THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 PRESENTED BY 
 
 PROF.CHARLES A. KOFOID AND 
 MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID 
 
SKETCHES 
 
 OF THE 
 
 HISTORY AND PRESENT STATE 
 
 OF 
 
 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 
 

 
 " 
 
 
 H. flryer, Printer, Bridge -street, BJackfriafs, Lomlpii. 
 
SKETCHES 
 
 OF THE 
 
 HISTORY AND PRESENT STATE 
 
 OF 
 
 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE; 
 
 OF 
 
 THE PROGRESS OF CIVILIZATION FROM THE FOUNDATION 
 OF THE MONARCHY TO THE ACCESSION 
 
 OF THE 
 
 HOUSE OF ROMANOF, 
 
 (THE PRESENT REIGNING FAMILY;} 
 AND PARTICULARLY UNDER THE SOVEREIGNS OF 
 
 THAT HOUSE ; 
 
 CONNECTED WITH POLITICAL AND PERSONAL MEMOIRS 
 
 OF 
 
 THE IMPERIAL COURT. 
 
 " L gggg 
 
 BY THE 
 
 REV. WILLIAM ANDERSON, 
 
 PRINTED FOR GALE, CURTIS, AND FENNER, 
 PATERNOSTER-ROW. 
 
 1815. 
 

 
 
ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 THE empire of Russia had for many years 
 attracted the attention of philosophers ; but 
 in consequence of recent events it has ex- 
 cited universal curiosity. The history of 
 its present race of princes is interesting 
 from their talents, virtues, exploits, misfor- 
 tunes, vices, and follies. To combine, in a 
 moderate compass, the particulars respect- 
 ing them, which are scattered in several 
 bulky volumes, with a general view of the 
 country, which they have for two centuries 
 governed with various fortune, is the object 
 of the present work. If it has been exe- 
 cuted in a manner at all suitable to its 
 importance, it will meet with the public 
 approbation. 
 
 KJittl 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAP. 1. 
 
 Extent and Boundaries of the Russian Empire Climate 
 Stepps Mountains Rivers Lakes Mineral Waters 
 Soil Production Minerals Metals Vegetables and 
 Animals p. 1 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 Population of Russia Form of Government Imperial Col- 
 leges Viceroyalties Latvs Army Navy Revenue 
 Variety of Nations Character of the Inhabitants Nobles 
 Peasants Middle Class Commerce Religion Lite- 
 rature Cossacks Tartars Samoyedes p. 34- 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 Abridgement of Russian History, from the Foundation of the 
 Monarchy, to the Accession of the House of Romanof 
 Ruri&kOlegIgpr Olga Sviatoslof Vladimir- Intrc* 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 duction of Christianity Consequences of partitioning the 1 
 Kingdom Ivan the Great Ivan the Tyrant Intercourse 
 with England Conquest of Siberia Revolutions Election 
 of Michael Romanof -His Ancestors and Life ... p. 65 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 Tyranny of Morosof Submission of the Malo- Russian Cos* 
 sacks War with Poland Rebel/ion of StenJco Razin 
 Labours and Death of Alexey Feodore Peter's Election 
 Revolution Sophia's Government, and Fall Birth, and 
 early Life of Peter I. His attention to Naval and Military 
 Affairs Campaigns toward Azof Travels Sedition of the 
 Strelitzes Innovations ., p. 84* 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 War with Sweden Success of Charles XII. Progress of the 
 Tzar Building of Petersburgh Advance of Charles XII. 
 into Russia Battle of Pultava Its consequences Con- 
 quests of Peter I. Affair of Pruth , p. 110 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 Victories of the Tzar- His Travels Alexey the Tzarovitch 
 Establishments of Peter Peace with Sweden Acquisitions 
 on the Caspian sea Death and Character of Peter the 
 Great Early Life of Catherine L Her Danger Acces- 
 
CONTENTS. ix 
 
 sion to the Empire Rise and Character of Prince Mentchi- 
 kofD eath of Catherine L Peter II. p. 133 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 Accession of the Empress Anne Character of Biren Peace 
 with Persia War with Turkey Death of the Empress 
 Anne Fall of Biren Regency of the Princess Anne Re- 
 volution Ivan's Imprisonment Interview with Peter III. 
 and Assassination Insolence of the Guards War with 
 Sweden and with Prussia Death and Character of the 
 Empress Elizabeth p. 159 
 
 CHAP. VIII. 
 
 The Princess Anne Duke of Hoktein declared Successor to 
 Elizabeth His Marriage with the Princess of Anhalt-Zerbtf, 
 afterwards Catherine II. The Grand Duke labours under 
 the Jealousy of Elizabeth Intrigues to exclude him from 
 the succession Soltikof Poniatowsky Grand Dutches 
 reconciled to Elizabeth Parties in the Court at her 
 death Accession of Peter III. Beginning of his Reign 
 His Follies Conspiracies against him Their progress 
 and Fall of Peter III, ., p. 186 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 First acts of Catherine Returning Sentiments in favour of 
 Peter III. His Assassination Character and Funeral 
 Catherine cultivates Peace with neighbouring Powers, and 
 
L CONTENTS. 
 
 endeavours to reconcile the Russians to her Government Her 
 Conduct to the Conspirators Poniatowsky Orlof Firm- 
 ness of the Empress Her labours to conciliate her Subjects 
 Panin prevents her Marriage with Orlof- Conspiracies 
 Election of Poniatowsky to the Throne of Poland Orlo 
 and Panin at variance Catherine's derive of Praise She 
 acquires an Ascendency in Poland Undertakes a new Code 
 of Laws Promotes Learning Escapes Assassination 
 and is inoculated , p. 227 
 
 CHAP. x. 
 
 War with Turkey Destruction of the Turkish Fleet Vic- 
 tories of the Russian armies Unhappy fate of the Princess 
 Tarrakanof- Partition of Poland Plague in Moscow 
 Negotiations with the Turks Disgrace of Orlof- Cam- 
 paign on the Danube Conclusion of the War Migration of 
 the Calmuck Tartars Rebellion of Pugatchef- and In- 
 trigues in the Court of the Empress , p. 265 
 
 CHAP. XI. 
 
 Laudable pursuits of Catherine Recal of Potemkin Jour- 
 ney of the Empress to Moscow Affairs of Poland Po- 
 temkin ordered to retire, but disobeys Disgrace of Razu- 
 mofsky Marriage of the grand duke Fall of Zavadofsky 
 Visit of Gustavus to Petersburgh Conduct of Catherine in 
 the Crimea Korzakojl a serjeant in the guards, favourite 
 
CONTENTS. XI 
 
 ~ Armed neutrality Interview of the Empress with Joseph 
 If. Turkish Affairs Settlement of the Jesuits in Poland 
 Acquisitions of Catherine on the Euxine Death of 
 Panin Orlof and Lanskoi Commercial Treaties Ger- 
 man professor of Geography Toleration Momonof 
 favourite Progress of Catherine to the Crimea. . . . p. 306 
 
 CHAP. XII. 
 
 War with Turkey and Sweden Success of Catherine 
 Peace with Sweden Reduction of Ismail Disgrace of 
 Momonof Disasters of the Turks Peace Death and 
 Character of Potemkin Dismemberment of Poland Ca- 
 therine's opposition to the French Revolution Usurpation 
 of -Courland- Singular disappointment Projects on the 
 Caspian Sea Death and Character Paul p. 344 
 
 CHAP. XIII. 
 
 Funeral of Peter III. Absurdities of Paul. War with 
 France and with England. Paul's challenge to the po- 
 tentates of Europe. Tyranny and Assassination Alexan- 
 der Peace with England and France Interview of the 
 Emperor Alexander with the King of Prussia. War with 
 France. Battle of Austerlitz. Campaign in Poland. 
 Battle of Eylauof Friedland.Peace of Tilsit. Turkish 
 war. Conferences at Erfurth Progress and termination of 
 the Turkish War * p. 374 
 
XII CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAP. XIV. 
 
 Invasion of Russia Progress of the French Zeal of the 
 Russians Fall of Smolensk Battle cf Borodino Cap- 
 ture and Conflagration of Moscow Firmness of the Em- 
 peror Alexander Buonaparte's barbarity and difficulties 
 Success of the Russians Destruction of the French Armies 
 Passage of the Berezina Flight of Buonaparte Loss 
 of the French in the campaign Laudable conduct of 
 Alexander Advance of the Russians into Germany 
 Battles of Lutzen y Bautzen, and Wurtschen Armistice 
 Progre&s of the Allies Total defeat of Buonaparte at 
 Leipsic Consequences of this Battle Declaration of the 
 Allied Sovereigns from Frankfort Efforts of Buonaparte 
 Negotiations at Chatillon Progress of the War Capture 
 of Parts Fall of Buonaparte 'Conclusion p. ^CH 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCHES 
 
 HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 CHAP. L 
 
 and boundaries vf the Russian 
 Stepps Mountains Rivers Lakes Mineral maters* 
 Soil Productions Minerals Metals Vegetables -~an& 
 Animals. 
 
 THE empire of Russia, the largest upon the 
 earth, is bounded on the north and east by the 
 Frozen and Pacific oceans, on the west by 
 Sweden and the Baltic, and on the south by 
 Prussia, Austria, Turkey, the Euxine and Cas- 
 pian seas, Persia, China, and various barba- 
 rous nations. Extending from the extremities 
 of Asia to the mountains of Olonetz, and from 
 the mouths of the Don> the Volga* and the 
 Kuban to the Frozen ocean, independently of 
 islands and promontories, it comprises a hun- 
 dred and sixty-five degrees of longitude, and 
 thirty-two degrees of latitude, being 9,684 
 miles ia length and 2,400 in breadth. It 
 contains perhaps 4,100,000 square miles, a 
 space nearly three times the extent of the 
 Itoman empire. 
 
2 STATE OF RUSSIA. 
 
 The climate of Russia is extremely various 
 In the northern regions, from the 60th degree 
 of latitude to the boundaries of the empire, the 
 weather is intensely cold and severe. Cora 
 seldom ripens beyond the 60th degree of lati- 
 tude. Even at Petersburg!! there are only 
 two months in the year in which snow may 
 not be expected, and the thermometer some- 
 times sinks 65 degrees below the freezing 
 point. Usually two-thirds of the year are rain 
 or snow, and in that capital the shortest day 
 is not above five hours and a half long. In 
 the eastern provinces the same degrees of la- 
 titude are found much colder than the western, 
 a circumstance that must be ascribed to the in- 
 fluence of the mountains, covered with perpe- 
 tual snow, which separate Siberia from the 
 southern parts of Asia. In these northern re- 
 gions the atmosphere is dry even in snow, and 
 while the severe weather is not prejudicial to 
 human life, it affords the means of a vast in- 
 ternal commerce ; as the frost no sooner sets 
 in, than sledge-ways covered with carriages, are 
 opened from the gulph of Archangel to the 
 mouth of the Don, and from the banks of the 
 Irtish to those of the Neva. In the central re- 
 gions of Russia, from the 55th to the 60th de- 
 grees of latitude, though the winter is severe, 
 the fruits of the orchard ripen. From the la- 
 titude of 50 to 55 the temperature is mild 
 
STEPPS. 
 
 and agreeable ; while in the southern districts 
 the plants of China flourish in the open air. 
 
 The appearance of Russia is not so diver-, 
 sifted as many other countries of less extent, it 
 being 1 remarkable for uniform plains of great 
 magnitude, often sandy, barren, without even 
 wood or water. These plains are called stepps, 
 and are very numerous. All the northern and 
 eastern parts of Siberia, including the vast spaces 
 between the rivers Kovyma, Lena, Yenisei, Ob, 
 and Irtish, appear, indeed, to form but one 
 immense plain, although distinguished by dif- 
 ferent names. The stepps of the Lena betweea 
 the Lena and Kovyma, of the Yenisei, between 
 the Yenisei and Lena, and of the Ob between 
 the rivers Ob and Yenisei, are covered with 
 forests of pine, birch, and fir toward the south, 
 but toward the north there is little but brush- 
 wood. The stepp of the Irtish lying betweea 
 the Tobol, the Irtish, the Ob, and the Alay, is 
 overstrewn with salt lakes, among numerous 
 forests of pine, and generally adapted for pas- 
 ture and agriculture. It comprises what is 
 called the Barabiniari stepp, a fine well-wa- 
 tered plain, between the Irtish and the Ob, 
 400 miles in length, and 300 in breadth, with 
 scarcely a single elevation. Another stepp con- 
 nected with that of the Irtish, seems to extend 
 under various names, over the Volga, and the 
 Don, to the banks of the Bog, and the Dnieper, 
 B 2 
 
* STATE OF RUSSIA. 
 
 occupying the southern provinces of the Rus- 
 sian empire in Europe, and the tracts lying be- 
 tween the mouths of the Don and the Volga, 
 and between the Volga, the Caspian sea, and 
 the lake Aral. This prodigious plain presents 
 numerous salt lakes, and salt plats, districts of 
 sand void of wood and water, and many spaces 
 fit for the purposes of agriculture. It has been 
 maintained, that this vast level formed the bed 
 of a great mass of water, which by the burst- 
 ing of the Thracian Bosphorus, flowed into the 
 Mediterranean. Its surface covered with salt 
 and salt lakes, its strata of recent formation 
 and abounding with marine substances, and the 
 peculiar structure of the Greek islands, seem 
 all favourable to this supposition. The stepp 
 of Petshora, which lies chiefly between the 
 Petshora aud the Dvina, and extends perhaps 
 westward into the government of Petersburg 
 and Novgorod, is very marshy, has few inha^ 
 bitants, and bears pines, firs, birch, and beau- 
 tiful larch. 
 
 Of the mountains of the Russian empire, the 
 most extensive, as well as important, are the 
 Uralian and Altaian. In the centre of Asia, an 
 elevated plain, supported on all sides by lofty 
 mountains, extends no less than thirty degrees 
 of longitude, Forming the northern abutment 
 of this unparalleled plain, the Altaian moun- 
 tains stretch from the sources of the Irtish to 
 
MOUNTAINS. O 
 
 those of the Ob, and the Yenisei, and from 
 hence, under the name of the mountains of 
 Sayansk, to the lake Baikal. These moun- 
 tains, here called the mountains of Daouria, 
 now take a north easterly direction, and under 
 the name of the Yablonnoy, or apple moun- 
 tains, pursue their course to the Pacific ocean, 
 throwing- out great branches to the north. This 
 chain of mountains, of the greatest magnitude 
 of any in Asia, and among- the most extensive 
 on the earth, is 5,000 miles in length, and from 
 the Irtish to the Amoor, forms the boundary 
 between the Russian dominions, and the em- 
 pire of China. The western part of the Al- 
 taian chain, between the Irtish and the Ob, 
 which from the lake Kolhyvan, is called the 
 mountains of Kolhyvan, consists chiefly of ar- 
 gillaceous and granite rocks, being precipitous, 
 and covered with snow. The Blue mountain 
 is about 3,000 feet above the level of the sea, 
 and sends ridges of granite to the north arid 
 west, which furnish abundance of silver, cop- 
 per, and zinc ores. Of the mines in this chain 
 the Shlangenberg is the most productive. One 
 of the mountains, in the range, which extends 
 from the sources of the Ouba and Uba on both 
 sides of these rivers in a north west direction, 
 rises 5,691 feet above the water of the Ouba. 
 The portion of the Altaian mountains, between 
 the Ob and the Yenisei, is but little known ; 
 
STATE OP RUSSIA. 
 
 but it furnishes granite, porphyry, jasper, and 
 marble, with breccia, slate, serpentine, cor- 
 nelian, and chalcedony. On the Kondoma 
 there are also iron mines. About the sources 
 of the Abakan lie the highest mountains, among 
 which is the famous mount Sabin. The moun- 
 tains of Sayansk are composed of rugged gra- 
 nite and porphyry summits, interchanged with 
 various kinds of schistus, and, between the 
 Yenisei and the Angra, under-run with chalk, 
 clay and sand. Both sides of the sea of Baikal, 
 are formed of mountains, which consist like- 
 wise of granite, present promontories 300 feet 
 high of milk-white quartz, and towards the 
 Lena afford coal. The mountains of Daouria, 
 which have their highest elevations about the 
 sources of the Ingoda and the Amoor, consist- 
 ing of rugged granite tops, and extend to the 
 Yablonnoy Krebet, send out a ridge between 
 the rivers Onon and Argoon, the richest in 
 minerals of any in Asiatic Russia. Here are 
 found all kinds of granite, porphyry, and jasper, 
 with beryl, jacinth, agate, onyx, genuine topaz, 
 large smoaky topazes, chalcedony, and corne- 
 lian. In the same district are salt lakes, warm 
 springs, with vitriolic pyrites, alum ore, and 
 native sulphur, as well as mines of zink iron, 
 copper and lead ore containing gold and silver. 
 The Stanovoi Krebet, a continuation of the 
 mountains of Daouria, which extends to the 
 
MOUNTAINS. 
 
 Pacific ocean, and throws out branches north* 
 ward over the Lena, and between the principal 
 rivers in the eastern extremities of Asia, though 
 little explored, seem to afford the same sub- 
 stances as the former, with inconceivable quan- 
 tities of beautiful red and green jasper. 
 
 The Ural mountains are the natural boundary 
 between Europe and Asia, and extend in a di- 
 rect line, from north to south, above 1500 miles. 
 Rising between the Aral lake and the Caspian 
 sea they attain their greatest height about the 
 sources of the Tobol and the Ural, and passing 
 between those of the Petshora and Sosva, form 
 the two promontories of the Karean haven, and 
 the mountains of Nova Zemlia, sinking at last 
 into the Arctic ocean. The greatest height of 
 these mountains is not more than 4512 feet 
 above the level of the sea. Of this chain, the 
 northern and southern districts are almost en- 
 tirely unknown ; but the central, from the 
 sources of the Salva and Kolva, to those of the 
 Tobol and Yemda, abound in valuable ores. 
 The summits are composed of granite, the sides 
 of schistus and wackes, and the projections, par- 
 ticularly on the western side, of sand stone, chalk, 
 and gypsum. In European Russia are likewise the 
 mountains of Olonetz, which rise in the northern 
 extremities of Lapland, run about 15 degrees 
 from north to south, and probably send off 
 branches that form the hills of Valday. 
 
8 STATE OP RUSSIA. 
 
 northern part of this ridge, covered with snow, i 
 reported to consist of granite : more to the south 
 is found a variety of ores, particularly iron. The 
 mountains of Valday, between Petersburg!* and 
 Moscow, rise not more than 1200 feet above the 
 level of the sea, and are formed of clay and 
 sand, with blocks of granite. Oa the Masta are 
 beds affording great quantities of iron ore, coal, 
 sulphur-pyrites, vitriolic earth, and petrifactions. 
 The Caucasian mountains, extend between the 
 Black and Caspian seas 350 miles, being at 
 their greatest height five miles in breadth, 
 covered with snow. The ridges are granite, and 
 the sides slate and lime-stone, which runs out 
 into a promontory that contains iron-stone, sul- 
 phur-pyrites, vitriol, and petroleum. By the 
 Terek is found silver and iron ore. The moun- 
 tains of Taurida are not so remarkable on ac- 
 count of their height or magnitude, as of the 
 beautiful and romantic scenery which they pre- 
 sent. They form the southern extremity of the 
 peninsula, and consist of calcareous matter, sup- 
 ported as it were by pillars of marble, trap, clay ? 
 common lime-stone, and schistus, in parallel 
 and almost vertical veins, alternating with each 
 other. This singular ridge has the appearance 
 of an amphitheatre along the Euxine. The 
 vales produce the laurel, the olive, the fig, the 
 lotus, and the pomegranate; the cliffs are 
 adorned with the red bark 3 and perpetual foliage 
 
RIVERS. 9 
 
 of the strawberry-tree; while the sheep and 
 goats, clinging 1 to the declivities, combine with 
 the simple manners of the Tartars to form an 
 enchanting picture. 
 
 Nothing tends to relieve the uniformity which 
 the prodigious plains give to the appearance of 
 this great empire so much as the numerous ma- 
 jestic rivers by which it is intersected and en- 
 riched. Of these rivers the greatest, though not 
 the most important, is the Ob, rising in Chinese 
 Soongoria, in 52 north latitude, and 103 30' 
 longitude : it falls into the lake Altyn, and 
 flowing hence, it receives on the left the Ka- 
 tunya, the Tsharysh, the Alei, the Irtish, the 
 Konda, and the Sosva, on the right the Tshu- 
 mysh, the Tom, the Tshulym, the Ket, and the 
 Voch, many of them mighty streams, falling- 
 into the Frozen Ocean, latitude 73 .50', and 
 longitude 90 after a course of 2000 miles. This 
 river, which is navigable to the Altyn lake, and 
 uncommonly prolific in fish, flows over a rocky 
 bed to the Ket, and then over marl, clay, and 
 sand, its banks being covered with birch and 
 pine. The Irtish, which might be considered 
 as the main stream of the Ob> rises likewise in 
 Chinese Soongoria, north latitude 46 50', and 
 passing through the lake Norsaisan, while it is 
 augmented on the right by the Buchtorma, the 
 Ulba, the Uba, and the Om, on the left by the 
 Ablaket, the Dsargurban, the Ishin, the Tobot, a 
 
10 STATK OF RUSSIA. 
 
 large river, the Vagai, and the Konda, flows in a 
 variable course till it unites with the Ob, lati- 
 tude 60, and longitude 86. The river next in 
 magnitude is the Yenisei, formed of several 
 large streams, the Kamsara, and Veikem, rising 
 in Bukharia and the Angra. This, which is the 
 main stream, and a continuation of the Selenga, 
 a fine river falling into the sea of Baikal, issues 
 from that sea a mile broad, and so clear, that 
 the bottom may be seen in two fathoms water, 
 after joining the Him is called the Turiguska, 
 unites with the Kamsara and Veikem, and under 
 the name of the Yenisei, flows over a stony bed 
 edged with rocks, till near its mouth the cur- 
 rent is almost imperceptible. In eastern Siberia 
 is the Lena, which having its source in a marsli 
 north west of the sea of Baikal, flows gently 
 over a sandy bottom, first west, then east, and 
 lastly north, and encreased by the Uitim, 
 Olekma and Aldan, falls by five mouths into the 
 Arctic ocean. The Amoor is a Chinese rather 
 than a Russian river. The Yaik, now the Ural, 
 a large rapid stream originates in the western 
 side of the Ural mountains, and receiving on the 
 left the Or, and the Ilek, and on the right the 
 Kiril and Sakmara flows at first among lofty 
 rocks, and lastly over a dry saline stepp into 
 the Caspian sea. The Volga, the greatest of 
 European rivers, has its source in the mountains 
 of Valday. Navigable almost to its source, and 
 
RIVERS. 11 
 
 affording abundance of excellent fish, this most 
 important river flows through the finest pro- 
 vinces of the Russian empire, and receiving the 
 Kammafrorn the Ural mountains, and the Okka, 
 after a course of 700 miles passes by 70 arms 
 into the Caspian sea. This river, which unites 
 the Caspian and the Baltic seas, and is so essen- 
 tial to the inland navigation of the empire, 
 grows continually shallower. Not far from the 
 Volga is the Don, which has its source in the 
 lake of Ivanofskoy, in the government of Rezan, 
 and flows on a bed of sand, marl, and clay, over 
 a flat country covered with oak and pine, lying 
 on the governments of Rezan, Tambof, Voronetz, 
 and Ekatarinoslaf. It takes up the Voronetz, 
 the Donetz, and Mantish, and falls into the sea 
 of Azof after a course of 800 miles. In the 
 north of European Russia are the Dvina and 
 the Petshora; the former, navigable to Ustiug, 
 flows through swampy woody regions into the 
 White sea at Archangel, and the latter, rising 
 in the Uralian mountains, runs 450 miles in a 
 north west direction into the Frozen ocean. 
 The Duna, an important stream, rises not far 
 from the sources of the Volga, passing through 
 the government of Pscove, and between Cour- 
 land and Poland falls into the Baltic near Riga. 
 It has several dangerous cataracts, and Riga 
 often suffers from its inundations. Near the 
 sources of the Duna, and the Volga, the Dneiper 
 
12 STATE OP RUSSIA. 
 
 takes it's rise ; but although connected with the 
 Nimen, which falls into the Baltic, by means 
 of the canal between the Nimen and the Pripazy 
 flowing through Smolensk, Mohilof, Thernigof, 
 Kief, and Ekatarinoslaf, the most fertile pro- 
 vinces of Russia, the Dneiper contributes little 
 to the inland navigation of the empire, it being 
 obstructed by thirteen cataracts about forty miles 
 from its entrance into the Black sea. The Terek 
 and the Kuban both originate in the Caucasian 
 mountains, the former first runs in a westerly and 
 southerly, then in an easterly direction, into the 
 Caspian sea, and the latter, a rapid clear stream, 
 flows westward and forms several islands be- 
 tween the Palus Maeotis, and the Euxine. The 
 Neva, though a small, is an important stream. 
 It issues from the lake Ladoga, and pursuing a 
 course of 40 miles through the government of 
 Petersburgh, falls into the gulph of Cronstadt. 
 
 Besides lakes in common with other countries, 
 the Russian empire contains several detached 
 bodies of water that are remarkable, as they re- 
 ceive the waters of many mighty rivers, without 
 any sensible augmentation, or obvious means of 
 expending such a continual accession. Of, these 
 inland seas the Caspian is the most important 
 and extensive, it being 700 miles in length, and 
 about 150 in breadth, with a surface of 36,000 
 square miles. It has no tide, the bottom is shell 
 sand; toward the north the shore is low, 
 
LAKES. 13 
 
 and the water stagnates ; but in other parts the 
 shores are bold, and the water so deep, that a 
 line of 2700 feet does not reach the bottom. 
 This sea communicates with the Baltic by the 
 Volga, the Masta, and the Neva, produces sal- 
 mon and herrings, and supports myriads of wild 
 fowl : the best harbour is Baku, Derbent scarce 
 deserves the name, while Tukaragon and Man- 
 ghishlak are good. Into the Caspian flow the 
 Emda, the Ural, the Volga, the Kumma, the 
 Terek, the Sulak, the Agrakhan, the Kur, and 
 the Aras, an accumulation of water, of which 
 philosophers have not yet been able to dispose. 
 The lake Aral, lying about 100 miles east of the 
 Caspian sea, has not long been known to geo- 
 graphers, and has not yet been explored. It is 
 said to be 200 miles long, arid 70 broad, is very 
 salt, and receives the Sirr and the Grihon, both 
 formerly supposed to fall into the Caspian sea. 
 Next to the Caspian, the largest body of water 
 in the Russian empire, is the lake of Baikal in 
 the government of Irkutsk : this Jake is about 
 350 miles long, but its greatest breadth is not 
 above 50. It is subject to violent storms, its 
 water is fresh and clear, and produces quantities 
 of fish, particularly a species of herring called 
 omuli. The Baikal has several islands, one 
 named Olkhan with sulphur springs, and is 
 frozen from December to May. The lake 
 Ladoga, one of the largest in Europe, lies in the 
 
14 STATE OF RUSSIA. 
 
 government of Vyborg; its breadth is about 70 
 miles, and its length 130; it receives many 
 small streams, whose waters escape by the 
 Neva; its shores are flat and sandy. On the 
 north side is found the beautiful Finnish marble, 
 brought to Petersburgh. This lake is remark- 
 able for the canal cut by Peter the Great along 
 its banks from the Volkhof to the Neva. Be- 
 tween the Ladoga and the White sea is the lake 
 Onega, about 150 miles long and 40 broad. 
 Like the Ladoga it contains some islands con- 
 sisting of marble; it is connected with the 
 Ladoga by the Svir, and with the Volga by the 
 Mariensky canal, uniting the Vitegra and the 
 Kofsha. The Peipus lake, about 60 miles by 
 40, lies between the governments of Pscov'e, 
 Reval, Riga, and Petersburgh : it is joined to 
 the lake of Pscove by a broad strait, and re- 
 ceives several small streams, whose waters are 
 conveyed by the Neva into the gulph of Finland. 
 This lake is prolific in fish, which afford a lucra- 
 tive occupation to the boors in its vicinity. To 
 the east lies the Ilmen lake, on which stands the 
 city of Novgorod. The Bielo-ozero, or White 
 lake, is in the same government. Though its 
 water is clear, the bottom being clay, a white 
 foam appears in stormy weather on the surface ; 
 whence its name. In the government of To- 
 bolsk and Kolhyvan is the large lake of Tshany % 
 communicating with those of Moloki and Abish* 
 
SOIL. 15 
 
 kan. The Altyn-noor, called by the Russians 
 Teletzkoe-ozero, lying on a considerable eleva- 
 tion of the Altaian mountains, is supposed to be 
 about 100 miles in length and 60 in breadth. 
 
 Considering its extent, it is remarkable that 
 so. few mineral springs should have been disco- 
 vered in Russia, The most celebrated are those 
 of Sarepta in the government of Sarataf. The 
 springs are numerous and abundant, strongly 
 tinctured with iron. Here is likewise a fetid 
 sulphureous spring, of which kind springs have 
 been found in the Baikal mountains, on the 
 Barqusin, in the province of Nertschinsk, in the 
 government of Irkutsk, and on the Terek, in the 
 government of Caucasus. Some of those in the 
 mountains of Baikal are highly sulphureous, and 
 very hot. Those on the Terek are numerous^ 
 and of moderate temperature. Springs of 
 naphtha are found in the district of Perekop, 
 and on the isle of Taman, on the shores of the 
 Volga near Tetguschy and Samarskoy, and on 
 the Terek about the warm springs at Baragun, 
 and near Deulet Gueray, and the sources of 
 Tschetschengisk. A lake on the Sagris is co- 
 vered, a finger thick, with naphtha. 
 
 The soil of Russia presents every variety, from 
 tracts that are perfectly barren and incapable of 
 culture to regions yielding thirty fold. Through- 
 out the Russian dominions, agriculture indeed 
 has made little or no progress. The Russians 
 
16 STATE OF RUSSIA* 
 
 do not think of forcing the soil ; nor have they 
 acquired the art of collecting, without prodi- 
 gious waste, the profusion which the earth spon- 
 taneously yields. The northern and eastern parts 
 of Siberia, from the 60th degree of latitude, is 
 nothing but morass covered with moss, and 
 passable only, because the ice never thaws deeper 
 than seven inches. Of Russia in Europe, the 
 northern districts are also very woody and 
 marshy, little capable of cultivation. The south, 
 along the banks of the Volga to the deserts, is 
 rich and fertile, particularly towards Voronetz, 
 about Tambof, Penza, and Sinbrisk, where 
 there is an admirable soil of black mould, 
 strongly impregnated with saltpetre. Between 
 the Palus Maeotis, and the Caspian sea, along 
 the shores of the latter as far as the Emda, and 
 between the Ural and the Volga, is a desert, 
 arid, sterile, full of saline lakes. The middle 
 and southern latitudes of Siberia are extremely 
 fertile, and fit for every kind of produce. Im- 
 mense tracts which might be plowed and sown, 
 lie totally useless. Those which are in culti- 
 vation, yield various returns; in Livonia and 
 Esthonia they reap eight fold, about the Don, 
 ten, and, in the whole region between the Tom 
 and the Ob, from twenty-five to thirty. At 
 Krasnoyarsk the crop never fails, and in many 
 parts manure would injure it. To drain 
 meadow land is not in use, and where great 
 
MINERALS. 17 
 
 crops of hay might be raised, the cattle are 
 obliged, during winter, to seek a scanty sus- 
 tenance on the pasture grounds, sometimes un- 
 der the snow. On some fat stepps the grass 
 grows to the height of a man, and covers the 
 cattle which feed among it. Dry meadows af- 
 ford a short nutritious hay, while the greatest 
 crops are raised on those of a black rather moist 
 soil. Meadows have often the appearance of 
 a desert. 
 
 The productions of this extensive empire are 
 as various as the soil and climate. Here the 
 gifts of Providence are scattered with a profu- 
 sion, which, while it corresponds with the pro- 
 digality of the inhabitants, forms a singular 
 contrast with their indolence, poverty, and un- 
 skilfulness in the arts of wealth and comfort. 
 The Russians at once suffer from want, and 
 allow abundance to corrupt. Though they might 
 supply the world, they depend on others. 
 
 Most of the valuable minerals have been 
 found in Russia. The primitive mountains fur- 
 nish granite and porphyry in the greatest abun- 
 dance of every kind. There is alabaster in ex- 
 traordinary quantities, with every variety of 
 colour; marble, yellow, grey, and cloudy 
 abounds ; and, in the Uralian quarries, white 
 equal to the finest Parian. In Siberia has been 
 discovered a great variety of gems, which have 
 been already enumerated. Coal has been found 
 
STATE OF RUSSIA. 
 
 in but few places; sulphur, alum, sal ammoniac,, 
 vitriol, saltpetre, and natron, in great quantities 
 in various districts. 
 
 The mines of Russia furnish gold, silver, 
 copper, iron, and lead. In 1739, the Voytzer 
 gold mine in the mountains of Olonetz was 
 opened ; but yielding only a few pounds of gold, 
 has been since abandoned. The chief gold 
 mines are those of Beresof, near Ekatarinen* 
 burg, in the Ural mountains, which were 
 opened 1754. These mines furnish annually 
 400,000 pood * of ore, every 1000 pood yield- 
 ing about 50 solotniks j* of fine gold. The 
 quantity of gold obtained annually seems to 
 increase. At first it amounted to three poodL 
 now 7 it amounts to eight. Of the silver mines, 
 the richest is that of Shlangenberg in the moun- 
 tains of Kolhyvan, next that of Semeonofskoy. 
 A new shaft at Filipofskoy on the Ulba, is ex- 
 pected to equal the Shlangenberg. From these 
 mines are obtained annually 2,000 S 000 pood of 
 ore. At first each pood yielded about five 
 solotniks of auriferous silver, now not more 
 than two and a half. The lead mines of Nerts- 
 chinsk, which have been wrought since 1704, 
 afford also 2,000,000 pood of ore; but very 
 poor in gold and silver. All these mines em- 
 ploy 70,000 men. Since the first of them were 
 
 * A pood is 36 pounds. 
 
 f A solotnik is the 3,840th part of a pood. 
 
SALT. 19 
 
 opened in 1704 to 1788, they had produced 
 1000 pood of gold, and 36,000 pood of silver, 
 worth together upwards of forty-five millions 
 of rubles *, at an expense of not more than 
 fifteen millions. 
 
 Mines of copper are wrought in the moun- 
 tains of Olonetz, Ural, and Altay. The most 
 productive lie in the Ural about Perme, Ufa, 
 Viaetka, and Kazan. The produce of all these 
 mines is about 200,000 pood annually, worth 
 about 2,000,000 rubles. 
 
 Prodigious quantities of iron ore of all kinds 
 are found in all the mountains, and in many of 
 the plains of Russia. The ore in general yields 
 about fifty per cent. 100 forges and 800 ham- 
 mers are employed, and about five million pood 
 of iron are annually obtained, which amount 
 in value to at least four million and a half of 
 rubles. Though many mines of lead have been 
 tound, little attention has been paid to the 
 working of them. 
 
 All the gold and silver mines belong to the 
 crown, a sixth of the copper, and an eighth of 
 the iron. 
 
 Among the productions of Russia, salt is a 
 remarkable article. Rock salt is found about 
 
 * The value of the ruble is very fluctuating. During the 
 greater part of the reign of Catherine II. it was equal to 4s, 
 in 1797, to 2s,d. 
 
 C 2 
 
20 STATE OF RUSSIA. 
 
 the llek, in the district of Ufa, sixty miles from 
 Orenburg. In twenty-two years ending 1787, 
 9,770,794 pood were dug. Salt lakes abound, 
 Among the largest and most productive of these 
 lakes, are the Elton in the government of Sa- 
 ratof, those of Astrakhan, Taurida, Caucasus, 
 Irkutsk, Indorsk, and Kolhyvan. From the 
 salt-springs, salt is produced in the greatest 
 quantities in the governments of Perme and 
 Novgorod. No less than 12,OCO,000 pood of 
 this article are annually produced in the em- 
 pire, which however do not answer the demand. 
 But the annual produce of this commodity might 
 be indefinitely increased by opening fresh salt- 
 works, and introducing into the manufacture of 
 it economical expedients. 
 
 Immense forests every where abound in the 
 Russian dominions. The fir, the pine, and the 
 black pine, are the prevailing trees in northern 
 Russia, the latter being used for fuel and char- 
 ring, and the pine for pitch. The Siberian 
 cedar, a fine strong aspiring tree in the Ural 
 mountains, is cut down by the inhabitants, that 
 they may the more easily gather its cones, 
 which yield an excellent oil. The larch which 
 grows on most of the Siberian mountains, and 
 in the north of European Russia, is employed in 
 ship-building on the sea coasts. It supplies all 
 the charcoal for the mines of Nertschinsk, while 
 in the mountains of Olonetz and the Ural, it 
 
TREES. 21 
 
 affords turpentine, and a fungus for exporta- 
 tion. With these trees, the Russian forests com- 
 bine tho k, nd enous only in European 
 Riis*iu, h birch, the alder, and the linden ; 
 and in the southern regions, the beech, the elm, 
 the maple, and the poplar. The birch is of va- 
 rious u *e : its bark is employed in tanning 1 , and 
 the preparation of tar ; its leaves afford a yellow 
 dye, its sap a liquor called birch wine, and its 
 wood is converted into fuel and cylindrical ves- 
 sels for domestic purposes. Nor does the linden 
 seem less profitable. The inner bark is manu- 
 factured into mats, and the outer into carriages, 
 baskets, trunks, and covering for cottages, while 
 the rind of the young shoots is platted into shoes 
 for the boors. The wood is wrought into canoes, 
 or burnt into potash, and the blossoms yield nou- 
 rishment to the bees Though the country pro- 
 duces such a quantity of wood, yet so much is 
 consumed with the utmost extravagance in fuel, 
 in mines, in the baths, on the roads, in building, 
 for light, and agriculture, and so little atten- 
 tion is paid to repair the wastes by planting, 
 that a scarcity already begins to be felt, which 
 will soon extend through entire provinces, and 
 affect the whole empire. 
 
 Of wild berries, and fruit-bearing shrubs, 
 there is great abundance in Russia. The cran- 
 berry is wild and cultivated, as well as the black, 
 white, and red currant, the latter of which grows 
 
22 STATE OF RUSSIA. 
 
 to the size of an ordinary cherry upon the Al- 
 taian mountains. The hazel bush, though found 
 all over European Russia, does not appear in 
 Siberia. Forests of cherry trees may be seen 
 in the south of Russia. Apples and pears ge- 
 nerally flourish, while apricots, peaches, wal- 
 nuts, almonds, and chesnuts, are confined to 
 the southern provinces. Figs and pomegranates 
 are seen only at Kitzliar and Taurida; the 
 quince tree grows wild on the forests of the 
 Terek, as well as the vine about the Don and 
 in Taurida, which is likewise cultivated to a 
 considerable extent, though with not much suc- 
 cess, in the governments of Caucasus, Taurida, 
 Ekatarinoslaf, Vosnesensk, as well as among 
 the Don Cossacks. 
 
 In the kitchen garden, which is wretchedly 
 managed, are produced, in the central and 
 southern regions of Russia, cabbage, used to 
 make sour krout j turnips, often substituted for 
 bread; Turkish, French, and common beans, 
 peas, with onions, cucumbers, and garlic, which 
 form the sallad of the common people. In the 
 southern provinces, sugar and water melons are 
 raised in great quantities, with little care. Of 
 these plants there are large fields, surrounded 
 with only a slight fence, and sometimes unin- 
 closed. The water melons often weigh thirty 
 pounds, and are of an excellent flavour. The 
 potatoe is not cultivated. That the above men-* 
 
AGRICULTURE. 23 
 
 tioned productions are raised in such abund- 
 ance, and in many cases of so fine a quality, is 
 owing to the benignity of the soil and climate, 
 not to the art or industry of the Russians. It is 
 certain that a little of the care and skill of other 
 European nations, would soon improve the va- 
 lue, and increase the quantity of all those fruits, 
 as well as add to their number by introducing 
 new kinds of plants, or superior varieties of 
 the old. 
 
 The objects of Russian agriculture are nearly 
 the same as those of England and Germany. 
 Oats, rye, wheat, and barley, are raised in such 
 quantities as to allow of exportation. Millet is 
 generally cultivated, and maize about the Terek 
 and in Taurida, buck-wheat abounds particu- 
 larly in Siberia, and manna grows every where, 
 though not in great quantities. Rice succeeds 
 in the vicinity of Kitzliar. Among the first ob- 
 jects of culture in Russia, is hemp, which is 
 raised in prodigious quantities in the ordinary 
 way, and even grows wiid on the Uralian moun- 
 tains. Flax, which likewise grows wild in Si- 
 beria, is produced in great abundance, of va- 
 rious kinds, and excellent qualities. To these 
 may be added hops and tobacco. To furnish an 
 idea of the state of agriculture in Russia, it 
 may be proper here to mention a few facts. 
 
 The harrow consists of short wooden pegs, 
 driven into thin laths, woven together with 
 
24 STATE OF RUSSIA, 
 
 willows. The use of the roller is hardly known. 
 A crooked stick often serves as a flail. To drain 
 moist lands, or swamps, is not at all the prac- 
 tice, though they are so numerous and preju- 
 dicial to man and beast, and might be con- 
 verted into the finest corn fields. The stepp 
 lands are employed a short time without ma- 
 nure, and then forsaken. When a boor has 
 fixed on a piece of forest land for the purpose 
 of making it arable, together with the bushes 
 and young wood, he cuts down and consigns to 
 the flames, trees which have stood for two cen- 
 turies, and are fit to <c be the mast of some great 
 admiral." If he cannot fell such large trees, 
 stripping them of their bark, he leaves them to 
 wither, and kindles the brush wood under them. 
 In burning the dry weeds and grass for the pur- 
 pose of manure, the forests are sometimes set 
 on fire, and consumed for miles. The boor has 
 no conception of artificial manure, marl, chalk, 
 or pond-mud. The land is seldom clean har- 
 rowed. 
 
 Russia affords other vegetable productions, 
 which, though not so valuable as the above, 
 might be converted to many useful purposes. 
 From the common and Siberian nettle some of 
 the Nomadic tribes weave linen. Madder and 
 wood with saffron and safflower, which grow 
 wild, and are already used in dyeing, might be 
 cultivated to any extent. The sesamum, which 
 
ANIMALS. 25 
 
 yields a very excellent oil, may be raised in 
 great plenty in the southern provinces. The 
 caper is found wild about Kitzliar; and the 
 Rhapontic rhubarb in many parts of Siberia. 
 Salt herbs are produced in the greatest profu- 
 sion and variety on the stepps in the south of 
 Russia. 
 
 The multitude of fish, of various kinds, that 
 swarm on the coasts in the lakes and rivers of 
 the Russian empire is really surprising, and de- 
 serves to be noticed as affording a considerable 
 commerce, as well as occupation and subsist- 
 ance to many tribes and nations. The Frozen 
 ocean, among other animals, produces whales of 
 various species, dolphins, hay fish, the morse, 
 the sea cow, hog, bear, lion, and otter. The 
 morse, which is found from the Kurilly islands, 
 along the coast to Greenland, is the great object 
 of chace in the Arctic ocean between Spitz- 
 bergen and Nova Zemlia. This fishery is 
 attended with great perils. Those engaged in it 
 usually take a year's provision, as they are often 
 obliged to pass the winter in their ships, which 
 are furnished with an oven for baking and cook- 
 ing, and a requisite stock of wood. If they are 
 so happy as to make their way through the fields 
 of ice, when they arrive on the coast, they seek 
 a safe anchorage for their vessels, and in their 
 boats proceed to engage their prey. If, on the 
 beaeh or the ice, to which these animals repair 
 
26 STATE OF RUSSIA. 
 
 in flocks to procreate, or cast their young", or 
 escape from the sea lice which torment them in 
 summer, the captors discover a herd of morses, 
 they approach them against the wind, and leaving* 
 their boats, endeavour to cut off their retreat from 
 the sea. They pierce the first with their pikes, and 
 as the morses scramble over each other to effect 
 their escape, so many are often killed, that the 
 vessels can only contain their heads and teeth. 
 When they escape into the water the captors 
 endeavour to thrust a harpoon into their breast. 
 A cord fastened to the harpoon is wound round a 
 stake driven into a piece of ice, which the 
 animal drags about, until quite exhausted, it is 
 easily killed. If the animals leap into the 
 water before they can be attacked, the harpoon, 
 when it is fixed in one of them, is lashed to the 
 head of the boat, and the beast, the size of a 
 large ox, armed with sharp teeth and two long 
 tusks, having struggled in vain to disengage 
 himself, rises erect upon the water, and furiously 
 attacking his persecutors, often shatters the boat, 
 or springs into it, leaving them no other re- 
 source than to leap into the waves, or hang by 
 the gunnel till others come to their assistance. 
 The fat, the skin, and the teeth of the morse are 
 brought to Archangel. The fat, with the fat of 
 the sea dog, is boiled into oil, useful in the 
 manufacture of leather; the skin is made into 
 horse-harness and carriage-braces ; the teeth, 
 
AKJMALS, 27 
 
 whiter and firmer than ivory and not liable to 
 become yellow, are transported into the interior 
 and manufactured into fan-sticks, knife-handles, 
 chessmen, little boxes, and caskets. 
 
