof and more than one hundred Streltsi came into my court- yard, saying that they had information that the doctor and his son were concealed in my house, and telling me that if he were there I must give him up ; and that if I should conceal him, and he should be found in my house it would cost me my life and that of my whole family, and that all my property would be confiscated. I swore, therefore, by all that was holy, that I knew nothing about him, and had not even seen him for a long time. Thereupon he said that he had orders in any case to search my house, which I was obliged to let him do, because my protestation that I was a servant of the king, and that not I but my most gracious king would be affronted, was not taken into consideration; but they went on and searched through everything, chests and boxes — all I had to open for them ; and they looked through every corner of my house. Meanwhile came news that the doctor's son had been caught in disguise in the street that very night, so that the Okolnitchy need no longer look for him, but should track out the doctor with all haste. As they could find nothing in my house they ceased their search and went away ; but in an hour afterward a captain and about fif tv Streltsi returned, and said that they had orders to take me with them to the palace that I might be confronted with the son of the doctor, Avho had said that his father had been con- cealed by me. They immediately seized on me and wished to take me off, undressed as I was, without my hose and without my underclothing. I begged most humbly that they would first let me dress mvself and ride my horse into the to\\Ti. Mv wife 1682.] ADVENTURE OF THE DANISH RESIDENT. 57 also fell on lier knees before them, begging them with tears. So at last they permitted me to dress myself in the court-yard, for they would not allow me to stir a step from them. But when my horse was brought and I wished to mount it they would not allow me, saying I could go as well on foot ; but at last, after many prayers, I obtained this. Thereupon I took leave of my wife with tears in my eyes ; but when I came out into the street tlie bountiful God gave me the happy thoucrht to keep still a little, and then, calling the captain of the Streltsi close to me, I said : " God be praised ! I am not guilty, no never ; I have a clear conscience and do not doubt that as soon as I 2:0 to the castle you will let me go. Then if you will accompany me home again I ^vill treat you to as much brandy and beer as you like, but since the streets are full of your comrades who do not know anvthinp* about me vou must take care that none of your men who meet me do me any harm. Say that I am an ambassador who has been called to the court." This the captain and his Streltsi promised to do, and they kept their word. ^ Whenever a body of Streltsi met us they cried out : " Get out of the way ! An ambassador is going to talk with His Tsar- ish Majesty," whereupon the Streltsi immediately made way. When I was near the palace in the great square of the Bazaar, I saw to my right a colonel named Dokturof led off by the Streltsi to be killed, and on both sides of the road through which I had to pass, many dead bodies lay terribly mutilated, whereupon I was very much frightened. And what terrified me most was that some of the Streltsi coming from the Krem- lin, when they saw me all cried out : '' That is Doctor Daniel. Give him here, the traitor and magician ! " My Streltsi had enough to do to keep them back, continually calling out : '' Keep back ! It is not Doctor Daniel, but an ambassador who must speak with the Tsar," so that when I came to the Ki*emlin gate it was immediately opened and instantly shut behind me again. After I had ridden on a little I met several Streltsi drao^o-ing along the naked dead body of the doctor's son. Then my cap- tain said to me, though he did not leave my side : '^ This is the doctor's son ; with whom, then, can you be confronted ? " I thereupon was silent a little. When I came to the great square, which was full of armed Streltsi, they began to beat theii* drums 58 PETER THE GREAT. and sound the alarm bells, wliicli was tlieir sign to kill some one. But Almighty God gave me great courage, and my Streltsi cried out : '" Keep still ! This is an ambassador who must speak with his Majesty." ISpace was made for me to ride on as far as the stone staircase, where the lately widowed Tsaritsa and the Princess Sophia Alexeievna were standing with several gentle- men. I wanted, indeed, to go farther, but my Streltsi could make no space, for the square w^as so full of people that one could have walked on their heads. Then the boyar Prince Ivan Andreievitch Ilavansky came down and asked the Streltsi : " Is it your pleasure that the oldest Tsaritsa Xatalia Xaryshkin shall no longer remain at court ? " They all cried out : " Yes, that is our pleasure." But as Havansky turned round he looked into my face, was much astonished, and asked me : '^ Andrei Ivano- vitch " — for that is my name in Hussian — '' how did you get here i " I pointed to my Streltsi and said : " They brought me here," and then stepped nearer to him until I was two steps from the Tsaritsa and the Princess, to whom Ilavansky said something in a voice too low for me to hear, but which was probably nothing bad, for the Princess waved her hand to me to go away. Prince Ivan Andreievitch called out to my Streltsi : " Take this man home again, and guard him as you would your eyes," and then made a flattering speech about me. As soon as I got out of the sight of those high personages the Streltsi who accompanied me said : " Andrei Ivanovitch, cover thy head. Thou hast now perfectly established thy innocence." As I came to the great staircase, the Streltsi who stood about there thought that I, like others, should be thrown down, and when they saw my Streltsi take me past the staircase, they all pressed near and asked why I was there and why I was let go, and some still had an idea that I was Doctor Daniel. But my Streltsi kept their word and cried out that I was an ambassador and had spoken with the Princess, and that they should let me have my horse and go my way ; but the crowd was so great that I could not get my horse at once, but at last, after pressing a long time through the crowd, I got it and rode home, all the Streltsi ac- companying me, joined by many others. Some ran on as fast as they could to bring my wdfe news that I had been found in- nocent and let free, for I was obliged to go slowly and quietly, 1682.] ADVENTUEE OF THE DANISH EESIDEXT. 59 and make no uneasy countenance. When I came home I was received by all my people as one escaped from death's claws. To the Streltsi, who had now increased to over two hundred, I immediately had given as much Li-andy and beer as they could drink. Three of the highest came into my room and said : "Xow give us some money.'' I answered "yes," and thought twenty rubles would be sufficient ; whereupon they laughed scornfully, and demanded from me a thousand rubles. At this I was horrified ; whereupon they said : " Andrei Ivanovitch, content us well, or we will leave no life in thv house. Dost thou not know that we have the power? everything must tremble before us ; and no harm can come to us for that." I said : " You gentlemen were ordered to bring me home without harm ; and now will you yourselves murder me ? Therefore do what you will ; it is impossible for me to get so much money." Then they cut do\vn half ; and at last I agreed with those three persons to give every one of their men half a ruble each. When they went out the other Streltsi would not agree to this, and said that they must each have a ruble. The three men, how- ever, said : "We have agreed with the landlord for half a ruble, and cannot take our words back ; you must, therefore, be con- tented." Whereupon they all kept still. I then had the money counted out, and wrapped each haK ruble separately in a j)aper, and had the Streltsi counted, when we found them to be 2ST men strona'. They then sat in a circle all about mv court-vard, and the money was sriven out to them by two men, and after they had all once more taken a drink and had thanked me most heartily, they went away. When they were out of the court- yard, I fell on my knees, together with my family, and thanked God for his gracious preservation and assistance, for according to all appearances if I had gone out without my clothes and on foot I should not have come out of their hands alive. If a single man of the Streltsi who accompanied me had lifted his finger to mark me out I should have been killed. The same day another party came to look for the doctor, but they were somewhat more civil than the first time ; and in the night (or early on the Wednesday morning) still another j^arty of Streltsi came and searched through my house. They also were ci\il enough, but they terrified us a great deal, because we felt there 60 PETER THE GREAT. would l)e 110 end of it until the doctor was found, for the Streltsi were immoderately endjittered against him. AVhen at daybreak the news came that the doctor had been found, all we neighbours were right glad, although we knew he was innocent ; yet he could not have escaped, and we were saved from much anxiety. That same day I asked the boyar Prince Basil Go- litsyn (who had taken charge of the Department of Foreign Affairs, instead of Larion Ivanof) to give me some Streltsi as a guard, which was done ;' and on Thursday five Streltsi were put in my house, and changed every day.' The old Xaryshkin, the father of the Tsaiitsa, with his sons, several other relatives, and the son of Matveief , a youth of sev- enteen, concealed themselves at first in the dark closets in the bedroom of the little Princess Xatalia, but were afterwards taken to the further room of the Tsaritsa Martha, which had no windows, and was next to the court of the Patriarch's palace. Here Ivan Xar yshkin, wdio was particularly sought after by the Streltsi, cut oft" his long hair, and then an old bedchamber- woman, Klush — who was the only one who knew exactly where they were concealed — took them out in the morning into a dark store-room on the ground floor, covered up the windows with pillows, and wished to shut them in there, but Matveief said ' Xo ; if you fasten the door, the Streltsi will suspect something, will break it open and find us and kill us.' The room was therefore made perfectly dark, and the door was left open a few inches, while the refugees crowded together in a dark corner behind it. ' We had scarcely got there,' says young Matveief, ' before several Streltsi passed and looked quickly round. Some of them peered in through the open door, struck their spears into the pillows, saying spitefully : "It is plain our men have already been here." ' That day the Streltsi captured Ivan Yazykof on the Nikits- kaya street as he was hurrying to a church to conceal himself. He was met by a servant who knew him. Yazykof pulled off a valuable ring fi'om his finger and giving it to him begged him not to tell anybody. The rascal promised not to do so ; but im- mediately called some Streltsi, who ran up, looked through the church and found Yazykof, dragged him with jeers to the Red Place and killed him. 1682.] RIOT OF THE STRELTSI. 61 On tlie third day, May 27, tlie Streltsi again came to tlie Kremlin, and to tlie beating of drums stationed themselves about the palace, while some of them climbed straight np to the balcony and insisted on the surrender of Ivan 2Saryshkin. They threatened all the servitors of the palace with death if they did not find him, and declared that they would not leave the Krem- lin until they had possession of him. They even threatened the life of the Tsaritsa Xatalia and of the other members of the Tsar's family. At last it became evident that nothing could be done, and the Princess So- phia went to Xatalia and said : ' There is no way of getting out of it ; to save the lives of all of us you must give u]3 your brother.' Xa- talia, after useless protests, then brought out Ivan Xa- ryshkin and conducted him into the Church of the Saviour beyond the Wicket. Here he received the Holy Communion and prepared himself for death. Sophia handed him an imao-e of the Yirgm and said, 'Perhaps when the Streltsi see this holy picture they will let him go.' All in the palace were so terrified that it seemed to them that Ivan Xarvshkin was lingering too long. Even the old Prince Jacob Odo- iefsky, a kindly but timorous old man, went up to the Tsaritsa and said : ' How long, O lady, you are keeping your brother. For you must give him up. Go on quickly, Ivan Kirilovitch, and don't let us all be killed for your sake.' The Tsaritsa led him as far as the Golden Wicket, where the Streltsi stood. They immediately seized on him and began to indulge in all sorts of abuse and insult before lier eves. He was drao:oced by the feet down the staircase through the square to the Con- Ivdn Naryshkin. 62 PETER THE GKEAT. stantino tortnre-room. Tliou<^li most fearfully tortured, Xa- rvshkiii sliut his teeth and uttered not a word. Here was also hroui;ht Dr. Daniel von Gaden, who was caught in the dress of a hc'irar, wearinj:; bark sandals, and with a wallet over his shoulders, lie had escaped from the town and had passed two (lavs in the woods, l)ut had become so famished that he had returned to the German quarter to get some food from an ac- quaintance, when he was recognised and arrested. Yon Gaden, iu the nudst of his tortures, begged for three days more, in wliich he promised to name those who deserved death more than he. His words were written down, while others cried out: ' What is the use of listening to him ? Tear up the paper,' and drairired him, too-ether with Xarvshkin, from the torture-room to the Ited Place. They were both lifted up on the points of spears ; afterward their hands and feet were cut off, and their bodies chopped into small pieces and tranq^led into the mud. "With these two deaths the murders came to an end. The Streltsi went from the Red Place to the palace of the Kremlin and cried : ' We are now content. Let your Tsarisli Majesty do with the other traitors as may seem good. We are ready to lay down our heads for the Tsar, for the Tsaritsa, for the Tsarevitch and the Tsarevnas.' That very day permission Avas granted for the burial of the bodies, manv of which had been Ivina^ in the Red Place since the first day of the riot ; and the faithful black servant of old Matveief went out with a sheet and collected the mutilated re- mains of his master, and carried them on pillows to the parish church of St. [Nicholas, where they were buried. On May 28, deputies of the Streltsi regiments came unarmed to the palace and petitioned the Tsar to order his grandfather, Cyril Xarvshkin, to be tonsured as a monk. The old man was immediately taken across the Kremlin to the Miracle Monas- tery, and after taking monastic vows under the name of Cyp- rian was carried off in a small cart to the monastery of St. Cyril on the White Lake. His younger sons, Leo, Martemian and Tlieodore, succeeded in escaping from Moscow in common grey peasant clothino; under the care of some of their faithful servants, and concealed themselves in distant places, as did some of their relatives. Throus-h the kindness of a dwarf named 1682.] END OF THE EIOT. 63 Komar who was much attached to Peter, young Matveief was disguised as a groom, and boldly went out with the dwaii down the chief staircase. There the dwarf mounted his horse, which Matveief led, and they went through the Kremlin and the ^Vhite Town to the Smolensk Gate, where the strong guard fortunately did not recognise him. He was handed over to the care of the priest of the Church of the Descent of the Holy Spirit, with an order from the Tsaritsa Xatalia to conceal him. The priest passed him on to a groom, a relative of his, where he lived in peasant clothing for some time under the name oi Kondrat, and then wandered from one place to another until quiet was restored. Three days after this, on May 30, the Streltsi petitioned again that the Tsar should exile the brothers, Likhatchef, the rest of the Xaryshkins and young Matveief, and some other adherents of Peter. This decree was immediately issued.' ' Solovief, vols. xiii. xiv. and app. ; Ustrialof, I. ch. ii. and app., with re- port of Rosenbusch ; Aristof ; ^latveieVs Memoirs ; A. Brliekner, Peter der Grodse, Berlin, lbT9 ; Reports of Residents, in Dutch Archives. VII. IVAN ELECTED TSAR JOINTLY WITH PETER.— SOPHIA APPOINTED REGENT.— PACIFICATION OF THE STRELTSL— 1683. "Whex once the fury of a mob lias been excited by the sight of blood, it will commit deeds which at first all would have looked on with abhorrence ; and it is rare that a riot, beginning from whatever cause, does not end in conflagration, pillage, and robbery. Singularly enough, it was not so with the riot of the Streltsi. The soldiery satisfied their desire for revenge by kill- ing the men whom they had had cause to dislike in their cam- paigns, or whom they believed to be injurious to the State. They pillaged the Department of Serfage, in order to set free the peasants and gain themselves supporters, but they carefully abstained from the indiscriminate pillage of private houses. That they entered drinking-houses and ate and drank without payment was what might naturally be expected under the cir- cumstances. Kosenbusch and all the eye-witnesses explicitly state that the Streltsi gave strict orders that no pillage should be allowed, and kept watch that no persons pretending to be Streltsi should attack and rob the people, either in the town or in the environs. About forty persons, some of them Streltsi, and some poor peasants, were executed for having stolen goods in their possession, though the value of some articles did not exceed four kopeks (about eight cents). Xot feeling yet satisfied with the indemnity for the losses of pay and subsistence, caused by the cheating and robbery of their ofiicers, the Streltsi, as soon as the murders were over, and before even the bodies were buried, petitioned the Govern- ment to grant them a sum of two hundred and forty thousand rubles ($495,000) as back pay, and also to confiscate the prop- / 1682.] cha:n:ges in the governmext. 65 erty of those officers and magnates who had been killed in the riot, and distribute it among them. Frio-htened as the inmates of the palace were, thev were unable to admit demands like these, and they finally succeeded, by a liberal supply of drink, in compromising at the rate of ten rubles (820) to each man, and by putting up at auction the per- sonal property of those killed, when the Streltsi were enabled to buy what was for sale without much competition. The money to pay the Streltsi had to be raised by a general tax, and for the necessities of the moment much of the silver plate of the palace was melted down and coined into money. Tan Keller wrote : — ' The new Government is trying to content the Streltsi and the soldiers, but a great amount of money is neces- sary, and additional taxes and contributions are put upon everybody. This ouoht to be a s^ood lesson to those vile o-ain-seekers, and extortioners of gifts and presents.' A new Government had, indeed, been formed by circumstances and of it- self, without apparently any orders from Peter or his mother, but called out bv the necessities of the moment. 'We see bv the relation of Rosenbusch, the Danish Resident, that in the latter part of the riot, the Princess Sophia had been brought prominently forward, and had endeavoured to pacify the rioters. This was not strange, for she surpassed all the other princesses in natural abilities as well as in strength of mind and character. She had received an education more masculine than feminine, having shared the studies of her brother Theodore. She had been much with her brother during the last months of his life, had been at his bed- VoL. I.— 5 The Princess Sophia, Sister of Peter. 66 PETER THE GREAT. side during his illness, and had in this way gradually and invol- untarily come to be acquainted Avith affairs of state, and to be the medium by which the orders of the Tsar had been trans- mitted. It was in Theodore's sick-chamber that she first knew Prince Basil Golitsyn, and it was there she began to judge of the characters of officials and statesmen. She alone preserved her presence of mind throughout the riots, and it was but natural that all should turn to her for advice or orders. ]^ew officials stepped into the places and began to perform the duties of those who had been killed, without at first any rightful authority, al- though they were afterwards confirmed in their offices. In this way Prince Basil Golitsyn took charge of the Department of For- eign Affairs, Prince Ilavansky of the Department of the Streltsi, and Prince Ivan Miloslavsky of several other departments. The feeling that there was a certain illegality in the election of Peter, to the exclusion of his elder brother, Ivan, was strong among the Streltsi, and was doubtless greatly increased by the partisans of the Miloslavskys, whose own interests would have been advanced by the accession of Ivan. They did not, how- ever, demand the actual deposition of Peter, for he was the son of a Tsar, and had himself been proclaimed Tsar by the Patri- arch. They proposed to make Ivan Tsar also. On June 3, Prince Ilavansky reported to the Princesses that the Streltsi had sent a deputation to say that they, and all classes of the Muscovite State, desired that both brothers, Peter and Ivan, should reign together, threatening, if this were refused, to come again to the Kremlin with their arms, and prepared for attack. The chief nobles and officials who could be found were hastily called together, but as they were unwilling to take the responsi- bility of deciding the matter, a special council was summoned in the palace, to which were invited not only the officials, but also the Patriarch, the archbishops and the leading clergy, and deputies of the Muscovite State. Such deputies happened to be in Moscow at that time, having been called there by Theodore, shortly before his death, for the purpose of equal- ising taxation ; but whether these men took part in the coun- cil, or only deputies from the city of Moscow, is a matter of question. The threat that the Streltsi might make another attack 1682.] ELECTIO:^ OF lYAX. 67 brought nearly all the nobles to the Assembly, and the proposi- tion of a double reign was urged as in the highest degree advan- taofeous ; for it was maintained that when one Tsar went to the wars, the other could stay at home to govern the country. Ex- amples m history were not wanting, and members of the council cited in the discussions the cases of Pharaoli and Joseph, Arca- dius and Honorius, Basil and Constantine. Under the threat of the Streltsi, discussion was hardly free, and the partisans of Peter had suffered too much to make strong opposition. It was, there- fore, soon decided that both the brothers should reign together. The great bell was rung, prayers were said in the Cathedral of the Assumption, and solemn petitions j)ut up for the long life of the most Orthodox Tsars, Ivan Alexeievitch and Peter Alexeievitch. It was with difficultv that Ivan could be induced by his sisters to take even a nominal part in the Government. He alleged the defects of his sight and speech, and said that he cared more for a Cjuiet and peaceable life than for the world's government, but he would assist his younger brother in council and action. By the terms of the proclamation in the Cathedral, the name of Ivan was mentioned first, as the elder brother, and he was in this way given precedence over Peter ; but in conse- quence of a row into which the Streltsi had got with parti- sans of Peter, among the populace, who laughed at the idea of Ivan really being Tsar, the leaders of the Streltsi felt it neces- sary to express more clearly the relations between the brothers, and a deputation came to the palace begging that Ivan should be the first Tsar, and Peter the second, and obedient to his elder brother. Two days later, on June 5, there came another depu- tation of Streltsi, demanding that on accoimt of the youth and in- experience of both the Tsars, the Government should be carried on by the Princess Sophia, as Pegent. When this proposition was discussed in the council, an historical example was again adduced ; for had not Pulcheria been Pegent during the youth of her brother, Theodosius ? Sophia was, therefore, asked to take up the reins of government. She at first refused, but on being sufficiently pressed consented. A decree annoumcing the joint accession of Ivan and Peter and the regency of Sophia during their infancy, was issued the same day and sent to the different provinces of the Emphe. 68 PETER THE GREAT. Meanwhile, to conciliate and to acquire a greater influence over them, the Government had given to the Streltsi the hon- orary appellation of the ' Palace Guard.' Thej had been com- plimented for their loyalty and fidelity by Sophia herself, and had been feasted in the courts and corridors of the palace at the rate of two regiments a day. The Princess Sophia herself had even handed round cups of vodJca to the men. But in spite of these feasts and honours, the Streltsi did not feel quite easy in conscience. Althouo^h thev liad made a chano;e in the Govern- ment, yet it was carried on by the same sort of people as be- fore. Certain boyars had been killed, but their places had been taken by others in all respects like them. The enthusiasm with which the movement had started m-adaallv died out. The Streltsi recognised their own incapacity for governing, and despaired of any permanent good from their efforts. They knew that they had acted in a manner contrary to law and dis- cipline — that they were in fact rebels. They had offended the boyar class, not only by their riot and murders, but by their ac- tion in favour of the serfs ; and at last — for discipline had in the end proved too strong for them — they had placed them- selves in a position of antagonism to the serfs. On the very day, when, in consequence of the action of the Streltsi, Sophia was proclaimed Pegent, many of the serfs had united in a pe- tition for their freedom, complaining of the measures which the boyars, their late masters, had taken against them. This peti- tion was rejected with contempt by the Government, and the Streltsi were ordered to hunt out and catch the runaway serfs, to torture, imprison, and punish them, and to restore them to their masters. More than this, the Streltsi were induced to declare that thev had no svmpathv with the serfs, and would not assist them against their masters. About the time of Pen- tecost, there were numerous conflicts between the Streltsi and the fugitive serfs. There were night alarms, and the bells of the churches were rune: even in the German suburb. Manv of the sm-fs who resisted beino; cut down mercilesslv bv the Streltsi, the others became frightened, and began gradually to return to their masters. While the Streltsi felt safe in Moscow, where the popula- tion, if not sympathetic, was at least afraid of them, they knew < -/; 1682.] PACIFICATION OF THE STRELTSI. 69 tliat it would be comparatively easy for the boyars to raise an army of their adherents in the more distant provinces, lead them to Moscow and obtain the npper hand. To secure them- selves as much as possible against such an event, they presented to the Government, through Alexis Yiidin (one of their leaders and the right hand of Prince Havansky), a petition, which was at the same time a justification, purporting to be not onlv from the Streltsi themselves, but also from all the burghers of Mos- cow. In this they attempted to explain and defend their con- duct during the riots. They asserted that they had taken up arms on May 25 to protect the family of the Tsar from great harm ; that they had punished Prince Yi'iry and Prince Michael Dolgoriiky, for insults which they had long given to them, and for the harm which they had wrought in depriving them of their pay, and in other great injustice. They had killed Larion Ivanof, because he had joined with the Dolgorukys, and had threatened to hano; them all. Thev had killed Prince Ramo- danofskv, believino; him to be oruiltv of treachery in deliverinor up Tchigirin to the Turks and the Tartars. They had killed \ azykof , because he had taken the side of their colonels, had put great assessments upon them, and had taken bribes. They had killed the bovar Matveief and Dr. Daniel von Gaden, be- cause they had poisoned the Tsar Theodore with herbs, and had wished to poison the present Tsar, which Dr. Daniel had con- fessed when tortured. They had killed Ivan and Athanasius Xaryshkin, because they had tried on the Imperial crowTi, and had plotted all sorts of evil against the Tsar Ivan, just as they had done before against the Tsar Theodore Alexeievitch, for which thev had been exiled. Thev therefore asked permission to erect on the Ped Place a colmnn, on which should be in- scribed the names of these evildoers, and the crimes for which they were killed ; and desired that a document, with red seals, should be given to all the regiments of the Streltsi, to the sol- diers, and to all the people of the subm*bs, that none of the bovars or councillors should revile them, or kill them as rioters or traitors, and that no one should be sent without reason into exile, or beaten or punished because they had served with fidelity. The Government consented: it dared not refuse. Zickler and Ozerof were ordered to carry out the demands of 70 PETEK THE GREAT. the Streltsi, and a monument with the proposed inscription was erected on tlie Red Place. The erection of this monument does not seem to have im- pressed contemporaries as it does us. The Dutch Kesident in speaking of it sajs : ' A high pyramid is to be erected, giving the faults of those who were killed, and the justification of the massacres. This is a good lesson and warning to the bribe- takers who have caused so much disorder.' Order seemed now to be restored ; thanks were solemnly given in the churches for the end of the riots, and the Tsars made a pilgrimage in state to one of the neighbouring con- vents.' ^ Ustrialof , I. ii. ; Solovief, vol. xiv. ; Matveief's Memoirs; Reports of Dutch Residents ; Aristof ; Bruckner. The Baton of Prince Golitsyn. Cathedral of the Assumption, Moscow, where the Tsars were Crowned. YIII. THE DISSENTERS DEMAND DISCUSSION.— CORONATION OF THE TSARS.— 1682. It lias already been remarked that the siege and capture of the Solovetsky Monastery and the rigorous persecution of the Dissenters increased the dissatisfaction of the people without haying great effect in putting down dissent.' It produced a rup- ture between all the old-belieyers and the Goyernment, which, from its using force to put down the true religion, made itself ' See p. 6. 72 PETER THE GREAT. unlawful in their eyes. The Dissenters played a great part in the insurrection of Stenka Kazin, and in all the popular move- ments of the time. The administrative centralisation of Russia had at first touched only the higher ranks of life, both lay and clerical ; but gradually it began to subordinate to itself the com- mon people, the villagers, and the parochial clergy. In the concealed, but no less real, struggle against centralisation, the autocracy obtained everywhere the preponderance ; but discon- tent remained in the lower classes. As far as concerned their religious ideas, this discontent, added to the dislike of the new dogmas and rites, was increased by the arrogant tone which the superior clergy took toward the village priests and toward the mass of the common people ; a feeling frequently expressed in the writings of the dissenters. It was increased, too, by the dislike the Kussians felt to the foreigners settled in Russia, and to the foreign influences that were daily becoming deeper and wider — influences not only of the Germans, both Protestant and Catholic, who had entered the army, and whose families lived in the German suburb of Moscow, but also those Polish influ- ences which came from the schools of Kief, and were strength- ened and spread by the monks and clergy, who had received their education in Poland and Kief. There was even a preju- dice against the Greek clergy from Constantinople, who were thought to be less tainted with Latinism and Romish doctrines, but were accused of being more eager to amass their rubles than to keep the purity of the faith. The common people, in their dislike of novelty, hated the Polish influences that made them- selves felt at court and in the administration ; and the Dis- senters, like the Streltsi, laid all the blame on the boyars. They thought as Kopytof, a Dissenter exiled to the furthest part of Siberia, said : ' All in Moscow is according to the will of the boyars. "What the boyars wish, that they do.' Such convictions led the Dissenters to think that the appar- ent triumph of the popular principles which had been pro- claimed in the riot of the Streltsi would be advantageous to the cause of what they considered true religion ; that there would be a revolution in the habits and maxims of the Government, and a return to old Russian ideas and practices in religion as well as in politics. THE DISSENTERS EXHORTING THE PEOPLE FROM THE RED STAIRCASE. 1682.] MOVEMENT OF THE DISSENTERS. 73 Many of the Streltsi were Dissenters, and in some regiments this belief predominated ; and it was known that the Prince Havansky. their new chief, was a threat adlierent of the old be- lievers, and had for a long time protected one of theii- leaders, the Protopope Habbakuk, or Avvakum. The third day after the end of the riot in the Kremlin, the Streltsi of the Tituf Eegiment, which contained a particularly large number of Dis- senters, began to consider what measure they might take for restoring the old belief. They resolved to write a petition in the name of their comrades and of the inhabitants of the suburbs, requesting the Government to ' restore the use of the old books which were printed in the time of the orthodox princes and Tsars, and the five Pussian Patriarchs, and to cease loving tlie Latin-Pomish faith, devised according to man's will, but not according to God's.' After much searching they found a man to write such a petition — a monk named Sergius, greatly respected, ' a firm adamant, skilled in learning.' ^hen the peti- tion had been drawn up, and was read in the assembly of the Streltsi, they wept with astonishment to see how many fearful heresies had crept into the new books. They had not the abil- ity to go into details, but were firmly convinced that the true faith was being persecuted. 'Don't give us up, O brethren, to be persecuted as before. Do not allow us to be tortured and bm-ned,' cried Sergius to the assembly. ' O father, we are ready to shed our blood for the old piety,' answered a lieutenant-colonel. All promised with one voice to stand up for the orthodox faith, if necessary, even to death. One of the demands in this petition was, that a public discussion on the disputed points of the faith should be held either on the Ped Place or in the square between the Cathedrals. This discussion the Dissenters insisted upon because, firmly believing the truth of their doc- trines, they felt sure of an easy victory, and were convinced that they could readily get over to their side all the people present. Prince Havansky, when informed by the Streltsi that the petition was ready, was nmch pleased, and asked whether there was anyone who would be able to enforce the arguments of the Dissenting side. On being informed that there was an old monk ' skilful in disputations and firm in the faith,' Havan- 74 PETER THE GREAT. sky requested them to come to his lioiise, and fixed a time for the interview. The Dissenters were very warmly received by Ilavansky's servants, but were obliged to wait three hours until the Prince could dismiss some c^uests who were with him. At last he came in, and, seeing the monk about whom he had heard so much, bowed to the ground and asked : ' For what hast thou come to me, reverend father ? ' Sergius replied that he had brought a petition, with an account of the heresies in the new books. ' I myself am a sinner,' replied Havansky. ' I much wish that all should, as of old, worship in the holy Church unanimously and without differ- ence ; but, although I am a sinner, I un- doubtedly kee]) to the old piety. I read the old books, and I sign myself with the sign of the cross, made by two fingers.' Havansky then recited the creed, with the addition, thought indispensable by the Dissenters, of ' and in the real life-giving Holy Ghost,' and continued : ' Thus I be- lieve, and thus I teach, and I pray God to be merciful to the Christian people, and not to allow Christian lands to be utterly ruined by the present new Xikonian be- lief.' According to custom, he ended his discourse with texts. The petition was then read, but Havansky did not receive such a favourable impression of the ' firm ada- mant ' as his supporters desired. ' I see, O father,' he said, ' that you are a peaceful and quiet monk, not talkative, not eloquent. You are not the man for such a great act. We must set against them a man of many words, who can reply to them.' Other Dissenters then sucrofested to Havansky the famous Xikita, of Suzdal, as a fit man for the time — a priest who, after having been a leading Dissenter, had formally recanted, but had now gone back again to Dissent. His adversaries had given him the nickname of ' Bladder-head.' Havansky was delighted with the suggestion, for he had a high opinion of Xikita's abilities, and thought that none of the orthodox could successfully oppose Orthodox Sign of the Cross, in Benediction. 1682.] A KELIGIOUS DISCUSSIOIS^ DEMANDED. 75 him in dispute. ' I am glad to help you, brethren,' he said, and do not at all imagine that, as of old, you will be punished, or hanged, or cut to pieces, or burned.' The Dissenters then demanded a public discussion at the Lobnoe Place in the presence of the Tsars and of all the people, and, if not there, at least in the Kremlin at the lied Staircase, and insisted that this discussion should take place without fail on the following Friday, July 3 ; for Friday, by old custom, had been specially set apart for religious assemblies. Ilavan- sky replied that Friday would be impossible, because Sunday, the 5th, was appointed for the coronation of the Tsars. This was exactly what the Dissenters wished for, as they said : ' We desire that our lords should be crowned in the true orthodox faith, and not according to the Romish- Latin belief.' Havansky assured them that the two Tsars should be crowned ac- cording to the old rites and usages existing since the time of Ivan Yasilie\dtch. But the Dissenters wished not alone the old rites. Thev said : ' The Tsars will commune during the Liturgy, and the Patriarch will officiate according to the new rite, and at the coronation he will urge the Tsars to defend the new faith.' Havansky could not refute this, and said : ' AVell, be it as you will. Let the assembly be for Friday.' The Dissenters departed contented. At early dawn of Friday, July 3, the deputies of the Streltsi came to Havansky and inquired at what time he desired the fathers to come to the conference. Havansky replied, ' In two hours.' Two hours later the fathers appeared in the Krem- lin in a triumphal procession. Xiklta carried the holy cross, made according to the old rite, with three bars. Sergius, the writer of the petition, bore the Gospels, and Sabatius, a monk, who had just arrived from the Yolokolamsky Hermitages, carried a picture of the ' Last Judgment.' Crowds of people, surprised at this unusual procession, collected in the streets, and asked one another in whispers w^hat it all meant ; and as they Orthodox Sign of the Cross, in Prayer. 76 PETER THE GKEAT. followed the procession, recited in low tones, ^ Lord, have mercy upon us ! Lord, have mercy upon us ! ' On their arrival at the Kremlin, the Dissenters' procession stopped at the Ked Staircase, and sent word of their arrival to Prince Havansky. They were taken, according to custom, into the ILall of lleplies, where Havansky put on an air of ignorance, and went through the usual formula of asking the purpose of their coming. At the same time he made obeisance to the Gospel and to the cross. Xikita replied ; ' We have come to petition with regard to the old orthodox faith, that the Patri- arch and the archbishops may be ordered to officiate according to the old rite. If the Patriarch refuse to do this, let him answer in what respect the old books are bad, and why he has persecuted the adherents of the old rite.' He promised, for himself and his adher- ents, to show many heresies in the new books. Havansky replied to is ikita, as he had formerly done to Sergius : ' I myself am a sinner, but I believe according to the old books.' He took the petition and went up to the chamber of the Tsars. Eeturning in a little time, he said that, at the request of the Patriarch, the Tsars had put off the discussion of the petition until Wednesday, as it was an important matter, which needed much time, as the books must be compared, and he advised them to come on Wednes- day, after dinner. Kikita, however, did not forget that the coronation was arranged for Sunday, and immediately asked : ' How will the Tsars be crowned ? ' ' Ac- cording to the old rite,' answered Havansky. Nikita insisted that the Patriarch should officiate at the liturgy, as of old, with seven wafers, and that the cross upon these wafers should be the real and true cross, and not a Latin one. To get rid of him, Havansky answered : ' Bring me some wafers baked with the impress of the old cross. I myself will take them to the Patri- arch, and order him to serve according to the old rite ; and you, Father ]^ikita, go home.' Xext day, two other refugee Dissenters arrived — Father Dissenting Sign of the Cross. 1682.] THE COKOl^ATION. 77 Dorotliens and Father Gabriel. There was great joy among the Dissenters, who felt sure of a speedy triumph. Nikita requested a certain widow of his acquaintance to prepare the wafers in the old style. Ahhough Xikita started out early on Sunday morning with his wafers carefully packed in a wallet, when he arrived at the Kremlin, he found the crowd so great in the square about the Cathedral that it was impossible for liim to reach even the barriers. Much agamst his will, he was obliged to re- tm-n, and coming sadly into the assemblv of the faithful, placed the wafers on the table, saying : ' Pardon me, O holy fathers ! The people would not al- low me to approach the Cathedral, and I have brought back the wafers.' They were, therefore, after service, distributed anions: the faithful at benediction. Meanwhile the coro- nation had taken place. On the evening of July 4, 16S2, there was a grand vesper service in all the churches, and especially in the Cathe- dral of the Assump- tion, where it was celebrated bv the Patriarch Joachim, at- tended by all the superior clergy. During the night a square platform, raised on twelve steps, was erected in the middle of the Cathedral, immediately under the dome, and covered with crimson cloth. From this platform to the chancel, the pavement was spread with red cloth, on which two strips of scarlet velvet Double Throne used at Peter's Coronation. 78 PETER THE GREAT. were laid for the Tsars, and a strip of blue for tlie Patriarch. On each side were raised seats covered with Persian carpets and cloth-of-gold, for the clergy. On the centre platform a double throne was erected. There had not been time to make entirely fresh regalia for the double coronation, and the silver-gilt throne of handsome workmanship made for the Tsar Alexis was divi- ded by a bar in the middle, so that it could be used by the two boys. A seat was placed behind, so that the monitor of Peter, through the hole in the back, could whisper to him the neces- sary responses. The crown, sceptre, and globe, originally pres- ents from Constantino Monomachus, Emperor of the East, to the Grand Duke Yladimir of Kief, had been imitated in smaller size, and at less expense, for the use of Peter. The old historic ones, with which all the Tsars had been crowned, were reserved for Ivan. This was the last time they were ever used. The successors of Peter were Emperors, not Tsars ; and the crown and pectoral cross of Monomachus, the visible symbols of the relations of the Muscovite Tsars to the Emperors of Constanti- nople, are now mere curiosities in the Imperial treasury at Mos- cow. On the left side of this throne was a third throne, for the Patriarch, the spiritual emperor. This, too, was used for the last time. The power of the clergy was to be diminished, and the rule of the Patriarch to be broken. In the chancel were placed six reading-desks, two lower than the rest, covered Avith satin embroidered with jewels, on which were to be placed the crown and sceptre and pectoral cross of Monomachus, containing a relic of the true cross. At the first dawn of day, on July 6, the bells began to ring jo^-fully and there was a great procession of the clergy from all the churches. At five o'clock the two boy Tsars went to the Palace Chapel for matins, and then in procession to the banquet- ing-hall. Here, in honour of the clay, they promoted to the rank of boyar Prince Andrei Ilavansky, Michael Plestcheief, and Matthew Milosliivsky. Larion Miloslavsky and Zmeief were made okolnitchi, and Hitrovo and Pushetchnikof appointed privy-councillors. The Tsars wore long robes of cloth-of- gold covered with lace and fi'inges, broad sleeves, and caps set with precious stones. Not only were their robes cut from the same piece, but the candles they held were of the same length, that there might seem to be no inequality. Select boyars were 1682.] THE COROjS^ATIOX. 79 then sent to the treasury to fetch the cross, the crowns, the sceptres, and the other regalia, which were brought in by priests, and then carried to the Cathedral of the Assumption, where thev were received by the Patriarch and the superior clergy on gold dishes, and placed on the lecterns prepared for them. On entering the banqueting-hall the boyars informed the Tsars that all was ready, and then a long procession — be- ginning with the inferior officials, rising to the highest boyars, Orb of Monomachus. Crown of Monomachus. Orb of Peter. Crown of Peter. then to the Tsars, and gradually diminishing again to the petty officials and nobles — went slowlv down the Eed Staircase, from the banqueting-hall to the Cathedral of the Assumption, over a path made on the pavement by crimson cloth, which was sprinkled by priests with holy water, through the dense masses of the populace which filled the whole square. xVt the entrance of the Cathedral, the Tsars were met by the Patriarch who wished them long life and held out the cross for them to 80 PETER THE GREAT. kiss. After kissing the great pictures on tlie altar-screen, espe- cially the Virgin painted by St. Luke, the Tsars took their places on the platform. Standing here amid the throng of their subjects in this old cathedral, the gilded walls and pillars of which, lighted up by tiickering candles, displayed the rude pic- tures of saints and martyrs ; under the great central dome, from which looks down the gigantic image of our Savdour, with hands upraised in the act of blessing, the Tsars, after reciting the story of their accession to the throne, demanded of the Patriarch the rite of consecration and coronation. The Patri- arch in reply, asked to what faith they belonged. They an- swered : ' To the holy orthodox Pussian faith,' and set forth in a long speech the good which they expected to do to their people. Then, after hymns and prayers, and swinging of cen- sers, the Patriarch placed on their heads the crown of Mono- machus, threw over their shoulders the coronation vestments, placed on their breasts the pectoral cross, gave the sceptres and globes into their hands, and then, when all had again taken their seats, ascended the pulpit and preached a sermon upon the mutual duties of Tsar and people. Then followed the mass, dm'ing which the Tsars, in sign of their being priests as well as kings, went within the <*hancel behind the altar-screen, and ad- ministered to themselves the Eucharist with their own hands. AVhen the service was over, the Tsars again kissed the true cross, the relics and the holy pictures, and with the nobles went in procession to the Cathedral of the Archangel Michael, where they paid reverence to the tombs of their ancestors, the Tsars who are buried there, and especially to that of the Tsarevitch Dimitri, who had already been canonised, and of whose death recent events must have often made them think. Thence they went to the Cathedral of the Ammnciation, then to the banqueting-hall of the palace, where they received congratulations. Two days later occurred the great official banquet of the coronation.^ ^ Solovief, vol. xiv. ; Ustrialof, I. iii. ; Pogudin ; Aristof ; Medvedief s Menwirs ; Sawa Romanof, History of the Faith and the Petitions of the Strdtsi (Russian), reprinted in Tikhowravof s Collection, Moscow, 1863 ; Avvakum, Autobiography (Russian), St. Petersburg, 1861 : A. Stchapof, TJie Country and Dissent (Russian), St. Petersburg, 1862; A. Stchapof, Russian Dissent (Russian) Kazan, 1859 ; Complete Collection of Russian Laws ; Tu- mansky's Collection. IX. THE RIOTOUS DISPUTATION OF THE DISSENTERS, AND ITS ENDING. 1G82. A WEEK was passed in waiting, though it was made useful bv meetings for prayer and public preaching in the remoter quarters of Moscow. On July 13, the Dissenters and the dele- gates of the Streltsi resolved again to demand the solemn dis- pute which had been promised them bj Havanskj, and for that pm-pose went to the Kremlin. Havansky, who had heard that the Streltsi were not entirely agreed upon the matter, asked, in the name of the Tsar, if all the regiments were imited in their desire to restore the old belief. The delegates replied that all the regiments and the people of the suburbs would joyfully stand up for the old orthodox Christian faith. Havansky re- peated the question twice, and again the delegates replied : ' TTe are ready not only to rise, but even to die for the faith of Christ.' When Havansky had reported this answer to the Princess Sophia, he went with the delegates to the Patriarch, and after a lively exchange of words and argmnents the Patriarch agreed to a solemn disputation on Wednesday, July 15, the next day but one. This having been decided upon, Havansky and the delegates advanced to the Patriarch and received his blessing ; but Paul, one of the leading Dissenters, declined it unless the Patriarch should bless him according to the old rite. This was refused, and Paul went away without the benediction. Ha- vansky kissed him on the forehead, exclaimuig : ' I did not really know you, my dear fellow, until now.' Meanwhile the Dissenters lost no time. Their leaders went everywhere throughout the town, preaching in the streets, and calling upon the inhabitants to rise for the old orthodox faith. On Wednesday, July 15, Xikita, after performing service with Vol. I. -6 82 PETEK THE GREAT. the Tituf regiment, went witli liis adherents to tlie Kremlin, accompanied, as before, by delegates of the Streltsi, and a crowd of people. Tliej drew near the Cathedral of St. Michael the Archangel, close to the Red Staircase, set up their reading-desks, placed upon them old images and books, and lighted their can- dles. Kikita stood upon a bench, and began in a loud voice to preach to the people. The Patriarch was at this time celebratinc: the liturfi:v and praying for the appeasement of the riot. As soon as he learned that the crowd had arrived, he sent priests out to exhort them, and distributed among them printed copies of the recantation which Kikita had signed in the time of the Tsar Alexis, and by which he had promised in future to abstain from the errors of Dissent. The Streltsi tore up the copies of the recantation, seized the priest and handed him over to the Dissenters, whom they had taken under their protection. The Dissenters w^ent on reading the pamphlets written by the Solovetsky monks about the true method of signing the cross, while all around listened with silence and respect^ and many wept. As soon as the service in the Cathedral was ended, the crowd demanded that the Patriarch should come out into the Place. Havansky insisted at the palace that the Patriarch should be ordered to go out to quiet the people, but that neither the Princess Sophia nor the Tsaritsas should be present at the assembly, as the crowd was too great, and they might be in danger. Sophia decided that the conference should take place in the banqueting-hall, and, in spite of the efforts of Havansky, insisted upon being present, together with the Tsaritsa Xatalia and her aunt Tatiana. The Patriarch was then advised, as a matter of precaution, to come to the palace with all the archbishops by the back en- trance ; but to send the old parchment manuscripts and books from the Patriarchal Sacristy by the priests up the Ped Stair- case. The crowd expressed great satisfaction as they saw the books being carried past them to the palace. ' Xow,' they said, ' the truth will evidently be made clear.' The leaders of the Dissenters for a long time refused to enter the banqueting-hall, saying that they would not be safe, and that they would be in danger of being arrested. Havansky gave them his solemn as- 1682.] DISPUTATION OF THE DISSENTERS. 83 surance that no harm should attend them. Still there was hesi- tation until Xikita told Prince Havansky that he believed hun, and then thej agreed to go. Once again Havansky tried to frighten Sophia, and induce her not to be present in the ban- queting-hall. The Patriarch steadfastly refused to go there without her, and Sophia said decisively that she would not abandon the Patriarch. Havansky then sent word to the Dis- senters to enter. The Dissenters started with their crosses, their gospels, their images, desks and candles, chanting hymns as they went. In an anteroom they met the priests who were carrying the ancient books and parchments into the banqueting-hall ; there was much scuffling and pushing, and some blows were ex- changed. Havansky, hearing the disturbance, angrily turned out the priests, who had come there by orders of the Patriarch, and admitted only the Dissenters and as many of the crowd as could force their way into the hall with them. The Dissenters had come to declaim ao-ainst what was new, and to insist upon the re-establishment of old and time-hon- oured rites and practices. Yet, strangely enough, they ac- cepted without comment a novelty far greater than that wliicli tliev had come to inveisih ao^ainst, for, on the throne not the Tsar, but the Princess Sophia sat, together with her aunt Tati- ana ; and in arm-chairs below were the Tsaritsa Xatalia and the Princess Mary. The young Tsars were not present, but in all probability looked on the scene from one of the small windows below the ceiling which were made for such purposes. Bowing to the Princess, the Dissenters stationed their read- ing-desks before the throne, arranged their images and books, and lighted their candles, exactly as they had done in the open air. Sophia turned to them, with half-concealed anger, and asked : ' Why have you come so boldly into the Tsar's palace, as if to infidels and heathen, and what do you want of us ? How dare you go about the to^m and the Kremlin preaching your Dissenting heresy, and exciting the common people ? ' ' We have come to the Tsars, our Lords,' said Xikita, ** to petition about the amendment of the orthodox faith, that divine service may be performed according to the old rites, as was or- 84 PETER THE GREAT. dered in the time of the Tsar Micliael Feodorovitch, and of the Patriarch Philaret.' The Patriarch then turned to them, and repeated what he had ah-eady said to them in his own house : ' It is not for you common people to manage Church mat- ters. You ought to be advised by the Holy Churcli, and by the archbishops, whose duty it is to judge of these things. Our faith is that of ihe old orthodoxy of the Greek rite ; we have only corrected the service-books grammatically from Greek manuscripts, parchments and books.' ' We have not come to talk about grammar,' answered Nikita, ' but about the dogmas of the Church ; ' and he boldly began to enumerate his arguments, beginning with the Cjuestion, ' why the archbishop should carry his cross in his left hand, and his candle in his right hand.' Athanasius, the archbishop of Holmogory, began to explain, when Kikita advanced, as if to seize him by the collar, saying : ' Why dost thou, who art the foot, place thyself above the head ? I am not talking to thee, but to the Patriarch.' ' Do you see what Xikita is doing ? ' cried out Sophia, turn- ing to those about her. ' He wants to fight, even before us. If we were not here, he w^ould certainly have killed the Patri- arch long ago.' ' Ko, lady, I did not beat him ; I only waved him off, so that he should not speak before the Patriarch.' ' How do you, Xikita, dare to talk to the Patriarch ? ' Sophia continued. ' Is it not enough for you to be in the presence of our " piercing eyes " ? You made a recantation to our father of blessed memory, and to the most holy Patriarch, with a great cm*se upon yourself, never to petition against the faith, and now again you have set about the same business.' ' 1 do not deny,' replied Mkita, ' that I did sign a recanta- tion through the power of the sword ; but to the petition, which I gave to the assembly, not one of the archbishops dared an- swer. Simeon Polotsky aimed his book — " The Staff " at me ; but in that book he did not touch a fifth of what I said. If you will allow me to read my answer against that " Staff," I will refute it.' ' Hold your tongue,' said the Princess, angrily. ' You have o o w o 1682.] THE KIOTOUS DISSENTERS. ^ 85 no business to talk with iis or even to be in our presence ; ' and she ordered the petition to be read. When they came to the place where it was stated that the heretical monk, Arsenius, had, together with Xikon, ^^Tongly influenced the mind of the Tsar Alexis Michailovitch, and that since that time true piety had ceased in Russia, Sophia could no longer contain herself; angrily interrupting the reading, and starting fi*om her throne, she said : * We will no longer endure such talk. If Arsenius and the Patriarch Xikon were heretics, then our father and brother were also heretics, and it is plain, then, that the Tsars are not Tsars, that the Patriarch is not the Patriarch, and that the arch- bishops are not archbishops. We will no longer hear such out- rageous things. Sooner than that, we will leave the Empire.' With these words she left her place and moved away from the throne. The boyars and the delegates of the Streltsi im- mediately begged her to return to her place, and swore that they were ready to lay down their lives for the Imperial house ; but there were some voices that called out : — ' It has long been time, lady, for you to go to a monastery. You have troubled the Empire quite enough. Tsars will be good enough for us. Without you the place will not be empty.' A cry such as this could scarcely weaken the impression made upon the Streltsi delegates by the words of Sophia. ' It is all because the people are afraid of you,' said the Prin- cess to them. ^ It was fi-om hope in you that these riotous Dis- senters have come hither so boldly. What are you thinking about ? Is it right for such brutes to come to us with rioting, and cry at us, and give us discomfort ? Ai-e you, who were true servants of om- grandfather, our father, and our brother, really joined to the Dissenters ? You call yourselves our true ser- vants. Why, then, do you allow such misconduct ? If we are going to be in such slavery that we and the Tsars can no longer live here, we will go to another town, and we will tell the peo- ple what we have suffered.' Nothing could affect the Streltsi more than the threat that the Tsars would leave Moscow. While tliev knew well enough that the riots and murders of Mav had excited the feelings of 86 PETER THE GREAT. tlie bojtirs and upper classes, they also knew that the common people obeyed them only because they feared them ; and if the Tsars should leave Moscow and collect an army in the country, there would be no hope for them. The delegates therefore an- swered : — ' We are ready to serve our lords wdth truth and fidelity, and to lay down our lives for you and the orthodox faith, and to act according to your commands.' Sophia then returned to her place and the reading of the petition continued. She could not always restrain herself from interrupting and arguing with the Dissenting monks. After the petition had been finished the Patriarch took in one hand the gospel written by the Metropolitan Alexis, and in the other the decretal of the Patriarch Jeremiah, with the creed, just as it was written in the newly corrected books. ' Here are the old books,' said the Patriarch. ' We follow them fully.' But the strongest impression of all was made by one priest who ad- vanced with a book printed in the time of the Patriarch Phila- ret, and said: — 'Here is one of your dear books of Philaret, which allows meat to be eaten on Holy Thursday and Holy Saturday.' Xikita, w^ho had kept silence after the outburst of Sophia, could only mutter : ' It is printed by such rascals as you.' It was, however, impossible — much as the Patriarch and the archbishops might argue — to overcome the Dissenters, who steadfastly reiterated their statements, without listening to ar- guments of any kind. Havansky walked up and down the hall, but made no attempt to preserve order. Meanwhile, it was getting late, and it was time for vespers, which neither party was willing to omit. Besides that, all were faint and weary, having eaten nothing since morning, and Sophia was glad of a pretext for closing this unruly assembly. She declared that, on account of the approach of vesper time, it was impossible to carry on the conference any longer, and that an Imperial decree about the matter would be issued afterward. The Princess re- tired to an inner room of the palace, together with the Patriarch and the archbishops. The Dissenters ran in a crowd down the Bed Staircase, and, lifting up their hands, with two fingers, cried : ' This is the 1682.] THE RIOTOUS DISSENTERS. 87 way we should cross ourselves ; this is the way.' On all sides were heard cries from the people : ' How did the matter end ? ' ^ Whv, om* side beat them,' was shouted in return. ' We ar- gued do^\^l all the archbishops and overcame them. This is the way to pray ; this is the way to cross yourselves.' They then hastened to the Lobnoe Place, followed by the crowd. There they began again to explain the Solovetsky pamphlets ; and then, after chanting a hymn, and raising their hands again with a two-fingered cross, they set out for the Yaiiza suburb, many of them so tired that they fell swooning on the road. At the quarters of the Titof regiment, they were met by ringing of bells, and after performing a triumphal service in the Church of the Saviour they went home. Sophia saw there was no use of trying to convince the Dis- senters by argument, and took measures of another kind. She called the delegates of the Streltsi together, and begged them not to desert the Tsars for these old monks, recalled their faith- ful services to the dynasty, and succeeded in persuading them — some by promises, others by money, and others again by re- wards and favours. More than this, the Streltsi were invited to the palace, in detachments of a hundred at a time, and were feasted with beer, mead, and wine. The Streltsi were not all Dissenters, and but few of them had the slightest conception of the matter in question. As before, on May 15, they had murdered Matveief and the rest in support of the dynasty, so now they had believed the Holy Church to be in danger. It was therefore comparatively easy for Sophia to persuade them. When the Dissenters came to complain to them of their deser- tion, they began to beat and revile them, and call them dis- tm-bers of the people. Some of the leading Dissenters were seized and delivered up to the authorities. There were no gi-eat formalities of trial, and sentence was soon passed. Xikita was beheaded a week afterward, on July 21, on the Ked Place ; while his companions, whose punishment was mitigated through the interference of Havansky, were imprisoned in various mon- asteries. The adherents of the Dissenters, in Moscow, were obliged to conceal their feelings. The reign of Sophia was a grievous time for the Dissenters. They were prosecuted and suppressed, and often driven into 88 PETER THE GKEAT. open conflict with the troops sent against them. The State, with its material force, with its sword, had taken tlie place of the Clmrch, with its spiritual force, in punishing heresy. After the siege of the Solovetsky Monastery, many Dissenters had given up praying for the Tsar ; now, as an effect of the persecu- cutions of Sophia, they began to consider the Tsar as Antichrist, a feeling which increased during the rule of Peter. The Dissenters were mistaken in putting themselves for- ward so soon as representatives of the popular feelings and as- pirations ; the nation was disunited and divided, and no hearty support was accorded to them. But this was one of the last of the many struggles of the Kussian people against autocracy and centralisation, and the boldness and courage of Sophia, wliile ward- ing off a present danger, made at the same time a clearer field for the development of the Imperial power by her brother Peter.' ^ See note at the end of the preceding chapter. The Cross of Peter. X. THE EXECrTIOX OF HAVAXSKY.— THE SUBMISSION OF THE STRELTSI. Although the Dissenters had been put down, and the diffi- culties of the Church had been turned rather than settled, there still remained Havanskj to deal with. He had acquired such influence and authority — he had made himself so prominent of late, especially in the dispute of the Dissenters — he was a man of such arrogant and braggart disposition, that no dependence could be placed upon him. He might at any time u^e his in- fluence with the Streltsi to become dansrerous to the Govern- ment, and more especially to Ivan Miloslavsky, the leading fig- ure of the new administration, of whom he was a personal enemy. It is not necessary to infer that Havanskv had actually any thought of overturning the Government, or, relying on his royal descent from King Gedimin of Lithuania, of placing the cro^vn on his own head. But there were persistent rumours that he was desirous of marrvino^ his eldest son to one of the dauo;hters of the Tsar Alexis, and the slightest words which he spoke were repeated at court with exaggerations and variations. Meanwhile the town was far fi'om quiet ; the Streltsi con- tinued still to have their own way, to be riotous and disobe- dient, and there were constant rumours of coming disturbances — at one time that the boyars were collecting an army to anni- hilate the Streltsi, and at another that the Streltsi were about to rise to mm-der the boyars. On July 12 a crowd of Strehsi came with a demand that the boyars should be delivered up to them, for threateninor to make awav with them and torture them. Enquiries were made into the foundation of such ru- mours, and it was found that the converted Tartar prince, Matthew, had said somethins: of this kind. On being subjected 90 PETER THE GREAT. to torture, Matthew confessed that, dissatisfied with the small- ness of liis pension and the little honour he received, he had spread this report, hoping to gain something by the disturbance. The Tartar prince was drawn and quartered. Bizaef, a man from Yaroslav, who had spread false reports of a similar na- ture against Yeshniakof, a nobleman of Moscow, and his son, a former colonel, was arrested and executed. The old Yesh- niakof died from the torture, for to get at the truth in such cases torture was impartially applied to all parties alike. An old colonel, Yanof, a very honourable and worthy man, was taken by the Streltsi, who were displeased with him for his alleged severity in times gone by, subjected to severe torture, and afterward put to death on the Eed Place, in front of the recentlv erected monument. The new commander-in-chief, Havansky, and his son, looked through their fingers at all these murders and cruelties, and took no steps to prevent them ; on the contrary, they always took the side of the Streltsi, under the convenient pretext that it would be dangerous to excite them. On August 26, Havansky brought to the palace a petition of the Streltsi that, for the benefit of those men who were brought from the dis- tricts belonging to the court, there should be collected equip- ment money to the amoimt of 25 rubles (about $50) a man, making altogether an amount of more than 100,000 rubles (about 8200,000) which they demanded. The boyars, in coun- cil, resisted this unlawful demand. Havansky indignantly left the council, and it was reported to the Government that on going back to the Streltsi he had said : ' Children, the boyars are threatening even me on your ac- count because I wished well to you. I can do nothing more for you ; you will take such measures now as you think best.' ^Hiether Havansky said this or not, it was quite sufficient that he was reported to have said it. His refusal to carry out orders and his general conduct had become insupportable. Sophia felt herself almost in slavery to him and to the Streltsi ; while Ivan Miloslavsky, who had even been demanded for exe- cution by the Streltsi at Havansky's suggestion, kept increasing the anger and indignation of Sophia by all the means in his power. Miloslavsky had been in such fear of late that he had 1682.] HAVANSKY. 91 been little in Moscow, and, to use the words of a contemporary, ' was creeping like an underground mole,' and was concealing himself in his villas in the neighbourhood of the capital. A plan was therefore formed for the ruin of Havanskj. This plan was nothing else, indeed, than the execution of the threat which Sophia had made at the time of the Dissenter riot — namely, that she would leave Moscow, and inform the people of Russia of such great disturbance and insubordination. It was, however, necessary to blind the eyes of Havansky, in order that he might not see the danger and consequently take meas- ures of precaution. His own self-confidence rendered this all the easier. On July 29 it was the custom to have a religious procession, in which the Tsar always took part, from the Cathedral of the Assumption to the Donskoy Monastery, a few miles out of Moscow, in commemoration of the preservation of the capital fi'om the attack of the Crim Tartars, in the reign of Theodore Ivanovitch. A rumour was set afloat that the Streltsi intended to profit by this occasion to seize the persons of the Tsars and kill them. Consequently, neither the Tsars nor any other mem- ber of their family took part in the procession. The next day — the 30th — Sophia, the Tsars, and the Imperial family went to the villa of Kolomenskoe, which had been the favourite resi- dence of the Tsar Alexis. All the members of the Imperial family who were not in the secret were naturally much disturbed by this sudden move, and the whole population of the capital was agitated by the dej^art- ure of the court, and feared lest some new calamity was about to fall on them. Other people also began to leave Moscow ; the Dutch merchants made preparations for going to Archangel, with such of their goods as they could transport ; the Dutch Resident asked Prince Havansky for a guard to protect his house. The Streltsi, also, were much alarmed. They feared that the absence of the court from Moscow foreboded no good. A few days after, on August 2, a deputation of the Streltsi ar- rived at Kolomenskoe, to express their regret that the Tsars had left Moscow. ' It has been stated to our Lords,' they represented, ' that we, the Palace Guard, have become riotous, and have evil designs on the boyars and the people near the sovereigns, and 92 PETEK THE GEEAT. that secret correspondence is going on between the regiments ; that we are wanting to go to the Kremlin with arms, as we did before, and this is the reason, we hear, that the Tsars have deigned to leave Moscow. But there is no design or plot at all in any of the regiments, nor will there be ; and we beg our Lords not to believe such lying words, and to deign to go back to Moscow.' The answer w^as simply : ' Your Lords know^ nothing about any plots of yours. They have gone from Moscow according to their Imperial will and pleasure. Even before this, there were frequent excursions by the Imperial family to the village of Kolomenskoe.' The deputies were sent away with this reply. The Streltsi quieted down, because they saw that the court remained at Kolomenskoe, for there was no intention of going elsewhere until a proper occasion arose, in order not to excite distrust. Havansky came to court, in part to see what was going on, and in part to try to frighten Sophia by showing that she needed the support of the Streltsi, and, consequently, his assistance. He stated before the boyars that various noble- men of Xovgorod had been to him and said that their comrades intended to come to Moscow^, ostensibly to petition about their pay, and that they would kill the inhabitants without distinc- tion. Sophia replied : ' Information of that kind should be stated publicly in Moscow, in the council-chamber, and to the people of all ranks, and letters with the great seal will be sent to Xovgorod for more exact information.' This disturbed Havansky, who used all efforts to prevent the public announce- ment of the fact and to keep back the letters from Novgorod. Taking as an excuse the name's-day of the Tsar Ivan — Sep- tember 28 — Sophia ordered Havansky to send to Kolomenskoe the Stremenoy, or ' Stirrup,' regiment — a regiment particularly devoted to the Tsars. Havansky feared letting this regiment out of his hands. Knowing that Sophia had great influence with it, and dreading lest that influence should be extended over the other reg-iments, he refused to obev the order, on the ground that he had previously ordered the regiment — although without the Tsars' permission — to go to Kief. It was not until after the order had been repeated several times that Havansky yielded. 1682.] HAYANSKY. 93 The Russian year at that time began on September 1 (Old Style, that is, on September 11 by the Gregorian calendar), for it was an article of belief in the Church that the world was created at the beginning of the autumn, and it had been the custom in Moscow to celebrate the first day of the year with great solemnity. The court, nevertheless, did not return for this festival, although orders were given to Havansky to take part in the service at the cathedral. He did not go ; and, to the astonishment of all Moscow, there was only one man of the higher nobility present, and the Patriarch was very angry that the ceremony was attended with so little of the usual pomp. There were even few of the common people there, for everyone was afraid. Rumours had been assiduously circulated that on this or some other festival there would be another Streltsi riot ; and the Streltsi themselves were no less frightened, for rumours were runnino: among^st them that on this or some other festival an attack would be made on them by the people and the boyars, after they had gone on guard, and that their wives and children would be killed. The carriage of Havansky was constantly at- tended by a guard of fifty men, and he had as constantly a large company of men in his courtyard — a thing which previously had been unknown with the Streltsi commanders.' On the next day, September 12, the court, under the pretext of pilgrimage to various monasteries, slowly made a circuit of Mos- cow, gradually getting further and further away from it ; going first to the Sparrow Hills ; then to the monastery of St. Savva, near Zvenigorod, for the festival of St. Sawa on September 16 ; and then throuo-h Pavlovskv and Khliebovo to Yozdvizhenskoe, for the festival of that village — the Elevation of the Cross — on ^ To us, who live under regular and settled governments, such fears seem exaggerated and ridiculous. They are not impossible or unusual in a differ- ent state of society. In Constantinople, from 187G to 1878, scarcely a week passed without rumours of this kind. Xow it was a general massacre of Christians by the Mohammedans fixed for the Bairam, and then postponed to another feast, when all preparations were made for resistance, and the com- munications of the foreign embassies in Pera with their ships of war in har- bour were carefully studied ; now, it was a rising of the Greeks or the Arme- nians for Christmas, or Xew Tear's Day, or Easter, which excited no less alarm among the Mussulmans of Stambul. The fear, as it proved, was vain, but the alarm was real. This is not the only case when the Russia of two hun- dred years ago recalls the Turkey of to-day. 94 PETER THE GREAT. September 24 (September 14, Old Style). In this village Sophia considered herself safe, for it was only about two hours' journe}^ from the strongly-fortified monastery of Troitsa. Here Sophia commanded the court to remain for several days, to cel- ebrate her own name's-day on the 27th. Orders were therefore sent to Moscow for all the nobility and high officials to come to Yozdvizhenskoe, partly for matters of state, partly for the cel- ebration of the name's-day of the Princess, and partly to i-e- ceive the son of the Hetman of the Cossacks, whose arrival Havansky had announced. Havansky and his son were also in- vited, and it is probable that Sophia resolved to make use of the excellent occasion which the arrival of the Hetman's son brought about. At the same time, letters were sent — of course without Haviinsky's knowledge — to Yladimir, Suzdal and other neighbouring towns, calling upon the nobility and people in ser- vice to come to protect the Tsars, who were threatened with death through the treachery of Havansky. On the 27th — the festival of St. Sophia — a large number of people of all ranks had collected in Yozdvizhenskoe. After mass and a collation, at which the Tsars and their sisters were present, there was a council of boyars. The Privy Councillor Shaklovity made a report of the crimes attributed to Prince Havansky and to his son, and read a long anonymous letter, found, it was said, at Kolomenskoe, in which Prince Havansky, his son, and their adherents were accused of plots against the lives of the Tsars and the boyars, and in which it was alleged that they themselves desired to ascend the Muscovite throne. In all probability this letter was untrue, and may, indeed, have been invented, although such anonymous letters were frequent in those days, but it served the purpose, and the assembly, with- out hearing further proof, or allowing an opportunity for de- fence, condemned Havansky and his son Andrew, as well as several of their adherents. Information had been obtained that Prince Havansky, who, together with his son, had left Moscow the day before, was en- camped among the peasants' barns near the village of Piishkino, and that young Havansky was in his villa at Bratovstchina on the river Kliazma. Prince Lykof, with a considerable force, was sent down the Moscow road, and succeeded in sm-prising 1682.] HAVANSKY. 