 The whale, though found in the Arctic ocean, 
 is so common about the shores of Kamtshatka as 
 to be seen, on the reflux of the tide, asleep on 
 the beach. They pursue their prey into the 
 harbour, and are often thrown up dead on the 
 land, an event of great joy to the Kamtshadales^ 
 who derive great advantages from these huge 
 animals. They eat the flesh, work the skin into 
 cords and shoe soles, make oil of the blubber, 
 and lard of the fat, employ the intestines as 
 casks, manufacture the whalebone into fishing- 
 nets, fox-traps, and water- barrels, and the bones 
 of the lower jaw into sledge-bottoms, knife* 
 handles, and rings for the harness of their dogs; 
 while the vertebra? serve as mortars, and the 
 sinews as packthread. In the south, the Kamt- 
 shadales going to sea in their little canoes, if 
 they find the whale sleeping on the waves, 
 wound him with poisoned darts : although the 
 wounds be slight, they occasion great pain, and 
 moving furiously, the huge beast soon expires. 
 In the north they sink large nets of morse hide 
 in the bays, and the whales in search of food are 
 entangled, and generally perish. The return of 
 the fishing season, and the capture of a whale, 
 are celebrated by these miserable tribes with 
 
28 STATE OF RUSSIA. 
 
 many circumstances of superstitious and extra- 
 vagant joy. 
 
 The seal is found in great numbers on the 
 shores of the Arctic and Pacific ocean, as well 
 as on the Caspian sea, and the lake Baikal. 
 The Samoyedes, when these animals repair in 
 the spring to mouths of rivers, and pass through 
 the ice by the holes which their breath makes in 
 it, lay a board with a rope fastened to it near 
 one of these apertures : as soon as the seal is 
 fairly out of the water, the board is drawn over 
 the opening, and the animal is killed with ease. 
 Sea bears, lions, and cows, are even more nu- 
 merous in the eastern ocean than in the Arctic. 
 The capture of these animals exercises Ihe inge- 
 nuity and courage of the Kamtshadales, who 
 obtain from them various articles of food and 
 dress. The influx of fish into the rivers of 
 Kamchatka is so great that the water overflows 
 the banks, and if it falls, the shores are covered 
 with the dead, diffusing a pestilential stench. 
 Of these shoals, the salmon is the principal fish, 
 of which more varieties are found here than in 
 the rest of the world. This fish is likewise 
 caught in almost all the rivers of the empire. 
 On all the coasts of Russia herring swarm, and 
 sturgeon, in most of the lakes and rivers ; but 
 especially in the Caspian sea, where they form 
 the great object of the most extensive and lu- 
 crative fishery in the Russian dominions. At 
 
ANIMALS. 29 
 
 the fisheries between the Don and Porekop a 
 draught, which lasts about six hours, will yield 
 not less than 60,000 fish: a single haul, at 
 Chumburskoia will fill two or three waggons. 
 
 Of animals inhabiting the land, Russia pre- 
 sents an uncommon variety, The horse appears 
 of different species : the genuine Russian horse 
 has a ram-like head, long meagre neck, and a 
 broad compact breast, runs well, is indefatiga- 
 ble and shy. Famous nags are found in Livonia, 
 and Lithuania supplies the cavalry. The Tar- 
 tarian horses of known excellence, have been 
 greatly improved in Taurida by a mixture with 
 those of Turkey and Arabia. Caucasian horses^ 
 in spirit and docility, nearly equal the Arabian ; 
 and those of Bukharia, some being spotted, and 
 others ribbed, rival them in beauty. Great 
 numbers of horses are kept by the Nomadic 
 tribes, who feed on their flesh, and make an 
 intoxicating liquor of the mare's milk. Some 
 of the Baschkirs have studs of 4000 horses. This 
 noble animal runs wild in the south of Siberia in 
 companies from twenty to fifty : all attempts to 
 tame them being vain, they are hunted for their 
 flesh. Large droves of neat cattle are kept in 
 most parts of Russia, and form the chief wealth 
 of many of the Nomadic tribes. In the Ukraine, 
 about Archangel and among the Cossacks of the 
 Don, the breed of this species of cattle is very 
 superior ; but in general they are managed with 
 
30 STATE OP RUSSIA. 
 
 extreme carelessness : dry straw and cold water 
 form their nourishment in winter. As soon as 
 the snow melts, they are driven to poor and dis- 
 tant pastures, and receive no provender at home. 
 It is not the practice in the most woody districts 
 to fodder them in warm hovels. Sheep are bred 
 in much greater numbers than the large cattle. 
 In Taurida, a common Tartar possesses 1000, 
 the rich 50,000 sheep : the wool in general is of 
 a coarse quality : the best kind of sheep are 
 found in the south, about the Kama, and the 
 region of Kazan. The goat is a common do- 
 mestic animal, and herds of them are kept by 
 the Kirghises and Calmuks. Hogs never grow 
 to any size. The ass is little used ; but the camel 
 is raised in Taurida, and among the wandering- 
 nations. 
 
 No animal, tame or domestic, in Russia, is 
 of such various use as the rein-deer : they in- 
 habit eastern and northern Siberia, and the north 
 of European Russia, but not in such numbers. 
 Wild rein-deer form an object of chace, and to 
 breed them tame is the main employment of 
 the Laplanders, Ostiaks, Koriaks, Tunguses, 
 Yakutes, and Samoyedes. These animals feed 
 on the moss scratched from beneath the snow, 
 with which they allay their thirst. Those bar- 
 barous tribes employ them as beasts of draught 
 and burden, drink their milk, or prepare it into 
 cheese, feed on their flesh, and manufacture their 
 
ANIMALS. 31 
 
 do.wn into warm cloaths and mattresses, their 
 sinews into twine, their bones into household 
 utensils, and their skins into coverings for them- 
 selves and yourts. Dogs are employed as post 
 horses by the Russians in the government of 
 Irkutsk, and among the Kamtshadales, who have 
 no other species of domestic animal, they are as 
 necessary as horses among other nations. Four 
 of these animals, which resemble in shape and 
 size the Russian boar-dog, draw three full grown 
 persons in a sledge, with fifty pound weight of 
 baggage. On good roads they perform a journey 
 of a hundred miles in a day. They have such 
 spirit, as often to dislocate their joints in draw- 
 ing; and, by the lightness of their tread, and 
 the certainty of their scent, pass safely over 
 slightly frozen rivers, or trackless deserts of 
 snow. 
 
 The bear inhabits the forests of Siberia, and 
 the north of European Russia. Black bears are 
 so numerous in Kamtshatka, as to appear in 
 troops, and so gentle and inoffensive as to receive 
 food from the hand. The white bear lives on 
 the shores and Islands of the Arctic ocean. The 
 bear, whose skin is an article of commerce, and 
 whose flesh and fat are articles of food, and even 
 luxury among the rude tribes of the north, is 
 caught by various ingenious stratagems. The 
 Laplanders knock them down with clubs : the 
 mountaineers of Siberia fasten a heavy block to 
 
2 STATE OF RUSSIA. 
 
 a rope, which having a noose at the other end, they 
 lay in the bear's path ; being entangled, the ani- 
 mal in a rage seizing the block, throws it down 
 the precipice, and being dragged along with it, 
 is usually killed. Four distinct species of foxes 
 are found in Russia ; black foxes are confined to 
 eastern Siberia; and the ice fox, a sly animal, 
 full of tricks, mostly of a white, but sometimes 
 of a bluish colour, chiefly inhabits the islands 
 about that country. Among other animals 
 hunted for their skin may be mentioned the 
 wolf, the lynx, the marten, the squirrel, the 
 ermine, the rnarmott, the rabbit, and the 
 glutton. This last animal, which has a beau- 
 tiful skin, and when tame, performs a variety of 
 amusing tricks, is remarkable for killing the 
 rein-deer. The glutton having strewn moss be- 
 neath a tree, watches till the bait allures the 
 rein-deer, and leaping upon his neck, tears out 
 his eyes, and so torments him, that the poor 
 sufferer beats himself to death against the tree. 
 In the districts of the Lena, the glutton subdues 
 even the horse. But of all the animals in Russia, 
 the sable affords the most valuable skin : the 
 finest come from Yakutsk and Nertschinsk, 
 and the largest from Kamtshatka. Some of 
 these skins fetch fifty rubles on the spot. The 
 beaver, besides his skin, is taken for the 
 castoreum, a valuable commodity of which the 
 best is procured in Russia. The, musk animal 
 
ANIMALS. 33 
 
 inhabits the mountains of Altay. The elk roams 
 over all Siberia, within the 65th degree of lati- 
 tude, and in Livonia, and about the lake Ladoga. 
 Herds of the stag- and roebuck appear about the 
 Irtish and the Yenisei, the regions of Daouria, 
 Caucasus, the Samara, and the Sok. The 
 evek is a native of the Siberian mountains, while 
 those of Caucasus produce the shamois, and the 
 bezoar goat. Droves of antelopes traverse the 
 Don and the Irtish; and the craw goat inhabits 
 Daouria. The wild sheep, and the rock ram 
 are found on the Altaian mountains, and the 
 wild hoar on the stepps of the Samara and the 
 Volga. Wild fowl is produced in abundance, 
 and the culture of bees is the business of tribes 
 and provinces. 
 
34 STATE OF 1U7SSIA. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Population of Russia Form of Government Imperial Col- 
 leges Viccroyalties Latvs Army Navy Revenue 
 Variety of Nations Character of the inhabitants Nobles 
 Peasant? Middle Class Commerce Religion Literature 
 Cossacks Tartars Samoyedes. 
 
 THE population of the Russian empire is very 
 disproportionate to the extent of its territories, 
 and the variety and abundance of its produc- 
 tions* To ascertain the exact number of its in- 
 habitants is indeed difficult, and it has been va- 
 riously stated by different authors. In 1783 
 the number of males registered amounted to 
 1/2,838,529. The number of females being 
 equal, this will give 25,677,058. The unnum- 
 bered classes, including the nobility and clergy, 
 with the civil and military servants of govern- 
 ment, and other privileged persons, could not be 
 fewer than 1 ,500,000. It is not too much to allow 
 an annual increase of 100,000. The territories 
 acquired since 1783 contained 5,755,000 souls. 
 In the year 1804 the Cossacks amounted to 
 1,000,000. Hence the whole population of the 
 Russian empire may be about 37,000,000, of 
 which, not more than 2,215,000 belong to Si- 
 
IMPERIAL COLLEGES. -3-> 
 
 beria. The most populous parts of Russia lie 
 between the 49th and 58th degrees of latitude 
 and the 40th and 65th degrees of longitude. 
 The relative proportion of the population in dif- 
 ferent governments is very remarkable ; that of 
 the government of Irkutsk, being to that of 
 Moscow, as 1 to 801. As Russia has little more 
 than nine persons on the square mile, it is nine- 
 teen times less populous than France. 
 
 The Russian government is an unlimited mo- 
 narchy. The sovereign unites in himself, the 
 legislative, executive, and judicial authority, all 
 inferior powers being derived from him, and en- 
 tirely under his controul. Though the succession 
 seems to be hereditary, yet it evidently depends 
 on the will of the prince, the nobles, the military, 
 and his own capacity, whether the nearest rela- 
 tive of the deceased monarch ascend the throne. 
 As in all cases where the will of the sovereign is 
 the only limit of his power, revolutions are fre- 
 quent in Russia. Sometimes in the course of 
 a night, one prince is deposed, and another 
 assumes the authority without exciting any com- 
 motion. 
 
 In administering the affairs of the empire the 
 sovereign, is assisted by different councils, called 
 imperial colleges, which hold their sittings at 
 Petersburgh, some of them having chambers at 
 Moscow. In each of these colleges is a secre- 
 tary and a procureur without any voice, though 
 J>2 
 
36 STATE OF RUSSIA. 
 
 it is the business of the latter to see that nothing" 
 is done contrary to the laws ; and no sentence fe 
 valid without his signature. Though these col- 
 leges have a great number of servants, secre- 
 taries, archivists, and clerks, there is a great 
 want of regularity and diligence among them. 
 The cabinet, which is not reckoned among the 
 imperial colleges, consists usually of ten persons, 
 the high steward of the household, privy and 
 state counsellors, and major-generals, manages 
 the prince's private affairs, examines petitions, 
 dispatches, accounts, and the produces of the 
 mines, and receives appeals from the senate. A 
 special high court of justice is sometimes ap- 
 pointed. 
 
 Of the imperial colleges the first is the Direct- 
 ing Senate, instituted by Peter the Great, and 
 consisting of six departments, four at Peters- 
 burgh, and two at Moscow, having each its own 
 business* A senator is the highest rank in the 
 kingdom. The senate, as the sanctuary of the 
 laws, watches over their execution, issues the laws 
 and edicts of the prince, and its own orders to 
 inferior colleges, solves doubtful questions, ap- 
 points to civil offices, and forms the highest tri- 
 bunal, from which there is no appeal but by 
 petition to the cabinet. The Holy Directing 
 Synod 9 co-ordinate with the senate, is the su- 
 preme spiritual court of the national church. 
 To the College of Foreign Affairs, it belongs to 
 
VICEROYAI/riES. 07 
 
 pay the salaries of ministers at foreign courts, 
 the pensions and expenses of agents in foreign 
 parts. It is the business of the Admiralty College 
 to over-see the ship-yards, general war-com- 
 missariate, and store office, while the College of 
 War superintends military affairs of a subor- 
 dinate description, such as regulations and 
 orders for camps, ammunition, and provisions. 
 The College of Commerce, and the Medical College, 
 sufficiently indicate their objects. 
 
 In order to secure a more steady execution of 
 the laws, and a more impartial and easy ad- 
 ministration of justice, and to faciliate the col- 
 lection of the revenue, and the circulation of 
 money, as well as to lessen the expence of go- 
 vernment, introduce improvements, and pro- 
 mote industry, the whole empire was in 1776, di- 
 vided by Catherine II. into twenty -two viceroyal- 
 ties. These governments by accessions of territory, 
 and other changes, were in 1803 raised to fifty- 
 one, of which the following is an enumeration : 
 Moscow, St. Petersburgh, Novgorod, Olonetz, 
 Archangel, Pscove, Smolensk, Tula, Twer, 
 Kaluga, Jaroslaf, Kostroma, Vladimir, Vologda, 
 Nisneygorod, Wiulka, Kasan, Perm, Tobolsk, 
 Tomsk, Irkutsk, Orenburgh, Simbrisk, Penza, 
 Saratof, Artrakhan, Caucasus, Varonish, Tam- 
 bof, Razan, Kursh, Orel, the Slobodish Ukraine, 
 Ekatarinoslof, Tauria, Cherson, Poltowa, 
 Tschernigof, Kief, Podolia, Volbynia, Grodno, 
 
S8 STATE OF RUSSIA. 
 
 Vilna, Vitebsk, Mogilef, Minsk, Courland, Li- 
 vonia, Esthonia, Finland, and Grusia. 
 
 Each of these governments, which contain 
 about 700,000 souls, has its general-governor, 
 governor, and vice-governor, with several 
 courts. The general governor, usually a high 
 military officer, presides in the deliberations of 
 the magistrates, commands the troops in his 
 government, and executes the decrees of justice. 
 The governor, who acts as general-governor in 
 his absence, is a person of great importance, as 
 he takes an account of all the officers of the vice* 
 royalty, appoints to several posts, can insist on 
 the execution of his orders, presides in the col. 
 lege of general provision, and inspects the 
 schools. The vice-governor is substitute of the 
 two former in case of absence, and president of 
 the finance chamber. The viceroyalty govern* 
 went, consisting of the generaUgovernor, go- 
 vernor, and two counsellors, is the highest court 
 of the viceroyalty. Its business is to promulge 
 laws and ordinances, to provide for security and 
 order, and to issue writs. The court of justice, 
 the second of the viceroyalty-courts, js divided 
 into a civil and criminal department, each con- 
 sisting of a president, two counsellors, and two 
 assessors. This court receives orders only from 
 the emperor, its decision in criminal cases is 
 final, and it admits appeals from the inferior 
 courts. Appeals are very expensive. The 
 
LAWS. f,V> 
 
 finance chamber has the care of the revenues of 
 the crown, whether from taxes, monopolies, or 
 mines; of the accounts of the population, of the 
 public buildings, and the payment of salaries, 
 while the college of general j>romsion directs its at- 
 tention to schools, infirmaries, and like beneficial 
 institutions. Between the circle courts, and the 
 court of justice, is the statute law court, consisting 
 of two presidents and ten assessors from the nobi- 
 lityj- This court tries all causes, both civil and 
 criminal, in the first instance. 
 
 The court of conscience, an institution pecu 
 liar to Russia, has for its object to procure for 
 prisoners a speedy trial, to accommodate differ- 
 ences, and determine the causes of minors, 
 idiots, and lunatics. To these may be added 
 the superior court of wards, which tries the 
 causes of the odnodvortzi and the boors of the 
 crown or empire. 
 
 The governments are divided into circles, 
 which have likewise their respective courts, as 
 well as accountant, who oversees the taxes, 
 solicitor, physician, surgeon, with two assistants, 
 and as many pupils, and a land-surveyor. It is 
 the office of the solicitor to watch over the 
 interests of the crown. Torture and confiscation 
 are entirely abolished, and capital punishments 
 are extremely rare. 
 
 It must be gratifying to benevolent minds to 
 learn that these institutions have in a decree 
 
40 STATE OF RUSSIA. 
 
 effected their object, that many abuses have 
 been corrected, much evil prevented, and con- 
 siderable melioration effected in the condition of 
 millions. But that an impartial administration 
 of justice has been introduced, will not be be- 
 lieved by those who consider that the peasantry 
 are slaves ; that complaints of injustice and op- 
 pression are so easily obstructed by those who 
 can make friends of the courtiers ; and that the 
 power of the military is perpetually employed to 
 ensure the performances of civil duties. The 
 mildness of the Russian criminal code is more 
 in appearance than reality. Nobles still whip 
 their vassals to extort confession. A skilful ex- 
 ecutioner can dispatch a man by three strokes of 
 the knoot, a species of torture which, together 
 with the slitting of the nostrils, branding the 
 face, and banishment to the mines of Nertschinsk, 
 forms the punishment of felony. What from the 
 effects of the knoot, the fatigue of a journey of 
 nearly oOOO miles, performed in fetters, and the 
 imwholesomeness of the mines, perhaps as many 
 criminals suffer death in Russia, as where the 
 laws require at once the forfeiture of their 
 lives. 
 
 The forces of the Russian empire are naval 
 and military. Even before the late Russian cam- 
 paigns it was confessed that the Russian armies 
 consisted of the best soldiers in the world j brave, 
 obedient, active, and patient of fatigue, of cold. 
 
NAVY. 41 
 
 and hunger, in the very highest degrees. When 
 it is said that they have made their way from 
 Moscow to Paris, through the armies of France, 
 grown old amidst victories, and commanded by 
 the greatest captains of the age, to complete 
 their panegyric, it can only be added, that their 
 advance and retreat have not left the ordinary 
 traces of victory. During peace, the force 
 of the empire amounts nominally to 600,000 
 men. But of these, one-sixth is ineffective, and 
 another is confined to the duty of the garrisons 
 and the provinces. The greatest exertions 
 could not bring more than 200,000 effective men 
 into the field at the beginning of the campaign 
 in 1812. The Russian officers are in general 
 not equal to the men, as they are often ignorant 
 favourites promoted without merit. The ca- 
 valry, the best mounted perhaps of any on the 
 continent, is superior to the infantry. The pay 
 of a Russian soldier is about seven rubles an- 
 nually, a sum that can scarcely be credited. 
 The armies are recruited by draughts from the 
 peasantry, in somewhat the same way as the 
 militia is raised in England. A recruit some- 
 times costs 300 rubles, a proof that the Russians^ 
 are not partial to a military life. 
 
 The navy of Russia is not equal to the army. 
 This circumstance however, is easily explained : 
 though Peter the Great, finding Russia without 
 a ship of war, left it with a fleet of fifty sail of 
 
42 STATE OF RUSSIA. 
 
 the line, the navy 'was very much neglected till 
 the accession of Catherine II. Russia has few 
 ports, her coasts are for the most part covered 
 with ice, and her foreign commerce is inade- 
 quate to furnish a supply of experienced seamen. 
 With these disadvantages, however, her navy 
 appears sufficient for defence against Swedes or 
 Turks. It consists of three fleets distinct from 
 each other. In 1807 the great fleet of the Baltic 
 consisted of 59 ships, carrying 2260 guns, 
 namely, 20 new ships of the line, with 1588 
 guns ; 14 frigates, with 426 gnus ; 6 cutters, 
 with 130 guns, and 19 smaller vessels with 116 
 guns. There were likewise in the ports of the 
 Baltic 12 old ships of the line. The fleet of 
 the Black sea consisted of o7 ships, carrying 
 1288 guns, namely, 12 ships of the line, with 
 981 guns; 4 frigates, with 162 guns; 7 brigan- 
 tines, with 54 guns, and J4 smaller vessels, with 
 91 guns. There were likewise 40 gun-boats, 
 with 54 pieces of cannon. The fleet of gallies 
 amounted to 189 sail, of gallies, gun-boasts, float- 
 ing-batteries, and other vessels, carrying* 705 
 guns. Whatever is necessary to support a mi-* 
 merous navy, Russia herself furnishes in abun- 
 dance, except seamen. The expense of build- 
 ing ships, in consequence of negligence, waste, 
 and imposition, is so enormous, that admiral 
 Knowles told the empress Catherine, that he 
 would engage to fetch all the materials for ship 
 
43 
 
 building from Russia, pay the duties upon them, 
 and deliver to her from England ships com- 
 pletely equipped at much less than they cost 
 her in her own dock-yards. 
 
 The amount of the revenues of Russia is not 
 to be ascertained with exactness ; because large 
 sums flow into the treasury which are never 
 brought to account, some provinces pay services 
 in lieu of taxes, and much of the income is 
 subject to great fluctuation. By these means it 
 is likely both the crown and the subject suffer ; 
 the former by fraud, and the latter by extor- 
 tion. The sources of the revenue are as follows. 
 A poll tax first imposed by Peter the Great. 
 It is paid by males only in various proportions 
 according to the condition and vocation of indi- 
 viduals. A census is taken every twenty years, 
 and whatever deficiency may be occasioned bv 
 death, migration, or other accidents, must be sup- 
 plied by the district in which it occurs, as the 
 number remains unaltered till the next revision. 
 The average paid by each may be a ruble. 
 The tax on capital is one per cent paid by mer- 
 chants on their capital, by which they are 
 exempted from the poll-tax. Duties on exports 
 and imports, on law proceedings, on stamped 
 paper, on the sale of immoveable property, and 
 the profits from the salt trade, the farm of spi- 
 rituous liquors, the working of the mines, the 
 mint and the posts, with some other articles; 
 
44 STATE OF RUSSIA. 
 
 form the other branches of the revenue. The 
 following statement will show the product of 
 each of these branches of revenue in 1800. 
 
 Poll-tax, tax on capital with the obrok on the 
 crown boors and odnodvortzi and the Rubies. 
 additional kopeeks .... 38,197,000 
 Customs ... * V V 8,800,000 
 Farm of spirituous liquors ; ir 8,500,000 
 Salt . . . *!.!*! . --. 2,000,000 
 Mines and Mint . . , 3,000,000 
 Duties on stamps, sale of land and 
 
 various other articles . * . 2,300,000 
 
 Rubles 42,797,000 
 
 In the collection and expenditure of this 
 revenue, there is the most shameful frauds and 
 corruption. It is yet found adequate to the 
 ordinary purposes of government, which is ow. 
 ing to the abundance of provision and the low 
 price of labour. 
 
 It is a very curious and instructive spectacle 
 which Russia presents, in the strange diversity 
 of its inhabitants. It is said here are eighty 
 distinct nations, different in character, language, 
 religion, government, manners, degrees of 
 civilization, and modes of life. The hunter 
 and fisher, without property, cloathed in skins, 
 who live in pits and feed on raw flesh and 
 unripe fruit, and the shepherds living in move- 
 
ORIGIN OF THE RUSSIANS. 45 
 
 able tents, supported by the produce of their 
 flocks, ignorant of the use of money and the 
 art of writing, are fellow subjects with the 
 industrious husbandman and ingenious mechanic, 
 with the owner of a thousand acres, and the 
 wealthy merchant. Here are tribes loose and 
 unconnected, some bowing to paternal authority, 
 others preserving a pure democracy ; the adhe- 
 rents of monarchy in all its gradations and of 
 aristocracy in every form. Here is found reli- 
 gion in every shape, from the grossest impurities 
 <and absurdities of polytheism to the sanctity 
 of the Christian faith and practice. In short, 
 Russia presents man in every variety of his 
 physical condition, and under every modification 
 of the social state and religious principle. 
 Here may be seen at once what a succession of 
 ages elsewhere exhibits, and the simultaneous 
 view may correct the errors and prejudices into 
 which detached portions of human history have 
 betrayed philosophers. 
 
 Of the nations included in the Russian empire, 
 the Slavonians are the most numerous, powerful, 
 and distinguished. Forming a separate branch 
 of the human stock, distinct from the Goths and 
 Tartars, they are the Sarmatse of the ancients, 
 and are found from the shores of the Adriatic to 
 the Frozen Ocean, and from the coasts of the 
 Baltic to the utmost limits of Asia. Their an- 
 cient seats were probably Prussia, Poland, and 
 
46 STATE OF RUSSIA. 
 
 the south of Russia. In the fourth century, 
 they formed a kingdom with the Ostrogoths 
 which was subdued by the Huns. They ap- 
 peared on the northern shore of the Danube 
 plundering the Roman empire, until pressed by 
 the Bulgarians they retreated, in the seventh 
 century, some into Poland, others into Russia, 
 a part only remaining on the Danube. They 
 founded Kief and Novgorod. A branch of the 
 Varages called Russians, established in Finland 
 and Carelia, being solicited to assist them by 
 the Slaves of Novgorod, incorporated with them, 
 and imparted their name to the nation, while 
 the Slavonian language and manners were re- 
 tained. The Slavonians of Kief being harassed 
 by theKazares, applied to their brethren of Nov- 
 gorod for assistance, who sent them Oskold. 
 This chief founded a principality, which was 
 united with the kingdom of Novgorod and be- 
 came the seat of empire. Having suffered 
 great calamities from intestine divisions and the 
 oppression of the Tartars, this kingdom was at 
 last united under Ivan I. after two centuries of 
 subjection to the Tartars, and under Ivan's 
 successors has grown to its present magnitude. 
 To the other nations we shall by and by advert. 
 The genuine Russians are strong men, of a 
 middle size, with thin lips, small mouth and 
 eyes, white teeth, low forehead, and a bushy 
 beard, varying from dark brown to red. Their 
 
NOBLES. 47 
 
 countenance is dull but expressive of good 
 nature. Though they are quick of hearing 
 their other senses are obtuse. Capable of endu- 
 ring 1 the greatest fatigue and privations, they 
 are inactive, subject to few diseases, and long 
 lived. With the same general character, the 
 women have a delicate skin and rosy cheeks, 
 large breasts and feet, are mature by the use 
 of the bath at thirteen, and by the same means 
 with an immoderate use of paint loose their 
 beauty, while the men are in their prime. The 
 temper of the Russians is warm, and their dis- 
 position light, careless, and sensual. They excel 
 in nothing more than in the power of imitation. 
 As among most nations imperfectly civilized, 
 hospitality is common. The intercourse be- 
 tween the sexes is extremely free, drunkenness 
 is not a disgrace, and obscene, ambiguous, and 
 abusive expressions are in very frequent use. 
 
 The inhabitants are divided into nobles, pea- 
 sants, and a middle class, comprehending" the 
 clergy and other free subjects. In conformity 
 with the genius of the government, which is 
 very much of a military despotism, honours de- 
 pend much more upon service than birth or 
 descent. A prince conveys to his son nothing 
 "but his title and a chance of preferment before 
 others of equal merit. Eirth merely facilitates 
 the way to honour. If the rank of their hus- 
 bands is equal, the most ancient princess of the 
 
48 STATE OF RUSSIA. 
 
 realm, and the burgher's daughter appear at 
 court on a perfect equality. The nobility is 
 numerous. Their estates are valued by the 
 number of peasants they contain, and are divided 
 among all the children of both sexes. Some 
 of the nobility are richer than the wealthiest 
 English peer, having 100,000 peasants. In 
 privileges and mode of life they seem an exact 
 copy of the feudal barons of the middle ages. 
 To them the right of holding landed property 
 exclusively belongs. They are not obliged to 
 pay taxes, erect barracks, or furnish recruits. 
 They may forfeit their honours, estates or lives, 
 but cannot be made vassals. They may impose 
 what taxes they please upon their vassals, and 
 inflict any punishment short of death. The 
 noblemen who reside in Petersburgh or -Moscow, 
 or who have travelled into foreign countries, 
 are often cultivated in their minds and refined 
 in manners. But in general, the Russian no- 
 bility have but little knowledge or refinement. 
 Without taste, they are extravagantly fond of 
 glare and pomp in their dress, equipage and 
 furniture* It is their ambition to be thought 
 hospitable ; but instead of that equality that 
 reigns in the entertainments of civilized men, 
 in Russia the guests take their seats according 
 to their different ranks, which determine the qua- 
 lity of their food and drink. 
 
 The great mass of the Russian population 
 
49 
 
 consists of the peasants who are all slaves of 
 the nobles or of the crown. They pass from one 
 person to another like any other species of pro- 
 perty, though they cannot be sold out of Russia, 
 or to any other than a nobleman. All the 
 boors pay an obrok, a sum of money, for every 
 male ; and, as the obrok of those that belong to 
 the crown is fixed at five rubles annually, 
 which they are sure will not be raised, their 
 condition is much more comfortable than that 
 of private boors, whose obrok is not only 
 much higher, but liable to be raised with their 
 means of gain. It is most common to pay an 
 obrok, but some perform task services, while 
 others labour in manufactories, or are employed 
 as servants. The master furnishes a house and 
 a plot of ground, and is obliged to provide en- 
 tirely for the aged and infirm. The misery 
 which the condition of this class of men involves, 
 consists in being at the mercy of their pro- 
 prietors. Many of them are rich and comfort- 
 able. But the uncertainty of reaping the fruits 
 of their labour and ingenuity checks their ex- 
 ertion. A severe master may divert into his 
 own coffers the accumulation of a whole life 
 of profitable and successful industry. The 
 boors pay the taxes, and supply the armies. 
 They cannot travel without a passport. Their 
 food consists of black rye bread, eggs, salt- 
 is 
 
50 STATE OP RUSSIA. 
 
 fish, bacon, and mushrooms, but a hodge-podge 
 of salt or fresh meat, groats, and rye-flour, highly 
 seasoned with garlic and onions, is their favou- 
 rite dish. They are extremely fond of whisky, 
 and their common drink is made by pouring 
 warm water on rye or barley meal. A red 
 cap with a high crown, a sheep-skin jacket, 
 the wool turned inwards, reaching to the 
 knee, and linen drawers with rags of woollen 
 wrapped round the legs for stockings, and 
 sandals woven of the linden bark, form the 
 winter dress of the male peasant, while the 
 female wears a shift with full sleeves, a short 
 petticoat, coloured stockings, and a lamb's wool 
 pelisse, white as snow, and lined with cloth. 
 The character of the boors is such as may be 
 expected in a country where such a degree 
 of slavery prevails, and the hatchet is the prin- 
 cipal instrument in mechanical arts. 
 
 Of the middle class of the Russian population, 
 the clergy is the first and most distinguished 
 order. They are exempt from taxes, and cor- 
 poreal punishment, though guilty of capital 
 crimes. They are not brought before secular 
 judges, and in 1801 they were permitted to 
 hold land. The clergy are divided into regular 
 and secular. The regular clergy are all monks, 
 lead rigid lives, and enjoy the whole power 
 and honour of the church, being the bishops 
 
CLERGY 6t 
 
 and the heads of religions houses. The secular 
 clergy are parish priests and consist of protoires, 
 priests and deacons, with readers and sacristans. 
 In 1805, the protoires, priests, and deacons 
 amounted to 44,487. They must be married 
 before they are ordained. They cannot marry 
 a second time, but may continue to officiate or 
 become monks. The sacristans and deacons 
 were 54,239 in number. None but the sons of 
 the clergy are admitted to the office of priest- 
 hood, and when to this it is added that many 
 of them possess not a complete copy of the 
 scriptures, it will be easy to judge of their 
 qualifications as religious teachers. Some of 
 them read written homilies , but others deliver 
 sermons in which the doctrines of the gospel are 
 clearly explained and ably supported. All the 
 Russian clergy are very tolerant. It is to 
 be regretted that they are not in habits of in- 
 tercourse with their fellow subjects. 
 
 To the middle class of the Russian popula- 
 tion belong also merchants, burghers, and all 
 who have inherited or acquired liberty. The 
 number and importance of this order of men 
 increase with the progress of civilization. For 
 this century, it has been an object with govern- 
 ment to amplify their privileges. Many of them 
 are rich ; but few educated. 
 
 Nothing serves to give a more correct and 
 exalted idea of the consequence that Russia 
 E 2 
 
52 STATE OF RUSSIA, 
 
 seems destined to attain among nations, than 
 the history and nature of its commerce. Though 
 considerable commerce had been carried on by 
 the nations now incorporated into the Russian 
 empire, before the reign of Peter the Great, 
 Russia had no ports, and but trifling intercourse 
 with foreign nations, while the vast means of 
 internal traffic remained unimproved. That 
 enterprizing and indefatigable monarch entered 
 into commercial treaties with the Chinese and 
 Persians, opened a communication between the 
 Baltic and Caspian seas, and by the building of 
 Petersburgh and the acquisition of other ports 
 on the former, established a most profitable con- 
 nexion between his own dominions and the 
 maritime nations. During the reign of Ca- 
 therine II. the commerce of the Euxine was 
 acquired, inland navigation improved, and 
 a spirit of active and industrious enterprize 
 excited from Riga to the eastern ocean. 
 
 As the population of Russiaisby no means equal 
 to the cultivation of the soil, its exports consist 
 chiefly of raw materials, or commodities, so far 
 manufactured, as to fit them for transportation. 
 Among the articles may be mentioned iron, 
 saltpetre, hemp, flax, napkins, linen, sail-cloth, 
 cordage, hemp, and linseed oil, linseed, tobacco, 
 rhubarb, wheat, rye, barley, oats, masts, planks, 
 boards, rosin, tar, pitch, train oil, wax, tallow, 
 candles, potashes, isinglass, caviar, horse-hair 
 
COMMERCE. 53 
 
 and tails, hog's bristles, Russia mats, hides, ox 
 tongues, and bones. In return for these articles 
 the Russians receive stuffs of silk, woollen and 
 cotton, cloth, stockings, trinkets, watches, hard- 
 ware, looking-glasses, English stone ware, Eng- 
 lish horses, coffee, sugar, tobacco, oranges, le^ 
 mons, fresh fruit, herrings, wines, brandy, Eng- 
 lish beer, mineral water, paper, books, engrav- 
 ings, alum, indigo, scythes, glass, and glass- 
 ware. The chief seats of Russian commerce 
 are on the Baltic. At Petersburgh alone is 
 made the one half nearly of all the exports and 
 imports of the empire. Riga is also a place of 
 great trade ; Archangel on the White sea has 
 lost much of its former consequence, and now 
 is little superior to Astrakhan. Nicholaef on 
 the Black sea, the third town in the empire, is 
 advantageously situated, and in a very flourishing 
 condition. The commerce on the Chinese fron- 
 tier, though liable to interruptions, amounts 
 generally to 2,000,000 of rubles. In 1758, the 
 whole exports of the Russian empire, amount- 
 ed in value to 8,150,683 rubles; in 1768, to 
 12,971,542; and in 1790, to 27,500,000. For 
 the first of these periods the imports were va- 
 lued at 5,826,126 rubles ; for the second at 
 10,856,161; and the last at 22,500,000. In 
 1799, the exports from Petersburgh alone 
 amounted to 38,169,925 rubles, and the im- 
 ports to 39,290,779. This statement shows a 
 
54 STATE OF RUSSIA. 
 
 prodigious increase, and a great balance in fa- 
 vour of Russia. One half of the Russian trade 
 is with Great Britain. The ratios of the profit 
 on the trade with the English compared with 
 that on the trade with all other nations is very 
 remarkable. In 1784, the whole exports 
 amounted to 12,941,513 rubles, and the whole 
 imports to 12,172,345. The British share in 
 the exports were 8,390,755 of rubles, and in 
 the imports 3,000,935, leaving a profit to the 
 Russians of 5,389,820 rubles ; whereas with all 
 other nations they lost 4,620,652 rubles. About 
 a third of the whole trade is carried on by 
 Russian subjects. The business of Petersburg!! 
 is conducted by factors, chieily foreigners. The 
 Russian merchants from the interior repair to 
 Petersburgh at a stated time, and enter into 
 contracts with the factors to deliver goods of 
 
 o 
 
 particular descriptions, the following spring or 
 summer, receiving meanwhile the half or whole 
 of the purchase money. On imported goods, 
 which are sold by the resident factors, or deli- 
 vered by them for sale at foreign markets, the 
 Russian merchant who orders them, receives, 
 six, twelve, or eighteen months credit. 
 
 The internal trade of Russia is very exten- 
 sive and flourishing. Manufactories of great 
 importance have been established in various 
 parts of the empire. None is more extensive, 
 more profitable to the reve;nue 3 or injurious to 
 
COMMERCE. 56 
 
 the nation, than that of spirits. The leather 
 manufactories amounted in 1803 to 843, the 
 linen to 283, the silk to 321, the glass to 107, 
 and the paper to 55. In many parts, particu- 
 larly at Astrakhan, isinglass and caviar are 
 produced in prodigious quantities, the one from 
 the sounds and the other from the roe, of large 
 fish. Manufactories of dyeing drugs, soap, can- 
 dles, potash, alum, and saltpetre, are likewise 
 numerous. Powder mills, iron, brass, and cop- 
 per works, and cannon foundries, are carried on 
 with spirit and advantage. Stones are cut and 
 polished in the governments of Finland, Peters- 
 burg, and Ekaterinenburgh. Porcelain is ma- 
 nufactured of a good quality. In Russia there is 
 only one manufactory for clocks and watches. 
 Shoemaking, carpentery, and bricklaying, are 
 exercised by Russians, but the more ingenious 
 arts are in the hands of foreigners. 
 
 The circulation of commodities raw and ma- 
 nufactured, native and foreign, is effected chiefly 
 by the large navigable rivers. From the fron- 
 tiers of China, heavy articles are transported 
 down the Selinga, across the lake Baikal, 
 down the Angra and the Yenisei, from thence 
 into the Ob, and the Tobol, and by a land 
 carriage of 300 miles into the rivers falling 
 into the Volga, on which they reach Petersburgh. 
 Some of these articles, after being manufac- 
 tured in England, make their way by. the same 
 
56 STATE OF RUSSIA. 
 
 rout to the extremities of Siberia. The com- 
 munication between the Caspian sea and the 
 Baltic, which has been already described, sup- 
 ports an immense traffic. This navigation has 
 latterly been greatly improved ; but it is com- 
 plained that only 4,000 vessels can pass it in a 
 season. The Euxine is likewise connected with 
 the Baltic by the Dnieper and the Niemen, but 
 the navigation is difficult. Other rivers sup- 
 port a great trade among the Russian provinces ; 
 but Russia will never improve or even discover 
 her advantages for internal and foreign trade, till 
 the genius of commerce shall have burst the 
 fetters of the peasants. 
 
 The religion of the Greek church is esta- 
 blished in Russia : it resembles the Roman ca- 
 tholic religion in superstitious rites and opi- 
 nions, affects like pomp of worship, and is 
 even more frequent, laborious, and prolix in 
 its services. But the clergy of the Russian 
 church have less power, and are more tolerant/* 
 The supremacy of the pope, and the worship of 
 images are rejected, while pictures are every 
 where adored, and the practice defended by the 
 most enlightened of the Russian clergy. 
 
 Russia is divided into 36 eparchies or bishop- 
 rics, containing 483 cathedrals, and 26,598 
 churches. The concerns of the church are ma-- 
 naged by the holy synod, in which a lay man pre- 
 sides. The nomination of the bishops is in the 
 
RELIGION. 57 
 
 emperor. Russia contains 387 monasteries, and 
 91 nunneries ; but, as the rage for a monastic 
 life has entirely subsided, the number of monks, 
 though they furnish the superior clergy, is only 
 4,901, and of nuns 1696. In every cottage is 
 the picture of a saint, to which on entering, the 
 members of the family offer adoration, and pay 
 worship punctually morning and evening. This 
 fact shows the state of religion. 
 
 Independent of foreigners who retain their 
 respective forms of religion, Russia contains 
 about 2,000,000 of separatists. The first of 
 these dissenters appeared about three centuries 
 and a half ago, and consisted of persons who 
 attempted to blend into one the religion of Moses 
 and Christ. This schism however was small 
 compared with that which was occasioned by 
 the correction of church service books in the 
 middle of the seventeenth century. A great 
 clamour was excited, and multitudes were in- 
 duced to oppose the amendments, as if they had 
 been corruptions. The separatists it seems, are 
 better versed in the scriptures than their neigh- 
 bours, some of the peasants being able to quote 
 them ; they are likewise exemplary in their lives. 
 They never go to law with each other. It is not 
 permitted them to publish in their own defence. 
 They are found chiefly in commercial towns, and 
 the southern provinces. Their separation from 
 the church arises from a preference to the old 
 
5& STATE OF RUSSIA. 
 
 Books and pictures used in worship, and not 
 from any article of doctrine. On the death of 
 their first leaders they split into pprties, some 
 maintaining and others denying 1 the propriety 
 of admitting priests from the church. The ma- 
 jority of Russian sectaries belong to the first 
 class; but they are again divided on the sub- 
 ject of chrism. So late as 1764, 20,000 of them 
 were banished to Siberia. Those who have no 
 priests, or refuse to admit the priests of the 
 church, likewise bianch out into minuter di- 
 visions. Some oppose the worship of images 
 and pictures, others hold principles like those of 
 Jacob Behmen, and a third class who are very 
 zealous in opposing the corrections in the service 
 books of the church, rebaptize those who join 
 them, and recommend a life of celibacy and 
 solitude. Of all the Russian sects, the most 
 singular is the Duhoborsti, who after various 
 persecutions, were allowed by the present em- 
 peror to settle in Moloshnia Vodi, in the govern- 
 ment of Tauria. They have no priests, never 
 enter a church, or use pictures, and reject even 
 baptism and the Lord's supper. They are sober, 
 industrious, and mild, distinguished by mutual 
 affection, hospitality, and beneficence, and take 
 uncommon pains to bring up their children in 
 the principles and practice of religion. Their 
 worship, which is not confined to time or place, 
 consists of singing, praying, and explaining the 
 
LITERATURE. 59 
 
 scripture. They have all thing's in common, 
 and their only punishment is expulsion from 
 their community. They are fond of fanciful 
 and allegorical interpretations of scripture; but 
 there is little exceptionable in the articles of 
 their faith. 
 
 The Russians may boast of an unbroken 
 series of annals from Nestor, the earliest his- 
 torian of the northern nations ; but their litera- 
 ture is still in its infancy. The Russ ? which is 
 a dialect of the Slavonic, has not yet taken 
 a very precise form, and notwithstanding the 
 efforts of Catherine II. who was ambitious of 
 every species of fame, works of genius have 
 not been produced to invite to the acquisition 
 of the language. Works of poetry and history 
 have appeared in the greatest numbers, but 
 translation is the department in which the 
 Russians principally seem to labour. Some of 
 the ancient classics, and works in different walks 
 of learning, French, English, and German, have 
 been done into the dialect of Russia. No works 
 are so popular as romances of the very worst 
 class. Institutions for the advancement of learn- 
 ing are not numerous. The Academy of Sciences 
 of Petersburg!), which originated with Peter 
 the Great, has, by the labours of its members, 
 chiefly foreigners, materially contributed to the 
 increase of general knowledge, and to the 
 progress of learning in Russia. Two seminaries 
 
60 STATE OF RUSSIA. 
 
 for the education of the nobles, are found at 
 Petersburgh, one for males, and another for 
 females. Besides schools for general education, 
 in all the provinces of the empire, there are, 
 for the instruction of the clergy, four academies, 
 thirty-six seminaries, and eighteen schools, with 
 26,000 scholars. 
 
 It would detain us too long to describe even, 
 briefly, the different tribes that are found in 
 various proportions in Russia. All that can be 
 done is to notice the more numerous or singular. 
 The Poles who, after the principal nation, are 
 the most numerous, are also of Slavonic origin. 
 Larger and fleshier than the Russians, they are 
 well-proportioned, of an open countenance, 
 and have very thick necks. They wear whiskers, 
 and shave their heads, leaving a lock of hair on 
 the crown. Polish women are famed for their 
 beauty. The Poles are subject to a host of 
 diseases, which the Russians escape, perhaps 
 by the perpetual use of the vapour bath. In 
 towns they are infected with the venereal 
 distemper in the ratio of six to ten. The 
 loathsome disease, the plica polonica, is pecu- 
 liar to them. The peasantry are poor, dirty, 
 feed on grits, pulse, potatoes, sour cabbage, 
 and turnips, and are meanly lodged and cloath- 
 ed. The dress of the higher orders is extremely 
 elegant and costly. 
 
 The most singular branch of the Russian 
 
COSSACKS. 6l 
 
 population of Slavonic origin, is the Cossacks, 
 whose principal seat is now about the shores of 
 the Don. On the expulsion of the Tartars, the 
 Russians found remains of them in these parts, 
 and incorporating- with them, formed a colony, 
 which by various accessions of Circassians, 
 Malo-Russians, boors escaped from slavery, 
 Poles, Turks, Calmucks, and Arminians, grew 
 to a considerable state. They formed a bul- 
 wark against the Turks, appeared in the Russian 
 armies in 1579, and sent, at different times, 
 colonies towards the Volga, the Terek, the 
 Ural, Orenburgh, and into Siberia. The 
 Cossacks are free from all taxes, they subsist 
 usually by pasture, or the produce of their 
 fields, and an allowance of corn. They are 
 obliged to serve in any part of the world as 
 light horse, mounted, armed, and clothed at 
 their own expense. It is not usual to call upon 
 4-liem to serve abroad after three years service 5 
 tut they form a cordon along the Caucasus, 
 and perform the duties of the post and police. 
 Their territories are divided into stanitzas, hav- 
 ing each their own ataman, whose office is 
 civil rather than military. The chief ataman 
 is now appointed by the crown, and his power 
 greatly diminished. The Cossacks of the Don 
 are superior to the Russians in person, dress, 
 culture, and mode of life. They are tall and 
 handsome. The dress of the men is a blue 
 
<>2 STATE OF RUSSIA. 
 
 jacket, with white dimity waistcoat and trow- 
 sers. While they are remarkably clean in their 
 persons and habitations, they are instructed in 
 their minds, sociable, open, and generous. 
 The Cossacks of the Black sea originally 
 occupied the banks of the Dnieper, but in 
 consequence of rebellion, they were transported 
 by the empress Catherine II., to the region be- 
 tween the sea of Azof and the Kuban, where 
 they serve to repel the incursions of the Cir- 
 cassians and Tartars. Unlike their brethren 
 of the Don, they are uncultivated ; but warlike 
 and hospitable. They dress as they please, and 
 deal largely in cattle. 
 
 The Tartars, whose history is interwoven 
 with the desolations of the world, form after the 
 Slavonians, the most numerous part of the Rus- 
 sian population, being the principal inhabitants 
 of Asiatic Russia. Relics of mighty kingdoms, 
 they dwell on the northern coasts of the Caspian, 
 and Black seas, the southern branch of the Ural 
 mountains, the stepps and mountains on the 
 frontier of Siberia, between the Tobol and the 
 Yenisei, and iu colonies among the Russians in 
 the government of Kazan and Tauria. In Si- 
 beria, they have very much assimilated to the 
 Russians and neighbouring tribes; but in' Kazan, 
 about Astrakhan, and in the Krimea, they have 
 preserved their national peculiarities. The 
 genuine Tartar is well made, of an ordinary 
 
SAMOYEDES. 6S 
 
 height, lean, with an oval head, dark brown 
 hair, white firm teeth, small mouth, little black 
 expressive eyes, and a fresh and lively complex- 
 ion ; all recommended by a modest and discreet 
 behaviour. An open friendly countenance, the 
 bloom of health, and harmonious proportion 
 of the limbs, impart an uncommon charm to the 
 females. This fine form is lost among" some of 
 the tribes; the Bashkirs are more fleshy, have 
 flatter faces, larger ears, and stronger limbs : 
 among the Rirghises the Tartarian eye is even 
 less than usual. Temperance and cleanliness 
 are imperative duties with the Tartars, being 
 strictly inculcated in the Koran : they are 
 commanded to wash several times a-day, and 
 reckon not less than two hundred and five fast- 
 days in a year. Polygamy is allowed ; but the 
 poor have rarely more than one wife, and the 
 rich not more than two. The Tartars are for 
 the, most part shepherds, who move their habi- 
 tations according as they find suitable pasture 
 for their flocks and herds. Some of them pay 
 the capitation tax, and furnish recruits, but have 
 permanent property in their lands j others have 
 their own constitution and princes. 
 
 The Samoyedes, who are found from the 
 White sea to the regions beyond the Yenisei, 
 and in European Russia, from the 65th, and 
 in Siberia from the 75th degrees of north latitude, 
 to the shores of the Arctic ocean, deserve to be 
 
64 STATE OP RUSSIA. 
 
 mentioned as forming 1 the extreme point of 
 human degradation : they are about four feet in 
 height, squat built, having a thick smooth head, 
 flat nose, thin lips, large mouth and ears, with 
 little, black, long, slit eyes; their skin shines 
 with grease. The women are more slender, but 
 equally hideous, and bear children in the ele- 
 venth year of their age, though not beyond the 
 the thirtieth ; they live in holes dug in the 
 ground. A single herdsman among the Lap- 
 landers possesses a thousand rein-deer, while 
 among the Samoyedes a hundred is a large for- 
 tune. They subsist on fish. Paganism prevails 
 among them.* 
 
 * The materials of the foregoing chapters have been 
 drawn principally from Mr. Tooke's View of the Russian Em- 
 pire. Mr. Tooke is a laborious and accurate writer; and 
 though partial to the Russians, usually adduces such facts, 
 as may enable his reader to form his own judgment without 
 danger of mistake. 
 
CHAP. III. 
 
 HOUSE OF EOMANOF. 
 
 Abridgment of Russian History from the Foundation of the 
 Monarchy to the Accession of the Hou^c of Romanof 
 RurickOIeg Igor Olga Sviatoslof Vladimir In* 
 troduction of Christianity Consequence* of partitioning the 
 Kingdom Ivan the Great Ivan the Tyrant Intercourse 
 tvith England Conquest of Siberia Revolutions -Elec* 
 tion of Michael Romanof His Ancestor s-^and Life. 
 
 origin of the Russians, like that of other 
 European nations, is involved in obscurity ; and 
 history has recorded little of them that can be 
 interesting to civilized men, till the beginning of 
 the seventeenth century. Barbarous nations 
 present great uniformity in their transactions. 
 
 In the fifth century, it is thought, a horde of 
 Slavonians from the Danube, settled on the 
 shores of the Dnieper, Neva, and Volkhof. They 
 established two principalities, Kief and Nov- 
 gorod. The Slavonians of Novgorod formed 
 a considerable republic ; but in consequence of 
 internal dissentions, were harassed by the in- 
 cursions .of their neighbours, as well as of the 
 Varages, piratical tribes, who inhabited the 
 western coasts of the Baltic. As these Varages 
 mercenaries as well as ptrates, the Novgo- 
 
60 HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 rodians had recourse to them for assistance. It 
 soon appeared that the auxiliaries were resolved 
 to retain a part of the country as the reward of their 
 services. Attempts to expel them being ineffec- 
 tual, theNovgorodians submitted to the yoke; and 
 Rurick, who survived his companions in arms, 
 formed the Varages, and Slavonians into one na- 
 tion, which retained the Slavonic language and 
 manners, and from a Varagean tribe, assumed 
 the name of Russians. The present provinces 
 of Archangel, Olonetz, Vyborg, Petersburgh, 
 Novgorod, Vologda, Jaroslof, Kostroma, Vla- 
 dimir, Smolensk, Pscove, Polotsk, Riga, and 
 Reval, were comprehended in the dominions of 
 this prince, who made Novgorod his capital, and 
 dying in 878, transmitted his power to a succes- 
 sion of his descendants for seven centuries. 
 
 Oleg, immediate successor of Rurick, reign- 
 ing as guardian of his nephew Igor, added Kief 
 to his dominions. From hence he meditated the 
 conquest of the eastern empire ; but after com- 
 mitting dreadful ravages, laying siege to Con- 
 stantinople, and imposing a heavy tribute on the 
 emperor Leo the philosopher, he returned to 
 Kief laden with spoil : some years after this, he 
 reduced the emperor to a more humiliating 
 treaty. His nephew Igor, who now received his 
 inheritance, amplified and confirmed, was at first 
 employed in quelling the conquered nations 
 who shewed dispositions to revolt, and then in 
 
HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 67 
 
 repelling" the incursions of the Petschenegrans, a 
 powerful nation from the banks of the Ural and 
 the Volga. As these wars, though successful, 
 did little to satisfy the lust of plunder that ac- 
 tuated the Russians, they again turned their 
 arms against the Greeks ; and Igor, notwith- 
 standing the treaties of his uncle, sailed in 941 
 with an immense army toward Constantinople : 
 he ravaged Paphlagonia, Pontus, and Bithynia, 
 perpetrating every species of outrage. Mean- 
 while the Greeks, rousing themselves, took ven- 
 geance on the invaders. With great slaughter, 
 the Russians were driven to their ships, a great 
 part of which were destroyed : they were again 
 defeated both at sea and land by the patrician 
 Phocas; and Igor returned to Kief with not 
 more than a third of his army. Not discouraged, 
 this prince prepared for a second expedition; 
 but the emperor Romanus sent messengers 
 offering tribute, which, after some hesitation, 
 was accepted. In attacking the Drevlians, 
 whom he had rendered tributary, and exas- 
 perated by repeated outrages, Igor lost his 
 life. 
 
 Olga, his widow, revenged his death in the 
 most barbarous manner on the whole nation; 
 though being afterwards baptized, she was ho- 
 noured as a saint. This princess seemed to un- 
 derstand the duties of a sovereign ; but her en- 
 deavours to instruct her son, and convert her 
 F 2 
 
68 HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 subjects, were equally ineffectual. The priests 
 attended her only in private. In the reign of Olga 
 a taste for luxury arose in the Russian court. 
 
 Sviatoslof, the son of Olga, held in contempt 
 the arts of peace and commerce, and thought of 
 nothing but war : he was a perfect Scythian in 
 bis manners, he dressed his own victuals, generally 
 horse flesh, and made a pillow of his saddle. 
 The arms of this barbarian were first turned 
 against the powerful nation of the Kazares, who 
 inhabited the northern shores of the Euxine. 
 By the entreaties of the emperor Nicephorus 
 Phocas, he came to the assistance of the empire 
 against the Ungrians and Bulgarians. He 
 seized on the country of the latter along the 
 Danube, and resolved to establish the seat of his 
 empire in those regions. While engaged in this 
 etiterprize, he nearly lost his capital, and his 
 family. The Petschenegrans having wasted the 
 country, had laid siege to Kief; and its defenders, 
 though brave and resolute, foresaw a deficiency 
 of provisions and water. Though Priticth, one 
 of his generals, had relieved the capital, the 
 report of the danger recalled Sviatoslof: he sub- 
 dued the invaders, and made preparations for 
 the prosecution of his conquests by dividing his 
 dominions among his children, a most pernicious 
 practice. Contrary to the treaty with Nice- 
 phorus, he determined to retain Bulgaria; but 
 be was reduced to terms by John Zemisces. 
 
HOUSE O^ ROMAN Y OF. 69 
 
 On returning home he was encountered by his 
 inveterate enemies, the Petschenegrans,who slew 
 him, and converted his skull into a goblet with 
 this inscription : " In seizing the property of 
 others, thou hast lost thine own.'* 
 
 Vladimir, one of Sviatoslofs sons, and a 
 prince of great capacity, succeeded in stripping 
 his brother of his portion of the inheritance, and 
 his life. Blude, a villain to whose crimes he 
 was indebted for his triumphs, he treated for 
 three days with every mark of respect ; but on 
 the fourth, he said to him : " J have now fulfilled 
 my promises, thy honours exceed thy utmost 
 wishes; to day as judge I condemn the traitor 
 and assassin of his prince." 
 
 Vladimir was a great idolator, and indulged 
 in all the licence which polytheism allows, hav- 
 ing five wives and eight hundred concubines. 
 Importuned by messengers from various princes 
 to embrace their forms of religion, he sent ten 
 persons into different countries to examine the 
 nature of the religion that was professed in each 
 of them. The pomp and splendor which reli- 
 gion wore in Constantinople made a favourable 
 impression on the minds of the deputies, and the 
 prince resolved to embrace the religion that 
 seemed the most magnificent. Agreeable to 
 this ground of preference, was the mode in which 
 he introduced the religion of his choice. He 
 laid siege to one of the Greek cities, putting up 
 
70 HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 this prayer : " O God help me to take this town, 
 that I may carry from it Christians and priests 
 to instruct me and my people, and convey the 
 true religion into my dominions. " He was bap- 
 tised by the name of Basil, and married the 
 princess Anna, daughter of the Greek emperor. 
 By his orders the God Pertm was dragged into 
 the Dnieper, beaten by twelve soldiers. The 
 chiefs followed the example of their leader; and 
 to induce the people to embrace the new reli- 
 gion, Vladimir employed the following argu- 
 ment : " If it were not for your good to be bap- 
 tized, the prince and the boyars would never 
 have submitted to it." This argument prevailed, 
 and the religion of the Greek church was firmly 
 established in Russia. * 
 
 This prince, while he enlarged his territories, 
 and inspired neighbouring powers with the 
 terror of his arms, neglected not the arts of 
 peace ; he was liberal to the poor ; established 
 colonies in different parts, in order to bring 
 the soil into a state of cultivation ; and endea- 
 voured to transplant into his dominions the arts 
 and the science of Greece. 
 
 On the death of Vladimir his possessions were 
 divided among his children, and Sviatopolk suc- 
 ceeded him in the government of Kief. This 
 prince, a monster of wickedness, after having put 
 
 * Tooke's Hist, of Russia, Vol. I. p. 193202* 
 
HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 71 
 
 to death almost all his father's children, was 
 defeated by Jaroslof, and perished in flight. 
 Garoslof enjoyed the affection of his subjects, 
 and promoted commerce and religion. 
 
 The practice of dividing the kingdom among 
 the children of the prince, was now productive 
 of the most destructive consequences. Russia 
 was exposed to a perpetual series of bloody con- 
 tentions ; the conquered provinces revolted, 
 while contiguous princes seized the opportu- 
 nity of recovering their possessions, or ampli- 
 fying their territories. If a duke of understand- 
 ing and patriotism, endeavoured to reconcile the 
 rival chiefs, and unite the separate principalities 
 in the common defence, his efforts were defeated. 
 The wars thus originating in the division of the 
 kingdom, continued with little interruption until 
 1238, when the Tartars, who had before made 
 incursions into some of the provinces, effected 
 the entire conquest of Russia. The dominion of 
 the Tartars endured above two centuries. 
 
 While the Russians were exasperated by op- 
 pression, and internal tlissentions enfeebled the 
 Tartarian power, Ivan Yassillievitch ascended 
 the throne of Moscow, now the capital of the 
 most powerful of the Russian principalities, and 
 united with those of Susdal and Nishney ; Nov- 
 gorod, Pscove, and Twer likewise acknowledg- 
 ing its authority. Ivan in 1476 shook off the 
 joke of the Tartars, and wrested from them the 
 
?2 ttOUSB OP ROMANOl*. 
 
 kingdom of Cazan ; he reduced- the principality 
 of Novgorod, and added Servia, great part of 
 Lapland, and the province of Permia to his do- 
 minions; and thus became the second founder 
 of the Russian empire. Having thus rescued 
 his country from servitude, European princes 
 began to court his alliance. Ambassadors from 
 Germany, Rome, Poland, Denmark, Venice, 
 and Constantinople, now for the first time ap- 
 peared in Moscow. Ivan's talents were not en- 
 tirely military. His second wife Sophia, niece 
 of Constantine the last emperor of the Greeks, 
 who had stimulated him to shake off the Tar- 
 tarian yoke, also infused into his fierce mind a 
 taste for the arts of peace. He drew artists 
 from Italy, who introduced the art of making 
 gunpowder and founding cannon, recoined the 
 currency, built several churches, and enclosed 
 the Kremlins of Moscow and Novgorod with brick 
 walls, He facilitated intercourse with foreign 
 nations, and improved the Russian commerce* 
 The title taar was first assumed by this prince, 
 whose exploits, civil and military, procured him 
 the appellation great.* 
 
 During the reign of Ivan's successor, the Tar- 
 tars twice penetrated to Moscow, but they did 
 not establish any permanent authority. In 15&3, 
 Ivan Vassillievitch II. a minor of three years, 
 
 * Coxe's travels iti Poland, Russia, &c. Vol. I. p. 329. 
 
HOUSE OF &OMA1SOTP. 73 
 
 ascended the throne of Russia, This prince, 
 who -on account of his barbarities was called 
 the tyrant, contributed greatly to the aggran- 
 dizement of his country. Applying himself to 
 such studies as might qualify him for government, 
 he solicited the emperor Charles V* to send him 
 statesmen and artists in order to civilize his 
 subjects. Above two hundred artists of all 
 professions, engaged by his ambassador, had 
 proceeded to Lubec; but were persuaded to 
 return by the intrigues of the inhabitants of 
 that place, and some natives of Livonia* This 
 insult, which provoked the tzar, was afterwards 
 sufficiently punished. A standing army was 
 formed by this politic prince, fire-arms sub* 
 stituted in the room of the bow, and regular 
 discipline introduced. By these means he finally 
 subdued the kingdom of Cazan, incorporating 
 it with Russia ; he acquired likewise the princi- 
 pality of Astrakhan, and repelled the incursions 
 of the Poles. His subjects received from him 
 the first code of written laws. The intercourse 
 accidentally opened with England, and the ac- 
 quisition of Siberia, were the most important 
 events perhaps of his reign. 
 
 In the summer of 1553, three ships under the 
 command of Sir Hugh Willoughby sailed from 
 Deptford, to explore the North seas* Having 
 reached the 72d degree of North latitude, the 
 ships were dispersed in a storm, one sunk, an-; 
 
74 HOtTSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 other running- into a harbour of Russian Lapland, 
 the crew were frozen to death ; but the third, 
 commanded by Richard Chancellor, anchored 
 at the mouth of the Dvina, where the port of 
 Archangel was afterwards built. The tzar, in- 
 formed of this circumstance, summoned Chancellor 
 to Moscow, where he was treated with respect and 
 kindness, and dismissed with a letter to his so- 
 vereign, assuring the English of every encou- 
 ragement in establishing a trade with Russia. 
 A Russian company was formed by Mary; and 
 Ivan, who expected to reap great commercial 
 and political advantages from this intercourse, 
 granted them liberty to trade in any part of 
 his dominions, without any duty or imposition. 
 These privileges he afterwards confirmed, and 
 carried on a correspondence with queen Eliza- 
 beth, stipulated for an asylum in England, 
 should insurrections oblige him to leave his 
 country, and even entered into negotiations to 
 procure an English lady for his wife. English 
 merchants now settled in different parts of Rus- 
 sia, and by the conquest of Cazan and As- 
 trakhan, a communication having been opened 
 with Persia and Buckharia, carried on, through 
 Moscow, a commerce with the nations beyond 
 the Caspian sea. 
 
 A swarm of the Don Cossacks had migrated 
 toward the east, and by their piratical expedi- 
 tions on the Caspian sea, and the circumjacent 
 
HOUSE OP HOMANOF. 75 
 
 country, spread terror among 1 the neighbouring 
 nations, and annoyed the newly acquired pos- 
 sessions of Russia. Ivan having* made prepara- 
 tions (1577), to chastise these depredators, they 
 were struck with dismay, and fled in different 
 directions. Between six and seven thousand, 
 under the command of their ataman Yermark ? 
 penetrated into Permia, and ascending- the Ural 
 mountains, discovered the vast plains of Siberia, 
 inhabited by ferocious tribes of men. Yermark, 
 animated with the idea of founding in these un- 
 known regions a new empire, raised the spirits 
 of his companions, who were somewhat intimi- 
 dated, marched down the Ural, drove before 
 him the Tartars with their Khan, pressed for- 
 wards to the Tobol and the Irtish and subdued 
 all the tribes of Tartars, Vogules, and Ostiaks^ 
 dwelling between the Ob, and the Ural, and 
 Altaian mountains. As his army, wasted by 
 fatigue, was inadequate to retain such an im- 
 mense tract of country, and keep the conquered 
 nations in obedience, he laid the fruit of his vic- 
 tories at the feet of Ivan, who not only forgave 
 his rebellion, but nobly rewarded his talents and 
 courage. Thus an empire, more extensive and 
 important than Mexico or Peru, was added to 
 the Russian dominions, by a man inferior to the 
 conquerors of the new world, only because his 
 exploits have not been recorded. 
 
 On the death of Ivan in 1584, Russia was ex- 
 
OF 
 
 posed to fresh calamities. Feodore his eldest 
 son who succeeded him, was a prince of noto* 
 rious incapacity. Bielski, the guardian of his 
 youngest son Demetrius, endeavoured to usurp 
 the sovereignty by excluding Feodore and 
 placing his pupil on the throne. Feodore's 
 broth er^in-law, Boris Godunof, then seized on the 
 supreme authority by the assassination of Deme- 
 trius, or of a boy substituted in his stead. He 
 was a prince of capacity, munificence, and dili- 
 gence in discharging the duties of a sovereign ; 
 but during his short reign of eight years, the 
 Tartars penetrated to Moscow, and famine de* 
 solated the country, white to the crimes by which 
 he obtained the crown must be ascribed the re- 
 volutions and miseries that followed in succession 
 for eight years. 
 
 Demetrius, or at least a person pretending to 
 be Demetrius, appeared in Poland; and not- 
 withstanding the efforts of Boris to ma,ke it 
 believed that he was dead, gained numerous 
 partizans, and, entering Russia at the head of 
 4000 Poles, was joined by the Russians from all 
 quarters. Boris driven to despair, poisoned him* 
 self and his son, declared his successor was 
 strangled hy Demetrius, who having defeated 
 his troops, ha$ been received in Moscow with 
 every demonstration of joy. Demetrius was 
 precipitated from his elevation in less than 
 twelve months, and was succeeded by Vossili 
 
MIC&AEI* 77 
 
 Suiski. It was published that Demetrius was still 
 alive, and an army was raised in his favour. No 
 sooner were the adherents of this phantom de- 
 feated, than another pretender arose, and aided 
 by the Poles, whose interests lay in keeping 
 alive the animosities and distractions of the 
 Russians, was acknowledged by almost all 
 Russia. Though the Poles, having attained 
 their object, assisted Suiski in expelling the im- 
 postor, the Russians, who attributed their mis- 
 fortunes to this prince, confined him in a con- 
 vent, where he died. 
 
 The Poles had acquired such an ascendancy 
 during these convulsions, that the vacant throne 
 of Russia was offered to Ladislaus, son of Sigis- 
 mund, king of Poland. Instead of appearing 
 himself, that prince sent an army of Poles into 
 Russia, who by their insolence and oppressions 
 excited fresh tumults. Another Demetrius made 
 his appearance. This state of anarchy and con- 
 fusion continued for three years, when the Rus- 
 sians considering the election of Ladislaus as 
 void, thought upon choosing a new sovereign. 
 Michael Romanof was proposed, a youth of 
 Vixteen. His inexperience being objected, it is 
 probable that though supported by many of the 
 tiobles he would have been rejected, had not one 
 of the clergy, who were zealous in his favour, 
 confounded opposition by declaring that it had 
 been revealed ta him, that young- Romanof 
 
78 HOUSE OF ROMAN OF. 
 
 would prove the most fortunate and prosperous 
 of the tzars that had ever sat upon the throne.* 
 Thus the general concurrence was secured. 
 This event, which happened June llth, 1613, 
 put a period to the civil contentions of Russia, 
 which in the space of sixteen years had seen five 
 princes perish by violence, and experienced as 
 many revolutions. 
 
 The house of Romanof derived its origin from 
 Andrew, a Prussian prince, who came into Rus- 
 sia in the middle of the fourteenth century. 
 His grandson Zachariah attained the highest 
 honours in the court of Vassili Vassillievitch, 
 and left several children. His second son, Yury, 
 was boyar in the reignof Ivan Vassillievitch, to 
 whom his daughter, Anastasia, was the first 
 wife. The third son enjoyed the rank of 
 voivode. Nicetas the youngest, likewise a 
 boyar, was the father of Feodore Romanof, 
 whose only son was Michael, now chosen 
 tzar. 
 
 Feodore Romanof, f in consequence of his ta- 
 lents, popularity, and great connexions, wasobnox- 
 ious totheusurperBorisGodunof, who obliged him 
 to enter the priesthood, and confined him in a 
 monastery. On this event he changed his name 
 
 * Tooke's Hist, of Russia, Vol. II. p. 4. 
 
 -j- It is customary with the Russians to adopt the appella- 
 tion of the grandfather as a family name. Feodore's grand- 
 father was called Roman. 
 
MICHAEL. 79 
 
 to Philaretes. The tzar Demetrius released 
 him from confinement, and gave him the arch- 
 bishopric of Rostof. When the nobles had 
 agreed to seat Ladislaus upon the throne of 
 Russia, Philaretes was sent ambassador to Sigis- 
 mund to settle the conditions of his son's eleva- 
 tion. The Polish monarch was at that time en^ 
 gaged in the siege of Smolensk. The reply of 
 the ambassador, when the king demanded the 
 immediate surrender of that town, discovers his 
 spirit. <c When your son," said Philaretes. " as- 
 cends our throne, he will not only possess Smo- 
 lensk, but all Russia, and it does not become 
 you to dismember his territories." This cou- 
 rageous reply, with other remonstrances respect- 
 ing his treatment of Russia, so exasperated 
 Sigismund, that he arrested the ambassador, and 
 threw him into prison. Philaretes suffered a ri. 
 gorous confinement of nine years in the castle of 
 Marienburg in Prussia. So little were the rights 
 of nations known among all these people, and so 
 feeble at that time was the Russian power. 
 
 The truce of Develina, concluded in 1(519, re- 
 leased Philaretes, who on his return to Moscow, 
 received the patriarchate from the hands of his 
 son ; and, in reality, though not ostensibly, as- 
 sumed the administration of affairs. In many 
 public acts his name was associated with his 
 sou's ; he gave audiences to ambassadors ; and 
 on public occasions he often took the precedence 
 
80 HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 of the tzar. Experience, moderation, and sa- 
 gacity which entitled him to this power and 
 dignity, were displayed in the prosperity of Mi- 
 chael's reign. Phila,retes having attained an ad- 
 vanced age and reached the highest honour in 
 the church and the greatest power in the state, 
 died in 1633, the regret of the whole kingdom.* 
 
 When Michael was chosen to govern the 
 Russians, he resided, with his mother, in a 
 convent at Kostroma, entirely ignorant of what 
 had taken place. Informed of his good fortune^ 
 by deputies sent for that purpose^ he recollected 
 the calamities of all the tzars, since the death 
 of Rurick's last successor, Feodore Ivanovitch ; 
 and bursting into tears, declined a dignity which 
 seemed to involve the ruin of those who enjoyed 
 it. The importunities of the deputies, however, 
 inforced by the splendors of royalty, overcame 
 the youth's reluctance. He repaired to Mos- 
 cow, and was crowned with the usual solemnities, 
 
 The marriage of the young tzar must appear 
 very singular. The most beautiful young wo- 
 men were draw r n from the provinces to the 
 court. They were received by the chief lady 
 of the court, eat together, and lodged separately. 
 The tzar observed them privately, and even 
 visited them at night to see whether they slept 
 quietly. On the day fixed for the marriage, 
 she 011 whom the choice fell, was presented with 
 
 * CW's Travels, Vol. I. , 
 
MICHAEL. 81 
 
 a ring" and handkerchief, and the others were 
 dismissed with presents. This custom, of which 
 several examples are found in the Russian an- 
 nals, was derived from the Tartars. Thus 
 Michael Romanof married Eudocia, the daugh- 
 ter of a poor man found at plough, when the 
 messengers sent with presents, informed him 
 of the honour conferred on his family. * 
 
 The first care of Michael, after his accession, 
 was to reconcile contending factions, and thereby 
 unite the nation, which, having been so long 
 torn by convu]sions, seemed an easy prey to 
 the Swedes and Poles, both in a state of hostility. 
 It was announced that the tzar Demetrius had 
 left a son, whom he had intrusted to the guar- 
 dianship of a certain Zaruski ; but the conspira- 
 tors being seized, the plot came to nothing*. 
 Another pretender that arose in Pscove was taken 
 and hung. Thus the attempts to overthrow 
 served to establish the new family on the throne, 
 
 As the kingdom was too much exhausted to 
 encounter the kings of Sweden and Poland at 
 once, the tzar endeavoured an accommodation 
 with the Swedes. They had come at the re- 
 quest of the usurper Suiski, as auxiliaries against 
 Poland , but not having received the stipulated 
 wages, they had seized K^exholm and Novgorod, 
 the one by famine, the other by stratagem, 
 
 * Tooke, vol. ii. p.. 31. 
 G 
 
82 HOUSE OJB 1 ROMANOF. 
 
 Yielding to necessity, the tzar ceded to them 
 Ingria and Carelia, and evacuated Esthonia and 
 Livonia. If he thus allowed the communication 
 with the Baltic to be interrupted, he entertained 
 a hope that more prosperous times would enable 
 Russia to recover her possessions. 
 
 The king of Poland now found that all hopes 
 were vain, of seeing his son upon the throne of 
 the tzars. The army sent into Russia, for that 
 purpose, was reduced to great difficulties. Sigis- 
 mund therefore concluded a treaty for fourteen 
 years and a half, by which he acquired Smolensk 
 and other towns. Ry this treaty the tzar re- 
 covered his father, whom he created patriarch. 
 To the wisdom and experience of this old man, 
 the moderation and gentleness of his son's reign 
 ought to be ascribed. 
 
 Michael sent ambassadors to England, Den- 
 mark, and Holland, and thus made Russia 
 known to European nations. 
 
 As the Poles might renew the war at the ex- 
 piration of the treaty, the tzar did not neglect 
 to put his dominions in a state of defence. Fo- 
 reign officers were appointed to command the 
 troops. Under pretence of having made peace 
 merely with Sigismund, on the death of that 
 monarch, Michael endeavoured to recover the 
 ceded territories. Rut the attempt was as un- 
 successful as it was unjust. The Russians were 
 yet undisciplined. The same officer who had 
 
MICHAEL. 83 
 
 defended Smolensk against the Poles, now lay 
 two years before it with 50,000 men and at 
 last retreated on capitulation. The failure of 
 the campaign excited murmurs against the war, 
 and, as the king of Sweden who had been soli- 
 cited to assist against the Poles, shewed no dis- 
 position to comply, the tzar was obliged to 
 make peace. 
 
 During his reign, Michael Feodorovitch la- 
 boured to invigorate a relaxed administration, 
 infuse energy into the laws and revive com- 
 merce. Respected by neighbouring princes and 
 beloved by his subjects, he died in the twenty- 
 third year of his reign, leaving his son Alexey 
 Michaelovitch * in quiet possession of the 
 throne. 
 
 * Vitch signifies son. 
 
84 HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 Tyranny of Morosof Submission of the Malo- Russian Cossac&s 
 War with Poland Rebellion of StenJco Razin Labours 
 and Death of AlexeyFeodore Peter's Election Revo- 
 lution Sophia's Government and Fall Birth and early 
 Life of Peter I. His Attention to Naval and Military 
 Affairs Campaigns toward AzofTravels Sedition of the 
 Strelitzes Innovations. 
 
 ALEXEY was but fifteen on the death of his fa- 
 ther, who had entrusted his education to Morosof. 
 This man, whose ambition was not inferior to his 
 capacity, persuaded Alexey to marry one of the 
 daughters of the boyar, Milolafski, and by mar- 
 rying the other himself, seizing on the principal 
 offices of state, advancing his creatures, remov- 
 ing his enemies, improving the armies, and 
 strengthening the frontiers, rendered himself 
 despotic. While eager to attain power, he was 
 ignorant of the proper means of securing it. He 
 scrupled not the most flagrant crimes; justice 
 was scandalously administered ; judges were 
 bribed ; witnesses bought ; profligates employed 
 to accuse the rich ; excessive monopolies multi- 
 plied ; and the nobles carried their oppressions 
 
ALfiXEY. 85 
 
 to extremes. Hence arose discontents, which 
 men, who thought themselves neglected, did 
 not fail to foment. Petitions were presented to 
 the tzar in vain. At last the fury of oppression 
 broke forth. The populace proceeded to plunder 
 the most obnoxious ; nor were they pacified till 
 they had killed the chief magistrate of Moscow, 
 and forced another from the tzar, to whose in- 
 treaties they reluctantly yielded the life of Mo- 
 rosof, Thus tranquillity was restored in Moscow, 
 Novgorod, and Pscove. Morosof was taught 
 moderation, while Alexey learnt to distrust his 
 ministers. 
 
 Disturbances were excited by a person who 
 now pretended to be the son of Demetrius, and 
 then of Suiski. Falling' into the hands of the 
 
 o 
 
 Russians, he expiated his impostures on the 
 gallows. 
 
 In the fourteenth century, when Kief was re- 
 duced by the Lithuanians, a multitude of fu- 
 gitives collected in the lower regions of the 
 Dnieper, and formed a military government and 
 colony, which by fresh accessions spread to the 
 Bog and the Dniester. These were the Malo- 
 Russian Cossacks The winter they passed 
 in villages with their families, and in summer, 
 roamed about the stepps, engaged in perpetual 
 warfare with the Turks and Tartars. As a 
 barrier against these formidable enemies, they 
 were encouraged by the Polish princes, who 
 
8(5 HOUSE OF ROMANOtf. 
 
 gave them the tracts about the cataracts of the 
 Dnieper, and contiguous districts, and put them 
 under military discipline. Departing from this 
 useful policy, however, the Poles began to op- 
 press the Cossacks, to usurp the principal offices 
 among them, and compel them to acknowledge 
 the supremacy of the pope. These oppressions 
 induced the Cossacks to throw off the dominion 
 of Poland, and offer submission to the Rus- 
 sians. 
 
 Alexey was desirous of recovering the posses* 
 sions which the Poles had wrested from his father, 
 and embraced this opportunity to demand restitu- 
 tion. War being now begun, the tzar was so suc- 
 cessful as to provoke the jealousy of the Swedes, 
 who resolved to protect the Lithuanians. As the 
 Russians were not yet a match for the Swedes, 
 Alexey concluded a truce with them in 1658, 
 which he afterwards confirmed into a peace, 
 things returning to their former channel. The 
 war with Poland terminated in 1686, highly to 
 his advantage, as the Poles relinquished Smo- 
 lensk, Servia, Kief, and Tchemigof, as well as 
 the sovereignty of the Cossacks. 
 
 A Cossack chief, whose brother had been 
 hung, now excited a terrible sedition, \vhich 
 would have produced the most disastrous con- 
 sequences, if the capacity of the leader had 
 been equal to his daring. This man, whose 
 name was Stenko Razin, taking advantage of 
 
ALEXEY. 87 
 
 the clamours raised against Alexey's govern- 
 ment, pretending- to have with him the patriarch 
 Nicon, who had abdicated his dignity, and in- 
 dulging his followers in all the licence of plun- 
 der, collected an army of 200,000 men, and 
 thought to make himself king at Astrakhan. 
 Little capable of conducting such an enterprize, 
 he was so weak as to believe an ataman, who 
 pretended that the tzar had forgiven him, and 
 was desirous of seeing him ; and he was convinced 
 of his mistake only when near Moscow, he 
 met with a gallows. His followers dispersed, 
 and round Astrakhan 10,000 of them were 
 hung. 
 
 The Turks were now Alexey's most formida- 
 ble enemies. The sultan, Mahomet IV. had im- 
 posed a tribute on Poland,and haughtily demanded 
 from the tzar the evacuation of the Ukraine, 
 styling the sovereign of theRussias Christian Hos- 
 podar, and himself king of the whole world. But 
 Alexey replied, that he would not submit to a 
 MaJwmetan dog, and that his sword was equal to 
 the cimetar of the Grand Signior: * a truth which 
 succeeding ages have abundantly verified. 
 
 Alexey sent ambassadors to almost all the 
 great princes of Europe, in order to unite them 
 against the Turks; but like other projects of 
 that nature, his proposal met only with approba- 
 
 * Histoire de Aussie, P ar M. De Voltaire, p. 51. 
 
88 HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 tion. He amended the code of laws compiled 
 by Ivan Vassillievitch ; he peopled the deserts of 
 the Volga and Kama with prisoners of war ; he 
 procured ship-builders, whom he employed in 
 building* ships on the Caspian sea ; he introduced 
 discipline into the army, having a great number 
 of foreign officers in his service ; in short he 
 began those improvements which his successors 
 have acquired such fame in labouring to perfect. 
 A premature death interrupted his wise and be- 
 nificent plans, in the 47th year of his life, and 
 thirty-second of his reign. 
 
 Alexey had been twice married. By his first 
 wife, Maria Ilinitchna, he had two sons, Feodore 
 and Ivan, and six princesses ; and by his second, 
 Natalia, a daughter of the boyar Nariskin, he 
 had Peter and Natalia. The influence which 
 the family of Maria had enjoyed during her life, 
 was engrossed, on the tzar's second marriage, by 
 the Nariskins; and thus two hostile parties arose 
 in the court. Feodore being enfeebled by disease, 
 and Ivan being equally weak in body and in 
 mind, the Nariskins proposed to set both aside, 
 and raise Peter to the throne. Their schemes 
 were defeated, and on the accession of Feodore, 
 they were excluded from all share in the public 
 administration. 
 
 Feodore was but fifteen on coming to the 
 throne, and, though of a sickly constitution, yet 
 by the advice of his sister Sophia, intrusting the 
 
FEODORE. 89 
 
 management of affairs to Prince Galitzin, he 
 accomplished several important objects. The 
 war with the Turks, which he inherited from 
 his father, he brought to an honourable conclu- 
 sion by a truce of twenty years, his authority 
 over the Cossacks being acknowledged. He 
 improved the police of Moscow, and the general 
 administration of justice ; he assisted those who 
 were in low circumstances with money, and 
 procured a regular supply of provisions at a 
 moderate price. He put down several destruc- 
 tive prejudices, as that ancestors constitute merit ; 
 that every thing is best as it is; and that the 
 tzarina must be a Russian; telling the patriarch, 
 that if he were not allowed to marry whom, he 
 pleased, he would not marry at all. He even 
 attempted innovations in the Russian dress. 
 The death of this prince, without issue, in 1682, 
 gave rise to sanguinary contests. 
 
 The Nariskins, who had already been disap- 
 pointed in their aims, and during the late reign 
 excluded from power, now seemed to attain the 
 summit of their wishes. At an assembly of the 
 principal persons of the kingdom, nobles, clergy, 
 and merchants, held on the death of Feodore, 
 the artifice and influence of the Nariskins, pro- 
 cured a vote, by which Ivan was excluded, in 
 consequence of imbecility, Peter, a youth of 
 ten years, declared tzar, and his mother, Natalia, 
 intrusted with the government. This nomina- 
 
90 HOUSE OF BOMANOF. 
 
 tion, however, was far from giving general satis- 
 faction. The Milolafskis, enemies of the Na- 
 riskins, formed a powerful party; Peter's elec- 
 tion had not been confirmed by the Strelitzes, 
 who commanded fourteen thousand armed 
 votes; and events occurred which produced a 
 revolution. * 
 
 Just before Feodore's death, nine regiments 
 of the Strelitzes, quartered in Moscow, timiultu 
 ously demanded redress of grievances, and dis- 
 charge of their arrears. One of the ring- 
 leaders, whom Dolgorucky their commander, 
 ordered to be punished, they rescued, and in- 
 sulted the executioners. On the day after 
 Feodore's interment, proceeding in a large body 
 to the Kremlin, the palace of the tzars, they pre- 
 sented a petition against their colonels. The 
 ministry were obliged not only to break the 
 officers, but deliver them to the soldiers, who 
 flogged them, and extorted from them thanks 
 and money. These discontents were inflamed 
 by Ivan Milolafski, who, during the night, held 
 several interviews with the ringleaders. In the 
 morning, it being reported that Peter was not 
 unanimously elected, the soldiers assembled, and 
 two of Milolafski's emissaries entered their 
 quarters exclaiming, " Ivan Alexievitch is mur- 
 dered; the Nariskins are masters of Russia ; the 
 
 * Coxe, Vol. II. p. 28. 
 
SOPHIA. 91 
 
 hour of vengeance is come.'* Inflamed to mad- 
 ness, the Strelitzes marched to the palace, de- 
 manding Ivan's assassins. The tzarina pre- 
 sented both Ivan and Peter ; but far from being 
 appeased, they loudly demanded the lives of the 
 Nariskins. A report that Ivan Nariskin had 
 seized the diadem, heightened their fury. While 
 an officer, who ventured to address them amidst 
 the tumult, seemed, by assuring them that Prince 
 Ivan was in perfect safety, and that their 
 grievances should be redressed, to appease 
 their minds, prince Dolgorucky had the im- 
 prudence to threaten them with severe punish- 
 ment. Again enraged, they threw the prince 
 in the air, and receiving him on the point of 
 their pikes, tore his body in pieces. A general 
 massacre and pillage now commenced, which 
 raged for three days. So blind was the fury of 
 the insurgents, that they murdered not only the 
 two Nariskins, brothers of the tzarina, and 
 others who were obnoxious to them, but persons 
 whom they esteemed, and lamented on discover- 
 ing their error. 
 
 At the close of this scene of ferocity, the prin- 
 cipal nobles assembled, and agreed that Ivan 
 and Peter should reign jointly. As Ivan was 
 little better than an idiot, and Peter in his mi- 
 nority, it was expedient to create a regency ; 
 and as the partizans of the Milolafskis, who had 
 been very active in stimulating the fury of the 
 
92 HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 military, were now triumphant, the Princess So- 
 phia, the third of Alexey's daughters, was asso- 
 ciated with her brothers in the quality of co- 
 regent. 
 
 This princes thus, (1682), without being de- 
 clared tzarina, obtained the supreme power. In 
 the bloom of youth, and of an agreeable figure, 
 she had a superior mind enriched by literature; 
 and while her manners were engaging, her am- 
 bition was equal to her talents. Sophia reposed 
 her confidence in Vassili Galitzin, who had 
 distinguished himself under the reign of her 
 father and brother; and who, according to the 
 testimony of his enemies, was in every respect 
 superior to his rivals ; refined, full of great de- 
 signs, active, laborious, and capable of effecting 
 the greatest improvements in Russia, had power 
 and events concurred with his inclination. In 
 order to exclude Peter, and thus retain the au- 
 thority which she had acquired, Sophia resolved on 
 the marriage of the tzar Ivan. Accordingly he 
 married in 1684 a young lady of the family of 
 Soltikof, whose father commanded a garrison in 
 the midst of Siberia, and who having, according 
 to the custom on such occasions, been drawn, 
 with many others, to the court of Moscow, had 
 vanquished her rivals by her superior beauty. 
 Amidst the feasting on this event, a new sedition 
 broke out among the Strelitzes. 
 
 Prince Kovanskoi had contributed to Sophia's 
 
SOPHIA. 93 
 
 elevation. Thinking- himself entitled to a great 
 share of the authority which Galitzin enjoyed, 
 he beheld the elevation of that minister with 
 envy. He attempted to ally himself to the royal 
 family by soliciting one of the princesses for his 
 son ; and had been mortified with a refusal. 
 Impelled by ambition and revenge, he excited 
 to revolt the Strelitzes, who had been a little 
 heated by disputes respecting some trivial reli- 
 gious opinions, and determined to exterminate 
 the family of the tzars, and all their adherents, 
 and seat himself on the throne. Ivan, Peter, 
 Sophia, and the other princesses, were obliged to 
 flee to the monastery of the trinity, a convent 
 and a fortress, about forty miles from Moscow. 
 As the news of the danger spread, the nobility, 
 with their vassals, collected in great numbers. 
 Sophia opened a negociatiou with the rebel, 
 contrived to get him into her power, and be- 
 headed him, with his sons, and thirty-seven of 
 the Strelitzes, who attended him. This act of 
 justice exasperated the body of the Strelitzes. 
 They marched to the convent of the trinity, 
 breathing destruction. But finding that a stout 
 resistance would be made, their courage forsook 
 them, they gave up their leaders, and every 
 tenth man was beheaded.* 
 
 * Tooke, Vol. II. p. 60. Voltaire, p. 6162. 
 