95 and arresting both the Havanskys and bringing them, together with the few Streltsi who were with them, to Yozdvizhenskoe, where every arrangement had l)een made for the execution. As soon as the arrival of the Havanskvs was known, orders were given to stop them in fi'ont of the gates of the liouse in wliich the Tsars were staying ; while the boyars and other officials went out and sat on benches and chairs brought for them. The accusation was read by Shaklovity. In this many acts of in- subordination and illegal conduct were mentioned, and they were accused, among other things, of having incited the first riot of the Streltsi. Prince Havansky immediately made a protest, and offered, if time were given him, to show who were the real promoters of this riot. He declared his innocence of all the points of accusation, and said that if his son were guilty he would be the first to cm-se him and to deliver him over to justice. Miloslavsky immediately reported this to Sophia, and m-ged her to execute them at once, and she consented, for both — and he especially — feared a revolution would be brought about by Havansky. A severe order came from Sophia to listen to nothing on the part of Havansky, and to carry justice immedi- ately into effect. Xo executioner could be found, but finally a soldier of the Stremenov reo:iment beheaded Ivan Havanskv. His son kissed the breathless body of his father, and then laid his head upon the block. Odyntsof, who had taken part in the first Streltsi rioting, and Yiidin, who had assisted in the riot of the Dissenters, were also executed. The same day a rescript in the name of the Government was sent to Moscow to the Streltsi, informing them of the exe- cution of their commander Havansky and his son, but at the same time stating that there was no anger or dissatisfaction with the Streltsi, and ordering them to serve with the same fidelity as previously. But anothel* son of Prince Havansky, Prince Ivan, had succeeded in escaping to Moscow, and, arriv- ing there that very night, told the Streltsi that his father had been captured in the village of Pushkino by the boyars' people, and had been punished without the orders of the Tsars, and that it was the intention of the boyars to march to Moscow and to burn all the houses of the Streltsi, and for that reason it would be well for them to fortify themselves in Moscow. The 96 PETER THE GREAT. counsel was immediately followed. The Streltsi seized their arms, occupied the Kremlin, took from the arsenal the cannon, lead and powder, placed a strong guard everywhere, and put the city in a state of siege, allowing no one to enter or depart from it. There were cries that it was necessary to attack the boyars, and people went in cr-owds to the Patriarch, who en- deavoured to persuade them to remain calm and not to resort to force. They threatened to kill him for what they considered to be siding with the boyars ; but it all ended in threats, for fear was the prevailing feeling. The Butjrki soldiers, who had taken part in the Streltsi riot, were also frightened. Some of their men had got lost in the Mar ma wood, and they felt it necessary to get some cannon and protect themselves ; and fear- ing the advance of the boyars, of which there were rumours, they sent their wives and children into the town for safety. Meanwhile, the movements of the Streltsi were immediately reported at the conrt, and couriers were sent out on all sides to call together in the Troitsa Monastery all men fit for service, fully armed. To this monastery the court immediately repaired, and the place was put into a condition of defence, the chief command being given to the most faithful follower of Sophia, Prince Basil Golitsyn. On September 29, Andrew, the Archimandrite of the Mir- acle Monastery, came to Troitsa with a message from the Pa- triarch that the Streltsi petitioned the Tsars to return to Mos- cow, where they would suffer no harm, and begged them not to be angry with them, as they had no evil designs. The Govern- ment at once replied that it only remained for the Streltsi to show themselves obedient as before, and cease to terrify the whole town of Moscow ; and as for Havansky, w^ho had been punished for his treachery, not to meddle with that matter, as punishment and mercy were left by God to the rulers. The arrival at Troitsa of adherents from all sides enabled the court to act decisively. The boyar Michael Golovin w^as sent to govern Moscow, and by his actions showed the Streltsi that they no longer inspired fear. This had a good effect, and on October 2d the Streltsi sent a delegation to Golovin, praying that they might be allowed to send a certain number from each regiment to Troitsa, to give their submission, as they did not 1682.] SUBMISSIOX OF THE STRELT5I. 97 dare to do so without an order to that effect. An order was immediatelv o^iven that twenty men from each reo-iment mio-ht go to Troitsa. Two days later the Strehsi petitioned the Patri- arch to send an arclibishop with them to Troitsa, as tliev were afraid to go alone. The Patriarch sent with them Hilarion, the Metropolitan of Suzdal ; but even this did not entirely quiet them. Many went back to Moscow ; the remainder were pre- sented to Sophia, who met them with a severe reprimand for their misconduct, and showed them the considerable army which had been collected to punish them. The Streltsi gave a writ- ten submission, in which they alleo'ed that they were readv to obey, that those regiments assigned to Ivief and other towns would proceed at once, that they would restore to the arsenal everything which had been taken, and would be most obedient and faithful servants. This, however, was not enough. The Pegent promised the pardon of the Streltsi and soldiers only on conditions which expressed, in very exact terms, the obedience which would be required of them. The Streltsi consented. Prince Ivan Havanskv, the vouno-er, was taken to Troitsa and sentenced to death ; although, when his head was on the block, liis punishment was commuted to exile. On Sunday, October IS, the Patriarch, after the service in the Cathedral of the Assumption, which was filled with Streltsi, placed on the reading-desks the Gospel and a precious relic — the arm of St. Andrew, the first missionary to Pussia, and pa- tron of the countrv. The new articles for the Streltsi were read, and those present kissed both the Gospel and the relic as a sign of their implicit obedience. The court remained at Troitsa, aiiarded bv the levies of the nobilitv, and naturally the Streltsi were brouo;ht to ao'ree to a final concession. On CD O Xovember T, they presented a petition asking to be allowed to pidl down the stone column which had been erected on the Ped Place in commemoration of the events of May. The permis- sion was of course «:iven. The column was destroved to its foundation on Xovember 12, the iron plates, with the inscrip- tion, were torn off and burnt, and even the foundation was dug up out of the ground. The rescripts given to the Streltsi after the May riots were returned, and new ones given in their stead. All the troubles of the spring and sunnner were now ascribed Vol. I.— 7 98 PETER THE GREAT. to Prince Ilavanskv and tlie Dissenter Colonel Alexis Yiidin ; and it was forbidden to call the Streltsi traitors or rebels. Fonr days after this, on ^^ovember IG, the court returned to Moscow, surrounded by the troops of the nobility, who acted as guards instead of the Streltsi. The Department of the Streltsi — for now they were no longer to be called the ' Palace Guard ' — was placed, temporarily in the hands of the okolnit- chy Zmeief , and a month afterwards was given to the councillor Theodore Shaklovity. The new^ commander soon showed his firmness, and by his vigorous measures succeeded in rap- idly getting the Streltsi under con- trol. He took occasion of various infringements of discipline to re- arrange all the regiments and to transfer the worst and most riotous of the Streltsi to the cities of the Ukraine. In this way he restored quiet to the town without exciting any great bad feeling on the part of the Streltsi, for he was concilia- tory as well as adroit and firm. The most important of his meas- ures were formed into a new^ code for the government of the troops, and inserted in the laws as an act to punish riotous conduct and in- flammatory language. It took a longer time to put down the dis- turbances in the remoter provinces, which had been set going by news of the success of the Streltsi, and by seditious letters from Moscow. It was of the more importance to restore order to the country as speedily as possible, because the Poles had taken oc- casion of the riots at Moscow to cause disturbances in the border provinces, with the hope of getting them into their possession. Strict orders were therefore sent everywhere to governors to arrest and punish all runaway Streltsi, to restore to their masters all fugitive serfs, and to punish severely robbery and marauding. Various old laws which had been abolished or moderated in the time of Theodore were restored in all their severity. The fingers Guards of State at Receptions and Pro- cessions. 1682.] PRINCE BASIL GOLITSYX. 99 of thieves were to be cut off, and the third offence was punishable with death. Later on this was mitigated, in so far that, for the first offence the criminals lost their ears and not their finders. Most difficulty was found in appeasing the always unruly country of the Don Cossacks, and in putting down the bands of marau- ders which started from that region, and which constantly threat- ened to bring about a new revolution, equalling in proportion that of the famous Stenka Eazin. The perseverance of Sophia and the firmness of her ministers at last brouoiit about a tolera- ble pacification of the whole country. The youth of Peter, the loneliness and friendless condition of his mother, and the imbecility of Ivan, left Sophia mistress of the situation. Her right to rule had been recognised by the decree which inserted her name as Regent, and, on the whole, she ruled well for seven years, and with advantage to Paissia. At first she made no appearance in public as a member of the Government, although she transacted business with the higher officials and sometimes received foreign embassies. She was, however, so little in public view that the diplomatists of that time rarely speak of her in their despatches, but always of Prince Golitsyn as the real ruler of Muscovy. Her name ap- peared in public decrees only as ' The Most Orthodox Princess, the Sister of Their Majesties,' until the end of 1685, when, for the first time, she is mentioned as Autocrat on an equality with her brothers, and it was not until two years later that a formal decree was issued to this effect, punishing certain persons who had drawn up papers without inserting the word Autocrat after her name. The greatest figure during Sophia's reign is Prince Basil Golitsvn, whom we have alreadv had occasion to mention sev- eral times. He was born in 16-13, of one of the great Russian families descended from the rulers of Lithuania, had served with distinction in the campaign against the Turks at Tchig- irin, and as we already know, had taken the leading part in the abolition of precedence. During the May riots he had been given the direction of foreign affairs by the temporary Govern- ment, and, after the Government of Sophia had become regu- larly established, he received by a decree the title of Keeper of the Great Seal, or Chancellor. His more immediate duties, 100 PETEK THE GREAT. however, ahvavs remained those of Minister of Forei«:n Affairs. Of his character as a statesman it will be more easy to judge when we have considered the chief events of Sophia's reign, and especially the new relations which liussia then entered into with foreign powers. As a man, Golitsyn had received a good education, and was imbued with AVestern culture and Western ideas. By his dignity, his ready courtesy, and, above all, by his wealth and magnilicence, he produced a great impression on all the foreign ambassadors with whom he came into contact, with whom he could talk in Latin without the aid of an in- terpreter ; and Baron van Keller, and especially Renville, — an agent sent to Moscow by the Marquis de Bethune, the French ambassador in Poland, — were particularly mider his charm. Xeuville speaks of the splendour of his house and the urbanity of his manners — so different from those of the other Russians whom he met, calls him a veritable grand seigneilr, and s5ys that on enterino: the house of Prince Golitsvn he thoue^ht he was in the palace of some great Italian prince, lie was much struck, too, by the circumstance that Golitsyn, instead of press- ing him to drink, as was the Pussian habit, advised him on the contrary not to take the small glass of vodA'cc brought in on the arrival of guests, as it could not be pleasant to a foreigner. Golitsyn sought the society of foreigners, dined and supped at the houses of the foreign envoys, as well as of the chief officers in the German suburb ; was in intimate relations with General Gordon ; and, among other things, protected the young Swiss, Lefort, who was destined afterward to hold a position rivalling his own. If we may judge from the ideas and plans of Golitsyn, as recounted by Xeuville, for the development of trade in Si- beria, for the reform of the militarv oro^anisation of the country and of the internal legislation, as well as for a possible emanci- pation of the serfs, all of which remained merely as projects — for the state of things durmg the government of Sophia left no chance to carrv them out — we must consider him as one of the most liberal-minded men of that epoch, and fully fitted to symj)a- thise with and carry out tlie reforms of Theodore, and even of Peter. AYhen Golitsyn was condemned and banished, in 16S9, a full inventory of all the property in his house was taken, which still exists in the archives of the Ministry of Justice. 1682.] Sophia's mixisters. 101 Prom this we can form some idea of his magnificence as well as of his tastes. Besides costlj fm-niture and tapestry hangings, eqnipages, busts, painted glass, carvings in wood and i^'ory, mathematical and physical instruments, a tellurium in gold and silver, portraits of the Tsars as well as of the princes of West- ern Europe, crystal, precious stones, and silver plate and musi- cal instruments, there were silver mountings for horse trappings and harness to the value of what would now be eight thousand pounds, and an immense sum in silver coin. In his library there were books in several different lanc>:uao^es, manv historical works, and, what is most interesting, a manuscript of an ency- clopaedical work on statesmanship and political economy, with a special reference to Russia, written by the learned Serbian, Yury Ivi-j'zhanitch, in his exile at Tobolsk, which now serves as most precious material for estimating the character of the time just before Peter. In it are developed all the ideas of reform then current among the few, some of which were carried into effect bv Peter. Prince Ivan Miloslavsky took a prominent part in the councils of Sophia until his death, which occurred soon after. But the man on whom she and GolitsjTi relied more than the rest for the execution of their desisTis was Theodore Shaklovitv, the new commander of the Streltsi. He was, by origin, from Little Russia, apparently without more than the rudiments of an education, but adroit, decided, and devoted. He was ready to carrv out anv order of his sovereii>'n, no matter what. The command of his superior was for him a sufficient reason, and, at the same time, his devotion was such that he was willing to engage in plots and intrigues on a mere hint, in order to advance the interests of his master. The coimcils of Sophia were completed on their spiritual side bv the monk Svlvester Medvedief, a countrvman of Shaklovity, who had originally been a brilliant young civilian, and at one time had been attached to a great embassy to Cur- land. He preferred, however, to give up civil life, and to enter the Church, He was a zealous disciple of Simeon Polot- sky, the tutor of the Tsar Theodore and the Princess Sophia, and, as such, was thought to be tainted with Romish heresies. His contemporaries considered him the most leai'ued man in 102 PETER THE OKEAT. Itussia, and lie wrote several theological works, one of them called 'Manna,' in which he carried on a heated controversy with the Patriarch Joachim, on a question which then greatly divided both clei'gj and laymen in Eiissia — namely, the actual moment when Transubstantiation began during the celebration of the Eucharist. For us, he chiefly lives in his short but interesting memoirs of the early part of Sophia's reign and of the troubles of 1682/ * Ustrialof , I. iv. ; Solovief , vols. xiii. , xiv. ; Pogodin ; Medvedief s Me- moij's ; Aristof; Kostomarof, Russian History in the Lives of its Actors (Russian), St. Petersburg; Briickner, Peter der Grosse ; Briickner, FiXrstW. GoVitsyn in the Russische Revue, 1878 ; M. Posselt, Franz Lefort, sein Leben iind seine Zeit, Frankfurt, 1866; Kryzhanitch, The Russian State (Russian), Moscow, 1859 ; Neuville, Relation curieuse et nouvelle de Moscovie, Paris, 1698 ; Papers in the Russian and Dutch Archives ; Complete Collection of Russian Laws, 954. XL THE BOYHOOD OF PETER.— HIS MILITARY EXERCISES, AND THE BEGIXNING OF BOAT-BUILDIXG.— 1082-1688. DuEixG the early period of Sophia's regency, Peter was left very much to himself. But as his name was used in all public documents he was recj^uired to sign many of them, and he seems to have performed this part of his duty with punctuality and accuracy. He had also to go to Moscow, on occasions of cere- mony, to take part in the reception of foreign ambassadors, and to be present at state banquets, and at the ceremonies and processions on religious festivals. The Polish envoy, in his re- port on affairs at Moscow, stated that Sophia was exceedingly fond of her brother Peter, and was endeavouring to put the state in good condition in order to hand the Government over to him when he became old enouo;h. The sinceritv of her attachment to Peter we may be allowed to doubt, but she at least manifested no open ill-will to him, and, indeed, there are several entries in the books of the court of her favourable dis- position to him. Thus, in July, 1684, she presented him with some diamond clasps, buttons and stars. With his brother Ivan, Peter was always on the best of terms, and especially so after the Government had become settled. Yan Keller, writing in 1683 of Peters residence in the country, says: * The natural love and intelligence between the two Lords is even better than before. God will it long continue so.' So much was Peter's mind set on military objects, and on playing at soldiers, that even a day or two after the first riot of the Streltsi, we hear of his sending do^^^l to the arsenal for drums, banners and arms. The troubles of the Dissenters and of Prince Havansky naturally kept him from indulging the full bent of his inclinations in the country, and for the rest of the 104 PETE 11 THE GKEAT. year lie wa.>^ detained in Moscow by official duties. Early in 1083, however, we lind liiiu ordering luiifornis, banners, and wooden cannon, all of wliicli were immediately furnished by the authorities, and as soon as he was able to go into the coun- try, to Preobrazhensky and to the Sparrow Hills, messengers came almost daily to the Kremlin for lead, powder and shot. On his eleventh birthday — in 1G83 — he was allowed for the first time to have some real guns, with which he fired salutes, under the direction of a German artilleryman named Simon Sommer, who had recently come from foreign parl^ and was a captain in the regiment of General Shepelof. After this he M'as allowed small brass and iron cannon ; and that he might indulge his taste for music as well as for military pastime, musicians — especially drummer-boys — were selected for him from the different regiments. About that time — July, 1683 — a German traveller, named Engelbert Ivampfer, passed through Moscow on his way to Astrakhan, and, in his diary, which still exists in manuscript in the British Museum, tells of his recep- tion at the Russian court, as acting secretary for the Swedish Envov, Fabricius : — i/ ' Here we got off our horses, and, handing our swords to a servant, walked up some steps and passed through a building magnificent with gilded vaults, and then through an open stone passage, again to the left, and throngh an anteroom in the audi- ence hall, the floor of which was covered with Turkish carpets, where we came to the "piercing eyes " of their Tsarish Majes- ties. Both their Majesties sat, not in the middle, but some- what to the right side of the hall, next to the middle colunm, and sat on a silver throne like a bishop's chair, somewhat raised and covered with red cloth, as was most of the hall. Over the throne hung a holy picture. The Tsars wore, over their coats, robes of silver cloth woven with red and white flowers, and, in- stead of sceptres, had long golden staves bent at the end like bishops' croziers, on which, as on the breast-plate of their robes, their breasts and* their caps, glittered white, green and other precious stones. The elder drew his cap down over his eyes several times, and, with' looks cast down on the floor, sat almost immovable. The younger had a frank and open face, and his young blood rose to his cheeks as often as anyone spoke to him. 1684.] PETEP/S BOYHOOD. 105 He constant! V looked abont, and his 2;reat beauty and liis lively manner — which sometimes brought the Muscovite magnates into confusion — struck all of us so much that had he 1 een an ordi- nary youth and no imperial personage we would gladlv have laughed and talked with him. The elder was seventeen, and the youno;er sixteen vears old. When the Swedish Envoy irave his letters of credence, both Tsars rose from their places, slightly bared their heads and asked about the king's health, but Ivan, the elder, somewhat hindered the proceedings through not un- derstanding what was going on, and gave his hand to be kissed at the wrono' time. Peter was so eao;er that he did not u'ive the secretaries the usual time for raising him and his brother from their seats and touching their heads : he jumped up at once, put his own hand to his hat and began quickly to ask the usual (question : "Is his royal Majesty, Carolus of Sweden, in good health ? " He had to be pulled back until the elder brother had a chance of speaking.' It was evident that Peter must have been a large, healthy boy, if when he was only eleven he apj^eared to Ivampfer and the Swedish mission to be sixteen. It is interesting to compare with this the account of Johann Eberhard Hovel, who in the next year, 1684, came on a mission from the Emperor Leopold I. Peter was at that time ill with the measles — an illness which excited considerable alarm among his partisans — and was unable to receive. Ilcivel, therefore, saw no one but the Tsar Ivan. lie says that Avhen the health of the Emperor was asked about, the Tsar was so weak from long standing that he had to be supported by his two chamber- lains, who held up his arms, and he spoke with a very weak and inarticulate voice. General Gordon, who was received a few days later, January 22, had tried to put off his reception in order to see both the Tsars at once ; but as he was obliged to leave soon for his command at Kief, was received only bv Ivan and Sophia. According to his account, Ivan was sickly and weak, and always looked toward the ground. He said nothing hujiself, and all the questions were put through Prince Golitsyn. This was just after the marriage of IvRn with Praskovia S61- tykof, of a distinguished family. This marriage Hovel, as well as many other people, considered to be a plot on the part of 106 PETER THE GREAT. Sophia to obtain heirs from the elder brother, and tlius get rid of the claims of Peter, whom he calls ' a youth of great expect- ancy, prudence, and vigour.' Considering, liowever, that Ivan, in spite of the infirmities of his eyes, his tongue and his mind, was in fairly good health, it was the most natural thing in the world that his friends should desire him to marry. Later in the same year, in June, Laurent Kinhnber, a doctor of medi- cine, coming from Saxony, was received at court, and was granted an audience by the Tsars. He says : ' Then I kissed ^he right hand of Peter, who, with a half -laughing mouth, gave me a friendly and gracious look and immediately held out to me his hand ; while the hands of the Tsar Ivan had to be sup- ported. He is a remarkably good-looking boy, in whom nature has shown her power ; and has so many advantages of nature that being the son of a king is the least of his good qualities. He has a beauty which gains the heart of all who see him, and a mind which, even in his earlv vears, did not find its like.' In the autumn of the same year, 1684, Peter had another attack of illness, which was more severe than the measles and which caused 2:reat alarm. His recovery excited universal iov, more especially in the foreign quarter of Moscow. There were many banquets and feasts in honour of his convalescence, and Prince Boris Golitsvn, the cousin of the Chancellor and the chief adviser of Peter, together with other Pussians of that party, dined with the Dutch minister, and caroused till a late hour. ^ A year later, in September, 16S5, Yan Keller writes: — ' The yoimg Tsar has now entered his thirteenth year : na- ture develops herself with advantage and good fortune in his whole personality ; his stature is great and his mien is fine ; he grows visibly, and advances as much in intelligence and under- standino: as he ci:ains the affection and love of all. Lie has such a strong preference for military pursuits that when he comes of age we may surely expect from him brave actions and heroic deeds, and we may hope that some day the attacks of the Crim Tartars will be somewhat better restrained than at present. This was the noble aim always set before the ancestors of the young Tsar.' The military exercises of Peter brought him into constant contact with German officers at Moscow, for all the best officers^ gsevertheles8, they were forced to take a protocol sit^iied 1)V tlie JSecretarv, inider the threat of beinji; sent back witliont any letter of reply. The tenor of this was that, as the Knssians had desired that they should be treated like the other Christian princes, His Imperial Majesty wished the Tsars, in future, when they sent embassies, to pay their expenses, offering to do the same when he despatched embassies to Itussia. The -.Vustrians, it seemed, claimed that their last ambassador. Baron 8cherowski, did not receive carts for the transportation of the presents to the Tsars, and had been obliged to keep at his own expense those which he had hired in Poland. This was the lirst attempt to put Russian embassies on a footing with those of other powers. Up to that time they had been treated in the Oriental manner — that is, the expenses of for- eign embassies sent to Hussia had been defrayed by the Kussian Government, and, in a similar Avay, the cost of Russian embas- sies abroad had been paid by the powers to whom they were sent. The total expenses of the Russian embassy to Vienna were about one hundred thousand florins, including the presents ; but the presents to the ambassadors were reduced from thirty thou- sand florins, as originally proposed, to fourteen thousand florins, with presents amounting to two thousand florins more for the secretaries. The reason of this was, that it was reported to the Imperial Government that the Tsars had sent as presents furs to the amount of thirty thousand florins, while those the am- l)assadors had actually given were worth only five or six thou- sand florins. The conduct, too, of the ambassadors and of their numerous suite — many of whom were frequently drunk and made disturbances in the street— and the numerous complaints brought against them, made the Austrian Government anxious to get rid of them as soon as possible. After finishing their negotiations and having an interview with Prince Lubomirsky, the Grand Marshal of Poland, who had just come fi*om Pome, they were invited to the Imperial hunt at Aspern, and received by the Empress, wdio had just recovered from her confinement, and were then granted a farewell audience by the Emperor. In a letter w^hich the Emperor handed them he said that he had learned with nnich joy of the resolution of the Tsars to make THE KU8S1AN AMBASSADORS AND THE FiiENCH POLICE OFFICIALS. 1687.] EMBASSY TO YIEXXA. 145 war against the coiiiinon enemy of the Christian name, as well as of their treaty with Poland ; that there was no need to make any special treaty between Austria and Kussia : — ' For/ he added, ' the treaty that your Serenities have just concluded with Poland is also sufficient to keep us in the same alliance, and when we shall come to the treaty of peace with the Turks we will inform you through the King of Poland or by letter. AVith regard to the title of " Majesty," the ambassadors to your Se- renities will inform you that it is not in the power of our Imperial Majesty to give it, since there has been no example that we have given it to any other power. Nevertheless, to show your Serenities our fraternal friendship and cordiality, we have willed that our ministers and officers should o^ive vou the title of " Majesty," and we have received at the audience of leave your ambassadors, and given our letters from our Imperial hand, ^vhich we shall do in future to all the ambassadors and envoys who shall come from your Serenities. This is on the condition, however, that your Serenities shall take under your protection the Catholic and Poman religion which we profess, and, although we have spoken about it to yotir ambassadors in several confer- ences, they have always protested their unwillingness to hear of it. Nevertheless, we find ourselves oblio:ed to sav to vour Ser- enities that what we shall do in this matter according to our Im- perial good pleasure shall be of no value in case your Serenities are unwilling to protect the Catholic and Poman religion — a case which, we think, will never arise, on account of your great and fraternal friendship.- Yolkof, one of the mission, went from Vienna to Venice with similar instructions. Throuoli the kindness of the Austrian Government, he was provided with letters of introduction from the Emperor to the Chevalier Cornaro. The same year. Prince Jacob Dolgoriiky and Prince Jacob Myshetsky were sent on an embassy to Holland, France and Spain. The choice of ambassadors seems to have been unfortunate, for none of them spoke anv other lanfruaire than Pussian, and they were unacquainted with the ways or even the manners of diplomacy. In Holland they were well received, and sent from there a com'ier to announce their arrival at Paris. Owing to Vol. I.-IO 14G PETER THE GREAT. ignorance of usage, tlie courier refused to deliver the letter with Avhicli he was cliarged to anyone but the Iving in person. As he could not be persuaded to communicate it to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, his request for an audience was refused, and he was sent back without the actual contents of the letter being known. Xews, however, of tlie approaching embassy had been received by the Court of Versailles from its agents in Holland. AVhen the Tlussian ambassadors reached Dunkirk, they were met by M. de Torff, a gentleman in ordinary of the King's household, who was sent to compliment them, and to ascertain the object of their mission. They promised De Toi-ff that they would fully explain the objects of their mission to Monseigneur de Croissy, the Secretary for Foreign Affairs, before demand- ing audience of the King, and promised further that they would in all respects conform to the royal wishes. Xot satisfied with verbal promises, De Torff insisted that they should put them in writing, and, at their dictation, he wrote a letter to that effect, which was signed by them, and which he sent to Versailles. On the retui'n of the courier the embassy set out for Paris (on July 22), in carriages sent from the court. All their luggage was sealed at the Custom House, and was not to be opened until they reached Paris. It was fully explained to the ambas- sadors that there it would be examined and passed, and that- in the meantime the royal seals must not be touched. In spite of this, and of their promise to comply with the royal wishes, they broke the seals of their luggage at St. Denis, wliere tliey exposed for sale the articles they brought with them. ' Their house w^as thronged with merchants, and they made a public commerce of their stuffs and furs, forgetting, so to speak, their dignity as ambassadors, that they might act as retail mer- chants, preferring their profit and private interests to the hon- our of their masters.' De Toi-ff managed to put a stop to this proceeding, and the ambassadors formally entered Paris in a great procession, on August 9, and three days afterwards had their first audience of the King at Versailles. In Paris there w^as another difficulty. The ambassadors refused to allow their luggage to be examined by the customs officers ; locksmiths were brought, and a police official, sent by the provost, under- took to search the luggage. Pie was reviled and insulted, and 1687.] EMBASSY TO FRANCE. 147 one of the ambassadors actually drew a knife npon liim. The affair was at once reported to the King, who sent to the am- bassadors the presents he had intended for the Tsars, and or- dered them to leave the country at once : but the ambassadors refused to accept the presents without an audience of the King. Louis XIV., indignant at this, sent back to the ambassadors the presents they had brought him from the Tsars, and again or- dered them to leave. They refused to budge, and De Torff was obliged to take all the furniture out of the house in which they were living, and forbid them anything to eat. Xext day the ambassadors were brought by hunger and discomfort to a sense of their position, and begged De Torff to intercede for them ; for they feared, they said, that if the King should re- fuse the presents, or if they should go away without an audience of leave, they would lose their heads on their return to Moscow. They even consented to allow their luggage to be examined, and to conduct negotiations with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and not with the King personally, which they had previously re- fused to do. Xot receiving a favourable answer, they started, and it was not until they had reached St. Denis, where De Torff made a little delay — though he sent on the luggage to show that no long stay must be thought of — that the affair was arranged. The luggage was at last examined, the ambassadors had a political interview with Monseigneur de Croissy, in which they explained the object of their mission, and two days after- wards had a parting audience of King Louis XIY., dined at court, and were shown the gardens and fountains of Versailles. By this time they had become so pleased with France that they did not wish to leave on the day fixed, and used every pretext to prolong their stay. They finally departed from St. Denis on September 10, and reached Havre, with the speed of those times, in four days. Here, after a few days' detention from bad weather, they were put on board a French man-of-war, which was to take them to Spain, for, on account of the difiiculties they had caused, permission was refused them to go overland. Before they sailed, De Torff made a request, in the name of the King, that thenceforth the Tsars should pay the expenses of their own embassies. The King promised to do the same. To please the ambassadors, the request was put into writing. 148 . PETER THE GREAT. This proposal, like the .similar one made at Vienna, aimed at the assimilation of Itussian embassies to those of European powers, and at the abolition of the Oriental method of mutual entertainment. Xo more llussian embassies came to France for a long time, and the matter seems to have been so far for- gotten that no specific instructions on this subject were given to the French agents in Moscow. At last M. de Baluze, the French minister at Moscow, writes to the King in August, 1T(>4, complaining that the hundred rubles (about four hundi'ed French livres) which he received weekly from the Tsar's treasury, was not regularly paid, and saying that he thought he had a right to this money, as llussian embassies to France were paid for by the King. In the preliminary examination given to all despatches at the Foreio'n (Office, the Minister of Foreiii^n Affairs has run his pencil though this passage, Avith the remark ' skip,' addressed to the Secretai'v whose duty it was to read it aloud to the King. With regai-d to the commerce which the embassy appeared to have carried on in St. Denis and Paris, it must be said that, owing to the very bad financial system prevailing in Kussia, the salary of ambassadors was chiefly paid in furs, which they were to dispose of as they could, and unless they were allowed to sell them they might be unprovided with current funds. The history of this embassy is as important as it is curious, because the am- bassadors, on their return, presented false reports to the Tsars as to the treatment which they had undergone. Those reports produced a strong impression at Moscow, and brought about great coolness, almost hostility, in the relations between the two countries. It was some time before the reason of this was ascertained at Paris. When it became known, a memorandum, giving a true account of what had passed, was sent to the French Pesidents in Poland and Germanv. The sum and substance of the conference at St. Denis Avas this : The andjassadors beoan bv savino; that Pussia had made a leao-ue with Poland asfaiust the Turks, and thev had come on behalf of their masters to His Majesty, as the greatest Prince in the world, to beg him to enter into this league, and to join his arms with theirs for the ^^lorv of the Christian name. De Croissy replied that His Majesty had much friendship for the Tsars, and had always approved and still approved of their < I—! > <; y entering into commerce with the Russians by way of Archangel, and promised French traders all the advantages then enjoyed by the English and the Dutch. This De Croissy said he would take into con- sideration, and then suggested that, as the Ivmg of France sent missionaries to China, and learned that caravans for Pekin left Tobolsk, the capital of Siberia, every six months, he would be glad if the Tsars would permit the passage through Siberia, with these caravans, of Jesuits and other missionaries, as the last-named journey was much easier than that by the sea. The and)assadors said they had no power to consent to this, but thought that no difficulty would be raised. 150 PETEK THE GKEAT. At that time tliere was prevalent at Moscow a sort of sus- picion of evervtliing French, and sensible as the Dutch Itesi- dent was, he was afflicted with this disease, and saw everywhere French intrigues. It was plain to him that the Danish Hesi- dent, Yon Horn, was acting in the interests, if not in the pay, of Louis XIY. lie calls him, in one of his despatches, ' a better Turk than Christian • ; and in another he says : ' He makes such a show, and spends so much money, that it must necessarily come out of some other purse than his own.' lie even discov- ered a Frenchman in the Danish suite. He believed, and ap- parently succeeded in making the Russians believe, that Yon Horn had come to Moscow for the purpose of putting a stop to a good understanding between Sweden and Russia. It also seemed plain to the Dutch Resident that the French had in- trigued at Constantinople to incite the Turks to make war on Austria and invade Hungary, and that they intrigued, both at Warsaw and at Yienna, to prevent the triple alliance. It was for the interest of France that Austria and the Empire should be humbled, and for that purpose it seemed to him natural that France should not desire Russia to enter into an alliance with Austria, or Sweden to be on friendly terms with its neighbour. The negotiations, therefore, at Moscow were not always easy matters, and from time to time persons came there who were really nothing but adventurers, but to whom a fictitious importance was given, either fi'om their own braggart airs or from the suspicion that they were French spies. Among these was a man calling himself sometimes M. de Sanis, sometimes Comte de Sanis, sometimes Sheikh Alibeg, but always a relative of the Shah of Persia, and a brother-in-law of the renowned traveller Ta vernier. He made out that he had been baptised, and therefore could not at once go back to Persia, but at the same time he would set forth his great importance in that coun- try, and wrote, or pretended to write, frequent letters to the Shah — at least some drafts of letters were subsequently found among his effects. He came with a certain amount of money, he spent more, and borrowed besides. He gave entertainments at which the grandees and the most notable foreign residents appeared ; he was on good terms with the Danish Resident, and it was plain to all right-thinking Dutch and English that he was 1687.] SUSPICION OF FPwANCE. 151 nothing less than a French spy. In hopes, perhaps, to -svorm. out some secrets, thev even lent him monev. One nio^ht, how- ever, he disappeared, leaving nothing but debts and cast-off clothing ; he succeeded somehow in spiriting himself across the frontier, and was never heard of after, except through a small pamphlet published at Geneva in 1685, which purported to give his veracious history. The prejudice against France lingered on for a long time, even until the visit of Peter to the Court of Versailles in 1716, and it was, perhaps, as much due to tliis prejudice as to any better reason that the Government of Sophia, on the proposi- tion of the Envoy from Brandenburg, gave full and free permission to all Protestants driven out of France by the revocation of the Edict of Xantes to settle m Kussia, to estab- lish themselves there, and to enter the public service.' ^ Archives oi the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at Paris — Russie ; Reports of Dutch Residents at Moscow in the Archives at the Hague. Peter's Travelling Sledge. XYI. TROTTBLES WITH TURKS AXD TARTARS.— 1087. Even l^efore the conclusion of the permanent peace with Poland, Knssia liad been bronglit into hostile relations with Turkey, throuirh the intriii'ues of Doroshenko, the chief of the Zaporovian Cossacks on the lower Dnieper. Wishing to secure the independence of his band, Doroshenko had played, by turns, into the hands of liussia and Poland, and had even finally given in his submission to the Turks. lie had extended his domain to the western side of the Dnieper, and had established liis capital at Tchigirin, or Cehrvn, a small fortified town on the river Tiasmin, near the Dnieper, and on tlie very frontiers of Turkey. Although the Turks insisted upon their supremacy, they rendered him no assistance, and Doroshenko, to insure himself against the Turks, swore allegiance to the Pussian Tsar ■ — an allegiance that was considered so lax that the Government felt it necessary to occupy Tchigirin with troops and send Doro- shenko to private life in Little Pussia. Pp to this time there never had been anv hostilities between the Pussians and the Turks, for the capture of the town of Azof, in the reign of the Tsar Michael, had been effected by the Cossacks of the Don, and their proceedings, after careful consideration at a meeting of the States General, were disapproved, and the town was re- turned to the Turks. The relations between Pussia and Turkey had been so friendly that the Pussian ambassadors at Constan- tinople were always treated with greater consideration than those of other powers, and they more generally succeeded in accomplishing their ends. Pussia was at that time virtually an Oriental power ; its envoys understood the feelings and ways of Orientals, and its relations with the Turks were, therefore, simpler and more easily managed than those of the Western 1677.] SIEGE OF TC1IIGI3UX. 153 nations. Tlie occasional incursions of the C'rim Tartars into the Russian border provinces iiad produced dis]^utes and dis- agreements, but these were readily settled. The troubles caused hx the Cossacks of the Ukraine, since their separation from Poland and their first oath of allegiance to llussia, had lasted so long, and had been the cause of so many forays of the Tartars, that it was almost in an imperceptible manner that the friendly re- lations of Russia and Turkey became so far cooled as to pro- duce an open war. On the representation of the Tartar Khan that Doroshenko had gone over to the liussians, the Sultan drew forth from the Seven Towers, in which he was imprisoned, Yiiry Jvhnielnitskv, the son of old Boo-dan, a fuo-itive Cossack Iletman, and proclaimed him Iletman and Prince of Little Pussia. lie declared his claim to the whole of the Ukraine and Little Pussia, and his intention of taking possession of the country by force of arms. The efforts of the Pussians to ward off the war were futile, as they could not consent to deliver up the whole of the in^raine to the Turks. AYar with Turkey seemed to the Pussians of that day a much more dangerous and terrible thing than it really proved to be. The Turks Avere then at the height of their success ; they still lield the greater part of Hungary, and their troops had not yet been defeated before Vienna. In point of fact, the whole Avar was reduced to two campaigns against Tchigirin. In August, 1677, the Seraskier Ibrahim Pasha, together with lvhn:ielnitsky, appeared before Tchigirin, where they were to be met by the Tartar Khan. Prince Iiamodanofsky had com- mand of the Pussian forces, supported In' the Iletman Sam- oilovitch and his Cossacks. The efforts of the Turks and Tar- tars to prevent the crossing of the Pussians failed. The Pasha of Bosnia, with sixteen thousand troops, Avas routed, and on September 7, only three weeks after his first appearance there, and on the anniversary of the evacuation of Corfu bv the Turks, and the deliverance of Malta, Iljrahim Pasha was obliged to raise the siege and hastily retire, pursued by the whole gai'rison of Tchio-irin. The Turks retreated in such haste that in three days they arrived at the river Bug, although they had taken thirteen to advance from there to Tchialrin. They lost all their artillery and all their ba^^^-ai^e, and their loss in men was esti- 154 PETER THE GREAT. mated hy themselves at 10,()()(>, and by the Eiissians at only 4,000 — a circumstance almost unique in military annals, where it is a received rule to undervalue your own losses and exag- gerate those of the enemy. When the Turks had got out of reach, the Russians put Tchigirin into a state of defence and withdrew the great body of their troops to Little Russia, while they discussed whether it were better to abandon Tchigirin en- tirely, or to increase its garrison and hold it against the Turks. The latter alternative was considered preferable, for Samoilovitch represented that, if the town were destroyed, the Turks could easily rebuild it, and would then have an open road into tlie heart of the Ukraine. As soon as the news of tlie Turkisli disaster reached Constantinople, gi*eat preparations were made for a new campaign. Taxes were increased, and all persons in service were ordered to be ready for departure. The Seraskier Ibrahim Pasha was disgraced, and the Khan of the Crimea, Selim Ghirei, who was charged w^tli the blame of the defeat, was deposed. A Russian ambassador, Porosiikof, was sent to Constantinople to endeavour to make peace, as, in spite of their defeat, the Turks still insisted on the surrender of Tchigirin and the lower Dnieper, and the Russians were obliged to continue their preparations for a new campaign. About the middle of July, 1678, the Grand Yizier Kara Mustapha Pasha appeared before Tchigirin, and, after a solemn sacrifice to God, to implore his protection, the siege was begun. The investment progressed slowly, and the Turks w^ere in such straits that they were about to abandon the siege, when, on the advice of Ahmed Pasha, they resolved to throw themselves between the Russians and the fortress on the other side of the river, and risk everything in a battle. They were signally defeated, and retreated with great loss. Nine days later they resolved to make one more attack, and while the Russians and Cossacks were celebrating, with an unusual amount of drunkenness, the feast of St. Matthew, which fell on a Sunday, they exploded two mines, which made a breach in the w^all, and took the town by assault. Subsequently they succeeded in repelling a night attack on their camp by the Russians ; but news having reached the Grand Yizier that the Russians contemplated another such attack, he thought it best to retire, and was subsequently w^orsted in a c (<^ o ►-^ ft* 1—1 H r— I S PS W P W M 1680.] TWENTY YEAKS TPwUCE. 155 an encoimter with the troops of Ramodanofsky, who followed him lip. Although one aim of the Turkisli campaign had been accomplished — the destruction of Tchigu'in — no part of the in^raine had been occupied, and barely a quarter of the Turkish army returned with the Grand Yizier to Adrian- ople. The Turks made no further campaign, but the Kussians were constantly agitated by the prospect of greater sacrifices and greater losses. ^Negotiations for peace were carried on, and were at last successful in 1680, when, by the advice of the Grand Vizier, these negotiations were continued with the Khan of the Crimea. By the peace thus concluded, which was ratified at Constantinople in 1681, a truce for twenty years was agreed upon with the Tartars and the Turks, the Turkish dominions were allowed to extend to the Dnieper, and even the Zaporovian Cossacks were for the moment given up to them, while Kief and all the Ukraine was recognised as belonging to Russia. Although the Russians were at first unwilling to con- sent to the surrender of the Zaporovians, yet the news of the treat V was received with o^reat iov, not onlv at Moscow, but also through the whole of Little Russia, for it was thought that the relief fi-om dangers of war with Turkey were cheaply bought at the sacrifice of a bare steppe and a troublesome population. In spite of the treaty concluded in the reign of Theodore, the action of Turkey towards Russia was frequently very unfriendly. Contrary to the provisions of the treaty, the towns on the lower Dnieper were allowed to be again inhabited ; more than that, the inhabitants of the eastern bank of the river were in- vited to cross and settle on the other side, and even Tchigirin was colonised by Wallachs. In addition to this, incendiaries were sent across the river to set fire to towns and farm-houses, in hopes that the population would thus be forced to emigrate to the western side. The Government of Sophia was bound by the Treaty of Eternal Peace with Poland to make war upon the Turks, and was incited besides by the splendid success of the Austrians in recapturing Buda, and by the progress of the Venetians in the jMorea, but it intended to direct the Russian arms not so nnich against the Turks themselves as against their dependents, the 15G PETEll THE GKEAT. Tartars. Tlie relations with the Tartars liad become ahnost uiieiidiirahle. Althoiiiih tlie old lines of defensive walls throiiii'li the country still existed, they were badly kept np, and in the early part of the seventeenth century, and even during the reign of Alexis, in the midst of peace, towns were surprised and their inliabitants all carried off to slaverv. In 16G2, the Tartars captured the town of Putivl, and carried off twenty thousand prisoners. There was not a harbour in the East, in Greece. Turkey, Syria or Egypt, where llussian slaves were not to be seen rowing in the galleys ; the Khan of the Crimea sent at one time to the Sultan eighty Hussian boys as a present. The Serbian Krvzhanitch savs that, so ffreat was the crowd every- wliere of Russian slaves, that the Turks asked in mockerv whether any iidiabitants still remained in Tlussia. For a while the Tartars were kept in some kind of order by the yearly pay- ment of large sums, which the Itussians called presents, and the Tartars called tribute ; but even during the regency of Sophia the Tartar incursions w^ere renewed and the inhabitants of whole villages were carried away, although these forays were on a much smaller scale than before. In 1682, the Russian Envoy Tarakaiiof was seized by order of the Khan, taken into a stable and beaten Avith a cudgel, as well as tortured by lire, in order to extort his consent to the payment of a larger tribute. As a result of this, the Russians refused to send anv more envoys, and insisted that all negotiations should be carried on at some 2^1ace on the frontier. The Government at Moscow Avas inilu- enced more and more by a feeling of national honour, but it was remote from the scene of hostilities. The Cossacks of the Ukraine, who Avould have to bear the burden of the campaign, and who would be exposed to reprisals in case of disaster, were not so inclined to engage in war, either against the Turks or the Tartars. If war must be, they preferred it against their old enemies, the Poles. For that reason the Hetman Samoilo- vitch constantly opposed the alliance with Poland, and de- precated any campaign against the Tartars. He thought tlie Tartars easy to manage — at the expense, to be sure, of a sum of money — and preferred the comfort and security of his subjects to the delicate feelings of honour of the regency at Moscow. Curiously enouo:h, more advice aojainst the w^ar came 1686.] WAR AGAINST TURKEY. 157 from the Patriarcli of Constantinople, wlio, in tlie name of the Eastern Christians, begged the Tsar.s to remain at peace witli Turkey, as in case of war the Sultan would turn all his i-age against them. 'We beg and pray your Tsarish Majesty,' wrote Dionysius, in January, 1687, ' do not be guilty of shedding the blood of so many Christians ; do not help the French and extirpate the orthodox Christians. This will be neither pleasing to God nor praiseworthy to men.' War, however, had been resolved upon, and, in the autunm of 1680, the order was given to prepare for a campaign against the Crimea. In the decree of the Tsars it was declared : — ' The campaign is midertaken to free the Russian land from unendurable insults and humiliations. From no place do the Tartars carry awav so many prisoners as from Russia ; thev sell Christians like cattle, and insult the orthodox faith. But this is little. The Hussian Empire pays the Infidels a yearly tribute, for which it suffers shame and reproaches from neigh- bouring states, and even this tribute does not at all protect its boundaries. The Khan takes money, dishonours Russian en- voys, and destroys Russian towns, and the Turkish Sultan has no control whatever over him.' An army of 1(10,000 men was collected at the river Merlo, under the chief command of Prince Basil Golitsyn, and in May, 1687. he was joined on the Samara by Iletman Samoilovitch with 50,(>00 Cossacks. Golitsyn, though a great statesman, was not a good general, and accepted the command much against his will. It was forced upon him by his enemies ; he himself would have preferred to remain at Moscow to counteract their schemes. This was the time when the aristocratic party was formino; itself around Peter, and was using his name in their opposition to the regency of Sophia. Golitsyn was especially hated by that party. lie had only one faithful adherent in Moscow on whom he could thoroughly depend, and their interests were closely bound too:ether. That was Shaklovity. Golitsyn had no sooner started on his campaign than he began to perceive the machinations of his enemies, not only in Mos- cow, but in the camp. From Moscow he heard that his ol < Ph C p: 1687.] EE^yARDS. 159 the Tartars, but bj the Cossacks, with the intention of relieving themselves from the burden of the further campaign. This story, in the highest degree improbable, found some credence, when connected with what was called the obstinacy of the Het- man Samoilovitch in originally opposing the war against the Tartars, and with the numerous complaints of oppression against him from his own subjects. The Government, after sending Shaklovity to investigate tlie case, decided to remove Samoil- ovitch. Preparations were secretly made, and, on August 2, he was arrested in the night, relieved of the post of hetman, and sent to Moscow. The ukase dismissing him said nothing about the accusation of setting fire to the steppes, but stated merely that, in order to prevent an outbreak, the interest of Little Rus- sia required the removal of a hetman who had no longer the confidence of the population. This able, energetic, and remark- able man was succeeded as hetman by the famous Mazeppa, then the Secretary General of the Cossack Government. Maz- eppa's election, as well as the fall of Samoilovitch, was due in a very great measure to the personal influence of Golitsyn, who disliked Samoilovitch. ]\Iazeppa showed his gratitude, not by words alone, but by a present of 10,000 rubles. This change was detrimental to Hussian interests. Samoilovitch had been thoroughly devoted to his people and to the Russian Govern- ment, while Mazeppa began a policy of deceit which culminated in his rebellion against Russia during the Swedish invasion. Samoilovitch died in banishment in Siberia, and one of his sons was executed. His whole property was confiscated, and half of it given to Mazeppa. Golitsyn returned to Moscow late in the evening of Septem- ber 14, and the next morning was admitted to kiss the hands of the Regent and the two Tsars. Although, according to the Swed- ish Envoy Kochen, forty or fifty thousand men had been lost in the campaign, yet Golitsyn was hailed as a victorious general, and speedily regained all his former power and prestige, lie received a gold chain and three hundred ducats, and gold medals were struck and given to the ofiicers and nobility, while smaller medals, all of them bearing the effigies of Sophia, Ivan and Peter, as well as the initial letters of their names, were given to the soldiery. Money and land was bestowed lavishly, as 160 PETEll THE GKEAT. never before after a Russian campaign, and even the troops wliicli came too late were not left without reward. The pro- clamation of the Regent to the Russian people spoke of the cam- paign as a splendid victory, recounted the speedy and difficult march, the panic of the Tartar Khan, the horrors of the burn- ing steppes, and the safe retreat. In order to keep up the credit of tlie Russian arms, equally glowing accounts of the expedi- tion were sent abroad, and printed in Dutch and German, and Baron Yan Keller himself saw that an apology for Golitsyn was properly printed in the Dutch newspapers.* ' Ustrialof, vol. i. ch, x. ; Solovief, vol. xiv, ; Possel, Lefort^ vol. i. ; Gordon's Diary ; Bruckner, Fiirat W. W. Golizyn in UussiscJie lievue, 1878 ; von Hammer, Uistoire de VEmjure Ottoman. Medal Given to Prince Golftsyn for the Crimean .Campaign, XYII. THE SECOND CRIMEAN EXPEDITION.— 1689. The Poles were no more luckj than the Russians in the campaign of 1687. Thej vainly besieged the fortress of Kame- netz, in Fodolia, and were obliged to retire in disgust. Their allies, the Austrians and Venetians, were more fortunate. They beat the Turks in Hungary, Dalmatia and the Morea, and took possession of the chief frontier fortresses. It was in this cam- paign that Morosini took Athens, a conquest glorious to the Venetians, but regretted by posterity. An unfortunate bomb struck the Parthenon, and exploded the Turkish powder stored in it, and reduced this wonderful building to its present state. From the Piraeus Morosini took the four marble lions which now decorate the front of the arsenal at Venice. The Turkish defeat and disasters resulted in a military rebellion, which cost the Grand Vizier his life, and the Sultan Mohammed IV. his throne. He was replaced by his elder brother, Suleiman II. Turkey had never been in such straits, and there seemed to the Christian inhabitants every chance of freeing themselves from the Turkish yoke. Dionysius, the former Patriarch of Con- stantinople, who had been deposed for the fourth time through the intrigues of rival bishops who paid higher bribes to the Divan, but according to his own account for having yielded in the matter of the metropolis of Kief, wrote to the Tsars from his refuoje at Mount Athos, and in the name of the orthodox Christians besought the Russians to turn their arms once more against the Turks. 'All states and powers,' he wrote, ' all pious, orthodox kings and princes have together risen up against Anti-Christ, and are warring with him by land and sea, while your empire sleeps. All pious people — Serbs, Bulgarians, Moldavians, and Walla- VOL. I.— U 102 PETER THE GREAT. cliians — are waiting for your holy rule. Rise ; do not sleep ; come to save us.' The same messenger, Isaiah, Archimandrite of the Monastery of St. Paul at Mount Athos, brought a letter from Sherban C'antacuzene, the llospodar of Wahachia, who also wrote that all orthodox people begged the Tsars to deliver them from the liands of the ' Pharaoh in the flesh.' A similar letter came from Arsenius, the Patriarch of Serbia. The Christians, how- ever, prayed the Hussians not so much against the Turks as against the Latins and Catholics. They feared that if Turkey were subjugated by the Austrians and Venetians, without the intervention of Pussia, the religious tyranny of the Poman Church would be worse than the oppression of the Sultan. The Pegent replied to these demonstrations by urging the 'Wallachians to send the large Slavonic forces, of which they had boasted, to assist them in another campaign against the Tartars, saying that after the Crimea was conquered they would see to the freedom of the countries of the Danube and the Bal- kans. Panslavism had already been preached in Moscow, and especially by the Serb Yury Kryzhanitch, the first great Slavo- phile, and it is interesting to see how, even in the earliest time of difiiculty between Turkey and Pussia, the Slavonic popula- tions subject to the Sultan looked to Pussia as their natural friend and protector. There were many difiiculties, however, in the way of a second campaign. The financial condition of Pussia was very bad, the Pussian envoy Postnik had been unsuccessful in con- cluding a loan in England — if other reasons were wanting, the troubles of the last year of James 11. were sufiicient — and taxes were already most burdensome. Fears lest Poland and Austria might conclude a separate peace with tlie Turks which would be disadvantageous to Pussia ; the urgent demands of the Poles for assistance, and the fact that the Tartar Khan, in spite of strict orders from the Sultan, had himself taken the offensive and had ravaged the provinces of Pussia and Poland, advancing, in March, 1688, through Yolynia and Podolia nearly to Lemberg, and carrying oft" 60,000 of the inhabitants into slavery, — these were sufficient reasons for a new campaign. In the autumn of 1688 the new campaign against the 1^ c s: ir < 1689.] SECOND CRIMEAN CAMPAIGN. 163 Crimea was proclaimed. All preparations were made for start- ing at an early period in the spring, and for guarding against the calamities which had frustrated the previous expedition, and the troops were ordered to be at their rendezvous no later than February, 16S9. This time it was absolutely necessary for Golitsvn to defeat the Tartars, in order to frustrate the macliin- ations of his political and personal enemies. Hatred to him went so far that it is said an assassin even attacked him in his sledg-e, and was ari-ested bv one of his servants. The assassin was tortured, but no publicity was given to the affair. Just as Golitsvn was starting out on the campaign, a coffin was found in front of the door of his palace, with a warning that if this campaign were as unfortunate as the preceding one, a coffin would be made ready for him. An example not only of the suspicions which Golitsyn entertained of those about him, but of the superstition in which he, as well as many other eminent and educated men of that time, believed, was that one of his servants, Ivan Bunakof, was subjected to torture for having ' taken his trace ' — that is, for having taken up the earth where Golitsyn's foot had left an imprint. Bunakof explained it by saying that he took the earth in his handkerchief and tied it round him to cure the cramp, as this remedy had been recom- mended to him, and always, when any cramp seized him, he immediately took up some of the surrounding earth. The ex- planation was considered insufficient, and the man was punished. Bv the end of February, Golitsvn had collected 112,(M)0 men, and set out on his march. A month later he reported that the expedition was greatly retarded by the snow and the extreme cold. He was soon joined by Mazeppa, with his Cos- sacks. About the middle of April, news reached Moscow that, although there had yet been no fires in the steppe, the Khan had announced his intention to set fire to it as soon as the Rus- sians approached Perekop, and orders were sent to Golitsyn to liave the steppe burnt in advance of the Russian troops in order that they might find fresh grass springing up for them as they went on. Xo misadventure of any kind took place ; there was plenty of water, and by the middle of May Golitsyn drew near to Perekop and first met the Tartar troops. The nomads, in great multitudes, attacked the Russians on all sides, and were 164 PETER THE GREAT. beaten off with some difficulty, although they still continued to harass the Russian advance. We learn from the diary of Gen- eral Gordon that the troops were engaged in several slight con- tests of this kind, but that there was no decisive battle. Golit- syn, however, reported to the Government that he had gained a great victory over the Tartars, and inflicted enormous losses upon them. On May 30, the Russians reached the famous Perekop, a fort protected by a high wall and a deej) ditch, run- ning entirely across the isthmus. It had seemed that Perekop was to be the end of the campaign, and Golitsyn had apparently thought that once they arrived there the Tartars would be fricrhtened, and would immediately surrender. He found, how- ever, that the fort of Perekop was not to be easily taken, espe- cially by troops that had already been two days without water ; and that, even should Perekop be taken, the steppes of the Crimea, being arid plains, destitute of water, and possessing only a little saltish vegetation, would be even worse than the places he had already passed through. He therefore sent a message to the Khan, hoping to get from him a peace advan- tageous to Russia. The negotiations lingered, and it was im- possible for Golitsyn to wait longer. He therefore began his retreat without having captured Perekop, and without having secured peace. That Golitsyn should have returned at all, that he should have extricated his army from this uncomfortable position without losmg the greater part of it, was interpreted by the Government at Moscow as a great success, and glowing bulletins were issued, and great rewards were promised to those who had taken part in the campaign. For reasons of state it was necessary to uphold Golitsyn, who was the ablest and strongest member of the Government. But Sophia had other excuses — her passionate affection for Golitsyn blinded her to his defects. She implicitly believed the exaggerated despatches which he had sent home, in which defeat was skilfully convert- ed into victory, and replied in letters Avhich plainly indicate the relations which existed between them : ^ My Light, Brother Yassenka : — Mayst thou be in good health, little father, for many years ! Through the mercy of God and the Holy Virgin, and by thy o^\Tl good sense and good fortune, thou hast been victorious over the children of Hagar, 1689.] SOPHIA'S LETTERS. 165 and may the Lord give thee in future to overcome our enemies ! And jet, my love, I can scarcely believe that thou art returning to us ; I shall only believe it when I see thee in my embrace. Thou hast asked me, my love, to pray for you. In truth I am a sinner before God and unworthy, yet, even though a sinner, I dare to hope in his mercy. I always petition him to let me see my love again in joy.' AVhen Golitsyn had written that he had begun to retire from Perekop, Sophia answered : ^ This day is mighty joyful to me because the Lord God has glorified his holy name, as also that of his mother, the Holy Virgin, for thee, my love. Such a thing was never heard of, nor did our fathers see such mercy of God. Like the children of Israel has God led you from the land of Egypt — then Ijy Moses, his disciple, now by thee, my soul. Praise to our God, who has thus been merciful to us through thee. Oh ! my little father, how shall I ever pay thee for these, thy countless labours ? Oh ! my joy, light of my eyes, how can I believe my heart that I am going to see thee again, my love ! That day will be great to me when thou, my soul, shalt come to me. If it were only possible for me, I would place thee before me in a single day. Thy letters confided to God's care, have all reached me in safety. Thy letters from Perekop came on Friday, the 11th. I was going on foot from Yozdvizhenskoe, and had just arrived at the monastery of the Miracle- Working Sergius, at the holy gates themselves, when thy letter came about the bat- tles. I do not know how I went in. I read as I walked. What thou hast written, little father, about sending to the monas- teries, that I have fulfilled. I have myself made pilgrimages to all the monasteries on foot. Thou writest that I should pray for thee. God, my love, knows how I wish to see thee, my soul, and I hope, in the mercy of God, that He will allow me to see thee, my hope. With regard to the troops, do just as thou hast written. I, my father, am well, through thy prayers, and we are all well. When God gives me to see thee, my love, I will tell thee about all I have done and passed through.' The official thanks sent to Golitsyn were in strong terms, though in somewhat different form. He himself was most anx- ious to magnify his victories, and sent messengers direct from 166 PETER THE GREAT. the camp to the King of Poland, informing him of tlie defeat of 150,000 Tartars, of the Hight of the Khan, and of the gen- eral panic. Employing a trick which is now so common as not to cause surprise, Golitsyn instructed the llesident at Warsaw to send extracts from his letter to A^ienna, Venice, and Home, and to take measures that accounts of his victory, printed in all parts of Europe, should come back to Moscow. Kot all, however, took such a rosy view of the campaign as did Golitsyn. General Gordon, in a letter to his relative the Earl of Errol, says : ' The 20th wee came befor the Perecop, et lodged as wee marched, wdiere wee were to enter into a treaty with the Tartars, which tooke no effect, our demands being too high, and they not condiscending to any other thing as to estab- lish a peace of the former conditions, so that not being able to exist here for want of water, grass et wood for such numbers as wee had, and finding no advantage by taking the Perekop, the next day wee returned, and from midday till night we were hotly pursued by the Tartars, the danger being great et fear greater, if the Chan with all his forces should persue us, so that I was commanded from the left wing with 7 Regiments of Foot, et some of horse (yet all on Foot), to guard the Pear. They persued us very eagerly 8 dayes together, yet gained but litle, haveing no such great numbers as wee suspected. Xothing troubled us et our horses et draught beasts so much in this march as the want of water, for albeit wee had so many great caskes with water along with yet was farr short of giveing re- lieffe to all, and had not God Almighty sent us rains more as ordinary in these places, wee had suffered great losses. On the 12th of June, we came to the Piver Samara, where wee were past danger, yet hold on our march circumspectly untill we came to the P. Merlo.' And Lefort, who took part in the cam- paign, wrote to his family at Geneva: 'The Muscovites lost 35,000 men — 20,000 killed and 15,000 taken prisoners. Besides that, sevent}' cannon were abandoned, and all the war material.' The remembrance of the loss of these cannon remained for a long time, and Manstein tells us that Mlinnich, in his campaign in the Crimea in the reign of the Empress Anne, recovered some of the cannon lost by Golitsyn. Accusations were subsequently brought that Golitsyn liad 1689.] EEWAEDS FOR THE CAMPAIGN. 167 Leen bribed bj the Tartar Khan to retreat from Perekopy and there was a story that before Perekop, the Tartar emissaries brought secretly to Golitsyn's tent two barrels of gold pieces, which turned out afterwards to be nothing but copper monev slightly gilded. This story rests on the testimony of deserters and renegades, and scarcely deserves notice, except that it formed part of the charges of high treason subsequently pre- ferred against Golitsyn. It was not, however, so much his imao-inary treason as it was his carelessness, his militarv inca- pacity, and his self-will in carrying on negotiations without con- sulting the other superior officers, which caused this disaster to the Pussian arms. Xot by anv means the best satisfied with the Crimean cam- paign was Peter. Apart fi'om the severity with which the party of boyars who surrounded him judged all the acts of the gov- ernment of Sophia, he himself had been pursuing so vigorouslv his military studies, and was so deeply impressed with the im- portance of putting an end to the Tartar domination, that he was a severe critic of Golitsyn's military operations. Golitsyn arrived at Moscow on July S, was received in o;reat state at the banqueting-hall by Sophia and her brother Ivan, and was pub- licly thanked ; but the rewards promised to those who had taken part in the campaign could not then be published, be- cause Peter refused his consent, as he was unwillino; that thev should receive so much as had been promised without consulting him. It was not imtil August 5, after much intreaty, and with crreat difficultv, Peter was induced to allow the rewards of the campaign to be annomiced. On the next day they were read out to the boyars and their comrades in the inner rooms of the Palace, and afterwards to the general public on the Broad Staircase. Golitsyn received a large gold cup, a caftan of cloth of gold lined with sables, a large sum of money, and an estate in the district of Suzdal ; while the other Pussian officers re- ceived money, silver cups, stuff for caftans, and part of the estates which they alreadv enioved as crown tenants were made hereditarv with them. The foreiorn officers received each a month's Avages, sables, cups, and rich stuffs. Commemorative gold medals were given to everyone, and it was ordered that the names of all who died in the campaign should be mentioned 168 PETER THE GREAT. in tlie public prayers in the Cathedral. Etiquette then required that the officers who had been thus distinguished should go to Preobrazhensky, to pay their respects to the Tsar Peter, and thank him for his grace. They went, but they were not re- ceived ; ' at which some were iimch troubled,' says Gordon, '' but others were not, because they thought it was better to take the bitt and the buffet with it, for everyone saw plainly and knew that the consent of the younger Tsar had not been extorted without the greatest difficulty, and that this merely made him more excited against the generalissimo and the most prominent counsellors of the other party at court ; for it was now seen that an open breach was imminent, which would probably result in the greatest bitterness. Meanwhile everything was, as far as possible, held secret in the great houses, but yet not with such silence and skill but that everyone knew what was going on.' * ' Ustrialof, vol. i, ch. x. ; Solovief, vol. xiv. ; Posset, Lefort, vol. i. ; Gordon's Diary ; Bruckner, Golizyn ; 2. A. Bv^avriov, 'H KuvaTavrivooiroKis^ Athens, 1801-69. XVIII. THE FINAL STRUGGLE BETWEEN SOPHIA AND PETER. — 1G89. This unfortunate campaign of Golitsyn was the turning point in the struggle between the aristocratic party and the Government of Sophia. The boyars had gradually been getting stronger, and had even succeeded in forcing their way into power and preferment. One of the IS^aryshkins had been made a boyar shortly before. The gravamen of any charge against Sophia was that she had made herself the equal of her brothers, the Tsars, by assuming the title of Autocrat, in commemoration of the peace with Poland. So long as her government had been successful, this assumption might have been permitted, but now that two campaigns had shown the weakness and inefficiency of the regency, now that the aristocratic party was strong enough to take matters into its own hands, this could be used as an ac- cusation against her. This was foreseen by others, if not by Golitsyn himself, and even as early as April Yan Keller had ^vi'itten to Holland : ' If the campaign against the Tartars shall be no more successful than the last, there will probably be a general rebellion,' saying, at the same time, that he dared not write much lest his letters should be opened. Another point of accusation against Sophia, although at this time it was not proved that there was anything criminal in her design, was her desire to have herself crowned as Empress and Autocrat. In point of fact, in August, 1687, Shaklovity had endeavoured to persuade the Streltsi to petition the Tsars for the coronation of the Regent. This, however, was such an im- heard-of thing that the Streltsi received the proposition coldly, and no more was done at that time, but the next year the idea was reWved. After the end of the first Crimean campaign, a Russian, or rather, a Polish artist fi'om Tchernigof, named Tarasevitch, engraved a portrait of Sophia, together with her >^ 170 PETEK THE GREAT. "brothers, and also a portrait of Sophia alone, with crown, scep- tre and globe ; her full title as Grand Duchess and Autocrat en- circled the portrait, and about this, in the style of the portraits of the German Emperors, Avere placed, instead of the portraits of tlie Electors, the symbolic fiarures of the seven cardinal virtues of Sophia. The Monk Sylvester Medvedief composed an inscrip- tion in verse of twenty-four lines, in which the Princess was declared to be the equal and superior of the Babylonian Semi- ramis, of Elizabeth of England, and of the Greek Pulcheria. Copies of these portraits were printed on satin, silk, and paper, and were distributed in Moscow. Xone now exist. One impres- sion was sent to Amsterdam, to the Burgomaster Xicholas Witsen, with the request that he would have the inscription and titles translated into Latin and German, and a new portrait engraved in Holland, for distribution in Europe. Copies of this engrav- ing reached Bnssia just before the fall of Sophia, and were nearly all destroyed by order of Peter, so that now it is the greatest rarity among Pussian historical portraits. Two copies only are known to exist. A sketch of Sophia, written by De Xeuville in this very year, 1689, will perhaps assist us in forming a more accurate idea of her : — ^ Her mind and her great ability bear no relation to the de- formity of her person, as she is immensely fat, with a head as laroje as a bushel, hairs on her face and tumours on her lesrs, and at least forty years old. But in the same degree that her stature is broad, short and coarse, her mind is shrewd, unpre- judiced and full of policy.' An incident which occurred about the time of the return of Golitsyn shows, in a measure, the position of affairs at Moscow about this time. On July IS — the festival of the miraculous ap- pearance of the Picture of the Virgin of Kazan — there was a procession in which the Tsars usually took part, from the Kremlin to the Kazan Cathedral, founded by Prince Pozharsky, in com- memoration of the deliverv of Moscow from the Poles. The Re- gent Sophia appeared in the Cathedral of the Assumption with her two brothers, just as she had done in preceding years. On the conclusion of the liturgy, Peter, in consequence of a remark of one of his counsellors, approached his sister and ordered her not to walk in the procession. This was an open declaration of THE OFFENDING PICTURE OF SOPHIA, WITH THE INSCRIPTION BY SYLVESTER MEDVEDIEF. 1689.] RUMOURS AND SUSPICIONS. 171 war. To prevent Sophia from appearing in public at a state ceremony, as she had done durino; lier whole reo-encv, meant to remove her from the conduct of public business. She accepted the declaration of hostilitv, but refused to obey the command. She took from the Metropolitan the picture of the Virgin, and walked after the crosses and banners. Peter ancjrilv left the procession, went for a moment into the Cathedral of St. Michael ^^fe^siiiii^^'^'' Our Lady of Kazan. the Archangel, and immediately afterwards left Moscow and went to his villa at Kolomenskoe. The tension of the two parties was now very great, and, as always in such cases, private individuals loudly expressed their grievances, their hopes and their fears. Such irresponsible ut- terances were naturally exaggerated by rumour, and each party was convinced that the other was threatening and had an in- tention of attacking it. Extracts from Gordon's diary give us 172 PETER THE GREAT. some slight idea of the feeling then prevalent. On August 7, he writes : ' Things continue to have a bad look, as they prom- ised to do on Saturday.' On the 9tli : ' The heat and bitterness are even greater, and it appears that they will soon break out.' On the 16th he mentions 'rumours unsafe to be uttered.' Both parties naturally took up a defensive position. Whatever might be their suspicions of the motives and intentions of their op- ponents, it was safer, with the forces at their disposal, to meet an attack than to make one, and at the same time the moral ef- fect was stronger. What excuse could Peter have to attack his elder brother and his sister in the Ea*emlin, while it would be very difficult to get even the Streltsi to assist in an attack on Preobrazhensky ? They still had too much respect for the per- son of the Lord's anointed, and remembered too well the consequences of the riots of 1682. In such a situation, as everywhere, both parties were on their guard, and both parties were suspicious. As when Sophia, in August, 1688, went to visit Peter at Preobrazhensky, on the occasion of the benediction of the river Yaiiza, she took with her three himdred Streltsi to guard against any sudden attack of his guards, so now on St. Anne's day, when Peter was expected at the Kremlin to visit his aunt the Princess Anne, at the Ascension Convent, Shaklovity posted fifty men in a concealed place near the Ped Staircase, to be readv for an emero;encv. The Princess Anne had lon^ been an invalid and was greatly loved and respected by the whole Im- perial family, especially by Peter. Peter came from Ivolomen- skoe, remained several hours with his aunt and went away to Preobrazhensky, and there was no need of alarm. Xeverthe- less, it needed but a spark to cause a general explosion, and it was not long before it came. In order to strengthen her position, Sophia took w^hatever occasion offered to sound the Streltsi, and to urge them to be faithful to her in case of a conflict. Meeting some Streltsi in the church of the Mantle of the Virgin, she said : ' Can we endure it any longer ? Our life is already burdensome through Boris Golitsyn and Leo Xaryshkin. They have had the room of our brother, the Lord Ivan Alexeievitch, filled up with fire- wood and shavings, and they have desired to cut off the head of Prince Basil Golitsyn who has done so much good. He made peace with Poland and had successes on the Don ; and it 1689.] MUTUAL DlSTPwUST. 173 is for his very successes that tliey hate him. Do not abandon lis. May we depend upon you ? If we are unnecessary, my brother and I will take refuo^e in a monastery.' ' Your will be done, O lady,' they replied ; and for their acclamation they received a present of money. It was by speeches of this kind and frequent gifts, that Sophia attempted to maintain an authority and influence which she felt to be grad- ually declining. Prince Basil Golitsyn, who was always averse to taking decided measures, remained quiet, assisted Sophia Ayith his advice, but opposed any plans of open attack on the party of boyars who surrounded Peter, and thought it best to await events. Shaklovity was much more decided. He held frequent meetings with those Streltsi in whom he had the greatest confidence, and was unsparing in his denunciations of the party of Peter. While not absolutely inciting any attempt against Peter himself, he constantly suggested the possibility of doing away with Prince Boris Golits^Ti and Leo !Xaryshkin, and sending the Tsaritsa Xatalia into a convent or otherwise getting rid of her. In order to encourage his supporters, he professed the greatest contempt for the boyars of the opposite party, calling them all ' withered apples.' On August ITth, Sophia ordered a small body of Streltsi to come armed to the Kremlin, in order to accompany her on a pilgrimage she intended making to the Donskoy Monastery. They were to be armed because, in a similar pilgrimage which she had made a few days before to another convent a man had been killed in the neio^hborhood shortly before her arrival. After these arrangements were made, a placard or anonymous letter was brought to the palace, stating on that very night, the guards from Preobrazhensky would make an attack on the Kremlin. Apparently, no inquiry was made into the origin of this letter, and it may possibly have been invented by Shaklov- ity, or one of his men, for the purpose of giving an excuse for u larger collection of Streltsi. Still, in the position of affairs, it is very natural that Sophia was rendered uneasy, even by anon- ymous letters, and that she took what, under the circumstances, were very necessary precautions. Shaklovity thereupon col- lected many more Streltsi, part of them inside the Kremlin, others in the old town, and others still in the Lubianka Place, outside the w^all, in the direction of Preobrazhensky. Orders 174 PETER THE GKEAT. were also given that the orates of the Kremlin should be closed all nii>:ht, and that in future a rope should be tied to the alarm bell of the Cathedral, so that it could be pulled from the palace, and Shaklovity, with several officers, came to the Kremlin and slept all night in the banqueting hall. The orders for the as- semblaffe of the Streltsi in the old town, and on the Lubianka, were not accurately carried out. There was much riding to and fro, and consequently great confusion, as no one knew the exact reasons for their assembling, and Shaklovity did not consider it necessary to inform them. They were there to wait for orders — that was enough. Some explained that they were there to protect the Kremlin against an attack from Preobrazhensky, while others thought they were to march that night against the Xaryshkin party. In Preobrazhensky there was also much excitement in con- sequence of the rumours brought from Moscow. Many of Peter's adherents had gone thither during the day and many of them had remained there during the night, but no measures of precaution seem to have been taken, and there was no ap- prehension of an immediate attack. During the night Ples- tcheief, one of Peters chamberlains, brought a despatch to the Kremlin. It was on current routine business and had nothing to do with the present circmnstances. In the disorder and ex- citement which prevailed there, especially with numbers of soldiers tired of waiting and eager for the fray to begin, this arrival was wrongly interpreted, and one of the Streltsi named Gladky, seized on Plestcheief, dragged him from his horse, tore away his sabre, beat him, and took him into the palace to Sha- klovity. Among the Streltsi, and even among the confidants of Shak- lovity, Prince Boris Golitsyn and Leo ^aryskin had succeeded in gaining over a number of men to serve them as spies and give information of what passed. With money, with promises, with assurances that Peter would inevital)ly come into power, and that in the end it would be far more profitable to serve than to oppose him, it was comparatively easy to obtain tools. Seven men, the chief of whom was the Lieutenant-Colonel Larion Yelisarof, had orders to bring immediate information to Preobrazhensky of any decisive step. Yelisarof, who had been given by Shaklovity command of the forces stationed PETER AWAKENBIX 1689.] Peter's flight. 175 that night on the Lubianka, met his fello\r-conspirators, com- pelled the sacristan to open the chm-ch of St. Theodosius, and called up a priest, when they all took solemn oath of mutual fidelity and secrecy. On learning: from one of them, who had t,' •- *— ^ been sent to the Kremlin to see what was going on, that Plest- cheief had been pulled from his horse and beaten, they appar- ently belieyed that the crisis had come, and two of their num- ber, Melnof and Ladogin rode at full speed to Preobrazhensky to o^iye notice of the mui'derous attack which was beins^ oro:an- ised ao:ainst Peter and his mother. They arriyed a little after midnight. Peter was awakened out of a sound sleep and told to run for his life, as the Streltsi were marching against him. \\\ his night-dress and barefooted, he ran to the stables, had a horse quickly saddled and rode off to the nearest woods, where he directed his companions to bring his clothes as soon as possi- ble. Dressing in the woods, he rode in haste to the neiglibor- ino; yillasre of Alexeieyo, and thence to the monastery of Tro- itsa, where he arriyed about six o'clock m the morning, so weary that he had to be lifted fi'om his horse and put to bed. Bursting into tears, he told the Abbot of his sad fate and of the attack his sister was making upon him. His mother, his wife, and his sister, attended by the boyars and the cruards of Preobrazhensky, arriyed at Troitsa two hours later, and shortly after came the Siikharef regiment of Streltsi, which was de- yoted to Peter, and to which Xaryshkin and Boris Golitsyn had immediately sent marchino^ orders. Meanwhile, if there had been any intention in the Kremlin — which is yery doubtful — of adyancino^ on Preobrazhensky, it had been giyen up, and no one there, except the seven spies of Peter, knew of the message sent to Preobrazhensky. Two hours before daylight, the Princess Sophia went to matins at the chm'ch of Our Lady of Kazan, accompanied by Shaklovity and many Streltsi. Yelisarof himself was there, and to a re- mark made by one of the scribes attending Shakloyfty, that it was unusual to haye so many Streltsi assembled in the Kremlin at night, replied simply that it was unusual, nothing of the kind haying been done before. After matins, Sophia, turning to the Streltsi who accompanied her, said : ' Except for my alarms and my precautions the guards would haye murdered all of us.' On returning from church, Shakloyfty sent a message to Prince 176 PETER THE GREAT. Basil Golitsvn, tellino; him that the Princess wished to see him. Golitsvn excused himself on the ground of illness and remained at home. Very shortly afterwards, the messengers sent by Shaklovity to watch on the road to Preobrazhensky for the movements of Peter's adherents, two of whom had been among those bought up by the Karyshkins, returned as if they had faithfully performed their mission, and reported that Peter had ridden away in the night, barefooted, with nothing on but his shirt, and that none knew whither he had fled. ' He has plainly gone mad,' said Shaklovity ; ' let him run.' When Shaklovity said this, it was very possible he did not feel the full force of the effect of Peter's escape from his fictitious dan- ger. But it did not require a long reflection to show Sophia and her counsellors that a most decisive step had been taken. Sophia herself had shown the advantages of a refuge at Troitsa in the affair with Prince Havansky. It would be impossible to induce the Streltsi to march against a monastery of such sanc- tity as Troitsa, and against their anointed ruler. Peter would have the support of the country at large, as Sophia had pre- viously had, and would eventually be able to dictate his own terms. The flight to Troitsa had been prepared beforehand by Boris Golitsyn and Xaryshkin, and everything had been arranged in view of an emergency. It was a great stroke of policy, but it was only saved from being also a comedy by Peter's plain good faith — by his manifest ignorance of the plans of his friends, and by his e\adent fright when he was told that an attack was imminent. Although the flight had been arranged beforehand — although the information given by Yelisarof and his companions of the expected attack was false — we are not necessarily to suppose that it was arranged for this very night. The plan was that Peter should escape to Troitsa whenever the emergency made it necessary ; and it was the zeal of Yelisarof and his companions to earn their reward which incited them to send such startling news with such little foundation. The struggle between the two parties could no longer have been avoided, but it might have been a struggle of a very different character. The next day, August 19, Peter sent a messenger to his brother and sister, inquiring the reason of the great assemblage of Streltsi in the Ivi-emlin. The answer was that the Streltsi GO CO W C o CO !?; o 1—1 Eh p P-, w w O o C 02 I— I o PS H e 1689.] PETER AT TEOITSA. 177 were assembled for the simple pui-pose of accompanying Prin- cess Sophia to the Donskoy Monastery. Ko other reason conld be given, for it was impossible to say that the Streltsi were brought together in apprehension of an attack. It was equally natural that this answer was in the highest degree unsatisfac- tory, and gave the i)arty of Peter an additional strength, be- cause it seemed to everyone equivocal. Immediately afterwards, Peter sent a request for the presence of Colonel Zickler and fifty Streltsi. After some hesitation, Zickler was sent with fifty men carefully selected from those who had no knowledge of the affairs of the Government. It subsequently became known that this was a little intrigue of Zickler, who had been one of the chief men in the first revolt of the Streltsi in May, 1682, and who, hoping to win favour with Peter, who was strong and whose claims seemed to be in the ascendant, had sent word by a friend to have him called to Troitsa. As soon as he arrived, he revealed all that he knew and gave in writing copies of all secret orders which, to his knowledge, had been given to the Streltsi and officers. Immediately afterwards, Yelisarof, Mel- nof and others of Peter's spies succeeded in making their way to Troitsa, where they gave such information and made such denunciations as they could. Sophia, in particular trouble of mind, resolved to attempt a reconciliation, and sent to Troitsa Prince Ivan Troekiirof, whose son was an intimate friend of Peter, charging him to persuade her brother to return to Mos- cow. This was the only way of ending the cpiarrel honourably for her and of preserving some semblance of power and dignity. Peter's friends, however, saw that this was inadvisable for them, and that the advantages he possessed by remaining at Troitsa he might lose by being at Moscow. Troekiirof returned with news by no means reassuring. Immediately afterwards, there followed written orders from Peter to the colonel of each regi- ment of the Streltsi and of the regular soldiers, commanding him to make his appearance at Troitsa before August 30, ac- companied by ten of his men. These orders were the subject of a council at the Kremlin, and ultimately the picked men of each regiment were called together and told not to go to Troitsa, nor to meddle in the dispute between Sophia and her brother. The colonels still hesitated and said their going to Troitsa would make no difference hi the position of affairs. Sophia, hearing Vol. I.— 12 178 PETER THE GREAT. of this, came out again and said very decisively to the colonels that, if any one of them attempted to go to the Troitsa Monas- terv, he would immediately lose his head. Prince Golitsyn gave a positive command to General Gordon not to leave Mos- cow on any order or under any excuse. Xext day Peter sent word to Ivan and Sophia that he had sent for the officers of the Streltsi, and requested a compliance with his orders. Prince Prosorofsky, the tutor of Ivan, together wdth Peter's confessor, were sent to Troitsa with instructions to give reasons why the officers were not allowed to go, and to make another attempt at conciliation. They returned two days after, without havdng been able to accomplish their mission, and reports were spread through Moscow that the orders for the journey of the colonels to Troitsa had been given without the knowledge of the Tsar. Shaklovity sent spies to Troitsa to ascertain what was going on there. Some were caught ; those who returned brought him anything but comforting intelligence. An endeavour was then made to work on the feelings of the wives and families of the Streltsi, that they might induce those men who were at Troitsa to return, especially the soldiers of the Siikharef regi- ment. These tentatives however were vain and more and more people went to Troitsa every day. Finally, Sophia persuaded the Patriarch to go to Troitsa and try to bring about a recon- ciliation. The Patriarch Joachim was probably very ready to abandon the camp of those who were really his enemies. Though he had supported the Government of Sophia, he was by his family — the Saveliefs — closely connected with the aristocratic party and had never been in the most cordial relations with Sophia's immediate adherents. He especially hated Sylvester Medvedief, and had reasons for being suspicious of Shaklovity. As soon as he reached Troitsa he was shown the revelations of the spies, and the confessions obtained by torture fi'om the pris- oners, in which mention was made of plots not only against the life of Peter, but against his own. This convinced him. He believed without further inquiry, and remained in Troitsa, thus openly taking the side of Peter. After a few days' waiting, on September 6, still more urgent letters were sent to Moscow, ad- dressed not only to the Streltsi, but also directly to the people, ordering the immediate appearance at Troitsa of the colonels and ten of their men, together with deputies from each class of 1689.] SOPHIA STAKTS FOPw TROITSA. 179 the population. Disobedience was punishable with death. In the disturbed state of the city, agitated by constant rumours, these letters produced a very great impression. It became ap- parent that the Troitsa party would win. A crowd of Streltsi, with five colonels, marched to Troitsa. They were received by the Tsar and the Patriarch, who stated to them the results of the investigation into the alleged plot, urged them to confess all they knew, and promised them pardon. The Streltsi with one voice affirmed their allegiance to Peter's Government, dis- claimed any intention of insubordination, and denied all knowl- edge of any plot or conspiracy. Two men only accused Shak- lovity of plots against the Tsar. Finally, Sophia resolved as a last effort at conciliation to go herself to Troitsa and seek a personal explanation with her brother. Taking with her an image of the Saviour, she set out from Moscow on September 8, accompanied by Prince Basil Golitsyn, Shaklovity, Xepliiief and a guard of Streltsi. She halted about eight miles fi'om Troitsa, in the village of Vozd- vizhenskoe, where Havansky^ had been executed, and was met by the chamberlain, Ivan Buturlin, ^vith the order not to come to the monastery. ' I shall certainly go,' replied Sophia, angrily, but afterwards Prince Troekurof appeared, with a threat from Peter that, if she should be bold enough to come, she would be treated as perhaps she might not like. Disappointed and furi- ous with anger, Sophia immediately returned to Moscow, which she reached on the night of September 11, and two hours be- fore dawn sent for the most faithful of her adherents. Telling them of the insults she had received, she said : ' Tliev almost shot me at Yozdvizhenskoe. Many people rode out after me with arquebuses and bows. It was with difficulty I got away, and I hastened to Moscow in ^xo, hours. The Xaryshkins and the Lopiikhins are making a plot to kill the Tsar Ivan Alexeie- vitch, and are even aiming at my head. I will collect the regi- ments and will talk to them myself. Obey us, and do not go to Troitsa. I trust in you ; in whom should I trust rather than you, O faithful adherents ! Will you also run away ? Kiss the cross first,' and Sophia herself held out the cross for them to kiss. ^ Xow, if you run away,' she added, ' the life-giving cross ^\dll not let you go. Whatever letters come from Troitsa, do not read them ; bring them to the palace.' ISO PETEK THE GREAT. The same day, Colonel Ivan Netcluief came from Troitsa to Moscow with letters, both to lA'iin and to Sophia, containing an official statement of the plot against Peter's life, and with a demand that Shaklovity, the monk Sylvester Medvedief and other accomplices should be immediately arrested and sent to Troitsa for trial. This produced very great confusion in the palace and general disturbance among the people. Sophia asked jS^etchaef how he dared take upon himself such a commission. lie answered that he did not dare to disobev the Tsar. The Princess, in her rage, ordered his head to be struck off at once, a command which would probably have been faithfully fullilled had an executioner been found at hand. The Streltsi who had escorted [N^etchaef from Troitsa were ordered to pre- sent themselves in the court of the palace, together with those other Streltsi who happened to be at the Kremlin. Sophia went out to them and made a long and earnest speech, in the course of which she said : ' Evil-minded people have consented to act as tools. They have used all means to make me and the Tsar Ivan quarrel with my younger brother. They have sown discord, jealousy and trouble. They have hired people to talk of a plot agamst the life of the younger Tsar, and of other people. Out of jealousy of the great services of Theodore Shaklovity, and of his con- stant care, day and night, for the safety and prosperity of the empire, they have given him out to be the chief of the con- spiracy, as if one existed. To settle the matter and to find out the reason for this accusation, I went myself to Troitsa, but was kept back by the advice of the evil councillors whom my brother has about him, and was not allowed to go farther. After being insulted in this way, I was obliged to come home. You all well know how I have managed for these seven years ; how I took on myself the regency in the most unquiet times ; how I have concluded a famous and true peace with the Chris- tian rulers, our neighbours, and how the enemies of the Christian religion have been brought by my arms into terror and confusion. For your services you have received great reward and I have always shown you my favour. I cannot believe that you will be- tray me and will believe the inventions of enemies of the general peace and prosperity. It is not the life of Theodore Shaklovity that they want, but my life and that of my elder brother.' A^MJ^. SOnilA'S APPEAL TO HER PARTISANS. 1689.] THE END COMES. 181 She concluded by promising to reward those who should re- main faithful, and who should not mix in the matter ; and threatened to punish those who should be disobedient and assist in creatins: confusion. Then the notables of the buro^hers and of the common people were sent for, and Sophia addressed them in a similar tone. A third time, on the same day, she called them all together and made them ' a long and fine speech,' as Gordon calls it, in the same spirit. As the Patriarch was away and the elder Tsar was not in perfect health, all the preparations for the festival of the ^ew Year, which occurred on this day, the 11th (1st O. S.) of September, were abandoned ; A'odka was given to the Streltsi ; the chief nobles and the for- eigners were asked to wait awhile, and about noon received a cup of vodka from the hand of the elder Tsar. Meanwhile, the wrath of Sophia against Xetchaef had passed away. She sent for him, pardoned him, and was gracious enough to offer him also a cup of vodka. Some of the Streltsi whose surrender had been demanded by Peter were concealed by tlieir comrades ; Shaklovity found refuge in the palace of Sophia ; Medvedief and some others ran away. It was reported, nevertheless, that the Tsar Peter had promised to spare the lives of those persons in case they surrendered. The next day. Prince Boris Golitsyn, who, as Peter's chief counsellor, had the management of affairs at Troitsa, sent a counsel to his relative, Prince Basil Golitsyn, to come to Troitsa and ' preoccupate the Tsars favour.' Basil Golitsyn replied by sendins: a scribe to his cousin to ask him to be the means of re- conciliation between the two parties. The answer was, that the best thing he could do, in any case for himself, was to come as soon as possible to Troitsa, being assured of a good recep- tion from Peter. But honour and duty both forbade him to leave the side of Sophia. In spite of the orders which had come from Troitsa to the Streltsi to keep cjuiet and make no disturbance, and in spite of the requests made to them by Sophia, they began to fret at this long period of commotion, so that Sophia finally gave out that she with her brother Ivan would again try to go to Troitsa. The Streltsi at Troitsa were anxious to return to Moscow, prom- ising to win tlie others to their side ; and many officers of Peter thought it would be better for him to transfer himself to Preo- 182 PETEK THE GREAT. brazliensky, Alexoievo, or some other village In the immediate neighbourhood of Moscow, where his adherents would be greatly increased without danger to himself. Golitsjn and [Xaryshkin, however, feared bloodshed, and it was thought better to remain at Troitsa. On September 14, there was brought to the German suburb a rescript to all the generals, colonels, and other foreign officers (although no one was mentioned by name), giving a brief statement of tlie conspiracy of Shaklovity, Medvedief, and ten Streltsi against the Tsar, the Patriarch, the Tsaritsa Natalia and several distinguished boyars, and announcing that an order had been given for the arrest of the persons implicated, and commanding furthermore all officers into whose liands this re- script should come to appear at Troitsa, fully armed and on horseback. This paper was received by Colonel Ridder, wdio brought it to General Gordon, and the latter called together all the foreign generals and colonels and in their presence unsealed the packet. On consultation, it was resolved to communicate it to Prince Basil Golitsyn. He was much disturbed, but, appear- ing as calm as he could, said he w^ould report it to the elder Tsar and the Princess, and would send him word how to act. Gor- don remarked that they risked their heads in case of disobe- dience. The boyar replied that he w^ould certainly give an an- swer by evening, and asked him to let his son-in-law. Colonel Strasburg, wait at the palace for it. Gordon made preparations for immediate departure, and told everyone who asked his ad- vice that, no matter what the order might be, he was resolved to go. The other foreign officers followed his example. They set out that evening and arrived at Troitsa the next morning, where they were given an audience of Peter and allowed to kiss his hand. The departure of the foreign officers from Moscow practically decided the contest. Sophia, on receiving informa- tion that she would not be allowed to go to Troitsa, was very indignant, and did not wish to give her consent to the surrender of Shaklovity. The Streltsi, who had begun to see the impru- dence of their long support of Sophia, came in crowds to the palace and asked that Shaklovity might be given up, offering to take him to Troitsa themselves. The Regent refused absolutely, and again besought them not to meddle in the quarrel between her and her brother. The Streltsi were discontented with this ; voices were raised in the crowd, saying ; ' You had better finish 1689.] OFFENSES OF GOLfTSYN. 183 the matter at once. If jou do not give him up, we shall sound the alarm bell.' This cry stupefied Sophia, who saw that it was all over. Those who surrounded her feared violence, and told her that it was in vain to oppose this demand ; that in case of a rising many people would be killed, and it would be better to give him up. She reluctantly gave her consent, and Shak- lovity, who up to this time had been concealed in the palace chapel, received the Eucharist and was sent to Troitsa that night, September 17, with the Streltsi who had come for him. Those boyars who had, up to that time, remained in Moscow, all took their leave for Troitsa, except Prince Basil Golitsyn, who retired to his villa of JMedviedkovo, where the news of the surrender of Shaklovity greatly disturbed him. Shaklovity, on his arrival, was straightway put to the torture of the knout. After the first fifteen blows he made a confession, in which, however, he denied that there w^as any plot Avhatever against the life of the Tsar Peter, and that any plans had ever been concocted for the murder of the Tsaritsa Xatalia, the !Nar5'sli- kins or the boyars of Peter's party, although the subject had been mentioned in conversation. The same dav, Prince Basil Golitsyn, Xepluief and others of his adherents presented them- selves at Troitsa. They were not allowed to come within the walls of the monastery but were ordered to remain in the village outside. At nine o'clock in the evenino; Golitsvn and his son Alexis were ordered to come to the abode of the Tsar. When they appeared on the staircase they were met by a councillor, who read to them an order depriving them of the rank of boyar, and sending them, with their wives and children, into exile at Kargopol, and confiscating all their property, on the groimd that they had reported to the sister of the Tsars with- out reporting to the Tsars personally ; that they had written her name in papers and despatches on an equality with that of the Tsars, and also because Prince Basil Golitsyn, by his conduct in the Crimean expedition of 1689, had caused harm to the Gov- ernment and burdens to the people.' 'Solovief, xiv. ; Ustrialof, 11. ch. ii., iii. ; Pogodin, 160-204; Medvediefs Memoirs; De Neuville ; Vos^elt, Lejort ; Goidon' s Biari/ ; Aristof; Reports of Dutch Residents ; De Rovlnsky, Eussian Engraved Portraits (Russian), St. Petersburg, 1872 ; Briicker, Golizyn ; id. Peter der Orosse. XIX. VICTORY AND VENGEANCE. There Lad been great disputes among the friends of Peter about Golitsyn. Precedence had still left its traces. Time had not yet sufficiently elapsed for the new system to come into play. The condemnation of Prince Basil Golitsyn for treason would have been a disgrace to the whole family, and Boris Golitsj-n was therefore anxious to save his cousin, himself, and his family from such a calamity. But the enemies of Golitsyn did their best bv exciting; Peter's ano;er to render his fate harder. After Shaklovity had been tortured once, and when he was expecting his second trial, he determined to give the Tsar, in writing, an exact account of the whole matter. Prince Boris Golitsyn himself took him paper and pen. Shaklovity wrote eight or nine sheets, and as it was after midnight when he had finished and the Tsar had gone to bed. Prince Boris took the papers home with him, intending to give them to the Tsar on the fol- lowing morning. The enemies of Boris Golitsyn, especially the Xaryshkins, who carefully followed all his movements, hastened to report to Peter that the Prince had taken away the confession of Shaklovity, with the intention of taking out all that reflected on his cousin Basil. The Tsar immediatelv sent to Shaklovity to ask whether he had written a confession, and ascer- tained that he had given it to Prince Boris Golitsyn. The latter, however, was luckily informed by a friend of the impending catastrophe, and hastened with the papers to the Tsar, who asked, in a threatening tone, why he had not presented them im- mediately. Golitsyn replied that it was too late at night, which satisfied Peter, who continued, as before, to keep Golitsyn in his confidence, although the Tsaritsa Katalia and her friends were still hostile to him. 1689.] EXILE OF GOLITSYN. 185 After listening to his sentence, Prince Basil Golitsyn wished to hand to the councillor wlio read it to him an explanation, in which he had briefly set forth the services he had rendered to the Government during the time he had taken a part in public affairs. He wished to be allowed to write this to the Tsar or to the council, but the councillor did not dare receive it. Golitsyn afterward f oimd some way of having it presented to the Tsar, but it produced no effect. Xepliiief was condenmed to exile in Pustozersk (afterward changed to Kola), ostensibly for his harsh treatment of the soldiers under his command, and was deprived of his rank and property. Zmeief was ordered to reside on his estate in Kostroma, while Kosogof and Ukraintsef were retained in their former posts. These noblemen went back to their quarters, when they were advised by some of their friends at court to start immediately for their places of exile. This they did, but rumours were immediately spread that thev had run away, and thev were sent for and finallv sent off under guard, Golitsyn' s enemies still attacked him, and insisted that banishment to Kargopol was too light a punish- ment, and that he should be sent to Pustozersk. Finally, the place of his exile was changed to Yarensk, a wretched village in the province of Archangel, but much better than Pus- tozersk, where Matveief had lived so long. Golitsyn's enemies still insisted that he should undergo examination and torture, and finally an official was sent out to meet him at Yaroslav. He was again examined, although he escaped torture. He con- fessed to no complicity in any plot or conspiracy, and stated that he was not in any way an intimate friend of Shaklovity, but merely an acquaintance. His suite was diminished, he was allowed altogether only fifteen persons, the money, furniture, and clothes with which he started were taken away from him, and orders were given that he should be kept closely guarded on the journey and not permitted to speak to anybody. In Vologda he was met by the Chamberlain, Prince Kropotkin, not, however, with any further orders from the Government, but with a tender message from Sophia, who hoped soon to procure his release, through the intercession of the Tsar Ivan, and who sent him a packet of money for the journey. With ;reat difficulty in the wintry weather he reached Yarensk in n 186 PETER THE GKEAT. January, but even here he was pursued by new denunciations, had to submit to fresh examinations, and finally was removed, first to Pustozersk, and later to Pinega, where, after nearly a quarter of a century of wTetched existence — his numerous peti- tions for mercy being disregarded — he died in 1714. Shaklovity and his accomplices w^ere condemned to death. It was reported that Peter was utterly averse to this sentence, and only yielded on the insistence of the Patriarch. When it was known that Shaklovity was to be punished without under- going a second torture, many of the officials collected in the monastery and petitioned that Shaklovity should be again tor- tured, that he might be forced to declare all his accomplices. The Tsar, however, sent word to them that he himself was satisfied with the confessions of Shaklovity, and it w^as not for them to meddle in this affair. The investigation of the plot — so far as we can judge from the fragmentary papers which have come down to us — does not seem to have been very careful. Peliance was chiefly placed on the denunciations of Yelisarof and his band, and on the evidence obtained by torture. The evidence is very contradictory ; and, apart from that, very little reliance can be placed on confessions obtained in this way. There was apparently no cross-examination of the denouncers, and in very few cases were they confronted with the accused. Yet, notwithstanding all this, very few persons w^ere found to be actually guilty, and even the extent of their guilt is very doubtful. There does not appear to have been any plot for the murder of Peter, although attempts had been made to excite the Streltsi against Peter's friends, and in private it had been hinted that it would be an advantage if the Tsaritsa Xatalia, the Karyshkins, and two or three others of the nobles were out of the way. In no case was the Princess Sophia at all impli- cated by the testimony, although it is very probable that she knew of what had been going on — that is, of the attempts to excite the Streltsi. She was ambitious ; the habit of power had fed the love of it ; and she would doubtless have been glad to take advantage of a successful rising, by which she might have contrived to retain for some time to come a certain share of the supreme authority. On September 21, Shaklovity, Petrof, and Tchermny were 1689.] OTHER PUNISHMENTS. 187 beheaded. Major Muromtsef, Colonel Riazantsef, and tlie pri- vate La^Tentie£ were beaten with the knout, and after having their tongues torn out, were exiled to Siberia. Sylvester Med- vedief had escaped from Moscow, and had gone toward the Polish frontier, where he was arrested in the nionasterv of Bi- ziiik, together with Major Gladky, and sent to Troitsa. When tortured, he refused to confess himself guilty of conspiracy, ad- mitted that he had heard proposals against the lives of some of Peters adherents, but asserted that he had threatened those who spoke in such wise with ruin in this life and hell-fire in the life to come if they should engage in any such attempt ; he denied that he had committed anv act whatever ao-ainst the Government, or had any designs against the Patriarch ; but he admitted having written an inscription with complimentary verses for the engraved portrait of Sophia. lie was degraded from the clergy, and was placed in a monastery imder strict sm'veillance. Here he was induced to retract the views ex- pressed in his book on religion, called ' The Heavenly Manna.' He was subsequently again denounced by Strizhof, who had been in the confidence of Shaklovitv, and who accused him of having been in league with a Polish sorcerer who had come to Moscow to cure the eyes of the Tsar Ivan ; that there they had told him of the approaching marriage of Sophia to Prince Basil Golits}m, and that Medvedief would be made Patriarch instead of Joachun. Medvedief was again subjected to the severe tor- ture of fire and hot irons, and was finally executed in 1691. After the surrender of Shaklovitv, Peter wrote from Troitsa to his brother Ivan that the sceptre of the Pussian state had been confided to them — two persons — by the solemn decree and ceremony of the church, and that nothing had been said about any third person who should be on equality in the Government, and that, as their sister Sophia had begun to rule of her own wdU, and had interfered in affairs of state, in a manner disagree- able to them and hard for the people, and as Shaklovity and his comrades had made criminal attempts against his life and that of his mother, he therefore thought the time had come, as he was now of full age, for himself and his brother to govern the country without the interference of a third person such as his sister, who, to their lasting shame, had even wished to l)e 188 PETER THE GREAT. crowned. lie tlierefore begged his brother to grant him per- mission to change all unjust judges and to appoint just ones — without specially consulting him in each case — for the good of the state, and ended by asking his paternal and fraternal bless- ing. The demands of Peter were of course complied with. [Nothing was said at that tune about the future fate of Sophia, but shortly after an order was given excluding the name of Sophia from all the official documents where it had previously been inserted. Innnediately afterward, Peter sent Prince Ivan Troekiirof to his brother to request the removal of his sister Sophia from the palace of tlie Ivi*emlin to the Xovodevitchy convent, where he had appointed her to live in a sort of honour- able confinement. Sophia for a long time was un^villing to retire into this convent, and did not remove thither until about the end of September. Well-furnished rooms were prepared for her there, looking out on the Devitchy plain. She had a large number of servants and everything which was necessary for a pleasant and peaceful life. She was not, however, allowed the liberty of going out of the convent, and could see no one but her aunts and her sisters, and these only on the great festivals of the church. So long as Sophia remained in the Kremlin, Peter refused to return to Moscow, and it was only after she had gone to the convent that he set out from Troitsa, passed a week or more in cavalry and infantry manoeuvres, under the direction of General Gordon, in the neighbourhood, and finally arrived at Moscow on October 16. He went first to the Cathedral of the Assump- tion, where he was received by his brother Ivan, who rushed to his embrace, and afterward, arrayed in his robes of state and standing at the top of the Eed Staircase, showed himself to his people as their lawful ruler. In the middle of this revolution, when the city was all in confusion and terror, Mazeppa, Iletman of the Cossacks of the Ukraine, arrived at Moscow. By order of the Pegency, he was met at the Kaluga gate by a secretary with one of the Tsar's carriages, which, apparently, was somewhat the worse for wear, for Mazeppa, on taking his seat, said : ' Thank the Lord ! Through the grace of the Tsar I am now riding in one of the Imperial carriages. But what sort of a carriage is it ? (with a i 1689.] SOPHIA SENT TO A CONVENT. 189 sniff). It is apparently an old German one.' ' In this carriage the extraordinary ambassadors of foreign rulers always ride,' answered the secretary, with dignity. In his further conversa- Sabres of Mazeppa, Chief of the Cossacks (in the Museum of Tsarkoe Selo). tion, and also in the speech which he made on being received at the palace, he spoke of the unheard-of victories which Golit- syn had won in the Crimea, as surpassing those of Darius, the Persian King. 190 PETER THE GREAT. AVhen matters began to go badly for Sophia and Golitsyn, when Shaklovity had been surrendered, and everyone was going to Tro'itsa, Mazeppa became alarmed about his relations to the new Government, fearing that it might be remembered against him that he had been an ardent partisan of Golitsyn. He too, therefore, hastened to Troitsa. Among the advisers of Peter, there were some who thought it better to get rid of Mazeppa, but others more wisely represented that the Hetman had here- tofore been changed for misconduct or unpopularity only ; that it would be dangerous to introduce a new precedent ; and that in any case, in the disturbed state of affairs, it would be difficult to find a successor to Mazeppa without the expenditure of much money. Mazeppa was therefore well received, and, seeing his good reception, he thought to make sure of the future by break- ing completely with his past. He said that Golitsyn had extor- ted large sums of money from him before being willing to in- stal him as Hetman, and begged to be remunerated from the property of the traitor. This request was regarded as a sign of complete submission, and all his demands w^ere complied with. He received a charter confirming all the previous rights and liberties of Little Kussia ; he obtained additional Russian troops for the defence of the Ukraine ; he induced the Government to consent to keep the Russian officials and soldiery in better order and under stricter discipline, and with less inconvenience to the Cossacks ; and he was also successful in carrying out some plans of vengeance against his personal enemies. Satisfied with this and with the presents of money he received, he returned to the banks of the Dnieper.' ^ Ustrialof , II. ch. iii. iv. ; Solovief , xiv. ; Pogodin ; Medvedief ; Briick- ner, GoUzyn. XX. OUTBURST OF FANATICISM. The only practical result of tlie downfall of Sophia was that the aristocratic party filled the offices of state and administered the Government. Peter himself left everything in the hands of his counsellors, and for several years took merely a formal part in the administration. He confined himself almost en- tirely to military exercises and boat-building, and to indulging his mechanical tastes. He had no care for affairs of state, and felt no interest in them. His uncle, the boyar Leo Xaryshkin, occupied the most prominent position in the new Govern- ment as Director of Foreign Affairs, in which office he was assisted by the council- lor Ukraintsef, a man of great experience and capa- city. The other prominent offices were divided among the chief families of the aristocratic party, especially among those most nearly connected with Peter, his mother, and his vnle — Urusof, Pamodanofsky, Troekiirof, Strt^shnef, Pro- zorofsky, Lopukhin, Golofkin, Lvof, Sheremetief, Dolgoruky, Lykof — so that the whole cabal was well represented. Prince Boris Golitsyn, in spite of his difficulty with the Xarj'shkins, re- Prince Boris Goli'tsyn. / 192 PETEPw THE GREAT. tained Lis old position as Director of the Department of the Palace of Kazan, and four other prominent men who served un- der Sophia — Kepnin, Sokovnin, Odoiefsky, and Yinius — were kept in their posts. The provincial administration, and even the government of the army, remained almost untouched. The boyar Boris Sheremetief , in spite of the favour with which he had been regarded by the Regency, was maintained as general-in- chief of the army which protected the southern frontier against the Tar- tars. General Gordon, too, kept his place and his influence. Except that the energy of Sophia, Golitsyn, and Shaklovity was wanting, the policy of the new ministers differed little from that of their predecessors. One of the first consequences of the change of administration was an outburst of the popular hatred against foreigners, a hatred which had long been accumulating in the minds of the people, and which had not infrequently manifested itself in various and even violent forms. There was a seemingly in- eradicable feeling in the Russian mind that the country suffered from foreigners, that foreign merchants came like a swarm of locusts and ate up all the good things of the land, and that foreign countries were in conspiracy to keep Russia poor. The political economists, Ivan Pososhkof and Yiiry Ivryzhanitch, sensible men as they were in other respects, shared this feeling, and wished to put a sort of Chinese wall around Russia, so as to keep people from going in or out. They were protectionists in the most positive form. Yery few Russians had been abroad, except on Government embassies, and those were diligently oc- cupied in carrying out the prescriptions of a formal etiquette, and were cut off, by their ignorance of foreign languages, from the possibility of understanding western Europe. There was the fear lest contact with the west and with foreigners should corrupt Russia, and above all lead to heresy, especially to Roman Catholicism. The few cases where Russians had gone abroad for purposes of study were not re-assuring. Of all the young- men sent abroad by Boris Godunof, not more than two or three returned, and the son of the celebrated boyar Ordin-Xastchokin, who had been educated by a Polish teacher and had travelled in Poland, finally ran away from his father and his country, and renounced his religion. This possible corruption of Russian 1689.] HATRED OF FOREIGXERS. 193 orthodoxy and of Russian manners seemed to weigh the most heavily on the mind of the Russian Conservatives. There were a few men at different epochs who rose superior to this pre- judice — Ivan the Terrible, Godunof, the so-called false Deme- trius, Theodore, Sophia, Prince Basil Golitsyn, and Peter. But the aristocratic party that surrounded Peter was deeply conser- vative, and, therefore, very prejudiced. The Patriarch, who was now one of the leaders of the aristocratic party, had, even before the last Crimean campaign, protested against the em- ployment of foreign soldiers, and especially of that arch-heretic General Gordon, and had pre- dicted disaster to the Rus- sian arms in consequence. His advice was naturally disre- garded, for the foreigners were the only officers capable of taking command ; but, as disaster did come, his predic- tions were by many thought to be verified. . Prince Basil Golitsvn, in a wav an enlio-ht- ened man and well-disposed to foreigners, had to a certain de- gree, protected the Jesuits. Such protection was neces- sary, for, in spite of the tol- eration at the Court of Mos- cow toward Calvinists and Lutherans, the Catholics were never allowed for long to have churches specially set apart for the purpose, although they were admitted at times to say mass in private houses. As soon as Golitsvn was overthrown, a decree was issued for the banish- ment of the Jesuits within two weeks, and the Imperial Envoy found it impossible to obtain exceptions, or even much delay. It required a long diplomatic correspondence, the urgent demand of the Emperor Leopold, and all the personal intluence of General Gordon with Peter, to get permission fur one priest, not a Jesuit, to reside in Moscow. One case of religious persecution had begun months before. Vol. I.— l:l General Patrick Gordon. 194 PETEK THE GKEAT. A German fanatic from l>reslaii, Quirinus Kulilmann, another German preaclier, Xordermann, and a painter, Ilenin, were ac- cused of teaching' and disseminating liei'etical and blasphemous doctrines. Their case was investigjited by the translators of the Foreign Office, and, for better infoi-mation, referred to the Pro- testant pastors then living in Moscow, as well as to all the Jesu- its then there. Apparently Kulilmann was a sort of (Quaker, but had developed a bodv of doctrine based on the mvstical works of Jacob Bohme. The report of Pastor Meincke was very strong against Kulilmann, and after the three men accused had been subjected several times to violent tortures without bringing them to yield, they were condemned to death. Kulil- mann and Xordermann were burned alive in the Ked Place at Moscow on October 14, four davs before Peter came to the capital. TIenin avoided a like death by taking poison in prison and committing suicide. AYe must remember the time at which this took place. Thomas Aikenhead w^as executed for heresv at Edinburgh in 1696, witches were burned in England in 1676, and hanged even in 1796. A witch was burned at AVurtzburg in 1749, and nine- teen were hanged at Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692. Xot only were the Jesuits expelled, but within a year from the permission given to the exiled Huguenots to settle in Rus- sia, strict orders were sent to the frontier to stop all foreigners and tlioroutj;hlv examine them as to whence thev came and what reason thev had for visitino; Kussia, and to detain them until orders %vere received from Moscow. Among others kept in this way was Dr. Jacob Pelarino, a Greek physician recom- mended to the Tsar by the Emperor. Another physician of Peter, Dr. Carbonari, also I'ecommended by the Emperor Leo- pold, had his letters and papers seized and was strictly forbid- den to carry on any further correspondence with Vienna or with the Jesuits, under pain of expulsion. ^Vt the same time, orders were given to Andrew Yinius, the Director of Posts, to inspect all letters which passed the Pussian frontier either going or coming. This measure regarded especially the exchange of cor- respondence with persons in Poland. The Polish minister com- plained greatly that either he did not receive his letters at all, or else that they had been opened. According to Yan Keller, 1690.] GOEDON AND HIS SON. 195 this was denied by the Government, but General Gordon wrote to his son in Poland not to date his letters from any place in that conntry, and always to send them by the way of Iliga or Danzig, in order to prevent their being opened or confiscated. The previous system of exclusion had, in fact, changed very little. James, the second son of General Gordon, had been educated in the Jesuit College at Douai. In 1C88 he came to Moscow, but showed an unwillingness to enter the service of the Tsar and went to England, took up arms for King James 11., was wounded in a Uglit with the Dutch and forced to leave the country. He next went to Warsaw with the intention of enter- ing the Polish service, but his father pressed him hard to come back to Pussia. One thing only stood in the way — James did not desire to enter the Tsar's service unless he could have the j^rivilege of leaving Pussia at the expiration of the term for which he should be engaged. This was an unheard-of thing in Pussia, for all foreigners ui the Pussian service were obliged to remain there until they died, and even General Gordon himself, in spite of his excellent position at com't during the whole of the reign of Sophia, although allowed to go abroad for business and sent on special missions, could never get permission to re- sign. After many requests on Gordon's part, all he could ob- tain was that if his son came to Pussia he would not be com- pelled to enter the Pussian service, and could return, but that if he once took the oath he must remain. Gordon, on this busi- ness, was in frequent correspondence with his son during the whole of 1690, and finally advised him to come to Pussia, but not to engage himself, and to remain a free man ' until circiuii- stances changed.' By this expression ' until circumstances changed ' — General Gordon evidently meant the same thing as lie did, when, in a letter, he said : ' If the Tsar Peter should take upon himself the government,' referring to the fact that Peter not only took no part in public affairs, but had little in- fluence w4th the real rulers of the country, who were nominally his ministers. On March 10, 1690, Gordon was invited to dhie at court at the banquet given in honour of the recent birth of Peter's son, Alexis ; but the Patriarch, who now felt himself strong, |)ro- tested against the presence of foreigners on such an occasion, 19G PETEU tup: gheat. and the invitation was withdrawn. On tlie next day, neverthe- lest?, Peter invited him to a countrv liouse, dined with him there, and rode back to town with him, conversing all the way. A few days later, on March 27, the Patriarch Joachim died. In the form of a testament especially directed to the Tsars, ho left a powerful expression <>f his hatred toward the foreigners. lie counselled the Tsars to drive out from Pussia all heretics; and unbelievers, foreigners and enemies of the orthodox church, and warned them against adopting foreign customs, habits, and clothing, Ijegged them to forbid all intercourse of any kind with heretics, whether Lutherans, C'alvinists, or Catholics, and laid <'reat stress on the dan^-er to the countrv if, in the blessed land ruled over by the Tsars, foreigners should hold high places in the army, and thus rule over orthodox men. lie advised the immediate destruction of the foreign churches, and was espe- cially bitter against the Protestants for their attacks on the adoi'ation of the Virgin and the saints. He held up the fate of the Princess Sophia and of Basil Golitsyn as a warning ; they had rejected his advice about the employment of foreign- ers in the last Crimean campaign. lie said, in confirmation of his complaints : ' I Avonder at the counsellors and advisers of the Tsar who have been on embassies in foreign coun- tries. Have they not seen that in evej-y land there are pecu- liar rites, customs, and modes of dress, that no merit is allowed to be in anyone of another faith, and that foreigners are not permitted to build churches there ? Is there anywhere in Ger- man lands a church of the orthodox faith i Xo ! not one. And what here never should have been permitted is now allowed to heretics. They build for their accursed heretical gatherings temples of prayer, in which they evilly curse and bark against orthodox people, as idle worshippers and heathens.' Great difficultv was found in choosinut it is curious to find that the perfonn- auces were directed by Johanii Gottfried (rregorii, the pastor of the Lutheran church. He not only wrote some of the plays, but started a theatrical school, where the school-boys of the German suburb and the sons of some of the chief inhabitants were taught acting. One of the most important steps in civilisation introduced by foreigners was the letter-post. Postal communications had previously existed in the interior of the country, but, even for Government purposes, they were very slow, and nearly all let- ters were sent by private hand, or by a chance messenger. It was in 1664 that a decree of the Tsar Alexis gave a Swede named John privileges for the organisation of an international letter-post, and in 1667 the first postal convention was made \\ith Poland. John of Sweden was succeeded by Peter Mar- selis, the Dane, and he by Andrew Yinius, who first received the title of Postmaster of His Majesty the Tsar, and was ordered to conclude postal conventions with the neighbouring States. The institution of the post-office did not please all Russians as much as it did the foreigners, and, if we may judge from the continued existence of a censorship, is still looked upon with a certain degree of suspicion. The Russian political economist, I\'an Pososhkof, writing in ITOI, complains : ' The Germans have cut a hole through from our land into their own, and from outside people can now, through this hole, observe all our political and commercial relations. This hole is the post. Heaven knows whether it brings advantage to the Tsar, but the harm which it causes to the realm is incalculable. Everything that goes on in our land is known to the whole world. Tlie foreiorners all become rich bv it, the Russians be- come poor as beggars. The foreigners always know which of our goods are cheap and which are dear, which are plentiful and which are scarce. Thereupon they bargain, and know imme- diately how much they are obliged to pay for our goods. In this way trade is unequal. AYithout the post, both sides would be ignorant of the prices and the stock of goods on hand, and no party would be injured. Besides, it is a very bad thing that people know in other countries everything that happens in ours. This hole, then, should be shut up — that is, the post should be O THE LETTER POST. 207 put an end to ; and, it seems to nie, it wonld be very sensible not to allow letters to be sent, even tlirougli messengers, except with a special permission each time from the proper authori- ties.' ' ' A. Bruckner, Culturhistorische Sttidien, Riga, 1878; Gordon's Diary; Adelung, Uehersicht cler Reisenden in Russland ; Ustrialof; Relations of For- eigners about the False Demetrius (Russian) ; Margeret, Estat de V Emjnre de Russie, Paris, 1607 ; Herberstein ; Olearius ; Korb ; Collins ; Pososhkof , Works (Russian), Moscow, 1843. XXII. PETER'S FRIENDS AND LIFE IN THE GERMAN SUBURB. With very many inlialjitants of the German suburb Peter had ah*eady made acquaintance at Preobrazhensky, and as the German suburb lay on the road from Preobrazhensky to Mos- cow, it is not improbable that he occasionally halted, from time to time, to say a word to his friends. But his first continued and frequent relations with the foreign quarter began in 1690, and so soon after the death of the Patriarch that it would seem almost as if, in dinino; with General Gordon on Mav 10, in the company of his boyars and courtiers, he was actuated in some degree by a spirit of opposition to the feeling against foreigners^ then prevalent at court. Gordon says that ' the Tsar was well content,' and this must indeed have been the case. Peter must have found in the hospitality shown to him by a foreigner something new and agreeable, for, from this time, his visits to the German quarter became so frequent that, at one period, he seems almost to have lived there. For a long time his most in- timate and trusted friends were forei«;ners. The name of General Gordon has already been often men- tioned, lie was at this time about fifty-five years old, the foreit>'n oflicer of the greatest experience and the highest position, an(\ besides this, a man of wide information, of great intelligence, of agreeable manners, shrewd, practical, even canny, and full of good common sense, a devout Catholic, a staunch royalist, in the highest degree loyal, honest and straightforward. Patrick Gordon was one of the well-known and illustrious family of Gordon ; by his mother an Ogilvie, a cousin of the first Duke of Gordon, and connected with the Earl of Errol and the Earl of Aberdeen, he was born on the family estate of Auchluchries, in Aberdeenshire, in 1035. His family were staunchly Catholic 1690.] GENERAL GOPwDON. 209 and royalist, and in the lieat o£ the ReTolution there was no chance of his receiving an education at the Scotch universities, or of his making his way in public life, so that, when he was only sixteen, he resolved on going abroad. Two years he passed in the Jesuit college at Braunsberg, but the quiet life of the school not suiting his adventurous spirit, he ran away, with a few thalers in his pocket, and a change of clothing and three or four books in his knapsack. After staying a short time at Kulm and at Posen, he found his way to Hamburg, where he made the acquaintance of some Scotch officers in the Swedish service, and was readily persuaded to join them. This was at a time when very many foreigners, and especially Scotchmen, were servinor in the armies of other countries. This was the era of soldiers of fortune, of whom Dugald Dalgetty is the type best known to us, but of whom more honourable examples could be found. Whether officers or soldiers, they were hired to fight, and generally fought well during the term of their contract ; but chano-ino; masters from time to time was not considei-ed wrono* nor disscraceful, either bv them or by the governments which they served. Gordon, after being twice wounded, was twice taken prisoner by the Poles. The first time he escaped, but on the second occasion, as the band with whom he was caught was accused of robbing a church, he was condemned to death. He was saved through the intercession of an old Fran- ciscan monk, and was then persuaded to quit the Swedes and enter the Polish army. A few months later, in the same year, 1658, he was captured by the Brandenburgers, allies of the Swedes, and was again persuaded to join the Swedes. Maraud- ing was considered at that time a necessary part of war, and Gordon succeeded several times in filling well his pockets, of which he gives an honest and simple account ; but he lost every- thins: in a fire, and once was himself robbed. For a while he found it better to leave the service, and apparently engaged with some of his friends in marauding on his own account, and his band of partisans soon Ijecame well known through the whole reorion. Ao;ain he entered the Swedish service, and again, in Xovember 1658, was taken prisoner by the Poles, who could not be persuaded to exchange him, and insisted on his again joining them. He served for some thne with the Poles in Little Vol. I.— U 210 PETER TUE GREAT. Russia, and was present in a warm battle witli the Russians, wliere be was wounded. AVben Charles II. ascended the Enirlish throne, Gordon wished to go home to Scotland, but Lubomirsky, the Crown Marshal of Poland, persuaded him to wait a little time, and promoted him to the rank of captain. His father meanwhile wrote to him that there would be little chance for him at home, and, at- the same time, he received pressing offers from both the Russians and the Austrians. He decided in favour of the Austrian service, but the negotiations fell through, and he finally made a contract with the Russians for three years. It was only when he had arrived at Moscow that he found that the contract made with the Russian agent was re- pudiated, and that he would never be allowed to leave the Rus- sian service. For a long time he refused to take the oath, and insisted on the terms of the contract. He finally had to yield. All his efforts to resign and to leave Russia were fruitless, and, apparently, it was not until 1692, when he was already an in- timate friend of the Tsar, that he entirely gave wp the idea of endino; his davs m Scotland. Once settled in Moscow, he found his best chance for promotion lay in marrying, and thus show- ing his interest in the country. He did good service in the Russian army wherever he was placed — in Little Russia, at Kief, at the siege of Tchigirin, and in the Crimean expeditions. He had long enjoyed the confidence of the Government, and was in intimate social relations with the chief Russian boyars. Once, on account of his influential royalist connections, he had been sent to England on a diplomatic mission, to present a letter of the Tsar Alexis to King Charles 11. with reference to the privileges of the English merchants, and twice he had been allowed to go to Scotland for personal reasons, but his wife and children were on each occasion kept as hostages for his return. Gordon's travels had brouo-ht him into connection with many great personages of the time. He had known personally Charles II. and James II., and had been presented to Queen Christina after she had left Sweden. Greatly interested in foreign poli- tics, he everywhere had friends and acquaintances, from whom he received news, gossip, wine, scientific instruments and books — whether ' Quarle's Emblems,' or treatises on fortification or pyrotechny. With all his friends, with his relations in Scot- 1690.] LEFORT. 211 land, Lord Melf ort at Rome, ambassadors and Jesuits at Vienna, officers in Poland and at Riga, and with merchants everywhere, he kept up a constant correspondence. There was not a post- day that he did not receive many letters, and send off an equal number. Of many of these he kept copies. One day there is an entry in his diary of his despatching twenty-six letters. His carefully kept diary, in which he set down the occur- rences of the day — telling of his doings, the people he had met and talked with, his debts and expenses, the money he had lent, his purchases of wine and beer, his difficulties about his pay — is invaluable to the student of the political as well as of the economical history of Russia.^ In September 1G90, the Tsar, attended by his suite, dined with General Lefort. This was the first time that Peter harl visited a man whose acquaintance he had made not long be- fore, who was soon to become his most intimate friend, and to exercise great influence over him. Franz Lefort was born at Geneva in 1656, of a good family (originally from Italy), which has kept a prominent position in Genevese society and politics imtil the present time. His father was a well-to-do merchant, and his elder brother, Ami, was one of the syndics of the town. At this time Geneva had become rich, and was developing a certain amount of frivolity and luxury. The old Calvinistic habits were being corrupted by dancing and card-playing. Paris was looked upon as the home of the arts and graces, of culture and of pleasm'e, and the youths of Geneva took the Parisians as their model. The schools of Geneva were famous, any the Dutch merchants who owned the A'essel which brouii-ht them home. Peter resolved to do something for llussian trade, and gave orders to Apraxin, whom he named Governor of Archangel, to fit out two vessels at the only llussian shipyard, that of the T)rothers Bazhenin, on the little river Yavtchiiga, near Holmo- gory. These ^vere to take cargoes of llussian goods, and to sail under the llussian flag. He hesitated where to send them. In England and Holland he feared the opposition of the native merchants, and in France he was afraid that due respect might ]iot be driven to the Ttussian flao-. It ^vas at last resolved to send them to Trance, but as they finally sailed under the Dutch, and not under the llussian flai>;, one of them was confiscated bv the French, and was the subject of long dispute. Archangel proved so interesting that Peter decided to i-e- turn there in the subsequent year, and to take a trip on the Northern Ocean. Fie even had vague ideas of coasting along Siberia nntil he came to China, but the North-east passage was not to be effected until our own day. For any purpose of this kind, his little yacht ' St. Peter ' was too small, and he, there- fore, with his o\vn hands, laid the keel of a large vessel at Arch- angel, and ordered another full-rigged forty-four-gun fi'igate to be bought in Holland. The Bursomaster of Amsterdam, Nich- 1693.] ARCHANGEL. 231 olas ^^itsen, through Lefort and Yiniiis, was entrusted with the purchase. While at Ai*changel, besides the time which he gave to the study of commerce and ship-building, Peter found leisure for inspecting various industries, and for practising both at the forge and at the lathe. A chandelier made of wah-us teeth, turned by him, hangs now over his tomb in the Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul, at St, Petersburg, and carved work in bone and wood, and iron bars forged by him at this time, are shown in many places. Besides the social pleasures, the balls and dinners, in which he indulged at Archangel as much as at Moscow, he frequently attended the neighbouring church of the Prophet Elijah, where he himself read the epistle, sang with the choh*, and made great friends with the Archbishop Atha- nasius, a learned and sensible man, with whom, after dinner, he conversed about affairs of state, the boyars, the peasants who were there for work, the construction of houses and the foundation of factories, as well as of ship-building and naviga- tion. After the short summer was over, the Hamburg ships hav- ing long since arrived, Peter started on his homeward journey, and after stopping for a short time at the saw-mills and wharfs of the brothers Bazhenin, on the Yavtchiiga, arrived at Mos- cow on October 11. It was too late in the season at that time to think of any military manoeuvi-es, and Peter had settled down to his usual round of carouses and merry-making, when suddenly, on February 1, 1691, after an illness of only five days, the Tsaritsa Xatalia died, at the age of forty-two. For some reason or other, Peter preferred not to be present at his mother's death-bed. A dispute with the Patriarch had probably something to do with it. It is said that when Peter had been suddenly called fi^om Preobrazhensky to the Ivi'emlin, to his mother's bedside, he appeared in the foreign clothes which he wore for ridmg, and that the Patriarch remonstrated with him. Peter angrily replied that, as the head of the church, he should have weightier things to attend to, than to meddle with the business of tailors. General Gordon savs : ' His Majesty had promised to come to me to a farewell sup- per and ball. I went to the palace two hours before daybreak, :232 PETER THE GREAT. but did not find 1 1 is INFajesty, on accoiuit of tlie evident danger in which liis mother was. lie had taken leave of her, and had gone back to his liouse at Freobrazhensky, whither 1 hastened, and found liini in the highest degree niehmchuly and dejected. Toward eiirht o'clock came the news that the Tsaritsa was dead.' Peter's grief was great and sincere. For several days he scarcely saw any one without bursting into a lit of weeping. He had tendei'ly loved his mother, and had been much under her influence, although she had opposed his desire for novelty and his inclination toward foreigners. Her place in his affec- tions was, to a great extent, taken l)y his sister Xatalia, who, without understanding his objects, at least sympathized with him. She was of the younger generation, not so averse to what was new or what came from abroad, was readilv influenced by her brother, and, like a good and faithful sister, loved and admired him, and was always ready to believe that whatever he did w^as the best thing possible. As to his wife Eudoxia, it is difficult to say much. She had been brought up in the old- fashioned Russian way, and had received almost no education. She had a bitter dislike to all that was foreign, and to the friends by whom Peter was surrounded. This was perhaps natural : she disliked the men, who, as she thought, alienated her husband from her. The marriage had not been one of love ; Peter had married simply to obey his mother, and found the society of his wife so uncongenial that he spent very little time with her. Two children had been the result of the mar- riage — one, Alexis, born in March, 1690, was destined to in- herit something of his mothers nature and to be a difficulty and a grief to his father, and to cause the saddest episode of his life ; the second, Alexander, born in October, 1691, lived but seven months. Peter had already, in the German suburb, made an acquaintance that was destined to influence his future life,, and to destroy the peace of his family. This was Anna Mons, the daughter of a German jeweller, with whom Peter's relations had daily grown more intimate, and in whose society he passed much of his leisure time. A few days after his mother's death, Peter began again to visit the house of Lefort, but though he conversed freely with his friends about the matters which interested him most, and an 1694.] HIS IMOTHEK S DEATH. 233 extra glass was drunk, no ladies were present, and there was no firing of cannon, no music nor dancing. Tlie next day lie wrote to Apraxin, at Archangel : ' I dumbly tell my misfortune and my last sorrow, about which neither my hand nor my heart can write in detail without remembering what the Apostle Paul says about not grieving for such things, and the voice of Esdras, " Call me again the day that is past." I forget all this as much as possible, as being above my reasoning and mind, for thus it has pleased the Almighty God, and all things are according to the will of their Creator. Amen ! Therefore, like Xoah, resting awhile from my grief, and leaving aside that which can never retm*n, I wi-ite about the living.' The rest of the letter was taken up with directions about the construction of the small ship which he had begun, and the preparation of clothing for the sailors. He evidently desired to go to Archangel that winter, but he felt the propriety of being present at the requiem on the fortieth day after his mother's death. Little by little other things interfered, and the journey w^as put off. Another letter written by Peter to Apraxin shows him in better spirits, willing to see the humorous side of things, and ready to make little jokes about Pamodanofsky and Buturlin, who were old Pussians and opposed to all Peter's novelties, but who still loved him, and yielded with the best grace they could : — ' Thy letter was handed to me by Michael Ivuroyedof, and, after reflecting, I reported about it all to my Lord and Admiral, who, having heard my report, ordered me to w^rite as follows. First : that the great lord is a man mighty bold for war, as well as on the watery way, as thou thyself knowest, and for that rea- son he does not wish to delay here longer than the last days of April. Second : that his Imperial brother, through love and even desire of this journey, like the Athenians seeking new things, has bound him to go, and does not wish to stay behind himself. Third : The rear-admiral will be Peter Ivanovitch Gordon. I think there will be nearly three hundred people of different ranks ; and who, and what rank, and where, that I will 284 PETER THE GREAT. write to thee j^resently. Hasten up witli everything as quickly as you can, especially with the ship. Therefore I and my com- panions, who are working on the masts, send many respects. Keep well. Piter.' About this time, a large amount of powder and a thousand muskets were sent to Archangel, while twenty-four cannon, in- tended for one of the new ships, were ordered to wait at Vologda until the arrival of the Tsar. In informing Apraxin of this, Peter sends his salutations to the two workmen whom he had sent on, Xiklas and Jan, and begs him not to forget the beer. About the same time, or even earlier. General Gordon wrote to his friend and business agent Meverell, at London, to send to Archangel a good ship with a 'jovial captain,' and a good sup- ply of powder ; and in writing to his son-in-law, at Archangel, recommends him also to brew a quantity of beer. All preparations being made, the Tsar, on May 11, set out for Archangel, ' ^'^our j>rendre ses divertissements et mtme j)l^is que VanneejKtssee,- as Lefort wrote to his brother Ami; having with him many more of his 'company' than he had taken the year before. It required twenty-two barges to convey them down the Dvma, and the 'caravan,' with Pamodanofsky as ad- miral, Buturlm as vice-admiral, and Gordon as rear-admiral, ac- companied by a plentiful display of signals and the firing of cannon, accomplished its journey in ten days, arriving at Arch- angel on May 28. It is hardly necessary to say that the title of admiral was purely as sportive a one as that of generalissimo, or of commodore of a fleet of row-boats ; it implied nothing as to the present or future existence of a Pussian naval force, nor did it give any rank in the state. The Tsar himself was known as the 'skipper.' Peter established himself in the same house on the Moses Island where he had been the preceding year. His first care was to go to the church of the Prophet Elijah, and to thank God for his safe arrival ; his second to inspect the ship building at the wharf of Solombala, which fortunately was completed, and on the 30th was triumphantly launched, the Tsar himself knocking away the first prop. But, as the frigate ordered in Holland had not arrived, it was impossible as yet to go to sea. 1694.] SOLOVETSK. 235 and the Tsar utilised the delay by making the trip to the Solo- vetsky monastery which he had postponed the year before. For this, on his birthday, he embarked on his small yacht, the ' St. Peter,' taking with him the Archbishop Athanasius, some of the boyars attached to his person, and a few soldiers. He started out on the night of June 10, but was kept at the mouth of the Dvina by a calm. The wind freshened the next day, and soon turned to a gale. When he had arrived at the mouth of the Cnskaya Gulf, about eighty miles from Archangel, the tempest was so great that the little ship was in the utmost danger. The sails were carried away, the waves dashed over the deck, and even the experienced sailors who managed the yacht gave up in despair, and believed they must go to the bottom. All fell on their knees and began to pray, while the archbishop adminis- tered the last sacrament. Peter alone stood firm at the rudder, with immoved countenance, although, like the rest, he received the com in union from the hands of the archljishop. His pres- ence of mind finally had its effect on the frightened mariners, and one of them, Antip Timofeief, one of the Streltsi fi-om the Solovetsky monastery who had been engaged as a pilot, went to the Tsar, and told him that their only hope of safety lay in run- ning into the "O'nskaya Gulf, as otherwise they would infallibly go to pieces on the rocks. With his assistance, the yacht was steered past the reefs through a very narrow passage, and on June 12, about noon, anchored near the Pertominsky monastery. The whole company went to the monastery church and gave thanks for their miraculous preservation, while Peter granted additional revenues and privileges to the brotherhood of monks, and rewarded the pilot Antip with a large sum of money. In memory of his preservation, Peter fashioned, with his ovm hands, a wooden cross about ten feet high, with an inscription in Dutch, ' Dat hrxiys niaJcen Tcaj^tein Piter van a. cht. 1691,' carried it on his shoulders and erected it on the spot where he had landed. The storm lasted three days longer, but on the 16th Peter again set sail, and arrived the next day safely at the monastery, where he remained three days in prayer and fasting, and in veneration of the relics of its founders, St. Sabatius and St. Zo- simus. The monks must have been astonished at the devotion 23G TETER THE GREAT. shown bj the son of that Tsar wlio liad besieged them fur nine long years because they had refused to accept the 'innovations' of the Patriarch Xikon. They nuist have been convinced that, after all, they were right. At all events, they were pleased with the generosity of Peter, who gave one thousand rubles and ad- ditional privileges to the monastery, besides gifts to individual monks. The safe return of the Tsar was feasted at Archangel, not only by his friends, who had been greatly alarmed, but by the captains of two English vessels then in port, and he himself wrote brief accounts of his journey, first of all to his brother Ivan, to Avhom he said that he had at last f ultilled his vow of adoring the relics of the holy hermits Sabatius and Zosimus, but mentioned not a word of the danger he had run. From his wife, to whom he had A\'ritten nothing, Peter received two let- ters, complaining of his neglect. Apparently he sent no answer. A month later, the new vessel which he had launched on his arrival was ready for sea, and with great rejoicing was chris- tened the ' St. Paul.' About the same time, Peter's heart was gladdened by the receipt of a letter from his friend Yinius, at Moscow, saying that the frigate bought by Witsen in Amster- dam had sailed six weeks before, under the command of Captain Plamm, and ought by that time to be due in Archangel. Yinius spoke also of many fires which had taken place at Moscow, one of which had burned down four thousand houses. Previous in- formation of this had been received in letters from Lieutenant- Colonel Yon Mengden and Major Adam AYeyde : — ' In Moscow there have been many fires, and of these fires the people said that, if you had been here, you w^ould not have allowed them to be so great.' In replying to Yinius, Peter expressed his joy at the sailing of the vessel, then spoke of the launching of the one built at Archangel, which, he said, ' is completely finished, and has been christened the " Apostle Paul," and sufficiently fumigated with the incense of Mars. At this fumigation, Bacchus was also sufficiently honoured.' But how impudent is your Yulcan ; he is not satisfied with you who are on dry land, and even here, in ^ A Swedish galliot, which arrived from Bordeaux, after a five weeks' voyage, on July 7, with four hundred casks of wine, probably supplied the libations for Bacchus. 