94 HOUSE OF KOMANOF. 
 
 Tranquillity succeeded to these convulsions, 
 and Sophia retained her authority. The most 
 mutinous regiments of the Strelitzes were dis- 
 tributed in distant provinces. Poland aban^ 
 doned, in 1686, all pretensions to the provinces 
 of Smolensk and the Ukraine. In the following 
 year an embassy was sent, for the first time, 
 into France, which was celebrated by the Aca- 
 demy of Inscriptions, as if it had come from 
 China; so little was Russia known to the nations; 
 of Europe. Sophia governed with prudence 
 and vigour ; but several circumstances conspired 
 to terminate her authority. 
 
 The coins had impressed on one sicje the 
 lieads of the two princes, while the other ex* 
 hibited the image of Sophia, arrayed with the 
 crown, sceptre, and imperial robes ; that princess 
 in public processions appeared in all the ensigns 
 of royalty ; and, in the public acts, her name 
 was added to that of Jvan and Peter. These 
 circumstances were adduced by the Nariskins as 
 proofs of an ambition that ought to be 
 checked. The Tartars of the Crimea wished 
 to impose an annual tribute of 60,000 rwbles 
 upon the Russians, and in order to wipe off this 
 disgrace, his eaemies contrived to send Galitzia 
 at the head of a numerous army into Crim 
 Tartary, a field from which the minister returned 
 without any accession to his faine. Peter now 
 
PETER I. 05 
 
 aspired to empire. By commerce with 
 the sons of the nobles, he had gained their 
 affection; and stimulated by his relatives, he 
 took his seat in the privy council, where a vio- 
 lent altercation passed between him and his 
 sister Sophia. Variance and jealousy grew to 
 such a height, that Peter resolved to arrest his 
 sister, and assume the direction of affairs. When 
 his intentions were known, it is pretended that 
 Sophia and prince Galitzin determined to anti- 
 cipate him, and employed a body of the Strelitzes 
 to put him to death. The tzar was obliged to 
 take refuge again in the convent of the trinity, 
 where troops flocked to him in such numbers, 
 that in three days he had 60,000 men under his 
 command. Sophia expressed the utmost horror 
 at the attempt, and even left Moscow to assert 
 her innocence. But she was ordered to return, 
 and Peter, who soon followed, gave the first ex- 
 ample of that severity which distinguished his 
 reign. Some of the conspirators were beheaded, 
 after having received the knoot; others, who 
 were only suspected, were deprived of their 
 tongues. Prince Galitzin, stript of his property, 
 was banished to Siberia, and Sophia was con- 
 fined for life in a nunnery. Peter from this time 
 reigned alone; for though the name of Ivan was 
 inserted in the public acts, he led a private life 
 till his death in 1696. 
 
 In the solitude of her convent, Sophia is said 
 
96 HOUSE OF ROM AN OF. 
 
 to have been concerned in all the conspiracies 
 and insurrections that disturbed the reign of 
 Peter, during 1 her life. But though tortures and 
 rewards were alternately employed to procure 
 evidence, proof of her guilt could never be 
 found. It must be mentioned, to the honour of 
 this princess, that while Russia was sunk in 
 extreme ignorance, she encouraged learning, as 
 well by the patronage of men of genius, as by 
 examples of composition. She translated Moliere's 
 Medicin malgre lui, and wrote a tragedy, the first 
 perhaps in the Russian tongue. Her death hap- 
 pened July 3, 1704, in the forty-seventh year of 
 her age.* 
 
 Peter, surnamed the great, was born in the 
 palace of the tzars in the Kremlin, May the 30th, 
 old style, 1672. He lost his father while in his 
 fifth year; and the care of bringing him up de- 
 volving upon his mother, his education was not 
 only neglected, but he was abandoned to all the 
 excess of intemperance and debauchery. From 
 his infancy he was subject to epileptic fits, a 
 disease hereditary to his family, which though 
 less violent as he grew stronger, tormented him 
 all his life, and often raised to madness the na- 
 tural ferocity of his mind. At an early age he 
 married one of his subjects, daughter of colonel 
 Lapukin ; but he suffered not the ties of marriage 
 
 * Coxe, Vol. II. p, 4249. 
 
PETER T. 97 
 
 to restrain his lasts. Amidst his riotous pleasures, 
 however, the attention of Peter was turned to 
 military affairs, and his genius awakened to 
 those vast schemes that employed his life. 
 
 Among the persons with whom the young 
 tzar shared his pleasures and his confidence, was 
 the famous Le Fort, of an old and respectable 
 family of Piedmont, settled for some ages at 
 Geneva. Averse to business, and inclined to 
 adventures, Le Fort left his father's house at the 
 age of fourteen, served as a cadet in the citadel 
 of Marseilles, and afterwards as a volunteer in 
 Holland, where he was wounded at the siege of 
 Grave. In hope of promotion, he sailed in 1675 
 with a German colonel, who had been commis- 
 sioned by the tzar Alexey to raise soldiers in 
 the Low Countries, and conduct them to Arch- 
 angel. When these adventurers arrived, they 
 had the mortification to learn that Alexey was 
 dead, and the government changed. After being 
 roughly used by the governor of Archangel, and 
 threatened with Siberia, Le Fort went to Mos- 
 cow, where he became secretary to the Danish 
 resident, learnt the Russian tongue, and was 
 presented to the tzar Peter. Though Le Fort 
 had not read or studied, he had a good under- 
 standing ; with the faculty of observing, he had 
 seen much, and withal was a hard drinker. 
 By participating in his pleasures, he gained the 
 favour of the tzar, who profited by his informa- 
 
 H 
 
98 HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 tion, and imparted to him his designs. During' 
 the regency of Sophia, a company, consisting 
 chiefly of the sons of nobles, was formed in the 
 palace Preobaginsky, under the direction of Le 
 Fort. To teach the nobles subordination, Peter 
 made them pass through all ranks, and gave 
 himself the example, serving, in the company, at 
 first as a drummer, then as a scrldier, serjeant, 
 and lieutenant. Thus passed the first years of 
 this extraordinary man. 
 
 As soon as Peter was absolute master, he di- 
 rected his thoughts to the improvement of the 
 army. The war with the Tartars was concluded 
 in 1689, but they were not expected to remain 
 long quiet. The Strelitzes had already provoked 
 the displeasure of the tzar by their turbulent and 
 seditious humour, and as they were entirely 
 without discipline, he resolved to put himself in 
 a condition to disband them with safety. Le 
 Fort, to whom he communicated this dangerous 
 design, undertook to raise a regiment of 12,000 
 men, and another of 5,000 was under the com- 
 mand of general Gordon, a Scotchman. la 
 order to exercise these soldiers, consisting prin- 
 cipally of foreigners,. Peter engaged them in a 
 mock fight, which may serve to display the 
 character of the prince and his officers. A fort 
 was constructed, which one party was to defend, 
 and the other attack; but instead of the image 
 of war, -a real combat ensued, in which some 
 
PETER I. 99 
 
 were killed, and Le Fort himself, with many 
 others, was wounded.* It was immaterial to 
 Peter how many lives he sacrificed, if he accom- 
 plished his designs. 
 
 While Peter was forming 1 an army against 
 the foreign and domestic enemies of his govern- 
 ment, his attention was accidentally turned to the 
 creation of a fleet, and though it is not true that 
 he had a natural aversion to water, his efforts to 
 construct a navy are not the less wonderful. 
 
 Peter's father, Alexey, had procured, at a 
 great expense, a master ship-builder, carpenters, 
 and sailors, in order to construct vessels, and 
 carry on trade, on the Caspian sea. The re- 
 bellion of Stenko Razin, who destroyed a frigate 
 and a yacht, which had been built on the Volga, 
 frustrated this design. But a boat, which had 
 been built by one of the carpenters, was observed 
 by Peter one day as he was walking near Moscow. 
 His curiosity was excited ; he inquired of Tim- 
 merman, who taught him fortification, why it was 
 not constructed as the boats on the Moskwa. 
 Timmerman replied, that it was designed to sail 
 against the wind. The young prince wished to 
 try it. Brandt the builder, who still remained in 
 Russia, was instantly summoned, and having put 
 the vessel in repair, launched it on the river 
 Yausa, where he sailed in it, to the astonishment of 
 
 * Voltaire, p. 71. 
 H 2 
 
100 HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 the delighted tzar. He embarked^ and under 
 Brandt's direction, soon learnt to manage the 
 vessel. After several experiments upon the 
 Yausa, a yacht was built on the Moskwa, in 
 which Peter sailed ( 160 1 ), as far as Columna, 
 Animated with his success, he ordered Brandt 
 to build vessels with guns, on the lake Perislaf, 
 and in the following year several were launched. 
 The death of Brandt seemed to check the in- 
 crease of his fleet, but did not interrupt his ex- 
 peditions on the Jake, which he pursued with 
 the utmost eagerness. * 
 
 The tzar's ambition, which began to find the 
 lake too narrow, hurried him in the middle of 
 the subsequent summer to Archangel. He em- 
 barked on the White sea, where, in this, and the 
 following year, he made frequent voyages, in 
 which he improved in the art of navigation. 
 These adventures may seem the amusement of 
 youth, but the time arrived when they led to 
 victory and conquest. 
 
 The first war in whicli Peter engaged, was 
 with the Turks. They had been worsted by the 
 Venetians; and by the Austrians; and their allies 
 the Crim Tartars, were checked by the Poles. 
 These circumstances seemed to favour the designs 
 of the tzar upon the Euxine. A great army, in? 
 which he served as a volunteer, marched toward 
 
 * Coxe, Vol. II> p. 17& 
 
PETER I, 101 
 
 the mouth of theDon,and began the siege of Azof. 
 As it was impossible to take the town without 
 blocking up the harbour, and as the tzar had no 
 ships, after great loss, the siege was raised. 
 
 Peter was excited rather than discouraged by 
 difficulties. He ordered vessels to be built at 
 Veronetz, applied to the emperor Leopold, the 
 states general, and the elector of Brandenburgh, 
 for engineers, artillery-men, and sailors, and en- 
 gaged the Calmucks as auxiliaries against the 
 Tartars. 
 
 Next year (1696), his fleet, two ships of war 
 with twenty-three gallies, two galliots, and four 
 fire ships, appeared in the Black sea, blocked 
 up the harbour of Azof, and defeated the Turkish 
 squadron, while his army compelled the besieged 
 to surrender the place July 28th, without any of 
 the honours of war. In order to secure his con- 
 quests, and to make himself master of the straits 
 of Coffa, he fortified Azof, and prepared to build 
 a fleet of nine ships of sixty guns, and forty one, 
 carrying from thirty to fifty pieces of artillery. 
 To this armament, he obliged not only nobles 
 and wealthy merchants, but also the clergy to 
 contribute. His plan was to expel the Turks 
 and Tartars from the Crimea, and establish a 
 commerce with Persia through Circassia. His 
 victories were celebrated by the triumphal entry 
 of his army into Moscow. In the procession, 
 the marshal, generals, admiral, and general 
 
102 HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 officers, preceded the sovereign, who said, he 
 had not yet any rank in the army, and wished, 
 by this example, to teach the nobles that mili- 
 tary honours must be deserved before they are 
 enjoyed. A medal was struck, having on one 
 side this legend ; Peter /., Emperor of Musca- 
 vey, always august; and on the other Azof, 
 with these words; Victor by thunder and the 
 waves.* 
 
 It was mortifying to Peter, amidst his tri- 
 umphs, to be under such obligation to foreigners. 
 He sent therefore sixty young Russians into 
 Italy, Germany, and Holland, to learn ship.- 
 building, naval tactics, and military discipline; 
 and adopted himself the strange resolution of 
 visiting foreign countries, in order to enrich his 
 own with their arts and science. The object 
 of his ambition was to aggrandize Russia; and 
 as the power of European nations arose from 
 their progress in knowledge and the arts, he 
 must begin, he found, by instructing his sub- 
 jects. The death of his brother Ivan, the im- 
 prisonment of the princess Sophia, and the re- 
 spect which he had procured by his victories, it 
 seemed, had established his authority upon a 
 firm basis. He entrusted the regency to Prince 
 Roinodanofski and the boyar Strechnef; the 
 troops under general Gordon remained at Mas* 
 
 * Voltaire, p. 7681. 
 
PETER I. 103 
 
 cow to secure the peace of the capital, while the 
 Strelitzes, who might disturb it, were distributed 
 on the frontiers of the Crimea to retain Azof, 
 and repel the incursions of the Tartars. Hav- 
 ing thus provided for the tranquillity of his do- 
 minions, Peter, twenty-five years of age, de- 
 parted April, 1697, in the suite of his ambas* 
 sadors, to visit, unknown, Denmark, Branden- 
 burgh, Holland, Venice, Vienna, and Rome.* 
 
 In passing through Livonia, the fertility of 
 that province, and the situation of Riga, its ca- 
 pital, inflamed the cupidity of the tzar, desirous 
 of ports on the Baltic, as well as the Euxine. 
 On its arrival in Brandenburgh, the embassy was 
 received by the elector with great pomp. Peter, 
 though he despised the magnificence which the 
 court of Konigsberg affected, was very much 
 gratified with the intemperance in which the 
 Germans of that age gloried. In one of those 
 Bacchanalian feasts, in which this reformer in- 
 dulged, he drew his sword to stab his favourite 
 Le Fort. When the tempest of drink and rage 
 had subsided, he begged Le Fort's pardon, and 
 said, he wished to correct his subjects, but had 
 not yet been able to correct himself, f 
 
 Leaving Brandenburgh, he took his rout 
 through the north of Germany, and arrived at 
 Amsterdam five days before his embassy. In 
 
 * Voltaire, p. 81. f Id. p. 86. 
 
104 HOUSE OP ROMAKOF. 
 
 the dress of a pilot, he went to the town of Sar- 
 dam, where leading- the life of a mechanic, he 
 wrought in the forges, rope-walks, and saw- 
 mills, and enrolled himself under the name of 
 Peter Michaelof, among the carpenters, who 
 familiarly called him Peterbas (Master Peter). 
 His time was divided between Sardam and Am- 
 sterdam. At the former he learnt the whole 
 process of ship-building, and the kindred arts. 
 lie dispatched a sixty-gun ship, in the construc- 
 tion of which he had assisted, to Archangel ; and 
 engaged in his service French refugees, Ger- 
 mans, Dutchmen, artisans of every species, who 
 were sent to Moscow. At Amsterdam, he 
 studied geography, anatomy, engineering, and 
 natural philosophy. While handling the saw 
 and the compass at Sardam, he gave orders to 
 his army assembled in the Ukraine against the 
 Turks, and successive victories, gained by his 
 generals over the Turks and Tartars, imposed si- 
 lence on those who might blame his unexampled 
 conduct. Visits to King William, at Utrecht and 
 the Hague, were almost the only interruptions to 
 the labours and studies of the tzar, till the middle 
 of January 1698, when he sailed for England, 
 
 In Holland, Peter had seen only the process 
 of ship-building j but in England he acquired 
 the science. He lodged near a dock-yard in 
 Deptford, and lived as he had done in Sardam. 
 The art of clock and watch-making drew his 
 
JPETER I. 105 
 
 attention ; and he acquired the knowledge of 
 astronomy. Besides mechanics, he engaged in 
 his service Perry the engineer, and Ferguson 
 the mathematician. Nothing gratified the tzar 
 so much as a naval fight, which King William 
 exhibited for his amusement, and a present 
 made him of a vessel, called the Royal 
 Transport, in which that monarch was accus- 
 tomed to pass into Holland. In this vessel, 
 Peter returned to Holland, having with him 
 three naval captains, twenty-five ship-masters 
 forty lieutenants, thirty pilots, and as many 
 surgeons, two hundred and fifty cannoneers, and 
 three hundred mechanics. This colony of skil- 
 ful men was conveyed in the Royal Transport 
 to Archangel ; while those engaged in Holland, 
 passed through the Swedish territories on the 
 Baltic. 
 
 General Sheremetof, chief of his embassy in 
 Italy, went from Rome to Naples, Venice, and 
 Malta ; but Peter, with the other ambassadors, 
 passed to Vienna, as well to see the military dis- 
 cipline of the Germans, as to converse with the 
 emperor, his ally against the Turks.* 
 
 Meanwhile the Strelitzes, who deemed them- 
 selves the proper defence of the nation, beheld 
 with disapprobation the number of foreign 
 troops in the service. The preference shewn to 
 
 * Voltaire, p. 8293, 
 
106 HOUSE OF ROMAXOF. 
 
 strangers mortified the nobles, and the projected 
 innovations excited general alarm. As the ab- 
 sence of tbe tzar seemed a favourable opportn- 
 nity for recovering- their consequence, 8000 of 
 the Strelitzes marched from the frontiers of 
 Lithuania towards Moscow ; but were met by 
 the troops under General Gordon, who being 
 better disciplined, gained a complete victory. 
 
 The news of this mutiny and defeat reaching 
 Peter, as he was ou the point of leaving Vienna 
 for Venice, he hastened to his capital, and gave 
 an example of what those who opposed his will 
 had reason to apprehend from his power. De- 
 sirous of ascertaining the authors of the rebel- 
 lion, and, above all, of convicting the Princess 
 Sophia, whom he accused of fomenting discon- 
 tents, and corresponding with the rebels, he held in 
 bis palace a court of enquiry. The most ex- 
 quisite tortures were employed, in his presence, 
 to extort evidence against those whom he sus- 
 pected. Some of the criminals were repeatedly 
 whipped; the shoulders of others being dislo- 
 cated by a cord and pulley, in that posture they 
 received the knoot; many after suffering this 
 punishment were roasted over a slow fire, the 
 raw parts being exposed to the flame.* These 
 unhappy beings were hung in numbers about 
 the walls of the city, and the public roads. 
 
 Coxo, Vol.11 p. it. 
 
PETER I. 107 
 
 Two hundred and thirty were suspended about 
 the nunnery, in which the Princess Sophia was 
 confined, Two thousand of the Strelitzes suf- 
 fered capital punishment, the whole body was 
 broken, and their name abolished. These 
 cruelties seemed to announce a man who had 
 studied, not the arts and policy of the polished 
 nations of Europe, but the savage customs of 
 American Indians. This ferocious barbarity, 
 however, was the prelude to reform in evety 
 department. 
 
 As soon as the Strelitzes were abolished, Peter 
 formed regular regiments on the German model. 
 Having passed himself through the lowest ranks 
 in the army, he wished the sons of the nobles 
 to be soldiers before they were officers. Some 
 of them were sent to serve an apprenticeship 
 as sailors, in the fleet on the Don. This fleet 
 >vas improved by the Dutch and English; dock- 
 yards were built, and the plan for the junction 
 of the Don and Volga, was begun. Burghers 
 were appointed to receive the taxes instead of 
 the nobles who had hitherto paid the sums levied 
 on their slaves. The office of patriarch was 
 abolished, and his revenues turned into the 
 public treasury. Absolute master in the church, 
 as well as state, the tzar enacted that no person, 
 employed in the public service, or under the 
 age of fifty, should enter into the monastic 
 
108 HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 life; he relaxed the rigor of fasting, which 
 superstition had carried to a pernicious height ; 
 and, as the clergy were little better instructed 
 than other Russians, he founded at Moscow 
 three colleges for their education. The year 
 which had hitherto commenced among the 
 Muscovites the first of September, was ordered to 
 begin in January. The change was introduced 
 in 1700, with great solemnities. In the mode of 
 writing, the ceremony of marriage, the article of 
 dress, Peter made innovations, as well as in the 
 forms of intercourse among his subjects. It was his 
 object to conform the Russians in these respects 
 to the nations among whom he had travelled ; 
 but, though the terror of his power enforced 
 obedience, the changes were far from agreeable 
 to the nation at large. 
 
 While he entered upon his career of reforma- 
 tion, Peter brought to a close the war with the 
 Turks, by a treaty which left him in possession 
 of Azof, and some forts in its vicinity. This 
 advantage was little in his eyes ; he wished to 
 create a military and naval force, to open a 
 commercial intercourse with the states of Europe, 
 and to make Russia respectable among civilized 
 nations. To these designs, ports on the Baltic 
 seemed indispensible. He resolved to be a 
 conqueror, and, without neglecting his esta- 
 blishments on the Don and the Volga, turned 
 
PETEH 1. 100 
 
 his attention to the frontiers of Sweden. He 
 engaged in a war of twenty years, in which he 
 experienced surprising- vicissitudes, displayed 
 all the resources of his genius, triumphed over 
 the greatest conqueror of his age, and added to 
 his dominions a large kingdom. It is expedient 
 to develope the origin of this war, and the pros- 
 pects of the tzar. 
 
110 HOUSE OF R031ANOF. 
 
 CHAP. V; 
 
 War ivith Sweden Success of Charles XII. Progr.&$ oft/te 
 tzar Building of Petersburgk Advance of Charles XI f. 
 into Russia Battle of Pultava Its consequences Con* 
 que&ts of Peter I Affair of Pruth. 
 
 XL, of Sweden, expired in I697 r 
 leaving his son Charles XII., fifteen years of age, 
 in quiet possession, not only of Sweden and 
 Finland, but of Livonia, Carelia, Ingria, 
 Vyborg, the Dutchies of Bremen and Verden, 
 and the best part of Pomerania. These territories, 
 the fruits of victories gained by the Swedish 
 arms, under the house of Vasa, were secured 
 by long possession, and the solemn treaties of 
 Minister and Oliva. Charles XII., notwith- 
 standing the testament of his father, which fixed 
 his majority at eighteen, three years later than 
 the usual period, and the intrigues of his grand- 
 mother Hedwige Eleonora, succeeded in a few 
 months to the administration of affairs. His 
 conduct, however, afforded not any favourable 
 idea of his character ; he was supposed to be of 
 ordinary talents; impatient of restraint rather 
 than aSle to govern. As the opportunity seemed 
 
tF,TER I. HI 
 
 propitious, the king of Denmark, the elector 
 of Saxony, and the tzar of Russia, conspired 
 the ruin of the young king. 
 
 The eldest sister of Charles XII. was married 
 to the Duke of llolstein, who, being oppressed 
 by the King of Denmark, fled to the Swedish 
 court for assistance. Acts of hostility were 
 committed by the Danes upon Holstein, and 
 they entered into a secret treaty with Augustus, 
 elector of Saxony, to overwhelm the king of 
 Sweden himself. Augustus, who had raised 
 himself to the throne of Poland, by buying one- 
 half of the nobility, and over-awing the other, 
 wanted a pretext for retaining troops in his Polish 
 dominions, in order to secure his authority, and 
 being incited by Reginold Patkul, resolved t3 
 fall upon Livonia. This Patkul had, in J(592, 
 gone at the head of a deputation to lay the com- 
 plaints of his countrymen, the Livonians, before 
 Charles XL, and in reward of his fidelity and 
 courage, had been sentenced to lose Ids honour 
 and his life. He escaped, and when he learnt 
 that Augustus had promised, on his elevation to 
 the throne of Poland, to recover the provinces 
 tome from the republic, he represented the ease 
 with which he might seize Livonia, and revenge 
 upon a prince of seventeen the conquests of 
 his ancestors. As the views of the tzar upon 
 Inffria and Carclia were not unknown to An- 
 
112 HOUSE OF 
 
 gustus, Patkul went to Moscow, and thus 
 cemented a union between the monarchs, which 
 he expected would fully gratify his own revenge. 
 It was concluded, to strip the king of Sweden 
 of all the countries lying between Poland, 
 Moscovy, the Baltic sea, and the gulph of Fin- 
 land. Patkul, as major-general, had the satis- 
 faction to besiege the Swedes in Riga, and the 
 tzar marched a large army into Ingria, confident 
 of making easy conquests. 
 
 Meanwhile the Swedes were thrown into the 
 utmost consternation ; some of the counsellors 
 proposed to evade the tempest by negotiations ; 
 when the young king, all at once, said, with 
 an air of confidence and gravity : " Gentlemen, 
 I am resolved; I will go and attack the first who 
 declares himself, when 1 have conquered him, 
 I expect to excite some alarm in the others.'* 
 Actions constantly followed those words. In 
 less than six months the young prince compelled 
 the Danes to make peace, relieved Riga, and 
 landing himself in the gulph of Riga, marched, 
 amidst the snows of November, against the tzar, 
 whose injustice particularly provoked him, as 
 being inconsistent with the character of legis- 
 lator and reformer, which that prince affected. 
 With 8,000 soldiers, fatigued by a long march 
 and several affairs with the advanced posts, 
 Charles attacked the Russian camp before 
 Narva, containing 80,000 men, defended by a 
 
PETER I, 113 
 
 150 pieces of artillery, and gained a complete 
 victory ; officers, men, arms, stores, and provi- 
 sions, all falling into his hands. The victor re- 
 tained only the general officers; the subalterns 
 and soldiers, half armed and half disarmed, were 
 all dismissed. 
 
 The tzar, who had imprudently left his camp, 
 where his presence was necessary to preserve 
 order, was advancing with 40,000 to act in the 
 rear of the Swedes, when he received the news 
 of the defeat and entire dispersion of his army. 
 Terror spread among his subjects, who believed 
 that the Swedes were magicians, and in their 
 public prayers to St. Nicholas, implored assist- 
 ance against their enchantments, while he, far 
 from discouraged, proceeded to repair his losses. 
 " I know well," said he, " the Swedes will 
 long be superior ; but at length they will teach 
 us to vanquish them." He collected the re- 
 mains of his scattered army, ordered additional 
 levies, and repaired to Moscow, to found cannon, 
 of which he had been stript. As metal was 
 wanting, he took the bells, to the number of 
 500, from the churches and monasteries, and 
 justified the sacrilege, by saying, c< Holy metal 
 only can serve against Swedish magicians." 
 
 From Moscow the tzar hurried into Courland, 
 
 to meet his ally Augustus. These princes spent 
 
 five days together, at Birzen, a small town, in 
 
 Lithuania ; Augustus engaged to furnish 50 3 000 
 
 I 
 
114 HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 Germans to be hired of different princes, and 
 paid by the tzar, who, on the other side, un- 
 dertook to send 50,000 Russians into Poland to 
 learn the art of war, and pay Augustus 3,000,000 
 of rix-dollars in two years. Instead of cere- 
 mony, the usual attendant upon the interviews 
 of kings, these confederates had recourse to 
 debauchery.* 
 
 This treaty was rendered ineffectual by the 
 advance of Charles XII., who, though he had, 
 by the victory of Narva, opened the road to 
 Moscow, resolved first to chastise the king of 
 Poland. He passed the Dun a in the face of 
 the Saxons, advantageously posted on the 
 opposite bank, and totally defeating them, with- 
 out the smallest delay made himself master of 
 all Courland and Lithuania. He felt a secret 
 satisfaction, he acknowledged, on entering vic- 
 torious into Birzen, where a little before his 
 enemies had consulted his ruin. In this place 
 he conceived the design of dethroning the king 
 of Poland. One day at table, observing ex- 
 treme sobriety, and appearing absorbed in pro- 
 found thought, a German colonel said, loud 
 enough to be heard, " The repasts of the tzar 
 and the king of Poland, in this place, were 
 somewhat different from those of his majesty." 
 " Yes," said the king, raising himself, <c and I 
 
 * Histoire de Charles XII., par M. de Voltaire, p. 4-0. 
 
PETER I. 115 
 
 have more easily disturbed the digestion of 
 them." Nor did he linger in uniting policy 
 with arms to effect his purpose. 
 
 If the success of the king of Sweden pre- 
 vented the tzar from reaping advantage from 
 his allies, the absence of that monarch was most 
 favourable to his plans of conquest and reform. 
 Patkul, who had entered into his service, and 
 succeeded Le Fort, lately deceased, was em- 
 ployed to discipline the troops, and great en- 
 couragement was afforded to German, Polish, or 
 Lithuanian officers, and even soldiers, disposed 
 to serve in the Russian armies. The progress 
 of the tzar, though little obvious, was steady 
 and certain. Discipline was introduced among 
 the troops, good officers and engineers were 
 formed, and vessels were built on the lakes 
 Peipus and Ladoga, to annoy the Swedes. The 
 soldiers, though at first they fought as Tartars, 
 pillaging, fleeing, and re- appearing to flee 
 again, were inured to war, and taught to con- 
 quer by defeat. In 1701, the general Shere- 
 metof, gained an advantage over the Swedish 
 general Slipenback. The following year saw 
 the Russians victorious on the Peipus and the 
 Ladoga, and, after a regular siege, make them- 
 selves masters of Noteburgh, now Shlusselburgh, 
 a strong place, situate upon an island in the 
 Ladoga, commanding that lake and the Neva, 
 and thus opening a communication with the 
 I 2 
 
U6 HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 Baltic. Having reduced Nya, which made him 
 master of the bottom of the gulph of Finland, 
 the tzar pursued his conquests in Ingria and 
 Livonia. Dorpt surrendered, and Narva was 
 taken by storm. The soldiers, masters of this 
 place, abandoned themselves to enormous 
 cruelties. Peter, on this occasion, afforded an 
 instance of humanity, which it is to be lamented, 
 was so infrequent. He ran every where to pre- 
 vent pillage and massacre ; having, with his own 
 hand, killed two of his soldiers who had dis- 
 obeyed his orders, he repaired to the inn, where 
 the citizens had taken refuge, and laid his sword 
 upon the table, saying to them ; " It is not with 
 the blood of the inhabitants that this sword is. 
 stained ; but with that of the Russians, which I 
 have shed to save your lives." 
 
 While enlarging his territories on the shores 
 of the Baltic, the tzar interrupted not his efforts 
 to meliorate his subjects, nor neglected his 
 establishments on the Don. He opened the 
 mines of Siberia, established manufactories of 
 linen and paper, procured armourers, brass and 
 iron-founders, shepherds and sheep from Poland 
 and Saxony, set up a printing press, and 
 founded an hospital at Moscow. Ships were 
 built at Archangel, Olonetz, and Veronetz. As 
 the works at Veronetz, Azof, and Taganrok, 
 excited alarm at the Porte, an ambassador was 
 sent to complain. Peter replied, that he was as 
 
PETER I. 117 
 
 much master in his own states as the Grand 
 Signior in his, and that to make Russia respect- 
 able, on the Euxine, was no infraction of the 
 peace. 
 
 In the winter of 1703, he was at Moscow, 
 employed in carrying his new regulations into 
 effect. For the purpose of exposing those who 
 complained of the innovations, he invited the 
 nobility to the marriage of one of his buffoons, 
 celebrated in the ancient form. It was an old 
 superstition that no fire should be kindled on a 
 wedding day, and the Russians formerly drank 
 nothing but mead and brandy. A repast was 
 provided in the style of the sixteenth century, 
 there was no fire, no wine. If any ventured to 
 repine, the tzar said sarcastically : <c This was 
 the custom among your fathers ; old customs are 
 always best." 
 
 Of the works and improvements advancing in 
 his dominions, Peter was superintendant as well 
 as contriver. If an eighty gun-ship was to be 
 laid on the stocks or launched at Veronetz, it 
 was done tinder his eye. If the Swedes threa- 
 tened Archangel, he appeared on the shores of 
 the White Sea, prevented a descent, traced 
 the plan of a citadel, and laid the foundation.. 
 He piloted the vessels from the dock yards of 
 Olonetz to the Baltic ; and running from one to 
 the other, he pressed at once the siege of Dorpt 
 and Narva. 
 
118 HOUSE OF ROM AS OF. 
 
 To form armies, construct a navy at once 
 on the Euxine, the Baltic, and the Arctic Ocean, 
 to take cities, and to enrich his subjects with 
 the useful arts, was not enough for the enter- 
 prize of Peter. He resolved to be the founder 
 of a city, the defence of his conquests, the 
 emporium of the north, and the capital of his 
 empire. The spot chosen for this purpose was 
 a marshy isle in the mouth of the Neva, a heap 
 of dust in summer, and a sheet of ice in winter, 
 hitherto the retreat of bears and wolves. Vast 
 difficulties obstructed the undertaking-. The 
 Swedes every moment threatened a descent, a 
 peace might assign the site of the rising capital 
 to its former owner, before the foundations could 
 be laid, it was necessary to pierce forests, to 
 drain marshes, and raise dikes, the materials 
 were at a distance, and contagions exhaled from 
 the swamps. 
 
 All these difficulties, however, yielded to the 
 perseverance, industry, and power of the tzar. 
 Three hundred thousand peasants were assem- 
 bled from the most distant provinces of the 
 empire, the frontiers of China, and the regions 
 of Astrakhan Peter himself traced the plan 
 of the city, of the fortress, of the buildings, 
 and of the quays, and repelled the attacks of 
 the Swedes. The labourers were destitute of 
 the necessary implements, spades, shovels, wheel, 
 barrows, and pick-axes, and two hundred thou- 
 
PETER I. 119 
 
 sand of them perished in the beginning of the 
 work.* But the undertaking proceeded. The 
 foundation was laid May 16th, 1703, in five 
 months the fortress was raised, and in a few 
 years Petersburgh was a city, the abode of the 
 arts, inaccessible to enemies, and frequented by 
 strangers. Thus, amidst the greatest discou- 
 ragements, Peter founded a city, destined to 
 preserve the arts, commerce, and power of the 
 empire, when Moscow should be in flames ; and, 
 to form the rallying point for the independence 
 of nations, when the foot of a conquering despot 
 had trampled upon all the ancient capitals of 
 continental Christendom. 
 
 Meantime the king of Sweden pursued the 
 course of victory. His generals expelled from 
 Lithuania 20,000 Russians, sent to the assistance 
 of Augustus, and, as the Poles divided into 
 factions, made no resistance, he entered War- 
 saw in triumph, declaring that he would not 
 make peace till another king were elected. 
 Victory succeeded victory, the crown of Poland 
 was declared vacant, Stanislaus Leczinky was 
 raised to the precarious dignity, and Poland was 
 entirely subdued. 
 
 While his rival gained victories, and gave 
 away kingdoms, the tzar made conquests. All 
 Ingria submitted to his arms. The Swedes who 
 
 * Hist, de Charles XII., p. 82, 
 
120 HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 threatened Petersburg!! were twice repulsed, and 
 he advanced toward Corn-land, with the intention 
 of reducing- Livonia. His marshal Sheremetof 
 approached Mittan, and fell in with the Swedish 
 general Levenhaupt. The experience and dis- 
 cipline of the Swedes gave them the advantage 
 though inferior in numbers; the Russians suf- 
 fered a total defeat, with the loss of all their 
 artillery. Peter, having repaired the disaster, 
 marched into Courland, and Mittau received 
 him as conqueror. But the news of Sheremetof 's 
 defeat had spread among his subjects, the re- 
 mains of the Strelitzes in garrison at Astrakhan 
 revolted, the people complained of the innova- 
 tions, the nobles were offended by the restraints 
 of discipline, the finances were exhausted, 
 Charles XII. was victorious, and the king of 
 Poland unfortunate. Though all these circum- 
 stances conspired against Peter, he was not dis- 
 couraged, he suppressed the revolt of the Stre- 
 litzes, secured Ingria, traversed Lithuania, and 
 penetrated into Poland at the head of 70,000 
 men. Here he had a second interview with 
 Augustus, consoled this unfortunate prince, and 
 promised him vengeance. 
 
 All this, however, little availed Augustus. 
 Charles quickly dispersed this great body of 
 Russians, his general Renschild defeated the 
 army, under the famous Schullemberg, consist- 
 ing of Saxons and Russians disciplined in 
 
PETER I. 121 
 
 Saxony, and he, marching- himself into that 
 electorate, laid the whole under contribution. 
 Kin r Augustus was now reduced to the most 
 
 c5 J3 
 
 humiliating condition. Stript of his kingdom 
 and electorate, he was obliged to sue for peace 
 upon any terms, and, being in Poland, attended 
 by a Russian army, he durst not avow his de- 
 signs. In this critical juncture a Swedish army 
 approached, and the Russian general, as he 
 was greatly superior in number, pressed the 
 king to give battle. He endeavoured, in vain, 
 to prevent an engagement; the Russians were 
 victorious for the first time in a regular fight. 
 But the victory of Augustus, as it still left him 
 at the mercy of the Swedish prince, only aggra- 
 vated his calamities. He submitted to the 
 conditions prescribed by his enemy. Among 
 other things he was required to deliver up the 
 deserters who had entered into his service, par- 
 ticularly the Livonian Patkul, who was now 
 general in the Russian armies, and ambassador 
 of the tzar, and, for the faithful discharge of 
 his duty in the latter office, confined in the 
 castle of Konigstein in Saxony. The conduct 
 of Augustus, shows the necessity to which he 
 was reduced. He sent guards to deliver the 
 Unfortunate man to the Swedish troops; but 
 dispatched, before hand, orders to the governor 
 of the castle to let him escape. The governor, 
 as he knew Patkul was rich, wished him to pur- 
 
122 HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 chase his liberty, while he, relying- on the 
 rights of nations, refused to buy what he oould 
 claim of right, fell into the hands of the Swedes, 
 and suffered, as a traitor, the most horrible of 
 punishments. 
 
 When the tzar was apprised of the humili- 
 ating treaty concluded by his ally, and of the 
 indignities he had suffered in the person of his 
 ambassador, he made loud complaints to all 
 the courts of Europe, and conjured them to 
 interpose their mediation to procure the release 
 of his ambassador. But these letters only 
 showed the power of Charles XII. Patkul was 
 sacrificed, and none interfered. It was pro- 
 posed in the council of the tzar to retaliate 
 upon the Swedish prisoners in Russia ; but there 
 was a greater number of Russian prisoners in 
 Sweden. 
 
 Peter took another mode of revenge. As 
 Levenhaupt was left to the defence of Poland, 
 with about 20,000 men, he marched into that 
 miserable country with 60,000 Russians. No 
 resistance was offered, he advanced to Leopol 
 in the south of Poland, and even convoked a 
 diet in order to elect a third king. This triumph 
 was but momentary. 
 
 Charles XII., having humbled the emperor 
 of Germany, and been honoured with ambassa- 
 dors from almost all the states of Christendom, 
 advanced at the head of 45,000 warriors, en- 
 
PETER I. 123 
 
 riched with the spoils of Poland and Saxony, in 
 order to make peace with the tzar at Moscow. 
 Seven years of victory heightened the terror 
 which the valour and discipline of his troops 
 inspired. The tzar, it was believed, could not 
 make any effectual resistance, and must now 
 atone for his injustice, by resigning to his enemy 
 the fruit of all his toils. The Russians retired 
 in haste before the king of Sweden, who con- 
 ducted his army amidst snows, through deserts, 
 swamps, and forests. A great part of the 
 Hussian forces were entrenched by the tzar, on 
 the Berezina, opposite Borislow ; but retired 
 breaking up the roads. Another corps of 20,000 
 men posted behind the Bisbitsch made a stout 
 resistance, and, though they were routed at last, 
 showed that Peter had succeeded in forming 
 soldiers. 
 
 It was now universally expected that the king 
 of Sweden would march to Moscow, when he 
 suddenly directed his course to the Ukraine, 
 and thus became accessary to his own ruin. 
 Mezeppa, an ataman of the Cossacks, had 
 been insulted by the tzar, and, supposing that 
 the Swedes would enable him to revenge and 
 aggrandize himself, entered into a treaty with 
 the king, promising to meet him with 30,000 
 men, provisions, and stores. Confident of being 
 able, with these auxiliaries, next summer to 
 Vanquish the tzar, Charles advanced southward, 
 
124 HOUSE OF ROMANOP. 
 
 between the Dnieper and the Desna^ by a rout 
 naturally difficult, and rendered dangerous by 
 the attacks of the Russians. The army under 
 Levenhaupt which he had ordered to advance 
 with supplies, was met by the Russians con- 
 ducted by the tzar in person. The Swedish 
 general, whom successive victories inspired with 
 confidence, did not hesitate to give battle. At 
 the first shock the Russians recoiled ; but Peter, 
 who knew that his safety depended on this 
 affair, commanded the rear guard to fire on 
 those who fled, and even on himself if he re- 
 treated. For three successive days he attacked 
 the Swedes, and though by his greatest efforts 
 he? eould never break the line nor prevent 
 Levenhaupt from at last joining his master, all 
 the supplies fell into his hands, and the Swedish 
 army originally 18,000 strong, was diminished 
 by one half. This affair, which took place near 
 the village of Lesnau, between the Dneiper and 
 the Sotz, was the first regular battle in which 
 Peter himself defeated the Swedes. 
 
 Charles XII. was apprized of this disaster 
 just when Mezeppa appeared, with not more 
 than two regiments, as a fugitive, rather than a 
 powerful ally. Notwithstanding these disap- 
 pointments, the king persevered in his purpose. 
 The Ukraine,, he hoped would declare in his 
 favour. He passed the Desna, indeed, in the 
 teeth of his enemies ; but only to expose his 
 
PETER I. 125 
 
 troops to fatigue and hunger and perishing cold. 
 The tzar hung on his rear and flanks, and by 
 setting fire to the villages, and removing pro- 
 visions, engaged famine and desolation against 
 the invaders. Before the spring of 1709, hun- 
 ger, intense cold, long marches amidst the frost 
 and snow, of an extraordinarily severe winter, 
 and numerous skirmishes, had reduced the 
 Swedes to 18,000 men; but not deprived the 
 king of the hope of penetrating to Moscow. 
 Toward the end of May, he laid siege to Pul- 
 tava, a town situated in the south of Russia, on 
 the banks of the Worskla, affording provisions 
 and serving as a place of strength. 
 
 In the meantime, Peter, who had been most 
 active during the winter, in harassing his enemy, 
 and had thrown a strong garrison into Pultava, 
 collected his troops from all quarters, and ad- 
 vanced to the decisive battle. He passed the 
 Worskla with 60,000 men, a little above the 
 town. Sensible of the importance of the contest 
 and the power of his adversary, though so en- 
 feebled, he entrenched his army, and omitted no 
 precaution which experience or reflection sug- 
 gested, as conducive to success. Charles, though 
 he had received a dangerous wound in the foot, 
 as he returned from reconnoitring the enemy, 
 resolved to anticipate the tzar, and on the even- 
 ing of July 7th, with the greatest composure, 
 ordered the marshal Renschild to prepare next 
 
126 HOUSE OP ROMANOF. 
 
 morning for an attack. The first shock of the 
 Swedes was irresistible, they made themselves 
 masters of two redoubts ; but, as a vigorous fire 
 was kept up from the Russian batteries, and the 
 tzar preserved order and steadiness among his 
 troops, he threw his enemies into confusion, and 
 in two hours put them to the rout. Charles XII., 
 tortured by the pain of his wound, after many 
 perils, passed the Dnieper, and found a refuge 
 among the Turks in Bender. The victory of 
 the tzar was complete, 9,224 lay dead upon the 
 field, 18,000 were made prisoners, among whom 
 were the principal civil and military officers of 
 the Swedish king, while the loss of the Russians 
 amounted to about 50 officers and 1,200 men. 
 
 The principal Swedish officers were invited 
 to the table of the tzar. Among other things, 
 he asked general Renschild, how many men 
 his master could muster before the battle. He 
 replied, that the king alone had the list of 
 them; but he believed, about 30,000, 18,000 
 Swedes, and the rest Cossacks. With some 
 surprize, the tzar enquired, how they could 
 venture into so remote a country and undertake 
 the siege of Pultava, with so small a number. 
 < c We were never consulted," returned the 
 general ; " but, as faithful servants obeyed, 
 without contradiction, the orders of our master.'^ 
 At this reply, the tzar turning to some of his 
 courtiers, whom he had formerly suspected of 
 
PETER r. 127 
 
 conspiracy, "Ah!" said he, "this is how a 
 sovereign should be served;' 7 and taking a glass 
 of wine, added, To the health of mij masters in 
 the art of war. Renschild enquired whom he 
 honoured with that title. You, gentlemen, 
 generals of Sweden," replied Peter. " Your 
 majesty then is very ungrateful," rejoined the 
 officer, " in using your masters so ill." Almost 
 all the Swedish officers and soldiers were sent 
 into Siberia, and the tzar broke on the wheel 
 such of the Cossacks as fell into his hands. 
 