1694.] AXOTIIER CRUISE. 237 the realm of Xeptune, lie has shown his effrontery ; ' and went on to tell how all the ships at Archangel would have been burnt, throu2:h a lire catchinoj on a barege laden with o;rain, had it not been for the great exertion of himself and his men. Finally, on July 21, the forty -four gun frigate, ' Santa Profeetie,' so impatiently expected from Holland, arrived, under the com- mand of Captain Jan Flamm, with a crew of forty sailors. She had been five weeks and fom* days on the journey. Peter has- tened to the mouth of the river to meet her, and finallv, at four o'clock, she cast anchor at Solombala. In the midst of the feast, Peter sat down and wrote to Yinius a brief letter : — ' Mix Her : I have nothing else to write now, except that what I have so lono; desired has to-dav come about. Jan Flamm has arrived all right, with forty-four cannon and forty soldiers, on his ship. C ongratulate all of us. I shall write you more fully by the next post, but now I am beside myself with joy, and cannot ^i-ite at length. Besides, it is impossible, for Bacchus is alway honoured in such cases, and with his leaves he dulls the eyes of those who wish to wi-ite at length. 'The City, July 21. SchiPer Fonslii Psantus ProFet ities.' The frigate needed a few rej^airs, but these were soon made, and in a week Peter was ready to start on his cruise. The X,' 'Apostle Paul,' with Vice- Admiral Buturlin, took the lead, followed by four German ships returning home with Pussian cargoes. Then came the new fi-igate, the 'Holy Prophecy,' with the admiral and the Tsar, followed by four English ships returninor with their caro-oes. The vacht ' St. Peter,' with Gen- eral Gordon as rear-admiral, followed. The movements of the fleet were to be directed by signals, Avhich had been invented for the purpose by Peter, and had been translated into the different languages. He himself brought Gordon a copy for translation into English, for the use of the English Captains. The wind was for a long time unfavourable, and, even after getting to the mouths of the Dvina, the seafaring company could do nothing but divert itself by mutual feasts on the various islands. Peter, however, who nuist always have somethintr on hand, discussed 238 PETER THE GREAT. a project for great military manoeuvres in tlie autumn on his re- turn to Moscow, and, under the direction of General Gordon, made plans of bastions and redoubts, and composed lists of all the necessary tools and equipments. Finally the fleet set out on August 21, and with various fortune — General Gordon nearly going to pieces on a small island to which his pilot had taken him, thinking the crosses in the cemetery on the shore to be the masts and yards of the other vessels. With some diffi- culty he got safely off, and on the 27th the whole fleet reached Sviatoi Kos, the most extreme point which separated the White Sea from the Xorthern Ocean. It had been Peter's intention to venture upon the open sea, but a violent wind rendered it not only difficult but dangerous. The signal was therefore given, and, taking leave of the merchant vessels, the three ships of Peter's navv returned to Archano-el, arrivins: there on the 31st. Three days longer were all that Peter could stay. On the evening of September 2, Gordon says, ' We were all at feast with the Governor, and were jovial.' The next morning they set out for Moscow. Immediately after the arrival of the party at Moscow^, ar- rangements were made for the great manoeu\Tes which Peter had planned. Two armies were formed. In one were in- cluded six Streltsi regiments and tAvo companies of cavalry, in all 7,500 men, under Buturlm, who took the title of King of Poland, probably on account of the increasing difficulties with that country. The other, the Russian force, was under the command of Prince Pamodanofsky, and included the Preo- Ijrazhensky and the Semenofsky regiments, the two select regi- ments, and a collection of the men fit for military service sent by the nobility of twenty towns in the neighbourhood of Moscow, some of the orders being despatched as far as Uglitch, Suzdal, and Yladimir. The strength of this army is not stated, but it was probably not inferior to the other, and it required two hun- dred and sixty wagons for the transport of its ammunition and equipments. The place chosen for the manoeuvi'es was a wide valley on the right bank of the river Moskva, back of the village of Kozhiikhovo, a little more than a mile from the Simonof monastery, so celebrated now for its lovely view of Moscow. Here, in the angle formed by a bend of the river, a small fort 1694.] MILITARY MANCEUVEES. 239 had been begun, even before tlie departure of Peter for Arch- angel. These manoeuvres, though common enough nowadays in all military countries, must have been a great surprise to the inhabitants of Moscow, accustomed to their quiet and almost pastoral streets. In order to take their positions, both armies, in full parade, passed through Moscow by different routes. In the Russian army appeared what was also a new thing to the Muscovites — the Tsar as Peter Alexeief marchinor with two of his comrades as bombardiers, in fi-ont of the Preobrazhensky regi- ment. What would now seem droll is that both armies had — what does not now enter into military staff — companies of scribes and singers, and, in one, twenty- five dwarfs, of course unarmed. It is useless to recapitulate the story of the manoeuvres, which lasted for fully three weeks, and which are described with great humour by General Gordon in his diary, and by Zheliabiizhkv in his memoirs. Sufficient to say that there was fighting which sometimes was only too real, for the bombs, though without powder, did hurt, and fire-pots burst and burned faces and maimed limbs. A bridge had to be thrown across the river Moskva, and the fort was to be mined and counter- mined, according to the proper rules of war. Unfortunately banquets and suppers had too great a predominance in this cam- paign, and after a ver}- good dinner given by General Lefort on his name's day, it was decided to storm the enemv's fort. Flushed with wine as they were, the conquest was easy. Eveiy- one was satisfied except Peter, who was not content with this summary proceeding. He therefore gave up all the prisoners, ordered the Polish King again to occupy his fort, and insisted that mines should be made until the walls should be blown up, and the conquering army properly walk in. This was done, and the place was finally taken in the most approved way on October 27. One incident of the campaign seems to have been a fight of the singers, headed by Turgenief, the court fool, against the scribes of the Polish camp. This was tlie last time that Peter j^layed at war. Fate ruled that thenceforth real battles were to take the place of mimic ones.' ' Ustrialof, II. vi. vii. ; Solovief, xiv. ; Gordon's Diary ; Zheliabuzhky, tnemoirs, Posselt, Lefort ; Bruckner, CulturJiistorUiche Studien. XXV. THE FIRST CAMPAIGN AGAINST AZOF.— 1695. Peter had derived so much satisfaction from his visits to Archangel that he thought favourably of various projects of travelling throughout his country, and of beginning new enter- prises. Even while at Archangel Lefort ^vrote to his family at Geneva that there was talk of ' a journey, in about two years' time, to Kazan and Astrakhan. Still, this idea may pass away before two years are over. However, I shall be ready to obey all orders. There is also an idea of constructing some galliots and going to the Baltic Sea.' Later, on September 23, Lefort wrote : •• Xext summer we are going to construct five large ships and two galleys, which, God willing, will go two years hence to Astrakhan, for the conclusion of important treaties with Per- sia.' The ideas of Witsen about the Persian and Asiatic trade, and the many conversations on that subject in the German sub- urb about the advantages comiected with this traffic, which French, Dutch, and English all desired to get into their hands, had evidentlv stimulated Peter's mind. t/ Suddenly, however, and apparently to the surprise of every- body, it was resolved to enter upon an active campaign against the Tartars, in the spring of 1695 — nominally for the purpose of reducing the Crimea ; actually, the plan of the campaign included opening the Dnieper and the Don, two Pussian rivers which were useless for trade so long as their mouths were in possession of the Mussulmans. The only mention that is made of this plan before it was formally announced, is a passage in a letter of General Gordon to his friend Kurz, in Vienna, dated the end of December, 1694, in which he says : ' I believe and hope that this coming summer we shall undertake something for the advantasre of Christianitv and our allies.' It is difficult P5 < CO o < 1—1 P O 1695.] DISSATISFACTIOX TTITH POLAXD. 241 to tell what were the real reasons for this campaign. Appar- ently it was not, as has generally been thought, on the initiative of Peter himself, for as yet he had not meddled in the concerns of the Government. The statements that the expedition against Azof was planned for the pm*pose of getting a harbom* in the Black Sea, in which to create a navy, or because the success of the manoeu^i-es near Moscow made Peter desirous of real war, or because he had already the intention of going to Europe, and wished to signalise himself by great ex^Dloits before he appeared in the AYest, rest merely on surmise. The campaign was an incident in the war against the Tartars, which had been begun by Sophia, in consequence of her treaty with Poland, and which had never come formally to a conclusion. Xo peace had ever been made. Although, after the unsuccessful close of Golitsyn's second expedition, in 16S9, there had been a practical armistice, ^et this armistice had never been ratified bv anv convention, and was frequently broken by the Tartars. The border prov- inces were constantly exposed to their predatory incursions, and in 1692 twelve thousand Tartars appeared before the Pussian town of Xemirof , burnt the suburbs, carried away many pris- oners, and made bootv of a verv laro-e number of horses. The Russians, with the few troops of Cossacks and the local levies that remained on the border, had confined themselves strictlv to the defensive. Meanwhile, there had been a growing dissatisfaction ui Moscow with the conduct of Poland. The Pussian Resident at Warsaw constantly wrote that no dependence whatever could be placed on the King of Poland or on the Emperor. He re- ported them as desirous of making a separate peace with Turkev, without the slio-htest reo-ard for the interest of Pussia. AVhen application was made to Vienna, the Emperor replied that he was not in league with Moscow, but that, without doubt, the Polish King kept the Tsars informed of everything that passed. King Jan Sobieski professed the utmost friend- ship for the Tsars, but made complaints that they did not assist him in his operations against the Mussulmans ; that, under the treaty, they had no right to confine themselves to defensive warfare alone ; and that, unless they sent either an ambassador to Vienna with full powers, or sent one to go with his envoy to Vol. I.— 1G 242 1»ETKH THE GREAT. the CVinican Khan, it would he impossihle for him to satisfy the Muscovite demands, as lie did not know sufficiently what the demands of Muscovy were. Intrigues Iiad heen going ou between Mazeppa, the Iletman of Little Jtussia, and various Polish magnates, and it was believed in Moscow that these were with the knowledge and contrivance of the King. Ilussia had finally become so bitter on this point that Sobieski has- tened to declare that all the letters intercepted were forgeries, and a monk, on whose person, it is said, had been found forged letters and forged seals of Mazeppa, was surrendered to the Russians. The explana- tion was accepted, and the monk was executed bv Ma- zeppa's orders. Fearing to be left en- tirely alone — for it had been ascertained, bv means of Adam Stille, an official trans- lator at the foreign office in Vienna, who had been bought up by the Russian envoy, and who furnished the Gov- ernment at Moscow with re- ports of the negotiations going on at Vienna, and sometimes with copies of pa- pers, that no mention, of any kind whatever, of the in- terest of Ilussia had been made in the whole of the negotia- tions at Vienna between Poland, Austria, and Turkey — and fearing lest a separate peace might be made without them, which would enable the Sultan to turn all his forces against them, the Russians resolved to see what they could effect them- selves. For this pui-pose, agents had been sent to the Criir ea to ascertain upon what basis the Khan would make a ptr- manent peace. The Russians were unwilling to agree to the same state of things that had existed before the campaigns of Golitsyn. They insisted that the prisoners on both sides shoula Mazeppa. 1695.] CAMPAIGN AGAIXST AZOF. 243 be delivered up without a ransom, and upon the suppression of the money tribute which had previously Ijeen annually sent to the Crimea. On the suggestion of Dositheus, the Patriarch of Constantinople, who had written several letters to the Tsars urging the renewal of hostilities, they made also a request that the Holy Places in Jerusalem should be taken away from the Franks and restored to the Greek clergy.' As to the Holy Places, the Khan replied that the solution of that question depended on the Sultan alone ; but, for the other matters, he declined to accept anything but a renewal of the old treaty of Paktchiserai, insisted on the tribute due to him, and refused to give up the captives without a ransom. Xot only were these overtures ineffectual, but alarm was caused by the appearance of the Polish magnate, Pzewuski, at the court of the Khan, with propositions from the King. Pzewuski went subse- quently to Adrianople, in the hope of making peace witli the Sultan on conditions favourable to Poland. This plan fell through ; but the Turks finally consented to open negotiations for a genera] peace. Information about this reached Moscow in a letter from King Jan Sobieski, in the latter part of July, 1694, and the Tsars were requested to send a proper and fit man to meet the Turkish and Tartar plenipotentiaries. It was, in all probability, the despair of obtaining any favourable condi- tions for Pussia, and the fear that their plenipotentiaries would not be admitted to the congress, that induced the Government at Moscow to resolve on active operations. The campaign once resolved upon, Peter threw himself into it wdth all his heart and soul. He looked personally after the artillery, as he had the intention of accompanying one of the armies, in the capacity of bombardier. He even went to Pere- yaslavl, to look over the artillery stores which he had left there, in order to see what would be available for the purposes of the expedition. Full of ardour at the thought of active war, he wrote to Apraxin : ' Although for five weeks last autinnn Ave practised in the game of Mars at Kozhukhovo, with no idea except that of amusement, yet this amusement of ours has be- ' It is interesting to see how early the question of the Holy Places became a subject of dispute between Russia and Turkey. :244 PETER THE GREAT. come a forerunner of tlie present war.' And again he wrote : 'At Kozliukhovu we jested. We are now going to play the real i^anie l)efore Azof.' The plan of operations was that the boyar Boris Shereme- tief, with 120,000 men, assisted by the Cossacks of the Ukraine under Mazeppa, should go down the Dnieper and attempt to take possession of the fortresses of Otchakof and Kazikerman, which, with three similar forts, guarded the mouth of that river. The army of Sheremetief was composed entirely of troops drilled in the old Russian style. The two regiments made up of the plaj^-troops of Peter, together with the regi- ments of soldiers drilled according to foreign tactics and the best of the Streltsi regiments, were to compose an army of about 31,000 men, the aim of which was the capture of Azof. This fortress town, situated on one of the arms of the Don, al^out ten miles from the Sea of Azof, was the chief hinderance to the Kussian access to the Black Sea. In the early times, as the half -Greek city of Tanais, and in the Middle Ages, as the Genoese colony of Tana, it had been a great commercial em- porium for the Asiatic trade. Destroyed by Tamerlane, and afterward fortified by the Turks, it had been captured by the Don Cossacks in 1637, and held by them for six years against tremendous odds, until they were ordered to abandon it by the Tsar Michael, Russia being unwilling to engage in a war with Turkey for its retention. It was then rebuilt by the Turks, who kept 26,000 men at work for several years in strengthening its fortifications. What is particularly to be noticed is that, in sending an expedition to Azof, the Russians were attacking the Turks, and not the Tartars. The plan of this campaign was decided upon about the middle of Februarv, in a council of war held at the artillerv head-quarters. The army was to be divided into three corps, respectively under the command of Avtemon Golovin, Lefort, and Gordon ; but, strangely enough, there was to be no su- preme commander. The command of the army was to be entrusted to a council composed of these three generals, and none of their decisions could be carried into effect without the approbation of the bombardier sergeant of the Preobrazhensky 1695.] CAMPAIGN AGAINST AZOF. 245 regiment, Peter Alexeief, as the Tsar chose to be styled. This arrangement, as might easily have been foreseen, proved pro- ductive of great calamities. The division of General Gordon marched the whole distance, and starting from Moscow in March, arrived at the rendezvous before Azof in the middle of June. The ' great caravan,' as it was called, consisting of the other troops, left Moscow in May, by water, but owing to the constant bad weather (there was snow in Moscow even on June 7), the careless way in which the barges were constructed, and the stupidity and inexperience of the boatmen, had great difficulty in reaching Xizhni-Xovgorod, on the Volga, where it was found necessary to transship all the troops, equipments, and artillery. As Peter wrote to Yinius, from Xizhni-Xovgorod : ' Strong winds kept us back for two days at Dedinovo, and three days at Miirom, and most of all the delay was caused by stupid pilots and workmen, who call themselves masters, but in reality, are as far from being so, as the earth is from heaven.' Fortunately, the barges from Yoronezh were in waiting at Panshin, on the Don, to reach which a short land march was made, and the caravan reached the rendezvous without much trouble on the festival of St. Peter and St. Paul, the name's- day of the Tsar {^^^}. Gordon at once sent to the Tsar to con- gi'atulate him, and asked him to dinner. But Peter busied himself the whole day with disembarking his troops, and came only to supper. Gordon had taken up a position on some low hills within sight of Azof, and had entrenched himself. The other troops did the same, and at the council of war it was re- solved to beorin sieo^e works at once. This siege continued for fourteen weeks, with varying suc- cess. There was a want of discipline among the Streltsi, there was a want of harmony in the councils of the generals, there was a want of knowledge and experience in the engineers ; and, more than that, there was a breakdown of the commissariat. For a long time, the troops were entirely without salt. Every- ^ thing went on slowly, and it sometimes seemed, as Gordon said, ' that we acted as if we were not in earnest.' One advantage obtained by the Don Cossacks cheered up the army. They succeeded in storm mg one of the two small 246 PETEK THE GKEAT. forts called Ivalantchi, which guarded the junction of the Ka- hintchil — one of the larger amis of the Don, which branches off above Azof — and which prevented the passage of the Russian barges with provisions for the army, and compelled everything to be taken some distance around, exposed to the attack of the Tartar cavalry. After one fort had been taken by assault, such a iire was kept up against the other that the Turkish troops abandoned it in the night. It was, therefore, possible foi' the Itussians to construct a floating bridge over the Don, and greatly to facilitate their communications and all their opera- tions. As a set-off to this success, that very afternoon a man named Jacob Janson went over to the enemy, lie was origi- nally a Dutch sailor, who had entered the Russian service at Archangel, and had adopted the Russian religion ; he had been lately serving as a bombardier, and from some fancy Peter had become extremely intimate with him and had communicated to him all his plans and ideas with regard to the siege. This rene- gade and deserter exposed to the Turkish Pasha all the Russian plans, and especially the disposition of the troops. One of the many Russian dissenters who had found a refuge at Azof from the persecution of the Church and Government was imme- diately sent by the Pasha to verify this, and, by calling himself a Cossack, easily succeeded in passing the Russian sentinels and penetrating into their camp. The Russians, even in the field, had kept up their old habit of taking a long nap immediately after their midday meal. Informed of this practice, the Pasha made a sortie, surprised the Russians in their trenches, and was only beaten back after a three hours' fight, in which the Rus- sians experienced very severe losses, and General Gordon, who did his best to rally the troops, came very near being taken pris- oner. After this, frequent sorties and attacks greatly annoyed the Russians and hindered the siege works. General Gordon, who was really the only officer of great experience, wished to complete the trenches on the left side as far as the river, for there was still a vacant space along the river through which the Tartar cavalry kept up communications with the town. He also wished to continue the trenches until they were close to the walls. All his suggestions, however, were overruled by the im- pulsiveness of Peter and the inexperience of Lefort and Golo- 1695.] SIEGE OF AZOF. 247 viu, who voted to please the Tsar. There was great desire for an immediate assault, which was opposed by Gordon, who rep- resented how dangerous it would be to carry the town by storm when there were no trenches close to the fortifications in which the troops could take refuge in case of repulse. His remon- strances were of no avail, and an assault was finally attempted on August 15. It failed completely. The Kussians were driven back with a loss of 1,500 men — a very heavy one, considering their numbers. Later on, in spite of the protests of Gordon, two mines were exploded long before they had reached the part of the walls intended to be blown up. Xo damage was done to the town, but the explosion threw the dehr'is back into the Rus- sian trenches with considerable loss of life. The troops began to despair, but Peter resolved to attempt one more assault be- fore giving up the siege, for the weather was now so cold that it was difiicult for the men to remain in the trenches. This as- sault was no more successful than the first, although some of the Cossacks penetrated into the town on the river side. Finally it was determined to raise the siege, and on October 12 the Russians began to withdraw, hotly pursued by the enemy, who made constant attacks on the rear-guard. The severe weather and high water prevented the Russians from crossing the river to the safer side, and many were the privations and great was the distress endured on the homeward march. The Tartars attacked the rear-guard, and on one occasion, after killing about thirty men in the regiment of Colonel Swart, took prisoner the colonel and the greater part of the regiment, with several standards. This caused great panic at the time, and produced an impression at home which lasted for many years, as is evident from the way in which Pososhkof brings it forward as an instance of the bad discipline of the army. The troops suffered much from the rains and floods, and afterward from the extreme cold. The steppe, which Gordon, in the spring, had found ' full of manifold flowers and herbs, asparagus, wild thyme, marjoram, tulips, pinks, melilot and maiden gilly flowers,' was now bare and naked. All the vegetation had been burnt off, and frequently the soldiers could not even find a piece of dry wood with which to kindle a fire. The Austrian agent, Pleyer, who had been with the army through the siege. 248 PETEPw THE GREAT. but who was oblij^red l)v a fever to remain a montli at Tclier- kask, wrote in his report to the Emperor Leopold : ' I saw great quantities of the best provisions, which could have kept a large army for a year, either ruined by the bad weather, or lost by the barges going to the bottom. .AVhat was left was divided among the Cossacks. On the way I then saw what great loss the army suffered in the march, although no enemy pursued it, for it was impossible not to see without tears how through the whole steppe for eight hundred versts men and horses lay half eaten by the wolves, and many villages were full of sick, half of whom died, as well as many others infected by them, all of which was very painful to see and to hear.' The only success of the campaign was the capture of the two forts, in which a garrison of 3,000 men was left, so as to be ready for subsequent operations the next spring. Lefort, in a letter to his brother, says that had they had 10,000 more troops, the town would certainlv have been taken. This additional number would have enabled the trenches to have been drawn entirelv around the town, and its communications would have been entirelv cut off. But the failure is rather to be ascribed to the want of knowledge and experience on the part of the officers, and to the impulsiveness of the Tsar, than to the small- ness of the army. Peter himself was indefatigable. As a bombardier, he filled bombs and grenades with his o^m hands, and worked at the mortars like any common soldier. With all this, he took part in the councils of war, supervised all the plans of action, and, in addition, kept up a constant correspondence with friends. These letters are all brief. Some of them refer simply to mat- ters of business, such as the forwarding of material and provi- sions. In them he endeavoured to keep up his own spirits as well as those of his friends, still maintaining the jesting tone which he had long ago adopted, always addressing them by their nicknames, and carrying out the fiction of making regular reports to Hamodanofsky as the generalissimo of the army, and signing himself, with expressions of great respect, the ' Bom- bardier Peter.' There is much talk about ' plowing the field of Mars,' and there are other classical allusions. But twice he shows real feeling — with reference to the death of his friend 1695.] END OF THE CAMPAIGN. 249 Prince Theodore Troekiirof, who was killed on September IT, and to the deaths of his comrades and orderlies Yekim Voronin and Gregory Liikin — who had been two of the most intelligent men in his guard, and had been also of great assistance to him in his boat-building at Pereyaslavl — killed at the final assault. He writes to Pamodanofsky on separate scraps of paper, en- closed with the formal letters to him as generalissimo : ' For God's sake, do not trouble yourself because the posts are late. It is certainly from the bad weather, and not, God forbid ! because of any accident. Thou canst judge thyself that, if anything had happened, how would it be possible to keep it quiet ? Think over this, and tell those that need it. Prince Theodore Ivanovitch, my friend, is no more. For God's sake, do not abandon his father. Yekim Yoronin and Gregory Liikin by God's will have died. Please don't forget Gregory's father.' The Tsar accompanied the troops until they had reached Yaluiek, the first Russian town. He then went on in advance, but stopped for several days near Tula, at the ironworks built by the Dane Marselis, which were now o^\^led by his uncle, Leo Xaryshkin. Here he amused himself by hammering three large iron sheets with his own hands. The army reached Moscow on December 2, and, in spite of the failure of the campaign, Peter made a triumphal entry into the city, with a captive Turk led before him. The only excuse for this was the partial success of Sheremetief and Mazeppa, who had taken by storm two of the Turkish forts at the mouth of the Dnieper — Kazikerman and Tagan — and had forced the abandonment of two others.' ^ Solovief, xiv.; Ustrialof, II., viii., ix.; Gordon's Diary; Posselt, Lefort. XXVI. THE CAPTURE OF AZOF.— 1G96. Peter undoubtedly felt disappointed, humiliated, and angiy at the result of the campaign. Despite the dangers and diffi- culties which beset his childhood, he had nearly always suc- ceeded in having his own way. He was Tsar, he was self- willed, and he was obstinate. He had undertaken the siege w^th such confidence of success that he had caused Lefort to write letters to be communicated to the different courts of Europe, informing the world of his designs, and he had re- turned almost empty-handed. The difficulties of the homeward march must only have serv^ed to increase his obstinate adherence to his purpose, and every hammer-blow which he gave to those iron plates in the forge at Tiila drove away a regret and fixed a resolution. He no sooner returned to Moscow than every preparation was made for another campaign. Indeed, he had formed some plans even before this, for, on the march, just after he had es- caped fi'om tlie burning steppe, he wrote to the Emperor, to the King of Poland, and to the Elector of BrandenlDurg, in- forming them of the efforts which he had made against the Turks, and of his failure, owing partly to the lack of cannon and ammunition, but especially to the w^ant of skilful engineers and miners, and, in the name of friendship and for the success of their common cau.^e against the Turk, he begged that skil- ful men be sent to him. This time, the number of troops designed for the expedition was much greater, amounting in all, with the help of the Cos- sacks and the regiments from Little Russia, to 75,000 men. Having seen that the failure of the last campaign was owing, in great part, to the divisions in connnand, Peter appointed a 1690.] A JSTEW CAMPAICtX. 251 single commander-in-cliief for the whole of the forces before Azof, with the title of generalissimo. He at first chose Prince IMichael Tcherkasky, a grandee, who was much respected for his character and his o;reat services, but who was then very old ; and when Tcherkaskv refused this appointment on account of his extreme age and infirmity, his choice fell upon the boyar Alexis Shein, more noted for distinguished family — he was the f^reat-o^randson of the celebrated defender of Smolensk in the Troublous Times — than for actual service and experience, but, at the same time, in the opinion of his contemporaries, a man of ability and sound judgment. The appointment of a native Russian to such high rank was doubtless intended to silence the complaints of the ultra-na- tional party, who had again talked of this last defeat beino; owino; to the employment of so many foreigners. The boyar Boris Sheremetief and the hetman Ma- zeppa were ordered to remain on the defensive and protect the frontier from Tartar incursions. In his first campaign, Peter liad .seen the absolute necessity of a flotilla in order to prevent the Turks from communicating Alexis Shefn. with Azof, and to keep the com- mand of the river. It is need- less to say that his love for the sea strengthened his opinion. lie therefore resolved to build a fleet of transport barges, and,, at the same time, galleys and galliots that could be armed and used for the defensive if not for the ofl^ensive. For the con- struction of this fleet he chose the town of Yoronezh, on the river Voronezh, about three hundred miles south of Moscow. All this region had once been covered with a thick virgin forest, and here, from the early years of the reign of Alexis, numer- ous barges had been constructed every winter for the transport of the grain and wine sent as salary to the Cossacks of the Don. These barges were like those now built on the rivers in the 252 PETER THE GREAT. north of Ilussia for tlie transport of timber, hides, and grain — rude vessels made entirely of wood, without the use of even an iron nail. They were good simply for the voyage down the river, and never returned. On their arrival they were broken up, and used eitlier as timber or as tire-wood. They were usu- ally about a hundred feet long and twenty feet wide, and held about two hundred quarters of grahi. To such an extent had barges been built in this locality — at the rate of five hundred to a thousand a year — that in many places the forests were en- tirely cut down. Voronezh is now a thriving town, the capital of a province or giibermia^ with a population of 45,000, and a con- siderable trade. Its greatest reminiscences are those connected with Peter, and the construction of this flotilla — some of the boat-houses being still standing ; but it also prides itself on the peasant-poet Xikitin, and possesses an agreeable and cultivated society. Here Peter ordered the construction of a wharf on the low left bank, the side of the river opposite to the town, for it is a peculiarity of most Russian rivers that the right bank is high, of bluffs or low hills, and the left flat. During the winter of 1696, upwards of 30,000 men, under the command of officials sent from Moscow, laboured at the construction of more than thirteen hundred barges for conveying troops, ammunition, and provisions to the mouths of the Don. In addition to this, Peter sent to Archangel for all the ship-carpenters who were wintering there, promising that they should return for the open- ing of navigation. It was his intention to build thirty galleys of various sizes, some of two and some of three masts, although they would depend chiefly on oars for their swiftness. A model galley, constructed in Holland, which had arrived at Archangel, was brought by the Dvina to Vologda, and then overland to Moscow. Several of those which Peter had himself built at Pereyaslavl were, according to Lef ort, transported on sledges over the easy snow roads to Voronezh. Four thousand men, selected from various regiments, were told off into a naval battalion or marine regiment, for service both by sea and land. Lefort was made admiral. Colonel Lima, a Venetian who had been for eight years in the Pussian service, vice-admiral, and a French- man, Colonel Balthazar de Losier, rear-admiral. Peter himself took the rank of captain, and commanded the van-guard. 1696.] DEATH OF THE TSAR IVAN. 258 It is from Peter's return from his first campaign against Azof that the real beginning of his reign should be dated. It was then, for the first time, that he took an active concern and participation in all affairs of government. By a singular coin- cidence, it was about this time also that he became the sole ruler of the Russian state ; for, on February S, 1696, his brother Ivan, who had greatly improved in health since his marriage, suddenly died. Peter had been much attached to Ivan, and the care which he afterwards manifested for his wife and family' showed that he kept the tenderest recollections of him. lie had, however, now but little time to grieve, for the pre- parations for the campaign entirely absorbed him, though a bodily ailment rendered him for the moment powerless. An injury to his foot had produced a malady which kept him long. in bed, and which, for a time, excited the fears of his family and his friends. As soon as he got better^ he started south- ward with a small suite, and, contrary to habit, took a week for the journey to Voronezh. His illness and the bad state of the roads were sufficient reasons for this. Once there, he for- got his troubles and immediately set to work, and five days later, in ^vi'iting to the boyar Streshnef to send immediately some ash timber from the woods of Tiila for oars, as such could not be found near Voronezh, adds : ' According to the divine decree to om* grandfather Adam, we are eating our bread in the sweat of our face.' The ship-carpenters were slow in ar- riving, and many of the workmen deserted, the weather was most unfavourable, for the thaw was succeeded by so violent a cold that the river froze again, and storms of hail and sleet were so severe that on two occasions the men were prevented from work- ing for three or four days. Peter was obliged not only to set an example, but to act at once as overseer and master-shipwright. All this time Lefort was ill in Moscow with an abscess in his side, occasioned by a fall from his horse on the march from Azof. He did what he could, and at all events cheered the Tsar somewhat with his constant friendly letters. ^ Three of the five daughters of the Tsar Ivan survived their father — Catherine, Anna, and Prascovia. Anna became Empress of Russia, Catherine married the Duke of Mecklenburg, and her infant grandson occupied the Russian throne for a short time as Ivan VI. 254 PETER THE GREAT. Finally, oil April 12, three galleys, the ' Prinripium,' ehieHy the work of Peter liiniself , the ' St. Mark,' and the ' St. Mat- thew,' were launched with due ceremony, and two others fol- lowed shortly after. Almost the same day, the troops col- lected at Voronezh began to load the barges, and on May 1 the generalissimo Shein raised on his galley the great flag bearing the arms of the Tsar — a representation of the sea with ships, and St. Peter and St. J^anl in the corners — which had been em- broidered at a convent in Moscow, and brought to Voronezh by Franz Tinnnermann. This flag is still preserved at Mos- cow. Two davs later, the iirst division of the great caravan of galleys and barges set out. The vova^'e down the rivers Voronezh and Don took three weeks, but Peter, with his lighter and swifter galleys, overtook the advance, and, on May 26, reached the town of Tcherkask, the capital of the Don Cossacks, "where he came up with the division of General Gordon, which had preceded him by ten days, and that under General Pige- man, which had marched fi'om Tambof. AVhile wait- ing for his main forces, he busied himself with drawing up regulations for the new fleet while in action, and with loading on barges the artillery and stores which had been brought from the camp to Tcherkask the previous autumn. On the night of May 28, a messenger arrived from Flor Minaef, the Ataman of the Don Cossacks — who, with two hun- dred and fifty men, had been sent to make a reconnoissance at the mouth of the river — that he had seen two Turkish ships and had vainly attacked them. Peter immediately communicated this fact to Gordon and hastened off down the river, followed by Peter in the Dress he wore at Azof. 1696.] TURKISH FLEET KETJiEATS. 255 Gordon and liisii'oops. He stopped at tlie forts of Kalantclii, where the arrival of the army was liailed with joy. At a coun- cil of war, it was resolved tliat the Tsar, with his nine galleys, on which he embarked one of Gordon's regiments, and Flor Minaef, with furty Cossack boats holding twenty men each, should steal down the river and attack the Turkish ships, while General Gordon made a military diversion in front of Azof. Unfortunately, a strong north wind blew, which rendered the shallow channel still more shallow. The galleys got agi'ound, and were at last obliged to return to Ivalantchi, or, as it was then called, Xoyo-Sergliiefsk, m comijiemoration of St. Sergius, the protector of the country of the Don. Peter had himself embarked on a Cossack boat and gone to the mouth of the river, where he found not two but thirty large Tm'kish ships, with a considerable number of galleys, barges, and lighters. It seemed to the Tsar too great a risk to attack these large ships with the light Cossack boats, and he therefore retm-ned to the fort, where he arrived about midnight. The next mornmg, at ten o'clock, he yisited Gordon and told him the story, ' looking very melan- choly and grieved,' but at three o'clock he came back wdth other news. What he had not been willing to order, the river pirates of the Don had done of their o-uti accord. By his directions, the Cossacks had waited at the mouth of the river for observa- tion. During the day, either not noticing the Cossacks, or dis- regarding them, the Turks had transshipped to the lighters a quantity of stores and ammunition, and sent them under a con- voy of Janissaries up the river to Azof. A force of about five hundred Janissaries was landed at a mouth of the river, and succeeded in o^ettino: to the town with a considerable number of arms. When night came on, the Cossacks, who Avere on the watch, attacked the lighters, and succeeded in capturing ten of them with all their contents, while the Turkish soldiers, thor- oughly fi'ightened, after almost no resistance, went back to their ships. The news of this attack wrought such consternation that the whole of the Turkish fleet weighed anchor and sailed off, with the exception of two vessels, which could not be got ready soon enough. One of these the Turks themselves sank, and the other was burnt by the Cossacks. In this way, a large quantity of stores and annnimition was obtained, and thirty 256 PETER THE GREAT. ineii were taken prisoners. Two hours later, Peter was again on his way to the mouth of the river, and w^as speedily followed by Gordon with a detachment of troops. In the course of a few days, the remainder of the army and' of the fleet arrived at Xovo-Sei-ghiefsk, and Peter stationed himself, with his whole flotilla of twenty-nine galleys, at the mouth of the river, and completely cutoff the Turkish comnm- nications with Azof. By his directions, General Gordon began to erect two small forts, Avhich were completed under his per- sonal supervision, and when they were thoroughly armed and garrisoned, he wrote to Pamodanof sky : ' AVe are now entirely out of danger of the Turkish fleet.' The garrison of Azof had apparently not expected the return of the Russians, and had taken no precautions to fill up the trenches dug in the previous year. The besieging troops had^ therefore, little more to do than to take their old places ; and owing to their increased numbers, they were able fully to occupy the necessary positions, and especially to guard the approaches along the river-bank. At first there was little opposition on the part of the garrison. One small sortie was made, which was speedily repulsed. On June 20, the Tartars from the steppe crept up to the camp, and attacked it in force, but the noble ca- valiers from Moscow repulsed them for several miles. Xuradin Sultan himself Avent off with an arrow" in his shoulder, shot by a Kalmuk. Ayiika-Ivhan had promised to send all his Kalmuks to the Russian assistance, but only a small body came in time ; the main body arrived a few days after Azof was taken. A large Turkish fleet which came up to the mouths of the Don was for two weeks inactive, and finally, when about to land some troops to relieve the siege, the Pasha was so fright- ened at the appearance of the Russian flotilla, that the fleet im- mediately set sail, and went out to sea. Peter lived chiefly on his galley ' Principium,' looking after the Turkish fleet, coming from time to time to the camp before Azof to see how operations were progressing, and personally opening the cannonade on the evening of June 26th. The Tar- tars in the steppe made several other attacks, which were re- pulsed, and on the name's-day of the Tsar, the Russians, be- lieving that the beseiged were in sore straits, shot an arrow into \ P5 < o >^ o I CO o o S3 < o OQ n Eh 1696.] PROGRESS OF THE SIEGE. 257 the town with a letter offerins; the ojarrison honourable terms, and promising to permit them to leave the city with all their arms and baggage. The answer was a cannonade. Meanwhile, the soldiery were discontented even at this short siege, and the general opinion was that the work should be prosecuted in the old fashion, by means of piling up an enormous mound of earth, which could be gradually pushed for- ward so as to fill up the ditch and topple over upon the wall. General Gordon resolved to comply with this feeling, and no less than 15,000 men worked daily on the construction of this enor- mous mound. On July 21, when the mound had already be- come so high and so great that the streets of the town could be seen, and the Russian and Turkish soldiers came even to hand- to-hand conflicts, the engineers arrived who had been sent by the Emperor Leopold in compliance with the Tsar's request. They had not hastened on their way, for they had been fully three months in going from Tienna to Smolensk, two weeks more from Smolensk to Moscow, and about a month from Mos- cow to Azof. They excused the slowness of their journey by the fact that at Vienna they did not expect such an early start, and could learn nothing from the Russian envoy Xephimonof, who professed to have no knowledge of the military oj^erations. Their words were confirmed by Ukraintsef, the official in charge of the foreign office, who naively reported that he had sent no information about the army to Vienna, lest Kephimonof should publish it. Peter was irritated by what seemed to him stupidity, and with his own hand wrote to Vinius the following amusing letter : ' Thy brother-in-law has mightily angered me that he keeps Ivosma (Xephimonof) Avithout any news of our war. Is he not ashamed ? "Whatever they ask about he knows nothing, and yet he was sent for such a great matter. In his des- patches to Xikita Moiseievitch (Zotof) he writes about Polish matters when there was no need at all, but he has forgotten the side of the Emperor, where was all our hope of alliance. Has he any healthy good sense? Entrusted with state mat- ters, yet he conceals what everybody knows. Just tell him that what he does not write on paper I shall write on his back.' Vol. I.— 17 258 PETER THE GREAT. The imperial engineers were surprised at the magnitude of the mound, but, nevertheless, expected little profit from it. They advised mines and trenches in the ordinary way, and im- mediately gave instructions about the placing of batteries, by which an impression was soon made on one of the bastions. Hitherto no injury had been done, except to the houses in the town, which had all been ruined. The Zaporovian Cossacks had become disgusted w^ith the slowness of the siege and with the heavy work on the mound, and were, besides that, experiencing a shortness of commons. They therefore made a private arrangement with the Cossacks of the Don, and, on July 2Tth, without orders, two thousand of them, headed by Lizogiib, their chief, and Flor Minaef, the Ataman of the Don, stormed the fortification from the mound, and made an entry into the town. Had they been properly supported by the soldiery and Streltsi — who remained inactive in their camp — they would have taken it. As it w^as, they were beaten back, and obliged to take refuge in the corner bas- tion, which they held. Here they were at last reinforced by the troops of General Golovin, and succeeded in taking another bastion. The next day, the commander-in-chief resolved on a general assault, but meanwhile the Turks decided to surrender on condition that, with their wdves and children, they should be allowed to leave the place with all the honours of war. This was granted. The Pasha surrendered all the Russian prisoners without question, and gave up those Dissenters w^ho had taken refuge in Azof, and wdio had not already become Mussulmans. The only dispute was about the deserter and traitor Janson, who had become a Mussulman. The Ttussians insisted on his surrender, and the Pasha finally yielded. Janson was brought into the Russian camp, tied hand and foot, screaming to his guards : ' Cut off my head, but don't give me up to Moscow ! ' The next morning, the garrison, fully armed, with all their banners, marched through the Russian lines, some to the Turk- ish fleet, and others on their way to the steppe. Crowded to- gether and without order, they presented a sorry spectacle, and only the Pasha kept up his dignity. On reaching the place of 1696.] FALL OF AZOF. 259 embarkation, where the generalissimo Sheifn was on his horse awaiting him, the Pasha thanked him for the manner in which he had kept his word, lowered his standards to him as a token of respect, and bade him good-by. After the departure of the Turks, ten Hussian regiments marched into the utterly ruined town, where not one house w^as iminjured. The Zaporovian Cossacks could not be restrained, and went everywhere in search of plunder. Xothing of any importance was found, although cellars and secret recesses were dug up in all directions. There came, however, to the Govern- ment a considerable booty in the shape of cannon and pow- der, but there were almost no small arms, and bullets were en- tirely wanting. Indeed, dm-ing the last resistance offered to the Cossacks in the final assault, it was necessary to cut gold ducats into small pieces to furnish ammunition. The little fort of Liitik, situated at the mouth of the Dead Donetz, was not included in the capitulation, but speedily surrendered, and the Russians were left in full possession of the mouths of the Don. One of the first tasks which Peter set himself was to find a suitable harbour for his flotilla, and for that purpose he explored the coast on each side. The mouths of the Don, which were shallow or deep according to the wind, afforded no secure ref- uge, and it was necessary to find a place which might be turned into a safe port. After a week spent in surveying, when he slept on the bench of a galley, almost fasting, Peter decided on an anchorage under a cape long known to the Cossacks as Tagan-rog, or the Tagan Horn. Here he ordered the construc- tion of a fortress, as well as of another a little beyond, at Otchakof-rog, and then entrusted the imperial engineer Laval with the task of properly fortifying the town of Azof, so that it should be impregnable to assaults by the Turks. The town was cleared as speedily as possible of its ruins, Turkish mosques w^ere quickly transformed into Christian churches, and there Peter heard divine service before starting on his homeward march. The fall of Azof produced great consternation at Constanti- nople. The Bey of Kouieh and two other officials were exe- 260 PETER THE GREAT. cuted, all the Janissaries who could be found were arrested and their goods sequestered, while the poor commandant who had surrendered the town, Kalailikoz Ahmed Pasha, was obliged to llj to save his life, and lost the whole of his property, which was confiscated to the Treasury.' ' Solovief, xiv.; Ustri:Uof, II., x., xi.; Gordon's Diary; Posselt, Lefort; Zheliabilzhky, Memoirs (Russian) ; Yelaghin, History of the Russian Fleet (Russian), St. Petersburg, 18G4; Veselago, Sketch of Russian Naval History (Russian), St. Petersburg, 1875 ; A. Gordon, History of Peter the Greats Aber- deen, 1755. XXVIL THE EFFECT OF THE VICTORY.— BUILDING A FLEET IN EARNEST.— 1696-7. It can be imagined with what delight the news of the sur- render was received at Moscow. ' When your letter came,' wrote Yiniiis to the Tsar, ' there were many guests at the house of Leo Kirilovitch (Xarj'shkin). He immediately sent me with it to the Patriarch. His Holiness, on reading it, burst into tears, ordered the great bell to be rung, and, in the presence of the Tsaritsa and of the Tsarevitch, gave thanks to the Almighty. All talked with astonishment of the humility of their lord, who, after such a great victory, has not lifted up his own heart, but has ascribed all to the Creator of heaven, and has praised only his assistants, although every one knows that it was by your plan alone, and by the aid you got from the sea, that such a noted town has bowed down to your feet.' All Peter's friends burst into a chorus of praise for his bravery, his genius, his humility, likening him to St. Peter, to Samson, and to David. In reply to the congratulations of Yinius, Peter quoted the verse ^ the labourer is worthy of his hire,' and suggested that it would be a meet and proper thing to honour him and the generalissimo with a triumphal arch, which might be placed near one of the bridges over the Moskva. While the arch was being built and the preparations made for the solemn entry of the troops, Peter busied himself for several weeks in visiting the ironworks in the neighbour- hood of Tula. Here he undoubtedly met the celebrated black- smitli Xikita Demidof, who subsequently received those grants of mining land in the Ural which have led to the immense fortune of the present Demidof family. Xikita Demidof was already known to Peter, at least by reputation, as the clever- 262 PETER THE GREAT. est smith and iron-forger in all this region. Mazeppa met the Tsar on the road from Voronezh to Tula, presented him with a magniiicent sabre, the hilt and scabbard of which were studded with precious stones, and informed him of the brave deeds done by the Zaporovian Cossacks during the summer. It seemed that about fifteen hundred of these braves sailed down the Dnieper past the fortifications of Otchakof, and hovered along the Crimean coast until they met three merchant vessels sailing under the Turkish flag to Caffa. Two of these they captured and burned, after they had transferred the cargoes, the guns, and forty prisoners to their boats. Coasting still further along, they met three more ships coming out from the Azof Sea, and had already captured one of them, when three Turkish gal- leys came up. In the fight, the Cossack commander was killed, and some confusion ensued, in consequence of which they turned tail, vigorously pursued by the enemy. Unfortunately for them, the Turkish commander at Otchakof was on the look-out, and they were obliged to take refuge on a desert isl- and, where they concealed their booty. Crossing to the main- land, they then burnt their boats, and marched home with their prisoners. The small detachment left to guard the booty was betrayed by a Turk, and was captured after a long struggle. After the Tsar had finished his inspection of the ironworks, he met his troops at Ivolomenskoe, and made his triumphal entry into Moscow on October 10. It had been very long since the Russians had had a real victory to celebrate, not, indeed, since the early days of the Tsar Alexis, and, in any case, a sight like the present was new to Moscow. The gilded carriages of the generalissimo and the admiral, the gorgeous trappings and rich costumes of the boyars, the retainers in armour and coats of mail, the Streltsi in new uniforms, the triumphal arch with its pictures and inscriptions, presented a brilliant spectacle ; but it was with great surprise, and not without displeasure, that the people of Moscow saw their Tsar in German dress and hat — the uniform of a ship- captain — walking in the suite of Admiral Lefort. The success of the Russian arms created a deep impression everywhere in Europe, sometimes of astonishment, sometimes of admiration. In Warsaw, it was not hailed with great enthu- 1696.] EFFECT OF THE VICTOEY. 263 siasm by the governing classes. King Jan Sobieski had died during the summer, and the diet had as jet been unable to elect a successor. The French were intriguing for the election of the Prince de Conti, a nephew of the great Conde, and had suc- ceeded in getting the election transferred to a general assem- bly of the Polish nobility. Another party was supporting the claims of Augustus the Strong, Elector of Saxony, and it was believed in Moscow that the Pope had recommended the choice of the exiled James II. of England. Even before the surren- der of Azof, a Frenchman, Fourni, who was returning through Warsaw after having conducted some foreign officers to Pussia, spoke to some of the nobles with praise of the Russian deeds in front of Azof, and especially of the acts of the young Tsar. The senators listened, shook their heads and said : ' What a careless and reckless young man ! What can be expected of him now? ' The voievode Mazincki remarked : ' The Moskals ought to remember what they owe to the late King Jan, how he raised them up and made them a mighty people, for if he had not concluded an alliance with them, they would have paid tribute to the Crimea until now, and would have set quietly at home, while now they are getting polished.' To this the voievode of Plock remarked : ' It would have been better if they still sat at home. It would be no hurt to us. After they have got polished, and have smelt blood, you Avill see what will come of it ; though may the Lord God never let it come to this ! ' I^ikitin, the Pussian Pesident at Warsaw, received the news of the capture of Azof on September 8, during divine service, and immediately ordered a Te Deum, and fired a salute, amid the hurrahs of the worshippers. Four days later, Xikitin, in a solemn session of the Senate, gave to the Primate the Tsar's formal letter announcing the event, and made a speech in which, with all the flowery language of the time, he spoke of the triumph over the heathen, urged the Poles to advance towards Constantinople, and assured them that perhaps Arabia itself would be open to the free Polish eagle ; that now was the time for a crusade against the infidel ; that now was the time to con- quer countries and gain new and laioful titles for the Polish crown, instead of using titles forbidden by treaties. In reply to the threat in the concluding words, Xikitin was shortly after- 264 PETEK THE GREAT. wards informed bj the imperial ambassadors that the senators had been frightened, and had resolved that in future the King should not use the title of Grand Duke of Kief and Smolensk, but added that the nobility were not very glad of the capture of Azof, although the common people were delighted. A few days later, formal . congratulations were sent to the Resident, Te Deums were chanted in all the churches, and a salute fired ; but, at the same time, negotiations were begun with the Tartars and with Mazeppa. Sapieha, the hetman of Lithuania, even tried to diminish the success of the Russian arms by saying to Nikitin that Azof had not been captured by arms, but had surrendered. If there were any at Moscow — either magnates or peasants — who, in the general joy, thought that with the capture of Azof the day of sacrifices was past, they were grievously dis- appointed. They little knew what ideas were already ferment- ing in Peter's mind. While in front of Azof, and even before its capture, Peter had written to the Venetian Senate, begging them, for the profit of all Christians, to send to Moscow thirteen good shipwrights who could construct all sorts of vessels of war. He had already the design of establishing a large fleet on the Black Sea. IN^o sooner had the festivities in Moscow ended than, at a general council of the boyars, it was decided to send 3,000 families of peasants and 3,000 Streltsi and soldiers to populate the empty town of Azof, and firmly to es- tablish the Russian power at the mouth of the Don. At a second council, Peter stated the absolute necessity for a large fleet, and apparently with such convincing arguments, that the assembly decided that one should be built. Both civilians and clergy were called upon for sacrifices. Every landed pro- prietor possessing 10,000 peasant houses, every monastery pos- sessing 8,000, w^as obliged to construct a ship fully equipped and armed, which should be entirely completed not later than the month of April, 1698. The merchants were called upon to contribute twelve mortar-boats, all other landed proprietors who possessed not less than 100 peasant houses were ordered to Moscow to enrol themselves into companies for the construction of ships. Details are known about sixty -one of these com- panies, of which nineteen were composed of the clergy. The 02 W P M P w H W 1697.] SHIP BUILDING. 265 ships and galleys were to be built at Yoronezh. The Govern- ment found the timber, but the companies were to provide the metal-work, the cordage, and all the other equipments, as well as the armament. Some of these compauies found that so much time was lost in getting the material together that there was danger of their not fulfilling the precise orders of the Tsar, and of being exposed to heavy penalties. For that reason, nearly all the vessels were built by contractors, who were chiefiy foreio;ners from the German suburb. Anions: those we notice particularly Franz Timmermann, who was also a Government contractor, the Danish Resident, Butenant von Rosenbusch, and Ysbrandt Ides, who had recently returned from his mission to China. This arrangement was approved by the Tsar, and most of the ships were ready at the appointed time. Ten large vessels were also built by the state. The Venetian Senate, in reply to the request of the Tsar, sent a number of shipwrights under the command of Captain Giacomo Moro, who arrived in January, 1697, and who showed such great skill in the construction of galleys that the Tsar, on sending them home at the completion of their work, expressed to the Venetian authorities his liveliest gratitude. There were, besides, many shipwrights from Denmark, Sweden, and Hol- land, obtained through the intervention of Franz Timmermann and of the Danish Resident. Let us quote again from the pre- face of the Maritime Regulations, where Peter says : ' On this account he turned his whole mind to the consti'uc- tion of a fleet, and when, on accoimt of the Tartar insults, the siege of Azof was begun, and afterwards that town was fortu- nately taken, then, according to his unchangeable will, he did not endure thinking long about it. He quickly set about the work. A suitable place for ship-building was found on the river Voro- nezh, close to the town of that name, skilful shipwrights were called from England and Holland, and in 1696 there began a new work in Russia — the construction of great war-ships, galleys, and other vessels ; and so that this might be for ever secured in Russia, and that he might introduce among his people the art of this business, he sent many people of noble families to Holland and other states to learn the building and management of ships; and that the monarch might not be 266 PETER THE GPwEAT. shamefully behind his subjects in that trade, he himself under- took a journey to Holland; and in Amsterdam, at the East India wharf, giving himself up, with other volunteers, to the learning of naval architecture, he got what was necessary for a good carpenter to know, and, by his o^v^i work and skill, con- structed and launched a new ship.' For the purpose mentioned in the preceding extract, Peter sent abroad fifty nobles, representatives of the highest and most distinguished families in the empire. Twenty-eight were or- dered to Italy, especially to Venice, where they might learn the art of building galleys, the remainder to Holland and England. Each was accompanied by a soldier. According to their in- structions, they were to make themselves familiar with the use of charts, compasses, and navigation ; they were to learn thor- oughly the art of ship-building, and were to become practised in the duties of common sailors, ^o one was to return with- out permission, and without a certificate attesting his profi- ciency, on penalty of the confiscation of all his property. They were obliged to pay their own expenses. Most of them were married and had children, and we can imagine their feelings, and those of their families, on being thus summarily sent to unknown and heretical lands to become common sailors. In point of fact, several of them turned their stay abroad to profit, and like Kurakin, Dolgoruky, Tolstoi, and Hilkof, became skil- ful diplomatists, able administrators and useful servants of Peter and his successors ; but not one distinguished himself in naval matters.' ^ Solovief, xiv. ; Ustrialof, II., xii. ; Yelaghin ; Veselago; Posselt, Lefort. XXVIII. RUSSIANS ABROAD. During the reign of Ivan the Terrible and his son Theodore, YOiing Russian theological students were sometimes sent to Con- stantinople to learn Greek, and Boris Godunof, as has been al- ready said, sent a number of youths of good family to Liibeck, France, and England, for the completion of their education. These last found foreign life so attractive that only two of them returned. Under the Tsar Alexis, the children of foreigners living in Moscow were sometimes sent abroad at the expense of the Government to study medicine, and even a Russian, Peter Postnikof, the son of a high official in the Foreign Office, was sent, in 1692, to Italy for the same purpose. He passed a dis- tinguished examination at Padua in 1696, and received the de- gree of Doctor of Medicine, as well as that of Doctor of Phil- osophy. He did not, however, long pursue the practice of the healing art, for on account of his knowledge of Latin, French, and Italian, the Government employed him in diplomatic affairs. With these exceptions, most of the Russians who had trav- elled abroad up to this time, had been either pilgrims or diplo- matists.' To some of these pilgrims we owe highly interesting accounts of Constantinople and the Holy Land, both before and after the occupation of the Imperial city by the Turks. The Abbot Daniel describes his meeting with Baldwin, King of Jerusalem, in 1115. The Deacon Ignatius was present at the coronation of the Emperor Manuel in 1391, and Simeon of ' Occasionally, but rarely, a Russian merchant ventured abroad. We know of the mishaps of Laptef (see p. 230), and we should not forget the brave merchant of Tver, Athanasius Nikitin, who has left us an entertaining story of his journey through India in 14G8. 268 ■ PETER THE GKEAT. Suzdal accompanied the Metropolitan Isidore to the council of Florence in 1431). The pilgrims were occupied chiefly with relics and with re- ligious ceremonies. The diplomatists, although, like all good Christians, they did not neglect these, were more busied with court ceremonies and with formal official relations. Kot imder- standing the language of the countries to which they were sent, their reports are very dry and meagre, and taken uj) almost ex- clusively w^ith exact accounts of the interviews they had with the ministers of foreign affairs, of their audiences with the sovereigns, and of their disputes on points of etiquette. They say almost nothing about the political state of the countries in which they travelled. Indeed, they were not in a condition to obtain information on these subjects. They had not sufficient experience of political life, much less of a political life differing from that of Kussia, to know to what points to direct their at- tention, or how to make inquiries through an interpreter. It is difficult to see what impression even was made on them by for- eign countries, or whether they were pleased by a life so differ- ent from that at home. Incidentally, we know that their stay abroad must have been agreeable to them, for frequently some members of their suite ran away in order not to return to Rus- sia. We can see, too, that they were greatly interested in the canals and quays at Amsterdam, Bologna, and Verona. They were much pleased with the magnificent gardens of Holland and Italy, to which those made for the Tsar Alexis were so far inferior, and in these their admiration was especially excited by the fish-ponds and fountains. Works of art they were too nn- cultivated and imrefined to enjoy. The theatre pleased them more, but here they were chiefly struck by the costumes and the scenery. Ignorance of the language prevented them from ap- preciating the play or the acting, and the greatest opera-singers were to them so many 'wenches.' Zoological gardens and the collections of curiosities, which at that time contained a mixture of the scientific, the rare, the monstrous, and the odd, interested them greatly. Their deepest impressions were, perhaps, those of the comfort, as well as of the luxury, of Western life. The comfort, probably, they appreciated the more. For the intro- duction of luxm-y, little more than a command of money was SHEEEMETIEF. 269 required ; for the appropriation of comfort, there were neces- sary an organisation of social life and a careful management which it took many long years to naturalise in Russia. Some of the more observing diplomatists did indeed learn something of public life, ^nd gained ideas which were useful to them at home. The financial and economical reforms of Alexis Kur- batof were the immediate fruits of what he had learned when accompanying the boyar Sheremetief. Ukraintsef would never have been the skilful diplomatist he was, had it not been for his experience in several embassies, and Zheliabiizhky owed much to his stay in London, and his journey to Italy. Li nearly allcases, even though on their return the travellers sank back into Rus- sian life and Russian ways, their experience in the TTest must have given them a certain enlargement of mind, and a certain readiness to receive new ideas must have sensibly weakened their prejudices against what was foreign, and have powerfully aided in the Europeanization of Russia. The most illustrious traveller of that dav was the bovar Boris Sheremetief. He had gone to Lemberg in 1686, to re- ceive the ratification of the Russian -Polish treaty by Iving Jan Sobieski, and had afterwards announced it at Vienna ; but, in 1697, after the fatigue of his campaigns against the Tm*ks and Tartars, he asked permission to go abroad as a simple traveller for the pm'pose of fulfilling a vow which he had made when in danger, to pray at the tombs of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul at Rome. This request, which fell in so well Avith the views of Peter at that time, was readily granted, and Shereme- tief was triven letters bv the Tsar to the Kino^ of Poland, the Emperor Leopold, the Doge of Yenice, Pope Innocent XII., and the Grand Master of Malta. Although he travelled simply as a tourist, he apparently had instructions to inquu-e into the relations of Venice, and especially of Malta, with the Orient, and to see what dependence could be placed on them, or what aid be expected from them, in case of the continuation of the war with Turkey. Sheremetief left Moscow in July, 1697, and did not return until the end of Februarv, 1699. He took with him a numerous suite — amonfi: them as his secretarv and treas- urer, Alexis Ivurbatof, who afterwards became distinguished as a financial reformer. Sheremetief travelled with great state, 270 PETER THE GREAT. and liis whole journey cost him the sum of 20,550 rubles, equivalent then to about $42,500, fully ten or twelve times the salary usually received by the ambassadors. He was received with great ceremony and lionour by the rulers of the coun- tries he visited, was feasted and entertained by the nobles of Venice, Rome, and Xaples, all of which cities were then in the height of their social splendour ; was courted by the Jesuits, who hoped to convert him, and through him to unite the Russian with the Catholic Church ; he was made a Knight of Malta, and was the first Russian who ever received a foreign decoration. In general, the diplomatists were very badly paid. They were usually given twice the salary which they received from their official positions at home, in addition to presents of furs and provisions, and on their return usually further presents of furs. Only a small portion of their salary was paid in advance, and that chiefly in furs, which they had to sell at their post of duty in order to raise money. It was difficult for them to draw either on the Government or on their private property, as the com- mercial relations of Russia with foreign countries were at that time such that bills of exchange on Amsterdam were the only means of sending money abroad. They were therefore obliged to travel chiefly at their own expense, and frequently had great difficulty in getting paid when they came home. General Gor- don was obliged to wait years for the payment of his expenses when on a special mission to England. The burden thus laid on diplomatists was not inconsiderable. Their suites were great. Likhatchef, for example, had twenty-eight persons with him ; and the attendants of Tchemodanof were so numerous that he was obliged to charter two vessels from Archangel, as they could not all be accommodated on one. They were enjoined also to give proper presents in the proper places, and always strictly to pay their debts, that dishonour might not accrue to the Gov- ernment. The manner of payment by furs and other articles of commerce, which they were obliged to sell in order to raise money, gave them sometimes more the air of commercial trav- ellers and merchants than of ambassadors, and as they were naturally desirous of getting these wares— which w^ere money to them — through the custom-houses free of duty, disputes with DIFFICULTIES OF TEAVEL. 271 foreign Governments, as we have seen/ were not unfrequentlj brought about. Besides this, too, thej were sometimes com- missioned to make sales of articles abroad for the benefit of the Government. Thus Tchemodanof took to Italy, on behalf of the Government, 3,600 pounds of rhubarb, worth, according to Russian calculations, 5,000 rubles, and sables to the amount of 1,000 rubles. The speculation was unsuccessful. Xo pur- chasers could be found for the rhubarb, because it had been in- jured at sea, and on account of the difficulty of its transport over the Apennines, Tchemodanof was obliged to leave Leghorn. But few of the sables were sold, and these at very low prices. In some cases the Government assisted its envoys by lend- ing them embroidered robes of state, jewels, plate, and horse- trappings, which had to be exactly accounted for, and given back to the Treasurv on their return. Not the least interesting information contained in the re- ports of the Russian diplomatists is that concerning the difficul- ties of travel in those days. Journevs by water were alwavs easier and cheaper than those by land, and the embassies sent to England, Holland, France, or Italy usually went by sea from Archangel, although in so doing they were obliged to spend much time, and in the Mediterranean to expose themselves to imminent danger of capture by Turkish and Barbary pirates. The vovao;es of Likatchef and Tchemodanof from Archano^el to Leghorn occupied between four and five months, and besides the pirates, they encountered icebergs and severe tempests. As to land travel, the journey through Turkey was too danger- ous and difficult to be for a moment considered. In Poland, the hostile attitude of the magnates was such, especially during the constant intestine difficulties, that it was generally desirable to avoid that country, and there were often reasons for not pass- ing through the territory of Riga. In travelling by land, too, there were frequent delays arising from difficulties of obtaining horses, and the bad manner in which Russian carriages were constructed. Sheremetief, who took five months and a half for his journey from Moscow to Cracow, travelled, as long as he was on Russian soil, with his own horses. After crossing ' See page 1-46. 272 PETER THE GREAT. the frontier, he hired them. lie frequently made only five or six miles a day. Even outside of Eussia, a journey by land was necessarily slow. Sheremetief took a whole month to go from Vienna to Venice, and sixteen days for his return. Tcliemodanof was eight weeks in going from Yeriice to Am- sterdam, and Likatchef five and a half weeks from Florence to Amsterdam. Even in England, the roads were so bad that in 1703 the Spanish Pretender Charles III. (YI.) was fourteen hours in driving from London to Windsor, although lie stopped only when the carriage was overturned or stuck in the mud. There were great difficulties in crossing the mountains, whether in Switzerland or between Vienna and Yenice. Sheremetief was put to much trouble and expense by the snow near Pontebba, on the road from Tarvis, and was obliged to go for some dis- tance on foot. Likatchef was detained three days by a snow- storm on the St. Gothard. Stage-coaches were introduced into some parts of Europe, especially into Brandenburg, where in 1676 a Frenchman going to Berlin expressed his astonishment that one could travel in a coach by night. A pamphlet which appeared in England in 1673 tried to prove that stage-coaches were injuring trade in England, that fewer saddles, boots, spurs, and pistols were bought than formerly, and that clothes were not worn out so fast since men could keep dry by sitting in the coaches, by which the use of manufactured articles was limited. It was alleged that travelling by stage-coach produced effemi- nacy, because people were not exposed to the weather, and that travelling by night was very unhealthful. The expenses of travelling were sometimes very great, even for a small party. Likatchef paid for four carriages, a bag- gage-wagon and four riding-horses, to go from Bologna to Modena, a distance of about twenty-four miles, the sum of 151: thalers, a great amount in those days. In the larger towns, there were sometimes good inns. Sheremetief put up at the ' Golden Bull ' at Yienna, and at an inn in Xaples. Montaigne, we all remember, when in Pome lodged at the Albergo dell' Orso, which he found too expensive for him. The account given by the President des Brosses, in 1739, of the inns in the Italian towns, especially in Pome, ACCOMMODATIONS. 273 shows that they were not particularly comfortable. In the smaller towns and villages, the inns scarcely provided more than shelter for the horses, and travellers were obliged to take lodgings in some private house. The Russian diplomatists usually had recourse first to the merchants at Ai'changel, and then to the Dutch merchants in Amsterdam who had relations with Hussia, and from them received information as to their road — for they knew almost nothing of geography — and letters to correspondents in different towns who obtained for them ac- commodation. On reaching their destination, they usually had accommodation provided for them by the Government to which they were accredited. This sometimes happened in other places. Zheliabiizhky was lodged in Massa at the Ducal cas- tle, and in Trent Tchemodanof was entertained by the arch- bishop. Both at Eome and at Vienna, Sheremetief was able to hii'e large furnished apartments in palaces.^ ^ Bruckner, CulturJustoriscJie Studien ; Kotoshikhin, Russia in the Reign of Alexis (Russian), St. Petersburg, 1856 ; Diplomatic Monuments (Russian), vol. X., St. Petersburg, 1831; Documents Relating to RussicL from the Florentine Archives (Russian and Italian), Moscow, 1871 ; Old Russian Travellers in Sakharof's Account of the Russian Peojjle (Russian), St. Petersburg, 1841 ; Sheremetief, Journal duVoyage^ Paris, 1858. Vol. I.— 18 XXIX. THE JOURNEY OF PETER TO WESTERN EUROPE. The Tsar's feeling was so strong with regard to what might be learnt about ship-building in foreign countries that, after he had sent off many of his subjects to study the trade, he resolved to go himself. Without ascribing to this journey all the importance which Macaulay gave to it when he said, ' His journey is an epoch in the history, not only of his o^ti coun- try, but of ours, and of the world,' we must admit that it was a remarkable event, and one fraught with much consequence. Since the exiled Izvaslav visited the- court of the Emperor Hen- ry TV., at Mainz, in 1075, no Kussian ruler had ever been out of his dominions. Peter's journey marks the division between the old Russia, an exclusive, little known country, and the new Kussia, an important factor in European politics. It was also one of the turning points in the development of his character, and was the continuation of the education begun in the German suburb. In one way, it may be said that Peter's appearance in the German suburb was really more startling, and of more importance, than Peter in the Dress of Western Europe. 