 A great revolution now followed. The elector 
 of Saxony, protesting against his abdication, 
 and reconciled to the tzar, hastened to reascend 
 the throne of Poland. Sweden was in the 
 utmost consternation, Peter soon passed through 
 the Polish provinces, and while he received the 
 thanks of Augustus, to whom he had restored 
 his dominions, entered into treaties with Poland, 
 Denmark, and Prussia, in order to wrest from 
 the Swedes all the conquests of Gustavus the 
 great. Having finished these negotiations, he 
 joined his army before Riga, the capital of 
 : Livonia, which he began to bombard, proceeded 
 to Petersburg!), where he laid, with his own 
 hands, the keel of a fifty-four gun ship, and then 
 repaired to Moscow to celebrate the victory of 
 Pultava. 
 
 The tzar entered his capital January 1st, 1710, 
 in aH the pomp of victory, under seven triumphal 
 
128 HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 arches. A regiment of guards led the pro- 
 cession ; the artillery taken from the Swedes 
 followed, every piece drawn by eight horses ; 
 next appeared the standards borne by the officers 
 and soldiers who had taken them ; the finest 
 of the Russian troops; the broken sedan of 
 Charles XII. found on the field of Pultava. 
 Behind the sedan, marched two and two the 
 Swedish prisoners, count Piper, prime minister 
 of Sweden, the famous marshal Renschild, the 
 generals Levenhaupt, Slipenback, Stackelberg, 
 Hamilton, all the officers and soldiers, so often 
 victorious over the Russians. After them was 
 seen the tzar, on the same horse that he rode 
 at the battle of Pultava, the general officers 
 who contributed to the victory, and a regiment 
 of guards, with the ammunition waggons of the 
 Swedes, which closed the train. At each of 
 the arches appeared deputies from different 
 orders of the state, and at the last a troop of 
 noblemen's sons, in Roman habits, who pre- 
 sented the victorious chief with laurel. With 
 the sound of bells, drums, trumpets, and the 
 salutes of two hundred cannon, were mingled the 
 acclamations of hundreds of thousands shouting, 
 Long live the Emperor, our father. 
 
 While the victories of the tzar procured, at 
 home, reverence for his person and institutions, 
 an incident occurred which shewed that they 
 had raised his consequence among foreign 
 
SETER I. 129 
 
 nations. His ambassador in London had been 
 arrested for debt, and even taken out of his 
 coach. The ambassador complained ; and the 
 tzar highly provoked, demanded that all con- 
 cerned in the arrest should be put to death. 
 But, though this could not be done, the English 
 laws not having left the life of the subject at 
 the will of the prince ; an act was passed in 
 parliament to prevent like outrages in future, 
 and an ambassador extraordinary was appointed 
 to present the tzar with a splendid copy of the 
 act, and make a formal apology. 
 
 To these advantages the tzar added others of 
 a more solid nature. Elbing containing a great 
 quantity of military stores belonging to the 
 Swedes, was taken by the Russians. Peter, 
 directing himself his forces, reduced Vyborg, 
 the capital of Careiia, Kexholm, a strong place 
 upon an island in the Ladoga, Pernau, and 
 Reval. In assisting Augustus to recover his 
 authority, he neglected not his own interests, 
 since he bargained for the accession of Livonia, 
 as the reward of his services. 
 
 Amidst glory and conquest, however, the tzar 
 was nearly precipitated into destruction. The 
 intrigues of Charles XII. in his retreat at Ben- 
 der, assisted by alarm at the growing power of 
 Russia, induced the Sultan, Achmet III., to 
 declare war against Peter, by throwing his 
 ambassador and his domestics into the castle of 
 
 K 
 
130 HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 the seven towers. The tzar made preparations 
 to chastise this new enemy. Troops moved 
 toward Moldavia, the king of Poland promised 
 assistance \ and a secret treaty was made with 
 Cantemir, hospador of Moldavia. This prince, 
 who expected to be able, by the aid of the 
 Russians, to make himself independent, pro- 
 mised the tzar troops and provisions, as Mizeppa 
 had done the king of Sweden. Having left 
 the care of Petersburgh to Mentchikof, and 
 established a regency at Moscow, Peter took 
 his rout through Poland for the seat of war, 
 accompanied by his mistress, Catherine, whom 
 he secretly espoused at Jawerof, May 29, 17 JJ. 
 Here Augustus met him; but though this prince 
 concurred with the tzar in declaring war against 
 the Turks, as the Polish senate were averse to 
 hostilities, he could not fulfil his promises to 
 his benefactor. Peter was equally disappointed 
 in his hopes from Cantemir. General Shere- 
 inetof, who had penetrated to Jazy, the capital 
 of Moldavia, found that the hospador was in a 
 state requiring support, rather than capable of 
 affording assistance. 
 
 Meanwhile the Turkish army had passed the 
 Danube, and as Sherernetof was in danger of 
 being surrounded, the tzar hastened to his re- 
 lief. He scarce had formed a junction with 
 Sheremetof when provisions began to fail. The 
 Turks cut off his supplies, interrupted his 
 
PETKR I. 131 
 
 communication with a corps of his army under 
 general Renne, passed the Pruth, and formed 
 an entrenched camp in front of the Russians, 
 while a strong body was posted on the opposite 
 bank, to prevent all approach to the river. In 
 this desperate situation, without provisions, the 
 Pruth in his rear, 150,000 Turks before him, 
 and 40,000 Tartars hovering upon his flanks, he 
 ordered general Sheremetof to prepare to 
 attack the Turks with fixed bayonets next morn- 
 ing', and to burn all the baggage, that the 
 enemies, if victorious, might be disappointed of 
 spoil. Repairing into his tent, he forbade any 
 person to enter during the night, though he was 
 oppressed with grief and agitated with convul- 
 sions. While the tzar was in this state, the 
 general officers held a council in the presence of 
 Catherine, and it was resolved to solicit a truce 
 from the grand vizier, The vice-chancellor, 
 Shaffirof, went to the Turkish camp. The 
 vizier first demanded the surrender of the tzar, 
 and all his army. But Shaffirof represented 
 that the Russians would perish to a man, rather 
 than submit to such conditions. As the vice- 
 chancellor's representations were seconded by 
 the vizier's lieutenant, who it is probable was 
 bribed, more reasonable terms were obtained. 
 To procure the concurrence of the tzar, was, 
 however, still a great difficulty. Catherine, 
 who had acquired a great ascendancy over his 
 K-2 
 
132 taOU^E OF ROMANOF; 
 
 mind, ventured, notwithstanding- the prohibi- 
 tion, into his tent, and induced him to accede to 
 the terms; 
 
 Peter and his army escaped from the most 
 critical situation imaginable, on the easy condi- 
 tions of withdrawing his troops from Poland, 
 abolishing his forts on the Samara and the 
 Palus Mseotis, and surrendering Azof. Part of 
 the treaty he soon accomplished ; but delivered 
 from danger, he started difficulties on the sur- 
 render of Azof, and the demolition of Tagan- 
 rok, which blasted all his prospects on the 
 Euxine. The Porte was provoked with the de- 
 laysj and a rupture ensued, which, however, 
 produced no important consequence. The 
 treaty of Pruth was confirmed, and the tzar re- 
 nounced all his conquests on the Don and the sea 
 tf Azof* 
 
PETER I, 
 
 i * 
 
 CHAP. VI, 
 
 Victories of the Tzar^His Travels Alexey the TsarovitcJi- 
 EstaUishments of Peter Peace with Sweden Acquisitions 
 on the Caspian sea Death and Character of Peter the 
 Great Early Life of Catherine 7. Her Danger Acce^ 
 sion to the Empire Rise and Character of Prince Mentchi? 
 &ofDeath of Catherine I. Peter II, 
 
 FATIGUE had so impaired the health of the 
 tzar, that he was obliged to repair to the waters 
 of Carlsbad in Hungary; but while he drank the 
 waters, he entered into a treaty with the electors 
 of Hanover and Brandenburgh, and the king of 
 Denmark, to strip the Swedes of all their pos- 
 sessions in Germany, and detailed the operations 
 necessary to reduce Pomerauia. 
 
 About the same time, he married his son, the 
 unfortunate Alexey, to the princess of Wolfen- 
 buttel, and shortly after, returning to Peters- 
 burgh, solemnized with great pomp his own mar., 
 riage with Catherine. Public edifices, and other 
 works, for the convenience of the city being 
 finished, he transferred, in April 1711, the senate 
 from Moscow to Petersburgh. 
 
 Without much delay, he passed into Pome* 
 
134 HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 rania, where his troops and allies were pursuing 
 the last remnant of the Swedish armies. Hav- 
 seen Str*dsund invested, he left the conduct of 
 the siege to Mentchikof, and proceeded to effect 
 a descent into Finland. Abo, Borgo, and the 
 whole coast, yielded to his skill and valour. His 
 fleets on the gulphs of Bothnia and Finland, 
 kept the coasts of Sweden in alarm ; while his 
 g-eneral, prince Galitzin, advanced from Hel- 
 singfors to Tafvasteus, where he defeated the 
 Swedes, and penetrated as far as Vasa. 
 
 The tzar was very ambitious of exercising 
 the navy, which he had formed with such pains. 
 He assembled a fleet of sixteen sail of the line, 
 and a hundred and eighty gallies. In this fleet 
 he served as rear admiral under Admiral 
 Apraxin. He seized on the Isle of Aland, in view 
 of the Swedish fleet, and repulsed rear admiral 
 Ernschild, who attempted to capture eighty gal- 
 lies, which the tzar transported across a neck of 
 land. Several Swedish vessels were taken, and 
 the rear admiral obliged to surrender. 
 
 This victory, inferior only to that of Pultava, 
 Peter, on returning to Petersburgh, celebrated 
 with great magnificence, and distributed me- 
 dals of gold to all the officers, and of silver to 
 the soldiers and sailors who contributed to his 
 success. His satisfaction was extreme, as is 
 evident from a discourse which he delivered 
 after the procession to the following effect. 
 
PETER T. 13-V 
 
 " My brethren, is there any of you who would 
 Irave thought, twenty years ago, that he should 
 fight with me on the Baltic, in vessels con- 
 structed by ourselves, and that we should be 
 established in those countries acquired by our 
 toils and courage. The ancient seat of the 
 sciences was Greece, hence they passed into 
 Italy, and spread into all parts of Europe. Now 
 it is our turn, if uniting study with submission, 
 you second my intentions. The arts circulate 
 in the world, as blood in the body ; and perhaps 
 they will fix their empire among us in order to 
 return into Greece, their ancient country. I 
 hope by our labour, and solid glory, we may one 
 day put more civilized nations to the blush."* 
 How was this hope realized in the victories that 
 have freed the kingdoms of Europe? France 
 imposed the fetters; Russia broke them without 
 reward. 
 
 Upon the naval victory of the tzar, the re- 
 gency of Sweden, reduced to despair, had de- 
 manded a passport for an officer entrusted with 
 proposals of peace. No sooner was the passport 
 sent, than news arrived that Charles XII. had 
 resolved to return and defend his dominions. 
 He reached Stralsund toward the close of 1714, 
 but the tzar had now acquired the ascendancy. 
 His vessels took the first of the Swedes who 
 ventured to sea, and hjs troops, with those of 
 
 * Voltaire, p. 213. 
 
136 HOUSE OF ROMANOP. 
 
 Denmark, Saxony, and Prussia, reduced Stral- 
 sund to a heap of ruins. Almost all the northern 
 powers were his allies, and the peace with 
 Turkey was inviolate. At liberty to prosecute 
 his plans of improvement, he founded a naval 
 academy at Petersburgh, built the palace of 
 Peterhofj erected forts on the Irtish, repelled 
 the incursions of the Buckharians and Kuban 
 Tartars, composed a military code, and sent en- 
 gineers to take surveys of his states. 
 
 He now resolved to make another tour in dif- 
 ferent parts of Europe. He went to Copen- 
 hagen, then to Lubec, Schwerin, Neustadt, 
 Hamburgh, Bremen, and then to Amsterdam. 
 At Bremen he was honoured with an illumina- 
 tion, and in many places appeared these words : 
 " Our deliverer comes to see us. n In Holland, 
 the tzar was received with enthusiastic joy. He 
 remained here three months on purpose to ob- 
 serve the negotiations, at that time in progress. 
 His power he found excited the jealousy of his 
 allies. Without committing himself he pursued 
 his course to Paris. Here he was received with 
 great magnificence ; but as his object was not to 
 be entertained, but to observe, he avoided ce- 
 remony as much as possible. 
 
 The great progress which the arts had made 
 in Prance, surprised the royal traveller. Going 
 one day into the gallery of the Louvre, where 
 medals were struck, to observe the workmen, 
 a medal just struck happened to fall, and hasten- 
 
PETER I. 137 
 
 ing to pick it up, Peter wondered to see himself 
 on one side, and on the other Fame standing on 
 the globe, with these words of Virgil : " Vires ac- 
 quirit eundo," The tzar visited the academy of 
 sciences, corrected with his own hand faults in 
 the maps of his states, and condescended to he* 
 come a member of the academy, and to commu- 
 nicate to it discoveries and experiments. On 
 seeing the tomb of Cardinal Richelieu, though 
 insensible to the beauty of the sculpture, he em- 
 braced the statue, exclaiming: "Great man! 
 I would give the half of my empire to learn 
 from you to govern the other." He engaged 
 mechanics in France, as on his former travels 
 he had done in Holland and England, This in- 
 defatigable prince, leaving Paris, passed through 
 Holland again, visited Berlin, all his new con- 
 quests on the Baltic, issued new regulations in 
 Petersburgh, and went through Moscow to the 
 Volga, in order to repress the incursions of the 
 Kuban Tartars; form lines between the Don and 
 the Volga, and erect forts at intervals from one 
 river to the other. 
 
 Amidst these labours for the defence of his do- 
 minions, and the glory of his name, Peter exhibited 
 an instance of barbarous severity, that has no ex- 
 ample in the annals of the world. At the age of 
 sixteen he had espoused Eudoxia Lapukin, a wo* 
 man devoted to the ancient usages, and averse to 
 Peter's innovations. Probably no affection ever 
 
138 HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 subsisted between them. But the criminal inter- 
 course of the young prince with other women, 
 engaged Eudoxia in intrigues wiih a boyar 
 named Glebof. When this came to the know- 
 ledge of Peter, he impaled the gallant upon a 
 spit for twenty-four hours, divorced Eudoxia, 
 ordered her to be scourged, and immured her in 
 a convent. 
 
 Of this infelicitous marriage, the only fruit was 
 Alexey Petrovitch, born in 1690. Instead of 
 being educated as the heir of a great empire, 
 this prince in his first years was abandoned to 
 old women and ignorant priests, who filled his 
 mind with prejudices against his father's enter- 
 prizes. About his eleventh year, Baron Huysen 
 being appointed his governor, he made consi- 
 derable progress in knowledge, learnt German 
 and mathematics, and acquired a fondness for 
 reading. His early prejudices might have worn 
 away, if prince Mentchikof had not removed 
 his tutor, and assuming the care of his education, 
 left him a prey to profligate wretches, who en- 
 couraged him in riot and drunkenness. He 
 grew up addicted to vulgar pleasures, impru> 
 dent, obstinate, with a dread of his father, and 
 an extreme aversion to all the new institutions, 
 In 1711, he was married to the princess of Wol- 
 fenbuttel, whom, though an amiable woman, 
 and the object of his choice, he treated with 
 such neglect as to occasion a deep melancholy. 
 
PETER 1. 139 
 
 which, aggravated by the pains of child -bearing, 
 terminated her life in 1715, in the 21st year of 
 her age. While he neglected his wife, Alexey 
 kept a mean girl of Finland as his mistress, 
 associated with ignorant debauched priests, 
 avoided to appear on -public occasions, inveighed 
 against his father's conduct, and threatened, 
 when he should be master, to restore the ancient 
 customs. 
 
 This behaviour so provoked the tzar, that he 
 wrote to his son, after the death of the princess 
 of Wolfenbuttel, assuring him that if he did not 
 reform he would exclude him from the throne. 
 The young prince, rendered desperate by intern* 
 perance and opposition, renounced the succes- 
 sion, 1716, and sought permission to retire into 
 a monastery. The tzar having set out upon 
 his travels, ordered Alexey to meet him at Co- 
 penhagen ; but following the advice of his ad- 
 herents, he escaped to Vienna to his brother-in- 
 law Charles VI., who sent him first to Inspruck, 
 and then to the castle of St. Elmo in Naples, in 
 order to shelter him from his father's vengeance. 
 Betrayed by his mistress, and deceived by the 
 most solemn promises of forgiveness, he re- 
 turned in February 1718 to Moscow. On the 
 following day, two regiments of guards having 
 been ordered to arms, he was conducted a 
 prisoner into the castle, and falling down before 
 his father, confesse4 .his faults with tears, and 
 
140 HOUSE OF HOMANOF. 
 
 begged for his life. The tzar having raised 
 him up, led him into a private apartment, and 
 after threats and interrogations brought him 
 into the hall, where the principal persons of 
 the state had been assembled. In the midst of 
 this assembly, the unhappy prince, having been 
 reproached with his imprudence, vices, and 
 follies, was by a solemn written declaration ex- 
 cluded for ever from the succession. Alexey 
 himself signed in the most solemn manner a 
 formal renunciation of his right to the throne. 
 
 But this was not sufficient ; he was conveyed 
 to Petersburgh, and imprisoned in the fortress, 
 A select committee was appointed to try him. 
 The most awful threats and flattering promises 
 were employed to induce him to make such con-, 
 fessions, not of actions and fixed purposes, but 
 of fleeting thoughts as might give a colour to 
 his condemnation. His mistress and other wh> 
 nesses were rewarded to depose against him ; 
 and after a trial of twelve days, in which a 
 prince, without friends, without advocates, 
 distracted by threats, uncertain of life, if evi- 
 dently innocent, had to support all the author 
 rity and intelligence of the Russian empire di-? 
 rected against him by an enraged father. 
 Alex&y was condemned to }ose his life. It is 
 pretended that the unfortunate prince, on hear- 
 ing the sentence of condemnation, was seized 
 with convulsions and expired. But it is more 
 
PETEtl I* 14 1 
 
 probable that he was secretly beheaded in pri- 
 son by his father's orders *. 
 
 The only circumstances alleged to justify the 
 extreme severity with which it is confessed 
 Peter treated his son, is, that it was a neces- 
 sary sacrifice to the welfare of the Russian em- 
 pire. If Alexy had been spared, he would 
 have destroyed all the fruits of his father's la- 
 bours. This, there is no doubt, was the reason 
 on which Peter himself relied for his justifi- 
 cation. But if it be the first duty of a prince 
 to improve the condition of his subjects, the 
 second is to train up his successor to preserve 
 his establishments, and perfect his designs. 
 Peter neglected the education of his son, and 
 set him an example of debauchery. When the 
 young prince conducted himself as might have 
 been expected from education and example, the 
 tzar pretended he must be sacrificed to the 
 safety of the state. Without scrupling the 
 means, he procured his death, and to prove the 
 expediency of the measure, left it uncertain 
 who should be his successor, an Alexey or a 
 Peter. The care of Russia was, after all, aban- 
 doned to Providence, whose vigilance would 
 have been equally effectual, had Aiexey sur- 
 vived. 
 
 While the tzar persecuted his son, he conti- 
 
 * Coxe, vol. II. p. 308313. 
 
142 HOUSB OF ROMANOP. 
 
 nued his career of salutary reform. He or- 
 dered the rich to build houses in Petersburgh. 
 Uniformity was introduced in the weights and 
 measures, the manufacture of arms was im- 
 proved, manufactories of linen, woollen, cordage, 
 sails, bricks, and glass were encouraged ; a tri- 
 bunal of commerce was instituted, the canals 
 of Ladoga and Cronstadt were undertaken ; 
 and forts were built in Kamtshatka. Commerce 
 was opened with Persia, and, after interrup- 
 tions and difficulties, was put on a better foot- 
 ing with China, while on the shores of the 
 Baltic it flourished beyond expectation. The 
 laws underwent alterations, and received addi- 
 tions to lessen the expense and facilitate the at- 
 tainment of justice. The Holy Synod was in- 
 stituted, and many regulations were introduced 
 respecting monastic establishments. 
 
 The war with Sweden had been suffered to 
 languish for some time. Baron Gortz, a tur- 
 bulent intriguing spirit, had acquired the con- 
 fidence of Charles XII. and uniting with Car- 
 dinal Alberoni, wished to change the face of Eu- 
 rope by effecting a union between the Swedish 
 and Russian monarchs, dethroning the king of 
 England, and raising Philip V. of Spain to the 
 regency of France. Improving little offences 
 given by his allies, and insinuating that Sweden 
 was sufficiently humbled, Gortz had prevailed 
 on the tzar to send plenipotentiaries to the isle 
 
PETER I. 14-3 
 
 of Aland to treat of peace. Affairs were in 
 train for accommodation, and an alliance was 
 on the point of being 1 concluded between the 
 two rivals, when a ball from one of the bas- 
 tions of Frederichshall terminated the life of 
 the Swedish king 1 * The war was again re- 
 newed ; but nothing of consequence occurred, 
 except a descent which the tzar made into 
 Sweden, and some success which he gained 
 over the fleets of that nation. At last the court 
 of Stockholm being heartily tired of a war 
 which had proved so ruinous, plenipotentiaries 
 assembled at Neustadt in Finland, and peace 
 was concluded, September 10,1721. Livonia., 
 Esthonia, Ingria, Cardia, Vyborg, and se- 
 veral islands in the gulph of Finland being ceded 
 to Russia. 
 
 The joy which a war of twenty years thus 
 happily terminated, gave to the tzar and all his 
 subjects, was extreme. On this occasion the 
 titles of great, emperor, father of his country, 
 were given to Peter by the gratitude and ad- 
 miration of his subjects. 
 
 Peter had long been desirous of establishing 
 his authority on the Caspian sea, and thus open- 
 ing a channel for the commerce of Persia and 
 India. Depredations committed by the Alba- 
 nians upon a commercial establishment of the 
 Russians on the western coasts of the Caspian 
 sea, afforded him a pretext for sending an army 
 
144 HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 to those regions, and such was the miserable 
 condition of Persia at that time, that he re- 
 ceived three provinces to engage him to assist 
 the lawful sovereign in preserving the remains 
 of his dominions. 
 
 After the Persian expedition the tzar was at 
 peace with all his neighbours. He continued 
 his labours, and for the better direction of 
 them instituted at Petersburgh the Academy of 
 Sciences. In this state of peace he crowned at 
 Moscow, his consort Catherine, in reward, as 
 he said, of the service which she had rendered 
 the whole nation in the unfortunate campaign 
 of Pruth. 
 
 This legislator and conqueror now drew near 
 the end of his days. Incontinence had entailed 
 upon him a distemper which was never fully 
 eradicated, and which an excessive debauch at 
 the election of a mock patriarch, greatly ex- 
 asperated. As the surgeons mistook the dis- 
 order, an abcess, formed in the bladder, occa- 
 sioned a stranguary, which was attended with 
 excruciating pains, deprived him of his senses, 
 and at length of his life, January 28, 1725, in 
 the 53d year of his age, and 44th of his reign. 
 
 In his last moments it is said he reflected on 
 the irregularities of his life with extreme re- 
 gret, confessed he had shed much innocent 
 blood ; and mentioned his conduct towards his un 
 fortunate son with the utmost concern ; but ex* 
 
PETER 1. 
 
 pressed a hope, very vain truly, that the bene- 
 fits he had conferred upon his country, would 
 induce the Great Judge to pardon his crimes. 
 
 This prince was tall, well made, with a dig- 
 nified countenance, lively eyes, and a constitu- 
 tion capable of the greatest fatigue and labour. 
 Of a sound judgment, incredible activity, mas- 
 ter of most of the mechanical arts, tinctured 
 with science, but without any of the virtues 
 that endear civilized men to each other, he rose 
 by the energy of his mind above all the preju- 
 dices of his country, and by the steadiness and 
 intrepidity with which he prosecuted vast de- 
 signs, maintained a fearful authority among re- 
 fractory subjects. Beastly in his pleasures, fe- 
 rocious in his manners, and savage in his re- 
 sentments, he would have been the abhorrence 
 of mankind, if his efforts and sacrifices to form 
 a great naval and military power, and to esta- 
 blish in his dominions, arts, manufactures, com- 
 merce, and science, had not compelled their ad- 
 miration. He would have been more successful 
 had he not been so rash and violent ; and he 
 would have been more entitled to the gratitude 
 of the Russians, had he consulted their glory 
 less, and their happiness more. It is a melan- 
 choly reflexion, that this monarch with all his 
 vices and enormities, has juster claims to the 
 appellation great, than almost any of those 
 
14(5 HOtTSE OF ftOMANOF. 
 
 princes who have borne it. Such has been the 
 folly or corruption of men. 
 
 Peter the Great was succeeded by his consort 
 Catherine I. a rare instance of those vicissi- 
 tudes of fortune, in which the Russian annals 
 of this period so abound. This princess, the 
 natural daughter of a country girl, was born 
 at Ringen, near Dorpt, according to her own 
 account, April 5, 1689. Her original name 
 was Martha, which she changed into Catherine, 
 on entering the Greek church. Losing her mo- 
 ther at the early age of three years, the parish 
 clerk had the compassion to receive her into 
 his house, whence she soon passed into the family 
 of Gluck, Lutheran minister of Marienburgh, 
 where she was brought up, and employed in at- 
 tending upon his children. A Swedish dragoon 
 had married, or was on the point of marrying 
 Catherine, it is uncertain which, when he be- 
 ing absent, Marienburgh fell into the hands of 
 the Russians in 1701. General Bauver, obr 
 serving Catherine among the prisoners, was at- 
 tracted by her beauty, and took her to his house. 
 Prince Mentchikof no less impressed with her 
 charms next received the young captive into his 
 power. Peter the Great being on a visit to this 
 prince, one of his favourites, observed Cathe- 
 rine, and won by her beauty made her his mis- 
 tress in 1704. 
 
CATHERINE I. 147 
 
 Catherine secured the affection of the tzar, 
 not by depth of judgment or sprightliness of 
 fancy, but by the equability of her temper, the 
 sweetness and pliancy of her disposition, assi- 
 duous and unwearied attention. Though ex- 
 tremely fond of women, Peter the Great had 
 never been able to excite kind regards in any ', 
 Catherine, therefore, by endeavouring to make 
 herself agreeable to him, gained a surprizing 
 ascendancy over his mind. She was his per- 
 petual companion in his wars and expeditions. 
 When those fits of passion to which he was 
 subject rose to madness, and banished his at- 
 tendants from his presence, at her approach 
 the demon fled, and the sound of her voice, 
 turned the agitations of his mind into repose. 
 So far from abusing this influence, Catherine 
 employed it for purposes of beneficence and 
 mercy. Many miserable wretches were in- 
 debted for their lives to her intercession. So 
 much did she soften the ferocity of his nature 
 and so often calm his rage, that she was, as 
 marshal Munich said, the mediatrix between 
 the sovereign and his subjects. When the 
 despot was resolved to sacrifice to his wrath, 
 he gave orders for execution in her absence. 
 In her elevation Catherine never forget her ori- 
 ginal condition, though she supported her ho- 
 nours with becoming dignity. Her conduct 
 particularly at the affair of Pruth, reconciled 
 
148 HOUSE OP ROMANOF. 
 
 the Russians to those proofs, which the tzar 
 gave her of his affection in a public marriage 
 and a splendid coronation. 
 
 Having received the highest distinction which 
 Peter could bestow, Catherine narrowly escaped 
 being an example of his vengeance. One of her 
 chamberlains was a fine young man of the name 
 of Mons, with whom, it was suspected, she 
 was too intimate. To satisfy himself whether 
 his suspicions were grounded, the emperor pre- 
 tending to leave Petersburgh in order to spend 
 a few days at one of his villas, secretly returned 
 to his winter palace in the capital, and sent, 
 as if from the country, complimentary messages 
 to his consort by a confidential page, ordered 
 to make observations. By this means he sur- 
 prized Catherine in an arbour of the garden, 
 with Mons; his sister Madame Balke, a lady 
 of the bedchamber being on the watch without 
 the arbour. The tzar struck the empress with 
 his cane ; and, without uttering a word, pro- 
 ceeded to the apartment of prince Repnin, 
 whom he informed of the discovery, and of his 
 determination to make an example of the em- 
 press. Repnin expostulated with him on the 
 infamy that he would incur, if after sacrificing 
 his son, he should imbrue his hands in the blood 
 of his wife. This expostulation saved Catherine. 
 Mons and his sister were taken into custody 
 under pretence of having been corrupted by 
 
CATHERINE J. 140 
 
 bribery. Conducted to the winter palace, the 
 young- man was threatened with torture, till lie 
 acknowledged the truth of the accusation 
 brought against him. Mons was sentenced to 
 lose his head, his sister, after receiving five 
 strokesof the knoot, was banished to Siberia, and 
 her two sons, chamberlains, were sent as com- 
 mon soldiers to the army of Persia. The day 
 after the execution of Mons, the emperor con- 
 veyed Catherine in an open carriage under the 
 gibbet, to which his head was nailed : without 
 .changing colour, she said : u Pity so much cor- 
 ruption should be found among courtiers." 
 Madame Balke was recalled on the death of 
 the tzar. 
 
 Though the emperor had raised Catherine 
 to the throne, and with his own hand placed 
 the crown upon her head, it was not his inten- 
 tion that she should be his successor. In the 
 fulness of his power, he had passed a law au- 
 thorizing the reigning prince to appoint an 
 heir to the throne ; but the hand of death laid 
 hold upon him before he could express his will. 
 During a short intermission of distracting pain, 
 he ordered to bring pen and paper ; being un- 
 able to write, he then called for his daughter 
 Anne, Before she came, he was bereft of speech 
 and reason, in which state he lingered thirty- 
 six hours, and then expired. 
 
150 HOUSE OP ROMANOF. 
 
 While Peter was in this state of insensibility, 
 a considerable party of the nobles, who durst 
 not move while he breathed, determined to 
 arrest Catherine, the moment of his death, to 
 confine her in a convent, banish Mentchikof, 
 expel foreigners, restore the ancient customs, 
 and raise Peter Alexievitch to the throne. Ap- 
 prized of this resolution, Count Bassevitz im- 
 mediately informed the empress, who was so 
 overcome with sorrow as to be unable to act 
 for herself, but ordered the count to consult 
 with prince Mentchikof, assuring him that she 
 would sanction the measures which they might 
 adopt. When Mentchikof was informed of the 
 danger which threatened the empress and her 
 adherents, he instantly secured the treasure 
 and the fortress, and by bribes and promises 
 gained the officers of the guards, as well as 
 some of the nobility and principal clergy. These 
 partizans being assembled in the palace, Ca- 
 therine appeared, claimed the throne in virtue 
 of her coronation, exposed the consequences 
 of a minority, and promised to restore the 
 crown to the great duke, when she should re- 
 join in another world her adored husband on 
 the eve of departure. The pathos of this ad- 
 dress, accompanied with tears, and aided by the 
 jewels and money that had been distributed, 
 united the whole assembly in her favour. 
 
CATHERINE T. 151 
 
 The death of Peter was no sooner divulged 
 ou the morning 1 of the 28th, than the senate, 
 with the chiefs of the nobility and clergy, has- 
 tened to the palace. The ruin of Catherine 
 and her parti zans was deemed inevitable. 
 At this juncture Bassevitz whispered to one of 
 her enemies, that the treasure and the fortress 
 were in the power of the empress; that she had 
 secured the guards, the synod, and many of the 
 nobles ; and that if those who were hostile to 
 her elevation, valued their lives, it would be 
 prudent not to make any opposition. As soon 
 as the news had sufficiently spread, the count 
 gave the signal to two regiments of guards, who, 
 having been gained by a largess, had surrounded 
 the palace. They beat to arms. " Who has 
 presumed," exclaimed prince Repnm com- 
 mander in chief, " to draw out the troops 
 without my orders.'* " I," returned general 
 Butturlin, <c without pretending to dispute your 
 authority, in obedience to the commands of my 
 most gracious mistress. 7 * Amidst the silence of 
 fear and suspense that now ensued, Catherine 
 entered. Sighs and tears interrupted her words, 
 but recovering herself, she professed that in 
 submission to the will of her husband, whose 
 memory would ever be dear to her, she was 
 ready to devote herself to the laborious cares of 
 government, and added, after a short pause, 
 " If the great duke will profit by my instruc- 
 
152 HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 tion, I may have the consolation, during- my 
 widowhood; of forming a sovereign, worthy the 
 blood of him whom you have for ever lost." 
 
 At this moment, Mentchikof pretended that 
 as deliberation was of the utmost importance, 
 he hoped her majesty would allow them to con- 
 sult together without any restraint. Having 
 signified her assent, the empress retired, and 
 the doors were locked. It having been previ- 
 ously determined by Catherine's friends to raise 
 her to the throne, it only remained to adduce 
 a plausible title. Mentchikof inquired of the 
 emperor's secretary, whether his master had 
 left any written declaration of his will. The 
 secretary pretended that Peter had made a will, 
 which he had destroyed, and had been pre-p 
 vented from making another by the reflexion, 
 that if the people on whom he had conferred 
 such obligations, could be ungrateful, he would 
 not expose his final purpose to the insult of op- 
 position, and that if they were mindful of his 
 services they would follow his intentions, which 
 had been more solemnly declared than they 
 could have been by the formality of writing. 
 Some of the nobles assuming courage, opposed 
 the accession of Catherine, and insisted, that 
 the late emperor, never having expressed his in- 
 tentions on the subject, had left it to the state 
 the election of another sovereign. Theophanes, 
 archbishop of Plescof, affirmed that the ein- 
 
CATHERINE I, 153 
 
 peror had declared in the house of an English 
 merchant, the evening 1 before Catherine's co- 
 ronation, that he should place the crown on her 
 head for the very purpose of leaving" her mis- 
 tress of the empire. The testimony of the arch- 
 bishop being confirmed by many others, Ment- 
 chikof exclaimed ; " What need have we of a 
 testament ! to refuse to comply with the inten- 
 tions of our great sovereign, thus authenticated, 
 would be unjust and criminal. Long live the 
 empress Catherine !" As the guards surrounded 
 the palace with drums beating and colours fly- 
 ing, to repeat the acclamation was an act of 
 necessity ; Mentchikof saluting Catherine by 
 the title of empress, first paid her homage by 
 kissing her hand, and the whole assembly fol- 
 lowed his example. The empress then pre- 
 sented herself at the window to the guards, 
 who shouted (t Long live Catherine," while the 
 author of her elevation distributed among them 
 handfuls of money *. Peter the Great, it ap- 
 peared, had substituted instead of the Stre- 
 litzes, troops as able to bestow as to defend 
 the empire. 
 
 As Catherine was no less inadequate than 
 indisposed to conduct the affairs of empire, 
 she reposed implicit confidence in prince 
 Mentchikof, who had so materially contributed 
 
 * Voltaire, p. 313. Coxe, Vol. II. 288295. 
 
154 HOUSE OP ROMANOF. 
 
 to her greatness, and whose elevation was as 
 remarkable as her own. This man, of so ob- 
 scure an origin, that it is uncertain whether he 
 was a groom or apprentice to a pastry-cook, 
 was one of the youths disciplined by Le Fort. 
 Being very active in his exercise, he drew the 
 attention of that officer, who recommended him 
 to Peter. Mentchikof, as he assisted him in his 
 plans of reform, was very attentive to foreigners, 
 and discovered a great conformity in his man- 
 ners and temper to those of the tzar, enjoyed a 
 high degree of his favour. A circumstance or 
 two deserve to be mentioned as illustrating the 
 character of the prince and his favourite. In 
 their revels, Peter often beat him until the blood 
 streamed from his nose, and when it was uni- 
 versally believed that he was mined, next morn- 
 insr witnessed a reconciliation. 
 
 o 
 
 The tzar assisted himself at the examination 
 of criminals, saw tortures inflicted on them to 
 extort confession, and with his own hand per- 
 formed the office of executioner. Upon the 
 revolt of the Strelitzes in 1698, he had occasion 
 to reproach many of the nobles, who being com- 
 pelled to behead some of the rebels, discovered 
 signs of trepidation, saying, " No victim is more 
 acceptable to God than a wicked man;" but 
 he found every reason to applaud the savage 
 barbarity of Mentchikof. As a prelude to the 
 execution of a hundred and fifty Strelitzes, he 
 
CATHERINE I. loo 
 
 rode through Moscow in a sledge, with a drawn 
 sword in his hand, boasting of his dexterity in 
 cutting off twenty heads. With this patience of 
 insult and ferocity of nature, Mentchikof com- 
 bined the courage of a soldier, and the sagacity 
 of a politician. He was the companion of Peter 
 the great, was raised by him to the highest 
 honours and employments, and even personated 
 him on solemn occasions, an office for which he 
 was admirably qualified, by a striking resem- 
 blance to that prince in the qualities of his 
 mind. 
 
 Though her minister was obnoxious, Ca- 
 therine, by a mild and condescending behaviour, 
 enjoyed the public good-will, which the first 
 acts of her reign served to confirm. She re- 
 duced the capitation-tax, removed the gibbets 
 from public places, and interred criminals who 
 remained unburied; both monuments of her 
 predecessor's severity. She recalled the exiles 
 from Siberia, and paid arrears due to the troops. 
 The Cossacks obtained immunities from her. 
 Though peace continued, care was bestowed on 
 the army and navy. 
 
 Averse to business, Catherine abandoned 
 herself to pleasure. Sapieha and Loewenwolden 
 equally participated her regard, without any 
 jealousy of each other. She would often pass 
 whole nights in the open air. Her favourite 
 liquor was tokay-wine, of which she drank to 
 
156 HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 excess. A cancer, and a dropsy, aggravated 
 by these irregularities, hastened her dissolution, 
 which took place May 17, 1727, in the 39th 
 year of her age, and third of her reign, 
 
 Catherine was somewhat less than ordinary in 
 person, of a fair complexion, with dark eyes, 
 and light hair, which she dyed black j in her 
 youth of a fine and delicate form, but corpulent 
 as she advanced in years. Unable to read or 
 write, her daughter usually signed her name, 
 and count Ostennan affixed her signature to 
 decrees and dispatches. She was sensible, good 
 tempered, disposed to oblige, and mindful of 
 benefits. When Wurmb, who had been tutor 
 to Gluck's children while she was in his family, 
 presented himself to her, after her marriage 
 with the tzarj she said, " What! thou good 
 man, art thou still alive? 1 will provide for 
 thee," and gave him a pension. The pastor, 
 Gluck, died a prisoner at Moscow; she pen- 
 sioned his widow, made his son a page, por- 
 tioned his two eldest daughters, and appointed 
 the youngest to be a maid of honour. * 
 
 Exercising the power conferred upon the 
 reigning prince, by a law of Peter the great, 
 Catherine nominated her grandson, Peter Alex- 
 ievitch to be her successor. As a clause in her 
 will enjoined the* young prince to espouse 
 
 * Coxe, Vol. II, p, 229. 
 
PETER II, 157 
 
 Mentchikof s daughter, the minister, who ima- 
 gined thereby to perpetuate his authority, which 
 had hitherto continued unimpaired, easily seated 
 him upon the throne. But the enemies of 
 Mentchikof, envious of his power, and provoked 
 by his arrogance and ambition, soon found the 
 means of prejudicing the young emperor against 
 him. When he wrote to Peter he treated him 
 as his son, and shewed him such disrespect that 
 the monarch of twelve years was offended. 
 Mentchikof was banished to Siberia, in Sep- 
 tember 1727; though deprived of his power, he 
 retained his firmness. He survived his disgrace 
 two years. It is remarkable, he saved from 
 an allowance of ten rubles a day enough to 
 build a church, and amused himself in assisting 
 the workmen to construct it. 
 
 It was Ivan Dolgoruky, a young nobleman, 
 his companion, who first turned the mind of 
 Peter against Mentchikof; and as his enemies 
 were soon obliged to follow him into banish- 
 ment, the Dolgorukys succeeded to a great 
 degree of his power, and to the care of the em- 
 peror. He was affianced to one of them, and as 
 they imagined they might retain their influence 
 the longer by diverting him from study and 
 business, they endeavoured to excite in his mind 
 a love of sport, though he seemed not averse to 
 learning. But he was seized with the small-pox, 
 which, owing to the weakness of his constitution, 
 
158 HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 and the ignorance of his physicians, who treated 
 the disorder as a malignant fever, terminated 
 his life January 29th, 1730. He had become 
 very popular by transferring the imperial resi- 
 dence to Moscow. His death was very much 
 regretted, as well because of his being the 
 grandson of Peter the great, and the last male 
 descendant of the house of Romanof, as of those 
 expectations which young princes usually raise 
 in the minds of their subjects. 
 
ANNE. 159 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 Accession of the Empress Anne Character of Biron Peace 
 with Persia War with Turkey Death of the Empress 
 Anne Fall of Biren Regency of the Princess Anne 
 Revolution Ivan's Imprisonment Interview with Peter III. 
 And assassination Insolence of the guards War with 
 Sweden And with Prussia Death and Character of the 
 Empress Elizabeth. 
 
 ON the demise of Peter II. the crown ought, 
 according to the will of Catherine, to have de- 
 volved on her grandson, afterwards Peter III. ; 
 but that prince, being young and absent, and 
 hereditary right having been abolished by the 
 decree of Peter the great, a party of nobles 
 formed a plan to limit the royal prerogatives, 
 and looked round for one of the royal family 
 who might be easily induced to concur in their 
 intentions. The tzar Ivan had left three 
 daughters; the second, the princess Arine, had 
 been espoused by her uncle, Peter the great to 
 Frederic William, duke of Courland; but that 
 prince dying in 1711, she had from that period 
 lived in a state of widowhood at Mittau. She 
 had no claim to the succession, and not being 
 
160 HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 advanced in years, might ally herself with some 
 of the noble families of Russia. Passing by her 
 elder sister Catherine, obnoxious on account of 
 her husband, the duke of Mecklenburgh, as well 
 as the family of Peter the great, the junto of 
 nobles therefore offered the crown, on certain 
 conditions, to the dowager duchess of Courland. 
 Anne readily acceded to terms, which the pos- 
 session of power would enable her to break with 
 impunity, and hastened to Moscow to assume 
 the honours so unexpectedly obtained. She 
 had no sooner ascended the throne, than she 
 began to shake off the restraints. As those 
 who imposed the conditions wished to engross 
 the whole power to themselves, they were ex_ 
 posed to great opposition. A powerful party 
 was soon formed; the guards were gained; 
 Anne was petitioned to annul conditions so dis- 
 graceful to the sovereign ; she assembled a 
 council, at which the articles limiting the su- 
 preme power were negatived; and the imperial 
 authority was conferred upon her without any 
 restrictions. 
 
 If the empress Anne recovered the authority 
 vested in her predecessors, it was only to resign 
 it into the hands of her favourite, Biren, by 
 whom she was entirely governed. John Ernest 
 Biren, second son of the duke of Courland's 
 master huntsman, having been obliged by his 
 irregularities to quit the university of Konigs- 
 
ANNfi. 161 
 
 berg*, to which he was sent, after receiving his 
 early education in Courland, repaired to Mos- 
 cow. As the meanness of his origin prevented 
 him from attaining the office of page to the 
 princess Charlotte, wife of Alexey Petrovitch, 
 to which he aspired, he retired to Mittau. Here, 
 by the influence of count Bestuchef, master of 
 the household to the princess Anne, he was ap- 
 pointed her chamberlain. His figure and ad- 
 dress soon gave him an ascendency in the 
 affections of his mistress. * He rewarded Bestu- 
 chef by procuring his disgrace, and by his arro- 
 gance he offended the nobility. When the 
 crown was bestowed upon Anne, one of the con- 
 ditions of the gift was, that Biren should be left 
 in Ccurland. She assented indeed; but soon 
 after her arrival at Moscow, Biren appeared ; 
 he laid the plan by which despotic authority 
 was restored to the crown ; and, when the hour 
 for its execution arrived, as the empress disco- 
 vered symptoms of alarm, he conducted her by 
 the hand to the door of the apartment, where 
 the principal persons of the nation were as- 
 sembled to declare her absolute sovereign. In 
 a few months he was raised to the highest 
 honours, and acquired uncontrouled authority in 
 the state. 
 
 The condition to which this man reduced the 
 empress is surprising. She kept no table of her 
 own, but dined with his family. During the 
 
162 HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 sitting 1 of the council, she often repaired to art 
 adjoining room, where he waited to give her 
 orders. Acquainted only with German and his 
 native jargon, he disdained to learn the lan- 
 guage of the empire which he governed ; and 
 had the arrogance to declare, in the presence of 
 the empress, that he would not acquire the Rus- 
 sian, because he could not endure to read the reports 
 and memorials that were daily transmitted to him. 
 The violence and haughtiness of his temper 
 were felt no less by Anne than by her subjects. 
 One day, while she gave audience to the duke 
 of Bevern, Biren burst into her presence, com- 
 plained that he was tormented by her servants, 
 and having threatened with horrid imprecations 
 to retire into Courland, rushed out of the room, 
 shutting the door with violence. In the highest 
 consternation, the empress lifted up her hands 
 to heaven, then clasped them together, and 
 almost fainting, opened the window for air. 
 While in this state, Biren's wife entered with 
 her children, and on her knees implored pardon 
 for her husband. Anne relented as usual ; and 
 the most absolute despot in Christendom en- 
 dured the insolence, which the meanest person 
 in this country, who keeps a servant, would not 
 bear.* 
 
 During the reign of Anne, foreign transac- 
 
 * Coxe, Vol. II. p. 253. 
 
ANNE. 
 
 lions, producing important consequences, did 
 not occur. When Frederic Augustus, king of 
 Poland died, she united with the emperor of 
 Germany in favour of his son Augustus III., and 
 succeeded in raising him to the throne. The 
 possessions which Peter the Great had acquired 
 on the west of the Caspian sea, were likely to 
 engender wars, and m time of peace to require 
 great sums to maintain garrisons in them. The 
 empress therefore concluded a treaty with the 
 Persians by which she renounced those terri- 
 tories, and acquired considerable commercial 
 advantages for her subjects. 
 
 But while Anne abandoned the provinces on, 
 the Persian frontier which her uncle had added 
 to the empire, in order to recover those which 
 he had been obliged to relinquish on the shores 
 of the Euxine, she entered into a war with 
 Turkey. The aggressions of the Tartars 
 afforded a plausible pretext. An army marched 
 towards the Crimea 5 but was compelled to re- 
 treat through want of provisions. The cele- 
 brated Munich, however, being appointed to the 
 command, retrieved affairs, and Azof was re- 
 duced by general Lascy. As it seemed to the 
 emperor of Germany a favourable opportunity 
 to indemnify himself on the side of Turkey, for 
 the losses he had elsewhere sustained, he en- 
 tered into an alliance with the Russians. But 
 the haughty tone of these confederates roused 
 
164 HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 the Turks. Anne, indeed, still continued the 
 war; and Munich reduced Otchakof, desolated 
 the Crimea, and overran Moldavia. But the 
 emperor was soon obliged to employ the media- 
 tion of France to procure peace ; and as it was 
 probable that Sweden, instigated by France 
 and Turkey, would attempt to recover her terri- 
 tories on the Baltic, Anne concluded a peace 
 with the Turks, September 18, 1739. This 
 war occasioned to Russia an immense waste of 
 blood and treasure, and was not attended with 
 any advantage, except that of displaying the 
 power of her arms. 
 
 While war was carried on with vigour, tran- 
 quillity was maintained in the interior of the 
 empire, and objects of utility were not neglected. 
 Anne received the submission of the Kerghises, 
 and re-established the Russian authority over 
 the Zaporogian Cossacks. She promoted dis- 
 coveries in the eastern parts of Siberia, and 
 renewed treaties of commerce with different 
 nations. This princess died October 17, 1740 y 
 after a prosperous reign of ten years and a few 
 months. She JFS active, open, and compas- 
 sionate; but unhappily for her subjects, so en- 
 tirely under the controul of Biren, that great 
 cruelties were committed under the sanction of 
 her authority. It is conjectured that 20,000 
 persons were banished to Siberia during her 
 reign. Her ineffectual opposition to the 
 
IVAN. 165 
 
 quinary measures of her ferocious servant, will 
 not exempt her, in the eyes of posterity, from the 
 guilt of his atrocities. 
 
 Catherine, the eldest sister of the empress 
 Anne, married the duke of Mecklenburgh ; and 
 of this marriage was born Anne, espoused to 
 Anthony Ulric, duke of Brunswick. Not so 
 much from an affection to her relatives, as to 
 prolong the reign of her favourite, the empress 
 Anne nominated Ivan, a babe, son of the duke 
 of Brunswick and her niece, Anne, to be her 
 successor, and Biren to be regent till the child 
 should be seventeen. Biren had now attained 
 the height of his wishes. In accepting the 
 regency, he seemed only to accede to the request 
 of the principal persons of the realm, and, as 
 soon as the oath was taken to the young em- 
 peror, and himself as guardian, he obtained 
 an annual revenue of 500,000 rubles, with the 
 title of Imperial Highness. But as it has al- 
 ways been more difficult to preserve than obtain 
 power. Biren was very insecure upon this slip- 
 pery eminence, and his fall was as sudden as 
 his elevation had been undeserved. 
 
 He kept numerous spies in employ, and 
 every day threw persons whom he suspected 
 into prison. The Russian nobles, who were 
 extremely jealous of his power were highly 
 provoked by his insufferable arrogance. He 
 came to an open rupture with the emperor's 
 
166 HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 father, and threatened if they were refractory, 
 to send him and his consort into Germany* 
 Discontents were general, and marshal Munich, 
 who had received some disgust, prevailed upon 
 the princess Anne to order the arrest of the 
 regent. Manstein with twenty men, employed 
 to execute the order, penetrated into the apart- 
 ment of the regent, and rousing him from a 
 sound sleep, conducted him with his mouth 
 gagged and his hands tied behind his back, into 
 the residence of the princess Anne, December 
 18th, twenty days after he had assumed the re- 
 gency. The man who made Russia tremble, 
 and threatened to expel the paients of his sove- 
 reign, was with great ease stript of his vast 
 authority, and confined in a miserable hovel in 
 the wilds of Siberia. So few in Russia are 
 the steps between the throne and the prison.* 
 
 On the morning after JBiren's arrest, the oath 
 was taken to the princess Anne, as regent. 
 The court was divided. Marshal Munich was 
 induced by the Prussian monarch to endeavour 
 to dissolve the connexion between Russia and 
 Austria ; but the regent, following the advice of 
 the chancellor Osterman, adhered to Austria and 
 engaged to furnish auxiliaries. Anne however 
 showed not any activity in the war with Prussia, 
 
 * Coxe. Vol. II. p. 262. 
 
IVAN. 167 
 
 Augustus III. king 1 of Poland and elector of 
 Saxony opposed the march of her troops and 
 the Swedes threatened on the side of Finland. 
 Secure of success they formed the terms of peace 
 without having" consulted measures for the war. 
 They were defeated by general Lascy near Wil- 
 manstraiid, and their attempts to excite discon- 
 tents in Russia were ineffectual *. 
 
 Meanwhile events tended to another revolu- 
 tion. The regent Anne did not live on terms with 
 her consort ; careless, and addicted to pleasure, 
 her inattention allowed her enemies to intrigue 
 against her, while the distinctions enjoyed by 
 foreigners sharpened their jealousy. The infant 
 emperor himself seemed a foreigner, and a new 
 candidate for the imperial power appeared in the 
 person of the princess Elizabeth. 
 
 This princess, daughter of Peter the Great, 
 was born in 1709, and consequently before that 
 monarch had espoused her mother, the empress 
 Catherine. Elizabeth, when arrived at years of 
 maturity, was famed for beauty, which together 
 with rank and fortune, procured her several sui- 
 tors. Her father had entered into a negotiation 
 for her marriage with Louis XV. She was be- 
 trothed to the bishop of Lubec, Charles Augus- 
 tus y but the death of that prince prevented the 
 completion of the ceremony. The most remark- 
 
 * Tooke's History of Russia, Vol. II. p, 256 
 
168 HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 able application, however, for this princess, 
 was that of the Persian tyrant Kouli Khan, 
 who naving, in the centre of Asia, heard of her 
 beauty, sent an embassy of 16,000 men and 
 twenty pieces of artillery to demand her in 
 marriage. 
 
 On the death of Peter II. Elizabeth made no 
 claim to the crown ; she lived on terms with the 
 empress Anne j the slave of pleasure ; unknown 
 to the- nobility ; with few friends except among 
 the soldiers. But an infant being on the throne 
 and the regent Anne, while she made herself 
 enemies without suspicion of danger, Elizabeth 
 hearkened to her physician Lestoc, who persuad-, 
 ed her to aspire to the empire. This man at- 
 tempted to raise partizans among the soldiers ; 
 money being furnished by his mistress and the 
 French ambassador. The courage of Elizabeth 
 failed, the fidelity of the soldiers was doubtful, 
 and reports of the plot were in circulation. 
 Such however was the blind security of the 
 regent, that though apprized of the danger from 
 various quarters, she neglected even to inform 
 her consort, and disregarded advice and admo- 
 nition to provide for her own safety She men*, 
 tioned the matter in full court, in the presence 
 of Elizabeth, and was so infatuated, as to allow 
 the protestations and tears of that princess tQ 
 banish all suspicion from her mind. 
 
IVAN. 169 
 
 Lestoc now redoubled his efforts to inspire 
 Elizabeth with courage. He showed her a 
 card, on one side of which she was represented 
 in a nunnery and on the other wearing- the dia- 
 dem. By thus displaying the punishment and 
 the reward, he determined her. Having pro- 
 cured accomplices, he repaired to her apartments 
 December 5th 1741, and found her again in 
 a state of hesitation. When, however, she had 
 offered her devotions before a crucifix, her cou- 
 rage revived, and stepping into a sledge with a 
 chamberlain and two guards behind, followed by 
 Lestoc, and a person named Schwartz, she pro- 
 ceeded to the quarters of the Preobaginsky 
 guards. With the cross in her hand, she ad- 
 dressed the soldiers, said that she was the 
 daughter of Peter the Great, and prayed them 
 to assist her in recovering the inheritance, of 
 which she had been deprived by foreigners* 
 The demeanour of Elizabeth aided by liquor 
 gained the greater part of the regiment, and the 
 refractory were manacled. Joined by all they 
 met in their progress, they inarched to the resi- 
 dence of the duke of Brunswick and the regent 
 Anne, whom they r'udely awakened from sleep, 
 and safely conducted to Elizabeth's palace. Mu- 
 nich and Osterman were likewise made prison-* 
 ers. In the morning, Elizabeth was acknow* 
 Jedged as empress, and the same oaths of fide- 
 
170 HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 lity were taken to her by the same persons as 
 had, in little more than twelve months, sworn 
 allegiance successively to Ivan, Biren, and Anne, 
 Elizabeth published two manifestos ; one in 
 which she claimed the throne as her birth- 
 right; and the other in which she exposed the 
 pretensions of Ivan and his parents. 
 
 The infant emperor Ivan, whose history it is 
 now expedient to pursue, equally unconscious 
 of his rise and of his fall, was found slumbering 
 at his nurse's side, by the soldiers sent to arrest 
 him, As they were ordered not to disturb him, 
 if asleep, they stood in silence, at least an hour, 
 around his cradle, before he opened his eyes. 
 Disputing which of them should carry him, 
 the child was frightened ; and to still his crying, 
 they allowed his nurse to wrap him in a cloak, 
 and accompany him in a sledge to the palace. 
 Elizabeth kissed the boy ; as he was in her 
 arms, some soldiers passed by shouting, <c Long 
 live Elizabeth/' and pleased with the noise, he 
 extended his little hands and endeavoured to 
 imitate the shouts. Touched by this spectacle, 
 the empress exclaimed, <c poor innocent ! you 
 know not that they rejoice in your ruin.'* 
 
 Ivan's innocence, however, did not afford him 
 protection. He was conveyed with his parents 
 to the fortress of Riga. Application was made 
 to Elizabeth on behalf of the unfortunate family 
 
IVAN. 17 1 
 
 by the courts of Vienna, London, and Berlin ; 
 but as she would only consent to the release of 
 the duke, he would not accept of liberty. From 
 Riga the royal prisoners were conducted to 
 Dunamund, and then to Oranienburgh in the pro- 
 vince of Voronetz, where they remained two 
 years under the care of Baron Korf who treated 
 them with great humanity. Ivan was separated 
 from his parents about his seventh year. It is 
 said a monk who had access to his prison, con- 
 trived to release him, and attempted to convey 
 him into Germany ; but being overtaken near 
 Smolensk, Ivan was again confined in a convent 
 upon an isle in the lake of Valday. When about 
 sixteen he was transported to the fortress of 
 Schlusselburgh, and in the same year 1756, he 
 was secretly brought to Petersburgh, where 
 Elizabeth had an interview with him. In dis- 
 coursing with him she shed many tears ; and 
 remanded him back to his dungeon. 
 
 Ivan remained in the fortress of Schlussel- 
 burgh for eight years, in a dismal apartment 
 with bare stone walls, and brick floor, little 
 light, and no other furniture than a truckle-bed, 
 a table, and a few chairs. He was seldom al- 
 lowed to breathe the fresh air, or feel the blessed 
 sun. Imprisoned from his infancy, he was not 
 able to read or write; his speech was inarticulate ; 
 and if agitated, he was liable to stammer. 
 
172 HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 Though his knowledge was very confined, he 
 was not ignorant of his descent, and indulged a 
 strong hope of re-ascending the throne. He 
 was accustomed perpetually to change his dress 
 and admire himself like a child. Not intirely 
 Toid of religious notions he prayed, confessed, 
 and received the sacrament annually, and boast- 
 ed of frequent revelations from Gabriel, 
 
 Peter III. soon after his accession to em^ 
 pire, went to Schlusselburgh, in order to have 
 an interview with the royal prisoner. The em-, 
 peror, who kept his intention secret, was ac- 
 companied by baron Korf and some others, ancj 
 with an order previously signed by himself gained 
 admission into the apartment of Ivan. He 
 appeared very clean and neat, though his 
 clothes were coarse. Peter had not been long 
 in the room, before the reflections that crowd-* 
 ed upon his mind obliged him to return into 
 the air. " I now feel myself, 7 ' said he to one 
 of his attendants, " very much refreshed. I 
 was so exceedingly shocked as to be near 
 fainting." Ivan talked very incoherently, one 
 moment he pretended to be the emperor Ivan, 
 and the next a body into which the soul of that 
 emperor, now dead, had migrated. When 
 asked why he thought himself an emperor, he said, 
 *' he learnt it from his parents and guards." 
 Being questioned whether he remembered his 
 
IVAN. 17$ 
 
 parents, he replied in the affirmative, and bit- 
 terly lamented that Elizabeth had kept both 
 them and himself in such a wretched condition. 
 He recollected, he added, that they were ail 
 under the care of an officer, the only person 
 who had ever shown them any tenderness. Korf 
 immediately enquired whether he should know 
 that officer. " I should not at present/' return- 
 ed Ivan, " it is so long ago, and I was then a 
 child j but 1 have not forgotten his name, it is 
 Korf.'' The general being very much affected, 
 Peter, who was likewise moved, said in a broken 
 voice : " Baron, you see, a good deed is never 
 lost." 
 
 Peter conversed nearly an hour with the de- 
 throned prince. As he proposed to give him 
 liberty, he left a confidential servant in the 
 apartment to ascertain whether the idiocy of 
 Ivan was real or counterfeited. It soon appear- 
 ing that he was actually disordered in his mind, 
 all thought of releasing him was abandoned- 
 He was transported to Kexholm, another for- 
 tress in the Ladoga lake. In passing from 
 Schlusselburgh to a galliot stationed at some 
 distance for his reception, the wind being 
 boisterous, the boat was upset, and he narrowly 
 escaped with his life. On the accession of 
 Catharine II. he was removed from Kexholm* 
 and the carriage breaking down, he \* as led 
 
174 HOUSE OF ROMANOF.-- 
 
 covered with a cloak through Schlusselbnrgh to 
 his former prison, where he was confined till 
 his death, a transaction, not a little extraor- 
 dinary. 
 
 Two officers were stationed in Ivan's apart- 
 ment as a guard ; and of the hundred men who 
 performed duty in the fortress, eight or ten 
 stood centinel about the door. In the regiment 
 of Smolensk, which at this time was quarter- 
 ed in Schlusselburgh, and in the rotation of a 
 hundred men a week, guarded the fortress, was 
 a lieutenant, named Vassili Mirovitch. This 
 man, whose grandfather had engaged in revolt 
 with the Cossack Mezeppa, having been disap- 
 pointed in his applications for the recovery of 
 his progenitor's confiscated estates, conceived 
 the design of restoring Ivan to the throne. In 
 this daring enterprise, he was joined by Usha- 
 kof, lieutenant in another regiment. These con- 
 spirators took an oath of fidelity to each on the 
 altar of the Virgin Mary's church, and having 
 invoked the Great Ruler to aid their attempts, 
 drew up a manifesto, which they meant to 
 distribute as soon as Ivan was liberated. Sum- 
 mer was chosen to execute the enterprize, when 
 it was expected the empress would be in Livonia* 
 Though in this interval, his associate was ac* 
 ddeatally drowned, Mirovitch persevered. He 
 
IVAN. 175 
 
 endeavoured to infuse seditious principles into 
 Tikon Casatkin, a servant of the court, and 
 communicated his design to Tchevaridsef, a lieu- 
 tenant in the artillery. During the week in 
 which he was on duty in the fortress, he was 
 only able to mark the door of Ivan's apartment 
 which he showed to Tchevaridsef, who came 
 from Petersburgh to visit him. When his week 
 expired he contrived to be continued on guard 
 another. On the evening of the 4th of July, he 
 had only gained one common soldier, Jacob 
 Piskof. About ten, he first hinted his intentions 
 to three corporals, and two soldiers and though 
 they were at first averse, they were at length 
 persuaded to favour his attempt. But timid 
 and irresolute, they proposed to wait for a more 
 favourable opportunity, to which Mirovitch 
 seemed to assent. 
 
 Between one and two in the morning, how- 
 ever, he renewed his solicitations, and by bribes 
 and promises secured their concurrence. With 
 these six assistants, he collected about forty of 
 the soldiers, and, pretending an order from the 
 empress, commanded them to load their pieces 
 and march to Ivan's prison. In his way, meet- 
 ing the governor, who had been roused by the 
 noise, Mirovitch knocked him down, and hav- 
 ing entrusted him to some of the party, ad- 
 vanced to the gate of the prince's dungeon, 
 
176 HOUSE OF ROMANOF* 
 
 Being* refused admittance, he ordered his fol- 
 lowers to fire. As the centinels returned the 
 fire, Mirovitch's soldiers retreated, and it was 
 . only by reading an order from the empress, 
 which he had forged, and adding threats, pro- 
 mises, and intreaties, that he prevailed with them 
 again to advance. A piece of artillery was 
 pointed against the prison door, when it was 
 suddenly opened for their admission. 
 
 The officers Vlasief and Tchekin, who had 
 secret orders to put their prisoner to death, in 
 case of any attempt to rescue him, seeing the 
 soldiers return with the gun, considered further 
 resistance as hopeless, and drew their swords 
 upon the unhappy Ivan. The prince, full six feet 
 high, well formed, and of athletic strength, 
 though almost naked and unarmed, defended 
 himself with all the courage of despair. His 
 hand was pierced, yet he broke one of their 
 swords and resisted, until stabbed in several 
 parts, and wounded in the back, he was 
 thrown down. The officers now opened the 
 door, and pointing to the body oi the murdered 
 prince exclaimed; "Here is your emperor I" 
 Mirovitch on seeing the dismal spectacle, was 
 at first confounded ; but soon collected his cou- 
 rage, and finding his hopes blasted, surrender- 
 ed himself with perfect composure. 
 
 When the body of Ivan was exposed on the 
 
IVAN. 177 
 
 following 1 day, great crowds collected from 
 different quarters, and by various attitudes and 
 expressions of grief bewailed a prince, wlio in 
 unconscious infancy had sat on the throne of 
 Russia, drawn out a wretched existence in suc- 
 cessive dungeons, and perished by the hand of 
 violence, a sacrifice to the state. As a tumult 
 was apprehended from the uncommon concourse, 
 his body was wrapped in a sheep-skin and 
 buried without ceremony in the old chapel of 
 the fortress. 
 
 Mirovitch and his accomplices, after being 
 examined at Schlusselburgh, were examined at 
 Petersburg!! by a select committee. It ap- 
 peared from all the enquiries that Mirovitch 
 had been his own adviser and instigator. He 
 solemnly professed he had no associates, except 
 his fellow prisoners. He was sentenced to lose 
 his head, which he suffered with great tran- 
 quillity. His followers received different punish- 
 ments according to the reputed degrees of their 
 guilt*. 
 
 It was reported that Mirovitch was encouraged 
 by the court in the attempt that occasioned Ivan's 
 death. But there seems little ground for this 
 accusation, except the advantage which Ca- 
 therine reaped from the removal of a prisoner 
 ** whose life might afford a feeble hope to discon- 
 tented spirits, and tempt them to desperate en- 
 terprises. 
 
 * Coxe, Vol. III. p. 4568. 
 N 
 
178 HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 Elizabeth, among* the first acts of her reigri 
 recalled several persons whom the justice or 
 tyranny of her predecessors had sen into 
 Siberia, and banished into those regions marshal 
 Munich, because he had formerly, in obedience 
 to orders, taken one of her favourites into 
 custody. The empress endeavoured to restore 
 thing's as they were nndec, her father. 
 
 As the services of the Preobaginsky guards, 
 in raising her to the throne, had procured, from 
 the empress, many marks of favour, they be- 
 came insolent. The grenadiers, who had been 
 all honoured with the rank of nobility, were so 
 intoxicated with their good fortune, as to grow 
 riotous, and came to the resolution of murder- 
 ing all foreigners, who might fall in their way. 
 Elizabeth was obliged to exert her authority to 
 check such arrogance; but, their hatred to 
 foreigners, though suppressed when discovered, 
 was of essential injury to the service. 
 
 The Swedes, who had, during the regency 
 of Anne, entered into a war to recover their 
 ancient possessions, as Elizabeth was not inclined 
 to relinquish them, continued hostilities. But 
 they were not successful. The empress at- 
 tempted to seduce the Finns from their alle- 
 giance by offering them liberty; and though 
 this offer was little recommended by the burn- 
 ing of two hundred villages, her army sur- 
 rounded the Swedes at Helsingfors, and reduced 
 
ELIZABETH. 179 
 
 them to such necessities as obliged them to 
 capitulate. Disappointed in their expectations, 
 they agreed to a peace on the basis of that of 
 Neustadt, surrendered Fredericksham and Wil- 
 tnanstrand to Elizabeth, and, at her request, 
 nominated Frederic Adolphus, as successor to 
 the throne. 
 
 The French endeavoured to detach Elizabeth 
 from the house of Austria, but Bestuchef frus- 
 trated their efforts, and troops were sent to the 
 assistance of Maria Theresa, the empress queen. 
 The attempts of the Prussian monarch to create 
 a misunderstanding between the two powers 
 were fruitless. 
 
 An alliance, indeed, was formed between 
 Elizabeth and Frederic, in 1743, but she was 
 so far from being friendly to this prince, that 
 she would not guarantee the treaty of Dresden. 
 She formed a close alliance with Austria, to 
 which the electoral king of Poland was invited 
 to accede. 
 
 Lestoc, to whom Elizabeth was indebted for 
 her elevation, entertained a strong predilection 
 for the Prussian monarch, and in consequence 
 of this, he was obnoxious to Bestuchef. The 
 physician's services were now forgotten, and he 
 was banished to a village in the province of 
 Archangel. 
 
 Lestoc, who favoured the Prussian interests, 
 being removed, Bestuchef found it easy to 
 
180 HOUSE OF KOMANOF. 
 
 alienate the mind of Elizabeth from Frederic, 
 Her ambassador not having been treated, on 
 one occasion, with that respect to which he was 
 entitled, she recalled him from Berlin. Some 
 expressions of Frederic's, in ridicule of Eliza- 
 beth's mother, and of her own irregularities, 
 were related to her, with aggravations, and 
 while provoked by the satire of that prince, it 
 was not difficult to persuade her that he was 
 concerting measures against her government. 
 The empress, therefore, entered into a treaty 
 with the court of Vienna, in order to resist all 
 further encrease of the Prussian power ; and, in 
 1755, going a step further, she resolved, in 
 conjunction with Austria, to put herself into a 
 condition to attack Prussia, or, in case of an 
 attack from that power, to resist with energy. 
 
 When the English and Prussian monarchs 
 had concluded a treaty, by which they guaran- 
 teed each others dominions, Elizabeth acceded 
 to the alliance formed by France and Austria, 
 for the purpose of checking the power of those 
 monarchs. In conformity with this engage- 
 ment, general Fermor, aided by the Russian 
 fleet, undertook the reduction of Memel ; while 
 an army of 80,000 men, under marshal Apraxin, 
 invaded Prussia. Apraxin, after committing 
 great barbarities upon the inhabitants, retired, 
 precipitately into Livonia, without effecting 
 any thing worthy of so great a force. This 
 
ELIZABETH. 181 
 
 retreat, which excited loud complaints among 1 
 the empress's allies, was ordered by Bestuchef, 
 who had formed the design of setting- aside the 
 grand duke, afterwards Peter HI., and, as 
 Elizabeth was dangerously ill, thought he 
 might have occasion for the army to accomplish 
 his purpose. But the empress recovering, 
 when she learnt the cause of Apraxin's retreat, 
 banished the chancellor, and sent the marshal 
 prisoner to Narva, where he expired, on being 
 informed of Bestuchef *s disgrace. 
 
 The empress still persevered in her designs. 
 A new army of 90,000 men, under marshal 
 Brown and general Fermor, reduced Konigs- 
 berg, and ducal Prussia; but, elated with suc- 
 cess, when they penetrated as far as Custrin, 
 they were repulsed by Frederic ; and Fermor, 
 who attempted to reduce Colberg, was obliged 
 to winter beyond the Vistula. 
 
 The following year, 1759, the arms of Eli- 
 zabeth were crowned with greater success. 
 Soitikof, who now took the command of the 
 army, having established magazines on the 
 frontiers of Poland, advanced to the banks of 
 the Oder, with the view of forming a junction 
 with the Austrians, and invading Silesia or 
 Brandenburgh. He defeated the Prussian ge- 
 neral, Wedel, who endeavoured to obstruct his 
 march, near Zullicau, took Francfort on the 
 Oder, and entrenched himself in a strong posu 
 
182 HOUSE Otf ROMANOF. 
 
 tion near Konersdorff. Here being attacked 
 by the king- of Prussia, who deemed the defeat 
 of the Russians indispensible to his safety, he 
 gained, after a long, furious and doubtful con- 
 test, a complete victory over that prince, re- 
 ducing his army one half, and taking most of 
 his artillery. But when it was expected that 
 uniting his victorious troops with the Austrians, 
 he would perform some grand exploit, he re- 
 tired into Poland. As the great duke Peter 
 was well know 7 n to favour the Prussian interests, 
 it is probable that Soltikof, by this step, in- 
 tended to pay court to that prince, whom he 
 soon expected to be his sovereign. When, 
 however, he was pressed by marshal Daun to 
 pursue his operations with vigour, he replied ; 
 " I have done enough this year. Sir ; I have 
 gained two battles, which have cost Russia 
 27,000 men. 1 expect, as an excitement, to 
 renew my operations, that you will, in your 
 turn, gain two victories."* 
 
 When the empress was apprized of this vic- 
 tory, she was very much affected with the 
 reflection, that it had cost so much blood. She 
 rewarded the general officers and men, and, 
 though she seemed to feel so much for human 
 suffering, told the English ambassador, who 
 
 * Mayo's Compendious View of Universal History, 
 Vol. I., p. 222. 
 
ELIZABETH. 183 
 
 proposed a congress in order to reconcile the 
 contending powers, that as she intended to pro- 
 cure her allies satisfaction, she could enter into 
 negotiation only in concert with them. 
 
 The armies of the empress were re-inforced ; 
 but they were little more than spectators of the 
 contest. Intrigues, which perpetually agitated 
 the court of Elizabeth, removed Soltikof, not- 
 withstanding 1 his merit, from the command of the 
 army. Butterlin, his successor, acted in con- 
 junction with the Austrians, while Romanzow, 
 penetrating into Pomerania, reduced Colberg. 
 
 Meanwhile, the health of the empress began 
 to decline. Tormented with excruciating pains, 
 she endeavoured to procure, relief by the use of 
 intoxicating liquors, and thus hastened her dis- 
 solution, which took place December 25th, 
 1761. Elizabeth, it is said, resembled her 
 mother, Catherine, whom she surpassed in 
 beauty. The charms of her person were re- 
 commended by an air of gaiety and good 
 humour, which she usually assumed. Equally 
 addicted to superstition and sensuality, she woulil 
 continue hours upon her knees before the pic- 
 ture of a saint, and frequently drink to excess ; 
 while she acknowledged she was never happy 
 except when influenced by amorous inclina- 
 tions, of which the objects were incessantly 
 varied. On her accession to the throne, she 
 made a vow, that no criminal should be put to 
 
184 HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 death during her reign. But, if capital punish- 
 ments were not inflicted, the prisons were filled 
 with sufferers, who perished unknown and un- 
 regretted. She instituted a political inquisition 
 to examine persons suspected of treason, which 
 was kept in full employ during the whole of her 
 reign. Upon the slightest surmises, many per- 
 sons were tortured, and many expired under 
 the punishment of the knoot. The most pro- 
 fligate wretches were employed as spies, and 
 rewarded for their depositions against the inno- 
 cent. No less than 20,000 were taken off by 
 private imprisonment. The countess Bestuchef 
 and Lapookin received, each of them, fifty 
 strokes of the knoot in the open square of Peters- 
 burgh, were deprived of their tongues, and 
 banished to Siberia. The countess Lapookin, 
 the handsomest woman in Russia, was, indeed, 
 accused of holding a secret intercourse with the 
 French ambassador ; but she had only reflected 
 on the empress's amours. Passing her days in 
 frivolous amusements, balls, masquerades, and 
 banquets, and neglecting all serious employ- 
 ment, Elizabeth yet lived in perpetual appre- 
 hensions of perishing by violence. 
 
 So great was her alarm, that, besides guards 
 about her apartment, a person, originally a 
 taylor, in whom she placed great confidence, 
 usually remained at the foot of her bed, while 
 
ELIZABETH. 185 
 
 she slept, a post which he occupied two and 
 twenty years.* 
 
 Though Elizabeth refused to take a husband 
 who might share the empire with her, yet, 
 Alexey Razumofsky, taking advantage of her 
 superstition, induced her to consent to a private 
 marriage, and of this clandestine union the 
 counts Tarrakanof and their sister were the 
 fruit. 
 
 During the reign of Elizabeth, the army 
 was increased, though not improved, and lite- 
 rature and commerce made some progress. The 
 corruption and debauchery of her court, were 
 gilded with pomp and magnificence. 
 
 * Coxe, Vol. III. p. 3. 
 
186 HOUSE OF RCMANOF. 
 
 CHAP. VIII. 
 
 The Princess AnneDuke of Hohtein declared successor to 
 Elizabeth His Marriage toith the Princess of Anhalt 
 Zerbst, afterwards Catherine II. The grand Duke labours 
 tinder the jealousy of Elizabeth Intrigues to exclude him 
 from the succession SoltikofPoniatousky Grand Dut- 
 chess reconciled to Elizabeth Parties in the Court at her 
 Death Accession of Peter III. Beginning of his Reign 
 His follies Conspiracies against him Tfieir progress 
 And fall of Peter III. 
 
 ELIZABETH was succeeded by her nephew, 
 Peter III., son of the princess Anne, eldest 
 daughter of Peter the great. This princess, 
 the most deserving of all Peter the great's chil- 
 dren, inherited many of her father's qualities ; 
 she was endowed with an excellent understand- 
 ing, recommended by great beauty, a majestic 
 form, and an irreproachable life. When young, 
 count Apraxin paid his addresses to her; and, 
 though contemptuously rejected, continued his 
 suit. Finding her alone one day, he fell at her 
 feet, and presenting his sword, entreated her to 
 end his miserable life. u Give me the sword," 
 said the princess extending her hand, <c you 
 shall see that the daughter of your emperor lias 
 
PETER III. 187 
 
 strength and spirit to rid herself of a wretch 
 who insults her." The count fearing 1 she might 
 execute her threat, withdrew his sword and 
 begged pardon. As the princess told the story 
 with great humour, he was exposed to the de- 
 rison of the whole court. 
 
 In 1725, Anne espoused Charles Frederic, 
 duke of Holstein, and heir of the Swedish 
 throne. In expectation of two crowns, she was 
 disappointed of both ; and having been nomi- 
 nated by Catherine I., as one of the council of 
 regency, during the minority of Peter IF., she 
 was excluded by the violence of Mentchikof, 
 and driven from Russia by his orders. She re- 
 tired with her consort to Kiel, where she died 
 in 1728, in the 22d year of her age, leaving an, 
 only son, Peter III., heir of her rights and mis- 
 fortunes.* 
 
 Peter lost his father the following year, and 
 as there was no prospect of his accession to the 
 throne of Russia, he was educated as a German 
 prince, by his uncle, the bishop of Lubec. 
 When the revolution of 1741, had seated Eliza- 
 beth upon the throne, as she was apprehensive 
 of plots from her discontented subjects, she 
 called her nephew Peter into Russia, and ap- 
 pointed him her successor. Two days before 
 his nomination, as heir of the Russian empire, 
 
 * Coxe, Vol.11, p. 165. 
 
188 HOUSE OF HOMANOF, 
 
 the states of Sweden had chosen him to suc- 
 ceed his aunt, their queen, Ulrica Eleonora, 
 lately deceased. On the 1 8th of November, 1742, 
 Peter being fourteen years of age, was publicly 
 admitted into the Greek church, and proclaimed 
 grand duke with the title of imperial highness, 
 all present swearing to maintain his succession 
 to the throne. 
 
 The empress having nominated her nephew 
 to be her heir, though she entirely neglected 
 his education, resolved to provide him a spouse. 
 Her choice fell upon the princess of Anhalt 
 Zerbst, a relation of the grand duke's. Sophia 
 Augusta Frederica, the daughter of Christian 
 Augustus, prince of Anhalt Zerbst, and Eliza- 
 beth princess of Holstein, was born at Stettin, 
 May 2d, 1729. Her father, a field-marshal 
 in the Prussian service, and governor of Stettin, 
 devolved her education upon her mother, a 
 woman of parts and beauty, who bestowed great 
 care on the culture of her daughter's mind. In 
 her childhood, Sophia discovered not a little 
 spirit; since at play, whatever it might be, 
 she always acted the principal part, and taught 
 her play-fellows theirs, with an air of authority. 
 From Stettin, the principal place of her resi- 
 dence, she made frequent visits with her mother 
 to Hamburgh, Brunswick, and Berlin. At Ham- 
 burgh, a M. von Brummer, chamberlain to the 
 bishop of Lubec's relict, communicated to her the 
 
PETER III. 189 
 
 most instrnctive works of living authors, and 
 at Brunswick she was instructed in the princi- 
 ples of Lutheranism by the court preacher, 
 Dove. Beautiful, amiable, and accomplished, 
 her mother proposed, in the sixteenth year of her 
 age, to convey her into Russia, a measure to 
 which she was so reluctant, that she burst into 
 tears, declaring she would rather marry a count 
 in Germany than the grand duke.* 
 
 The princess Sophia, however, accompanied 
 her mother to Petersburg!!. A reciprocal attach- 
 ment was soon observed between the grand 
 duke and the young princess. Having adopted 
 the Greek religion, and changed her name into 
 Catherine Alexievna, the young princess was 
 espoused to Peter, and the nuptials were cele- 
 brated with a magnificence, becoming the heirs 
 of a great empire. 
 
 The grand duke and his consort lived for some 
 time in apparent harmony. But their disposi- 
 tions and habits involved the principles of dis- 
 trust, indifference, and opposition, which events 
 ripening into irreconcilable aversion, brought 
 so many calamities upon the grand duke, and 
 occasioned, at once, the crimes and honours of 
 Catherine. 
 
 Though Peter was not naturally void of un- 
 derstanding, he had received no instruction ; 
 
 * Coxe, Vol. III. p. 2. 
 
190 HOUSE OF ROM AN OP. 
 
 his person was uncouth, and his manners rude 
 and vulgar; while Catherine, naturally intelli- 
 gent and carefully educated, added to great 
 personal beauty, refinement of taste, and dignity 
 of behaviour. She was ashamed of her consort, 
 and in her presence he was ashamed of himself. 
 As the grand duke's pretensions to the throne 
 were superior to Elizabeth 's, she grew jealous 
 of him. Regarding him as a rival, she thought 
 him too well informed, and kept him at a 
 distance from all business. Some disinterested 
 persons ventured to remonstrate with the em- 
 press ; and, among others, a woman of her bed- 
 chamber, named Johanna, had the courage to 
 ask why she kept the duke from the council. 
 < e What will become of him?" said she, if 
 he is not taught what is necessary to rule the 
 country?" u Johanna," replied the empress 
 angrily, "do you know the way to Siberia?" 
 At Petersburg!! the grand duke was kept some- 
 what like a state prisoner. When the weather 
 allowed, he retired to the palace at Oranien- 
 baum, the gift of the empress upon his marriage, 
 where he amused himself in training his servants 
 to military exercises. To preserve him from 
 political intrigues, the empress encouraged this 
 military passion, and ordered soldiers to be 
 draughted from different regiments, and to be 
 quartered at Oranienbaum under his command. 
 While the grand duke thus laboured under 
 
PETER III. 101 
 
 the jealousy of his aunt, he had the misfortune 
 to entertain an extravagant admiration for the 
 king- of Prussia ; in consequence of which, as 
 well as of the injury which that minister had 
 done him, he was exposed to the hatred pf the 
 chancellor Bestuchef. Aware that if Peter 
 succeeded to the throne, his disgrace would 
 follow, that crafty politician laboured to deprive 
 the duke of the empress's favour, and render 
 him contemptible in the eyes of the Russians. 
 
 For this purpose he associated with several 
 courtiers, as base and malignant, though not so 
 subtle as himself, whom he employed to con ] 
 vey unfavourable reports of the duke to the 
 empress, to aggravate trivial faults, and attri- 
 bute to him imaginary vices. He gained al- 
 most ali the persons for whom Peter had an 
 inclination, and made use of them as spies upon 
 his conduct, and tempters to those vices and 
 absurdities which he wished him to contract. 
 Elizabeth, easily deceived, was induced to ab- 
 hor her harmless nephew, and being, by a scan- 
 dalous artifice, persuaded that he was intem- 
 perate, diminished his allowance. This drew 
 from him complaints, which were reported with 
 aggravations. 
 
 While some of the agents of Bestuchef 
 poisoned the ear of the empress, others were no 
 less successful in corrupting Peter. When the 
 corps of soldiers was put under his orders, he 
 
192 HOUSE OP ROMANOF. 
 
 formed a miniature fortress in his garden, and 
 pleased with the first essay, built a larger one 
 near his palace, with accommodation for 1500 
 men. His soldiers were principally Germans, 
 whom he dressed and exercised in the Prussian 
 mode. To military exercises were added musi- 
 cal and theatrical performances. The profligate 
 associates of Bestuchef, persuaded the duke 
 that every Prussian officer was a smoaker, 
 drinker, and gambler, and he acquired those 
 vices. 
 
 The conduct of Catherine was very different 
 from that of her husband. It was her business 
 to gain partizans among the nobility, and to 
 acquaint herself with the laws, institutions, and 
 genius of the Russians. Disgusted with the 
 duke, in whom she found nothing conformable 
 to her taste or inclinations, though she checked, 
 she never subdued her immoderate love of plea- 
 sure. The amours of this princess form an 
 important part of her history. 
 
 Among the attendants upon the grand duke 
 was a young man, his chamberlain, named 
 Soltikof, graceful in person, of engaging man- 
 ners, tinctured with French literature, and, 
 though scarcely outgrown the boy, distinguished 
 by his gallantries. Soltikof conceiving the 
 design of seducing the spouse of his master, 
 recommended himself to Catherine, by procu- 
 rincr her amusement in the solitude of Oranien- 
 
PETER ill. 193 
 
 baum, and his constant assiduities, aided by 
 his wit and beauty, insensibly secured her affec- 
 tions. Having 1 obtained permission from his 
 master to repair to Moscow, on occasion of his 
 father's death, he went to take leave of the 
 grand dutchess, and as he was unable to con- 
 ceal the emotions which separation excited, 
 Catherine fixing her eyes upon him, very signi- 
 ficantly conjured him to hasten his return. 
 Conjecturing that he had gained the princess's 
 heart, the young man dispatched his business in 
 a few days. But on his return, as he reflected 
 on the consequences of avowing his passion, a 
 prison, perhaps, or death, he began to tremble ; 
 and melancholy preying on his spirits, affected 
 his health. Catherine, alarmed, one day when 
 they were alone together, enquired the cause of 
 so sudden a change. Soltikof, not master of 
 himself, pathetically declared the emotions of 
 his mind. The princess, though she seemed to 
 pity him, with a collected air, advised him to 
 renounce an inclination so obviously irregular 
 and dangerous. But, finding that she listened 
 to him, he took courage, and threw himself at 
 her feet. Catherine, letting fall a tear, hastily 
 retired into her cabinet, and wrote to him the 
 following line : 
 
 " Et meritez les pleurs que vous m'allez cowter." 
 
 Soitikof resumed his usual gaiety. 
 o 
 
194 HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 While the empress spent the summer at 
 Peterhof, she occasionally sent for the grand 
 duke and dutchess, to share in the pleasures of 
 the court. But as Catherine thought she would 
 be too much exposed to observation, she feigned 
 indisposition, and Peter was so blind that he 
 left his chamberlain to amuse his wife. The 
 indiscretion of the dutchess, however, soon led 
 the courtiers to suspect the cause of the pre- 
 ference shown to Soltikof, and they failed not 
 to convey their suspicions to Elizabeth, who, at 
 first threatened to send him to Siberia. The 
 danger, which thus threatened the chamber- 
 lain, assurance enabled him to evade. With 
 the air of injured innocence, repairing to the 
 grand duke, he reminded him that he had at- 
 tended on the dutchess by his orders, remarked 
 that the slanderous reports were designed as an 
 attack upon the heir of the empire, and re- 
 quested leave to retire to Moscow, in order to 
 remove all further pretence for jealousy. The 
 credulous prince was induced to believe that his 
 honour was concerned in retaining his cham- 
 berlain about the person of his wife, and having 
 obtained an audience of the empress, defended 
 Soltikof with such vehemence and plausibility, 
 that she suspected the reports which she had 
 heard might be invidious fabrications. Informed 
 of the grand duke's success, Catherine next 
 presented herself to tfce empress. She com- 
 
PETER III. 195 
 
 plained that credit had been given to such sus- 
 picions,, and pretended that public inquiry was 
 a very uncertain mode of ascertaining her inno- 
 cence, since in such cases the least doubt was 
 a disgrace. Grief and rage so animated this 
 address, that Elizabeth was quite overcome, 
 invited Soltikof to continue in the duke's ser- 
 vice, and assured him, she would herself be the 
 first to undertake his defence. 
 
 Meanwhile, Peter lived with his wife ; Sol- 
 tikof imagined the danger was past, and Cathe- 
 rine, who had been nine years married, without 
 issue, was now, October 1st, 1754, delivered of 
 a son. 
 
 Bestuchef still persevered in his attempts to 
 ruin the grand duke, and resolved to make his 
 chamberlain instrumental in his designs. By 
 flattery, caresses, and profusion, having gained 
 the confidence of Soltikof, he persuaded him, 
 that to secure his ascendancy over his master, 
 he should remove from the prince all persons of 
 rank, talents, and ambition. Soltikof pene- 
 trated not the perfidv of the hoary politician; 
 but endeavoured to follow his advice. The 
 young courtiers were provoked, and uniting 
 with the partizans of the chancellor, conveyed 
 their complaints to Elizabeth. Bestuchef em- 
 braced the opportunity ; in a secret audience 
 with the empress, he enlarged on the extrava- 
 gance and disorders of the grand duke; he 
 o 2 
 
196 HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 attributed them all to Soltikof, who, to subject 
 the prince to his will, would allow none to ap- 
 proach him but flatterers and debauchees ; and, 
 reviving the suspicions of a criminal intercourse 
 between him and the grand dutchess, he deter- 
 mined Elizabeth to banish the chamberlain. 
 Soltikof was sent as ambassador to Stockholm, 
 to announce the birth of Paul, and afterwards 
 was ordered to reside at Hamburgh, as minister 
 from the court of Russia. His eyes were now 
 opened ; but Catherine, though she lamented the 
 separation, and wished at first to intercede 
 for his return, was convinced by the chancellor 
 of the extreme danger of such a step, and 
 satisfied herself with corresponding with her 
 gallant, till a new object supplanted him in her 
 capricious affections.* 
 
 Count Poniatowsky was a Polish nobleman, 
 who, at an early age, had visited several coun- 
 tries of Europe, and after his return to Poland, 
 bad formed an acquaintance with Sir Charles 
 Hanbury Williams, British envoy at the court 
 of Augustus III. One of the parties, into which 
 Poland was divided, was headed by his uncle, 
 and being favourable to England, the young 
 count acquainted with the English tongue, was 
 the confidential agent between his relatives and 
 the British minister. When this party had 
 
 * Life of Catherine, Vol.1, p. 721 17. 
 