1697.] KEASONS FOE THE JOURNEY. 275 his journey westward, for that journey was the natural conse- quence and cuhnination of his intercourse with foreigners at Moscow. This sudden and mysterious iourney of the Tsar abroad ex- ercised the minds of Peters contemporaries no less than it has those of moderns. Many were the reasons which were ascribed then, and haye been giyen since, for this step. There was eyen a dispute among the students of the Uniyersity of Thorn as to the motiyes which had induced the Tsar to trayel. Pleyer, the secret Austrian agent, wrote to the Emperor Leopold that the whole embassy was ' merely a cloak for the freedom sought by the Tsar, to get out of his ovm country and diyert himself a little.' Another document in the archiyes at Vienna finds the cause of the journey in a yow made by Peter, when in dan- ger on the White Sea, to make a pilgrimage to the tombs of the Apostles St. Peter and St. Paul, at Pome. According to Voltaire, ^ He resolyed to absent himself for some years from his dominions, in order to learn how better to goyern them.' Xapoleon said : ' He left his country to deliyer himself for a while fi'om the crown, so as to learn ordinary life, and to re- mount by desirees to o-reatness.' But eyery authentic source gives us but one reason, and the same. Peter went abroad, not to fulfil a yow, not to amuse himself, not to become more civilised, not to learn the art of government, but simply to be- come a good shipwright. His mind was filled with the idea of creating a navy on the Black Sea for use against the Turks, and his tastes were still, as they had always been, purely me- chanical. For this purpose, as he himself says, and as his pro- longed residence in Holland shows, he desired to have an op- portunity of studying the art of ship-building in those places wliere it was carried to the highest uerfection, that is, in Hol- land, England, and Venice. In order to o-ive the Tsar o-reater freedom of action, and to save him from too mucli formality and ceremony, which he exceedingly disliked, an attempt was made to conceal the pur- pose of his journey by means of a great embassy, which should visit the chief countries of Western Europe, to explain the policy of Pussia toward Turkey, and to make whatever treaties it was found possible, either for commercial purposes or for the 276 PETER THE GREAT. war against the Turks. The embassy consisted of three extra- ordinary ambassadors, at the head of whom was General Lefort. Besides the other rewards he had received for tlie campaigns against Azof, he had been given the honorary title of Governor- General of Kdvgorod. The other ambassadors were the Gov- ernor-General of Siberia, Theodore Golovin, who had already distinguished himself by the treaty of JS^ertchmsk with the Chinese ; and the Governor of Bolkhof, Prokop Yoznitsyn, a skilful and experienced diplomatist. In the suite of the ambas- sadors were twenty nobles and thirty-five others, called volun- teers, who, like those previously sent, were going abroad for the study of ship-building. Among these was the Tsar him- self. These volunteers were chiefly young men who had been comrades of Peter in his play regiments, in his boat-building, and in his campaigns against Azof. Among them may be par- ticularly remarked Alexander Menshikof and Alexis Golitsyn, two Golovins, Simeon Karyshkin, and the Prince Alexander Eagration of Imeritia. Including priests, interpreters, pages, singers, and servants of various kinds, the suite of the embassy numbered as many as two hundred and fifty persons. The Tsar himself travelled under the strictest incognito. It was forbidden to give him the title of Majesty — he was always to be addressed simply as Min Her Peter Mikhailof — and it was forbidden, under pain of death, to mention his presence with the embassy. During the absence of the Tsar, the government was en- trusted to a regency of three persons — Leo ]^aryshkin. Prince Boris Golitsyn, and Prince Peter Prozorofsky, who were given supreme power. Prince Pamodanofsky was charged with maintaining order in Moscow^, and he had verbal instructions to follow up, in the severest way, the slightest movement of discontent or rebellion. The boyar Shein, assisted by General Gordon, had charge of the defence of the southern frontier on the side of Azof, w^hile Prince Jacob Dolgoruky succeeded the boyar Sheremetief in charge of the defences against the Tartars on the frontier of Little Pussia, and was ordered to get galleys ready for the siege of Otchakof in the spring of 1698. Shere- metief, who had already served two years in that country, ob- tained leave of absence and permission to travel abroad. 1697.] A PLOT DISCOVERED. 277 Preparations were nearly finished for tlie departure of the embassy, when an unexpected delay occurred. Gordon ex- pressed it thus in his diary : ' A merry night has been spoiled by an accident of discovering treason against his Majesty.' The Colonel of the Streltsi, Ivan Zickler, of foreign birth or extraction, and two Russian nobles of high rank, Alexis Sokov- nin and Theodore Pushkin, were accused of plotting against the life of the Tsar. They were accused on the testimony of Larion Yelisarof , who was one of the denunciators of the alleged plot against Peter's life in 16S9, when he took refuge at Troitsa. In all probability there was no plot whatever, but simply loose and unguarded talk between discontented men. Zickler had always been well treated by the Princess Sophia and Shaklo- vity, but when he saw the preponderance on the side of Peter he went to Troitsa and made denunciations. He did not, how- ever, receive the reward and favour which he expected, but, on the contrary, was looked upon askance, and had recently been sent to Azof. He was naturally irritated against the Tsar, and in unguarded moments probably expressed his feelings too strongly. Sokovnin was a virulent dissenter, and the brother of two ladies well known for their opposition to the Patriarch Kikon, and their encouragement of dissent in the reign of Alexis — Theodora Morozof and the Princess Avdotia Uriisof . He was therefore opposed to many of Peter's innovations ; and his father-in-law, Matthew Pushkin, who had been appointed Governor of Azof, had excited the anger of the Tsar because he had refused to send his children abroad. Theodore Pushkin was one of the sons, and had uttered vague threats of revenge in case the Tsar should have his father whipped to death for his refusal, for rumours to that effect were being industriously circulated. Torture produced confessions of various kinds, and among them repetitions by Zickler of the old accusations against the Princess Sophia. The prisoners were speedily con- demned, and were beheaded on the Eed Place, after having their arms and legs chopped off. Their heads were exposed on stakes. The confessions of Zickler, and the renewed accusa- tions against his sister Sophia, excited Peter's mind against the whole of the Miloslavsky family, and in his rage he even went to the length of taking up the body of Ivan Miloslavsky — who 278 PETER THE GREAT. liacl been dead fourteen years — of dragging the coffin by swine to the place of execution, and of placing it in such a position that the blood of the criminals spurted into the face of the corpse. Even at this time there was much popular discontent and hostile criticism of Peter. Kot all of those who saw that re- forms were absolutely necessary approved his measures and his conduct. A rumour was spread that the Tsar Ivan had publicly proclaimed to all the people : ^ My brother does not live accord- ing to the Church. lie goes to the German suburb, and is acquainted with Germans.' There was talk, too, of the way in which Peter had abandoned his wife and family, and family affairs probably caused the quarrel between Leo Karyshkin and the Lopiikhins, the relatives of Peter's wife. What exactly happened is not known, but Peter Lopiikhin, the uncle of the Tsaritsa and the Minister of the Palace, was accused of bri- bery and extortion, and for this, or some other cause, was ex- iled, together with his brothers, one of them the father of the Tsaritsa. A report was circulated among the common peo- ple, and was widely believed, that Peter had assisted with his own hands in applying the torture to his wife's uncle. One man, the monk Abraham, dared to make himself the exponent of the popular feeling, and presented to Peter a petition in which he made mention of the abandonment of his wife, of the relations which he had formed in the German suburb, and of the bad feeling which had been excited by the Tsar lower- ing himself to work at boats, and to appear on foot in the tri- umphal procession, instead of taking his proper place. As was natural, the petition gave rise to a trial ; Abraham was sent to a distant monastery, and three other men who were impli- cated were punished with the knout, and sent to Azof. AYhen these trials were completed, the embassy set out, on March 20, 1697. It was intended to go first to Vienna, then to Venice and Pome, then to Holland and England, and to return by the way of Konigsberg. The trouble in Poland, con- sequent on the interregnum, made travelling through that country dangerous, and the only way in which Vienna could be reached was by a roundabout journey through Piga, Konigs- berg, and Dresden. The plan was therefore changed. 1697.] AT KIGA. 279 The first experience of the Tsar in a foreign country was an unfortunate one. The Governor of Pskov, who had been ordered to make the arrangements for Peter's journey through Livonia, had neglected to say in his letter to Eric Dahlberg, the Governor of Piga, how many persons accompanied the embassy. Dahlberg replied, asking the number of people he should ex- pect, and saying that, while he would do his best, he hoped they would overlook some inconveniences, as a great famine was unfortmiately reigning in the country. Major Glazenap was sent to the frontier to escort the embassy, but Peter was so impatient, and travelled so fast, that they arrived at the frontier before the proper arrangements had been made to receive them. They therefore found no conveyances, and were obliged to go on to Piga in the carriages brought from Pskov, and trust to their o\^ti pro^dsions. A short distance fi'om Piga, light car- riages and an escort were waiting for them, and they were cere- moniously received in the town with a military parade, while a guard of fifty men was placed near their lodgings. The next day the ambassadors sent two of their nobles to thank the governor for his kindness, and a retm-n visit was paid by one of his adjutants. Immediately afterward, Peter wrote to Yinius that they ' were received with great honour, and with a salute of twenty-four guns, when they entered and left the fortress.' Unfortunately, the embassy was detained at Piga for a whole week by the breaking up of the ice on the Diina, which made crossing impossible. Peter preserved his incognito, and went out to see the town. His military cm*iosity naturally led him to inspect the fortifications and measure the width and depth of the ditches, when he was somewhat rudely ordered away by ^ the sentinel. Discontented at this, a complaint was made, and the governor apologised, assuring Lefort that no discourtesy Avas intended. Lefort was satisfied, and said that the sentinel had merely done his duty. It must be remembered that Piga was a frontier town, that Livonia was an outlying province of Sweden, and that the embassy was not accredited to the Swedish court. Dahlberg was coldly, formally polite ; he did all that propriety demanded, but nothing more. He knew perfectly well that the Tsar was with the embassy, but he re- spected his incognito. As the ambassadors did not pay him 280 PETER THE GREAT. a visit in person, lie did not pay a personal visit to tlie ambas- sadors. Nothing was done in the way of amusement or diver- sion for the Tsar, besides the first reception. The ambassadors were left to pay for their lodgings and their provisions, and to get on as best they might. They paid high prices for every- thing, but times were hard, and the people naturally tried to make the most they could out of the distinguished strangers. As there was nothing to be seen, either in a military or naval way, as there were no feasts or amusements of any kind pre- pared for him, Peter became bored, especially as he was anxious to continue his journey. lie left tlie rest, ventured across the river in a small boat, and remained waiting two days on the other side. In a letter to Yinius, of April 18, he says: 'Here we lived in a slavish way, and were tired with the mere sight of things.' ^Nevertheless, the embassy took its leave with all form and ceremony, and crossed the river on a vessel carrying the royal flag of Sweden, and with a salute. When it was necessary to find a pretext for a war with Sweden, the recep- tion at Riga was made one of the reasons, and even in 1T09, when the siege of Kiga was undertaken, Peter, after throwing the first three bomb -shells into the town, wrote to Menshikof : ' Thus the Lord God has enabled us to see the beginning of our revenge on this accursed place.' We should add here that Peter's feelings about his reception at Piga probably increased with time. In other countries where he went, there was a sovereign with a court, and although, in a certain w^ay, the Tsar was incognito, yet he was privately and familiarly received and entertained. It was unfortunate for him that his first venture was in an outljdng province, the tenure of which was not too secure, and in a commercial rather than in an aristocratic city. Mitau is now a dull provincial town, and the Hebrew signs on the street corners show the great Jewish population. Its great- est object of interest to travellers is the old Ducal Castle, almost entirely rebuilt in the last century, with its reminiscences of the residence and sudden departure of the exiled Louis XYIIL, and with the mummified body of the Duke John Ernest Biren (the lover of the Empress Anne, and the ancestor of the Sagan family), which lies in its coffin attired in velvet and ruffles, but by some malice lacking the tip of the nose. In 1697 Mitau was 1697.] I^ CUKLAND. 281 tlie capital of tlie little Duchy of Curland, which maintained a semi-independence bj becoming a fief of the Polish crown. The reigning Duke, Frederic Casimir, was an old friend of Lefort. It was with him that Lefort had served in Holland. Although he was poor, he did everything that he could to make the time pass pleasantly for Peter and for the embassy. Here the Tsar consented to give up in part his incognito, made visits to the Duke, and received them in return. A week was quickly passed in amusement and pleasure, but even with this Peter found time to exercise himself in a carpenter's shop. From Mitau Peter proceeded to Libau, where he was de- tained by bad weather for a week, until he finally took passage on a small ship going to Pillau, the port of Konigsberg. Dur- ing his stay at Libau, he passed for the skipper of a Pussian privateer, though he was able to give no satisfactory explana- tion to an acquaintance, who frequently met and drank with him in a small beer-shop, as to why it was a privateer, and not a m.erchant vessel that he commanded. Besides the beer-house, Peter often A^sited an apothecary's shop, and wrote to Yinius that he had seen there ' a wonder which was ordinarily con- sidered mitrue, a real salamander preserved in spirits in a bottle,' which he had taken out and held in his hand. The embassy proceeded by land. The Tsar went by sea, to avoid passing through Polish territory. Blomberg, whom we have already cited about the election of Patriarch, met the embassy in Curland, and says of their en- tertainment : ' Open tables were kept everywhere, with trumpets and music, attended with feasting and excessive drinking all along, as if his Tsarish Majesty had been another Bacchus. I have not seen such hard drinkers ; it is not possible to express it, and they boast of it as a mighty qualification.' Of Lefort's drinkino^ he remarks : ' It never overcomes him, but he always continues master of his reason.' Leibnitz, writing fi-om private information received from Konigsberg, says much the same thing : ' Lefort drinks like a hero ; no one can rival him. It is feared that he will be the death of some of the Elector's courtiers. Beginning in the evening, he does not leave his pipe and ghiss till three hours after sunrise, and yet he is a man of great parts.' Frederick HI., Elector of Brandenburg, then on the eve of 282 PETER THE GREAT. transforming himself into the first King of Prussia, was greatly interested to know whether the Tsar was really with the em- bassy, and beside sending a secret agent into Cm-land to find out, he gave directions about the treatment of the embassy, in case it were simply intending to pass through his dominions, or in case it were directed also to him. Peter was therefore met at Pillau by an officer who proffered the hospitality of the Elector, but an answer was returned that there was no person of distinction on board, except the Prince of Imeritia, and that no visits could be received. A similar occurrence took place at the mouth of the Pregel, and it was not until Peter arrived at Konigsberg itself that he was willing to allow himself to be known to the Elector. After taking small lodgings in a street on the Ivneiphof, he went out in a close carriage, late at night, and paid a visit to the Elector, entering the palace by a private staircase. The interview lasted for an hour and a half, and the sovereigns were mutually pleased. Although, in order to keep his incognito, Peter refused to receive a return visit, yet he saw the Elector several times again, and was entertained by him at his country house, witnessed a bear-fight, and appeared at a hunting party. His curiosity and vivacity, his readiness to be pleased, and his appreciation of the manners and habits of the country, made a favourable impression. He astonished by his natural capacity and his dexterity, even in playing the trumpet and the drum. The embassy arrived eleven days after Peter, and w^as splen- didly received. Great advantages were expected to Branden- burg from an intimacy with Russia, and the Elector, therefore, spared no money. Peter's visit is said to have cost him 150,000 thalers. Under the skilful guidance of Lefort and Yon Besser, all ceremonial observances were strictly complied with, and, for the fii'st time in the history of Russian missions abroad, there was no unseemly wrangling over points of precedence and eti- quette. The members of the embassy appeared officially in Russian costume, although they wore foreign dress in private. The Elector told the Tsar afterwards that he had hard work to keep from laughing, when, according to custom, he had to ask the ambassadors how the Tsar was, and whether they had left him in good health. Peter had just before been standing at the window to see the entry of the embassy, and was well 1697.] IN KONIGSBERG. 283 satisfied. At a supper given in honour of the ambassadors, great pleasure was caused by the fireworks, one piece represent- ino; the Kussian arms, and another the victory at Azof. The two rulers were so well disposed towards each other, that a treaty of friendship was speedily concluded. The Elec- tor was greatly desirous that there should be inserted an article of alliance for mutual defence and protection ; but the Russians were too cautious for this, and although the treaty contained clauses giving additional privileges to merchants, especially as recfarded the Persian trade, and for the surrender of criminals and deserters, yet the Elector had to be satisfied with a verbal agreement and oath ' not to let a favourable occasion escape of being useful to each other by giving each other their mutual help, as far as possible, against all theii' enemies, but particu- larly against the Swedes.' On Jmie 20, after nearly a month's stay, Peter went to Pillau, with the intention of taking ship directly to Holland, for he found it more convenient to defer his visit to Yienna till his return. Before leaving, he sent a ruby of large size as a present to his host. At Pillau he was detained three weeks longer, by the necessity of watching affairs in Poland, where the interregnum consequent on the death of Sobieski had pro- duced more than the usual trouble. The threatened interven- tion by the French, to support the Prince de Conti on the Polish throne, would have been greatly against the interest of Hussia. The Tsar occupied his leisure \\dth active and thorough studies in artillery, under the guidance of the chief engineer of the Prussian fortresses, Colonel Steitner von Sternfeld, who gave him a certificate of remarkable progress and knowledge. An unfortunate incident, arising from Peter's hasty temper, marked the conclusion of his stay. He had remained a day longer to celebrate his name's-day, and had expected the Elec- tor to visit him. He had even made some fireworks for the occasion. Frederick had been obliged to go to Memel, to meet the Duke of Curland, and therefore sent Coimt von Kreyzen and the Landvogt von Schacken to present his compliments and his regrets. Peter was childishly vexed, and in his disappoint- ment at not beins: able to show his fireworks, vented his raoje on the envoys. He took it amiss that they had left the room after 284 PETER THE GREAT. dinner to 'refresh themselves ' after their journey, and had them brought back. Looking ' sourly ' at Count von Kreyzen, he re- marked in Dutch to Lef ort, that ' The Elector was very good, but his counsellors were the devil.' Then, thinking he saw a smile steal over the face of Kreyzen, who was about to retire, he rushed at him, cried, ' Go ! go ! ' and twice pushed him backwards. His anser did not cool until he had written to his ' dearest friend,' the Elector, a letter half of complaint and half of apology. Instead of going by sea from Pillau to Holland, Peter went no farther than Colberg, as he was fearful of " falling in with the French squadron, which was said to be escorting the Prince de Conti to Poland. From that place he travelled by land as speedily as possible, stopping only to look at the famous iron- works near Ilsenburg, and to ascend the Brocken for the view. The journey of the Tsar produced as much commotion and excitement in the minds of curious people of that time as did those of the Sultan and Shah in our own day. Among those most anxious to form a personal acquaintance with the Tsar were the philosopher Leibnitz, who had long been interested in Russia, chiefly for philological reasons, and his friends, Sophia, the widowed Electress of Hanover, granddaughter of James I. of England, and her daughter Sophia Charlotte, wife of the Elector of Brandenburg. Sophia Charlotte was on a visit to her mother, and had therefore missed the visit of Peter to Konigs- berg, though she had had full accounts of it from a constant correspondent. Leibnitz was unable at this time to see the Tsar, but the two Electresses, attended by several young princes and members of their court, made a hasty journey from Hanover to Ivoppenbriigge, through which they found Peter was to pass. They invited him to sup with them, but it took a discussion of an hour to persuade him to accept, and he did so only on the assurance that he would be received in the simplest way. He finally succeeded in avoiding the curious eyes of the attendants, and in getting into the supper-room by the back staircase. After supper there was a dance, and the party did not separate until four in the morning. Perhaps the princesses can tell their ovm story best. Sophia Charlotte says in a letter : ' My mother and I began to pay him our compliments, but he made -Mr. Lefort reply for him, for he seemed shy, hid his 1697.] THE ELECTEESS OF HANOVEE. 285 face in his hands, and said: '^ Ich Icann nicht sjyrecheny But we tamed him a Httle, and then he sat down at the table be- tween my mother and myself, and each of us talked to him in turn, and it was a strife who should have it. Sometimes he replied with the same promptitude, at others he made two in- terpreters talk, and assuredly he said nothing that was not to the point on all subjects that were suggested, for the vivacity of my mother put to him many questions, to which he replied with the same readiness, and I was astonished that he was not tired with the conversation, for I have been told that it is not much the habit in his country. As to his grimaces, I imagined them worse than I found them, and some are not in his power to correct. One can see also that he has had no one to teach him how to eat properly, but he has a natural, unconstrained air which pleases me.' Her mother wrote, a few days afterwards : ' The Tsar is very tall, his features are line, and his figure very noble. He has great vivacity of mind, and a ready and just repartee. But, with all the advantages with which nature has endowed him, it could be wished that his manners were a little less rustic. We immediately sat down to table. Herr Koppenstein, who did the duty of marshal, presented the nap- kin to his Majesty, who was greatly embarrassed, for at Bran- denburg, instead of a table-napkin, they had given him an ewer and basin after the meal. He was very gay, very talkative, and we established a great friendship for each other, and he ex- changed snuif-boxes with my daughter. We stayed, in truth, a very long time at table, but we would gladly have remained there longer still without feeling a moment of ennui, for the Tsar was in very good humour, and never ceased talking to us. My daughter had her Italians sing. Their song pleased him, thouo-h he confessed to us that he did not care much for music. ' I asked him if he liked hunting. He replied that his father had been verv fond of it, but that he himself, from his earliest youth, had had a real passion for navigation and for fireworks. He told us that he worked himself in building ships, showed us his hands, and made us touch the callous places that had been caused by work. He brought his musicians, and they played Russian dances, which we liked better than Polish ones. • 286 PETER THE GREAT. ' Lefort and liis nephew dressed in French style, and had much wit. We did not speak to the other ambassadors. We regretted that we could not stay longer, so that we could see him again, for his society gave us much pleasure. He is a very extraordinary man. It is impossible to describe him, or even to give an idea of him, unless you have seen him. He has a very good heart, and remarkably noble sentiments. I must tell you, also, that he did not get drunk in our presence, but we had hardly left when the people of his suite made ample amends.' In another letter she says : — ' I could embellish the tale of the journey of the illustrious Tsar, if I should tell you that he is sensible to the charms of beauty, but, to come to the bare fact, I found in him no dispo- sition to gallantry. If we had not taken so many steps to see him, I believe that he would never have thought of us. In his country it is the custom for all women to paint, and rouge forms an essential part of their marriage presents. That is why the Countess Platen singularly pleased the Muscovites; but in dancing, they took the whalebones of our corsets for our bones, and the Tsar showed his astonishment by saying that the German ladies had devilish hard bones. ' They have four dwarfs. Two of them are very well-pro- portioned, and perfectly well-bred; sometimes he kissed, and sometimes he pinched the ear of his favorite dwarf. He took the head of our little Princess (Sophia Dorothea, ten years old), and kissed her twice. The ribbons of her hair suffered in con- sequence. He also kissed her brother (afterwards George II. of England, then sixteen years old). He is a prince at once very good and very mechant. He has quite the manners of his country. If he had received a better education, he would be an accomplished man, for he has many good qualities, and an infinite amount of natural wit.' ^ 1 Ustrialof , III., i. ii. and appendix; Solovief, xiv. ; Posselt, Lefort; Bruckner, Die Reise Peters des Grossen in Aiisland, in the Russische Revue for 1879; Lamberty, Memoir es pour servir a Vhistoire du XVIII. siecle, i., La Haye, 1724 ; Blomberg, Account of Livonia ; Erman, Memoirespour servir a Vhistoire de Soj-^Me Charlotte, Berlin, 1801 ; Theiner, Monuments historiques ; V. Guerrier, Leibnitz and Peter the Great (Russian), St. Petersburg, 1871-73; F. Martens, Recueil des Traites et Conventions de Russie, V., Traites avec V Allemagne, St. Petersburg, 1880. PETER IX HOLLAND. A SHORT sail from Amsterdam, up the gulf of the Y, brings the traveller to the picturesque little town of Zaandam, extend- ing along the banks of the river Zaan. From the windows of the coffee-house, built on the dam or dvke which connects the two parts of the town, one can see on one side the placid pool of the Binnenzaan, with gardens sloping to the shore, and cottages painted blue, green, and pink, half concealed in the verdure, and on the other the port with its wharves and ship-yards, the many sails on the Y, and the multitudinous windmills, which surround the town like guardian towers. At the end of the seventeenth centurv, Zaandam, with the neio^h- bouring villages, was the centre of a great ship-building busi- ness. There were not less than fifty private wharves in Zaan- dam, at which merchant vessels were constructed, and so great was the crowd of workmen, and so rapid the execution, that a vessel was often ready to go to sea in five weeks fi'om the time the keel was laid. The windmills then, as now, supplied the motive power for sawing the necessary timber. At Voronezh, at Ai'changel, and elsewhere, Peter had met shipwrights fi'oni Zaandam, who had praised so much their native town, that he was convinced that only there could he learn the art of ship- building in its perfection. His journey from Ivoppenbriigge and down the Ehine had been rapid, and passing through Am- sterdam without halting, the Tsar reached Zaandam early on the morning of August IS, having with him only six volunteers, including the Prince of Imeritia and the two brothers Men- shikof . On the way he saw an old Moscow acquamtance, the smith Gerrit Kist, fishing in tlie river. He hailed him, and told him for what pm-pose he had come to Zaandam. Binding him 288 PETER THE GREAT. to absolute secresy, the Tsar insisted on taking up his quarters in his house ; but it was necessary first to persuade the woman wlio ah-eady lodged in this small wooden hut to vacate it, and then to prepare it a little for the illustrious guest. Peter there- fore took refuge in the ' Otter ' Inn, for it was Sunday, and the streets were thronged with people, and although he was in a workman's dress, with a tarpaulin hat, yet the liussian dress of his comrades excited the curiosity of the crowd. The next day, Peter at Work at Zaandam. he entered himself as a ship-carpenter at the wharf of Lynst Hogge, on the Buitenzaan. Peter's stay in Zaandam lasted a week only, and as, during this time, he visited nearly all the mills and factories in the neighbourhood, at one of which he made a sheet of paper wdth his owTi hands, and as the next day after his arrival he bought a row-boat, and passed much of his time on the water, supped, dined, and talked familiarly with the families and re- lations of men whom he had known in Pussia, he could not have done much work. The popular curiosity proved too an- noying for him. There were rumours that the Tsar was in the town. These rumours brought large and inquisitive crowds from Amsterdam. Finally, one day when Peter had bought a hatful ■< Q *^ ■< SI -si < C 1697.] AT ZAANDAM. 289 of plums, and was eating tliem as lie walked along the street, he met a crowd of boys, with some of whom he shared his fruit. Those to whom he had refused to give began to follow him, and, when he laughed at them, to throw mud and stones. Peter was obliged to take refuge in the ' Three Swans ' Inn, and send for the Bui'gomaster. He had to make some sort of explanation to the Burgomaster, and an edict was immediately issued, forbid- ding insults to ' distinguished personages who wished to remain unkno^vn.' One man, too, had received a letter from his son in Moscow, speaking of the great embassy, and saying that the Tsar was with it, and would in all probability visit Zaandam. / The Tsar, it was said, could easily be recognized by his great lieight — nearly seven feet — ^by the twitching of his face, by his gesturing with his right hand, and by a small mole on the right cheek. This letter was seen by the barber Pomp. When, soon after, the Muscovites came into his shop, he immediately recog- nised Peter as answering to this description, and at once circu- lated the news. When Peter sailed on the Zaan in the new yacht which he had bought, and to which he had himself fitted a bowsprit, he was followed by crowds of curious people. This put him out of patience, and leaping ashore, he gave one of them a cuif on the cheek, to the delight of all the spectators, who called out : ' Bravo ! Marsje, you are made a knight.' The angry Tsar shut himself up in an inn, and could only retm-n late at night. The next day, Satm-day, had been appointed for drawing a large ship built by Cornelius Calf across the dyke, from the Binnenzaan to the Yorzaan, by means of rollers and capstans, a difficult and even critical operation. Peter, who was greatly interested, had promised to come, and a place had been set apart for him. The news of his expected presence having spread, the crowd was so enormous that the guards were driven back, the palisade broken down, and the reserv^ed space en- croached upon. Seeing the crowd, Peter refused to leave his house, and although the Schout, the Burgomasters, and the other authorities came in person to him, they got nothing more than ' Stral's, straps ' (immediately), and finally, when he had stuck his head out of the door and seen the crowd, a blunt re- fusal : ' Te veel volJcs, te veel voiles ' (too many people). Sunday, it seemed as if all Amsterdam had come for a sight of him, and Vol. I.— 19 290 PETEK THE GKEAT. Peter, Jis a last re.^oTirce, managed to get to his yacht, and al- thougli a severe storm was blowing, and every one advised him not to risk it, he sailed off, and three hours later arrived at Am- sterdam, where his ambassadors were to have a formal reception the next day. ^^^itll some difficulty he made his way to the Oude zijds Ileeren loge^iient, where they were living. After the ambassadors had been received, Peter, in com- Sham-Fight on the Y. pany with them, visited the town hall (now the Poyal Palace), considered by all good burghers of Amsterdam as a chef- cVmuvre of architecture, inspected the docks and the admiralty, went to a special representation of a comedy and ballet, took part in a great dinner, saw a splendid display of fireworks on the Amstel, and, what interested him most of all, witnessed a grand naval sham-fight on the Y, which lasted for a whole day, under the direction of the Vice- Admiral Giles Scheij. PETER'S HOME AT ZAANDAM. 1697.] AT AMSTEEDAM. 291 The house in which Peter lived at Zaandam has been a place of pilgi'image for a century, beginning with a roval party, which included the Emperor Joseph II., Gusta^nis III., King of Sweden, and the Grand Duke of Eussia (afterward the Em- peror Paul), then travelling as the Comte du Xord. Even Xa- poleon visited it. Bought in 1S18 by a Russian princess, at that time Queen of Holland, it is now preserved with great care inside a new building. In itself it is no more worth visit- ing than any other house where Peter may have been forced to spend a week. It is only of interest as being the spot where the ruler of a great country sought to gain knowledge of an art which amused him, and which he thought would be beneficial to his people. His real life as a workman was all in Amster- dam. Dm'ing the festivities Peter asked the Burgomaster Witsen, ^hose personal acquaintance he had at last made, whether it would not be possible for him to work at the docks of the East India Company, where he could be free from the public curi- osity which so troubled him at Zaandam. The next day, at a meeting of the directors of the East India Company, it was re- solved to aUow 'a high personage, present here incognito,' to work at the wharf, to assign him a house in which he could live undisturbed within the precincts, and that, as a mark of their respect, they would proceed to the construction of a fi-ig- ate, in order that he might see the building of a ship from the beghmiug. This frigate was to be one hundred or one hundred and thirty feet long, according to the wish of the Tsar, though Ihe Company preferred the length of one hundred feet. The Tsar was at the dmner of state given to the embassy by the city of Amsterdam, when he received a copy of this resolution. He wished to set to work immediatelv, and was with difficult v persuaded to wait for the fireworks and the triumphal arch pre- pared in his honour ; but as soon as the last fires had burnt out, in spite of all entreaties, he set out for Zaandam on his yacht in order to fetch his tools. He returned earlv the next morn- ing, August 30, and went straight to the wharf of the East India Company, at Oostenburg. For more than four months, with occasional absences, he worked here at ship-building, imder the direction of the Baas 292 PETER THE GREAT. Gerrit Claes Pool. Ten of the Hussian 'volunteers' set to work at the wharf with him. The rest were sent to other es- tablishments to learn the construction of masts, boats, sails, and blocks, while Prince Alexander of Imeritia went to the Ilas^ue to study artillery, and a certain number of others were entered as sailors before the mast. The first three weeks were taken up with the preparations of materials. On September 19, Peter laid the keel of the new frigate, one hundred feet in length, to be called ' the Apostles Peter and Paul,' and on the next day wi'ote to the Patriarch at Moscow as follows : 'AYe are in the Xetherlands, in the town of Amsterdam, and by the mercy of God, and by your prayers, are alive and in good health, and, following the divine command given to our forefather Adam, we are hard at work. "What we do is not from any need, but for the sake of learning navigation, so that, having mastered it thoroughly, we can, when we return, be victors over the enemies of Jesus Christ, and liberators of the Christians who live under them, which I shall not cease to wish for until mv latest breath.' Peter allowed no difference to be made between himself and the other workmen, and it is said that, when the Earl of Port- land and another nobleman came from the king's chateau at Loo to have a sight of him, the overseer, in order to pouit him out, said : ' Carpenter Peter of Zaandam, why don't you help your comrades ? ' and Peter, without a word, placed his shoulder under the timber which several men were carrying, and helped to raise it to its place. In the moments of rest, the Tsar, sit- ting down on a log, with his hatchet between his knees, was willing to talk to anyone who addressed him simply as Carpen- ter Peter, or Baas Peter, but turned away and did not answer those* who called him Sire or Your Majesty. lie never liked long conversations. , When Peter came home from the wharf, he devoted much of his time to learning the theory of ship-building, for which he had to make additional studies in geometry. His note- books, which have been carefully preserved, show the thor- oughness with which he worked. But, besides that, he had many letters to answei', and now that he was away from home he took more interest in at least the foreign policy of his Gov- 1697.] woPwK AT amsterda:^:. 298 ernment. Every post fjfpni Moscow brought him a package of letters, some asking questions and favours — for, in spite of the Supreme Eegency, many matters were still referred to him — some giving him news, and others containing nothing but good wishes or friendly talk about social matters. To all these Peter endeavored to reply by each Friday's post, but, as he wrote once to Yinius, ' sometimes from weariness, sometimes fi'om absence, and sometimes from Khnelmtzkr)^ one cannot accomplish it.' He was the first to communicate to Moscow news and congratulations on the battle of the Zenta, where Prince Eugene of Savoy defeated the Turks commanded by the Grand Yizier, for which he ordered Te Deums and festivi- ties at home, and had a banquet given by his embassy in Hol- land. The defeat of the Tartars near Azof, and the splendid defence of Tavan as^ainst the Turks, made an occasion for an- other feast. Until the Prince de Conti ignominiously returned by post fi-om Danzig, after he had gone there with a French squadron, the Tsar was much troubled with Polish affairs. He had also to thank Charles XII. of Sweden for his timely gift of three hundred cannon to arm his infant fleet, while, at the same time, Lefort was asking the Chancellor Oxenstjerna for explanations about the attitude of Sweden in regard to Poland. He was in constant conmiunication with the great embassy, and used his best efforts to persuade William III. to join in the league against the Turks. Partly for this purpose he went to Utrecht tocrether with Lefort and AYitsen, where he had an interview with the King in the Toelast Hotel. Although the details of this interview have never been kno\\^l, it was thought worthv of a commemorative medal. The Govei-nment of the jSTetherlands, fearintr for its Smvrna and Eastern trade, was unwilling to enter into any such alliance, and made no offer of money nor of a loan, which, indeed, the Russians had not asked, and it was with some difficult v even that men could be found to enter the Russian service as officials, engineers, or craftsmen. Those who went, did so without the recommenda- tion of the Government, and on their own responsibility. ' IvdsJika KJimdrvUzkyy from Khmel^ hops, is the Russian substitute for Bacchus. 294 PETEK THE GllEAT. The Tsar was also greatly interested in the conferences at Ilyswyk, wliich at last resulted in a treaty. He understood well that if the Emperor were freed from the war in the West, he could so much the more readily devote himself to operations against the Turks. Nevertheless, he had little confidence in the duration of the treaty, even before it was signed. Kot understanding how necessary it was for England and the Xeth- erlands, he believed it to be simply a manoeuvre on the part of Erance for gaining time, and expected a new war soon. We know the history of the negotiations at Ryswyk, the struggles for precedence, and the interminable disputes on etiquette. Xow that Hussia had made up her mind to enter upon regular diplomatic intercourse with other nations, it was important that she should make her debut properly. Xo better stage could be foimd than the Hague, where the most skilled diplo- matists of all European countries were then assembled. On the whole, Russia did well. The embassy was splendidly re- ceived at the Hague, and lodged in the Oude Doelen Hotel, as the palace of Prince Maurice, the usual ambassadorial lodging, Avas already full. The ambassadors were men of good pres- ence, Lefort had wit and good breeding, the liveries were new and gorgeous, the entertainments were sumptuous, the presence of the Tsar (for he had gone on to the Hague for a few days, to witness the ceremonies) gave additional effect. 'Visits were made to all the foreign ambassadors except to the French. The feeling created by Prince Dolgoriiky's report of his mis- sion, in 1687, was still so strong, added to the irritation of Peter against the Erench intrigues in Poland and at Constanti- nople, that he would not permit his ambassadors to call on the French. In this he was imwise, for it w^as in consequence of this that certain persons continually tried to cause difficulties in his negotiations, and that untrue and malicious reports with regard to the embassy, and to the Tsar in particular, had circu- lation then, and have since found credence. In his hours of recreation, Peter's curiosity was insatiable. He ^dsited factories, workshops, anatomical museums, cabinets of coins, botanical gardens, theatres and hospitals, inquired about everything he saw, and was soon recognised by his oft- repeated phrases : ' What is that for ? How does that work ? 1697.] IN HOLLAND. 295 That will I see/ He journeyed to Texel, and went again to Zaandam to see the Greenland wlialins; fleet. In Levden he made the acquaintance of the great Boerhave, and visited the celebrated botanical garden under his guidance, and in Delft he studied the microscope under the naturalist Leeuwenhoek. Peter m thu ,Vi^^c-.i. of Jacob oc v/.,v 2. Pete, i w^O£,.,',g at Leyden. He made the intimate acquaintance of the Dutch military en- gineer Baron Yan Coehorn, and of Admiral Yan Scheij. He talked of architecture with Simon Schynvoet, visited the niu- seum of Jacob de Wilde, and learned to etch under the direc- 296 PETER THE GKEAT. tion of Sclionebeck. An impression of a plate he engraved — for lie liad some knowledge of drawing — of Christianity victor- ious over Islam, is still extant, lie often visited the dissecting and lecture room of Professor Ruyscli, entered into corre- spondence with him, and finally bought his cabinet of anatom- ical preparations/ He made himself acquainted with Dutch ^ home and family life, and frequented the society of the merchants engaged in the Russian trade. He became especially intimate with the Thessing family, and grant- ed to one of the brothers the right to print Russian books at Amster- dam, and to intro- duce them into Rus- sia. Every market day he went to the Botermarkt, min- gled with the peo- ple, studied their trades, and followed their life. He took lessons from a trav- elling dentist, and experimented on his servants and suite ; he mended his own clothes, and learned cobbling enough to make himself a pair of slippers. He visited the Protestant churches, and of an evening he did not forget the beer-houses, which we know Copy of Etching by Peter. ' It now forms part of the Museum of the Academy of Sciences at St. Petersburg. 1697.] SHIP-BUILDIXG. 297 so well through the pencils of Teniers, Brouwer, and Yan Ostade. The frigate on which Peter worked so long was at last launched, and proved a good and useful ship for many years, in the East India Company's service. But Peter, in spite of the knowledge he had acquired, as is shown by the certificate of his master. Baas Pool, was not satisfied with the empirical man- ner in which the Dutch built ships. He had laboured in vain to acquire a theory in ship-building which, with a given length, or the length and the width, would show him the necessary best proportions. For this he had written to AVitsen, from Arch- angel, 169tl:, and had then been told that every ship- builder made the proportions according to his experience and discretion. Peter's dis- satisfaction was evident in two ways — by his sendmg an order to Voronezh, that all the Dutch ship - cai'j^enters there should no longer be allowed to build as thev pleased, but be put mider the supeiwision of Danes or Englishmen, and by resolv- ing to go to England for several months, to see what he could learn in English ship-yards. He had, indeed, been recently delighted by receiving a truly royal present fi'om King William. This was the King's best yacht, the ' Transport Koyal,' which had just been constructed on a new plan, was light, of beautiful proportions, and armed with twenty brass cannon. In answer to the letter of Lord Caermarthen, which spoke of it as the best and quickest vessel in England, Peter sent to London Major Adam Weyde, who had just come back from a special mission to Vienna, and from taking part in the battle of the Zenta. Weyde was also instructed to obtain the King's consent to the visit of the Tsar, with a request that his Peter's Evening Pipe. 298 - PETEK THE GREAT. incognito should be as far as possible preserved. Together with a favourable answer, came English vessels for himself and the great embassy, and on January IT, 1G9S, Peter, leaving his embassv in Holland, set out for England.' ' Ustrialof, III., iii. ; Bruckner, Reise^ etc. ; id. Feter der Grosse; J. Scheltema, Peter de Oroote in Holland^ Amsterdam, 1813 ; id. Rusland en de Wederlandeti^ Amsterdam, 1817 ; G. Verenet, Pierre le Grand en EoUande, Utrecht, 18G3 ; Posselt, Lefort ; Pekarsky, Science and Literature under Peter the Great (Russian), St. Petersburg, 1862. o 'A C < c W H o "A I— ( H W XXXI. VISIT OF THE TSAR TO EXGLAKD. The weather was stormy, and the ships of Admiral Mitch- ell could cany but half their canvas, but the wind was in the right direction, and early in the morning of January 30 they were coasting along Suffolk, and the Tsar was saluted by the suns of the fort at Orford. Lea^dno; its convoy at the mouth of the Thames, the vacht anchored at St. Katherine's, and Peter was rowed hi a barge past the Tower and London Bridge, and landed at a house in Xorfolk Street, Strand, which had a few years before been the refuge of AVilliam Penn, when imder accusation of treason and conspu'acy/ The Tsar was imme- diately waited upon by a chamberlain, with the congratulations of the King, who, at his request, appointed Admiral Mitchell to be in constant attendance upon him. Three days later, the King came in person to see him. Peter was without his coat, but made no ceremony, and received him in his shirt sleeves. He slept in one small room, together with the Prince of Imeritia and three or fom* others. AYhen the King entered, the air was so bad that, notwithstanding the very cold weather, it was necessary to open a window. This visit the Tsar re- tui-ned a few days afterwards, when he made the acquaintance of the Princess Anne, the. heiress to the throne, and her hus- l)and. Prince George of Denmark. The Princess Anne appar- ently made a deep impression, for four years after, when she ' Tradition says that at this time the door was never opened without the servant first reconnoitring through a loop-hole to see whether the visitor looked like a constable or a dun. The house is now Xo. 21 Norfolk Street, and is converted into a lodging-house and private hotel. Authorities differ somewhat as to the house Peter occupied. One account gives a house in the Adelphi ; an oflBcial tablet has been placed on the front of Xo. 15 Bucking- ham Street, Strand. Luttrell's Rekition confirms the statement in the text. 300 PETER THE GREAT. had come to tlie throne, Peter remarked, in a letter to Apraxin, that she was ' a veritable daughter of onr church.' The first days of Peter's stay were occupied in seeing the sights of London, and making acquaintances. He visited the Royal Society, the Tower, the Mint, the Observatory, was nnich in the society of the eccentric Lord Caermarthen, with whom he used to sup at a tavern near the Tower, now the ' Czar of Muscov}^,' visited Caermarthen's father, the Duke of Leeds, and frequently went to the theatre. One of the favourite actresses of the day, Miss Cross, pleased him so much, that his relations with her became very intimate, and continued so during his I rc2^^' Sayes Court. stay in England. More than all he was attracted by the docks and the naval establishments, although ' the exceeding sharp and cold season,' which the Londoners jestingly said the Russians had brought with them, and the ice in the Thames, at first im- peded his movements. For greater convenience, and to get rid of the crowds who watched for his appearance, he removed to Deptford, where he occupied Sayes Court, the house of John Evelyn. For forty-five years the accomplished author of ' Sylva ' had been making the plantations and laying out the gardens, and it grieved him to the heart to have such bad tenants as the Muscovites evidently were. While the Tsar was still there, 1698.] EVELYN'S HOUSE. 301 Evelyn's servant -s^Tote to him : ' There is a house full of peo- ple, and right nasty. The Tsar lies next your library, and dines in the parlour next your study. He dines at ten o'clock and six at night, is very seldom at home a whole day, very often in the Iving's Yard, or by water, dressed in several dresses. The King is expected there this day ; the best parlour is pretty clean for him to be entertained in. The King pays for all he has.' The great holly hedge, the pride of the neighbourhood, was rumed, as is said, by the Tsar driving a wheelbarrow through it. The King had already remarked, after receiving Peter's first visit, that he was indifferent to fine buildings and beautiful gardens, and cared only for ships. After Peter had gone, Evelyn "sviites in his diary : ' I went to Deptford to see how miserably the Tsar had left my house after three months making it his court. I got Sir Christopher Wren, the King's sm*veyor, and Mr. London, his gardener, to go and estimate the repairs, for which they allowed SdOL in their report to the Lords of the Treasury.' ^ With the exception of a week spent in gomg to Portsmouth, where he was gratified by a review of the English fleet off Spit- head, and in visiting AYindsor and Hampton Court, and a couple of days at Oxford, where he received the degree of Doctor of Laws, Peter remained very steadily at work at Deptford until the beginning of May. He had come to England expecting to stay but a short time, but he found so much to interest and attract him, both at the ship-building establishments at Dept- ford and at the Royal Arsenal at Woolwich, which he fre- quently visited, that, in spite of the rumours which reached him of troubles at Moscow, he constantly put off his departm-e, and went only when he had satisfied himself that he had ac- quired all the special knowledge which he could obtain in Eng- land. He evidently formed a high opinion of English ship- builders, for he subsequently said to Perry that had it not been 'Sayes Court had been let by Evelyn in 1696 to Captain, afterwards Admiral, Benbow, who underlet it with the furniture to the Tsar. It is not therefore quite certain which tenant caused all the damage. The petition and the report of "Wren are printed in Notes and Queries, 2nd S., No. 19, May 10, 1856, pp. 365-7. In 1701, Sayes Court was let to Peter's friend, Lord Caermarthen, who had a similar taste for things maritime. 302 PETER THE GREAT. for his journey to England, he would always have remained a bungler. One thing, however, he could not learn there, and that was the construction of galleys and galliots, such as were used in the Mediterranean, and would be serviceable in the Bosphorus, and on the coast of the Crimea. For this he de- sired to go to Venice. Peter, who prided himself on being a good judge of men, spent much of his time in England in looking for suitable per- sons to employ in Hussia, and in examining their qualifications. The night after his return from Portsmouth, together with Golovin, who had come over from Holland for the purpose, he signed contracts with about sixty men, many of whom had been recommended by Lord Caermarthen. The chief of these were Major Leonard van der Stamm, a specialist in ship-design- ing, Captain John Perry, an hydraulic engineer, whom he ap* pointed to construct a canal between the Volga and the Don (for Colonel Breckell, a German engineer who had already begun this work, had ]-un away), and Professor Andrew Fer- gharson, from the University of Aberdeen, who was engaged to found a school of navigation at Moscow. For officers in the fleet, he seems to have preferred Dutchmen to Englishmen, and succeeded m persuading Captain Cornelius Cruys, a dis- tinguished Dutch officer, a Norwegian by birth, to enter his service. Cruys brought with him three other captains, and officers, surgeons, and sailors to the number of five hundred and seventy. The officers were chiefly Dutchmen, the sailors Swedes and Danes. Among the surgeons, who had been rec- ommended by the anatomist Puysch, were several Frenchmen. More than a hundred other officers, including Greeks, Vene- tians and Italians, who promised to find sailors acquainted with the navigation of the Black Sea, were also taken into the Bus- sian service at this time. With mining engineers, however, Peter found it difficult to enter into any arrangements, as they demanded what he considered exorbitant salaries. He had at first endeavoured to find such men through Witsen, but Witsen had always deferred giving advice from day to day, and noth- ing was done. Finally, the Tsar decided to find some, if possi- ble, in Saxony. He was the more anxious for this, as during his absence Vinius had written to him that magnetic iron ore 1698.] A TOBACCO MONOPOLY. 303 of the very best quality had been discovered in the Ural Moiui- tains, and was begging in every letter that mining engineers l)e sent as soon as possible. The mere hand-money which had to be paid to the foreign- ers entermg the Kussian service was a great expense, and the treasury of the embassy became so reduced that it was neces- sary to draw on Moscow for very large sums. One method was found by Peter for obtaining a supply of ready money, and that was by a privilege which he gave to Lord Caermarthen for the monopoly of the tobacco trade in Russia. Smoking tobacco or using it in any form had been forbidden by the Tsar Michael in 1634, under pain of death, and religious and old-fashioned Russians had the greatest prejudices against this narcotic herb. Nevertheless, the use of tobacco spread so fast in spite of pains and penalties, that before his departure for abroad, Peter made a decree authorising its use, and even then entered into temporary arrangements for its sale, as he expected by the duties to realise a large smn for the treasury. A Rus- sian merchant, Orlenka, had offered 15,000 rubles for the mo- nopoly, and even General Gordon had offered 3,000 rubles in 1695, but the Marquis of Caermarthen was willing to give more than three times as much as Orlenka, viz., 20,000Z., or 48,000 rubles, and to pay the whole in advance. For this, he was to be allowed to import into Russia a million and a half pounds of tobacco every year, and Peter agreed to permit the free use of tobacco to all his subjects, notwithstanding all previ- ous laws and regulations. Lord Caermarthen acted here as the representative of a group of capitalists. The monopoly had previously been offered by the Tsar to the Russia Company, and had been declined. The personal relations of the Tsar and King William had become very cordial. Peter had always admired William, and a close personal intercourse caused the King to speak in much higher terms of Peter towards the end of his visit than he had used at first. As a souvenir of the visit of the Tsar, the King persuaded him to have his portrait painted, and the re- markable likeness of him by Sir Godfrey Kneller, then in the height of his celebrity, still hangs in the Palace of Hampton Court. 304 PETER THE GREAT. The Imperial ambassador, Count Aiiersperg, in a letter to tlie Emperor Leopold, says : ' As concerns the person of the Tsar, the Court here is well contented with him, for he now is not so afraid of people as he was at first. They accuse him of a certain stinginess only, for he has been in no way lavish. All the time here he went about in sailor's clothing. We shall see in what dress he pre- sents himself to Your Imperial Majesty. He saw the King very rarely, as he did not wish to change his manner of life, dining at eleven o'clock in the morning, supping at seven in the evening, going to bed early, and getting up at four o'clock, w^hich very much astonished those Englishmen who kept com- pany with him.' Peter and Golovin took their leave of the King at Kensing- ton Palace, on April 28. We are told that, as a slight token of his friendship and his gratitude, not only for the kind recep- tion he had had, but for the splendid yacht which had been presented to him, Peter took out of his pocket a small twisted bit of brown paper and handed it to the King, who opened it with some curiosit}^, and found a magnificent uncut dia- mond of large size. This may not be true, but it is thoroughly characteristic. The last days of Peter's stay he had again consecrated to sight-seeing. He was present at a meeting of Parliament, when the King gave his assent to a biU for raising money by a land tax, but he was so unwilling to have his presence known that he looked at the House through a hole in the ceiling. This gave rise to a hon Qnot which circulated in Lon- don society. Some one remarked that he had ' seen the rarest thing in the world, a king on the throne, and an emperor on the roof.' Hoffmann wa-ote to the Austrian Court that Peter expressed himself unfavourably to the limitation of royal power by a parliament ; but according to a Pussian account he said : 'It is pleasant to hear how the sons of the fatherland tell the truth plainly to the King; we must learn that from the English.' A spirit of proselytism, a desire to propagate one's own re- ligious, social, and political views, is implanted in the Anglo- Saxon breast at least, if indeed it be not common to the human race. A yoimg monarch who was liberal or cmious enough to 1698.] IXTEKE5TED IN PEOTESTANTISM. 305 visit Quaker meetings ^ and Protestant cathedrals became the natural prey of philanthropists and reformers, who saw a way opened by Providence for the introduction of their peculiar notions into remote Muscovv. Such an enthusiast was ' the pious and learned Francis Lee, M.D.,' who gave ' proposals to Peter the Great, etc., at his own request, for the right framing of his Government.- ' That Peter should visit the churches of different denomina- tions in Holland, made many simple-minded or fanatical Dutch ' Two Quakers, Thomas Story and Gilbert Mollyson, succeeded in getting- an interview with the Tsar and presented him with Latin translations of Bar- clay's A'poLogy and other books. They had a long conversation with him, and even preached him a sermon. Peter, who seemed interested in what they said, on taking the books asked : * Were not these books writ by a Jesuit ? It is said there are Jesuits among you. ' This was a plain allusion to the re- ports then prevalent of the Quakers, and especially William Penn, being the intermediaries between the Jesuits and Jacobites abroad and their friends in England. William Penn, on hearing of this interview, went himself to Dept- f ord privately and had a long talk with the Tsar in Dutch, which he spoke fluently, presenting him at the same time with some Dutch translations of Quaker books. ' The Tsar appeared to be much interested, so that the visit was satisfactory to both parties. Indeed, he was so much impressed by it, that afterwards, while he was at Deptford, he occasionally attended the meeting of the Quakers there, where he conducted himself with great decorum and conde- scension, changing seats, and sitting down, and standing up, as he could best accommodate others. Nor was this impression of short duration, for in the year 1712 — that is sixteen years afterwards, when he was at Frederickstadt, in Holstein, with five thousand men, to assist the Danes against the Swedes, one of his first inquiries was, whether there were any Quakers in the place ; and being told there were, he signified his intention of attending one of their meetings. A meeting was accordingly appointed, to which he went, accompa- nied by Prince Menshikof, General Dolgoniky, and several dukes and great men. Soon after they were seated the worship began ; Philip Defair, a Quaker, rose up and preached. The Muscovite lords showed their respect by their silence, but they understood nothing of what was said. The Tsar himself occasionally interpreted as the words were spoken, and when the discourse was over, he commended it by saying that whoever could Uve according to such doctrines would be happy.' — Clarkson's Life of William Penn, pp. 253, 254, - These proposals related to the institution of seven committees or col- leges : — 1. For the advancement of learning. 2. For the improvement of nature. 3. For the encouragement of arts. 4. For the increase of mer- chandise. 5. For reformation of manner.?. 6. For compilation of laws. 7. For the propagation of the Christian religion. They were printed in 1752 in a rare book entitled, 'A'7roA.ei7roVe»'a, or dissertatio?is, etc., on the Book of GenesU. It is hardly possible to take Lee's phrase, 'at his own request,' in its most literal interpretation. Vol. I.— 20 300 PETER THE GREAT. believe that lie was inclined to Protestantism, and that the ob- ject of his jonrney was to unite the Russian and Protestant churches. It was reported that he had already taken the com- munion Avith the Elector of Brandenburg, and that he was in- viting doctors of all sciences to establish colleges and academies in his dominions. In like w^ay, in Vienna, it was widely believed that Sheremetief had alreadv become a Catholic, and that the Tsar was inclined to become one. When Peter was in Yienna, the nuncio reported to Pome that the Tsar had shown a special respect for the Emperor Leopold, as the head of Christianity, that he had dined with the Jesuits, and wished to be taken into the bosom of the true church. From Polaiid the Jesuit Yota wrote to Cardinal Spada, with great satisfaction, of the reveren- tial demeanour of Peter during the Catholic service, and of the humility with which he had accepted his blessing. Chm-chmen in England were led into similar beliefs, and entertained hopes of a similar union of the two churches. It Avas proljably not simple politeness that led the Archbishop of Canterbury and other English prelates to visit Peter. Among them was Gilbert Burnet, Bishop of Salisbury, who, in his * His- tory of his Own Time,' gives the following opinion of the Tsar : -- ' I w^aited often on him, and was ordered, both by the King and the archbishop and bishops, to attend upon him, and to oif er him such information of our religion and constitution as he was willing to receive ; I had good interpreters, so I had much free discourse with him ; he is a man of a very hot temper, soon inflamed, and very brutal in his passion ; he raises his natural heat by drinking much brandy, which he rectifies himself with great application ; he is subject to convulsive motions all over his body, and his head seems to be affected with these ; he wants not capacity, and has a larger measure of knowledge than might be expected from his education, which was very indifferent ; a want of judgment, with an instability of temper, appear in him too often and too evidently. He is mechanically turned, and seems designed by nature rather to be a ship-carpenter than a great prince. This was his chief study and exercise while he stayed here ; he wrought much with his own hands, and made all about him w^ork at the models of ships ; he told me he de- signed a great fleet at Azuph, and with it to attack the Turkish 1698.] bukxet's opinion. 307 empire ; but lie did not seem capable of conducting so great a design, though his conduct in his wars since this, has discovered a greater genius in him than appeared at that time. He was de- su'ous to imderstand our doctrine, but he did not seem disposed to mend matters in Muscovy ; he was, indeed, resolved to en- com-age learning, and to polish his people by sending some of them to travel in other countries, and to draw strangers to come and live among them. He seemed apprehensive still of his sis- ter's intrigues. There is a mixture both of passion and severity in his temper. He is resolute, but understands little of war, and seems not at all inquisitive that way. After I had seen him often, and had conversed much with him, I could not but adore the depth of the providence of God, that had raised up such a furious man to so absolute an authority o\'er so great a part of the world.' '^ The phrase ' he did not seem disposed to mend matters in Muscovy,' evidently referred to the religious question, and Burnet, as well as others, was much surprised that this appar^ ent free-thinker and liberal should hold so firmlv to the ortho- dox faith. It had been the fashion, either from too little knowledge or from too great patriotism, sharply to criticise Burnet's opinion of Peter's character ; but considering what Burnet knew of Peter, and even what we know of Peter, is it, after all, so far out of the way? Peters tastes led him to navigation and to ship-building, and he sincerely believed that it was through having a fleet on the Black Sea that he would be able to conquer Turkey — the idea at that time uppermost in his mind. But he did not show the same disposition to master the art of war as he did that of navigation. Many a wide- awake boy of fifteen will nowadays equal and surpass Peter in special accomplishments and general knowledge. Many a young man, with a far better education than Peter, has the same mechanical and scientific turn, carried even further. At this time only one idea possessed Peters mind — navigation. His own studies, the fact that men of the best Pussian fami- lies were sent abroad to become common sailors, and nothing else, are proof enough. Hoffmann writes to Vienna : 'They say that he intends to civilise his subjects in the-*^ manner of other nations. But from his acts here, one cannot 808 TETEK THE GUEAT. tiiid any otlier intention than to make tlieni sailors : lie has had intercourse almost exclusively with sailors, and has gone away as shy as he came.' During his journey abroad he saw something of the effects of a greater civilisation ; he saw comforts and conveniences which he thought it would he well to introduce among his peo- ple, hut he paid little or no attention to anything concerning the art of government, or to real civil and administrative re- form. The stay of Peter in Holland and in England gave rise to munberless anecdotes. The stories of Dutch carpenters who had assisted him in Hussia, the tales told by the English cap- tains of his familiarity at Archangel, of his bathing with them in public, and of his drinking bouts and familiar conversation, had, in a measure, prepared the public mind, and the spectacle of the ]*uler of a great country who went about in sailor's cloth- ing, and devoted himself to learning ship-building, rendered it possible and easy to invent. Many of these anecdotes are, in all probability, untrue. They are of the same class of stories as are told now of any remarkable individual — the Shah, the Sultan, the Khedive — on his travels. Sometimes there may be a basis of truth, but it has been distorted in the telling. After the interview with King William, Peter delayed still three days, which were chiefly taken up with visiting the Mint, for he had been struck with the excellence of the English coin- age, and had already ideas of recoining the Pussian money. On May 2, he left Deptford in the yacht, the 'Transport Poyal,' given to him by King William, but even then could not resist running up to Chatham to see the docks there, and arrived at Amsterdam on the 19th.^ Twice the embassv at Amsterdam had been in o^reat dis- ^ The ' Transport Royal ' was sent to Archangel under the command of Captain Ripley, and took a part of the collections of curiosities and military stores which Peter had collected in Holland. By the Tsar's order, Franz Timmermann met it there, to take it to Vologda, and thence partly overland to Yaroslav. It was intended afterward to convey it to the Sea of Azof, as soon as the canal between the Volga and the Don should be finished, but as the yacht drew nearly eight feet of water, Timmermann could not get it farther than Holmogory, and it went back to Archangel, where it remained ever after. * NICHOLAS WITSEN, BURGOMASTER OF AMSTERDAM. 1698.] ANXIETY AT MOSCOW. 309 tress about Peter, for after his departure for London the storms were so great and the colds so intense, that it was three weeks before anv news was received from him. Ae^ain, from Febru- ary IS to March 21, no letters arrived in Amsterdam. People in Moscow were still more troubled, and Yinius showed his consternation by writing to Lefort, instead of to Peter, to ask what the matter was. Peter replied on May 23, blaming his friend very severely for being so troubled by a miscarriage of the post, and adding fuel to the flame at Moscow when he ought to have been more courageous and not to have doubted. Lefort had written from Holland several letters by every post, taken up with longing for his return, with inquiries about his health, with talk of the necessity of going to Vienna, and of his personal desire to visit Geneva, and begging him to send something fit to drink. On arriving at Amsterdam, Peter found several relatives of Lefort who had come from Geneva for the purpose of seeing him. They had already been sumptuously entertained by the embassy, and now had the pleasure of being presented to the Tsar, and being amicably received by him. The accounts which they give in their letters home of the position of their uncle, and the ceremony which everywhere attended him, show the rank which he held above the other ambassadors, as being the friend and favourite of Peter. "With regard to the Tsar himself, Jacob Lefort writes : ' You know that he is a prince of very great stature, but there is one circumstance which is unpleasant — he has convul- sions, sometimes in his eyes, sometimes in his arms, and some- times in his whole body. lie at times turns his eyes so that one can see nothing but the whites. I do not know whence it arises, but we must believe that it is a lack of good breeding. Then he has also movements in the legs, so that he can scarcely keep in one place. He is very well made, and goes about dressed as a sailor, in the highest degree simple, and wishing nothing else than to be on the water.' There was every reason now to hasten Peter's departure. Troubles at Moscow with some Streltsi who had run away from the army, troubles in Poland, where the Polish magnates were not as well disposed toward Russia as was the King himself, 310 PETER THE GREAT. troubles at Vienna — for it was reported to liim that the Aus- trians were intending to make a peace with the Turks, without the slightest regard for the interests of either Poland or Kussia — all rendered him uneasy. In addition to this, he was both surprised and astonished to learn that King William had ac- cepted a proposition made to him to act as mediator between Austria and Turkey, and that the States-General of Holland were to take part with him. The troubles at Moscow he be- lieved to be over ; at all events, they seemed no more serious than the troubles which arose in Moscow on the eve of his de- parture, but he felt it necessary to get soon to Vienna, in order that he might have a personal interview with the Emperor Leopold, and ascertain the views of the Austrian court, and, if possible, make them fall in with his own. Beside that, he wished to go on to Venice, to complete his studies in naval architecture.' 1 Ustrialof , III., iv. ; Posselt, Lefort; Perry, State of Russia^ London, 1716; Bruckner, Reise Peters des Grossen; the Austrian despatches in Sadler, Peter der Grosse als Menscli und Regent ^ St. Petersburg, 1872, p. 239 ; Narcissus Luttrell, Brief Historical Relation of State Affairs^ Oxford, 1857 ; Phillimore, Sir Christoj)her Wren, London, 1881. See also the de- scription of the Tsar's visit in Macaulay's History of England, and thie Lon- don newspapers and other authorities then referred to. XXXII. THE JOURNEY H0:ME. Ix spite of his haste, it took Peter a month to reach Vi- enna, where he arrived on Jnne 26, and yet he travelled every day, with the exception of one day at Leipzig and two at Dres- den. He also visited the linen factories at Bielefeld, surveyed the fortifications of Konigstein, and walked through the beau- tiful park at Cleves, where he carved his name on a birch-tree. In Dresden he was delighted with the curiosities of the Green Vaults, where he went immediately after his arrival, and stayed all nio-ht. He also carefullv examined the arsenal, and aston- ished his entertainers by displaying the knowledge he had acquired at Konigsberg and Woolwich, and by pointing out and explaining the defects in the artillery. He paid a visit to the mother of the Elector, for Augustus himself was then in Po- land, and twice supped with Prince von Fiirstenburg. At the Tsar's special request, ladies were invited, and among others the famous Countess Aurora von Ivonigsmark, the mother of Maurice de Saxe, then a child in arms. Peter had met her accidentally on his way to the arsenal, and had doubtless been informed of her intimacy with Augustus. At these suppers, he was ' in such good humour that in the presence of the ladies he took up a drum, and played with a perfection that far sur- passed the drummers.' Peter had a strange slumess, which seemed to grow upon him. He hated to be stared at as a curiosity, and the more he met people of refinement, versed in social arts, the more he felt his own deficiencies. Xothing but the excitement of a supper seemed to render general society possible to him. His visits of ceremony were brief and formal. It was very hard at Dresden to keep people out of his way, and allow him to go about unobserved. .Vfter the Tsar had gone,. 312 PETER THE GREAT. 1/ Fiirstenburg wrote to the King : ' I thank God that all has gone off so well, for I feared that I could not fully please this fastidious gentleman.' And General Jordan reported that the Tsar was well content with his visit, but that he himself was 'glad to be rid of such a costly guest.' Strangely enough, in spite of Peter's desire to find mining engineers, he did not stop at Freiberg, where quarters had been got ready for him. In Vienna, all the difficulties of ceremonial and etiquette were re- new^ed. The Holy Koman Empire, as the only empire in the world, and as the lineal descendant of the old em- pire of Rome, claimed for its sovereign a superior rank to other monarchs, and insisted greatly on punctilio. The authorities at Vienna were unwilling to grant to the Russian embassy the same honours which had been given to it in other countries, or to do any- thing which might seem to place the Tsar on the same level with the Em- peror. For that reason, it took four days before the details of the entry into Vienna could be arranged, and PI even then, through a general coming from exercise on the Prater insisting on marching all his troops across the route selected, it w^as night before the ambassadors could take up their lodging in the villa of Count Konig- sacker, on the bank of the river Vienna at Gumpendorf — for Peter had particularly requested that his Spire of St. Stephens Cathedral, Vienna. ^^^^^rtcrS shouM bc lu the SUburbs, aud not in the middle of the town. The Russians were little 1698.] AT VIENNA. 313 pleased at the manner of tlieir reception, and even tlie Papal Xuneio spoke of the slight pomp displayed. After this, more than a month elapsed before the ambassadors had their solemn reception by the Emperor, and it was only then, on account of Peters o-reat desire to take Lefort and Golovin with him to Venice, that he waived certain points of ceremonial which had up to that time been insisted upon. If the Congress of Vienna in 1815 did no other good, it at least accomplished much m put- ting all States on the same rank, abolishing national precedence, and simplifying com't ceremonial as respects ambassadors and ministers. In the meantime, however, Peter had been privately re- ceived by the Emperor, the Empress, and their eldest son, Joseph, the King of the Pomans, in the imperial villa of Favo- riten, where, with truly Austrian ideas of maintaining his in- cognito, he was not allowed to go in at the principal entrance, but was taken through a small door in the garden, and was led up a small spiral staircase into the audience-hall. Leopold also paid a personal visit to Peter, and toward the end of his stay, entertained him at a great masquerade, called a Wirthsehaft, in which all the society of Vienna, and many foreign princes so- journing there took part, dressed in the costumes of different countries. Peter appeared as a Frisian peasant, and his part- ner, who was assigned to him by lot, and was dressed in the same costume, was the Fraulein Johanna von Thurn, of the family now called Thurn und Taxis. The festivities were kept up imtil morning, and the Tsar was most merry, and danced ^ senza fine e niisura.^ At the supper-table, where there was no precedence, the Emperor and Empress sitting at the foot of the table, Leopold arose, and, filling his glass, drank to Peters health. This was immediately responded to, and the same cere- mony was performed with the King of the Pomans. The cup used for this purpose — which was of rock-crystal, the work of di Pocca, and valued at 2,000 florins — was sent the next day to the Tsar, as a souvenir. This was the first great festivity given at court since the beginning of the war with Turkey. Economy had been the order of the day. Peter Lefort \vi'ote to Geneva : ^ I must admit that I was greatly disappointed on my arrival ' here, for I had expected to see a brilliant court ; it is quite the 314 PETEK THE GKEAT. contrary. There are neither the splendid equipages nor the fine liveries we saw at the court of Brandenburg. There are many great lords here, but they are all very modest in their dress.' On St. Peters Day the embassy gave a great ball, with nmsic and fireworks, wliicli lasted all night, and at which a thousand guests were present.* It is worth notice that, at the state dinner M'hich followed, the solemn audience of the ambassadors, the healths of the Empress and the Tsaritsa were omitted, although it had been agreed be- forehand to drink them. There were rea- sons for thinking it might be disagreeable to the Tsar. During the dinner, there bemg much talk about Ilun- ^ garian wine, Baron Konigsacker sent Le- fort a salver, with six as tastmg specmiens. them. West Front of St. Stephen's Cathedral, Vienna. kinds After Lefort begged permis- sion to pass them to his friend, who stood behind his chair. This was the Tsar himself, who had come in this way to witness the feast. It has been already said that the Papal court was greatly excited at the possibility of converting E-ussia to Catholicism, and the despatches of the nuncio and of the Spanish ambas- sador show with what care every movement of the Tsar was watched. The deductions of these prelates seem to us now to ' Notwithstanding the statements in the despatches of the nuncio as to the small amount of money given by the Imperial Government for the support of the embassy, we know, from Russian oflBcial documents, that the whole ex- pense of the feast was paid by the Emperor's treasury. 1698.] IMPRESSIONS AT VIENNA. 315 be based on very naiTOW premises. Tliey e\'identlj believed what they wished to believe^ and reported what they knew would please. The Cardinal Kollonitz, Primate of Hungary, gives, among other things, an account of the person and charac- ter of Peter : ' The Tsar is a youth of from twenty-eight to thirty years of age, is tall, of an olive complexion, rather stout than thin, in aspect between proud and grave, and with a lively countenance. His left eye, as well as his left arm and leg, was injured by the poison given him during the life of his brother; but there remain now only a fixed and fascinated look in his eye and a constant movement of his arm and leg, to hide which he ac- companies this forced motion with continual movements of his entire body, which, by many people, in the countries which he has visited, has been attributed to natural causes, but really it is artificial. His ^\dt is lively and ready ; his manners rather civil than barbarous, the journey he has made having improved him, and the difference fi'om the beginning of his travels and the present time being visible, although his native roughness may still be seen in him ; but it is chiefly noticeable in his fol- lowers, whom he holds in check with great severity. He has a knowledge of geography and history, and — what is most to be noticed — he desires to know these subjects better; but his strongest inclination is for maritime affairs, at which he him- self w^orks mechanically, Ss he did in Holland ; and this work, accordmg to many people who have to do with liun, is indis- pensable to divert the effects of the poison, which still very much troubles him. In person and in aspect, as well as in his manners, there is nothmg which would distinguish him or de- clare him to be a prince.' Inquiries were made by the Tsar as to the intentions of the Emperor to conclude a peace with Turkey, to which the Em- peror frankly replied that the Sultan had himself proposed a peace through the intervention of Paget, the English ambassa- dor at Constantinople, and had requested that the King of Eng- land should be a mediator, to which he had assented. At the same time, he showed the Tsar the original letters. Peter then had an interview with Count Ivinsky, in which he tried to con- vince him that it would be better for the Austrians to continue 316 PETER THE GREAT. the war, that it was scarcely fair to the allies to make peace without consulting their interests, and that if peace were made, a war would be begun with France about the Spanish succes- sion, and the Turks would take this occasion again to attack them. Ivinsky explained that peace was not yet made ; that nothing more had been agreed upon than to hold a congress ; that it was expected that Russian and Polish represen- tatives would be present at this congress, and would explain their demands ; that the only condition which the Emperor had made for the conclusion of peace was that it should be on the basis of keeping what each one had possession of at the date of the treaty. Peter was so far convinced, that he agreed to present his demands in writing, which were simply that, in addition to the places he already occupied, there should be ceded to him the fortress of Kertch, in order that he might have a port on the Black Sea, and thus keep the Tartars in order : that if this condition were not agreed to, the Emperor should not make peace, but continue the war until a more advan- tageous treaty, or until 1701, by which time he hoped to have gained great advantages over the Turks. The reply which Leopold sent to Peter was that, while he found the demand for the cession of Kertch to be a just one, he saw a great difficulty in the way, ' for the Turks are not accustomed to give up their Trinity Column, Vienna. 1698.] SUDDEN DEPAKTUKE. 317 fortresses without a iiglit, and even what has been extorted fi'om them by arms, they try in every way to get back.- He therefore urged Peter to use his efforts to get possession of Kertch before the treaty should be made, and to send a representative to the congress, and promised again that he would sign no peace with- out his consent. Peter was so satisfied with this that he was on the point of starting for Yenice, and even had ideas of continu- ing his journey into Italy, and perhaps visiting France before his return. Passports were obtained, and part of his small suite had already started for Yenice, where great preparations were made for his reception, when suddenly a letter was received fi'om Pamodanofskv, annoimcino: that the Streltsi reo^iments on the frontier had revolted and had marched on Moscow, but that Shein and Gordon had been sent to put them down. Nothing was said of the cause of the revolt, or of the intentions of the Streltsi. The letter had been on its wav for a whole month, and the Tsar was still in ignorance as to whether the revolt had been put down, or whether the rioters were in possession of Moscow, and his sister Sophia ruling in his place. Neverthe- less, he decided to start at once, and, to the astonishment of the Austrians, who knew nothing of this news, his post-horses took the road for Moscow, and not for Yenice. Before he went, he "WTOte to Pamodanof skv : '1 have received vour letter of June 27, in which vour srace ^^Tites that the seed of Ivan Mikhailovitch (Miloslavsky) is sprouting. I beg you to be severe ; in no other way is it possi- ble to put out this flame. Although we are very sorry to give up our present profitable business, yet, for the sake of this, we shall be with von sooner than vou think.' I. 4. Her sister Martha was also made a nun in a convent at Alexan- drofsky, under the name of Margaret, and died there in 1707. The Princess Catherine, who was strongly suspected, on account of certain relations which she had had with a deacon, succeeded in escaping. She was proved to be guilty of nothing more than dallvincc with sorcery and witchcraft, heinous as that offence Avas. The execution of the first batch of Streltsi examined (311 men) took place on October 10. Only 201 were actually put to death — five were beheaded at Preobrazhensky, 196 wxre hano-ed along the walls of Moscow and at the gates — a hundred who were under twenty years of age were branded in the right cheek and sent into exile, and the remainino; forty were detained for further examination. These executions took place, at least in part, in the presence of the Tsar himself and of most of the / 328 PETER THE GllEAT. foreign ministers and ambassadors, who were specially invited to be present. Of the second batch, 770 men were execnted — some hanired, some beheaded, and others broken on the wheel. Of this number, 195 were hanged on a large square gallows in front of the cell of Sophia at the Novodevitchj convent, and three re- mained hanging all the winter under her very window, one of them holding in his hand a folded paper to represent a petition. Long files of carts carried the Streltsi to the place of execution. Each cart contained two men seated back to back, with lighted candles in their hands. Their wives and children ran weeping and shrieking alongside ; the populace stood silent, cursing the Tsar under their breath ; except the nobles and the foreign- ers, everyone sympathised with the criminals. In general the Streltsi met their death with great stolidity ' there was a kind of order among the unfortunate wretches ; they all followed one another in turn, without any sadness on their features, or any horror of their imminent death.' 'When the execution was over, it pleased the Tsar's majesty to sup at General Gordon's ; but he showed no sign of cheerfulness, insisting to several upon the obstinacy and stubbornness of the criminals. He detailed with indignant w^ords to General Gordon and the Muscovite magnates present that one of the condemned was so insolent that he dared, just as he was about lying down upon the beam, to address the Tsar with these words : '' Make way, my Lord — it is for me to lie here." ' Further executions took place during the winter, and some of the trials were actually prolonged for several years with- out great result. One execution was delayed until 1707. The heads of many were placed on spikes and their bodies remained heaped up at the place of execution, while others stayed nearly the whole winter hanging to the gallows and to beams put through the battlements of the walls. About the middle of March, 1,068 bodies were taken down and heaped up outside the town along the roads. Here they remained two weeks more before they were buried, and commemorative pillars with heads spiked on top were erected on the spot. It is necessary to add that this proceeding was only possible in such a large town be- cause the weather in Moscow in winter is always below freezing point. 1698.] EXECUTIONS. 329 The times were cruel, and people in Ilussia were accustomed to scenes of blood/ vet such o-eneral horror was felt at these tortures and executions that the Patriarch felt it his dutv to take a picture of the Virgin and exhort the Tsar to mercy. But Peter, resenting the intervention, inveighed against the Pa- triarch : ' What wilt thou with thy image, or what business is it of thine to come here ? Hence forthwith, and put that image in the place where it may be venerated. Know that I reverence God and His most holy Mother more earnestly, perhaps, than thou dost. It is the duty of my sovereign office, and a duty that I owe to God, to save my people from harm, and to prosecute, with public vengeance, crimes that tend to the common ruin.' Disagreeable as it is to believe, the evidence of several per- sonal observers is that Peter compelled many of his corn-tiers and nobles to act as executioners, and on one day, in the pres- ence of the Tsar, 109 persons were beheaded at Preobrazhensky by the nobles of his court. It is said that Menshikof espe- cially distinguished himself by his cruelty. Whether Peter was hunself guilty of immersing his OT^ai hands in his subjects' blood remains a question. It is positively asserted both by Guarient, the Austrian ambassador, in his official reports, and by his secretary Korb, in his diary,'' but both admit that they were not present, and had it from hearsay, while Gordon and Zheliabuzhkv, who were certainlv better informed, make no mention of this, though they speak of the executions by the nobles. At all events, these horrible occurrences inspired the common people with a belief in the cruelty and blood-thirsti- ness of Peter. It was said that neither he nor Ramodanof sky could sleep until they had tasted blood. Prince Pamodanofsky * Kotoshikhin, writing in the time of the Tsar Alexis, said that there were fifty executioners in Moscow, and that none of them was ever idle. - The diary of Korb is excellent authority for the details of the tortures and executions. It is to be corrected in some respects by the official reports. But it cannot be read without horror. It was published in 1 700 at Vienna , with the imperial privilege for copyright. The book was offensive to Peter, and the privilege was wrongly interpreted. On the request of the Tsar many copies were destroyed, and scarcely a dozen are now known to exist. It is accessible in an English translation by Count MacDonnell (Diary of an Aus- trian Secretary of Legation), which I have quoted after verifying it with a copy of the original in the library at Frascati, founded by the Cardinal Duke of York. 330 PETER THE GREAT. seems to have excelled everyone in Russia as a criniiiial judge. He could even rival Jeffreys. (Jnee the anger of Peter, then in Holland, was aroused by Jacob Bruce coming to him with scars which he ascribed to the lire-torture of Eamodanofskv. Peter put an angry postscript to a letter he wrote : ' Beast ! llow long are you gouig to burn people ? Even here people have come wounded by you. Cease your acquaintance with Ivashka, or it will be taken out of your wretched skin.' Ramo- danofsky, in justifying his treatment of Bruce, defends himself from the charge of drunkenness, for which he says he has no time, and leaves that to Peter : 'I have no time to keep acquaintance with Ivashka. I ain alicays washing myself in hloocL It is your affair in yom- lei- sure to keep up acquaintance with Ivashka, but we have no leisure.' It is hard to conceive how a man of the natural good liumour and good disposition of Peter, especially impulsive as he was, could lend himself to such excesses. It shows Avhat remarkable obstinacy and strong will he had when following a fixed idea. At the same time, it leads us to reflect with what responsibility a man is weighted who uses an authority over millions in this way to carry out ideas in which few besides himself believe. While the examinations were going on at Moscow, the six regiments of Streltsi at Azof had become excited over the news of the rebellion of their comrades, and showed signs of acting in a like manner. They were insubordinate ; they complained bitterly of being kept so long away from home, of the hard work they did on the fortifications, and especially of the bad treatment they met with from the foreign officers. Among them were men who had taken part in the rebellion of Stenka Bazin, and many wished those times to return. They threat- ened, with the help of the Don Cossacks, to march back to Moscow, kill the boyars and foreigners, and assert their own will. One of them pithily summed up their complaint by say- ing : ' There are boyars in Moscow, Germans in Azof, demons / in the water, and worms in the earth.' The reports Avhich sub- sequently reached them of the punishments of their comrades at Moscow, after Peter's return, proved to them that it was THE STRELTSI GOIXG TO EXECUTION. 1699.] ABOLITION OF THE STRELTSI. 331 better to keep quiet. Xevertlieless, investigations had already begun, and tliev came in for their share of the punishment. W^lien the trials were all over, a decree was issued abolish - ms: the Streltsi. Their houses and lands in Moscow were taken from them, and they were all sent into exile in the comitry, and became simple villagers. It was strictly forbidden to re- ceive them into the military service as soldiers, and it was for- bidden to protect or to give assistance to the widows or chil- dren of those who had been executed. It was onlv afterward, in 1702 and ITOI:, when there was every need of troops against the Swedes, that some regiments of soldiers were formed out of the former Streltsi. The Streltsi of other to^^Tis, who had taken no part in the revolt of their comrades in Moscow, were continued in exist- ence, and subsequently did good service in the Swedish war. After the revolt of Astrakhan thev were also abolished.' c/ ^ Ustrialof, III., vi. vii. viii. ; Solovief, XIY, ; Posselt, Lefort ; Gordon's Diary ; Zheliabitzliky, Memoirs; Korb, Diariuni Itineris, Engl. Transl. of Count MacDonnell ; Perry, State of Russia ; Sadler, Peter der Grosse. XXXIV. THE TSARITSA IS SENT TO A CLOISTER. We have already said tliat Peter did not visit his wife on liis arrival at Moscow. He at once took steps to have her re- moved to a convent, and made inquiries as to why his previous orders on the subject had not been obeyed. Monks and nuns were dead to the world, and to force a wife to take the veil in a convent was, in those days, the customary method of divorc- ing her. Peter had long wished for a separation, and had re- solved on this plan. Hints of it had got out, and his inten- tions were gossiped about in letters to Leibnitz and others. The Tsar had written from London to Streshnef, to Leo Xaryshkin, and to her confessor, to persuade the Tsaritsa vol- untarily to take religious vows. She obstinately refused to comply. On returning to Amsterdam, Peter renewed his re- quest, and this time pressed Pamodanofsky to use his influence. The Patriarch excused himself to the Tsar for having accom- plished nothing, and laid the blame on several priests and boyars who had hindered it. Peter at last had a personal in- terview with his wife in the house of Yinius, and argued with her for four hours. Three weeks afterward, the Tsarevitch Alexis, now nearly nine years old, was taken from his mother and confided to the care of J^atalia at Preobrazhensky. The Tsaritsa Eudoxia, willingly or unwillingly, was put into a com- mon post-cart, and taken without suite or attendants to the Pokrofsky convent, at Suzdal, where ten months afterward, by a decree of the Tsar, she was forced to take the veil under the name of the nun Helen. Once there, Peter seemed to forget all about her. So- phia and Martha still received the same income as the other princesses, and were allowed to have personal attendants, while 1698.] THE TSAEITSA EUDOXIA. 333 110 money was sent to Eudoxia, all her servants were taken from her, and she was reduced to the condition of a simple mm. At times she was really in want, and had reconrse to her brother Abraham Lopiikhin and his wife. In one of her secret letters, she asks them to send her some wine and fish. ' Although I do not drink myself,' she wrote, ' yet I must have something to offer to people. Here there is nothing at all : everything is bad. Although I am very troublesome to you, yet what am I to do ? While I am alive kindly give me drink and food, and clothe me.' Her family was generous to her, and the Tsaritsa did not long keep the veil or the attire of a mm, and in throwing them oif she also threw off the special virtues of the cloister. She lived in a cell arranged in worldly style, wearing the attire and the diadem of a Russian princess, . enjoying the friendship and intimacy of some of the people of the vicinity as well as of a major on recruiting service there, visiting the neighboring convents, and exchanging secret corre- spondence with her family and others. Strangely enough, so little thought was taken of her by Peter, that all this remained unknown to him, or at least unnoticed bv him, for nearlv twenty years. She never lost the hope of being recalled to Moscow. In 1703, she wrote to Str6shnef : ' Have mercy on me, a poor woman ; beg our Lord for grace. How long must I live thus without seeinej him or mv son, or hearins^ from him ? This is now my fifth year of misery, and my Lord shows no mercy. Petition my Lord to let me hear of his health, and to see my relations.' After twenty years we shall meet with her agam. The exact cause of the separation of Peter from his wife is unknown. Thei-e apparently was no one charge imputed to her, although Peter long afterward speaks of her as having been made a nun on account of her ' opposition and suspicions.' AVhat is perfectly well known is that the marriage had not been one of love on Peters part, that Eudoxia was without education, and adhered to the old-fashioned ways in which she had been brought up, and that she hated foreigners, especially Lefort, and those whom- Peter liked the most. It is always dangerous to the peace of the family when a wife endeavors to alienate her husband from his friends. To this, Eudoxia added 334 PETEK THE GKEAT. jealousy, and Peter knew tliat lie was not l)lameless. ITer attempted interference with his friendships and amusements made him angry ; her jealousy and suspicions of his relations in the German suburb annoyed him ; her marks of affection, her letters, and her attempts to keep or regain his love wearied him. AVith the German goldsmith's daughter, Anna Mons, who was the cause of Eudoxia's jealousy, Peters relations became daily more open and public. Together with the Tsar, she stood as sponsor at the christening of a son of the Danish Envoy, and on lier birthdav the Tsar dined at her mothers house. She was very pretty, fairly well educated, bright and quick in con- versation, and there is every reason to believe that she might have succeeded in supplanting the Tsaritsa on the throne as well as in the Tsar's affections, had it not been that she some- times exercised her powder too plainly, that she was grasping, ever eager for money and presents, and used her favour to push forward her own relations and friends. A handsome house, almost a palace, w^as built for her, and a ime and productive es- tate given to her. Her relations with Peter continued unin- terruptedly until the end of 1703, when Peter for the first time met the Esthonian girl, Catherine, who subsequently became Empress. Thinking, perhaps, that she would attach the Tsar more firmly to herself by making him jealous, Miss Mons began to coquet with the Prussian Minister Kayserling, who fell deeply in love wdtli her, and, proud to be a rival of the Tsar, offered to marry her. Seeing that she was losing the Tsar's affections, and wishing to establish herself, she was ready to accept this proposal, and asked the Tsar's consent, not in person, but through Menshikof, wdio disliked her, and w^as putting Catherine forward with ends of his own in view. Peter was indignant, revoked the grant of her estate, and took away his portrait set in diamonds, saying that she could have no further use for it, as she had preferred a Avretched slave to the original. Together with her mother and her sister, she was placed under arrest in her own house. Two years later, when Peter's anger had somewhat cooled do^vn, the members of the Mons family, although still nominally under arrest, were al- lowed to visit the Lutheran church, and were shortly afterward ANNA MOXS. 335 given full liberty. In ITOT, at Lublin, at a banquet given by Prince Mensbikof on Peter's name's dav, Kavserlino- whose love was still ardent, and who was still desirous of the marriao-e, tried to persuade the Tsar to take her brother, Wilhelm Mons, into the military service. ' Peter had been in very good hu- mour, but no sooner was the name of Mons mentioned than he flew into a passion, and said : ' I educated the girl Mons for myself, \\ath the sincere intention of marrying her, but since she was enticed and inveis^led away bv you, I do not want to hear or know about her or any of her relations.' Kayserling undertook to defend her, when Menshikof, taking the side of the Tsar, expressed strong opinions about her. Both got angry, Menshikof o:ave Kavserlino^ a blow on the breast, and Kavser- ling slapped Menshikof 's face, while vile epithets were used on both sides. Kayserling, finding his sword gone, tried to retreat, but, as usual at feasts of this kind, the doors w^ere locked. The Tsar, who after trying to reconcile them had left the room, came back and asked Kayserling what he was plotting, and whether he were not trying to fight. ' I myself am plotting nothing,' Kayserling answered, ' and cannot fight because they have taken away my sword; but if I do not receive the satis- faction I desire from your Majesty, I am ready in any other place to fight with Prince Menshikof.' Peter then exclaimed that he would fio-ht Kavserlino; himself, and drew his sword, as did also Menshikof. Shafirof threw himself in front of them, and begged them not to touch the Minister. The by- standers, to protect Kayserling, pushed him out of the room, but the soldiers who guarded the door, out of excess of zeal, gave him a good drubbing. The Minister, in spite of mes- sages from Peter and Menshikof, reported this accident to his sovereign and demanded ample satisfaction ; but it did not suit the King of Prussia to quarrel, and the matter w^as arranged. Kayserling wrote most humble letters of apology to the Tsar ' Wilhelm Mons subsequently entered the Russian service and became Court Chamberlain. He embittered the last days of the Tsar by an intrigue with the Empress Catherine, for which he was executed in 1724. This was not the last time the Mons family caused trouble to the Tsars. A niece of Anna and Wilhelm married a cousin of the Tsaritsa Eudoxia ; both were ac- cused of plotting against the Ejnpress Elisabeth (the daughter of Peter and Catherine), and both were sent into exile in Siberia in 1743. 830 PETER THE GREAT. and to Mensliikof, in which lie ascribed the whole affair to a drunken misunderstanding. A few days later he had a public reconciliation with Menshikof. Peter, taking Kayserling aside, said tu him: 'As God knows my soul, I am right sorry for what has happened, but we were all " full," and now, thank (rod ! all is over and settled.' Two of the guards who had struck Kayserling were condemned to death after Kayserling had agreed to pardon them. Kayserling reported that he had received the ' most complete satisfaction,' and in 1711 married Miss Mons, and died on his wedding journey to Prussia. With the exception of the incident just recomited, Anna Mons disap- pears from Peter's life after ITO-l, and while preparing for a second marriage — this time wdth a Swedish captain, a prisoner of war — she. died in the foreign suburb of Moscow in 1714.' ' Ustrialof, III., vii.; Esipof, Life of Prince Menshikof , in Russian Archives for 1875 ; Semefsky, TJie Mons Family^ Moscow, 1862; id. Avdotia LopiWdn in Russian Messenger for 1859 ; Alex. Gordon, History of Peter the Great , Aberdeen, 1755. XXXV. FOREIGN FASHIONS AND FIRST REFORMS. The report of the Tsars arrival spread quickly through Moscow, and all the bovars and chief Muscovites hastened to Preobrazhensky early the next morning to pay their court. Ivorb says : ' The Tsar received all that came with an alacritv that showed as if he wished to ])e beforehand with his subjects in eagerness. Those who, according to the fashion of that coun- try, would cast themselves upon the ground to worship Majesty, he lifted np graciously from their grovelling posture and em- l)raced with a kiss, such as is only due among private friends. If the razor, tliat plied promiscuously among the beards of those present, can be forgiven the injury it did, the Muscovites may truly reckon that day among the happiest of their lives. Shein, general-in-chief of the Tsar's troops, was the first who submitted the encumbrance of his long beard to the razor. Xor can they consider it any disgrace, as their sovereign is the first to show the example. Xor was there anybody left to laugh at the rest. They were all born to the same fate. Xothing but superstitious awe for his oflace exempted the Patriarch. Prince Michael Tcherka- sky was let off out of reverence for his advanced years, and Ti- khon Streshnef out of the honor due to one who had been ojuar- dian to the Tsaritsa. All the rest had to conform to the guise of foreign nations, and the razor eliminated the ancient fashion.' Five days afterward, on the Russian first of September, there was a feast at She'in's. ' A crowd of bovars, scribes, and militarv officers almost in- credible was assembled there, and among them were several common sailors, with whom the Tsar repeatedly mixed, divided apples, and even honoured one of them hy ^ailing him Ids Vol. I.— 22 388 PETER THE GKEAT. Lrotlier. A salvo of twentj-five gnns marked eacli toast. Nor could the irksome offices of the barber check the festivities of the day, thougli it was well known he was enacting the part of jester by appointment at the Tsar's court. It was of evil omen to make show of reluctance as the razor aj^proached the chin, and was to be forthwith punished with a box on the ears. In this way, between mirth and the wine-cup, many were admon- ished by this insane ^^'^tt^.rog^Fif a . l^^iIiiHK'i'^' ridicule to abandon Civuui 11U0..-.....IL I »TthirKfvii.iiikv the olden guise.' To the orthodox, old-fashioned Rus- sian, the beard was then as sacred as it is now to a Turk, or as the queue is to a Chinaman. The Patriarch Adrian, shortly after his accession, had promulga- ted a fulminating edict against all who were so irre- ligious, unholy, and heretical as to shave or cut their beards, an orna- ment given by God, and which had been worn by all the holy prophets and apostles, and by the Saviour himself. Only such men as Julian the Apostate, Ileraclius the Heretic, Constantine the Iconoclast, Olgerd the Idol-worshipper, and Annirath the Mussulman, had foi'ced their subjects to shave, while Constantine the Great, Theodosius the Great, and Yladimir the Great had all w^orn beards.^ Peter, in his eagerness to adopt A Contemporary Caricature. ^ See also page 205. 1698.] BEAKD SHAVING. 339 the usages of Western Europe, chose to consider the beard as the symbol of wliat was uncivilised and barbarous. He was not content with repealing the decree of Alexis, and saying that his subjects might shave, but he said that they must shave. For Peter himself it was easy ; he had little beard, and even his moustache, which he allowed to grow, was always very thin. AYliat had begun in jest was soon done in earnest. De- crees were issued that all Russians, the clergy excepted, should shave, but those who preferred to keep their beards were al- lowed to do so on condition of paying a yearly tax, fixed at a kopek (two cents) for the peasantry, and varying from thirty to a hundred rubles (fi'om 860 to 8200, a ruble being worth at that time about $2) for the other classes, -the merchants, as be- ing the richest and most conservative, paying the highest sum. On the payment of this duty they received a bronze token, which they were oblis-ed alwaA's to wear about their necks, and to renew yearly.^ [Many were willing to pay this very high tax in order to keep their beards, but most conformed to the Tsar's wishes, some through policy, some through ' terror of having their beards (in a merry humour) pulled out by the roots, or taken so rough off, that some of the skin went with them.' The Tsar would allow no one to be near him who did not shave. Perry writes : ' About this time the Tsar came down to Voronezh, where I was then on service, and a great many of my men who had worn their beards all their lives were now obliged to part with them, amongst whom one of the first that I met with, just com- ing from the hands of the barber, was an old Puss carpenter Token for Beard Duty. ^ Although the restrictions on the wearing of beards by the peasantry and the middle classes soon disappeared, yet, until the accession of Alexander II., all public officials were obliged to be shaved. This gradually became relaxed in practice, but it was only in the year 1875 that a decree was issued permit- ting the officers and soldiers of the army, except the Imperial Guard, to wear their beards when in service. A- 340 PETE 11 THE GPwEAT. that liad been with nie at Caiuisbinka, wlio was a very ijood workman witli his hatchet, and wliom I always had a friend- sliip for. I jested a little witli him on tliis occasion, telling him that he was become a young man, and asked him what he had done with his beard. I'pon which he put his hand in his bosom and pulled it out and showed it to me ; further telling me that when he came home, he would lay it up to haye it put in his coffin and buried along with him, that he might be able to jxive an account of it to 8t. ^'^icholas, when he came to the other world, and that all his brothers (meaning his fellow-work- men who had been shayed that day) had taken the same care/ 8oon after compelling his courtiers to shaye their beards, Peter began a crusade against the old Eussian dress. On October 9, T.efort and Ooloyin, the only two members of the Great Embassy then in Moscow, entered the town in solemn state. ' Xo one was allowed to appear except in German dress, which was especially meant to irritate Prince Kamodanofsky with the sight of what he liked not, for when it was told to him that the ambassador Golovin had put on the German dress at Vienna, he answered : '* 1 do not belieye Goloyin to be such a brainless ass as to despise the garb of his fatherland.'' ' A few months afterward, Peter himself gaye a carniyal entertainment, at which the Ijoyar Sheremetief, who had just returned from his yisit to Italy, appeared in full foreign dress, wearing the cross of Malta, which many enyied him. The Tsar cut off, with his own hands, the sleeyes of some of his officers which seemed to him to be too long. lie said : ' See, these things are in your way. You are safe nowhere with them. At one moment you upset a glass, then you forgetfully dip them in the sauce. Get gaiters made of them.' On Janu- ary 14, 1700, appeared a decree connnanding all the courtiers and the officials, as well in the capital as in the proyinces, to wesiv nothing but foreign clothing, and to proyide themselyes with such suits before the end of the carnival. This decree had to be repeated frequently throughout the year, and models of the clothing were publicly exposed. According to Perry, these patterns and copies uf the decree were hung up at all the gates of the towns, and all who disobeyed these orders were < o o > K X C z c (a o CO 1700.] CHANGE OF COSTUME. 341 obliged either to pay a fine, or ' to kneel down at the gates of the city, and have their coat.s cut oft' iust even with the irround, so much as it was longer than to touch the ground when they kneeled down, of which there were manv himdreds of coats that were cut accordhio^lv ; and beincr done with a crood humour, it occasioned mirth among the people and soon broke the cus- tom of their wearing long coats, especially in places near Mos- cow and those towns wherever the Tsar came.' As this decree did not aftect the peasantry, it was less difticult t«> put it into execution. Even the women were compelled to adopt foreign fashions, and to give up the old liussian costumes. Peter's sis- ters set the example. Here the women, as might perhaps be ex- pected, were less conservative than the men. They saw, in the adoption of foreign fashions of dress, a great opening to variety of costume. Decrees were even issued ao^auist hii::li liussiau boots, aii^ainst the use of Russian saddles, and even of lonof Rus- sian knives. There is no absolute and real connection between costume and civilisation. Shaved faces and short i'-arments made the Russians no more civilised and no more European than they were before, although they made them conform in one respect to the usages of civilised people. It is the natural spirit of imi- tation, the desire not to be difterent from the j-est of the civil- ised world, that induces peoples rising in the scale of civilisation to adopt the fashion of the garments of more highly cultured nations, even though the new costume may be both unbecom- ins: and inconvenient. This we have seen in our own day among the Japanese. We see it also in the way peasant cos- tumes constantly disappear, and even the neat white cap gives place to a tawdiy imitation of a lady's bonnet, and the comfort- able and convenient knee-breeches and loneks. It w-as necessary, therefore, for the purposes of small change, to use bits of stamped leather, or to cut the kopeks into halves and quarters. Undeterred bv the failure of his father, Peter resolved on a rational reform, and began by coining copper for the purposes of small change, of the same — or nearly the same — real value as the silver ; it w^as necessary, therefore, to make a copper kopek forty-five times as heavy as a silver one. Consequently, the copper pieces, being not tokens but actual coins, were of A-ery large size, which, though inconvenient, gave satisfaction to a primitive people. After the copper came a gold coinage of single and double ducats, with the portrait of the Tsar on one side and the arms of Russia on the other ; then a silver coinage of grivennihs (ten kopeks), quarter and half rubles, and finally rubles. In this way, the new coinage was introduced without 346 PETER THE GREAT. difficulty, and tlie old witlidra^vn from circulation. In the first three years there wei'e coined in this way over nine millions of rubles (818,000,000). Another measure removed a ])arrier, though but a slight one, between Russia and the rest of the world. The Russians had been in the habit of beginning the new year on September 1 (it being believed that the world was created in the autumn, when all the fruits of the earth were in perfection), and of dating their years from the beginning of the world. On December 20 (O.S.), 1099, appeared a decree ordering the year to begin on January 1, and the date to be that from the birth of Christ, and not from the creation of the world — i.e., the year was to be 1700, and not 7208. It was stated in the decree that this change was made in order to conform to the custom of other countries, and Peter defended the change to those who exclaimed that the world could not have been created in the depth of winter, by desiring them 'to view the map of the globe, and, in a pleasant temper, gave them to understand that Russia was not all the world, and that what was winter with them was, at the same time, always summer in those places beyond the equator.' In order to impress this event on the people, special Xew Tear services were held in all the churches, the inhabitants of Moscow were ordered to congratulate each other on the Kew Year, evergreens were placed on the door- posts of the houses and in the corners of the rooms, fii-e- works and bonfires were lighted on the Red Place and in the streets, and there was to be a general illumination of private houses for seven days. Feasting went on until Epij^hany, when there took place the semi-annual blessing of the river Moskva. Contrary to previous custom, the Tsar did not seat himself with the Patriarch on his throne, but appeared in uniform at the head of his regiment, drawn up together with other troops, amounting to twelve thousand men, on the thick ice of the river. The new arms and the brilliant uniforms made an excellent im- pression. It is unfortunate that, when this change was made, the Gre- gorian calendar was not adopted. But at that time Protestants, as well as Orthodox, had a suspicion of the Gregorian calen- dar as being something peculiarly Romish and Papistical. It 1700.] THE NEW CALENDAR. 347 was not finally adopted in England until tlie year 1752. For various reasons, it lias never been found convenient to adopt the new style in countries where the Orthodox Church prevails. The chief objection is that in this church there are many saints' davs, and it is feared that there would be distui-bances aniono* the ignorant peasants and common people if in one year they should be suddenly deprived of twelve days, for at no period of the vear could these be taken too^ether without includino- some great holidays. Still, with Peters fearlessness and firmness, the change would probably have been made at that time if the new style had been in use in England.' ^'Koxh, Diary ; V err j, State of Russia ; GoTdon's Diary ; Fosselt, Lef art ; Ustrialof, III., vii. ; Solovief, xiv. ; Russian Laws, ii,, iii, ; Bruckner, Eiro Kleiderreformprojekt vor Peter dem Grossen in Bussiche Revue ; Kryzhanitch, Works ^ L • ^ XXXYL PETER'S DEJECTION, ANGER. AND GRIEF. Xo matter liow pleasant the journey abroad had l)een, Peter was ghid to be again in the society of his friends. It was partly that, and partly, perhaps, the desire to counteract the effect of the trials and executions, that banquets, festivities, and masquer- ades were given almost nightly. Dinners with his friends, chris- tenings and M'eddings in the (rerman suburb, the receptions of foreign ambassadors, carols at Christmas time, daily feasts at the new club-house, called Lefort's Palace, absorljed all his lei- sure time. According to Ivorb — ^ A sham Patriarch and a complete set of scenic clergy dedi- cated to Bacchus, with solenm festivities, the palace which was built at the Tsar's expense, and which it has pleased him now to have called Lefort's. A procession thither set out from Col- onel Lima's house. He that bore the assumed honours of the Patriarch was conspicuous in the vestments proper to a bishop. Bacchus was decked with a mitre and went stark naked, to be- token lasciviousness to the lookers-on. Cupid and Venus were the insignia on his crozier, lest there should he any mistake about what flock he was pastoi* of. The remaining route of Bacchanalians came after him, some carrying great bowls full take a hberty with them. TJiis is the effect, partly of personal character, and partly of modern society and well-disciplined and well-or- ganised public opinion. In Peter's time this last w^as lacking. It was at A^cjronezh, where Peter went three times in the first winter after his return, where he was away from the so- ciety of l^efort and his friends, looking after his ships, that he most gave way to melancholy and despondency. The forced labour in the ship-yards w^as very hard for the poor peasants, who had to bring theii* own hatchets, and sometimes their horses, to cut and float timber, and to work at the ships under pain of death. The mortality was so great, owing to bad sani- tary conditions, that the wharves had to be fenced in and guarded to prevent desertion. Runaways, when found, were well beaten, and their wives and children were cast into prison. There w^as bribery and peculation among the ofhcials, and the countrv as far as Moscow suffered from the disorder to work and the bad administration. Firm as was Peter's will, and strong as was his belief in himself, he even began to doubt whether, after all, he was on the right road. He WTote to Yinius on Xovember 2, 1698, from Voronezh : ' Thank God ! we have found our fleet in an excellent condition, and liave ap- proved the magazine. But still a cloud of doubt covers my mind wdiether we shall ever taste of this fruit, like dates, which those who plant never gather. However, w^e hope in God and in St. Paul. " The husbandman that laboureth must be the first partaker of the fruit." ' In another letter he writes : ' Here, by God's help, is great preparation ; but we only w^ait for that blessed day w^hen the cloud of doubt over us shall be driven away. We have begun a ship here which will carry sixty guns.' His doubts and his hesitations were being rapidly driven away by hard work, when he received from Moscow the melancholy news of the sudden death of General Lefort. Le- fort had entertained the envovs from Denmark and Branden- burg, on the eve of their departure for Voronezh, where they were going by permission of the Tsar, to see his new fleet. The banquet had lasted so long that they had finished it by drinking in the open air, in the cold of February. The next 1699.] DEATH OF LEFOET. 353 day, Lefort was taken alarmingly ill witli a burning fever, and died a week after in delirium. The Tsar immediately returned from Voronezh to be present at the funeral. At the news of the death, he burst into thick sobs, and, with a flood of tears, broke out in these words : ' Xow I am left without one trusty man. lie alone was faithful to me ; in whom can 1 confide henceforward?' He frequently spoke of his loss, and years after, when Menshikof gave an entertainment which was to his taste, said: 'This is the first time that 1 have really enjoyed myself since Lefort's death.' It is to be mentioned to Lefort's honour that, with all the opportunities he had for making him- self rich, he died almost penniless. The Tsar maintained in his service Peter Lefort, the nephew and steward of the general, and sent to Geneva for Henry Lefort, the only son of the de- ceased, saying that he always wished to have one of the name near his person. A few months later, ou November 29, 1699, the Tsar lost another and an older friend, with whom w^e have had much to do — General Gordon. Peter visited him five times during his short illness, was with him twice on the last night, and closed his dying eyes with his own hand. The last entry in Gordon's diary is on the last day of December, 1698, when, as if antici- pating his death, he wrote : ' In this year I have felt a sensible failino' of my health and streno;th — but Thv will be done, O my gracious God ! ' ' ' Korb, Diary; Posselt, Lefort; Gordon, Diary; Yeselago, Sketch of Russian JVaval History. Vol. L-23 . XXXVII. A TRUCE WITH TURKEY. OxE of tlie Great Embassy, Prokop Voznitsyn, had been left in Yienna, and was made deleerate to the Coni>:ress that was to settle the terms of peace with the Turks, and which met shortly afterwards at C'arlowitz, near Peterwardein, on the Danube. It was, as we remember, greatly against Peter's will that he consented to take any part in the negotiations. He was dissatisfied tliat peace shonld be made by Austria, for he knew that Pussia alone was nnable to cope with the Turkish Empire, which, in spite of its recent defeats, w^as still strong. All his efforts at ship-building, so far as they had any national importance, were in order to create a fleet which could fight the Turks on their own waters, the Black Sea. Jle objected also to the principle on which the peace was to be made, that of the uti jHfSsidetls. Vcznitsyn, therefore, had instructions to insist not only on keeping all that Pussia had acquired by force of arms — that is, Azof and the forts on the Lower Dnieper — but also on the cession of Ivertch. Subsequently, when the Tsar found that Austria would, in any event, make peace, he instructed his envoy, in case the Turks were obstinate, not to insist too strong!}^ on Ivertch, provided AjLoi and the forts on the Dnieper could be retained. He soon saw that the negotia- tions at Carlowitz proceeded too quickly for him to make any effort at new conquests before the conclusion of a treat}'. Aus- tria and Turkey were both sincerely desirous of peace — Austria because she did not wish to risk the conquests she had gained, and wanted to have her hands free. Turkev because the Sultan and his W/Aqy feared still further defeats. England and the Netherlands desired peace because they foresaw the war of the Spanish succession, and wished to use the whole force of Aus- 1698.] PEACE OF CARLO WITZ. 355 tria to coimterbalance that of France. The Austrian and Turk- ish commissioners, assisted by the mediators, Lord Paget and Colver, in a few secret cessions, quickly estabhshed the terms of peace, in spite of all the intrigues of Yoznitsyn. The Rus- sian envoy had at hrst applied to the Austrian ministry, and then to the Emperor himself, asking that, on the basis of the treaty of 1697, by which each party bound itself not to make a separate peace, the overtures of the Turks should be rejected, unless the Russian demands were satisfied. Finding this of no avail, he endeavoured to work on the Turks through his old acquaintance Alexander Mavrocordato, a Greek by birth, the dracjoman of the Porte and one of the Turkish commissioners. He msisted to the Turks that this was no time for them to make peace, as Austria would soon be at war with France, and they would have the chance, not only of reconquering all they had lost, but, perhaps, of gaining additional advantages. These negotiations were carried on through the chaplain of Mavrocor- dato and Doctor Postnikof, who had returned with his doctor's diploma from Padua. In order to escape observation, they took long circuits through the plains surrounding Carlowitz, and met at distant points. Ma\TOCordato sent flattering mes- sages, and willingly accepted presents and bribes. When he hinted that it was cold, Yoznitsvn sent him his own embroid- ered caftan lined with blue -fox fur. In return for the caviare, smoked fish, and salted sturgeon, Mavrocordato gave tobacco, coffee, pipes, and wi'iting-paper. The ruse was too transparent ; all were astonished that the Russian envoy should take the side of the Turks, and liis plans came to naught. The Turks, sure of the peace with Austria, refused to make concessions, either to the Poles or the Venetians, and demanded from the Russians the evacuation of the Lower Dnieper. They would hear noth- ing of the cession of Kertch, were with difficulty prevailed upon to allow Azof still to remain in the Russian possession, and absolutely refused to give up the Dnieper. They wished, by aU means, to keep to themselves the Black Sea. Yoznitsyn then brought forward the proposition which he had held in reserve, that a two years' truce should be made, which Peter thought would allow him sufficient time to liave his fleet in readiness for active offensive operations. This the Turks re- 3;')6 PETEK THE GKEAT. filled, said tliey had come to terms with the other powers, and that they were able to tight and concjuer Kussia. At this A'oznitsyn took a lirmer and mor6 threatening attitude, and repUed that if they wished war they could have it. This had an effect, and before the arrival of a new proposition from J*eter that the forts on the Dnieper should be rased to the ground and not be rebuilt by either side, Yoznitsyn had con- cluded a truce for two years, hi defending himself for this, he said that the Congress was over, the treaty signed,' and the Turkish commissioners could not be found this side of Constan- tinople ; that the Turks Avere little disposed to cede anything except Avhat was too far off for them to defend and maintain, as they wished to use all their strength in reconquering the !^[orea. lie therefore advised Peter, instead of runnino; the chances of war, to send a special embassy to Constantinople, headed l)y some man of quickness and capacity, to see on what terms the Turks were willhig to make peace, but not to ask for a peace, and to refuse all terms inconsistent with the dignity and power of Kussia. This advice Peter took, and appointed as his ambassador Emelian Ukraintsef, who had long been in the Russian Foreign Office, and had been entrusted with several delicate and impor- tant negotiations. Ji\ order to give dignity to the mission, and at the same time to impress the Turks with the new naval power of Pussia, he resolved that Ukraintsef, instead of prosecuting his journey by land, should sail fi'om Azof on a frigate, while he, with all the other ships disposable, w^ould accompany him as far as Kertch. Golovin was made general-admiral of the fleet, and invested with the insignia of the new order of St. Andrew. This order Peter created after the model of those decorations he had seen in other countries. He had found out how convenient and cheap a way this was of rewarding services to the state. ^ By the Treaty of Carlowitz, which, after discussions lasting seventy-two days, was signed on January 26, 1699, Austria regained Transylvania, the Banate, and all of Hungary northwest of the Theiss ; Venice kept Dalmatia and the Morea ; and Poland received Kamenetz and Podolia, while all tributes to the Porte from these three powers, whether paid as such or as honorary presents, were done away with. It was the beginning of the decadence of Turkey. Prom that time, Europe felt no fear of the Turkish arms. 1699.] EMBASSY TO COXSTAXTIXOPLE. 357 On his visit to Yoronezh, in the autumn of 1898, Peter fomid liis infant Heet in a far greater state of forwanUiess than he had expected. Many ships were ah*eady built and armed, and ready for a cruise. Tlie magazines were full of material. In this, and in subsequent visits, he laboured to make good all the deficiencies, and Cruys, who had arrived from Holland, inspected all the vessels, and recommended that many of them be strengthened, and in part rebuilt. Peter was glad to find that many of his fellow-workmen at Amsterdam and Deptford had alreadv arrived, and he himself set heartilv to work, and laid the keel of a new frigate, one hundred and thirty feet long, to be called the 'Pre- destination.' Bv the spring of 1699, there were ready eighty-six ships and boats of all kinds, including eighteen which car- ried from thirtv-six to forty -six guns, be- sides ^\^ hundred barges for transport- ing provisions and munitions. The fleet, under the .command of Admiral Golovin, left Voronezh on May 7, and reached Azof on June 3. Peter went as commander of the forty-four-gun ship the ' Apostle Peter.' Cruys, in his journal, gives a full account of the voyage, and after describing the lovely counti-y through which they passed, tells, among other things, how at Panshin, where they arrived just in time to prevent the assem- bled Cossacks and Kalmuks from coming to blows over cattle- lifting and pasturage, Peter came to see him, and found his men engaged in cleaning some tortoises which they had caught on the banks of the Don. The Tsar asked what they were for, and being told ' to make a fi-icassee for dinner,' immediately ordered a similar dish to be prepared for his own table. Tortoises were The Apostle Peter. 358 PETER THE GREAT. considered uiu-lean animals. The Russian nobles who dined with him, not knowing of what the dish was composed, but thinking, from its taste, that it was made of young chickens, ate it with satisfaction. When the dish was empty, Peter ordered a ser\'ant to bring in the feathers of these excellent chickens, which, to the general astonishment and consternation, turned out to be tortoise-shells. Most of them laughed at the joke, except Shein and Soltykof, who became sick at having eaten food so i-epugnant to all their ideas. Peter was fond of practical jokes of this kind, and at a supper at Moscow, not long before, had seized Golovin, who hated oil, and stuffed salad down his throat till the blood ran from his nose. After inspecting the fortifications at Azof and Taganrog, drawing up and correcting maritime regulations, and trying the qualities of the vessels in manoeuvres and a sham fight, Peter started for Ivertch with all his fleet. The forty-six-gun ship ' Fortress,' under the command of Captain van Pamburg, who had been engaged in Holland, was selected to take Ukraintsef to Constantinople. Negotiations with the Pasha of Ivertch lasted ten days. First an absolute refusal was given to the passage of the ship without orders from Constantinople ; then a journey by land was recommended. AVhen Peter threatened to force the pas- sage with his whole fleet in case of an absolute refusal, the Pasha consented, as there were only four Turkish ships in the harbour, but still excuses were made on account of the bad weather. ^Yhen it seemed that everything had been arranged, Peter returned with his squadron to Taganrog, and in a few days to Yoronezh. His departure seemed to give the Turks hope that they might create new delays. Finally, Ukraintsef was forced to give the order for the immediate departure of his vessel, in spite of all the dangers that were set before him by the Turks, who said : ' You do not know our sea. Xot without reason is it called Black. In time of danger, men's hearts grow black on it.' Eefusing the request of the Turkish vessels that convoyed him, to stop at Balaklava, Ukraintsef directed his course straight to Constantinople, and after sigliting land at Heraclea, speedily came into the Bosphorus, and anchored at sundown, on September 13, opposite the Greek village of Yeni- <; c o H O X O 1699.] EMBASSY TO COXSTANTIXOPLE. 359 keui. A message of congratulation came from the Sultan, and boats and caiques were sent to take the embassy to Stambiil. Ukraintsef, wishing to keep within the spirit of his orders, re- fused to go in the Sultan's caiques unless the fi'igate preceded him. He was received at the landing-place by high officials sent to meet him, moimted a splendidly caparisoned horse, and, accompanied by an immense crowd, went to the house pre2:)ared for him near the church of the Virgin of Hope, at the Sand Gate, on the shore of the Sea of Marmora. Owing to the fall of the wind, the frigate had been obliged to anchor opposite the Jewish village of Kusgundjik, near Scutari, but on the next day it took an excellent position directly in front of the palace on the Seraglio Point, to the astonishment of the Sultan, the ministers, and all the people. The Turks could not understand how such a laro-e vessel could o-et out of the shallow mouths of the Don, and were only quieted by the belief that it was flat- bottomed and iiiiflt for bad weather. They expressed their an- noyance at the fact that so many Dutch and Eno-Hshmen were in the Russian service, for thev had hitherto considered those nations to be particularly friendly to the Porte. The boats of a few Cossack pirates had advanced as far as the mouth of the Bosphorus ; but no Russian vessel had been seen at Constantinople since the times of the old Greek Empire. In the tenth century, the early Russian princes had kept Con- stantinople in terror by their incm-sions, which had been greatly magnified by patriotic tradition. It is said that Oleg fitted wheels to his ships, and drew them over the peninsula to the Sea of Marmora, and huno- his shield as a defiance on the Golden Gate. His son, Igor, was less successful, and his fleet was destroyed by Greek fire, with terrible loss. But those days were long past, and the exploits of Oleg and Igor were un- known to the Turks. To the Russians they were kept alive by popular songs and the chronicle of Xestor. The Russian frio^ate was visited by all classes of the motley population of Constantinople, and even by the Sultan himself, who was greatly interested and carefully inspected the vessel in detail. Rumours magnified the prowess and intentions of the Russians, and it was said that ten vessels had entered the Black Sea and were cruising off Trebizond and Sinope. A thought- 360 PETER THE GREAT. less act of Captain Painburg added to the general excitement. lie had invited to dinner a number of his French and Dutch acquaintances. After entertaining them till midnight, he tired a salute of all his guns, to the consternation of the Sultan, his wives, and the whole city, who believed tliat this was a signal given to the fleet of the Tsar to approach Constantinople. Early the next morning, the Grand Vizier sent Mavrocordato to Ukraintsef to express his displeasure, and to request the punishment of the captain. If this were refused, the Sultan ordered the captain to be arrested by Turkish troops and im- prisoned, and his ship to be seized and towed up to the Admi- ralty. Ukraintsef replied that if the salute had been displeas- ing to the Sultan, it would not be repeated ; but that he had no power over the commander of the vessel. Matveief, who was then at the Hague, reported that news had come there from the Dutch agent at Smyrna, that the Sultan in his anger sent three hundred men to Captain van Pamburg, to forbid his tiring again. Pamburg declared to them that they had better not attempt to board him, for he would blow up the ship the moment they had all reached the deck. The conferences at Constantinople, twenty-three in all, be- tween Ukraintsef and the secretary Tcheredeief, on the one side, and the Peis-Effendi Mehmed Pami and Mavrocordato, the dragoman of the Porte, on the other, lasted from the mid- dle of November, 1699, to the end of June, 1700. The con- ditions of the Pussians — which at the request of the Grand Yizier were given in writing, in Latin and Pussian — were com- posed of sixteen articles, the chief of which were that the towns and lands conquered by Pussia were to be ceded to Pussia, ac- cording to the principle of uti 2)ossidet{s accepted at the treaty of Carlowitz; that neither the Khan of the Crimea, nor the Tartars under his control, nor the Turks, should vex Pussia with incursions, nor should, under any pretext, ask the Pussian Government for a tribute of money or for presents ; that Pus- sian commercial vessels should have the right of sailing on the Black Sea \ that the prisoners should be mutually exchanged ; and that the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem should be taken away from the Catholics and given back to the Greeks. The disputes, the delays, the quibblings were endless, and at one time the ne- 1700.] THE BLACK SEA. 361 gotiations were almost entirely broken off, and could not be re- newed until Zlierlof arrived from the Tsar, bringing as a final concession the alternative proposition that the towns on the Lower Dnieper should remain in the possession of Russia six or seven years, and then be rased, or that they should be en- tirely destroyed and occupied by neither power. The Turks claimed that the uti possidetis basis was impossible, and had actually been given up in the treaty of Carlowitz, as the Aus- trian s, for the purpose of simplifying the frontier, had restored some small districts to Turkey. They insisted on the sur- render of the Lower Dnieper, and refused to mention in the treaty the maritime towns and villages on the Sea of Azof. They even refused to cede more than the distance of a cannon- shot from the walls of Azof, altlioua;h fin all v thev o^ranted sur- rounding territory to the distance of ten days' journey. Even after the plenipotentiaries had agreed upon the terms of the treaty, the Sultan for a time refused to sign it, unless the Rus- sians consented to destroy all the new forts which had been constructed, such as Taganrog, Pavlofsky, and Miusky, and the new fortifications of Azof. With regard to the Holy Sepul- chre, the Sultan claimed that this was a question entirely within his jurisdiction, which he could not mention in the treaty, but that if after the treaty the Tsar chose to make representations, he would doubtless be willing to oblige him in some respects. Mavrocordato, who, after the treaty of Carlowitz, had been made a Count of the Lloly Roman Empire, and was long the guiding spirit of Turkish diplomacy, promised on his faith as an orthodox Christian to assist in this pious purpose. It was found impossible to get any concession from the Porte with regard to the Black Sea. The Turks said : *■ The Black Sea and all its coasts are ruled bv the Sultan alone. Thev have never been in the possession of any other power, and since the Turks have gained sovereignty over tliis sea, fi'om time im- memorial no foreign ship has ever sailed its waters, nor ever will sail them. More than once, and even now, have the French, Dutch, English, and Venetians begged the Porte to allow their trading ships on the Black Sea, but the Porte always has refused them and always w^ll refuse them, because the sov- ereignty of this sea belongs to no one else than the Sultan. The 362 PETER THE GREAT. Ottoman Porte guards the Black Sea like a pure and undefiled virgin, wliicli no one dares to touch, and the Sultan will sooner permit outsiders to enter his harem than consent to the sailing of foreign vessels on the Black Sea. This can only be doue when the Turkish Empire shall have been turned upside down.' All that could be obtained on this point was that, after the con- clusion of peace, the plenipotentiary who should come to Con- stantinople for its ratification should be empowered to engage in negotiations for advantageous and mutual commerce. Ukrain- tsef reported that on this point the Turks were rendered still more obstinate by the advice of the foreign ministers, especially the English and Erench, who had great commercial interests in the East, and wished to reserve all the trade for themselves. They therefore saw with jealousy and displeasure the possibility that the Russians might have a commercial fleet either on the Black Sea or at Archangel. Ukraintsef believed that the for- eign representatives did all they could to hinder the success of his mission, even in other respects, as they did not desire that Russia should get on too friendly and intimate terms with Turkey. With the representatives of other powers the Russian envoy had no intercourse, except as mutual messages of con- gratulation and compliment w^ere sent. The Porte kept him under surveillance, and refused to allow him to visit the for- eign legations, who lived at Galata in free intercourse with all the Avorld, and they, in their turn, replied to his pressing re^ quest for aid in this matter, that they were sure of being re- fused by the Porte, and they did not wish to expose themselves to the affront. At last it was possible to sign a thirty years' truce — for the Sultan refused to sign a permanent peace on the ground that sufficient concessions had not been made to him. The Turks of that time always preferred a truce to a peace. By a truce nothing was settled, except for the moment. The signers aban- doned no claims, and were bound to nothing. When the truce expired, all questions were again open, as if war had never ceased. The chief articles of this truce were that the towns on the Dnieper were to be destroyed within thirty days, and the laud on which they stood returned to Turkey ; that Azof and all its towns both new and old, were to remain in the posses- 1700.] A TRUCE SIGNED. 363 sion of Russia ; that a belt of waste and uninliabited country should separate the whole Crimea from the Kussian dominions ; that the tribute and presents heretofore paid to the Tai'tar Khan were given up ; that prisoners should be exchanged or ransomed on honourable terms ; that Russian pilgrims should be allowed to go to Jerusalem without being taxed, and Rus- sian ecclesiastics living in Turkish dominions protected from oppression and insult ; and that the Resident of the Tsar in Constantinople should have the same rights and privileges as those enjoyed by the representatives of other Christian powers/ ^ Ustrialof, III., ix. x. ; Solovief, xiv.; Posselt, Lefort ; Bruckner, Peter der Grosse ; Yelagin, History of the Russian Fleet; Yeselago, Russian Naval History ; Hammer, Histoire de VBmjnre Ottoman^ XII. XXXVIIL THE LEAGUE AGAINST SWEDEN, During tlie spring of 1700, the Tsar was very uneasv at re- ceiving no favourable news from Constantinople, for lie had made engagements to declare war upon Sweden, and he saw the favourable time passing by without being able to take advantage of it. He could not vet tell whether he mio-ht not be oblio^ed to use all his forces in the South, and, at any rate, he did not wish to have two wars on his hands at the same time. The idea of recovering for Russia the border provinces which had been seized by Sweden dm-ing the Troublous Times, and ever since retained, appears to have come into Peters mind after his visit to Vienna, when he found that the Emperor was determined on making peace with the Turks. He saw that it would be difficult for him to make war alone against the still formidable Ottoman Empire, and now that he had used so many exertions for the purpose of creating a fleet, it was neces- sary for him to find a sea for it to sail upon. Although he may have felt a passing anger at his reception at Riga, it was so completely effaced by what was done for him at Konigsberg that he did not openly complain of it. His secret agreement with the Elector of Brandenburg had, it is true, been aimed against Sweden, but it had been devised by the Elector for his own advantage, and had with difficulty been accepted by Peter. The Tsar's mind was then so occupied with Turkey and with the idea of getting a harbour on the Black Sea, that he never seemed to think of movins: in the Xorth. In Holland the Great Embassy had been on the best footing with Baron Lilienroth, the Swedish ambassador at the Pyswyk Congress. The Tsar had been grateful for the three hundred cannon sent by the Swedish King, and Lefort had sho^vn, in his correspondence 1698.] PATKUL. 365 witli the Cliaucellor Oxenstjerna, the desire of his master to be on the most friencUv terms with Sweden. It was uot until after Peter had left Vienna, and had become intimate with the lOntr of Poland, that he sucjirested his adventm*e at Pio-a as a possible cause of war. Peter was young, and felt the charm of the finished man of the world. In an outburst of enthusiasm, at a supper with Comit Flemming, Peter had promised Augus- tus to aid him against his Polish subjects if they rebelled, and m return asked his assistance to avenge hiniself on Sweden. It was a light and trifiing talk over the wine, about which neither party thought much at the tune, nor, indeed, for months. For a long time after Peter's return to Pussia he apparently had not the remotest idea of anvthintj hostile to Sweden. After the lapse of nearly a quarter of a centmy, Peter told of this conversation in his autograph corrections of the * Journal ' of the Swedish War. In October, 169S, there appeared at 'Warsaw a gentleman from Livonia, Johann Peinhold Patkul, with a plan for uniting the neiorhborinti; states in a war acjainst Sweden. All had suf-' fered loss to the profit of that coimtry. Livonia, as well as Esthonia and Curland, had up to the middle of the sixteenth century belonged to the Order of the Teutonic Knights. After the severe defeats infiicted on the Order bv Ivan the Terrible, Esthonia placed herself under the protection of Sweden, Cur- land became a separate duchy, the vassal of Poland, the islands of Oesel and Da^ij were taken bv the Danes, and Livonia was united to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and in that way formed a component part of the Kingdom of Poland. By a royal privilege of Xovember, 1561, Sigismund II. (Augustus) granted to Livonia religious freedom and self-government, and guaranteed the nobility hi the possession of all their estates. The attempts of the subsequent Polish kings to introduce the Polish lanoruai^e and laws and the Catholic reliction, caused threat dissatisfaction in that province, which revolted and called in the Swedes. After a long and bloody war, the victories of Gusta- vus Adolphus confirmed the Swedish supremacy, and by the Treaty of Oliva, Livonia, as well as the islands of Oesel and Dago, became part of Sweden, on the same conditions on which they had been annexed to Poland. 366 PETER THE GREAT. The aristocracy in Sweden, which had rapidly increased in power since the death of Gustavus Adolphus, had succeeded in making itself so hated by all the other classes of the population that the Diet restored to King Charles XI. all the preceding royal, despotic, and absolute power. One of the measures taken against the nobility was the so-called ' reduction,' which re- stored to the royal domain all the crown lands which had been at different times granted to the nobles on varying tenures, and had been wrongfully treated by them as hereditary estates, sold and alienated. The measure was legally defensible, but it caused great distress, and many innocent and honest purchasers were reduced to beggary. Although in 1678 Charles XI. had (j;ranted a charter to the Livonian nobilitv confinnins: all their rights to their estates, and expressly promising that they should not be subjected to any 'reduction,' yet in 1680 the ' reduction ' was applied in Livonia, and even to lands which had never been in the possession of the Swedish crown, but which had once belonged to the Order of the Teutonic Knights, its grand- masters, or its chapters, or to the bishops and archbishops. More than five-sixths of the lands of the Livonian nobles were thus confiscated, and out of 6,236 separate estates only 1,021 were left in their possession, and even for those they were required to produce documentary titles dating back to 1561. Protests were made, but were disregarded by the King, who said that the ' reduction ' had been resolved upon as a measm'e necessary for the common weal, and that no exception could be made in favor of Livonia. The measure was unjust, and — if written charters and royal signatures mean anything — illegal ; a brutal and irritated governor-general carried it out with unnecessary harshness. The Landrath Budberg and Captain Patkul were sent to Stockholm to explain and defend the privileges of the Livonian nobility, and did it with such eloquence that the King was moved, touched Patkul on the shoulder, and said : ' You have spoken like an honest man for your fatherland. I thank you.' But evil counsellors prevailed, several high nobles were arrested, and Patkul was condemned to death on a charge of high treason. He succeeded in escaping fi*om Stockholm, and passed several years in wandering over Europe, devoting him- self to study, and, among other things, translating into French 1698.] PATKUL. 367 tlie book of Puffendorf on the duties of a man and a citizen. But lie was watching for an opportunity to revenge himself, and do what he could for his native country. This opportunity he thought had come on the death of King Charles XI., when Sweden was left to the rule of a boy. Patkul was a singularly able and brilliant man, but we cannot at once admit that he was truly patriotic. He defended only the rights of his class, which included his own. That there existed in Livonia any « :>ther class besides the nobility whose rights were worth respect- ing, seems not to have entered his mind any more than the mind of manv nobles nowadays in the Baltic provinces, who claim that an exclusive re- gard to their rights and privileges should have precedence over the general welfare of the communitv. Ill the protest to the Swedish Government, there was no discussion of the point whether the ' re- duction ' was or was not better for the mass of the population. ^\J1 that was claimed was that it inf rino-ed on Patkul. the rights of the no- bility. Patkul knew that it would be impossible for the small province of Livonia to become an independent State, and if it threw off the Swedish voke it must immediatelv take upon it- self that of some other power. Poland was a republic of nobles, and under such rule the nobility could be sure of keeping their rights. The King, too, was a German prince who could sym- pathise with Germans. It seemed to him that the misery and distress inflicted upon the population by a war were of far less moment than that the nobility should be reduced from wealth to comparative pov- 308 PETEK THE GKEAT. erty. Indeed the address of the Diet at AVenden, which was drawn up by Patkul, had said this very thing, ' that Livonia was reduced by the '* reduction " to such despair, that if it pleased God to give them the choice of a devastating invasion of an enemy or the unendurable persecution which they were now undergoing, they would un (questionably choose the former rather than the latter ndsfortune.' Apart from the natural feelings which make a military nobility stand up for its rights and property, there might also have been the calculation that they would suffer on the whole less by losing their revenues for a few years, even if the houses of the peasantry were destroyed and the connnon people reduced to beggary, than they w^ould if their property was entirely taken away from them, and the peasantry remained untouched. Patkul therefore proposed to King Augustus a coalition against Sweden of Poland, Denmark, Brandenburg, and Rus- sia, and, as an incentive to action, recalled to him that Livonia had previously belonged to the Polish crown. In his memo- rials given to the Iving, especially that of April, 1699, he ex- plained the chances of the coalition, and the difficulties it might meet with from other powers. Demnark, he thought, would be the easiest of all to persuade, on account of the known hos- tility of the Danes to the Swedes, and especially of the dispute between the Danish King and the Duke of IIolstein-Gottorp, who had married the sister of the Swedish King, Charles XIL, and was bound to him by ties of personal friendship. If the Elector of Brandenburg could not be persuaded to join the union, his neutrality at least could be assured by promising to aid him in his efforts to secure for himself the title of King. The Duke of Liineberg was in the same way to be persuaded to assist them, by promising to make him Elector. The assistance of Rus- sia was in every way necessary to the success of the plan, and it was thought the Tsar might get the aid of Austria in his nego- tiations with the Porte, if he should promise the Catholic mis- sionaries perndssion to travel freely through his donunions to China, and that in this w^ay he w^ould also get the goodwill of Venice and the Pope, and especially of the influential College of the Propaganda at Rome. Li making an arrangement with Russia, it was desirable that an agreement should be made for 1699.] patkul's proposals. 369 the Tsar to assist tlie King l)Otli ^vitli money and witli troops, especially inf antr}', ' wlio would be most serviceable for work- ing in the trenches, and for receiving the enemy's shots ; while the troops of the King could be preserved and used for cover- ing the approaches.' It would also be absolutely necessary 'to bind the hands of the Tsar in such a way that he should not eat before our eyes the piece roasted for us, that is, should not get hold of Livonia, and should restrict himself to Ingerman- land and Karelia. He should not even be allowed to attack Xarva, for in that case he could threaten the centre of Livonia, and take Dorpat, Keval, and the whole of Esthonia almost before it could be knoT^^l at Warsaw.' As to other countries, Austria had too much to avenge for what she suffered during the Thirty Years' ^"ar, and at the Peace of Westphalia, to do anything to the advantage of Sweden. France would have enough on her hands, in ^4evv of the approach of a war for the Spanish succession. Although England and Holland would ' doubtless make loud cries about the harm done to their trade,' they would probably do nothing. In any case, it would be best to assure them that all the hindrances to commerce which had existed in Livonia under the Swedish rule would be done away with. As further inducements, Patkul assured the King of the easy conquest of Livonia, gave him exact accounts of the forti- fications of Kiga, and showed him from letters, that he had al- ready formed a conspiracy in Tliga itself, and was only waiting for the proper moment to act. The King entered into Patkul's views, and agreed to the coalition and to the war. In order to cover up the secret nego- tiations with Denmark, he sent the Senator Galecki as ambassa- dor to Charles XII. The greatest difficulty in the way of Au- gustus was how to induce the Polish Diet to agree to the war. If the matter were discussed before the Diet, there would be great delay, and Sweden would take the alarm, and there might even be opposition and a refusal to engage in the war. If the matter were not presented to the Diet, there might be jealousy on the part of the Polish nobles, who would suspect the King of designs for aggrandising his own family, and of taking pos- session of Livonia — an old Polish province — for the benefit of Saxony. Besides, there was the difficulty of getting permission Vol. I.