PETER m. 197 
 
 recommended Sir Charles Hanbury Williams 
 to George II., as a fit person for an embassy to 
 Petersbnrgh, Poniatowsky accompanied him as 
 his confidential friend, and secre.t agent for the 
 affairs of Poland.* Handsome, ambitious, and 
 of engaging address, Poniatowsky, in a short 
 time, gained the favour of the grand dutchess. 
 This new intrigue was reported to Elizabeth, 
 and the count was ordered to leave Russia with- 
 out delay. His absence, however, was of short 
 duration. 
 
 Bestuchef, though he had removed Soltikof, 
 neglected not to pay court to the grand dutchess, 
 and even to minister to her inclinations. At 
 her request he employed his influence with 
 count Bruhl, prime minister of the king of 
 Poland, to procure the return of her gallant. 
 Though the Poles were offended, and the French 
 ambassador remonstrated with Bruhl, Poniatow- 
 sky re-appeared at Petersburgh, as the minister 
 plenipotentiary of the Polish government, with 
 6000 ducats to advance, as occasion might 
 serve, to the grand duke and dutchess, who, it 
 was known, were not very liberally supplied. 
 The young minister, secure of Catherine, gain- 
 ed also the confidence of her consort, with 
 whom he talked English and German, drank, 
 
 * Coxe, Vol. I. p. 20. 
 
198 HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 smoked, abused the French and lauded the 
 king 1 of Prussia. 
 
 Catherine cast off restraint, affected not to 
 conceal her intimacy with Poniatowsky, and 
 was delivered of a daughter, February, 1758, 
 which lived but a few months. While his con- 
 sort thus violated her fidelity to him, and his 
 enemies were incessantly employed in calum- 
 niating 1 his character, Peter spent his time be- 
 tween drilling- his little army and indulging in 
 gross intemperance, ignorant of his injuries and 
 his dangers. When, however, the intrigues and 
 artifices, in which the chancellor Bestuchef was 
 engaged, seemed verging toward a crisis, they 
 niet with a sudden check ; and by a turn, not 
 unusual in the conduct of Providence, wrought 
 the fall of that hoary and profligate minister. 
 
 The enemies of the chancellor awakened the 
 jealousy of the grand duke. Quickly convinced 
 of his consort's infidelity, he lamented his mis- 
 fortunes; he hastened to the empress, and while 
 he implored her to revenge the affront which 
 he had received, adducing his order for the 
 .retreat of marshal Apraxin, convinced her that 
 the chancellor had abused her confidence. Eli- 
 zabeth, enraged at Bestuchef s treachery, 
 stripped him of his employments, and banished 
 him to one of his estates. 
 
 Catherine meantime was in a critical situa- 
 tion ; she had to bear the aversion of the grand 
 
PETER III. 199 
 
 duke, the indignation of tlie empress, the dis- 
 dain of the courtiers, and what was still more 
 afflicting, the apprehension of losing Ponia- 
 towsky. The count, though he had been re- 
 called, resolved not yet to return, feigning in- 
 disposition, he kept at home all day, and con- 
 trived to meet Catherine in the obscurity of the 
 evening. As the princess was obliged in sum- 
 mer to accompany her husband to Oranienbaum, 
 the difficulties of intercourse were multiplied. 
 Poniatowsky had recourse to disguise. One 
 day as he waited for Catherine, he was recog- 
 nized by a domestic, who informed the grand 
 duke. Resolving to humble the count, Peter 
 called an athletic Russian officer, to whom he 
 described the Pole, and ordered him to bring 
 him. The officer soon meeting a man that an- 
 swered the description, roughly asked him 
 who he was and what he wanted. As Ponia- 
 towsky was taken by surprize, he stammered 
 out that he was a German taylor, come to mea- 
 sure a Holstein officer for a suit of clothes. " I 
 have orders to bring you to the grand duke," 
 said the officer. " I must decline the honour," 
 replied the count, <c 1 have not a moment of 
 time." " As to time, whether you have time or 
 not, you must follow me," returned the officer ; 
 and seeing symptoms of reluctance, he made a 
 slip-knot of his handkerchief, which he threw 
 about his neck, and conducted him into the 
 
200 HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 presence of the prince. When he saw Ponia- 
 towsky in this plight, the duke, with an angry 
 air and tone, reproved the officer for making 
 such a mistake, and afterwards amused himself 
 with relating the adventure, particularly in Ca- 
 therine's presence. 
 
 About this time Peter, perhaps to revenge 
 himself for his wife's infidelities, formed an at- 
 tachment to one of the thre.e daughters of the 
 senator Vorontzof, and subjected himself entirely 
 to her will. 
 
 A sufficient time having elapsed, Catherine 
 deemed it expedient to endeavour a reconcilia- 
 tion with the empress; but as it was proposed 
 to her to confess her guilt, and submit to the 
 mercy of her consort and Elizabeth, she dis- 
 dained such terms, and had recourse to stra- 
 tagem. She confined herself to her apartments, 
 and requested permission to retire into Ger- 
 many ; a request, which she well knew the em- 
 press's fondness for the infant Paul would prevent 
 her from granting. The artifice succeeded, an 
 accommodation ensued, when Catherine seemed 
 on the point of being disgraced, and she con* 
 ducted herself more circumspectly.* 
 
 Notwithstanding the fall of Bestuchef, his 
 partizans still persevered in their attempts to in- 
 jure the grand duke in the eyes of his aunt. 
 
 * Life of Catherine, Vol. I. p. 117 140. 
 
PETER III. 201 
 
 But whatever might have been the intentions 
 of that princess respecting her unsuspicious 
 nephew, her dissolution, which now approached, 
 rendered them ineffectual. In the mean time, 
 two parties had been formed in the court, one 
 consisting of the partizans of the grand duke, 
 and the other of the adherents of Catherine. 
 
 At the head of the duke's party was the 
 senator Vorontzof, brother to the chancellor, a 
 sordid but ambitious man, who encouraged the 
 prince to repudiate Catherine, declare her son 
 Paul illegitimate, and marry his daughter. 
 The other party was under the direction of Ivan 
 Schuvalof, who having injured the grand duke, 
 persevered in the plan of Bestuchef to allow 
 Peter a nominal sovereignty, and invest the 
 grand dutchess with the regency, under the au- 
 thority of a council, of which he should himself 
 be president. Catherine, though by no means 
 pleased that Ivan Schuvalof should appropriate 
 so large a share of the power, yet acceded to 
 his measures; and while she aimed at obtaining 
 the supreme authority, veiled her designs with 
 professions of indifference. 
 
 In this state of things, a mediator suddenly 
 appeared in the person of Nikita Ivanovitch, 
 count Panin. This man, who acted such a part 
 in the transactions of Catherine's reign, of an 
 obscure origin, had for some years resided as 
 ambassador at Stockholm, and on his return 
 
202 HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 was appointed preceptor to Paul Petrovitch. 
 Panin, an enthusiastic admirer of aristoeratical 
 forms of government, devoted himself to the 
 service of Catherine; but persuaded of the 
 danger she would incur in attempting violently 
 to seize the throne, he proposed to reconcile the 
 parties, to raise the grand duke to sovereign 
 dominion by the voice of the senate, and secure 
 the authority to his consort. For this purpose 
 he concealed his real intentions, and feigned a 
 desertion of his party, till he had lulled sus- 
 picion. Then working upon the fears of Ivan 
 Schuvalof, whose timidity disqualified him from 
 being the chief of a party, he reconciled to the 
 grand duke both him and his cousin, Peter 
 Schuvalof, a man of great courage and ambition, 
 and real author of the plots to prevent the grand 
 duke's accession to power. As the suspicions 
 which Elizabeth entertained of her nepheW, 
 might on her death be divulged and interpreted 
 to his disadvantage, Panin employed the agency 
 of her confessor to introduce both the duke and 
 dutchess to her presence ; and as a proof of re- 
 conciliation, the empress said with her dying 
 lips, that, " she had always loved them, and 
 wished them every blessing." 
 
 Having thus far succeeded, the count obtained 
 an audience of the grand duke, and endeavoured 
 to persuade him to receive the crown at the 
 hands of the senate, and not be proclaimed em- 
 
PETER III. 203 
 
 peror by the army. While the duke seemed 
 yielding to Panin's advice, two of his courtiers 
 entered, to whom it was communicated. One 
 of them suspecting- the artifice, suggested the 
 expediency of consulting prince Trubetskoy, an 
 old nobleman, who had witnessed several revo- 
 lutions. This aged person warmly recom- 
 mended nomination by the army, as agreeable to 
 custom, and likely to be safest. While the duke 
 hesitated between these opposite counsels, the 
 death of his aunt was announced ; he presented 
 himself to the guards, and in conformity with 
 the act of settlement in 1742, received the oaths 
 of the officers and others, by the style of 
 Peter I If. In less than an hour he rode 
 through Petersburgh, distributing money to the 
 populace, who joined the soldiers crying, " If 
 you take care of us, we will serve you as faith- 
 fully as we served our good empress.'** 
 
 The enemies of the emperor were now mute, 
 and the nobles hastened to pay him homage. If 
 his elevation excited not joy, it was beheld 
 without murmur. Though the companions of 
 the grand duke were giddy young men, who 
 courted him as the heir of the empire, there was 
 yet one of them, named Gudovitch, who bore 
 him a sincere regard, and who had both the 
 ability and the courage to give him salutary 
 
 * Life of Catherine, Vol. I. p. 142 171. 
 
204 HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 admonitions. Influenced by this monitor, Peter 
 began his reign with such acts, as confounded 
 those who had formed their ideas of his character 
 from his conduct during* the life of Elizabeth. 
 So far from revenging" the injuries which he 
 had suffered, he forgave his enemies; shewed 
 kindness to the friends of the late empress, and 
 retained in their employments almost all the 
 great officers of state. Persons who had been 
 sent into exile by Elizabeth were recalled, to 
 the number of 17,000; and among them ap- 
 peared Biren, Munich, and Lestoc. The vene- 
 rable Munich, who was now eighty-two years 
 of age, and who had borne twenty years of 
 exile with exemplary resignation and cheer- 
 fulness, increasing the pittance allowed for his 
 subsistance by keeping cows, and teaching geo- 
 metry, presented himself with his family in his 
 sheep-skin pelisse before the emperor. The 
 prince, putting round his neck the order of St. 
 Andrew, and restoring to him his rank, said, " I 
 hope that your advanced age may still permit 
 you to serve me." " Since your majesty," 
 replied the count, ft has raised me from dark- 
 ness to light, you will ever find me ready to ex- 
 pose my life in your service. Neither a tedious 
 exile, nor the severity of a Siberian climate, 
 has in the least damped the ardor that I have 
 formerly shewn for the interests of Russia, and 
 the glory of its sovereign." 
 
PETER III. 205 
 
 To these acts of generosity and beneficence, 
 Peter, influenced by the same wise counsellor, 
 added two declarations which will perpetuate 
 the memory of his reign. By one he freed the 
 nobility from the obligation of bearing arms 
 when called upon, and granted them permission 
 to travel into foreign countries at their own dis- 
 cretion. By another, he abolished the secret 
 council, or state inquisition, which had been in- 
 vented by Alexey Michaelovitch, for the ex- 
 amination of persons suspected of treason, and 
 occasioned innumerable oppressions. The em- 
 peror also formed plans for encouraging the arts 
 and sciences, correcting abuses in the admini- 
 stration of justice, and introducing a more equi- 
 table system of jurisprudence. Receiving the 
 congratulations of foreign ministers on his ac- 
 cession, he surprized them by the dignity of his 
 demeanour, and still more so, when at a splendid 
 entertainment which he gave them, he observed 
 a becoming sobriety. A conduct so unexpected 
 excited the admiration of strangers as well as 
 
 o 
 
 natives, and all his subjects were loud in praise 
 of their new sovereign. Such was the gratitude 
 of the nobility, that they proposed to raise him a 
 statue of gold. * 
 
 These auspicious beginnings, however, were 
 
 * Coxe, Vol. Ill p. 7, 9 3 89. Life of Catherine, Vol. I, 
 p. 174^186. 
 
206 HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 not followed by a corresponding conduct. De- 
 sirous of bignatizing himself, by great and useful 
 actions, Peter III. had not the prudence indis- 
 pensible to success in trying- and delicate enter- 
 prizes ; and though at first he seemed disposed 
 to adopt the suggestions of his friend Gudovitch, 
 he soon resigned himself to his former habits. 
 His measures of foreign and domestic admini- 
 stration, as well as his private life, discovered 
 that imprudence, weakness, and absurdity, 
 which exposed him to contempt abroad, offended 
 all classes of his subjects, and presented to his 
 enemies the temptation and opportunity of effect- 
 ing his destruction. 
 
 The enthusiasm with which the emperor re- 
 garded the king of Prussia, now broke out in 
 extravagance and folly. Frederic was the 
 topic of his conversation, his ambition was to 
 enjoy rank in the Prussian army, and when he 
 was appointed major-general, he placed the 
 king of Prussia's portrait in his chamber, and 
 intoxicated himself celebrating his promotion. 
 4 * Do you know/' said he to Razumofsky, ata- 
 man of the Cossacks, <c that I was a lieutenant 
 in the Prussian service before I was grand 
 duke." "Well!" replied the Cossack, "your 
 majesty may now make the king of Prussia a 
 field-marshal." Peter however was past instruc- 
 tion. As indifferent to the interests of his allies, 
 and the honour of Russia, as to his own dignity, 
 
PETER 1IT. 207 
 
 he declared to the courts of Vienna and Paris, 
 when they were in expectation of terminating 
 the war by the total overthrow of Frederic, that 
 he was resolved to make peace, with the sacri- 
 fice of all the Russian conquests, and invited 
 them to follow his example. Hostilities were 
 suspended, and Peter concluded a treaty with 
 the king- of Prussia, by which he rescued that 
 prince from the verge of ruin, prevented his 
 allies from reaping the fruit of seven years toil, 
 and received no other recompence than the 
 friendship of the Prussian monarch, and the 
 promise of 0,000 men to assist him against 
 Denmark. 
 
 Peter III. entertained a high opinion of his 
 own military talents, and had been offended by 
 the king of Denmark. In order to rival the 
 martial fame of his favourite hero, and take 
 Vengeance for the injuries suffered by his family, 
 he proposed to march an army into Holstein, 
 and recover the possession of Sleswick. The 
 king of Prussia, who foresaw the consequences 
 of this wild enterprize endeavoured to divert 
 him from it ; but Peter, obstinate in proportion 
 to his inexperience, while he thanked his friend 
 for his attention, persisted in his undertaking. 
 Thus making peace and war in obedience to his 
 partialities and resentment, without any regard 
 to the interests of the empire, he gave offence 
 
208 HOUSE OF ROMANOP. 
 
 to all those who took any concern in the national 
 prosperity. 
 
 Though he reposed his safety on the army, 
 so little capable was he of managing men, that 
 he took those steps that were the most likely to 
 offend the soldiers. He showed a preference to 
 German troops, dress, and exercise, disbanded 
 the guards which placed Elizabeth on the 
 throne, transferred the honour of attending his 
 person from the horse guards to those of Hoi- 
 stein, and ordered. part of the regiments of 
 Ismailof, usually stationed at Petersburg!), and 
 Preobaginsky, to join the army in Pome- 
 rania. The elevation of his uncle, prince George, 
 to the rank of generalissimo of the Russian 
 armies, was considered as an insult by the no- 
 bility, who remembered that the emperor him- 
 self was a foreigner. 
 
 Actuated by the rage of innovation, the tzar, 
 as he was incapable of consulting the genius of 
 his subjects, introduced with salutary regula- 
 tions others of a dangerous tendency. He ap- 
 propriated the estates of the monasteries to the 
 service of the crown, allowing the monks annual 
 pensions inferior to their former income, and 
 removed the pictures of the saints from many of 
 the churches. He banished the archbishop of 
 Novgorod, who opposed those measures, and 
 recalled him. to still the general clamour ; thus 
 
PETER III. 209 
 
 betraying" his weakness without appeasing- his 
 enemies. The parish priests persuaded the 
 people that the emperor, though he had em- 
 braced the Greek religion to qualify himself for 
 the throne, was in reality a Lutheran, an accusa- 
 tion which there wanted not circumstances to 
 confirm. He expressed a contempt for many of 
 the ceremonies of the Greek church ; he built a 
 Lutheran chapel in his fortress of Oranienbaum, 
 appeared at its dedication, and distributed with 
 his own hand hymn-books to the German sol- 
 diers, while he absented himself from the conse- 
 cration of a Russian church in the same place ; 
 and what was not of the least importance, he 
 insulted the saints in naming* two newly con- 
 structed vessels, one after his uncle, the Princ 
 George, and the other the Frederic, after his 
 Prussian majesty. 
 
 While thus incurring the displeasure of the 
 nobility, clergy, soldiers, and in short, the whole 
 body of the nation, the emperor relapsed into his 
 intemperate course of life, passing days in 
 smoking and drinking with courtiers, who flat- 
 tered his inclinations in order to hasten his ruin. 
 On his accession to power, he treated his consort 
 with marks of respect; in full court he invested 
 her with the decorations of sovereignty, and in 
 quality of colonel, presented her to the officers 
 of his regiment. At the blessing of the waters, 
 a ceremony in which the Russian monarchs dis- 
 p 
 
210 HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 play the utmost pomp, he made her appear 
 adorned with imperial majesty, and acted him- 
 self as colonel. The dignity which Catherine 
 could assume on public occasions, formecj a con- 
 trast with the puerility of the emperor little to 
 his advantage As his mistress, the countess 
 Vorontzof, acquire*} a greater ascendancy over 
 him, he no longer behaved to his wife with the 
 least propriety. He neglected her, and on one 
 occasion so insulted her, that she burst into tears 
 and retired from table. By flattering, scolding, 
 and beating, the countess Vorontzof induced him 
 to promise to marry her, and place her on the 
 throne in the room of Catherine. He resolved to 
 repudiate the empress, to declare her son Paul il- 
 legitimate, and to confine her in the fortress of 
 Schlusselburgh. With this view, Soltikof was 
 recalled from Hamburgh, and there was reason 
 to believe he might have been induced to make 
 such acknowledgements as the emperor desired. 
 These resolutions, which should have been exe- 
 cuted as soon as they were formed, were quickly 
 made knpwn tq the empress by the indiscretion, 
 no less of Peter, than of his mistress ; and that 
 princess delaye4 npt tq anticipate the designs of 
 her consprt. * 
 
 Catherine had pursued a line of policy very 
 different from tha,t of the tzar. Capable alike 
 
 * Coxe, Vol. III. p. 814. I4fe of Catherine 188 210. 
 
PETER III. 211 
 
 of dissembling 1 and of feigning 1 , she had, before 
 the death of Elizabeth, assumed a great appear- 
 ance of devotion, which she retained on coming 
 to the throne, being punctual in the most super- 
 stitious practices, and paying great reverence to 
 the popes. While the emperor associated with 
 debauchees and buffoons, she appeared with 
 a dignified affability, and endeavoured to attach 
 to herself those whose talents, intrigues, or ambi- 
 tion, might render them serviceable. By her 
 deportment on public occasions, it appeared 
 that she was qualified to support the majesty of 
 a sovereign ; and the neglect and insult which 
 she received from her consort, awakened a sym- 
 pathy which the prospect of her danger im- 
 proved into zealous activity for her defence. 
 A conspiracy was now formed, whose origin and 
 progress it is necessary to develope. 
 
 Catherine, though on her reconciliation with 
 Elizabeth, she employed greater precaution in 
 her gallantries, indulged her impure appetites 
 with not less frequency; and after his departure, 
 maintained a correspondence with Poniatowsky, 
 in order to turn the eyes of observers from her 
 commerce with officers and courtiers. Among 
 those who ministered to the lust of the empress 
 was an officer in the artillery, named Gregory 
 Orlof. This man, without education, but hand- 
 some and courageous, had been chosen, on ac- 
 count of his beauty, to be aide de camp to Peter 
 P2 
 
212 HOUSE OF ROMAN OF. 
 
 Schuvalof, grand master of the artillery, who 
 having detected him in correspondence with his 
 mistress, prohibited him his presence, and 
 threatened to procure his banishment into Si- 
 beria. This incident was enough to excite the 
 curiosity of Catherine, she contrived several in- 
 terviews with the officer, and finding him as 
 qualified to serve her ambition as her pleasure, 
 she disclosed to him the designs which she 
 formed against her husband. Orlof, whom the 
 empress induced general Villebois, successor of 
 Schuvalof, in the command of the artillery, to 
 appoint treasurer of that corps, entered into a 
 conspiracy with her, and engaged in it his bro- 
 thers, Alex&y and Vladimir, common soldiers in 
 the guards, his comrade Bibikof, lieutenant 
 Passick, and other officers. While Catherine 
 lodged in a retired apartment of the palace of 
 Peterhof, spent the day in maturing her plans, 
 and the evenings with this conspirator, she kept 
 up a daily correspondence with her agents in 
 Petersburgh. 
 
 Of these agents, the most active was the 
 princess Dashkof, sister to the countess Vo- 
 rontzof. This extraordinary woman, not more 
 than eighteen, of great beauty, and no less 
 vivacity, spirit, and intrigue, having lost her 
 husband, appeared in the capital, and formed 
 an intimate connexion with the empress. In the 
 service of the princess Dashkof, was a Piedmon- 
 
PETER III. 213 
 
 tese adventurer, named Odart, who made himself 
 agreeable to his mistress by his wit and talent 
 for intrigues, and whom she had recommended 
 Catherine to nominate her private secretary. 
 These two persons, having inflamed their ima- 
 ginations with the rewards of wealth and honour 
 that would attend success, eagerly engaged in a 
 project to dethrone the emperor, and were not 
 long in procuring associates. Dashkof first 
 applied to Cyril Razumofsky, a native of the 
 Ukraine, who having heard of the favour which 
 his brother enjoyed in the court of Elizabeth, had 
 appeared in the capital with his balalaika,* at. 
 tained the rank of count, the command of a 
 regiment of guards, the office of ataman to the 
 Malo-Russian Cossacks, and president of the 
 academy of sciences, f Razumofsky had insi- 
 nuated himself into the confidence of the rand 
 
 o 
 
 duke, Peter, and in their revels, having been re- 
 minded by the prince of his birth and early 
 course of life, had concurred with Bestuchef in 
 projecting his ruin, and now shared with count 
 Panin, and prince Volkonsky, the dubious honour 
 of supporting the faction which the chancellor 
 had formed. Approving of DashkoPs scheme, 
 he promised his assistance in case of necessity. 
 
 * A rude species of guitar, with only three strings, ia 
 common use among the Russian boors, 
 f Life of Catherine, Vol. i. p. 94. 
 
214 HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 When Orlof came a few days after to sound 
 his dispositions, he told him that those who should 
 defend the empress might rely upon his concur- 
 rence; and pleased with the prospect of new 
 factions, animated the remains of the old. To 
 the ataman, the princess added the prince Vol- 
 konsky, major general in the guards, ' count 
 Panin, and the archbishop of Novgorod, who 
 embraced this opportunity to revenge upon the 
 emperor the insult of his banishment, and em- 
 ployed the monks to excite the people. 
 
 Having secured leaders, the princess Dashkof 
 proceeded to engage troops ; and with this 
 view she repaired to the barracks, under pre- 
 tence of visiting some officers, her acquaintance. 
 Ignorant of the commerce between Orlof aad 
 Catherine, she met with that officer, whom she 
 found a zealous partizan; and added to the 
 party many officers and soldiers, whom Orlof 
 had prepared for revolt. 
 
 The conspirators were gradually made ac- 
 quainted with each other; but though they 
 agreed to dethrone the emperor, they were not 
 unanimous as to his successor. Catherine as. 
 pired to unlimited sovereignty, and Orlof, Dash- 
 kof, and all who expected riches and honours 
 from her favour, supported this pretension. 
 Panin and Razumofsky* on the contrary, pro- 
 posed that she should govern as regent, and that 
 the title of emperor be conferred on her son, 
 
PETER ITT. 215 
 
 Paul Petrovitch, the grand duke. As Panin was 
 the governor of the young- prince, and expected 
 to rule in his name, he boldly maintained his 
 opinion till the policy of Catherine, by secretly 
 promising- him the office of prime minister, sub- 
 dued his firmness. 
 
 The conspirators now thought of carrying 
 their plan into effect ; but notwithstanding the 
 artifice and vigor of Catherine, and the zeal, 
 activity, and courage of her partizans, the suc- 
 cess of the plot must, in a great n easure, be 
 ascribed to the security, indecision, and weak- 
 ness of Peter III. He had not only made 
 peace with the Prussian monarch, but sent him 
 a reinforcement of 20,000 men, to assist in 
 driving the Austrians from Silesia. Every 
 thing was prepared for the invasion of Holstein, 
 and the emperor went to pass some days at 
 Oranienbaum, intending the day after the 
 festival of St. Peter and St. Paul, to put himself 
 at the head of the projected expedition. His 
 imagination dwelt upon the pleasure which he 
 expected from an interview with his friend, 
 master, and example, Frederic, and the glory 
 which he had no doubt of reaping from his 
 military exploits, while his mind was" totally in- 
 accessible to the remotest idea of the danger 
 that gathered about him. It was easily foreseen 
 by the Prussian monarch, that the imprudence 
 of Peter would encourage attempts against his 
 
216 HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 government, and he plainly expressed his ap- 
 prehensions to tire emperor. But so secure 
 was the tzar, that he intreated Frederic to be 
 perfectly easy as to his safety, assuring htm that 
 he was called father by the soldiers ; that he 
 walked alone about Petersburg!), which afforded 
 an opportunity to any person who might be dis- 
 posed to injure him; and that as he was con- 
 tinually doing good, he considered the divine 
 protection a sufficient defence against every 
 evil. As the designs of the conspirators ha4 
 not escaped the penetration of the emperor's ad^ 
 herents, they entreated him to investigate the 
 matter; but he was so persuaded that the re- 
 ports were groundless, that their admonitions 
 gave him offence. A memorial containing tho 
 names of the conspirators being presented to 
 him by one of his servants, " What, always the 
 old story," said he, " take your paper, and 
 trouble me no more with such idle tales." While 
 Peter was thus blinded by a vain confidence, 
 the execution of the conspiracy, which had been 
 fixed for the festivities of St. Peter and St. 
 Paul, the day on which it was believed the em- 
 peror designed to arrest Catherine, was hastened 
 by an unexpected accident. 
 
 Lieutenant Passick, the most incautious and 
 violent of the conspirators, having been detected 
 by his captain, was arrested at nine o'clock at 
 night 5 but contrived to write to the princess 
 
PETER JIJ. 217 
 
 Dasbkof these words, " Proceed immediately to 
 execution, else we are undone." The princess 
 though Pan in, who happened to call at that in-r 
 stant, proposed to wait till next day, informed 
 the other conspirators, and putting on a man's 
 dress, joined Orlof and his associates at their 
 usual place of rendezvous. It was unanimously 
 resolved to begin instantly ; and while Gregory 
 Orlof repaired to the barracks to put the soldiers 
 in readiness, his brother Alexy was dispatched 
 to Peterhof, a distance of twenty miles, to con- 
 duct the empress to the capital. At two o'clock 
 in the morning a soldier roused the empress 
 saying, " Your majesty has not a moment to 
 lose, get ready and follow me." Catherine, 
 terrified at first, soon recovered her courage, 
 hastily disguised herself, and getting into a 
 carriage, which on other pretexts had been de- 
 tained in the neighbourhood for the purpose, 
 arrived at Petersburgh at seven in the morning, 
 July 9th. 
 
 The empress proceeded to the quarters of the 
 Ismailofsky guards; though their colonel Ra- 
 zumofsky had not yet arrived, and, a few only 
 of the soldiers, half dressed, appeared, she dis- 
 sembled her disappointment. After a moment's 
 silence, she said that as the tzar intended that 
 night to put her to death, as well as her son, 
 she had taken to flight as the only means of 
 escape, and that from a confidence in their 
 
218 HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 dispositions she threw herself into their hands. 
 The soldiers roused to indignation, swore they 
 would die in her defence. As Razumofsky ar- 
 rived, and the men collected in greater num- 
 bers, Catherine was declared sovereign; the 
 voices of some who proclaimed her regent be- 
 ing overpowered by those who cried " Long 
 live the empress." While the empress gained 
 the guards, Orlof was sent to bring over the 
 artdlery ; but as the men refused to follow him 
 without an order frofn their general, one of 
 Orlof's friends informed Villebois, that her ma- 
 jest} commanded him to join her with his 
 regiment at the barracks of the guards. As 
 the general hesitated the order was repeated, 
 and Villebois went alone to the empress. It 
 was easy to perceive what was expected from 
 him; but influenced by a sense of duty or 
 danger, he ventured to speak of remaining 
 obstacles, which he said she should have foreseen. 
 <c 1 have not sent for you," replied Catherine 
 haughtily ^ u to learn what I should have fore- 
 seen, but how you intend to act." " To obey 
 yr>ur majesty," returned the confounded ge- 
 figral, going to put himself at the head of his 
 reginiefrt, and deliver the arsenals to the em- 
 press's Mends. In two hours the empress pro- 
 ceeded at the head of 2000 men to the churcn 
 of St Mary of Casan. The archbishop of Nov- 
 gorod, attended by his priests, received fter 
 
PETER III. 219 
 
 at the altar, and placing the imperial crown 
 upon her head, proclaimed her sovereign of 
 all the Russias by the name of Catherine II. 
 and Paul Petrovitch her successor. Catherine 
 took the usual oaths, and on her arrival at the 
 palace of Elizabeth, crowds flocked to take 
 the oath of allegiance. The senate acknow- 
 ledged her as sole empress. As the conspirators 
 proceeded to fortify the city they met with no 
 resistance, except from the emperor's uncle 
 prince George, who was immediately surround- 
 ed, and put under arrest. A regiment of 1600 
 men, encamped at a short distance from Pe- 
 tersburgh, was induced by her partizans to 
 march to the standard of the empress. The 
 groundless report, that the emperor intended 
 that day to put her as well as her son to death, 
 being industriously propagated, tended greatly 
 to increase her followers, and before night 
 15,000 chosen men were at her command, and 
 the city in which strict order prevailed, was pre- 
 pared to make a formidable defence. 
 
 Catherine neglected not other expedients. 
 She sent for the grand duke, and from the bal- 
 cony of the palace exhibited him to the multi- 
 tude^ who thinking they beheld in the child 
 their future emperor, redoubled their acclama- 
 tions. A report that Peter III. had lost his 
 life, was followed by a mock funeral, and about 
 
220 
 
 HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 noon the manifesto which Odart prepared a few 
 days before was dispersed, in which the empress 
 pretended that impelled by the dangers which 
 threatened the religion, glory, and peace of 
 Russia, and trusting in the divine justice, she 
 had ascended the throne. 
 
 The conspirators now resolved to profit by 
 the enthusiasm of the troops, and march against 
 the emperor. Catherine, dressed in the uni- 
 form of the guards, decorated with the order 
 of St. Andrew, and accompanied by the prin~ 
 cess Dashkof, also in uniform, rode through 
 the ranks; and Potemkin, an ensign in the 
 horse- guards, observing that she had not a 
 plume in her hat rode up to offer his, a circum^ 
 stance not forgotten. At six in the evening, the 
 empress in the same dress, with an oaken 
 wreath in her hat, a naked sword in her hand, 
 and mounted on a grey steed, marched at the 
 head of 10,000 men against her husband. 
 
 While the conspiracy spread through the ca- 
 pital, this infatuated prince persevered in his 
 fatal security. About two o'clock in the morn- 
 ing of the revolution, an officer, who enjoyed 
 his confidence, having with difficulty procured 
 admission, disclosed circumstances which seenir 
 ed to indicate that a conspiracy approached a 
 crisis; but without attending to the informa- 
 tion, he ordered his faithful servant under arrest 
 
PETER III. 221 
 
 for presuming 1 to disturb him at so unseason- 
 able an hour. Accompanied by his mistress, 
 Gudovitch, Munich, and many of the nobility 
 of both sexes, he left Oranienbaum at eleven, 
 intending to celebrate the festival of St. Peter 
 and St. Paul at Peterhof. At this palace he 
 expected to find the empress, having implicit 
 confidence in the traitors to whom he had en- 
 trusted the care of her person. On his way 
 Gudovitch, who rode before his carriage, return- 
 ing at full speed, informed him of the empress's 
 escape, to which however he did not give full 
 credit till he arrived at Peterhof, and searched 
 the apartments. He was now in extreme agi- 
 tation, and the stillness of terror spread over all 
 about him, when a messenger arriving from Pe- 
 tersburgh, informed him that rebellion having 
 broken out in the capital, Catherine was de- 
 clared empress with the acclamations of the 
 soldiers, and the populace. Confidence yielded 
 to despair, and the emperor amidst women in 
 tears, and servants incapable of advising, or 
 disposed to betray him, fluctuated between dif- 
 ferent plans. Munich advised him to march 
 with the Hoistein troops, who had been ordered 
 from Oranienbaum, directly to the capital. As 
 the Hoistein soldiers were devoted to Peter, and 
 Munich himself was equal to the Razumofskys, 
 Orlofe, and Dashkofs, who supported the standard 
 
222 HOUSE OF ROMAN OF. 
 
 of Catherine, had this advice been followed, 
 the emperor might perhaps have preserved his 
 crown. But though he seemed disposed at first 
 to adopt this resolution, no less prudent than 
 manly, the timidity and treachery of his cour- 
 tiers, heightened by successive reports of Ca- 
 therine's progress, kept him in a state of irre- 
 solution. It was then recommended by Mu- 
 nich to take refuge in Cronstadt, and as this 
 advice was unanimously approved, general De- 
 vi er was sent to prepare for the emperor's re^ 
 ception. The emperor being informed that he 
 might rely on the fidelity of the forces in that 
 place, left Peterhof ; but as admiral Taliezin, 
 who had been dispatched by the partizans of 
 the empress, had in the mean time by distri- 
 buting brandy and money among the soldiers 
 and sailors, gained them over to her interest, 
 and made himself master of the place, when 
 the tzar appeared at the mouth of the harbour, 
 the troops refused to acknowledge him; and 
 " Long live the empress Catherine," was raised 
 by a thousand voices. Gudovitch seconded by 
 Munich, notwithstanding the threats of Ta- 
 liezin to sink the yacht, endeavoured to per- 
 suade the emperor to land, but overcome by 
 fear, he would hearken to nothing but flight. 
 When the yacht was at some distance from the 
 port, Peter called Munich, and with an air of 
 
PETER HI. 223 
 
 despondency asked him what he ought to do ; 
 " Proceed instantly to the squadron at Reval," 
 replied the marshal, " there embark for Pome- 
 rania, take the command of your army, return 
 to Russia, and in six weeks Petersburgh and all 
 the empire will submit to your authority." 
 
 The courtiers however exclaimed against this 
 resolution, and Peter returned to Oranienbaum 
 at four o'clock in the morning. When, after a little 
 repose, he appeared, the Holstein guards, who 
 bad returned from Peterhof, surrounding him, and 
 kissing his hands, entreated him with tears to lead 
 them against the conspirators, and swore they 
 would sacrifice their lives for his sake. Munich 
 seized this occasion, " come," said he to the 
 emperor, " march against the rebels, I will 
 go before you, and their swords shall not reach 
 you till they have pierced my body." But 
 Peter subdued by his fears yielded to those who 
 counselled him to endeavour an accommodation 
 with the empress. 
 
 Meanwhile, Catherine having reposed about 
 an hour and a half in a public house called 
 Krasnoi-Cabak, eight miles from Petersburgh, 
 advanced to the convent of St. Sergius at 
 Strelna. Here she received a letter from Peter 
 acknowledging his misconduct, and offering to 
 share with her the sovereign authority. With- 
 out deigning to reply she proceeded, and Peter 
 
224 HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 hearing of her approach, sent general Ismailof 
 with a second letter, imploring pardon, and ten- 
 dering the resignation of the crown on being 
 allowed to retire into Holstein. As Catherine's 
 policy consisted in obtaining possession of the 
 emperor's person, she persuaded Ismailof to 
 betray his master. When he returned to Ora- 
 nienbaum, Ismailof exhorted the tzar to repair to 
 the empress, assuring him he had nothing to fear. 
 Hoping to procure a more favourable treatment 
 by ready submission, the emperor in less than 
 an hour, accompanied by the countess Vo- 
 rontzof, Gudovitch, and Ismailof entered into 
 a carriage, and proceeded to Peterhof, where he 
 arrived at half past twelve o'clock. His mistress 
 was carried off by the soldiers ; Gudovitch, his 
 aide-de-camp, was insulted ; while he himself 
 was led up the great stair-case by the servants, 
 who stripped him of the marks of his order, 
 his clothes and several diamonds and pieces of 
 jewelry. After remaining here some time, al- 
 most naked, bare footed, and exposed to the 
 insolence of the soldiers, an old morning gown 
 being thrown over him, he was confined in a 
 room alone. The empress declined a personal 
 interview with him, but sent count Panin, who 
 in a long conference, induced the unfortunate 
 Peter to write and sign - the following decla- 
 ration : 
 

 PETER-HI. 225 
 
 " Daring 1 the short period which I hare 
 < c feigned over the Russian empire, I have 
 " found from experience, that my abilities are 
 *' insufficient to support so great a burthen ; 
 " and that I am not capable of directing- the 
 **' Russian empire in any way, and much less with 
 " a despotic power. I also acknowledge that I 
 " have been the cause of all the interior trou- 
 " bles, which, had they continued much longer, 
 " would have overturned the empire, and have 
 " covered me with eternal disgrace. Having 
 " seriously weighed these circumstances, I de- 
 " clare, without constraint, and in the most 
 " solemn manner, to the Russian empire, 
 " and to the whole world, that I for ever re- 
 <c nounce the government of the said empire, 
 "never desiring to reign therein, either as an 
 <c absolute sovereign, or under any other form 
 <( of government. I declare also, that I will 
 " never attempt to reassume the government. 
 < ( As a pledge of this, I swear sincerely before 
 " God, and all the world, to this present re- 
 " nunciation, written and signed with my own 
 hand." 
 
 "PETER*.'* 
 
 June 29, O. S. 1762." 
 
 When this unhappy prince had signed his 
 own disgrace and fall, he was conveyed in the 
 
 * Coxe, Vol. iii. p. 1736. Life of Catherine, Vol. i. 
 220286. 
 
 a 
 
22(5 HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 evening to Ropsch a, a small palace twenty miles 
 from Peterhof. Thus in the course of two days, 
 without the effusion of blood, Peter III. the li- 
 neal successor of the Romanofs, and grandson 
 of Peter the Great, was precipitated from the 
 throne to a prison, and Catherine, a foreigner, 
 without a hereditary title, attained the abso- 
 lute dominion of the Russian empire. 
 
CATHERINE II. 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 First acts of Catherine's Reign Returning Sentiments in 
 Favour of Peter III. His Assassination Character 
 and Funeral Catherine preserves Peace with Foreign 
 Powers, and Endeavours to reconcile the Russians to her 
 Government Her conduct to the Conspirators Ponia- 
 towsky Orlof Firmness of the Empress Her labours to 
 conciliate her Subjects Her Marriage with Orlof agitated 
 Election of Pojiiatowsky Conspiracies Panin and Or- 
 lof disagree Catherine desirous of praise Success in Po- 
 land Undertakes a neiv Code of Laws Promotes Learn- 
 ing Escapes Assassination and in inoculated. 
 
 HAVING escaped the consequences of her in- 
 fidelities to her consort, by stripping him of his 
 power, and seating herself upon his throne, 
 Catherine passed the night at Peterhof. On 
 the following day, when the nobility came to 
 pay her homage, among others, appeared the 
 father and several other relatives of the prin- 
 cess Dashkof, who seeing them prostrate be- 
 fore the empress, said, " Madam, pardon my 
 family, 1 have sacrificed it, you know, to you.' 7 
 Catherine commanded them to rise, giving them 
 her hand to 'kiss. When her majesty perceived 
 a 2 
 
HOUSE OF 110MANOF. 
 
 marshal Munich, who also presented himself 
 before her, she called aloud, " field marshal, 
 'twas you then who wished to fight me ?" rt Yes, 
 madam," replied the intrepid veteran, " at that 
 period, duty and gratitude engaged me to exert 
 myself on behalf of my late master; as your 
 majesty is now my sovereign, you will experi- 
 ence the same fidelity *." 
 
 In the afternoon Catherine returned to Pe- 
 tersburgh, and at seven o'clock preceded or fol- 
 lowed by the principal conspirators, rode tri- 
 umphantly into the capital amidst the mingled 
 acclamations of the soldiers and populace. The 
 crowds lining the streets, kissed her hand, 
 which she held out to them as she passed along. 
 Many ecclesiastics were assembled on this oc- 
 casion, round the avenues of the palace ; as she 
 rode through their ranks while the principal 
 clergy kissed her hand, she stooped down to 
 salute their cheeks, a custom prevalent in 
 Russia expressive of the highest respect f. 
 Thus, though Catherine's ambition was of the 
 loftiest nature, she disdained not the meanest 
 artifices which seemed adapted to further her 
 designs. 
 
 After her arrival in the palace the empress 
 showed herself for some days with great con- 
 
 * Coxe, "Vol. III. p, 39. Life of Catherine, Vol. I. p. 287. 
 t Coxe, Vol. III. p. 37. 
 
CATHERINE II. 229 
 
 clescension to the multitude. She repaired to 
 the senate, where several causes were tried be- 
 fore her ; and she held her court, at which she 
 received the congratulations of foreign minis- 
 ters. Rewards were conferred upon the prin- 
 cipal agents in the revolution. Panin was ap- 
 pointed prime minister, the Orlofs were ho- 
 noured with the title of count, the favourite 
 Gregory being nominated lieutenant-general of 
 the Russian armies, and knight of the order of 
 St. Alexander Nefsky. Several officers of the 
 guards received estates and promotion, and 
 among the soldiers were distributed brandy 
 and beer, the value of which the affability of 
 the empress greatly enhanced. More from po- 
 licy, perhaps, than generosity, Catherine treat- 
 ed the friends of her dethroned husband with 
 lenity. His mistress the countess Vorontzof, 
 though at first insulted by the soldiers and ex- 
 iled for some time to a village beyond Moscow, 
 was afterwards permitted to espouse admiral 
 Poliansky, and reside unmolested in Peters- 
 burgh : Gudovitch was allowed to retire into 
 his native country : the Uolstein guards were 
 either incorporated into different regiments, 
 or withdrew themselves from Russia : and prince 
 George of Holstein was raised to the rank of 
 field marshal and administrator of Holstein 
 during the minority of the grand duke *. While 
 
 * Coxe, Vol. III. p. 40. 
 
230 HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 the courtiers eagerly aspired to participate the 
 favour of the new sovereign, it was soon per- 
 ceived that Orlof had already engaged her af- 
 fections. The principal conspirators were mor- 
 tified, and the indiscretion of the princess 
 Dashkof, who, having first made the discovery, 
 divulged it among her friends, effaced die me- 
 rits of her past services, and involved her in 
 disgrace. 
 
 When the tumult of the revolution had so 
 far subsided as to allow leisure for reflection, a 
 change began to take place in the sentiments 
 of men respecting the dethroned monarch. The 
 people forgetting his infirmities and caprices, 
 and recollecting the popular qualities which 
 gained him the affections of those who had 
 access to his person, lamented his misfortunes. 
 The sailors reproached the guards with barter- 
 ing their master for beer and brandy. Those 
 who had been loudest in execrating Peter, were 
 seized with remorse; many of the soldiers in 
 the guards regarding their rebellion with feel- 
 ings of compunction, broke out^in furious re- 
 proaches against their accomplices by whom 
 they had been seduced, and from abuse passed 
 to blows and murder. The officers in vain en- 
 deavoured to appease the men. The tide of po- 
 pular favour flowed so strongly toward the late 
 emperor, that a leader only was wanting to re- 
 instate him in power. 
 
CATHERINE II. 231 
 
 The apprehensions of a new insurrection, 
 which the partizans of Catherine entertained, 
 were greatly heightened by intelligence from 
 Moscow, that when the governor, having or- 
 dered the regiments that composed the garrison 
 under arms, and assembled the people in great 
 numbers, read empress's ukase, announcing the 
 abdication of the emperor and her accession* 
 instead of the acclamation <c Long live the em- 
 press/* a deep silence ensued followed by sullen 
 murmurs among the soldiers as well as the po- 
 pulace. TKe uneasiness of Catherine was ex- 
 treme. Her mind was so disturbed, that several 
 times in the night she left her bed, and even her 
 palace, when the death of Peter calmed her 
 fears. 
 