— 24 870 PETER THE GREAT. for the Saxon troops to remain on Polish territory. The matter was placed before the meeting of the privy conncil, under the presidency of the King's friend and favourite, Flemming, and it was decided to work upon Cardinal lladziejowski, the Pri- mate of Poland. The Cardinal hesitated, but Flemming and Patkul knew well how to overcome his scruples. After they had promised him the sum of 100,000 thalers, and given him notes for that amount, he agreed to induce the Diet, which was constantly demanding the withdrawal of the Saxon troops from Poland, to consent to 7,000 men being left in Curland, under the pretext of fortifying the port at Polangen, but in reality for attacking Piga. As an additional argument for him, he w^as shown a convention between the King and Patkul, as the representative of the Diet of Livonia, by which Livonia recog- nised the supremacy of Augustus, and united itself for ever to the Kepublic of Poland, preserving its internal administration, laws, and institutions. In a secret article, wdiich was not shown to the Cardinal, the Livonian nobility agreed to recognise the sovereignty of Augustus and his successors, and to send the taxes directly to them, even in case they were no longer kings of Poland. To secure the entrance of Pussia into the alliance, General Carlowitz, who had previously accompanied Peter from Poland on his journey home, and was much liked by him, was sent as special envoy to make a secret treaty. He was accompanied by Patkul, disguised under the name of Kindler. To prevent any rumours or suspicions, Carlowitz took with him twelve Saxon mining engineers wdio had been engaged for the Pussian ser- vice.' 1 Ustrialof, III., xi. xii. xiii.; Solovief, xiv.; O. A. Wernich, Johann Rein- hold t\ Patkul und seine Zeitgejiossen, Berlin, 1849 ; O. Sjogren, J. M. Patkul in Historisk Bibliotek^ Stockholm, 1880 ; E. Herrmann, Geschichte des Russi- schen Staates, vol. iv. , Hamburg-, 1849. XXXIX. RUSSIA JOINS THE LEAGUE. After King Charles XII. had been declared of age, and the government of Sweden had been handed over to him by his grandmother, Iledwiga Eleanora, he sent word to Moscow that he would speedily send an embassy to confirm the treaty of Cardis, as was customary on the accession of a new ruler. Ivnipercrona, the Swedish Resident at Moscow, was informed that the embassy would be received with pleasure if it should arrive before the end of the Carnival, because after that the Tsar was going to the south of Russia for a prolonged absence. Xothing, however, was heard of it during the winter, and it was only in the middle of June, 1699, when the Tsar was with his fleet at Azof, that the Swedish ambassadors appeared on the frontier. Although Apraxin, the Voievode of Xovgorod, gave them all facilities, they were still two months on their way to Moscow. Leo Xaryshkin received them politely, but expressed his inability to imderstand why they should have chosen that time to come, when thev must have known that the Tsar was absent, if his message had been properly delivered by the Swedish Resident. He added that the Tsar was so far off that it was impossible for them to go to him, and that they had better deliver their letters of credence to the ministrv, as other envoys had done. As they were not envoys, but ambas- sadors come to ratify the treaty of Cardis, and could deliver their letters to no one except His Majesty, there was nothing for them to do but to wait, and Peter did not arrive at Moscow until the Tth of October. He found there two embassies wait- ing for him — that of the Swedes to confirm the treaty of peace, and that of Kino; Auoristus, askinoj him to make war on Swe- den. The Tsar was glad of the proposition of Augustus, and 872 1*ETEK THE GKEAT. was perfectly ready to join in the alliance of Poland and Den- mark, but on condition that he .should have no open rupture Avith Sweden before the conclusion of peace with the -Turks, lie had already made a treaty of alliance and nmtual aid with Denmark, but it was general in its terms and not particularly directed against Sweden. The negotiations with the Swedes went on openly at the Foreign Office ; that with the Poles was carried on secretly at Preobrazhensky, and besides Peter and Carlowitz, none except Golovin, the Danish minister Heins, and Shafirof, who acted as interpreter, were admitted to the secret. It was known that negotiations of some sort were going on with Carlowitz, but it was thought that they were for the purpose of concluding a treaty between the King and the Tsar, in consequence of the rumoured intentions of Augustus to overthrow the republic and establish an absolute monarchy in Poland. Some strength was perhaps given to this belief by the oft-repeated expression of Peter, that he loved the King of Poland as a brother, but that the Poles were good for nothing, even to the devil. The Swedes themselves apparently sus- pected nothing. They were received with great honour at the palace, where they gave the presents they had brought, in- cluding among others a full-length portrait of King Charles XII.^ In the absence of news from Turkey, it was necessary to go through the form of confirming the previous treaties with Sweden, but it was a little salve to the conscience of the Tsar that he could avoid taking an oath on the Gospels to keep them. This oath was insisted upon by the ambassadors, but was re- fused by the Tsar on the ground that he had already taken it when he first came to the throne, and that it was neither neces- sary nor customary to repeat it. In proof of this, the Russians adduced the journal of the proceedings on the occasion of the accession of Queen Christina, when the Tsar Michael did not repeat the oath which he had sworn once before. At the same time, complaints were made by the Russians of the treatment which the Grand Embassy and the Tsar himself had undergone at the hands of the Governor of Kiga, and a demand was made ^ This portrait was burnt, in 1706, by a fire that destroyed the house of Prince Menshikof. 1699.] DECEIVING SWEDEN. 373 for satisfaction. The ambassadors were unable to explain the affair at Riga, of which they said they had never heard, and promised to report it to the Ivmg. After many conferences, they finally agreed to accept the precedent of Queen Christina, on the faith of the Kussian documents, as the Swedish ones had been consumed in a fire, and at their farewell audience received, instead of the Tsars oath on the Gospels, a formal letter from him to the King, confirming all the previous treaties of peace exactly the same as if he had sworn to them anew. Xine days before this, Peter had signed a treaty with Car- lowitz agreeing to make war upon Sweden. This duplicity may have been necessary, and may have formed a part of the received diplomacy of those times, but luckily in the present day sovereigns are shielded from personal moral responsibility, because they do not themselves aj^pear in the negotiations, which are carried on bv ministers, more or less constitutional. At that time Peter acted as his own prime minister, and took personal part in the negotiations.' After the treaty was signed, Patkul, who had up to this time remained in the back-ground, was presented to the Tsar, and explained his plan for the conquest of Livonia, and for the concerted action of the allies. Two weeks later, Carlowitz took his departure for the Saxon army in Curland, intending to stop on the way at Piga and inspect the fortifications and defences of the town, in order to discover their weakest places, for it had been arranged that the war was to begin on the part of the Poles on Christmas-day, by a sudden attack upon Piga, without anv preliminarv declaration of war. Carlowitz was to retm*n to Pussia after Piga was taken, and it was then Peters intention to send with him his son Alexis for education in Germany. King Augustus had promised to take charge of him, and treat him as his o^vn child. Lefort's son Henry was to join him in Dresden, and be brought up with him. The ' Ustrialof, who may be considered almost as the official historian of Peter, says : ' Peter was not afraid either of the taunts of his contemporaries or of the judgment of posterity. Advantages gained to his country were for hini higher than all other considerations, and he regarded nothing in a matter which tended to increase the greatness of his beloved Russia.' Vol. III., ch. xiii. 874 3»ETEK THE GREAT. speedy death of C'arlowitz and the war put an end to these projects. Peter now began to make serious preparations for war, and the greatest of them all was the formation of a regular army after the model of the four regiments that already existed — the Preohrazhensky, Semenofsky, Lefort, and Butyrsky. For this purpose he ordered the prelates and monasteries to send one man for every twenty -five peasant houses, and the nobles one for every thirty to fifty, according to their means, choosing es- pecially those useless men who were not actually at work, but were hant::inij: about the kitchens of the monasteries and the stables of the great lords. These were to be sent to Preobraz- hensky in December, 1699, and January, ITOO, and, in addition to this, a call was made for volunteers from Moscow, Avho were promised good pay. The recruits thus collected were instructed at Preobrazhensky under the personal supervision of the Tsar himself, assisted by General Avtemon Golovin, the commander of the guard, the brigadier Adam AYeyde, and the lieutenant- colonel of the Preobrazhensky regiment, Prince IS^ikita Pepnin, each of whom was ordered to form a division of nine regiments. General Gordon was alreadv dead. The work of instruction went on very fast. The greatest difficulty was found with the officers, many of whom were drunken worthless fellows, who could not even learn the use of the musket. To supply the place of those who were cashiered, many courtiers, after a little 2)reliminary training, were enrolled as officers, and they advanced so quickly that the Tsar was delighted, and exclaimed : ' AVhy should I spend money on foreigners when my own subjects can do as well as they ? ' Subsequently, nearly all the chamber- lains and palace officials entered the service. The soldiers were •uniformed after the pattern of the German infantry, in dark- gi-een cloth coats, and low cocked hats, and armed with jnuskets and bayonets. They were taught to stand firmly side by side, to march evenly, to fire by platoons, to charge with the bayonet, to ii:ive absolute attention to the word of command, and for the least infraction of discipline were severely punished. A special commissariat was created, with Simeon Yazykof as commis- sary-o-eneral, while Prince Jacob Dolo^oriikv was intrusted with the direction of military justice. The artillery, which was nu- 1700.] THE WAR BEGUN. 375 merous and well arranged, was put under the command of Prince Alexander of Imeritia, who had studied artillery at the Hague. The articles of war were drawn up bj Adam Wevde, who had thorouo-hlv studied the oro-anisation of the Austrian army under the command of Prince Eugene of Savor, and had taken part in the battle of the Zenta. Li this way, in the com-se of three months, an army of 32,000 men was formed, consisting of twenty -nine regiments of infantry, two regiments of dragoons, and a special detachment at Novgorod. The drill and general conduct won high praise from the Saxon general, Baron Langen, in a report to King Augustus. Toward the end of February, ITOO, Peter went to Voronezh, and busied himself about getting ready more ships for the Sea of Azof. Early in May he was able to launch his new frigate, the ' Predestination,' in the presence of his son, his sister, and many boyars, who, by command of the Tsar, were obliged to bring with them their wives. Many ladies of the German suburb were also present. While at Voronezh, he received the news that Augustus had begun the war against Sweden. It had been aiTanged, as we have said, that the attack upon Piga should be made on Christmas r)ay. The plot in Piga was ripe, the Saxon troops had been collected in Curland, close to the Livonian frontier, and yet the Swedes, and even Dahlberg, who had been so suspicious at the time of Peter's visit, apparently mistrusted nothing. But this very time had been chosen by Flemming to leave his army and to go to Saxony, to marry a lady of the famous house of Sapieha. General Paykull, a Li- vonian by birth, who commanded the Saxon troops in his ab- sence, knew nothing of the plot in Piga, and, however much Carlowitz tried to persuade him, refused to advance. The se- cret got out, and Dahlberg took such measures that any sudden attack was hnpossible. When Elemming returned, in February, he wrote to the King tliat he would immediately attack Piga, and ?jegan to move his troops on the very day on which Peter left Moscow for Voronezh. But it was too late. All his ef- forts were vain, and Carlowitz was killed in an attack on Diina- miinde. Flemming then went back to Warsaw, and Paykull, in spite of his proclamations, was, by the vigor of the Swedish generals, forced to retreat into Curland. ci. 376 PETER THE GREAT. ' By dissipation and inexcusable tlionglitlessness, much pre- cious time has been lost,' Golovin reported to Peter. ' It is a pity,' Peter replied ; ' but there is nothing to be done. I have not heard from Constantinople.' lie, however ordered Golovm to send a young engineer, Ivortchmin, to Xarva to buy some cannon — six, nine, and twelve pounders — that he heard were for sale, and, at the same time, to pay particular attention to the defences and fortifications of the town, and, if possible, penetrate as far as Orcshek, ' and if that be impossible, at least alongside of it. That position there is very necessary. It is the outlet from Lake Ladoga to the sea — look on the map — and very necessary to keep back the reinforce- ments. The boy, I think, is not stupid, and can keep a secret. It is very necessary that Ivniper (Ivnipercrona), who knows that he has been well taught, sliould not find out about it.' Soon after, the news came to Moscow that the King of Den- mark had begun war by invading Holstein-Gottorp with 16,- 000 men, and laying siege to Tonning. The time was propi- tious for action on Peter's part, but as yet there was nothing- decisive from Constantinople, lie had had no direct reports for some time from Ukraintsef, but rumours came from all di- rections that the Turks were making preparations for war. These rumours disturbed Peter so much that he considered it necessary to reassure the King of Sweden as to his peaceful in- tentions by sending an embassy. At the end of April he there- fore appointed Prince Jacob Dolgoriiky, Prince Thedore Sha- khof skoy, and the scribe Domnin as ambassadors, and sent in advance Prince Andrew Ililkof to announce their arrival, and to obtain information as to the actual policy of Sweden. He was instructed to make formal inquiries against whom the King of France had concluded an alliance wdth Sweden, whv a war had broken out between King Charles and King Augustus, why Saxon troops had attacked Riga, whether there were any Polish troops with them, and whether Sweden was at war or peace w^ith Denmark and Brandenburg. Knipercrona, the Swedish Resident at Moscow, spoke in high terms of the mem- bers of the embassy, especially of Prince Dolgoriiky, and, as an evidence of the peaceful intentions of the Tsar, reported to King Charles, on May 26, as follows : 1700.] DECEIVING SWEDEN. 877 'His Tsarisli Majesty, on the next day after his return from Voronezh, visited my house, and jestingly blamed my wife for having written to her daughter at Voronezh that Russian troops were preparing to march into Livonia, which liad made a great panic among all the Swedes at Moscow, " Your daughter,'' said the Tsar, " cried so much that I could hardly appease her. ' You foolish creature,' I said to her, ' do vou reallv think that I would consent to begin an unjust war, and to break an eternal peace that I have just confirmed?'" We were all so much moved by his words that we could not refrain from tears ; and when I asked him to excuse my wife, he embraced me, adding, " Even if the King of Poland should take Riga, it would not remain in his possession. I would tear it out of his hands." ' Prince Dolo;orukv was told not to hasten, but Prince Hilkof set out for Stockholm at the end of June. He passed through Xarva, inspected its fortifications, and made a report on them to the Tsar, but arrived in Sweden too late to find the King, who had already departed for the Danish war ; and he was finally presented to Charles XII. in the camp before Copen- hagen, at the end of August, after the conclusion of the peace. Following Hilkof, Prince Y'liry Trubetzkoy was sent on a secret mission to Berlin to state to the Elector Erederick the intention of the Tsar to make war on Sweden as soon as he liad arranged affairs with Tm-key, and begging him to take part in the league on the basis of the mutual engagement by which the Tsar and the Elector had bound themselves to assist each other. This invitation was not accepted. In July, King Augustus went in person to his army before Piga, and sent Baron Langen to Moscow to persuade the Tsar immediately to send auxiliary troops and to attack Ingria, in order to draw off the Swedes from Piga. In his letter he said : ' Dear brother, I beg you to spare the bearer of this from strong drinks, because they do mortal harm to his life.' Peter replied that he had no inten- tion of injuring Langen, but that drink was evidently no nov- elty to him, as his gout showed. Langen was very well re- ceived, and, at his request, entirely without ceremony. 'The Tsar sent his ministers out of the room, and, with tears m his eyes, said to me in broken Dutch how grieved he was at the delay in concluding peace with Turkey, through the 378 PETER THE GKEAT. intrigues of the opposite party, notwitlistanding that he had ordered his ambassador at Constantinople to conchide a peace or a truce in the quickest possible time, even to his own loss, so as to have his hands free to aid the allies with all his forces.' To Langen's earnest entreaties, Peter finally consented to give two-thirds of the cannon then in Smolensk, and to send a few regiments of Little Kussian Cossacks, but refused to come to an open rupture, because, although he was now sure of peace, ' it was not yet signed, and the Porte had been informed by the Polish Minister of the secret league, and had begun to be obstinate again as soon as it had heard of the war in the Xorth.' He said, however, that he ' was waiting for a courier from hour to hour, and if he received news of peace to-day, he would move his troops against the Swedes to-morrow.' Peter kept his w^ord. On August 18, the despatch of Ukraintsef, an- nouncing the signature of the treaty, arrived. That evening, the peace with Turkey was celebrated with ' extraordinary fire- works,' and on the very next day war was declared in the usual form by proclamation from the Bed-Chamber Porch, ' for the many wrongful acts of the Swedish King, and especially because during the journey of his Majesty through Riga, much opposi- tion and mipleasantness was caused to him by the inhabitants of Piga.' The troops were ordered to march at once, and were put under the command of Golovin, who w^as created field-mar- shal. The same day, Peter despatched an autograph letter to Augustus, informing him of the fact — ' and we hope, by the help of God, that your Majesty will not see other than profit.' ' ' Ustrialof, III. , xii. xiii. ; Solovief, xiv. ; A. Fryxell, LebensgescMcJite KarVs des Zwolften, Ger, Transl of Jenssen-Tusch, vol. i. Braunschweig, 1861. O. Sjogren, Otto Arnold Faykull, in Historisk Tidskrift^ Stockholm, 1881. XL. CHARLES THE TWELFTH. "No more unpropitious time for declaring war eonlcl have been chosen. The attempt of King Augustus and his Saxon troops on Riga had failed, and the King of Denmark had been awed into sub- mission bj the Swe- dish forces, and, on the ver}' day that tlie news of the trea- ty with the Turks arrived at Moscow, had concluded with Charles XII. the peace of Travendal. A new and unex- pected element had spoiled all the cal- culations of the al- lies. They had coun- ted upon the youth and carelessness of the Swedish King. They were gi'ievous- ly disappointed. Charles XII. of Sweden, the son of Charles XI., was born in 1682, and was therefore just ten years younger than Peter. His early years were tenderly cared for by his mother, Ulrica Eleanora, a Danish princess, whose many virtues made her beloved by all save her husband. AVithout being precocious, the mind of Queen Ulrica Eleanora. 380 PETEIl THE GREAT. Charles was bright and active, and it was rapidly developed under the guidance of his tutor Xorcopensis. His native lan- guage he neither wrote nor spoke well ; German, which was then the court language of the Xorth, he learned to speak as his mother tongue ; Latin he spoke better than either, but he ^tas only induced to learn it when told that the King of Denmark and the King of Poland habitually used it. To the study of French lie always showed a repugnance, and could rarely be induced to speak it ; but he understood it, read it, and enjoyed the French theatre. History he studied eagerly, whether it treated of the deeds of Caesar and Alexander, or of the Kef- ormation and of his great predecessor, Gustavus Adolphus. He was well drilled in the principles of religion and morals, and showed a quick intelligence and nmch power of application, though, at the same time, great self-will and determination. His education was well begun, but the death of his mother, and then of his tutor, when he was not twelve years old, brought changes and interruptions, and it was not so carefully continued. In his early years his health was delicate, and grief for his mother threw him into a long fever, which terminated in an attack of small-pox ; but his constitution was strong, his passion for physical sports gave him health and strength, and at the age of fourteen he was tall, slim, and wiry, and seemed almost liie a grown man. He had been put on the back of a pony at the age of four, and had even ridden at reviews of the troops. He speedily became a perfect horseman. His love of hunting developed with equal rapidity. When seven years old he had shot a fox, and before he was twelve had killed a bear. His taste for militarv exercises and the art of Avar now took a more decided turn, and his militarv education was confided to General Stuart. His father delighted in the promise of the lad, and loved to take him on his hunting-parties and military inspections. In this way much time w^as lost from study. In April, 1697, Charles XL died. By his will, he appointed a regency, under the presidency of his mother, the Queen Hed- wiga Eleanora, but fixed no time at which his son should be de- clared of age. By custom, the majority of Swedish princes had been fixed at the age of eighteen, but in the present case there had been such disputes between the regents themselves, and 1697.] ACCESSION OF CHAKLE5 XII. 381 among the nobles — who were divided into Danish and French factions — such jealousy of the nobility on the part of the other estates, such dislike to the influence of the Queen-mother, such a general appreciation of the abilities and good qualities of the young prince, and such a desire to gain his favour by being the first to please liim, that little opposition was manifested to the project of declaring him of age in November of the same year, when he was just fifteen years old. The plan was matured and executed within ten hours. Charles had given everv reason for confidence. Though still a minor, he had been admitted to the meetings of the council, and had im- pressed every one not onlv bv his orood sense and quick de- cision, but by his 2)ower of silence. He had at times a gravity and deter- mination which were far bevond his years. Durino- the conflagration of the royal palace, shortly after his father's death, he had shown a calmness and self-re- straint which were in striking contrast to the excitement and nervousness of the Queen-mother and which produced a favour- able impression on everyone. Xo sooner was he declared of age, and the sole and absolute ruler of the country, than he seemed to change. The nobles who had counted on a mitigation of the 'Iweduction' edicts of Charles XL, were disappointed. The young King upheld and defended all the acts of his father. He manifested an excessive amount of self-will and obstinacy, and made it a point of honour never to draw back from a resolution King Charles XII. 382 PETEK THE GREAT. whicli he had once made. lie at the same tmie showed a cold- ness and lianghtiness in liis demeanour in public which had not before been noticed. At the meetings of the council lie would calmly listen for a while to the arguments and statements, and then interrupt by saying that his mind had long been made up. Once having said this he would hear no more, for his will was supreme. Some of the courtiers took advantage of this side of his character to flatter him, hoping thus to advance themselves. It was owing to this that he refused to be crowned in the or- dinary way, claiming that while it was proper for elected kings to be solemnly crowned, he, as being born to the throne, had no need of it. In spite of the representations of the more con- servative and moderate statesmen, in spite of the entreaties of his grandmother, the utmost that he would yield was to allow himself to be consecrated by the archbishop, in order that he might carry out the biblical injunction and be the anointed of the Lord. But the ceremony was called not the coronation but the consecration, and Charles rode to the church with his crown on his head, and refused to take the oath to govern well and justly, which, on the part of the ruler, corresponds to the oath of allegiance on the part of the subject. The superstitious found many omens for the future of the King and country ; tliere was a violent snow-storm during the ceremony ; the pro- cession looked dismal in the black dress required by the court mourning ; the King amused himself during the sermon with picking the black specks out of his robe ; and, worst of all, the archbishop dropped the anointing horn, and the crown fell from the King's head and rolled upon the ground. Wise and pru- dent men saw more serious signs of trouble and danger in the conduct of Charles toward the Diet, in his views with regard to the coronation oath, and in the systematic way in which he tried to lower the importance of the members of the council. Too late they repented of having put themselves at the mercy of a wayward and wilful youth, jealous of his own power and careless of the rights of others. Determined to show himself the supreme master, Charles constantly humiliated the old councillors and ministers by keeping them waiting for hours in the ante-rooms while he discussed affairs with his favourites, Piper and Wallenstedt. He transacted the weightiest affairs of ClIAKLES XII. BEAR HUNTING. 1697.] CHARACTER OF CHARLES XII. 383 State without tlieir knowledge or advice, convoked the Council only at rare intervals in three years, to decide questions of law, or to go through the form of signing his decisions, and even went so far as to appoint a generalissimo, to send troops out of the country, and almost to declare war, before the Council was informed or consulted. The education of Charles was naturally at an end. What time he could spare from his duties as a ruler was devoted to military exercises and to field sports. The more dangerous the amusement, the greater attractions it had for him. He took up the idea that it was cowardly to attack beasts with fire-arms, and went bear-hunting armed with nothing but a pike or a cut- lass. Soon the victory seemed to him too easily gained even in this way, and he forbade the use of cold steel as well as of fire- arms, and all were armed with strong wooden forks. The sport was to wait until the bear rose on his hind legs, catch him in the neck with the fork and throw him over backward, when the huntsmen sprang out and wound a net around his hind legs. Charles rode fast and furiously, up and down hill, through forest and stream. Frequently his horse fell with him, and he returned black and blue. Once, the snow was so deep that his horse fell upon him : he could not move, and as he had far out- stripped his companions, he was nearly frozen when rescued. At another time, he rode up the side of a cliff so steep that both horse and rider fell backward, and it was considered a miracle that his life was saved. On another occasion, starting out from the palace at four o'clock in the morning, attended only by a page and a captain of his guards, he came to one of the gulfs near Stockholm, which was covered with a sheet of ice so thin from the spring rains that even foot passengers scarcely dared to trust themselves upon it. In spite of the remon- strances of his attendants, he ventured upon it, and found at the other side a clear space of water fifteen feet wide. He could not go back, plunged in, and luckily reached the shore. Fi- nally, the old equerry, Hord, summoned up courage to remon- strate with him, and told him that God had saved his life twice in such dangers, and would be excused if, the third time, He did not interpose. ' God has created beasts for the service of men, but not to help them break tlieir own necks.' In winter 384 pp:tek the great. Cliarles amused liiniself with sledging parties of the most dan- gerous character. (Sometimes the sledges were fastened to- gether in a long file, and the horses were then w^hipped to the top of their speed down the steep hills. Once he found a peas- ant's sledge laden with wood, and with two or three compan- ions mounted it, and set off down a steep which had been made like glass with several coats of ice. It was impossible to steer the sledge, and they came up against a heavy stake at the bottom. His companions were severely injm-ed ; he remained unhurt. The military sports were, if possible, still more dangerous. As imder Peters direction in Ttussia, the sham lights in Swe- den were carried on with pasteboard hand-grenades, and fre- <|uently cost many lives. In taking a snow^ intrenclnnent, the King had his clothes nearly torn off him, and many others were seriously injured. Sometimes there were sea-iights of a pecu- liar character. The boats were armed with fire-engines, and the crews with large squirts, with which they fought. On one occa- sion, Arfvid Horn, one of Charles's great friends, stripped him- self to his shirt, rowed away from his yacht in a small boat, and attacked the King and his suite. He was repelled wdth such vigour that his boat soon filled with water, and began to sink. Jumping out, Horn swam once aromid the yacht. Charles at last asked him if swimming were difficult. ' ]^o,' said Horn, ' if one is not afraid,' at wdiich the King immediately jumped into the w^ater, but found that courage did not make up for want of skill, and Avould have drowned had not Horn caught him by the clothes and brought him a long distance to land. Another day the guards were divided into two parties, led by Charles and Horn. The horses w^ere not allowed to be saddled, and the men w^ere armed with nothing but stout hazel sticks. Xo one was spared. The blows given by Horn were so vigor- ous, that Charles, in a moment of excitement, aimed a blow at his face, and hit a boil on his cheek. Horn fell fainting to the ground, and the pain and the heat combined threw him into a violent fever, which nearly cost him his life. Charles repented, frequently visited him, and gave him 2,000 thalers for his cure, promising to repeat the prescription as often as he was again wounded. All this Charles did, not for amusement alone, but 1698.] THE GOTTOPwP FUPwY. 385 in order to harden and inure himself to the fatigues of real war. He would frequently rise from bed, and sleep the rest of the night half -naked on the bare floor. One December, he slept three consecutive nights without undressing on the hay in the stables. Xothino^ annoyed him so much as his delicate skin and fair complexion. He used every means to get sunburned, so as to appear manly, and took a childish pride in some pock- marks on his face. He dressed simply ; he wore a wig until his first campaign in Denmark, when he threw it aside for ever. He ate but little, and always plain and coarse dishes. Wine he gave up after finding its effects too strong for his self-control. Cold of temperament, of love Charles knew nothing, and cared little for the society of ladies. Six princesses sought his hand in vain, and the very mention of marriage distressed him. The freaks of Charles, even when not dangerous, were dis- ao-reeable to those about him. Their worst point was reached durino- the visit of his cousin Frederick HI., Duke of Holstein- Gottorp, who came to Stockholm in 1698 to marry the Princess Hedwiga Sophia. The Duke was as foolhardy as his brother- in-law, and soon acquired great infiuence over him. Then began what was called the ' Gottorp Fury.' The royal cousins rode races till they had broken down several horses ; they coursed a hare in the parliament-house ; for days they practised on be- heading sheep, in order to see which had the greater force of hand, and the greater knack with the sword — all this, too, in the private apartments of the palace, till the floors and stair- cases were running with blood. This was to the great astonish- ment of the passers-by, for the bleeding heads were thrown out of the windows.' They sallied into the streets at night, and broke the windows of the peaceful citizens. In broad daylight they made cavalcades fi'om the palace with no costume save their shirts, and with drawn sabres in their hands. They jerked off the hats and wigs of all who came near them. At dinner, when they had tired of snapping cherry-stones into the ^ It is impossible to avoid comparing the occupations and amusements of the three stronsr men of that time : Charles riding horses to death and be- heading sheep and bullocks ; Augustus the Strong, with his 260 illegitimate children, straightening horseshoes and rolling up silver plates with one hand ; Peter hammering out iron bars, filling fireworks, and building ships. Vol. 1.— 25 386 PETER THE GREAT. faces of the privy-conncillors, they would knock the dishes out of the servants' hands, and then break all the furniture, and tln\)W the fragments through the closed windows, shivei'ing both glass and frame. They broke all the benches in the palace chapel, so that the congregation had to hear service standing. Fortunately the Duke was unable to lead Charles to acts of immorality. The people began to nmrmur. They accused the Duke of wishing to bring the King to his death, in order that, as the next heir, he might inherit the crown. Things got to such a pass that, on one Sunday morning, three clergymen preached on the same text : ' Woe to thee, O land, Avhen thy king is a child.' This remonstrance seemed to affect Charles, who was sincerely pious. When the Duke went away he entirely changed his manner of life, became quiet and reflec- tive, and devoted himself with renewed ardour to his duties as a ruler. A year later, in consequence of his war with Denmark, the Duke came again to Stockholm. The follies of the preceding 3'ear were not repeated, but in their turn were masquerades, balls, and festivities of all sorts. The court of Stockholm, renew- ing the traditions of the reign of Christina, became suddenly the most brilliant in Europe, except that of Louis XIY., and, of course, at enormous expense. There were balls which cost 40,000 thalers each, given with so much elegance that foreign- ers declared they were unsurpassed in Paris. A French com- pany played the works of Moliere, Corneille, and Hacine during the whole winter, and the King was nearly always a spectator. There were processions of masks through the streets, which were laid with blue cloth. All the lords and gentlemen followed the example of the court, not even excepting the clergy. The pastor of the great city church, Iser, gave such a sumptuous dinner that everyone went home with the headache. The King took no part in the drunken bouts, but danced sometimes until nine or ten o'clock in the morning, which necessitated several changes of clothing. Tessin, who arranged the court festivities with such taste, was rewarded with a title of nobility, and fre- quently went home with his pockets stuffed with gold by an unseen hand. Again this manner of life was broken by a ser- mon. When the court clergy did not dare to speak, Svedberg MAD FROLIC OF CHARLES XII. 1700.] WAK. 387 persuaded the palace chaplain to let him occupy his pulpit, and delivered a thundering sermon against the project of having a masked ball on a Sunday evening. The ball was given up. Just then came the news of the invasion of Livonia by Augus- tus, and the festivities were for ever at an end. This intelligence arrived when Charles was hunting bears at his favom-ite countrv seat of Ivuno;sdr. It seemed to make little impression on him at the time, for he turned to the French ambassador, and smilingly said ; ' We w411 make King Augus- tus go back by the way he came,' and the sport continued. When it was over, Charles returned to Stockholm, looking firm and severe. He said to the assembled Council : ' I have re- solved never to begin an unjust war, but also never to end a just one without overcoming my enemy ; ' and on another oc- casion : ^ It is curious that both my cousins ' (for Augustus, as well as King Frederick TV. of Denmark, was cousin to Charles) ^ wish to make war on me. So be it ! But King Augustus has broken his word. Our cause is then just, and God will help us. I intend first to finish with one, and then I will talk with the other.' Military preparations were pushed on with great vigour both by land and sea. The clergy and the civil officials were each ordered to fm*nish a regiment of dragoons, the burghers of Stockholm a regiment of infantry. A few of the higher nobility followed the old custom of arming single companies. The fleet in Karlskrona was fitted for sea, and all the vessels in Stockholm were seized on behalf of the Government for trans- port service. The financial difficulty was the greatest. There was no monev. Charles XL had collected a larsi-e treasure for military purposes, and had left more than four and a half mil- lion of thalers. All this Charles XII. had spent in two years by the extravagance of his court, and by his lavish generosity to the Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, to his friends and favourites, and even to families of the nobility who had been impoverished by the ' Reduction.' Even all the plate in the ' Elephant Vault ' had been melted down. During the ' Gottorp Fury,' Chailes had spent twenty thousand thalers of pocket-money in four days, and no one knew what had become of it. Besides large sums which he gave openly as presents, he had a habit, in order 388 PETEK THE GREAT. to escape tlianks, of secretly filling with money the pockets of his favourites. A chest of jewels, which had stood for years in the ' Elephant Vault,' was brought to Charles's bed-chamber and was speedily emptied. There had been left in the mili- tary chests of the fortresses and regiments, by the economy of Charles XL, savings to the amount of six hundred and seventy thousand thalers. Great sums had been taken even from this. Xot enough remained in the treasury of the state to pay all the expenses of his sister's marriage, and Charles wished to raise a loan by pledging Pomerania or Bremen. Now that money was still more necessary for war, it became imperative to re- impose the war tax, which had been abolished by Charles XI. This brought in a million thalers, but as it was insufficient, the King called for voluntary contributions. Piper, Wrede, and Sten- bock gave among them twenty thousand thalers, though this example found few followers. The citizens of Stockholm con- tributed thirty thousand thalers. In order to excite enthusiasm among the nobility, Charles finally decided to cancel any fur- ther proceedings under the ' Reduction ' laws of his father. This important edict was signed on April 23, 1700, and on the same evening the King took leave of his grandmother and his sisters, in order, as he said, to go for some time to Kungsor. In the night he quietly left the palace, and turned southward. He never again saw Stockholm, his grandmother, or his elder sister. There would have been no need of a war with Denmark had it not been that Charles had promised the Duke of Hol- stein-Gottorp, when he came to him for protection in 1699, that he would right him, even though it cost him his crown. This agreement was greatly blamed by all the King's counsellors, but too late — the King's w^ord had been given. Everyone dis- liked the Holstein-Gottorp family, and all feared the cost of a war. AVhat the disputes were between Denmark and Holstein- Gottorp it is difficult and unnecessary to explain. The King of Demnark knew that the forts in Slesvig were occupied by Swedish garrisons, and he knew, too, the Swedish threats of interference in case he attacked the Duke. Nevertheless, in conjunction with Poland and Pussia, he had resolved to run the risk. 1700.] dex:mark beaten. 389 Xow that war was come, in consequence of Charles's rash promise, it was certainly wiser to finish with Denmark, the nearer and more dangerous foe, before attacking King Augus- tus. After leaving Stockholm, Charles made a hasty journey through the southern provinces, to assure himself of the mili- tary preparations. The fleet immediately set sail and occupied the Sound in connection with the fleets of England and Hoi- land, who also guaranteed the peace between Denmark and Holstein. Charles resolved now to cross over to Zealand, and make an attack on Copenhagen while the Danish King was occupied with the siege of Tonning. This plan was successful. With six thousand men, which were all the troops at that time collected at Malmci, Charles crossed the straits on August 3, 1700, waded ashore at the head of his men, under the enemv's fire, and secured a firm position between Copenhagen and Helsingor. The next day was stormy, and had the troops and militia of Copenhagen attacked the Swedes, they might have given them a severe check. But the time passed, and, on the next day, which was clear, seven to eight thousand more men crossed, and made the force of Charles too large for the little Danish army to resist. The assault on Tonning by the Danish troops was unsuccessful, and the King hastened back to protect his capital. He saw himself powerless, and signed a peace at Travendal on August 18, in which he agreed to recognise the sovereignty of the Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, and to pay him a war indemnity of two hundred and sixty thousand thalers. In two weeks fi'om the crossing of the straits, this almost bloodless war was over. Charles for a moment thought of carrying on an independent war on his own account against the Danes ; but for once — the last if not the first time of his life — he listened to good counsel and desisted. He won more fame by this than he would have done by taking Copenhagen. By the manner in which he had treated them he had already secured the re- spect and esteem of the population of Zealand, who still re- membered his mother with affection. He recrossed the Sound to Sweden on September 2.' 'Fryxell, vol. i. ; Voltaire, Charles XTL ; F. F. Carlson, Carl. XII.' s forsta regeringsiir, in HistorUk Tidskrift, Stockholm, 1881. XLI. THE BATTLE OF NARVA.— 1700. The great object of Peter in making war upon Sweden was to obtain possession of the prov^inces of Ingria and KareJia on the Finnish gulf, which had once belonged to Hussia, but had been seized by Sweden dnring the Troublous Times. Ingria, or, as the Swedes called it, Ingermanland, kno\vn in the old Rus- sian chronicles as the land of Izhora, was a comparatively nar- row strip of country extending along the southern coast of the gulf from the Neva to the Xarova. Karelia included the coun- try between the gulf and Lake Ladoga, as far as Kexholm and Yiborg. The possession of this region would give to Kussia the river Xeva, and, besides the possibility of having a seaport, would furnish Xovgorod with free access to the Baltic by the way of the river Yolkhof, Lake Ladoga, and the j^eva, and would also enable an easy communication, for the most part by water, to be made between the Gulf of Finland and Archangel. The annexation of Narva, the frontier fortress of Esthonia, was not included in Peter's plans, but he believed, especially at the time when war was declared, that the surest way for him to secure the coveted territory was to attack and capture Narva, by which means the communications of Livonia and Esthonia with the Neva would be entirely cut off. Near Narva the Pussian boundary was only about twenty miles from the sea. The orders to march on Narva were much to the distaste of Patkul, and of Baron Langen, the envoy of King Augustus. Langen wished these provinces to come to his master ; Patkul, as a Livonian, did not wish his country to be conquered by anyone, especially by the Russians, and hoped that, as the re- sult of the war, it would gain a position of semi-independence. The command-in-chief of the troops was given to Theodore 1700.] NAPwYA. 391 Goloviu, admiral and ambassador, now created field-marslial, and who was actually Minister of Foreign Affairs. There were three divisions, respectively mider Avtemon Golovin, Adam Weyde, and ^S^ikita liepnin. Altogether, including a force of Cossacks, 63,520 men were assigned to this expedition. The Tsar himself, as an officer of the Preobrazliensky regiment, ac- companied the advance. At Tver, he received a message f roui Aufrustus, that Kincjr Charles with 18,000 men would soon land at Fernau, from which he would be within striking distance both of Xarva and Riga. The news was premature, but it caused Peter great perplexity, because, if true, it meant that the Dane& had been beaten, and that the Swedes had finished with one ally and were free to deal with the others. Orders were given to stop the advance, but as Peter became convinced, by the examination of prisoners, that the garrison of Xarva was small, and that no troops had yet arrived from Sweden, he resolved to prosecute the war, and arrived at Xarva on October 1. With the assistance of General Hallart, who had been sent by King Augustus, he immediately began to get ready for a siege. Peter now found that, even although he had begun the war late, he had not made sufficient preparations for it. The roads were in a fearful state, and everyone who knows -what a Rus- sian road is now, can imao-ine what tliev were in a rainv au- tumn, when chaussees were unknown. The means of transport were utterly insufficient. Xo provision had been made for it, except to seize the horses and carts in the towns and villages through which the troops passed. There was no artillery harness, the carts were all weak, and the horses broke down with the bad roads and the heavy service. Peter kept sending urgent sum- monses from his camp before Xarva, and Golovin did his utmost to hm-ry them on, but it was not until October 29 that the troops from Moscow and Novgorod arrived, suffering from cold, hunger, and exposure. The division of Repnin, which had come from the Volga country, was far behind, and the Cossacks did not make their appearance. In all, there were rather less than forty thousand men. Xarva (called also in old Russian chronicles Rugodiv), which was built bv the Danes in the thirteenth centurv, on the rifflit bank of the river Xarova, eight miles from its mouth, was then 392 PETER THE GREAT. a seaport of considerable importance for the trade coming from ^Novgorod and Pskof. In tlie flourishing times of the Ilanseatic League it was not imknown, but it suffered so terribly from the frequent border wars that its trade at that time receiv^ed no great development. The city was surrounded by a stout wall, consisting, on the land side, of six bastions, built of earth and partly faced with stone, and of a wall and three bastions of stone on the river side. At the southern end, on a half-de- tached hill, was the citadel, with its old tower, still known as Der lange Hermann. Connected by a good stone bridge w^as the old and still picturesque castle of Ivdngorod, built by the Russians in 1492 to overawe Xarva, but at this time forming part of the defences of the town. The fortress was well armed, but the garrison, under the command of Itudolph Horn, was small, consisting of thirteen hundred infantrj^, two hundred cav- alry, and about four hundred armed citizens. In appearance, Xarva was like many an old German town, and even now, from the public garden, the old brick gables rising above the trees and walls have a picturesque and thoroughly un-Kussian air. The political and social importance of Xarva has now dimin- ished, but the foreign trade is still not inconsiderable, and the I'apids of the Xarova, just above the town, furnish water-power for large cloth and linen factories. The Hussian line of circumvallation, which w^as entirely on the left or western side of the river, extended fi'om near the rapids above the town — about where the factories are now situ- ated — to the village of Yepsa-kyla, two miles below the city walls. In all it was about seven miles in length. Earthworks were also thrown up opposite to the castle of Ivangorod. The lines were laid out under the personal supervision of the Tsar, who took up his quarters near Yepsa-kyla, on the little grassy island of Kamperholm, which, from changes in the river's cur- rent, has long since disappeared. At Kamperholm the river was crossed by a bridge ; here w^as the nucleus of the Russian camp, and here the stores and ammunition were concentrated. The artillery at last arrived, and was put into position, and on October 31 the bombardment began from eight batteries on the Xarva side, and also from the trenches in fi'ont of Ivangorod. The artillery fire continued dav and nio-ht for two weeks with- 1700.] SIEGE OF XAKYA. 393 out success. The constant sorties of the Swedes troubled the Russians, and the gun-carriages were so badlj made, or so in- jured bj transportation, tliat they usually fell to pieces after three or four discharges. The powder also w^as bad. On jS^o- vember 17, it was found that there w^as not sufficient ammuni- tion to carry on the bombardment from the new breach batter- ies for even twenty -four hours. It was necessary, therefore, to stand still until new supplies arrived. At the same time, in- formation was received that King Augustus had retired from before Eiga, and had shut himself up in Kokenhusen, and that Charles XII. had landed at Pernau with an army magnified by rumour to thirtv-two thousand men. Sheremetief had been sent to "Wesenberg, eighty miles west of Xarva on the road to Eeval, with a force of five thousand irregular cavalry, to observe the Swedish movements. At Purtis he had a meeting: with the enemy, and got a slight advantage, taking a few prisoners. After ravaging and burning the country, he wisely retreated to Pyhajoggi, a strong pass, capable of easy defence, and blocking the only road to Xarva. This pass Sheremetief desired to for- tify, but the Tsar, who did not fully appreciate the situation, rejected the advice, blamed the retreat as well as the devasta- tion of the countrv, and sent Sheremetief back toward Wesen- berg. Instead of occupying Pyhajoggi in force, it w^as decided to fortify the Russian camp on the land side against an attack by the Swedes, and meanwhile vigorously prosecute the siege. Two assaults were attempted on Ivangorod, but as no breaches had been made in the wall, they were easily repulsed. As the first siege of Azof w^as marked by an act of treach- ery, so, now, Hummert, an Esthonian by birth, an officer who had been much favoured and liked bv Peter, and who had re- cently been promoted to be major of the Preobrazhensky regi- ment, went over to the enemy. He had left his wife and children in Moscow, and it was for a time thought that he had been killed or taken prisoner, and message was sent to the to^^Ti to treat him well, under threat of reprisals. Soon it w^as found out that he had deserted. Subsec[uently, Hummert, pretending that he had gone to Xarva as a spy, wdth the design of aiding the Russians, wrote to the Tsar several letters, asking for money, and giving counsels about carrying on the war, and criticisms 394 PETER THE GIIEAT. on the siege. He ascribed the faihire to the want of discipline, to the unwillingness of the llussian officers to work and to obey orders, and to bad generalship. Hunimert's letters were unan- swered, and the only revenge of Peter was to hang him in effigy before the house he had given him in Moscow, of which his wife remained in undisturbed possession. The suspicious Swedes hanged him in reality. The desertion of Hummert caused a general panic. The troops in the trenches were strengthened against a sortie, and the Tsar was begged to take safer quarters. On the 2Sth of November, Peter left the army and went to Xovgorod ; partly in order to hurry up the ammunition and reinforcements — for everything moved faster when he put his hand to the wheel — and partly to have an interview with King Augustus, and decide on the future conduct of the war. lie showed, at other times, proofs enough of his personal braveiy to refute the charge of cowardice brought against him by his enemies, even though we remember his ignominious flight to Troitsa in 1689. The conduct of Augustus in withdrawing from Riga seemed suspicious to him, and he had already sent Prince Gregory Dolgoruky to the Saxon camp to find out what was really going on, and whether there was any talk of over- tures of peace, and to arrange an interview for him with the King. Baron Langen, in writing to the King on the very day of the Tsar's departure, presses him to appoint a place for an interview, as he could easily go from Warsaw to the Dlina in four days. The Tsar would start as soon as the courier re- turned. He, Langen, would go to Mitau during the Tsar's absence. All this seemed to show, not fear, but over-confi- dence. With the slowness of the Russian operations, neither Peter nor those about him appreciated the rapidity of the Swedish movements under Charles, nor really understood the danger. It was expected that the siege would be still going on when Peter should return. The Tsar took with him the field-marshal Golovin, who, as Minister of Foreign Affairs, was necessary to conduct the ne- gotiations with Augustus, and especially with Poland. Peter still had hopes of drawing the Republic into the war ; the treaty had been made with Augustus as Elector of Saxony, and 1700.] CHANGE OF COMMAND. 395 the Republic was as yet not engaged. The command of the army was intrusted to the Duke de Croy. Charles Eugene, Duke de Croy, Prince of the Holy Roman Empire, Margrave, Baron, and Lord of many lands, had served with distinction for fifteen years in the Austrian wars against the Turks, and had risen to be field-marshal and commander-in-chief. Havincj been for some reason relieved of his command, and crvino^ out against Austrian ingratitude, he presented himself to the Tsar in Amsterdam in 1698. Xo arrano^ement was made with him at the time, and the Duke entered the service of King Augus- tus, and was sent by him to the Tsar just before the siege of Xarva. Peter was pleased with him, took him to !Karva, and had the intention of appointing him commander-in-chief, but the execution of the project was delayed. He was only forty- nine years old, and certainly had greater military knowledge and experience than any officer of the Russian army. Had he been appointed sooner, he might have served the Tsar in good stead, but it was now too late.^ The Duke himself saw this, and pleaded his ignorance of the language and his want of ac- quaintance with the officers as reasons for refusing. He at last consented, and Peter gave him written instructions with abso- lute power over the whole army. In these instructions he was ordered to wait for the arrival of the ammunition before be- ginning the attack, and meanwhile to keep a sharp look-out for the approach of the Swedes, and prevent them from relieving the toTNTi. Langen, in writing to the King, said : ' I hope when the Duke de Croy shall have the absolute command that our affairs. will take quite another turn, for he has no more ^vine or brandy ; and being therefore deprived of his element, he will doubtless double his assaults to get nearer to the cellar of the commandant.' Evidently, no one in the least expected what a surprise was in store for them all in only a few hours' time. Charles, after his return from Denmark, was in the south of Sweden, pressing the preparations for the expedition to Li- vonia, when he received the news of the appearance of the Rus- ^ On hearing of the death of the Duke in 1702, Peter said : ' If I had given him the command of my camp fourteen days sooner, I should not have suffered the defeat of Xarva.' 396 PETEK THE GREAT. sian troops before Xarva. This made him still more anxious to start, and lie was so busy that he would not even see the court, which was in the neighbouring town of Christianstad, saying that he had no time to receive ladies. A private letter from Karlshanm, written about this time, gives us a notion of the feeling's of the Ivinii;. *We had the hope that His Majesty would return to Stock- holm, but he is resolved to go to Livonia, cost what it may. That the King has acted as though he would return to Stock- holm has been in order to deceive, and especially to keep the French and Brandenburg ambassadors from coming here. For he tries to avoid meeting these gentlemen, in order not to be obliged to listen to proposals of peace, which, it is said, they are commissioned to place before him. He washes, at any price, to fight with King Augustus, and is annoyed at anything which seems likely to hinder his doing this. One evening, as he was just aT)Out getting into bed, Count Polus came and said that important intelligence had arrived, which needed to be immediately communicated to him. The King turned hastily toward Polus, and made him one bow after another until, in this way, he had complimented him out of the door. He was afraid that Polus and Akerhjelm, in their reports, might let fall some words about peace and arrangement, and carried this so far that those gentlemen could never get his signature to the papers they had to send, unless wdien Piper came to their aid.' The whole preparations for the new war lasted less than six weeks, and, leaving Karlskrona on the 11th of October, after spurning all appeals for delay on account of the stormy season, Charles arrived at Pernau, on the Gulf of Eiga, on the 16th, having suffered severely from sea-sickness on the journey. Some of the troops landed at Pernau, and others" were dri^'en by stress of weather to Eeval— about 8,000 in all. The fleet returned to Sweden for 4,000 more men and the rest of the artillerv. The first intention of Charles was to attack Angus- tus, but he soon received the news that the Saxons had given up the siege of lliga, and had retired into winter quarters at Kokenhusen. Time was necessary for the arrival of all the troops, and for obtaining accurate information of the position and movements of the enemy ; but on the 15th of Xovember 1700.] BATTLE OF NARVA. 397 Charles was able to set out fi*oin Reval, and on the 2od began the march from Wesenberg. The troops were allowed to take no baggage except their knapsacks, and in spite of the cold, the swamps, the bad food, and the difficulties of the march, reached Pvhajoggi in four days. The pass was not fortified, and the troops of Sheremetief were quickly driven back toward Xarva. The strong pass of Silamaggi '^as also left without defence, and on the mornini^ after Peter's departure, Sheremetief came into camp saying that the Swedes were closely following him. A council of war was at once held in the Pussian camp, additional rounds of am- munition were served out, and the vigilance redoubled. But that day and night passed quietly. The next morning, Novem- ber 30, at about eleven o'clock, the Swedish forces appeared in battle-array from behind the woods on the top of the Her- mannsbero*. There were onlv 20,000 Russians fit for service, and these were extended along a line of seven miles. Although the Swedes did not number 9,000 men, it was comparatively easy for them in their sudden onset, under cover of a cannonade, to pierce the thin Russian lines. They were assisted in this by a sudden snow-storm, which blew in the face of the Russians, and prevented their seeing more than twenty feet fi'om them. The Russians were panic-stricken, and, with the want of confi- dence which they had in their new general, cried out ' The Germans have betraved us,' and fled in confusion. Shereme- tief was one of the first to run. With his cavalry, he headed immediately for the river Xarova, near the cataracts, and suc- ceeded in getting across, although very many men were lost in the rapids. The majority went the other way to the Kamper- holm bridge. The bridge broke dov^Ti, and many men were lost. Two regiments, the Preobrazhensky and the Semenofsky, which were protecting the artillery park, and had surrounded themselves with a little fortification, held their ground. With them were the Duke de Croy, General Hallart, and Baron Lan- gen. Although the Russians stood firm against the enemy, yet they were in great confusion. They cried out against the for- eign officers, and killed several of them. Seeing this, and fearing for his life, the Duke de Croy said to those near him, *The devil could not fight with such soldiers,' and made his 398 PETEK THE GREAT. %vay tlirongli the swamps toward tlie Swedish lines, followed by ]Iallart, Laiigeii, and Uluniberg, the commander of the Preo- brazhensky regiment. Stenbock, who for a long time could not be found in the darkness, received them politely and took them to the King. The Kussian generals, Prince Dolgoruky, Prince Alexander of Imeritia, Avtcmon Golovin, and Butur- ]in, after holding a council in a bomb-proof, decided to surren- der. They wished to keep their artillery, but the King was inexorable, and finally it was agreed that on the next day they should retreat with their banners and arms, but with only six guns. General "Weyde, who was on the extreme right flank, and was wounded, knew nothing of the defeat till Buturlm sent him word of the capitulation. He then followed the example. Count Wrede wrote to his father a few days afterward : ^ ' Yet if he had had the courage to attack us, he would have infallibly beaten us, for we were extremely tired, having scarcely eaten or slept for several days, and besides this, all our men were drunk with the brandy that they had found in the Muscovite tents, so that it was impossible for the few officers that remained to keep them in order.' The confusion and panic of the Kussians were very great. , Hallart says : ^ ' They ran about like a herd of cattle, one regiment mixed up with the other, so that hardly twenty men could be got into line.' The next day the bridge to Kamperholm was repaired, and the Kussians were allowed to retreat, but the generals were all declared prisoners of war, on the ground that the troops had car- ried away w^th them the army chest, containing 300,000 rubles, in contravention of the capitulation. Nothing, however, had been said in the agreement on this point. The Kussian loss was about 5,700 men. Seventy-nine officers, including nine generals, w^ere taken prisoners. The Swedes captured, in addition, 149 cannon and 32 mortars, including many of the guns which Charles himself had given to Peter before the war, and 146 banners. The Swedish loss in killed and wounded was less than 2,000. Charles had constantly exposed himself to great personal danger. He was always in the thick of the fight, and in order to get aroimd a mound of corpses fell into a morass, from which < o 1700.] BATTLE OF NAEYA. 399 lie was extricated with difficulty, and where he was obliged to leave his horse, his weapons, and one of his boots. He inune- diatelv mounted anotlier horse, which w?s soon killed under him, while he himself was hit by a spent ball, which was dead- ened by his necktie, and was afterward found in his clothes. An officer immediately sprang from his saddle and offered him ]iis horse. The King in mounting said laughingly : ' I see that the enemy want me to practise riding.' ^ ' Solovief, xiv. ; Ustrialof. TV. i. ii. ; Fryxell, I. ; K. Lundblad, Geschichte Karl des Zwolften (German Transl. of G. V. v. Jensen), Hamburg, 1835 ; C. v. Sarauw, Die Feldzdge KarVs XII. , Leipzig, 1881 ; Golikof, Actions of Peter the Great (Russian), Moscow, 1837; Journal of the Swedish War (Russian), St. Petersburg, 1770. XLII. AFTER THE BATTLE. The fate of prisoners of war in those days was not enviable. General Hallart was obliged to give np all bis private papers and the memoranda be bad made of tlie siege, and, more tban tbat, experienced tbe personal anger of King Cbarles because tbe answers to bis questions with regard to tbe number of troops were not to bis liking. Cbarles insisted tbat tbe Rus- sians bad at least 80,000 men, wbereas Hallart could not make out more tban 30,000, including tbe disabled. All tbe prison- ers were sent under strict guard to Eeval, and tbe next spring to Sweden, except tbe Duke de Croy, wlio was allowed to re- main at Eeval witb Dr. Carbonari, tbe body pbysician of tbe Tsar. Tbe King respected tbe bigb personal and military rank of tbe Duke, and immediatelv after tbe battle sent bim 1,500 Swedisb ducats and food and wine from bis o\\tl table, wben tbe otber prisoners were almost starving. While at Eeval, De Croy wrote to Peter, Mensbikof, and Golovin, asking for money, and explaining how be had paid out of bis own pocket the expenses of tbe foreign officers who bad accompanied bim to Eussia, and what great expense be was put to at Eeval. In reply to his first letter Peter sent him 6,000 rubles, but be was so lavish that this amount did not go far, and by no means sufficed for bis needs. At bis death, in tbe spring of 1Y02, his debts were so great that his creditors put into force an old law refusing burial to insolvent debtors. His body was kept in tbe cellar of tbe church of St. Nicholas, the antiseptic properties of which pre- vented it fi'om decaying, and up to a few years ago — wben by an order of the Eussian Government it was finally interred — it was still shown to travellers as a curiosity. Baron Langen and General Hallart were exchanged in 1705, but the otber prison- 1700.] THE PPwISOXEKS. 401 ers remained in Sweden for many years, as did Prince Ililkof, who had been arrested by royal order as soon as it had become known that the Russians had declared war. Hilkof, who had sincerely belieyed in the Tsar's peaceful designs, and, it is said, complained bitterly of those who had persuaded him to accept the mission to Sweden, had to pay in person for the double- dealing of his master. He was treated with great seyerity ; all wi'iting materials were taken from him, and at first a guard of soldiers was stationed eyen in his bedroom. Later the authori- ties contented themselyes with placing a guard outside his house. He neyer ao-ain saw his countrA' but died in Yesteras in lYlo. Prince Alexander of Imeritia was held by the Swedes at a high price. At one time they demanded ten kegs of gold ; at an- other they agreed to exchange him for twenty captains, twenty lieutenants, and twenty ensigns. His father begged the Tsar to do this, but the Prince himself, who was heayily in debt, suffering from cold, and without enough to eat, ^^Tote from Stockholm in 1710 : ^ It has neyer come to my tongue nor eyen into my mind to ask for anything to the detriment of the Empire in order to free me, or eyen those a thousand times better than me. For that are we called — to suffer and to die in the interest of our Lord and of the Empke.' The Prince was finally exchanged in ITII, together with Prince Trubetskoy, for Count Piper, but died in Finland on his homeward way. Few of these Russian prisoners returned home until after the battle of Poltaya, in 1709, which produced suffi- cient effect upon the Swedes for them to desire an exchange of prisoners. The treatment of Hilkof influenced that of Ivnipercrona, the Swedish Resident at Moscow. "When war was declared, a guard of twenty-four soldiers was placed at his door, but he was giyen permission to return to Sweden either by way of Smolensk or Archano^el. The Smolensk route was dano^erous on account of tlie Polish war, and that to Archangel tedious from the autunm rains. He therefore preferred to remain in Moscow. ^Wlien the news came of the bad treatment of Hilkof, Knipercrona was not allowed to leaye his house, and was separated from his wife and four children. This lasted till August, 1701, when his Vol. I.— 26 402 PETER THE GREAT. family Avas restored to liiin. lie was afterward sent to Stock- lioliii, wliere lie was living in freedom in 1709, while Ililkof was still confined in the castle. In the early part of the war the Unssians took few prisoners. The garrisons of the fortresses they captured were generally al- lowed to march off nnder the terms of the capitulations. A time came, however, when large bodies of men surrendered, and in the autumn of 1709, after the battle of Poltava, there were in Kussia about twenty thousand Swedes, prisoners of war, including nearly two thousand officers, besides a great number of chaplains and civil officers. There were then so few Russians in Sweden that the exchange of prisoners made scarcely a sensi- ble difference in the numbers. The Swedish officers received money for their support from their own Government, and many of them obtained, besides, civil emplo}Tnent in Russia, and sometimes assistance from kind-hearted Russian governors. The soldiery were employed on the estates of the nobility, in the mines in the Ural, in the most distant provinces of Siberia, and even in the building of St. Petersburg. After the peace of Kystad, in 1721, all were allowed to go home, but some did not get away until 1724, and even later. As far as can be ascer- tamed, only about -^ye thousand soldiers returned to Sweden. Some of them had not seen their native land for twenty years. The battle of Xarva created a great impression throughout Europe. Glowing accounts of the victory were published in many languages, and the praise of the youthful monarch was the theme for orations and poems, while satire and raillery found subjects in the 'flight ' of Peter and the conduct of the Russian troops. Swedish diplomatists published a refutation of the rea- sons and additional explanations offered by Patkul in justifica- tion of the Russian declaration of war, and even Leibnitz, who had shown so much interest in Russia and the Russians, ex- pressed his sympathy with the Swedes in no measured terms, and his wish that he could see their ' young King reign in Mos- cow and as far as the river Amur.' Medals were struck in honour of Charles with the inscriptions, ' Siiperant swperata Jideniy and ' At last the right prevails.' There was another commemorative medal of a different kind : on one side the Tsar was represented warming himself over the fires of his mortars 1700.] EFFECT OF THE BATTLE. 403 ■svliicli were bombarding Ts'arva, with the inscription, ^And Peter warmed himself at the iire ' ; and on the other, the Kiis- sians were shown running away from Xarva, with Peter at their head ; his hat had fallen off, his sword had been thrown awav, and he was wiping away his tears with his handkerchief, and the inscription read : ' He went out and wept bitterly.' The victory at Xarva was, however, in the end more disas- / trous to the Swedes than to the Russians. From this time on, Charles made war the great object of his life. He became per- suaded that he was invincible. Certain traits of his character, especially his cold-bloodedness, his indifference to the loss of life, and even to the suffering of his soldiers, became accentuated. He even seemed to take delight in carnage. This is very plain from letters descriptive of the fight at Xarva, written by Swe- dish ofiicers to their friends at home. Axel Sparre rode over the field of battle afterward with the King, who pointed out to him all the places of interest, and said : ' But there is no pleasure in fighting with the Kussians, for they will not stand like other men, but run away at once. If the Xarova had been frozen, we should hardly have killed one of them. The best joke was when the Russians got upon the bridge and it broke down under them. It was just like Pha- raoh m the Bed Sea. Everywhere you could see men's and horses' heads and legs sticking up out of the water, and om* soldiers shot at them like wild ducks.' Carl Cronstedt, afterward the celebrated Field-marshal, Gen- eral Stenbock, and Carl Magnus Posse, all express themselves in nearly the same terms about the King's obstinacy, his belief in his mission, and his refusal to listen to advice. Stenbock wrote a few weeks after the battle of Xarva : ' The King thinks now about nothing except war. He no longer troubles himself about the advice of other people, and he seems to believe that God communicates directly to him what he ought to do. Piper is much troubled about it, because the weightiest affairs are resolved upon without any preparation, and in general things go on in a way that I do not dare commit to paper.' Posse, writing in December of the same year, says : ' In spite of the cold and scarcity, and although the water is 404 PETER THE GREAT. standing in the Imts, the King will not yet let ns go into winter qntirters. I believe that if he had only 800 men left he would invade Hussia with them, without taking the slightest thought as to what they would live on ; and if one of our men is shot" he cares no more about it than he would for a louse, and never troubles himself about such a loss.' \ The counsellors of Charles were of opinion that he should immediately accept the propositions of peace offered by Iving Augustus, invade Kussia, take up winter quarters in the enemy's country, and use all means to foment the discontent existing there, even to proclaiming Sophia. After such a defeat, the Ilussians were unprepared to resist, and it would be possible to advance even to Moscow. In any case, the Swedes could get advantaiJ-es of much the same sort as thev had had in the Troub- lous Times, and could for ever secure their rule in the provinces already possessed by them. Charles was at first inclined to this opinion, and forbade his troopers foraging over the frontier, lest the country should become barren, and nothing be left for the invading army. But he speedily changed his mind. His contempt for the Russians rapidly grew, and he despised them as a people not worth fighting against. He had a personal feel- ing of hostility toward his cousin Augustus for his treachery, and feared, or pretended to fear, that if peace were made with him, he would break it the moment the Swedes had entered Hussia. More than all, he desired to put down the third enemy by force of arms. Xo doubt many of those who surrounded him secretly worked on his feelings of ambition, in order that these plans might be carried out, for they feared the march through the deserted and cold districts of l!sortliern Hussia, where, with the King's tem- perament, they would be obliged to suffer many privations. Sending, therefore, a small force to the region of Lake Ladoga and the Xeva, Charles took up his winter quarters in the castle of Lais, a few^ miles from Dorpat. The troops were quartered in the villages and in the open country round about. Although he might have taken up pleasanter winter quarters in Xarva, Kiga, or Pernau, he did not visit these towns once during the course of the winter, and it was not until the beginning of June that he even went to the neighbouring university town of Dorpat. 1701.] SWEDISH WINTER QUARTERS. 405 The time passed merrily enough in the castle, where General Magnus Stenbock invented all sorts of amusements — suppers, masquerades, spectacles, and even a great sham light, with snow castles and snowballs. Charles paid little attention to govern- mental affairs, and busied himself solely with plans of war. He frequently visited the detachments of troops, but simply in order to see them drilled and go through their exercises, and not for the purpose of inquiring into their condition. Meanwhile, ow- ing to the cold and privations, fever was making tremendous ravage in the army ; 270 of the Dalecarlian regiment died, and 400 in that of Testmanland, so that on the return of spring less than half the troops were fit for action. The King's cousin, the Count Palatine Adolph Johann, died from fever, as well as many of the royal servants. The lack of provisions, and even of clothing, caused the soldiers, in spite of the severe orders, to pillage and plunder the villages and houses of the inhabitants. The people wondered that the King should thus harass his own subjects, when he could have lived on the enemy in the neigh- bouring Russian proA^ince of Pskof, and the discontent which was caused among the nobility of Livonia and Esthonia by the ' Reduction ' now extended to aU classes of the population. Peter had not got far from Xarva when he received the news of the defeat. It surprised him, and almost stunned him by its unexpectedness and its magnitude, but it did not dispirit him. On the contrary, it roused him to new effort. He had the heroic cj^ualities of perseverance and determination, difficulty but spurred him on, and, Antaeus-like, he rose after each fall, with new energy and new courage. At a later time, after the battle of Poltava, he was able to judge the matter calmly, and said: ' Our army was vanquished by the Swedes — that is incon- testable ; but one should remember what sort of an army it was. The Lef ort regiment was the only old one. The two regiments of guards had been present at the two assaults of Azof, but they never had seen any field-fighting, especially with regular troops. The other regiments consisted — even to some of the colonels — of raw recruits, both officers and soldiers. Besides that, there was the great famine, because, on account of the late season of y 40G PETER THE GREAT. the year, the roads were so muddy that tlie transport of pro- visions had to 1)0 stopped. In one word, it was like child's play. One cannot, then, be surprised that, against such an old, disci- plined, and experienced army, these untried pupils got the worst of it. This victory was then, indeed, a sad and severe blow to us. It seemed to rob us of all hope for the future, and to come from the wrath of God. But now, when we think of it rightly, we ascribe it rather to the goodness of God than to his anger ; for if we had conquered then, w^hen we knew as lit- tle of war as of government, this piece of luck might have had unfortunate consequences. . . . That we lived through this dis- aster, or rather this good fortune, forced us to be industrious, laborious, and experienced.' But there was no time then for calm consideration of the causes and consequences of the Russian defeat. Every moment was necessary for action. The Swedes might at any time in- vade the country. Peter met, near Lake Samra, Prince Xikita Repnin, who had collected his division in the Volga country, and was marching toward Xarva. He was at once turned back to Novgorod, and instructed to bring into order the regiments which had left Xarva ' in confusion.' AVork was immediately begun on the fortifications of Novgorod, Pskof, and the Pe- tchersky monastery near Pskof. Men, w^omen, and children were all put to the work, and the services in the churches were given up in order that the priests and monks could help. Houses were pulled down and churches were destroyed where they stood in the way of the new fortifications. Peter set the example by labouring with his ow^l hands at the first intrenchment at Nov- gorod, and then entrusted it to Lieutenant-Colonel Shenshin. On coming back afterward and not finding Shenshin there, he had him mercilessly whipped at the very intrenchment, and then sent him to Smolensk as a common soldier. At Moscow, Leon- tius Kokoshkin was hanged because he had taken a bribe of five rubles when engaged in receiving carts at Tver, and another official, Poskotchin, was hanged at Novgorod for a similar of- fence. Three weeks after the battle, when the stragglers had all come in, it was found that, out of the three divisions of Golovm, Weyde, and Trubetskoy, there remained 23,000 men. Adding 1700.] Peter's rejs'ewed efforts. 407 to these the division of Repnin, Peter still had an army of 33,000 men. The irregular cavalry and the local levies had practically disappeared, and were unserviceable. Orders were at once given to Prince Boris Golitsyn to make new levies, and especially to raise nine regiments of dragoons of 1,000 men each. Volunteers were also again asked for from Moscow, but the prohibition against enlisting the old Streltsi was still kept in force. In a few months, the army was much larger than before, and, according to the testimony of foreigners, was in excellent condition. Peter stayed two weeks in Xovgorod, to do what was most indispensable for the protection of the frontier. He then went to Moscow, and his activity was visible everywhere. It was necessary to make new artiUery, for nearly all had been captured by the Swedes. Yinius was charged with this task, and, in default of other metal, was ordered to melt down the bells of the churches and monasteries. The old man set to work with all his energy, and, in spite of the difficulty in finding workmen, in spite of the delays of the burgomasters in sending on metal, he was able, by the end of ITOl, to furnish 300 can- non, and prided himself on having done this so well, for not only were the pieces faultless, but they had been made at a sav- ing of 10,000 rubles over previous cost. Besides this, he had founded a school, where 250 boys were learning to become artil- lerymen and skilled workmen. Old as he was, in 1702 he even undertook a journey to Siberia to investigate the copper found there. Yinius perhaps exaggerated the difficulties under which he labom-ed, but what he complained of most was that, in be- ing appointed inspector of the artillery, he had been deprived of the charge of the post-office, and inquired whether it was on ac- count of any anger toward him. Peter replied : ' I have received your letter, in which you write about the readiness of the artillery, and how you are working at it. The business is very good and necessary, for time is like death. You ask me if the post was not taken away from you so unexpect- edly from some anger of mine. But does not your conscience at all accuse you ? For I long ago talked to you about it, and you are quite aware that many people talked about it, and even gave something. The post was taken fi'om you for no other 408 PETER THE GREAT. reason than that, while you had it, it was not a profit to the State, but only to you ; for, often as I have talked to you about correspondence with other places, my words were vain. For that reason it has been given to another, from whom, also, if such rumours be truly spread, it will be taken away again.' For a long time Yinius did wonders, but finally his energy began to flag, and he too openly filled his pockets at the expense of the State. In 1703, Peter came to Schliisselburg, and was very indignant to find that there had been great delay in for- warding the artillery and the medical stores. Yinius was at the same time Director of the Medical Department, the Artillery Department, and the Siberian Department. Peter immediately wrote to Prince Pamodanof sky : ' There is great delay to our work here. It is impossible even to begin. I myself have often spoken to Yinius, but he an- swered me with the Muscovite " immediately " (seiichas). Be good enough to inquire of him why he manages so carelessly such an important matter, which is a thousand times dearer than his head. Kot an ounce of medicine has been sent fi'om the medical stores. We shall be forced to cure those who take so little care.' Yinius, who tried to excuse himself, and threw the blame on others, was subsequently accused by Menshikof , who was charged with another investigation, of giving him large bribes to let the matter drop. The wrath of Peter could not be appeased. Yin- ius lost his friendship for ever, was deprived of the direction of the Siberian and Artillery departments, and was fined 13,000 rubles.' ' Solovief , xiv. ; Ustrialof, IV. iii. ; Fryxell, I. ; Lundblad, I. ; Sarauw ; Golikof ; Journal of the Swedish War ; Guerrier, Leibnitz. XLIII. NEGOTIATIONS FOR SIEDIATION AND ALLIANCE.— 1701. Even before the battle of Xarva, Prince Gregory Dolgoruky had been sent on a mission to King Augustus. Subsequently Captain Theodore Soltjkof was sent on a similar errand, and instructions were given to both to inform the King of the Hus- sian defeat, to arrange for an interview, and to state, although in cautious terms, the firm resolution of the Tsar to maintain the alliance. Dolgoruky found the King at Warsaw, and re- ceived from him every assurance that he would allow no change of fortune to alter his plans. At the same time, on December 30, Augustus wrote to the Tsar saying that about March 1 he would be at Diinaburg, where he would be most glad to see him. Peter, who was in Moscow when he received the King's letter, set out in the middle of February ; but when he arrived at Diina- bm*g, after a journey of two weeks, he found that the King was eighty miles farther at Birze, an old fortified castle which had formerly belonged to the Padziwill family, and was then the property of the yoimg Princess of Xeuburg. Augustus was just starting for Diinaburg, and his sledge was standing ready at the door when Peter arrived, so unexpectedly that he could scarcely meet him on the threshold. In the ten days which Peter spent here, the chief business was negotiations and polit- ical discussion, but the King and the Tsar made also an excur- sion to Diinamiinde, the fortress below Piga, at the mouth of the river, which had been renamed Augustusburg, in honour of the King, and Peter went also to Bausk and Mitau. Time enough was left for feasting and amusement. One day the Tsar and the King fired at a mark, from cannon mounted on different bastions. The King hit the mark twice, but the Tsar, although an experienced artillerist, never hit it at all. The 410 PETEK THE GREAT. next day there was a great dinner, which lasted so late that the King overslept himself the following morning, and the Tsar only went to mass. lie attentively followed the service, and was curious about all the ceremonies. This led one of the Po- lish senators to say to him that it was in his power to unite the Greek and Roman Churches. Peter replied : ' Sovereigns have rights only over the bodies of their people — Christ is the sover- eign of their souls. For such a thing a general consent is ne- cessary, and that is in the power of God alone.' It w^as not the union of the Churches, but the alliance of the Pepublic of Po- land, as well as of the King, that Peter had come to Birze to secure. On this subject he had a conversation with Sczuka, the Yice-chancellor of Lithuania. Peter suggested that now was the very best time for the Poles to join the Russians and Saxons, and tear away Livonia from the Swedes. Sczuka replied that Poland was exhausted by her preceding wars, and needed rest and repose. Besides that, Livonia was not enough. Poland needed some more solid advantages. ' What are they ? ' asked the Tsar. ' The whole matter is in your Majesty's hands,' said the Chancellor, and finally explained that Poland could only be induced to fight by the return of some of its frontier provinces occupied by Russia — as, for instance. Kief and the neighbour- ing districts. The Tsar replied that this was impossible, and left the room. The negotiations were continued by Golovin, but with no better result. He said the cession of Kief would cause disturbances at Moscow. ^ If this is hard for Moscow,' said Sczuka, ' war is still harder for the Republic' The negotia- tions with Poland ended here, but a new treaty was concluded with Augustus, by w^hich the allies bound themselves to continue the war with all their forces, and not to end it without mutual consent. The Tsar promised to aid the King with from 15,000 to 20,000 well-armed infantry, to send to Vitebsk 100,000 pounds of powder, and, besides paying certain expenses, to give him within three years the smn of 100,000 rubles. The King was to attack the Swedes in Livonia and Esthonia, so as to allow the Tsar a clear field for operations in Ingria and Karelia. Li- vonia and Esthonia were, when conquered, to belong to the King and to Poland without any claim on the part of Russia. But as the issue of the war was uncertain, and as the War of the 1701.] FINANCIAL DIFFICULTIES. 411 Spanish Succession might endanger the German possessions of the King, it was agreed to listen to any offers of mediation made by Austria, France, England, Prussia, or Holland ; and in a secret article Peter promised 20,000 rubles to buy up Polish senators. Peter was followed to Moscow by an aide-de-camp of the King for the money. This was hard to raise. All was col- lected that could be found in the different ministries and de- partments — even the foreign money left over fi'om the journey of the Tsar, and some Chinese gold which had been sent from Siberia. Finally, 1,000 gold pieces were obtained from the Troitsa monastery, 420 were given by Menshikof, and 10,000 rubles by the rich Moscow merchant Filatief, and the sum of 150,000 rubles was made up. The auxiliary force of 20,000 men was placed under the command of Prince Pepnin, and started out for Pskof about the end of April to join the King at Dlinaburg. Xew orders were given by the King, and Pepnin was obliged to go on to Kokenhusen, where he arrived at the end of June. The Pussian troops were much praised by Field- marshal Steinau : * They are all good men — except perhaps about fifty who need drilling — armed with Dutch muskets, and some regiments have swords instead of bavonets. The soldiers march evenly, work zealously and quickly, and do all that the field- marshal orders them. Especial praise must be given them that they have not among them any women nor any dogs, and the Muscovite general in the council of war requested that the wives of the Saxon musketeers be forbidden to come into the Pussian camp morning and evening to sell wine, because the Muscovites are greatly given to drinking and debauchery. General Pepnin is forty years old (in reality he was only thirty-three), knows little of military affairs, but nevertheless is of an inquiring mind and very respectful. The colonels are all Germans, old and in- competent men, and the officers are without experience.' After sending off his money and his men, Peter passed a few days at Preobrazhensky, and then went to Voronezh, to build new ships and prepare and inspect that fleet which could be of no possible service unless there might be war with Turkey, and a port could be gained on the Black Sea. He was accompanied by most of the court, and by many ladies of the German suburb. 412 PETEK THE GREAT. Ill spite of the dangers which tlireatened his empire, Peter remained at Voronezh at his favourite occupation for three months, paying a visit on the way back to Moscow to the Ivan Lake, where he proposed to dig a canal between the Oka and the Don. Three days after his return to Moscow there was a friiihtful coniiafirration in the Kremlin. On the afternoon of June 29, a fire started in the hostelry of the Saviour, rapidly spread across the river, and bm'ned nearly all the buildings in the Kremlin — the ministries, departments, and other public offices, with all their documents, the monasteries, the houses, the great stores of provisions and ammunition. The palace was entirely destroyed ; the princesses living in it escaped with great difficulty ; the bells of the cathedrals fell down, and the largest bell of the Ivan tower, weighing 288,000 pounds, w^as broken to pieces. In one church all the sacred pictures, ornamented with pearls and precious stones to the value of a million and a half of rubles, were a prey to the flames. Two thousand houses were burned, and it was only owing to the great personal exertions of the Tsar that the stone bridge was saved. During all this time the Tsar was engaged in negotiations of two kinds — to find alliances which w^ould aid him in carrying on the war, and to find mediators who could persuade the King of Sweden to make a peace advantageous to Kussia. In January, 1701, a secret treaty was concluded wdth the King of Denmark, by which he was to send to Windau at the opening of naviga- tion three regiments of infantry and three of cavalry, in all 4,500 men, to be paid by the Russian Government. This treaty was never carried out, for the victories of Charles XII. had made his name so formidable that the King of Denmark did not dare move a finger. Matveief, who had been sent on a mission to Holland, en- deavoured to persuade the Netherlands to mediate between Swe- den and Russia, and he was ordered to give the following ac- count of the battle of Narva : ' The Swedes burst into the in- trenchments, and found themselves between the division of Weyde and the regiments of the guards. Seeing that the Sw^edes were surrounded, the Russians three times sent a trum- peter with a proposal of a truce. The armistice was concluded, but on the next day, when the Russians began to cross the Na- 1701.] NEGOTIATIONS. 413 rova, the Swedes attacked them in spite of the royal promise, robbed them of everything, and seized the artillery and ammu- nition.' Matveief asked the States-General not to allow the Swedes to hire troops or buy militaiy stores in Holland before the mediation was decided. The truth was too well known in Holland for much attention to be given to the requests of the Kussian minister, and the libels and pasquinades against Peter and his people were in lively circulation at The Hague. The Dutch were in a difficult position. They tried to prevent the w^ar, which was injurious to their commercial interests in the Baltic. They were bound by a treaty with Sw^eden to furnish that country with money and aid ; but they did not wish to break with Kussia and lose their Archangel trade, and they feared the growing intimacy between Sweden and France. They would not openly help the Russians, and they tried to avoid as- sisting the Swedes. They explained that the money which the States-General and England had sent to King Charles was not intended to aid him in carrying on the war. At the same time, AYitsen managed it so that muskets were bought in Amsterdam for the Russians. The Dutch were desirous of peace, but while William III. made vague promises of mediation in connection with the King of Prussia, the States-General did not like to of- fend Charles XXL, who, in order to avoid discussion, had sent their minister away from Livonia, and told him to go to Stock- holm to confer with the Council of State, w^hich, as everyone knew, had no power. Prince Peter Golitsyn, the brother of Boris, who had already been in Italy for the purpose of studying naval affairs, was sent to Vienna to ask the mediation of the German Emperor. He was ordered to go incognito and as speedily as possible. Yet he took three months for the journey, ' suffering,' as he wrote, 'all sorts of discomforts and privations.' His negotiations were car- ried on through the Jesuit Father Wolf, the confessor of the Emperor, by means of an interpreter, Linksweiler or Rothwell, who had already served the boyar Boris Sheremetief on his journey fi'om Vienna to Malta. The interpreter was much to the taste of Golitsyn, and not at all to that of Wolf, who accused him of letting out what had been said. Golitsyn was received by the Emperor in private audience, but was able to effect noth- 414 PETER THE GREAT. iug. After the battle of Karva, Peter had sunk very low in German opinion, and all sorts of rumours were current of new Eussian defeats. Golitsyn wrote that Count Kaunitz laughed at him, and that the French and Swedish ministers made him the subject of jests. ' People here are well known to you,' he wrote to Golovin ; ' not only the men, but even the wives of the ministers, take money shamelessly. Everybody here gives them valuable presents, while I can only give them flattering words. It is necessary to try in every way possible to get a victory over the enemy. God forbid that the present summer should pass away with nothing ! Even though we conclude an eternal peace, yet how shall we wipe out an eternal shame ? It is absolutely necessary for our sovereign to get even a very small victory, by which his name may become famous in Europe as it was before. Then we can conclude a peace ; while now people only laugh at our troops and at our conduct of the war.' In addition to this, there was the difl[iculty about the late minister Guarient, who was accused of having written, or at least caused to be published, the journal of Ivorb, full of details about the punishment of the Streltsi.' Golitsyn says that he always spoke disrespectfully of the Russians and called them barbarians, and Guarient found himself obliged, not only to deny having had any part in the book, but to write apologetic letters to Golovin and the Tsar himself. In the way of mediation there was the difiiculty that the Russians demanded as a condition of peace that they should be given Ingria and the river Xeva, which they had not yet con- quered. There was also a further difficulty — that the King of Poland had made a hostile expedition against Riga, without for- mally declaring war. As Golitsyn writes : ' The Swedish minis- ter spent the morning with the Polish minister, and both talked about curves ; after dinner they discovered that there was a war between their sovereigns.' In addition to these negotiations, talk of another kind was going on. The Empress, who still retained the favourable im- pression of Peter that she had received on his visit at Vienna, was anxious to make an alliance between the families, and pro- posed that her son, the Archduke Charles, who was then six- ^ See note on p. 339. 1701.] PROPOSED MAPwRIAGES. 415 teen years old, should marry a Russian princess. The only ones who were available — unless we include Peter's sister Katalia, who was then twenty-eight years old — were the three daughters of the Tsar Ivan, Catherine, Anne, and Prascovia, of the respective ages of eleven, nine, and seven years. Golit- syn had no instructions on this point, and was obliged to write to Moscow. It was three months before the answer came. The Tsar was pleased at the proposal, and had the Dutch painter, Cornelius Le Bruyn — then on his travels in Pussia — paint portraits of the three princesses in German costume, with their hair arranged d Vantlqiie, to be sent to the Empress. Xot only was Peter content with the portraits, but the Tsar- itsa Prasco\aa liked them so much that she ordered Le Bruvn to paint duplicates for herself. The most beautiful was Anne, a blonde, who subsequently became Empress of Pussia. The other two were brunettes. The negotiations on this point lin- gered on, to the displeasure of the Pussians, and finally came to nothing. To all inquiries on the part of the Pussian minis- ter the Austrians said that the first proposal had come fi-om the Pussians, and that there were difficulties in the way. The Archduke Charles subsequently, in 1708, married Elizabeth, Princess of BnmswickAVolfenbtittel, at that time one of the beauties of Europe, and their daughter was the celebrated Em- press Maria Theresa. The Empress had also another wish, which was that the Tsarevitch Alexis should be sent to Yienna to receive his education, and both she and the Emperor prom- ised to treat him as one of their own children, and to do every- thing possible for him. Peter consented to this, but the events of the war interfered with the project, and Alexis first went to Yienna fifteen years later as a fugitive. Meanwhile the war had been proceeding in a quiet way as regarded Pussia, although in a decisive and disagreeable way as regarded King Augustus. Eaily in the spring of 1701, orders had been given to fortify Archangel, which was at that time the only port of Pussia, and when Izmaflof, the Pussian minister at Copenhagen, wrote that the Swedes were hiring pilots for Archangel, additional precautions were ordered. Prince Prozorofsky, the governor, had only finished his prep- arations for defence, when a Swedish squadron of seven vessels, 416 PETER THE GREAT. sailing under English and Dutch colours, appeared at the mouth of the Dvina, and anchored off Mudiiig island. The command- ant of the island, thinking them trading vessels, sent as usual a detachment of sixteen soldiers, with interpreters and secre- tary, to inspect them. The men were all taken prisoners. Three of the vessels, guided by a Kussian pilot, one of the prisoners, passed up the river, and again a Russian coast-guard was nearly captured, hut took the alarm in time, and escaped to land with a loss of live men killed. The vessels went on, but one frigate and a yacht got aground, as the Swedes say, by the treachery, or patriotism, of the pilot. By this time they were known, and they were fired on by the batteries opposite, when their crews immediately abandoned them. The Rus- sian soldiers took possession of them, and turned their cannon against the retiring Swedes. Unfortunately a quantity of powder which was on the deck took fire and blew off the poop of the frigate. After destroying various huts on Mudiiig island and some buildings connected with the salt-works, and commit- ting other ravages along the shore, the Swedish squadron re- tired. From Turkey there came good news. All rumours of war were at an end, and the Sultan had confirmed the treaty. But from the banks of the Diina came different intelligence. King Charles, having at last received reinforcements from Sweden, had set out fi'om his winter quarters at Lais, had crossed the Diina in the face of the Saxon troops commanded by Marshal Steinau and Paikull, and had badly beaten them. Without underrating the merits of the Swedish generals and the Swed- ish troops, the defeat was in some degree due to the fault of Paikull, who, instead of opposing the crossing, allowed a part of the Swedish army to proceed, hoping to beat them afterward and possibly to capture the King. Enough men crossed the river, under the cover of the smoke of damp hay and manure carried in advance, to defeat the Saxons before they had made the necessar}^ dispositions for attacking. Peter learnt of this defeat at Pskof, and was so much troubled that he decided to propose peace to Charles through the intervention of Prussia. But this attempt was as vain as those at The Hague and at A^ienna. The Russian troops under Repnin returned to Pskof. 1701.] FIGHT ON THE DUXA. 417 Four regimentSj wlio had been in part of the reserves at the battle, were so frightened that, without waiting for the com- mand, they ran twenty miles to join their comrades at Borko- vitsa.' ^ Solovief, xiv. ; Golikof ; Journal of Swedish War ; Fryxell, I. ; Sjogren, Paykidl. Vol. I.— 27 XLIV. RUSSIAN SUCCESSES ON THE NEVA AND THE BALTIC COAST.— 1701—1704. Two weeks after the battle of Xarva, Peter had written to Sheremetief to do something to encourage the soldiers and embarrass the enemy. Accordingly, at the end of December 1700, Sheremetief sent a party against the fortified town of Marienburg, twenty miles from the frontier. The attack was nnsuccessfiil. In revenge for this, Colonel Schlippenbach sud- denly invaded the Russian territory, burned many villages, and laid siege to the Petchorsky monastery ; but, after an officer had been killed in trying to screw a petard to the gates, he re- treated to Livonia. During the winter, other similar forays laid waste the territory on each side of the frontier. After King Charles had marched toward the Diina, in July, 1701, Sheremetief again attacked the detachment of Schlippenbach, who remained in Livonia, at Pauke. He was beaten back, but Schlippenbach sent an urgent message to the King, telling him of his position, and saying that Sheremetief had as many troops as the whole Swedish army. The King replied merely, ' It can- not be,' and ordered 600 men to be sent to the village of Rap- pin, near the Russian border. This was in spite of the remon- strances of Schlippenbach, who said the force was too small, and proposed a more suitable point of attack. The King could not be moved, and Schlippenbach was obliged to report : ' It happened as I foresaw. Out of the whole detachment only one captain returned ; all the rest were killed or taken prisoners by the Russians, together with two cannon.' This was on Sep- tember 15, 1701, the Russians being commanded by the son of Sheremetief. This skirmish, for it was scarcely more, was the beginning of the Russian successes. In January, 1702, Shere- 1702.] BATTLE OF ERESTFEK. 410 metief, Tvitli 8,000 infantry and dragoons, together with Cos- sacks, Kahniiks, and Tartars, and fifteen field-pieces, moved against Schlippenbach, who, with 7,000 men, was encamped on the estate of Erestfer, and on January 9, after a battle which lasted four honrs, imtil it became dark, inflicted a severe de- feat on the Swedes, who lost, according to their own account, 1,000, and according to the Hussian estimate, 3,000 killed and wounded, and 350 prisoners, together with six guns and eight standards. The Russian loss amoimted to more than 1,00(> men. Sheremetief was glad of his victory, but he was still more pleased that the Swedes did not come out of the forests and attack him when he was in the midst of the deep snows and his men were too worn out to march farther. Peter was delighted, and after receiving Sheremetief's report, exclaimed : * Thank God ! we can at last beat the Swedes.' He immedi- ately appomted Sheremetief field-marshal, and sent by Menshi- kof to him the blue ribbon of St. Andrew and his own portrait set in diamonds. All the officers were promoted, and the com- mon soldiers were given a ruble apiece of the newly coined money. At Moscow there was great rejoicing. Te Deums were chanted in the churches, with the ringing of bells and the firing of cannon ; a great banquet was given by the Tsar in a building erected for the purpose on the Red Place — the palace, we remember, had been burned down that winter — and the nio^ht closed with fii'eworks and illuminations. A fortnio-ht later the Tsar made a triumphant entry, having in his train the Swedish prisoners, who were well treated. This was the first of a series of triumphs for small victories, which were indeed ridiculed by the foreign ministers, but which, nevertheless, served to keep up the spirits and arouse the patriotism of the people. After the victory of Erestfer, Sheremetief made two pres- sing requests to be allowed to return to Moscow. Ilis wife, he said, was living in the house of a neighbour, and he must find her a place to lay her head. The Tsar at fii-st refused, but fi- nally wrote from Archangel, leaving it to his judgment whether he could be spared from the army, and telling him if he should go, to be back again by Holy Week. On his return, Shereme- tief attacked Schlippenbach at Hummelshof on July 29, 17<>2, 420 TETEll THE GREAT. aiul inflicted on liini a severe defeat, amounting to a complete rout. The Swedisli infantry was almost annihilated, and Schlip- penbach with the cavalry retreated to Pernau. The Swedes liad only about 5,000 men engaged, and lost at least 2,500 in killed and wounded, besides 300 prisoners, and all their artillery, stand- ards, and druiiis. The Ttussian loss was 400 killed, and about the same number wounded. After the battle of Ilummelshof, Livonia remained entirely without defence. In Tliga, Pernau, and Dorpat there were com- paratively large garrisons, which did not dare leave the fortresses, and in the smaller towns only a few hundred men each. Shere- metief then thoroughly devastated the whole of the country, destroying towns. Tillages, and farms, taking captive the popu- lation, and sending his prisoners to the south of Russia. The Cossacks, Tartars, and Ivalmuks in the Russian army had full swing, and Livonia was for a long time unable to recover from the effects of this campaign. Many rich and strong castles built by the Teutonic knis^hts were then destroyed. Sheremetief in his report wrote : ' I send Cossacks and Ivalmuks to different estates for the confusion of the enemy. But what am I to do with the people 1 have captured ? The prisons are full of them, besides all those that the officers have. There is danger because these people are so sullen and angry. You know what they have already done, careless of themselves. In order that such plots may not begin again, and that the men may not set fire to the powder in the cellars, or die from their close quarters, much must be done. Considerable money besides is necessary for their support, and one regiment would be too little to conduct them to Moscow. I have selected a hundred families of the best of the natives who are good carpenters, or are skilled in some other branch of in- dustrv — about 400 souls in all — to send to Azof.' That these prisoners included all classes of society may be seen from the fact that Patkul was obliged to petition the Tsar for the release of two daughters of his acquaintance, the Land- rath Yietinghof, who had been taken prisoners and formed part of the booty of the Cossacks. So much cattle was taken that it could be bought at nominal prices, and, according to the Austrian Agent Pleyer, a Swedish boy or girl of fifteen years old could 1702.] DEFENCE OF ARCHAXGEL. 421 be bought at Pskof for two grimias^ or twelve grosclieii. The towns of Menza, Smilten, Konenburg, and ^Vohiiar were reduced to ruins, as well as Marienburg, which was a strongly fortified place, and offered great resistance. It was to this Sheremetief referred in the above report, for, after the town had been cap- tured, an ensign of artillery, Wulff, continued the defence, and finally set fire to the powder-magazines, and blew himself up. Many Swedes were killed as well as many Russians. The siege of Marienburg is of interest to us because among the captives was the Provost Gluck, with his family, and in his family was the girl who subsequently became the Empress Catherine I. In the spring of 1702, Matveief reported that the Swedes were intending again to attack Archangel. Xot satisfied with the measures of protection and defence which had been taken in that region, considering that only 1,900 men were available there for military operations, Peter resolved to go himself to the North, and set out at the end of April, taking with him his son Alexis (then a boy of twelve), a numerous suite and five battalions of the guard, amounting to 1,000 men. He was thirty days on the road from Moscow. In our times of rapid com- munication it is hard to realise how any regular plan of defence or war could be carried out in a country where such enormous distances were required to be travelled, and where so much time had to be spent on the journey. In a stay of three months, which Peter made at Archangel, there was little which he could do in the way of military preparations. He occupied himself with shipbuilding, and on Trinity Sunday launched two frig- ates, the ' Holy Spirit ' and the ' Courier,' constructed by Elea- zar Ysbrandt, and laid the keel of a new twenty-six-gun ship, the ' St. Elijah,' writing at the same time to Apraxin that he could do nothing more, as there was no more ship-timber. In August the early fleet of merchant-ships arrived, much more numerous than usual, for all the trade which had before come through the Swedish ports on the Baltic naturally turned to Archangel. There were thirty-five Englisli and fifty-two Dutch ships, with a convoy of three ships of war. These vessels brought the news that the Swedes had given up any attack on Ai'changel that summer. Peter therefore felt at liberty to de- 422 1»ETEU THE GREAT. }>art. and went hj sea to Xiiiktcha, on the Bay of Onega, stop- ping by tlie way for a few days at the 8olovetsky monastery. From Xiiiktcha to Povienetz, at tlie northern end of Lake Onega, a road eighty miles long had been made through the swamps and thick forests by the energy and labour of Stche- ]^6tef, a sergeant of the Preobrazhensky regiment. Over two of the rivers it w^as necessary to build long bridges, strong enough for the passage of the "Rve battalions of guards which accompanied the Tsar. From Povienetz Peter sailed through Lake Onega and down the river Svir, and finally arrived about the end of September at the town of Old Ladoga, on the river Yolkhof near Lake Ladoga. Here he was met by Field-marshal Sheremetief with his army, who had sailed down the Yolkhof from Xovgorod, and also by the artillery which Yinius had col- lected for him. With a force then of about 12,000 men, Peter advanced on October 6 to lay siege to the fortress of Xoteborg. Xoteborg'had been originally built by the people of JS^ovgorod four centuries before, under the name of Orekhovo or Oreshek, on a small island of the river Xeva, just where it leaves Lake Ladoga. The island was in shape like a hazel-nut, whence both the Pussian and Swedish names. It served for a long time as a barrier against the incursions of the Swedes and Danes, and protected the commerce of Xovgorod as well as of Ladoga. In 1323, peace was concluded there between the Swedes and Rus- sians. In the subsequent wars it was sometimes in the hands of the Swedes, sometimes in those of the Pussians, and finally, in 1611, was captured again by the Swedes under De la Gardie, and had since that time belonged to Sweden. Xoteborg was defended by a small garrison of 450 men, with 142 cannon of small calibre, under the command of the old Colonel Wilhelm von Schlippenbach, the brother of the Swedish general com- manding in Livonia. The Pussians took up a position on both sides of the river, and bv a fleet of small boats, which thev brought down from the river Svir through Lake Ladoga, suc- ceeded in completely blockading the fort. On October 11 they opened fire, and on the 2 2d, after an unsuccessful storm by the Pussians, in which Prince Michael Golitsyn displayed remark- able bravery and coolness, the commandant capitulated on hon- ourable conditions. His whole garrison, with all their property, 1702.] NOTEBOPwG TAKEN. 423 were allowed to depart to the next Swedish fort. On the third day of the cannonade, the wife of the commandant had sent a letter to the Russian field-marshal, in the name of the wives of the officers, asking that they be permitted to depart. Peter, wishing to lose no time, had himself replied to the letter that he could not consent to put Swedish ladies to the discomfort of a separation from their husbands, and if they desu*ed to leave Bombardment of Noteborg. the fort, they could do so provided they took their husbands with them. According to Pleyer, only forty-one Swedes were living to take advantage of the capitulation. The Russians, however, lost more than the whole Swedish garrison, in all 538 men, be- sides 925 wounded. Peter immediately proceeded to repair the damages done to the fort, renamed it Schliisselburg, and fastened 424 PETEK THE GREAT. lip in the western bastion the key given him by the command- ant, as a syml)ol that this fort was the key to the whole of the Neva. Ever afterward, when at St. Petersburg, he went to Schlusselburg on October 22, and feasted the capitulation. Men- shikof, who had shown great military ability, was appointed governor of the newly named fort, and from this time date his intimate friendship with Peter and his prominence in public life. When the despatch announcing the fall of Xoteborg was read to King Charles, w^ho was then in Poland, Piper feared its effect, but the King said with apparent calm : ' Console yourself, dear Piper. The enemy have not been able to drag the place away with them.' But it evidently went to his heart, and on another occasion he said that the Russians should pay dearly for Noteborg. Peter announced the event to his friends, and in a letter to Vinius said : ' In very truth this nut was very hard ; but, thank God ! it has been happily cracked.' He made another great en- try into Moscow, when a laurel wreath was let down upon his head as he passed under the triumphal arch ; but he spent only two months in the capital, and went oft" to Voronezh, troubled by reports that there might be difficulties with the Tartars, if not with the Turks. In consequence of these rumours, three regiments of troops were sent from Novgorod to Kief, and bat- talions of the Preobrazhensky and Semenof sky marched to Yo- ronezh. The winter was cold, but there was little snow, and it was therefore possible for Peter to stop at the Ivan lake, to in- spect the works which had been begun for connecting the Don with the Yolga, by means of a canal which would join the Upa, one of the upper branches of the Don, with the Oka. The work had been begun in 1701, and was then being pressed vigorously forward. It was never finished. At Peter's death the w^ork was stopped, and there is now scarcely a trace of it. On the upper waters of the river Voronezh, Peter, with all his suite, stopped at a large and handsome country place which he had given to Menshikof, and in honour of his favourite founded here a city, which he called Oranienbm'g.^ He wrote to Menshikof : ^ Oranienburg, or Ranenburg, as it is now called, is in the province of Riazan, and numbers at the present time about 7,000 inhabitants. 1703.] ORAXIEXBURG. 425 ' Meix IIerz : Here, thank God ! we have been very merrv, not letting a single place go bv. We named the town with the blessing of Kief, with l)ulwarks and gates, of which I send a sketch in this letter. .Vt the blessing we drank — at the first bastion, brandy, at the second, sec, at the third, Rhine wine, at the fourth, beer, at the fifth, mead, and at the gates, Rhine wine, about which the bearer of this letter will report to you more at length. All goes on well, only grant, O God ! to see you in joy. You know why.' Althoucrh Peter wi'ote the letter in his own hand, he sio'ned it third as Pitirim Protodiacon, after Yaniki, the Metropolitan of Kief and Galicia (probably Ivan Miissin-Piishkinj, and Gi- deon, Archdeacon (probably Prince Gregory Eamodanofsky). The letter was signed by twenty others who took part in this mummery. The sketch sent bv Peter represents a nearlv retj;ular penta- gon, with bastions at the corners named after the five senses respectively — Seeing, Hearing, Smelling, Tasting, and Touch- ing — and gates called Moscow, Voronezh, and Schlusselburg. Le Bruyn, the Dutch artist, accompanied the Tsar on this jour- ney. He says : ' One could not enter the house without passing through the gate of the fort, both being surrounded by the same wall of earth, which, however, is not of great extent. There are sev- eral fine bastions well garnished with cannon, covered on the one side bv a mountain, and on the other by a marsh or kind of lake. When I entered where the Tsar was, he asked me where I had been. I replied: *' Where it had pleased Heaven and our drivers, since I neither knew the language nor the road.-' That made him laugh, and he told it to the Eussian lords who accompanied him. He gave me a bumper to punish me, and regaled us in perfection, having a cannon fired at each toast. After the feast he took us upon the ramparts, and made us drink different liquors on each bastion. Final- ly, he had sledges prepared to cross the frozen marsh and see everything from there. He took nie in his own sledge, with- out forgetting the liquor, which followed, and which we did not spare. We returned to the chateau, where the glasses be- gan again to make the round and to warm us. As the fort 426 PETEK THE GREAT. bad not jet been named, bis Majesty gave it tbe name of Oranienburg.- After many festivities at Yoronezli, Le Bruyn asked per- mission of tbe Tsar to sketcli, wbicb be immediately granted, saying : ' We liave diverted ourselves well. After tbat we bave reposed a little. Now it is time to work.' In making bis sketcbes, Le Bruyn suffered mucb from tbe curiosity of tbe Russians, wbo bad got up all sorts of stories about bim, one being tbat be was one of tbe Tsar's servants, executed for some crime by l)eing buried up to bis waist at tbe top of a mountain, witb a book in bis band. But wben, a few days after, tbey found tbat tbe supposed criminal bad cbanged place, it was necessary to invent anotber explanation. Wben be took leave of tbe Tsar to go back to Moscow, Peter was ' amusing bimself , as be fi-equently did, witb an ice-boat. By a sudden change of course bis boat was overturned, but be immediately picked bim- self wp. Half an bour afterward be ordered me to follow bim alone, and went out in a bired sledge witb two borses. One of tbem fell into a bole, but tbey soon got it out. He made me sit next to bim, saying : " Let ns go to tbe sballop. I want you to see a bomb fired, because you were not bere wben tbey were fired before." ' After tbis bad been sbown, Le Bruyn was al- lowed to go. On tbe road, in tbe neigbbom-bood of Yoronezli, be found many post-bouses, inbabited by Circassians, wbicb pleased bim greatly, as tbey were yery clean, and tbere were generally some musicians, wbo played wild airs. He was par- ticularly struck witb tbe lialf -naked cbildren on tbe stoves, witb tbe beauty of tbe women and tbeir costume, and especially witb tbe rufiles around tbeir necks. Peter stayed at Yoronezb but a montb. He was unable to do mucb on tbe fleet in tbe very cold weatber, and was troubled, besides, because tbe stock of iron bad given out and an epidemic witb great mortality prevailed among tbe workmen. Good news baving come from Constantinople, Peter left Yoronezb and went to Scbliisselbm'g, scarcely stopping at Moscow. Something tbere appears to bave made bim lose bis self-control and give way to an outburst of temper, for on reaching jN^ovgorod be wrote to Theodore Apraxin : ' How I went away I do not know, except tliat I was very contented witb tbe gift of Bacchus. For tbat 1703.] CAPTURE OF XYEXSKAXZ. 427 reason I ask the pardon of all if I offended anyone, and espe- cially of those who were present to bid me gocKl-bye.' In pursuance of his plan of gradual conquest, Peter now set out with an expedition of 20,000 men, and moved down the right bank of the Xeva to the fort of Xyenskanz. This was on the Xeva at the mouth of the little river Okhta, where now is a ship- ping-wharf, just opposite the Institute of Sniolna and the Tau- rida Palace. The place, though small, was prosperous, deriving its importance from numerous saw-mills. On three sides of it, Defeat of the Swedish Flotilla. at a little distance, were uniinished earth- works, which had been beii:un the vear before, and which now served excellentlv the purposes of the besiegers. Batteries were placed in position, and the bombardment besjan on Mav 11. The next dav the very small garrison capitulated. The fort was renamed Slotburg and became the nucleus of the future city of St. Petersburo:. That night came news that a Swedish squadron was sailing up the gulf toward the Xeva. It signified its arrival to the fort by firing two signal-guns, which were immediately answered, in order to deceive the Swedes and draw them into a snare. A 428 PETER THE GREAT. boat was pent up the river, which w^as attacked by the Hussians, and one sailor was captured, lie informed them that the fleet consisted of nine ships, luider the command of Vice-Admiral Nummers. Three days after, two Swedish vessels sailed up the river, but came to anchor off the Yasily Island on account of the darkness. The next day, Sheremetief sent Peter and Menslii- kof down the river, with two regiments of guards in thirty boats. They concealed themselves behind the islands, and after maturing a plan, attacked the Swedish vessels early on the morn- ing of May 18. After a sharp fight, the ships using their can- non and the Russians replying with hand-grenades and musketry, Peter and his comrades succeeded in boarding and capturing the vessels, and brought them up to Slotburg. Of the seventy- seven men that composed the crews, fifty-eight were killed. The remainder were taken prisoners. For this, the first Kussiau naval victory, both Peter and Menshikof were created by Shere- metief cavaliers of the Order of St. Andrew.' While Peter was laying the foundation of his new capital, Sheremetief was sent against the little forts of Koporie and Yamburg, the latter on the river Liiga, only twelve miles from ]S^arva. Both towns were soon taken. Peter had now obtained the object for which he had declared war. He occupied the Xeva, and could communicate with the sea. He had restored to Pussia her ancient province of Ingria, which had so long been in the hands of the Swedes. It is not to be wondered, therefore, that at his triumphal entry into Mos- cow one of the banners represented the map of Ingria, with the apposite inscription from the Book of Maccabees : ' We have neither taken other men's land nor holden that which appertain- eth to others, but the inheritance of our fathers, which our ene- mies had wrongfully in possession a certain time. "Wherefore we, having opportmiity, hold the inheritance of our fathers.' As the capture of Xarva at the beginning of the war would have facilitated the conquest of Ingria, so now it was necessary to get possession of this stronghold in order to be certain of re- ^ Peter was the sixth knight of the order which he had founded in 1G99 on his return from Europe. The others were Admiral Theodore Golovin, the Cossack Hetman Mazeppa, Sheremetief, the Prussian Envoy Printzen, and the Saxon Chancellor Beichling. 1704.] DORPAT TAKEX. 429 taining the provinces whidi had ah-eady Ijeen won. The latter part of the summer of 1TU3 Sheremetief devoted to a syste- matic devastation of Esthonia and Livonia as far as Heval and Pernan. The ruin was as great, and the amoimt of booty and the number of captives even greater, than in his march of the preceding year. In the summer of 1704, after a little wavering as to whether he should not make a diversion into Curland in order to assist King Augustus, Peter decided on attacking both Dorpat and Xarva. The Swedish flotilla on Lake Peipus was destroyed or captured, but the siege of Doi-pat — a town which had been founded 675 years before by the Pussian Grand Duke Yaroslav, under the name of Yurief — owing to the bad disposi- tions of Sheremetief, proceeded slowly, and Peter was obliged to go thither in person. He found the troops in good enough condition, but the batteries placed with an ntter ignorance of engineering, so that all the ammunition spent was simply wasted. Every man, he says, threw the blame on some one else. He drew up and carried out a new plan of operations, and Dorpat, after a heavy bombardment, was taken by storm on July 24. The siege had lasted five weeks, and 5,000 bombs had been thrown into the town. Peter Apraxin, the brother of Theodore Apraxin, the Di- rector of the Admiralty, was in the autumn of 1703 given com- mand of Yamburg. The recollections of the great defeat at Xarva were still so vivid that both he and his brother were nmch troubled at this vicinity to the Swedes, and this was in- creased when liQ was sent to the mouth of the Xarova, to pre- vent a Swedish squadron from landing stores and men. Some did manage to slip by him, to the great anger of the Tsar. At the news of the arrival of the Swedish squadron, Peter changed his plan of attacking Kexholm, on Lake Ladoga, and hastened with all liis force to Xarva, where, about the middle of June, he took up his position in the same entrenchment which he had thrown np four years before. It was a blockade rather than a siege, for the Pussian artillery had not yet come up, and She- remetief and his troops were still detained at Dorpat. "When the armies were joined, the Pussians had fully 45,000 men and 150 pieces of artillery. The Swedish garrison consisted of 4,5U0 men, with 432 guns in Xarva and 12S in Ivangorod. The 4S0 PETER THE GREAT. liU.ssiaiis were troubled by the frecjueiit sorties of the garrison, as well as by the constant rumours which reached them that Schlippenbacli, with a strong Swedish force, was advancing from Reval. In order to draw the enemy out of the town, on the advice of Menshikof the llussians resorted to the expedient of dressing up some of tlieir troops in Swedish uniforms, and having a sham light with them on the road to Wesenberg. The llussians gradually retired as if they had been beaten, and the Swedes came out from the town to attack them in the rear, accompanied even by women and children in the hope of booty. They all fell into the ambush prepared for them: 300 men were killed and forty-six taken prisoners. When Field-marshal Ogilvy, who, through the intervention of Golitsyn and Patkul, had just entered the Russian service for three years, arrived at the camp, he found fault with the siege-works, and said that it would be impossible ever to capture Xarva from that side. On his recommendation batteries were placed on the eastern side of the Xarova, and the bombardment began on Sunday, August 10. In the course of ten days over 4,^300 bombs were thrown into the town, breaches were made in the bastions, and Horn, the commandant, was urged to surrender, but he repulsed all propositions. On August 20 the Russians carried the place by storm. After they were in full possession, Horn, then too late, tried to capitulate, and himself beat the drum with his fists for a parley, but the Russians refused to listen. The carnage was fearful, and neither women nor children were spared. Out of 4,500 men in the Swedish garrison only 1,800 remained alive. Two hours after the surrender, Peter, Field-marshal Ogilvy, and some others rode about the town, and ordered trumpets to be sounded in all the streets to stop the pillage, and the Tsar himself struck down one soldier Avho refused to obey his orders. Coming into the town-hall, he threw his sword down on the table before the trembling councillors, and said : ' Do not be afraid. This is not Swedish but Russian blood.' Horn was captured, and after being confined for twelve days in the same pi'ison where the Russian officers had languished, was sent to Russia, where he remained a prisoner for fifteen years. His wife was killed in the assault, and his children — one son and four daughters — were taken charge of by General Chambers 1704.] CAPTURE OF iS^ARVA. 431 and educated at the Tsar's expense. Shortly before the peace of Kystad, Horn, at his own request, was allowed to go to Sweden, on his promise to return in case no one were exchanged for him. He forfeited his word and never came back, and the Swedes even kept the galley on which he went. The castle of Ivanc>:orod held out for a week lonc^er, but was obliged to sm'render when all the provisions had been exhausted. Peter wrote to Eamodanof sky : ' Where we had such grief four years ago we are now joyous victors ; for by the scaling-ladder and the sword we have taken this famous fortress in three- quarters of an hom\' The satisfaction of the Tsar and of the Eussian people was great, and the moral effect of the victory was tremendous.' ^ Solovief , xiv. ; Ustrialof , IV. iv. v. vii. ix. xi. xii. and appendices ; JouT' nal of Sicedish War ; Fryxell, I. ; Lundblad ; Sarauw ; Le Bruyn. XLV. MENSHIKOF AND CATHERINE. "With two persons mentioned in the preceding chapter we have now to make a closer acquaintance. Peter's early intimacy with Menshikof had produced a friendship which grad- ually grew into an af- fection as the Tsar saw the great qualities and remarkable abilities of his companion develop. It was after the siege of Noteborg that Men- shikof was admitted to the full friendship of his master, became the confidant of his plans and feelings and his trusted adviser, and in every way occupied the place in Peter's friend- ship which had been vacant since the death of Lefort. For this there were also other reasons of a more pri- vate nature. Much obscurity rests upon the parentage of Menshikof. His father served in the guard, and was buried — together with his wife — at Preobra- zhenskv. What his condition in life was we do not know. In Menshik6f. :\ienshik6f. 433 the diploma creating Mensliikof a Prince of the Holy Roman Empire, he is stated to be descended from an ancient and noble Lithuanian family. Even at an earlier period than this, some of Menshikof's enemies admitted his Lithuanian origin, and that many relatives of his were landed proprietors in the neighbour- hood of Mmsk. There seems to be no foundation for the story that Menshi- kof , in his boyhood, sold pies in the streets of Moscow, whatever he may have done for amusement in the camp at Preobrazhen- sky. Born in November, 1673, he was a year and a half younger than Peter, and was, from his earliest boyhood, attached to his service. He was one of the Tsar's play-soldiers, and was among the first enrolled in the Preobrazhenskv remment. Thouo-h he possessed no recognised court rank and bore no official title, he was attached to the personal service of the Tsar as denstchil:^ orderly or adjutant, and in that caj^acity was with Peter day and night, taking his turn of sleeping in the adjoining room, or on the floor at the foot of his master's bed. A letter from Peter to him in ITOO would seem to show that at that time, at least, he had especial charge of the domestic economy of the palace and of the wardrobe of the Tsar. Handsome, witty, lively, good- humom^ed, of quick intelligence, and ready at those sports and exercises which Peter preferred, Menshikof soon became the fa- vourite of the Tsar, and, for a time, popular in Preobrazhensky, where he was known by the nickname of Alexashka, or by his patronym Danilovitch. Both he and Gabriel Menshikof — who was presumably his brother — made their appearance in the ' great company of singers ' who sang carols during the Christ- mas holidays at the house of General Gordon. He took part with Peter in the expeditions against Azof, and accompanied him to Holland as a volunteer, being first in the list of the company of which Peter was the head. He worked by the side of the Tsar at Amsterdam, and was almost his equal in ship-carpentry, being the only one of the volunteers who showed any aptitude for the business. With Peter, he visited England and Vienna, and the passport for the Tsar's proposed journey to Venice Avas made out in Menshikof's name. It was after his return, and especially about the time of the executions of tlie Streltsi, tliat he came prominently into public notice as one of those who had a Vol. I.— 28 434 PETEK THE GllEAT. certain ainouiit of iniluGiiee witli Peter. After Lefort's death this iiilluence visibly increased, but it was not for several years after that he obtained over Peter the same kind of power as Lefort had, or was as much trusted by him. Up to 1703, Peter always addressed him in his letters as Meln Herz and Mehi Herzenchen. In 17U4, it was Meiii Liebde Cameracl, IfciuLiehste Yrient, and Mcin Btst Yrient^ and after that always Meln Bruder. At the end of the letters is the constantly repeated phrase: ^All is well I Only God grant to see you in joy again ! You yourself know.' The more opportunity Menshikof had of exercising his powers, the greater ability he displayed, and his rewards were proportional. After .the capture of Xoteborg he was made gov- ernor of Schliisselburg, and subsequently of ^yenskanz and St. Petersburg, and not long after governor-general of Ingria, Kare- lia, and Esthonia. For tlie capture of the Swedish vessels at the mouth of the Xeva, he, together with Peter, was made a cavalier of St. Andrew. In the winter of 1703, Peter, on his journey to Voronezh, founded near Menshikof's estate, and in his honour, the town of Oranienburg. In 1703, through the intervention of Golitsyn, the Pussian envoy at Vienna, he was made a Count of Hungary, and, in 1705, on his own proposition, the Emperor Joseph created him a Prince of the Holy Poman Empire. This title was confirmed in Hussia, and, two years later, when the Tsar had begun to create new titles of nobility, he named Menshikof Prince of Izhora, with the title of High- ness, and gave over to him the districts of Yamburg and Koporie. It is interesting to note that, only two weeks afterward, Menshi- kof wrote to Korsakof, the Landrichter of Ingria, to ascertain the population, the number of parishes, and estates, and the rev- enue to be derived from them, and ordered his name to be men- tioned with that of the sovereign in the public prayers, both in the Pussian and the Lutheran churches. Unfortunately, Menshikof misused his powers and position, as well as the confidence which the Tsar so freely gave him. He was ambitious and avaricious. At court he was disliked and feared, and among the people he was hated. In Poland, in Little Pussia. in the Baltic provinces — wherever he held com- mand — his ii:reed and his extortions excited the discontent and MEXSHIKOF. 435 the complaints "of the inhabitants. The familiar and affection- ate letters of Peter were interrupted by outbursts of anger and indisination, when some new misdeed had come to his ears. Menshikof wrote abject apologies, and had a powerful protector in Catherine, and the Tsar always relented. Menshikof s extra- ordinary talents, his initiative and his energy rendered him indis- pensable to Peter in carrying out his ideas and reforms, and his personal devotion and sympathy made him necessary as a friend. Tlie immense for- tune which he had accumulated was scarcely affected by the heavv fines which the Tsar from time to time condemned him to pay, and after a short period of dis- grace he always re- turned to favour and power. Affec- tion made Peter in- consistent, and pre- served Menshikof from the fate of Gagarin and Xes- terof , who expiated their crimes on the scaffold. On one memorable occa- sion, however, the Tsar said to Catherine, after again granting pardon: 'Menshikof was conceived in iniquity, born in sin, and will end his life as a rascal and a cheat, and if he do not reform he will lose his head.' But his fall, exile, and death were to come only under Peters grandson, after he had reached tlip zenith of his power, and had been for two years the real ruler of Pussia. At the old court of the Tsaritsas. in addition tu the ladies of the palace and the dames of the bed-chamber, there were Guard-Room of the Ancient Terem. 436 PETER THE GREAT. always a nunil)er of young girls of similar age to the Tsaritsa, and to the princesses, who bore the title of Boyiir Maidens. Their chief duty consisted in being companions to the prin- cesses, in playing and talking with them, and sharing their amusements. After the death of the Tsaritsa Katalia, the life of all the princesses became freer. The doors of the Terem^ or women's apartments were more easily accessible to outsiders, and the princesses themselves frequently made excursions into the town and country. Peters sister Xatalia took up her abode with him at Preobrazhensky, bringing with her a small court. Among other maids of honour were three sisters, Daria, Bar- bara, and Axinia Arsenief, the daughters of a governor some- where in Siberia. Menshikof, as a constant companion of Peter, was admitted to the court of Katalia, and there soon sprang up a strong attachment between him and Daria Arse- nief, which on account of his absences brought about a regular correspondence. Presents w^ere also frequently exchanged — sometimes rings and jewels, sometimes shirts, dressing-go w^is, bed-linen, and neck-ties — and occasionally a little souvenir was put in for the Tsar. The letters were not long and Avere often written on scraps of brown paper, yet Menshikof kept his friends well informed of his movements and his successes, although even then he was frequently upbraided for writing so seldom. The intimacy had begun some time in the year 1700, and when Menshikof returned to Moscow^, in 1703, two of the Ai'senief s came to live in the house which his two sis- ters kept for him. Maria Danilovna Menshikof in December married Alexis Golovin, the brother of Theodore Golovin, the Director of the Department of Foreign Affairs, after which the family consisted of Anna Menshikof, Barbara and Daria Arse- nief, and their aunt Anisia Tolstoi. A few months later a new member w^as added to the household — Catherine SkaATonsky, better known to us as the Empress Catherine I. The early history of Catherine is as obscure as that of Men- shikof. She w^as in all probability the daughter of a Lithuanian peasant named Samuel Skavronsky, settled in Livonia, and was born in the village of Ttingen, not far fi'om Dorpat. At an early age, the little Martha — for so she was then called — was left an orphan and destitute, and was taken into the family of CATIIEKIXE. 437 Past(jr Gluck, at Marienburg, where, witliout being exactly a servantj she looked after the children, took them to church, and made herself useful in the household. A Swedish dragoon fell in love with her. She was Ijetrothed to him, and was to marrv him in a week or two, but in the midst of the festivities came an order which sent him to join his company at Kiga. He was killed in an engagement in 1705. After the capture of Mari- enburg in 1702 by Sheremetief, Pastor Gluck and his family were sent to Moscow, but the orphan remained in the service of the iield-marshal. She was then seventeen years old and very prettv. Althouo'h at this time she could neither read nor write, she had been well taught by Pastor Gluck, possessed quick in- tellicjence and a merrv humom\ Her hair orpaduallv became dark, and her hands, which were coarse with Avork, grew whiter and more delicate with time. Li the autumn of 1703 we find her in Moscow, bearing the name of Catherine, and an inmate of Menshikof's house. Menshikof was in Moscow from Au^rust to December 1703, but unfortunately his correspondence with the Arseniefs, fi'om the time he went back to St. Petersburg until the end of July 17* '1, has not been preserved. Peter did not go to Moscow until the end of October 1703, and remained there until December 5, when he went to Voronezh. He was again in Moscow from December 28 to March 6, 1704. In one of his visits to the Arsenief ladies, during his stay in the capi- tal, Peter saw and became acquainted with Catherine. He was struck by her appearance, and the readiness of her replies, and formed a strong attachment for her. This was just at the time when he broke with Anna Mons, and his relations with Cath- erine probably began in pique at the infidelity of his old mis- tress. The acquaintance ripened fast. In August of the same year the familv went to visit Peter and Menshikof at Xarva, and remained with them for some months. A child was born durincr the winter, at least in March 1705 we find Peter writino^ to the two Arseniefs : ' I am rarelv merrv here. O mothers I do not abandon my little Petriishka. Have some clothes made for him soon, and go as you will, but order that he shall have enough to eat and drink, and give my regards, ladies, to Alex- ander Danilovitch. And vou have shown me £:reat unkindness in not being willing to write to me about your health.' ' Men- 438 • rKTEPw THE GKEAT. sliikof had just at this time written to tliem to go to him at AYihia, and on the back of the letter Peter had added : ' Don't believe all, but I think it is not far from the truth. If you go to Alexiisldva, remember me to him. Piter.' Owing to the bad weather the ladies could not get to Menshikof, who was then at Vitebsk, until after Easter. Propriety demanded that the family should keep together. The Arsenief ladies needed their aunt to matronise them, and Catherine, who was conlided to their charG-e, could not be left alone in Moscow. Menshikof had not long enjoyed the society of the ladies when he received the disquieting news of the illness of the Tsar. Peter wrote on May 19 : 'I should long ago have been with you, except that for my sins and my misfortune I have been kept here in this way. On the very day I was starting from here, that is, Thursday the 15th, a fever took me and I was obliged to return. In the morning, after taking some med- icine, I felt a little better. The next day I wished to go, but the fever returned stronger than before. The next day I felt better, and after that ill again. Thus we know that it is a ter- tian fever, on account of which I must stay here some time yet, hoping in the mercy of God Almighty that my illness will not be prolonged. Hey ! how much I suffer from my illness, and also from grief that time is lost, as well as fi'om my separation from you ! But, for God's sake, do not be sad. I have written you all the details only that you should not receive them from others with exaggerations, as usual.' On the 25th, although Peter w^as better, he sent for Menshi- kof : 'To my illness is added the grief of separation fi'om you. I have endured it for a long time, but cannot stand it any more. Be good enough to come as soon as possible, so that I shall be merrier, as you yourself can judge. Bring with you an English doctor, and not many followers.' But Menshikof had already set out, and reached Moscow on the very day the letter was written. He immediately informed his friends at Yitebsk that he had found the Tsar much better, and announced their speedy arrival. By June 10, Peter was well enough to start, and they arrived at Yitebsk on the 19th. After a month's longer stay here, the ladies returned to Moscow, and in October another son was born and named Paul. The Ai'senief s hastened to con- CATHEKIXE. 439 gratiilate Peter, and the mother herself signed tlie letter ' Cath- erine with two others.' What with the visit of the Tsar to Moscow and the sojourn of the ladies in the camp, both Peter and Menshikuf managed to enjoy for a good part of the time the society of their mis- tresses. Still Peter and Menshikof were sometimes separated, and the ladies could not be with both at once. Peter had ob- tained a promise from Menshikof that he would marry Daria Arsenief, and at times was fearful lest he should not keep his word. He evidently himself wished to marry Catherine, but still had some scruples about it during the lifetime of his wife Eudoxia. In April, 1706, he writes to Menshikof from St. Petersburg, where the ladies were then staying in Menshikof's house: 'As you know, we are living here in paradise, but one idea never leaves me, about which you yourself know, but I place my confidence not on human will, but on the divine will and mercy.' But while Peter was in ' paradise,' Menshikof, in spite of the frequent letters, and the presents of dressing-gowns and shirts, felt lonely, and begged Peter, when he left St. Petersbm-g, to send the ladies to Smolensk. Finally, on June 28, Peter and the ladies arrived at Smolensk from one direction, and Menshikof from the other. Shortly afterward they all went to Kief, but Menshikof had to go off: with his dragoons on the campaign, and from the army sent his friend Daria a pres- ent of five lemons — all that could be found — and suggested to her to use them some time when the Tsar was present. Peter himself thanked Menshikof for the lemons, and in a subsequent letter called him to Kief : ' It is very necessary for you to come by Assumption Day, in order to accomplish what we have already sufficiently talked about before I go.' Menshikof came to Kief, and on August 29, 1706, married Daria Arsenief. Two days afterward, Peter, Catherine, and the aunt Anisia Tolstoi went off to St. Petersburg. Barbara Arsenief and Anna Menshikof remained in Kief. The family was divided, and Catherine now had a matron with whom she coidd travel. The day after Peter's arrival in St. Petersburg the Xeva overflowed its banks. Boats navigated the streets, and the water was nearly two feet deep in the palace of the Tsar. ' It was very amusing,' wrote Peter to Menshikof , ' to see how peo- 440 PETER THE GEEAT. pie sat on the roofs and trees, just as in the time of the deluge, and not only men, but old women.' Peter was so meny over this new phase of his beloved town that he sent Menshikof salutations, not only from Catherine and himself, but also from his favourite dog Lisette/ Menshikof could scarcely have had a better wife. She, like Catherine, was a true officer's wife, looked after her husband's comforts, and accompanied him in many of his campaigns — sometimes even, it is said, on horseback. In 1707 Catherine was privately married to Peter at St. Petersburg, but it was not until after the affair on the Pruth, that she was publicly and officially acknowledged as the Tsaritsa. Long before the formal public nuptials in 1712, Catherine had given up the Catholic i-eligion, in which she had been born, and the Lutheran, in which she had been educated, and had been received into the Russian Church. The Tsarevitch Alexis acted as her godfather, for which reason she added to Catherine the patronym of Alexeievna. A fatality seemed to attend the many children of this union. The boys all died in childhood or infancy. Two daughters, Anne and Elizabeth, lived, the latter to become Empress. Even when on the throne Catherine never forgot her origin. The widow of Pastor Gluck was given a pension, his children were well married, or were put in positions at court. She as- sisted the student "Wurm, whom she had known when he lived in Pastor Gluck's house at Marienburg. At her request Peter hunted up her family. Her brother Carl Skavronsky, a stable- boy at a post-station in Curland, was brought to St. Petersburg and educated, and subsequently created a count. Ilis descend- ants married into the well-known families of Sapieha, Engel- hardt, Bagration, Yorontsof, and Korff. After Peter's death, Catherine's two sisters and their family came to St. Petersburg. Christina, the elder, was married to a ' This was the dog for which a priest of Kozlof got into trouble in 1708. On coming back from Moscow he had told his acquaintances : ' I saw the Tsar as he drove out of the court of Prince Menshikof, and a little dog jumped into his carriage, and the Tsar took up the dog and kissed it on the head. ' Some little time afterward the priest was arrested and tried for using improper language about the Tsar. CATIIERIXE. 441 Lithuanian peasant, Sinion Ileinricli, who, together "with riches and honours, received the name of Hendrikof. Anna, the younger, had married the Pohsh peasant Michael Yefim, who became the founder of the Yeiimofsky family. The Empress Elizabeth gave the title of count to both families. The oj^posite of Eudoxia, Catherine was the wife that Peter needed. She rose to his level, and showed a remarkable adap- tability in her new position. Her gifts of head and heart were such that she was able not only to share his outward life, his pleasm*es, and his sorrows, but also to take part in his inner life, enter into his views and plans, and sympathise with his aspirations. Her conversation cheered him, her presence com- forted and consoled him, and aided him to bear his sudden at- tacks of nervous suffering. Their correspondence is simple, unaffected, and familiar, and shows constantly how well suited they were to each other, how warmly they loved each other, and what a human and lovable nature Peter had, in spite of his great faults and imperfections. Many of the letters are trivial, some are coarse,' all are marked by good humom", and are full of personal allusions and little jests. Some of them we shall have occasion to quote in their proper place. The following extracts from others will suffice as examples of their character ; * Moeder, ' Since I went away from thee I have no news of what I want to know, and especially how soon thou wilt be in Wilna. I am bored without thee, and thou, I think, art the same. Here, thank God, all is well. King Augustus has come in and Ej'as- sau has gone out ; Leszczynski has let his beard grow because his crown has died out. The Poles are constantly in conference about the affairs of Ivashka Khmelnitsky." . . . ' From Lublin, capital of Ivashka, August 31, 1709.' 9 ' "Warsaw, Sept. 21, 1709. . . . Thanks for thy package. I send thee some fresh lemons. Thou dost jest about amuse- ' The manners of the time permitted a freedom of language that is not tolerated now ; there is. however, nothing in these letters that approaches the tone of much of the correspondence of the Duchess of Orleans. ^ /.e. , are carousing. 442 PETER THE GREAT. merits ; we have none, for we are old and not that kind of peo- ple. . . . Give my regards to Aunty. Her bridegroom had an interview day before yesterday with Ivashka, and had a bad fall on the boat and now lies powerless ; which break gently to Aunty that she do not go to pieces. .. . .' ' Marienwerder, October 16, 1709. . . . Give my regards to Aunty. That she has fallen in love with a monk I have already told her bridegroom, about which he is very sad, and from grief wishes himself to commit some follies.' ' Katerinushka, my friend, how art thou ! ' We arrived here well, thank God, and to-morrow begin our cure. This place is so merry, you might call it an honourable dungeon for it lies between such high mountains that one scarcely sees the sun. Worst of all there is no good beer. However we hope God will give us good from the waters. I send thee herewith a present, a new-fashioned clock, put under glass on account of the dust, and a seal. ... I couldn't get more on account of my hurry, for I was only one day in Dresden. — Carlsbad, 14 September, 1711.' ' Carlsbad, Sept. 19, 1711. . . . We, thank God, are well, only our bellies are swelled up with water, because we drinlv like horses, and we have nothing else to do except. . . . You write that on account of the cure I should not hurry to you. It is quite evident that you have found somebody better than me. Kindly write about it. Is it one of ours or a man of Thorn ? I rather think a man of Thorn, and that you want to be revenged for what I did two years ago. That is the way you daughters of Eve act with us old fellows.' ' Greif swald, August 2, 1712. . . . Thank God, we are well, only 'tis very hard living, for I can't use my left hand, and in my right alone I have to hold both sword and pen. How many helpers I have thou knowest.' ' Greif swald, August 8, 1712. I hear that thou art bored, and I am not without being bored, but thou canst judge that business does not leave me much time for enmoi. I don't think CORKESPONDENCE WITH CATHERINE. 443 I can get away from here to tliee quickly, and if the horses have arrived, come on with the three battalions that are ordered to go to Anclam. But, for God's sake, take care not to go a hundred yards from the battalions, for there are many enemy's ships in the Haff, and the men constantly go into the woods in great numbers, and through those woods thou must pass.' ^ Berlin, October 2, 1T12. I inform you that day before yesterday I arrived here and went to see the King. Yesterday morning he came to me, and last night I went to the Queen. I send you as many oysters as I could find. I couldn't get any more, because they say the pest has broken out in Hamburg, and it is forbidden to bring anything from there.' ' Leipzig, October 6, 1712. I this moment start for Carlsbad and hope to arrive to-morrow. Your clothes and other things were bought, but I couldn't get any oysters. With this I con- fide you to God's keeping.' ' Carlsbad, October 11, 1712. We began to drink water at this hole yesterday. How it works I shall write, but don't ask for any other news from this wilderness.' ' Lagan, Dec. 2, 1712. . . . Thanks for the clothes, which I put on new on St. Andrew's day. As to what you say about bringing you here, we must put that off for a while, for the time has come for you to pray and for us to work. The Swedes yes- terday attacked the Danes to keep them from joining us, and we are starting this moment to help the Danes.' In 1716, when on his w^ay to the waters, Peter received from Catherine a pair of spectacles. Lie writes : ' Leaving Altona, May 23, 1716. Katerinushka, my heart's friend, how are you. Thanks for the present. In the same way I send you something from here in return. Beally on both sides the presents are suitable. You sent me wherewithal to help my old age, and I send you with which to adorn your youth.' And again : ' Pyrmont, June 5, 1716. I received your letter with the present, and I think you have a prophetic spirit that 444 VKTKn THE OKEAT. joii sent only one l)ottle, for I am not allowed to drink more tliau one glass a day, so that this store is quite enough for me. You write that you don't admit my being old. In that way you try to cover up your first present so that people should not guess. But it is easy to discover that young people don't look through spectacles. I shall see you soon. The water is acting well, but it has become very tiresome here.' ' Altona, Kov. 23, 1716. . . . Alexander Petrovitch writes that Petrushka has cut his fourth tooth ; God grant he cut all 60 well, and that we may see him grow up, thus rewarding us for our former grief over his brothers. . . .' Catherine tells her husband of this boy in a letter written two years later, when the Tsar was cruising in the Baltic : ' July 24, 1718. I and the children, thank God, are in good health. Although on my way to Petersburg Petrushka was a little w^eak with his last teeth, yet now with God's help he is quite well and has cut three back teeth. I beg you, little father, for protection, for he has no little quarrel with me about you, — namely, because when I tell him that Papa has gone away he does not like it, but he likes it better and becomes 'glad when one says that Papa is here.' Peter w^as greatly pleased with this letter, to which he immediately replied in the same vein. In another letter from Beval, dated August 1, 1718, he says : ' Thanks, my friend, for the tigs, which came safely. I have had myself shorn here, and send you my shorn locks, though I know they will not be received.' The next summer Peter again wrote from Beval : ' The new garden is very fine, and the trees on the seaside or the north very well planted, but on the south must be changed. Xot one tree has been set out at the espalier, in which ]^er6nof lied. They are now levelling the court which wiU be behind the house. All the earthwork is done in the garden. To tell the truth it will be a marvel when finished. I send you some flowers, and some of the mint which you yourself planted. Thank God, all is merry here, except that when one goes out to the villa and you are not there it is very lonesome.' LETTERS TO CATIIEPwIXE. 445 There still lie between the pages of this letter a little bimcli of dried flowers and some mint, as well as a notice cut from a newspaper of a man and woman respectively 126 and 125 years old, who had been married 110 years, arriving at London from Monmouthshire. Catherine, in a long and pleasant letter ac- knowledging this, says : ' Thanks, my friend, for the present. 'Tis not dear to me because I planted it, but because it comes fi'om thy hands.' Soon after she writes : ' Om- only pleasure here is the garden. . . . The Frenchman, who made the new flower-beds, was walking one bad night and met Ivashka Khmel- nitsky, and had such a bout with him {i.e. got drunk) that he was pushed off the bridge and sent to make flower-beds in the other world.' Sending Peter some apples and fresh nuts Catherine writes : * The lion (Leo) sent by Yom* Grace came to me. Quite won- derful, but he is not a lion, merely a playful cat from the dear Lion. He brought me a letter which pleased me, but kindly send me him whom I call Lion.' Peter asrain visits Heval, and wi-ites in Julv, 1723: 'The garden planted only two years ago has grown beyond belief, for the only big trees which you saw have in some places stretched their branches across the walk, and Amity's tree, the stem of which was like a middle finger without the nail, has taken splen- didly. The chestnuts all have fine crowns. The house is being plastered outside, but is ready within, and in one word we have hardly anywhere such a regular house. I send you some straw- berries, which ripened before our an'ival, as well as cherries. I am quite astonished that things are so early here, when it is in the same latitude as Petersburg. 5 1 ^ Ustrialof, IV. v. viii. ; Sadler, Peter der Grosse ; Correspondence of the Rmsiaji Sovereigjis (Russian), I.; Semefsky, TJie Mona Family; Solovief, xiv. ; Esipof, MensJdkOf ; Kostomarof, Hussia/i History, vi. END OF VOLUME I. •^'■^^ y^^^H'^k il j ro> i I (Tula \-y{ I r\ \/^ "^ f'fX^. s S /i .,/Oreiy /■Kosl/>v"vi-'ii^'3l (.j!?itoniir. r^jy /:::rc)t^'"i \ ^ i ^>~~l^^Mu V P?: BESS ■Biif ':^. '*'-v,-i.fo,vg^i 7. /?A'V, 'o^' 25 — - if a il-roads SCALE or MILES '^'q 50 100 .200 300 35 COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES 5021602 9ZP442. >r —J o S O 00 Af«