 This unfortunate prince had been kept six 
 days at Ropscha, a prisoner, ignorant of his 
 fate, when Alexey Orlof, with an officer named 
 Taplof, came to him, announcing his deliver- 
 ance, and proposed to dine with him. Liquor 
 was introduced as usual, previous to dinner, and 
 while the officer amused the emperor, Orlof slipt 
 strong poison into the glass intended for the 
 prince. He drank the potion, but as it did 
 not immediately produce the effect which they 
 intended, they pressed him to drink a little 
 more. Not succeeding, they called in prince 
 Baratinsky, and while Orlof having thrown 
 down the emperor, pressed upon his breast with 
 
HOUSE Oy ROMANOF. 
 
 both his knees, the other ass^isins threw a nap- 
 kin round his neck and strangled him *. 
 
 Thus, it was reported, perished Peter HI. 
 July 6, 1762, in the thirty-fourth year of his 
 age, after a short reign of six months. It is im- 
 possible to peruse the misfortunes of this prince 
 without commiseration, or the events of his life 
 without instruction. Had he remained duke of 
 Holstein, he might have passed his life in com- 
 fort and respectability, and ejaded his days in 
 peace. His nomination to be heir of the Rus- 
 sian empire was the greatest of his calamities. 
 The fears of his aunt which prompted her to 
 restore him to the hope of his rights, concurred 
 with the profligate intrigues of her courtiers to 
 narrow his understanding, and debase his mind 
 with absurd habits and low vices. Without 
 knowledge, without experience, when he as- 
 cended the throne, though his good intentions 
 induced him to perform many commendable 
 acts, his imprudence betrayed him into others 
 offensive to his subjects ; secure without precau- 
 tion, and confiding in those whom he ought to 
 have suspected, his weakness and irresolution 
 prevented him from following manly counsels 
 in the hour of danger, while his favourable 
 opinion of uien induced him to put himself in 
 
 * Coxe, Vol. III. p. 37, Life of Catherine, Vol. I. p. 
 287299. 
 
CATHERINE II. 233 
 
 the power of those whose interest turned on his 
 destruction. 
 
 That Catherine was accessary to the death of 
 her husband has been denied by many respect- 
 able writers. In a transaction of so mysterious 
 a nature, it is difficult to attain certain informa- 
 tion ; but that Catherine was capable of such a 
 deed hardly admits of doubt, and it appeared 
 essential to the safety of her person and go- 
 vernment. 
 
 Alexey Orlof made all haste to Petersburgh, 
 and informed the empress of her husband's 
 death. She retired with Orlof, Panin, Razu- 
 mofsky, and other counsellors, to advise what 
 should be done. It being thought prudent that 
 the public should not be made acquainted with 
 the death of the emperor until the following day, 
 Catherine with a tranquil air dined in public as 
 usual, and held her court in the evening : next 
 day, the event being announced while she was at 
 table, she instantly rose from her seat, and 
 with her eyes full of tears withdrawing into a 
 private apartment, did not make her appearance 
 for several days. In conformity with this farce, 
 a declaration, meanwhile, was published, pur- 
 porting that the emperor had been seized with 
 a violent griping cholic ; that medical aid to 
 preserve his life, had been employed without 
 success ; that while the empress had with great 
 regret been apprised of his decease, shfe ex- 
 
234 HOUSE OJF ROMANOF. 
 
 horted her faithful subjects to pay the last du- 
 ties to his body, pray for the repose of his soul, 
 and to consider this sudden death as an especial 
 effect of the divine providence. The body of 
 the assassinated prince was brought to the mo- 
 nastery of St. Alexander Nefsky at Peters- 
 burgh, and was exposed in an open coffin for 
 three days ; persons of all ranks being admitted 
 as usual to kiss the hand of the deceased. His 
 face was black, extravasated blood oozed through 
 his skin, and so strong was the poison which he 
 had swallowed, that those who ventured to lay 
 their mouths on his, returned with swelled lips. 
 The reflections which these appearances might 
 occasion, were deemed of less consequence by 
 Catherine's counsellors, than doubts respecting 
 the certainty of the emperor's death. His re- 
 mains were deposited in the church of the con- 
 vent, without monument or inscription. On the 
 day of his interment, Petersburgh was filled 
 with sorrow; the populace reproached the guards 
 with shedding the last drop of the blood of Peter 
 the Great ; the Holstein soldiers who had hi- 
 therto remained unarmed at Oranienbaum, re- 
 sorted to the funeral; and while they wept 
 around the corpse of their master, were re- 
 garded now as faithful servants by the Rus- 
 sians, who sympathized with their grief*. 
 
 k - - * Life of Catherine, Vol. I. 297307. 
 
CATHERINE II. 235 
 
 Catherine having nothing further to fear from 
 attempts in favour of the unhappy Peter, was 
 at leisure to attend to public affairs. It was ex- 
 pected that the alliance which prejudice, rather 
 than policy had induced the late emperor to 
 form with the king of Prussia would now be 
 dissolved, and that Catherine would unite with 
 his enemies. But as the Prussian monarch, hav- 
 ing some apprehensions of what would hap- 
 pen, while he availed himself of the par- 
 tiality of the tzar, neglected not to court the 
 favour of Catherine \ and as the new govern- 
 ment was still exposed to the plots of malcon- 
 tents, the empress continued the peace with 
 Prussia, and recalled her troops. By this treaty 
 the courts both of Paris and Vienna were dis- 
 appointed. The king of Denmark was assured 
 that he might make himself easy on the subject 
 of Holstein ; and the first opportunity was taken 
 to renew the treaty, which had long secured to 
 the English almost the whole of the Russian 
 commerce. The great object, however, which 
 occupied the first cares of Catherine, was to re- 
 concile her subjects to her authority. With this 
 view, as it was found that brandy and money had 
 wrought a great change in the mind of the sol- 
 diers quartered in Moscow, she resolved on a 
 journey to that capital in order to celebrate her 
 coronation. Having left several of her adherents 
 on whose fidelity she could rely, to watch over 
 
HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 the tranquillity of Petersburgh, she departed 
 attended by the greater part of the nobility, 
 \vho had given proofs of their devotion to her, 
 as well as those whose absence might be dan- 
 gerous. It was mortifying to the vanity of this 
 princess that the people beheld her entry into 
 Moscow without acclamation, and that while 
 they retired at her approach, they discovered 
 the greatest eagerness to see the grand duke, 
 taking an interest in the child from a recol- 
 lection of his father's misfortunes. Concealing 
 her uneasiness, Catherine was crowned in the 
 palace of the tzars; and, having endeavoured 
 by flatteries, gifts, and promotions to remove 
 the aversion of the people, and to confirm per- 
 sons of influence in her interests, quickly return- 
 ed to Petersburg!*. 
 
 Having served herself of the discontents of 
 the monks, the empress shewed no disposition 
 to fulfil the promises which she had made to 
 them of restoring their possessions. Instead of 
 revoking the decree of Peter III, she referred 
 the matter to a Synod composed of persons sub- 
 servient to her will. Those of the clergy who 
 had not been secretly gained were exasperated 
 and encouraged discontents among the popu- 
 lace and the soldiers; they espoused the cause 
 of the unhappy Ivan, to whom they said the 
 throne belonged. They published a manifesto, 
 a forgery probably, but attributed to Peter III., 
 
CATHERINE IT. 237 
 
 in which the vices of Catherine were forcibly 
 exposed. This was dispersed among the sol- 
 diers, and so inflamed their minds, that they 
 seemed likely to break out into revolt. It ap- 
 peared that vigorous measures were necessary 
 to repress the spirit of sedition, and a procla- 
 mation was issued to prevent assemblies of the 
 soldiers. As some of the most mutinous were 
 visited with a prison, or the knoot, or exile into 
 Siberia, terror kept others for a while in sub- 
 mission. 
 
 Gregory Orlof, as he still contributed to the 
 pleasure and the power of the empress, daily re- 
 ceived additional tokens of favour; but the 
 treatment of the other conspirators may serve 
 as an example of the gratitude of Catherine, 
 as well as of what those who commit crimes to 
 subserve the elevation of princes have reason to 
 expect when their services are no longer neces- 
 sary. Ivan Schuvalof, who had promoted the 
 conspiracy before hand by calumniating Peter, 
 and as soon as it broke out gave it his support, 
 awakened the jealousy of Orlof; Catherine not 
 satisfied with informing him that his presence 
 was not necessary at court, presented him, in' re- 
 Ward of his services, with an old negro, who 
 acted as a buffoon about the palace. As Orlof 
 was afraid of the talents, and desirous of the em- 
 ployments of Villebois, he was dismissed; and 
 
238 HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 the command of the artillery was conferred on 
 the favourite. The zeal, activity, and sacri- 
 fices of the princess Dashkof to promote the 
 revolution have already appeared ; as a recom- 
 pense, she requested merely to be nominated 
 colonel of the Preobaginsky guards; but Ca- 
 therine replied, that the academy would suit 
 her better than a military corps. Mortified by 
 this answer, the princess made complaints 
 among 1 her friends, which being conveyed to the 
 empress, she was ordered to retire to Moscow ; 
 and when Catherine endeavoured to engage 
 eminent writers to compose the history of her 
 life, she desired that the princess Dashkof should 
 be represented as acting only a very subordinate 
 part in the revolution. The archbishop of Nov- 
 gorod, who had been so instrumental in raising 
 Catherine to the throne, and assisting her to 
 lessen the privileges of the monks, when he 
 ceased to be useful to her projects, was imme- 
 diately abandoned to the hatred of the clergy, 
 and the contempt of the people. In a word, 
 she insensibly removed from the court most of 
 the officers who had been active in the con- 
 spiracy, leaving them to their original ob- 
 scurity.* 
 
 Since his departure from Petersburgh, Ca- 
 therine had maintained a regular correspon-c 
 
 * Life of Catherine, Vol.1, p, 31 9 3^7, 
 
CATHERINE II. 239 
 
 den re with Poniatowsky; and the count, not 
 suspecting 1 the sincerity of her professions, re- 
 ceived the news of her elevation with joy, and 
 advancing- towards the Polish frontier, asked 
 permission to visit her court. The empress in- 
 formed him that his presence was not necessary 
 at Petersburg!!, continued to write to him in 
 affectionate terms, and, before his friends, spoke 
 of her passion for him with tears. Catherine 
 was a proficient in the arts of hypocrisy. 
 
 Though it was not the disposition of this 
 princess to submit to control, she bore the 
 tyranny of Orlof with great patience. This 
 man, coarse and awkward in his manners, in- 
 temperate, and arrogant, as he advanced in 
 power, governed the most ambitious of so- 
 vereigns. Those who were offensive to him 
 were dismissed, whatever might be their merits. 
 At supper one evening with Catherine, Razu- 
 mofsky, and other courtiers, being inflamed with 
 wine, he boasted that he alone had effected the 
 revolution; and that, if he chose to abuse his 
 power, he could in a month subvert the work of 
 his own hands, and dethrone the empress. This 
 insolence lessened not his favour with the 
 monarch, who was solicitous that the part which 
 the princess Dashkof acted in the revolution, 
 might be concealed from posterity. The 
 empress could not yet dispense with the courage 
 and activity of Orlof. 
 
240 HOUSE OF R0MANOF. 
 
 The spirit of revolt, which still prevailed 
 among the troops, was fomented by the Popes; 
 and it arose to such a height, that for a whole 
 day the empress was supposed to be in extreme 
 danger of her life. On this occasion she dis- 
 covered great firmness of mind. Having taken 
 secret measures to quell the revolt, when Ra- 
 zumofsky, Panin, and others, came to express 
 their apprehensions, she upbraided their fears, re- 
 minded them of her constancy in past dangers, 
 and professed, that the attempts of a few mu- 
 tinous soldiers to deprive her of a crown, whwh 
 she had reluctantly accepted for the benefit of 
 the nation, did not occasion her any alarm, and 
 that Providence which had called her to reign, 
 and been her defence, would confound her ene- 
 mies. These expressions sound very strange in 
 the mouth of Catherine. The Orlofs meanwhile 
 had by speeches, promises, and gifts, appeased 
 the soldiers, and the chiefs were punished.* 
 
 In the letters of the Prussian monarch to 
 Peter III. the empress found many admonitions 
 to that misguided prince to treat his spouse with 
 deference and respect. By the perusal of these 
 letters, she was deeply affected, and confirmed 
 in her resolutions of living on frieftdly terms 
 with Frederic. All differences were accomtnov 
 dated in the congress at Berlin, and Catherh^ 
 :~\n , ,;*...:> .i; ./ ; > ^nhv 14 -(i fair j&kr/> 
 
 * Life of Catherine, Vol. I. p. 327332. 
 
CATHERINE II. 241 
 
 ratified the treaty with Prussia and Denmark ; 
 abandoning to the former power all the ac- 
 quisitions of the Russian arms, in the late 
 war. 
 
 At peace with foreign nations, the empress 
 endeavoured to calm the discontents which still 
 existed in different parts of the empire, to cor- 
 rect the disorders in various departments of ad- 
 ministration, and promote improvements in arts 
 and commerce. She soothed the most danger- 
 ous of the clergy, banished Odart, whose dela- 
 tions made him odious to the courtiers, and re- 
 called the princess Dashkof, who by her enter- 
 prizing activity at Moscow, might endanger the 
 public tranquillity. The magnificence which 
 the Russian court had affected, during the reign 
 of Elizabeth, was retained, as adapted to dazzle 
 the imaginations of men. The empress pub- 
 licly promised to direct her cares to the strict 
 and easy administration of justice; and her 
 promises were soon followed by several benefi- 
 cial regulations. A registrator of the govern- 
 ment chancery of Novgorod, having been ac- 
 cused of receiving money for administrating the 
 oath of allegiance, she banished him to Siberia 
 for life, and issued a severe decree against 
 bribery and corruption. She confirmed the 
 abolition of the secret state inquisition, deter- 
 mined the line which ordinary tribunals ought 
 to pursue, with regard to crimes against the 
 
 R 
 
242 HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 state, as well as the character of those crimes, 
 The edict of Elizabeth against capital punish- 
 ments, was revoked, as it seemed impossible to 
 keep the Russians in subjection by other means 
 than terror. In order to people the extensive 
 deserts of her empire, Catherine assured fo- 
 reigners, farmers, merchants, or mechanics, of 
 a hearty welcome in her dominions, pointed out 
 the districts adapted to purposes of agriculture, 
 offered them money to defray the expences of 
 their journey, and granted the free use of a 
 capital for ten years, exemption from civil and 
 military services, and for a certain time, from 
 imposts, with freedom to follow their own cus- 
 toms, laws, and religion. Multitudes were al- 
 lured by these offers ; 10,000 families settled in 
 the government of Saratof alone. Many of the 
 colonists, however, repented of their folly. The 
 expedient was more ostentatious than useful. 
 With a view to encourage trade and commerce^ 
 the empress abolished several monopolies, be- 
 longing to individuals and companies, as well 
 as the crown, and allowed a free trade in many 
 articles, on which great restraints had been im- 
 posed. She founded a medical college for the 
 whole empire at Petersburg!), and a foundling 
 hospital at Moscow.* 
 
 Meanwhile, Catherine was far from being * 
 
 * Life of Catherine, Vol.1, p, -344-, 845 S54> 
 
CATHERINE II. 243 
 
 cure upon her throne, or easy in her court. The 
 recollection of the crimes by which she had at- 
 tained her power, was perpetually revived by 
 conspiracies, which though defeated, were an 
 unfailing source of uneasiness and alarm. The 
 arrogance of Orlof, whose influence still in- 
 creased, kept the nobles at a distance from 
 court; and Catherine was obliged to live among 
 the rough and ignorant soldiers, who had been 
 the instruments of her elevation, because she 
 might again require their courage. Observing 
 her inquietude, Panin deemed it a favourable 
 opportunity of recommending government by a 
 permanent council, as an infallible expedient of 
 avoiding the trouble attendant upon usurpation, 
 and establishing her authority upon a secure 
 basis. To insure the support of Orlof, he pro- 
 posed that he should be president. Bestuchef, 
 whom Catherine had restored to his rank and 
 employments, and who was the rival of Panin, 
 being consulted, expatiated on the dangers of this 
 measure, and conjured her majesty not to divide 
 an authority acquired with such pains. She 
 followed his counsels ; and Panin, mortified by 
 a disappointment, which he soon discovered was 
 owing to Bestuchef, was not long in retaliating 
 an that intriguing old man. As the influence of 
 Orlof was obviously great, Bestuchef, in order 
 to gain his confidence, encouraged him to aspire 
 to the imperial power by obtaining* the hand f 
 
244 HOUSE OJP KOMANOF. 
 
 the empress. After inflaming the ambition of 
 the count, he artfully contrived to enter upon the 
 subject in a conversation with Catherine ; and 
 as she hesitated to adopt the measure, only be- 
 cause it seemed fraught with difficulties, the 
 chancellor undertook to remove them. With 
 this view, he drew up a petition in the name of 
 the Russians, in which he expatiated upon what 
 the empress had done for the glory and happi* 
 ness of the nation, and the uneasiness occasioned 
 by the sickly constitution of the grand duke; 
 and conjured her majesty to give her subjects an 
 additional proof of her affection by deigning to 
 marry. To this petition he procured the signa- 
 ture of twelve bishops, and many general offi- 
 cers ; and Gregory Orlof, whom Catherine had 
 solicited the empress queen to create a prince of 
 the German empire, and intended to decorate 
 with the title of duke of Ingria and Carelia, was 
 on the point of ascending the throne of the 
 tzars. 
 
 When the affair was known to Panin, he 
 engaged Razumofsky and Vorontzof to re- 
 present to the empress the dangerous conse- 
 quences of such a union. As they remonstrated 
 with great freedom, Catherine commended their 
 fidelity; while she not only disavowed all 
 thoughts of such a connexion, but professed 
 entire ignorance of the odious transaction. Bes- 
 tuchef increased in influence ; Vorontzof, who 
 
CATHERINE II. 245 
 
 foresaw his disgrace, obtained permission to re- 
 tire, and the apprehension of an alliance be- 
 tween the empress and Orlof, excited plots and 
 murmurs. A conspiracy to seize the favourite, 
 which failed of success through a slight mistake, 
 spread alarm through the palace. Catherine, 
 thinking her life insecure in Moscow, hastily left 
 that capital, and the multitude exhibited signs 
 of outrageous joy on her departure. Entering 
 Petersburg!!, on the anniversary of her accession 
 to power, she neglected no circumstance that 
 might add to the magnificence of her ap- 
 pearance; but the people were sullen; conspi- 
 racies multiplied ; the most powerful men of the 
 empire, and those who had been zealous in her 
 service, were turned into her enemies; and if 
 they could have agreed respecting her successor, 
 Catherine might have expiated her ambition by 
 a fate not unlike her consort's. 
 
 The empress had reason to suspect Panin and 
 Razumofsky ; but not having sufficient evidence 
 to render their guilt indubitable, she had re- 
 course to artifice. As she supposed that the 
 princess Dashkof was concerned in the con- 
 spiracies, she feigned to restore the princess to 
 her confidence, and wrote a long letter, in which 
 after mixing flatteries witli promises, she en- 
 treated her by their long friendship, to reveal 
 what she knew of the late plots, adding an as- 
 surance of pardon to all accomplices. To this 
 
246 HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 letter, of four pages, the princess replied, with & 
 brevity and spirit becoming a principal agent in 
 mysterious and dangerous transactions: "Madam, 
 I have heard nothing, but if I had, I should 
 beware how I disclosed it. What do you re- 
 . quire of me? To expire on a scaffold? I am 
 prepared." Some of the malcontents whom the 
 empress had arrested, preserving an invincible 
 silence, she banished to Siberia; and as it seemed 
 expedient to court those whom she could not 
 punish, conferred additional favours on Panin 
 and Razumofsky.* 
 
 Though the authority of Catherine seemed so 
 precarious, she was not less intent on promoting 
 the welfare of the empire. Among other regu- 
 lations, to facilitate the dispatch of business, she 
 divided the supreme college of the empire, the 
 directing senate, into six departments, four to 
 have their seat at Petersburgh, and two at 
 Moscow. Meanwhile, the death of Augustus III. 
 king of Poland, October 3, 1763, afforded the 
 empress an opportunity of displaying her ca- 
 pacity among foreign nations. 
 
 The worst species of government, an elective 
 monarchy, and a hereditary nobility, with abso- 
 lute authority over their vassals, and power 
 every moment to interrupt the administration of 
 affairs, had for many years degraded the king- 
 
 * Life o Catherine, Vol. I. p. 339387. 
 
CATHERINE TI. 247 
 
 ilom of Poland from the rank, which a benignant 
 soil, a favourable situation, a numerous and 
 spirite i people, entitled it to hold among nations. 
 Ever fr sh election occasioned internal convul- 
 sions, and tempted foreign princes to disturb the 
 public tranquillity. The Polish nobles who first 
 sold their crown to the highest bidder, were 
 obliged afterwards to yield it to force of arms. 
 The armies of Peter the great re-established 
 Augustus II. upon the throne; Augustus III. 
 was elected by the interference of the empress 
 Anne ; and Catherine II. resolved, not only to 
 govern the present election, but to establish an 
 uncontrouled ascendancy in the Polish coun- 
 cils. She fixed upon her former gallant, Ponia- 
 towsky, as her candidate, without declaring her 
 intentions. 
 
 With a view to this object, the empress had 
 supported Biren in his pretensions to the dutciiy 
 $f Couriand, of which he was created duke, by 
 the influence of the empress Anne. During his 
 long exile, another duke, Charles of Saxony, 
 son of Augustus III. of Poland, had been chosen 
 by the states. As Charles was agreeable to the 
 Courlanders, and supported by his father, Biren, 
 whose cruelties were not yet forgotten, must 
 have failed, if Catherine had not ordered her 
 troops, recalled from Pomerania, to pass into 
 Courland, and, sent 50,000 men, under Ro- 
 
248 HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 mantzof, into the Polish territories. Bireu re* 
 ceived the homage of the senate, and the inves* 
 titure of the dutchy from Augustus III. The 
 forces which restored the duke to his sove- 
 reignty, were prepared to second the views of 
 Catherine in Poland. 
 
 The empress comhined policy with arms. As 
 France and Austria wished to detach her from 
 Prussia, she artfully induced those powers to de- 
 clare that they would not interfere iu the election 
 qf the new king; and as his Prussian majesty 
 had been long soliciting her to enter into a de- 
 fensive alliance with him, she found him a 
 zealous promoter of her intentions. Catherine 
 next removed all the candidates that were ob- 
 noxious to her, and after seeming to concur with 
 the majority of the Poles, who proposed to elect 
 a descendant of their ancient kings, she unex- 
 pectedly declared for Poniatowsky, When some 
 person who knew how little satisfaction his elec-< 
 tion would give to the Poles, endeavoured to 
 debase him in her esteem, by informing her that 
 his grandfather had managed a small estate of 
 the princes Lubomirsky, ' Though he had 
 done so himself,'* she replied, <c I will have him 
 to be king, and king he shall be." Her troops 
 entered Warsaw, arid appeared in the place of 
 election. This scandalous interference indeed 
 yaised violent opposition. Count Milachowsky 
 
CATHERINE II. 249 
 
 boldly demanded that they should leave the 
 hall; and when the partizans of Poniatowsky 
 drew their swords, he exposed his breast, ex- 
 claiming-, " Strike, if you wish a victim. As I 
 have lived, I shall die free." Prince Radzivil, 
 and count Branitzky took arms; the young and 
 beautiful princess Radzivil appeared on horse- 
 back with a drawn sabre, encouraging' the sol- 
 diers by words and example. AH was in vain. 
 The number and discipline of the Russians pre- 
 vailed ; Poniatowsky was elected September 7, 
 1764, and assumed the name of Stanislaus Au- 
 gustus. Thus Catherine seemed to express her 
 affection for him, while she only gratified her 
 own ambition. 
 
 Meanwhile the empress, in order to enjoy her 
 triumphs, left Petersburgh on a journey through 
 Livonia and Courland. She invited the foreign 
 ministers to Cronstadt to see her navy ; but her 
 vanity was by no means flattered by the English 
 ambassador, who frankly confessed that her fleet 
 seemed to him far from formidable. When the 
 empress was at Riga, she appeared very uneasy, 
 and was so eager to receive intelligence from 
 the capital, that she often rose in the night to 
 inquire whether a courier had arrived. After 
 three days, dispatches reached her from Panin, 
 to whom she had left the care of Petersburgh, 
 containing the particulars of the unhappy Ivan's 
 
250 HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 assassination, and she soon returned to the 
 capital. * 
 
 Though the empress raised her consequence 
 in the eyes of Europe, by her foreign as well as 
 domestic policy, plots succeeding each other 
 kept her in a state of alarm,/ while misunder- 
 standings between her favourite and her prime 
 minister, aggravated her afflictions. The bold- 
 ness, activity, and devotion to her service of 
 Orlof, were not less necessary to defeat the ma- 
 chinations of her secret enemies, than the talents 
 and reputation of Panin to the dispatch of busi- 
 ness, and the credit of her government. Orlof, 
 however, neglected those assiduities that seemed 
 likely to prolong his influence, preferring the 
 chace of the bear to the amusements of the 
 court. The minister endeavoured to improve 
 the inattention of Orlof. He encouraged an 
 inclination, which the empress discovered, to a 
 young officer named Vissensky, and was in ex- 
 pectation of seeing the old favourite discarded, 
 when by a sudden alteration in his behaviour, 
 he recovered his post, and Vissensky was dis- 
 missed, with magnificent presents, to an employ- 
 ment in a distant province. Panin, whom the 
 return of Vorontzof, to the exercise of his office 
 as chancellor, rendered very uneasy, now began 
 
 * Life of Catherine, Vol. I. p. 390-434. Mayo, Vol. K 
 p. 391. 
 
CATHERINE II. '251 
 
 to court the man whose fall he had just endea- 
 voured. It was not difficult to appease Orlof, 
 who remembered what the chancellor had done 
 to prevent his union with the empress. Voron- 
 tzof was received with coldness ; it was signified 
 to him that it would not give offence if he gave 
 up his place ; and resigning what he could not 
 preserve, he retired with a gratuity of 50,000 
 rubles, and a pension of 7000. These incidents, 
 trivial in themselves, discover the character of 
 the men who flourished in the court of Ca- 
 therine. 
 
 The following deserve to be related as illus- 
 trating the genius of the princess herself. 
 Among other expedients to detect her secret 
 enemies, she intercepted the correspondence of 
 foreign ministers ; and, as in the letters of the 
 French agent, which she bought, as well as his 
 cypher, she imagined she perceived a knowledge 
 of the plots, which were incessantly formed to 
 subvert her authority, she was highly incensed 
 against the court of Versailles, and treated the 
 ministers of Louis XV. with contemptuous neg- 
 lect. Nothing was to be apprehended from the 
 French government; but the French writers, 
 who had obtained a great influence by their 
 vivacity, assurance, and genius, had appropriated 
 the right of distributing fame. As their praises 
 might be procured by flatteries and benefactions, 
 not less than merit, Catherine assiduously 
 
HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 courted their favour. She corresponded with 
 Voltaire and d' Alembert ; she offered the latter 
 a salary of 24,000 livres to undertake the edu- 
 cation of the grand duke, bought Diderot's li- 
 brary to enable him to portion his daughter, and 
 leaving it in his possession, gave him a pension 
 as librarian ; and in short, she distinguished by 
 her bounty, most of the literary men and emi- 
 nent artists of Paris. Unmixed panegyric was 
 the reward of such munificence. 
 
 While Catherine purchased the praises of 
 French writers, her designs in elevating Ponia- 
 towsky to the Polish throne, gradually unfolded. 
 To perpetuate the distractions and weakness of 
 the republic, she had compelled the diet to 
 rescind the resolution by which the liberum 
 veto was suspended in civil and military affairs.* 
 She prevented Stanislaus from adopting those 
 measures that might promote the order and 
 prosperity of his dominions; and in the reli- 
 gious dissentions of that unhappy country, 
 found a pretext for interfering with military 
 force. To show the ground of this pretext it 
 may be proper to take the matter a little 
 higher. 
 
 When the Catholic religion was, about the tenth 
 century, introduced into Poland, at that time very 
 contracted in its limits, the adjacent provinces 
 
 * Life of Catherine, Vol. I. p. 446. Mayo, Vol. I. p. 394. 
 
CATHERINE II. 253 
 
 embraced the Greek communion; and, when 
 these countries were united to Polish dominions, 
 by various means, they retained their peculiar 
 forms of religion. As the members of the 
 Greek church were the most numerous, the 
 Catholics were obliged to acquiesce in an entire 
 freedom of religious opinions. This toleration 
 afforded great facilities to the progress of the 
 reformed doctrines, which were embraced by 
 the majority of the nobles and senators. A law 
 was passed in 1563, by which an equality of 
 rights was secured to all the Polish nobles, who 
 professed Christianity, and to avoid invidious 
 distinctions, they were styled, dissidents in reli- 
 gion, a phrase intimating that they differed from 
 each other in religious matters. The Catholics, 
 as they increased in importance, first applied 
 the term dissident to those who were not of their 
 communion, then induced the Greek and Pro- 
 testant Christians to persecute the Arians, and 
 afterwards so encroached upon their rights as 
 to exclude the dissidents from all public offices, 
 and enact a law pronouncing guilty of treason, 
 those who should attempt to recover their privi- 
 leges by recurring to foreign assistance. 
 
 Having suffered these oppressions for some 
 time, the dissidents applied, those of the Pro- 
 testant communion to the courts of London, 
 Copenhagen, and Berlin, and those of the Greek, 
 
254 HOtfSE OF ROMANOP. 
 
 to the empress of Russia. These courts pre- 
 sented memorials in behalf of the dissidents to 
 the diet assembled, September 1st, 1766. But 
 the bishop of Cracow, a furious prelate, main- 
 tained that the privileges of the dissidents were 
 abolished, and that by having- recourse to foreign 
 powers, they had violated the constitutions of 
 the state, and proposed to enact severer laws 
 against them. He was supported by several 
 prelates, and the majority of the nobles. Violent 
 debates ensued, and, though the Russian troops 
 appeared at the gates of Warsaw, all that the 
 dissidents could obtain, was liberty to exercise 
 religious worship under certain restrictions. As 
 this was far from satisfactory to them, they 
 formed a confederacy, in which they were joined 
 by many Catholics, and supported by Russian 
 armies. Prince Radzivil, who had opposed the 
 king's election, united under his standard the 
 Catholics of his faction, and joined the dissi- 
 dents to obtain a general redress of grievances. 
 Stanislaus was obliged to assemble another diet, 
 October 5th, 1767, in order to terminate the 
 contentions. But the bishop of Cracow, and 
 his parti zans, unawed by the presence of the 
 Russian troops, still inveighed against the pre- 
 tensions of the dissidents, and the interference 
 of foreign powers. To put an end to the con- 
 test, he was seized on the 15th, with some others, 
 
CATHERINE It. 255 
 
 by a Russian officer, and sent into Russia. 
 The diet then passed an act according to the 
 will of Catherine, confirming- the dissidents in 
 all their privileges. It was vain to complain ; 
 prince Repnin was master in Warsaw, and the 
 Russian troops intersected the vv : iole country. 
 An extraordinary diet, convened the following 
 year, therefore, ratified the acts of the preced- 
 ing, and passed others tending to establish the 
 Russian ascendancy. The king*, whom Cathe- 
 rine was thought to honour, without influence 
 and without authority, exposed to the insults 
 of the Russian general, seemed a prisoner in his 
 capital. 
 
 The humiliation of the Polish king was a 
 matter of indifference to Catherine, and she 
 took measures to prevent the neighbouring 
 powers from obstructing her encroachments. 
 She governed Sweden by cabals in the senate, 
 flattered the king of Denmark with the prospect 
 of obtaining Holstein, cajoled the English by 
 an advantageous commercial treaty, and formed 
 an alliance with his Prussian majesty wMch 
 made it his interest to further her designs.* 
 
 While the ambition of Catherine spread con- 
 fusion and misery over the fertile provinces of 
 Poland, it prompted her to persevere in her 
 
 * Coxe, Vol. I. p. 2434. Life of Catherine, Vol. I. 
 p. 449466. 
 
256 HOUSE OP HOMANOF. 
 
 attempts to improve the internal government of 
 her own dominions, and civilize her subjects. 
 The jurisprudence of Russia, notwithstanding' 
 the labours of Alexey Michaelovitch and Peter I. 
 had not attained a consistent form. The laws, 
 which had accumulated to a great mass, were 
 perplexed, insufficient, and contradictory, and 
 while they embarrassed judges of integrity, 
 delayed and burdened the administration of 
 justice, as well as afforded scope for the greatest 
 venality, abuse, and oppression. Catherine 
 formed the design of correcting these disorders. 
 That business- might flow with greater regu- 
 larity, and fewer obstructions, she divided the 
 colleges of the empire into separate depart- 
 ments, each having its appropriate concerns. 
 That no pretext for corruption might remain, 
 she encreased the salaries of the judges, and 
 insured them half-pay, when age and infirmity 
 obliged them to retire. She then ordered depu-^ 
 ties from all the provinces of her vast empire 
 to assemble at Moscow, to deliver their opi- 
 nions upon a new code of laws, which she de- 
 signed to form. Persons, different in manners, 
 dress, and language, many of them ignorant 
 of the nature of laws, drawn together to discuss 
 regulations, for their government, afforded a 
 curjous spectacle, unexampled in the annals ot 
 the world. The business was opened, by read- 
 
CATHERINE II. 257 
 
 ing the instructions, composed by the empress 
 herself, to direct in framing the new code. 
 These instructions, which consist chiefly of 
 principles and maxims drawn from the works 
 of Montesquieu and other French authors, and 
 breathe a liberal and philanthropic spirit, ex- 
 cited bursts of applause, from those, who, igno- 
 rant perhaps of the subject, wished to gain the 
 favour of Catherine, or escape Siberia. The 
 reflection of the deputies, from the Samoyedes, 
 who had the courage to express themselves 
 freely, deserves to be recorded. <: We are a 
 simple and honest people," said they, " we 
 peaceably tend our rein-deer. We want not a 
 new code; but make laws for our neighbours, 
 the Russians, that may stop their depreda- 
 tions.'* 
 
 The debates which succeeded, passed not 
 with such unanimity. Though some of the 
 Russian nobility, of narrow and illiberal minds, 
 had ventured to affirm, that they would stab the 
 first man who should propose to emancipate 
 the boors, count Sheremetof, the wealthiest 
 person in Russia, possessing 150,000 vassals, 
 and an annual revenue of 170,000, arose and 
 declared he would cheerfully agree to give liberty 
 to the peasants. A contest ensued, which grew 
 so violent as to threaten dangerous consequences, 
 and the deputies were dismissed. Before their 
 s 
 
258 HOUSE OF KOMANOF. 
 
 departure, however, as some proof of gratitude 
 was required from them, they decreed to Cathe- 
 rine the titles, great, wise, prudent, mother of 
 the country, all of which, except the last, with 
 a feigned modesty, she refused to accept. To 
 applaud the empress, was all that could be ex- 
 pected from the deputies ; and, having left 
 commissioners to prosecute the work according 
 to her instructions, she sent copies of them to 
 those princes whose praises she wished to add 
 to the flatteries of her own subjects. While 
 others said that the work, which she had under- 
 taken, would be a monument to her glory, the 
 king of Prussia, who had no fear of offending 
 her delicacy, wrote a long letter, full of such 
 things as might have been expected from that 
 insincere prince. " No woman/' he told her, 
 " had been a law-g*iver. That glory was reserved 
 for the empress of Russia. Had she lived among 
 the Greeks, who well knew how to appreciate 
 merit, and conferred the highest rank among 
 their deities on legislators, she would have been 
 placed between Lycurgus and Solon." To seem 
 great, was the wish of Catherine. 
 
 In order to encourage a taste for science and 
 the arts, among her subjects, this princess 
 granted new privileges to the academy of 
 sciences, and animated its members to fresh ex- 
 ertion, by an annual allowance of (50,000 rubles, 
 
CATHERINE IT. 259 
 
 and inviting foreign philosophers to settle in 
 her capital. Among others, she distinguished 
 the celebrated Euler, giving him a yearly 
 stipend and a house, with other marks of favour. 
 She improved the academy of arts, by fresh re- 
 gulations, an increase of income and scholars, 
 and the construction of buildings for the better 
 accommodation of its members. She enlarged 
 and improved the academy for the education 
 of youth in the sciences, connected with military 
 service, and founded a school for the instruc- 
 tion of young ladies, similar to that of St. Cyr, 
 in France. She liberally patronized a society 
 established by some noblemen for the advance- 
 ment of agriculture. 
 
 The trading companies established at Kamt- 
 shatka and the mouth of the Kovima, which the 
 empress had encouraged to make discoveries, 
 sent an account of several small islands, which 
 they had discovered in latitude 64., named 
 Aleyut, and, at which they had established a 
 trade in furs. On receiving this information, 
 her majesty ordered colonel Blenmer, with 
 several geographers to sail from the river Anadit, 
 and prosecute the discoveries of the trading 
 companies. 
 
 Two years afterwards, 1767, Catherine, fol- 
 lowing the example of Peter I. and the empress 
 Anne, dispatched several of the most ingenious 
 S2 
 
2t>0 HOUSE OF JEtOMANOF. 
 
 persons belonging 1 to the academy of sciences, 
 to explore the different provinces of her empire. 
 They were ordered to direct their inquiries to 
 the geographical situation of the principal 
 places, their temperature, the nature of their 
 soil, productions, and wealth, together -with the 
 character, manners, customs, traditions, history, 
 and religion, of the nations who occupied them. 
 To evince the utility of this undertaking, as 
 well as the judgment employed in selecting 
 those who engaged in it, no more is necessary 
 than to mention the names of Pallas, Gmelin, 
 Guldenstaed, George, and Lepekin. 
 
 When the empress was informed, that a 
 transit of Venus over the Sun would take place 
 in 1769, she addressed a letter to count Vladimir 
 Orlof, director of the academy of sciences, at 
 Petersburg!!, wishing to learn from the acade- 
 micians the fittest places to make observations, 
 and promising to employ every means in her 
 power to procure persons and instruments 
 adapted to the purpose. Kola, in Lapland, and 
 the borders of the Caspian Sea, were chosen as 
 the points of observation, and application was 
 made to an English artist to furnish instru- 
 ments. 
 
 The successful usurpations of the empress in 
 Poland, the reforms which she made in the 
 administration of justice, and the splendid 
 
CATHERINE II. 261 
 
 ' 
 
 patronage which she bestowed upon the arts 
 and sciences, were all insufficient to reconcile 
 the minds of her subjects to her government. 
 The princess Dashkof, who had been again 
 banished to Moscow, divulged the criminal steps 
 by which Catherine acquired supreme power, 
 and fomenting the discontents of those, who 
 were originally averse to the present govern- 
 ment, or who thought their services not suffi- 
 ciently rewarded, diffused the spirit of sedition. 
 In order, if possible, to divert her subjects from 
 the thought of her crimes, and their own cala- 
 mities, the empress endeavoured to dazzle and 
 amuse them with magnificent shews. Several 
 tournaments were exhibited at Petersburg!!, in 
 which her courtiers emulated the knights of 
 chivalry, if not in their dexterity, at least, in 
 the gorgeous splendour of their habits and ac- 
 coutrements. These shews, condemned, by 
 the thinking as frivolous and expensive, contri- 
 buted nothing to the empress's security. The 
 death of Peter III., as the memory of his fail- 
 ings was lost in the recollection of his useful 
 deeds and wretched fate, excited general lamen- 
 tation among the Russians. A young officer, 
 named Tschoglokof, persuaded that he was 
 inspired to avenge it, repaired for several suc- 
 cessive days to the dark passages leading to the 
 inner apartments of the palace, intending to 
 
262 HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 dispatch the empress as she passed. Happily 
 she did not go as usual ; and Tschoglokof, im- 
 prudently trusting- his design to another officer, 
 who betrayed him, was seized, while he waited 
 for her majesty, armed with a long poignard, 
 of which he readily confessed the use. Cathe- 
 rine pretended at first to forgive the young marr 
 in order to conceal the attempt from the pub- 
 lic \ but soon had him conveyed to Siberia. 
 
 At this time, the small- pox made such ravages 
 at Petersburgh, that the empress with her son, 
 deemed it prudent to remain at her palace of 
 Tzarskoselo. The distemper, however, reached 
 the court, and the danger to which both her 
 majesty, and the heir-apparent were exposed, 
 together with a concern for the lives of her sub- 
 jects, suggested the expediency of introducing 
 the practice of inoculation. The empress in- 
 vited a physician from England, Dr. T. Dims- 
 dale, for that purpose. Without a moment's 
 hesitation, she first submitted herself to the 
 operation as soon as convenient, after Dr. Dims- 
 dale's arrival, and next the grand duke, with 
 many of the courtiers, were inoculated. The 
 practice became general. When the grand 
 duke recovered, Catherine created Dr. Dims- 
 dale baron of the Russian empire, counsellor of 
 state, and physician to her imperial majesty, 
 with a pension of <5QO a year, and presented 
 
CATHERINE II. 263 
 
 him with 10,000, and a miniature picture of 
 herself and the grand duke. She conferred the 
 same title upon the Doctor's son 4 and made him 
 a present of a gold snuff-box richly set with dia- 
 monds. December 3d, 1768, a thanksgiving 
 service, for the recovery of her majesty and the 
 grctnd duke, was performed, in the imperial 
 chapel, with every circumstance of solemn mag- 
 nificence. The senate decreed a festival in 
 commemoration of the event.* 
 
 The inoculation of the empress Catherine 
 might seem a circumstance not sufficiently impor- 
 tant to obtain a place in history, if it did not dis- 
 play several features in her character. It was 
 magnanimous to submit to an operation, which, 
 though experience had proved to be extremely 
 beneficial, was not without danger, and her ex- 
 ample was necessary to recommend to general 
 practice in Russia. The rewards, bestowed OB 
 Dr. Dimsdale, is an instance of her profuse 
 liberality, and the solemnity on her recovery, 
 of the ceremonious pomp, which she employed 
 to awe the imaginations of her subjects. 
 
 The dangerous ambition of the empress had 
 in the meantime awakened the jealousy of other 
 
 * Coxe, Vol. III. p. 161191. Life of Catherine, Vol. I. 
 p. 477-496. 499524. 
 
264 HOUSE OP ROM AN OF, 
 
 powers, and involved her in a war with the 
 Turks, in which she discovered that the re- 
 sources of her empire, and the vigour of her 
 counsels, were not disproportionate to her vast 
 desires. 
 
CATHERINE II. 265 
 
 CHAP. X. 
 
 War tvith Turkey Destruction of the Turkish jleet Vic- 
 tories of the Russian armies Unhappy fate of the Princess 
 Tarrakanof Partition of Poland Plague in Moscow 
 Negotiations tvith the Turks Disgrace of Qrlof Cam- 
 paigns on the Danube Conclusion of the War Migration 
 of the Calmuck Tartars Rebellion of 'Pugatchef Intrigues 
 in the Court of Catherine. 
 
 THOUGH Catherine, having seized the mem- 
 bers of the Polish diet who resisted her preten- 
 sions, and overawed others by the presence of 
 her troops, had procured acts which seemed to 
 confirm her ascendancy in Poland, men had no 
 sooner time to reflect on the disgrace and 
 oppressions, which the nation suffered, than the 
 spirit of independence revived, and a horrible 
 scene of carnage and desolation ensued. Dissa- 
 tisfied with the privileges granted to the dissi- 
 dents, the Catholic nobles formed a confederacy 
 in the province of Podolia, and were encouraged 
 by Austria and France, the latter of which powers 
 enforced their applications for assistance to the 
 Ottoman Porte. The ardour with which they 
 were inspired, however, as it rendered them 
 impatient of delay, and induced them, in small 
 
266 HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 bodies, without discipline, without concert, to 
 encounter the Russian troops, was destructive 
 to their hopes. They at first made themselves 
 masters of the castle of Bar, whence the confe- 
 deracy derived its name, and fought with great 
 obstinacy and courage. But as the empress 
 continually reinforced her armies, their valour 
 only served to cover their fields with dead bodies 
 exhaling pestilence. They were forced to re- 
 tire into Cracow, which was taken by Apraxin, 
 the Russian commander, after six weeks 
 siege.* 
 
 The grand signior had not been an indifferent 
 spectator of the transactions in Poland. When 
 Catherine, and her ally, the king of Prussia, 
 prepared to employ the vacancy to the crown, 
 in subserviency to their ambitious designs, he 
 expressed himself with a liberality and mode- 
 ration highly offensive to those princes. The 
 danger, which threatened his own dominions 
 from the subversion of Polish independence, 
 concurred with the solicitations of the confe- 
 derates of Bar, and the representations of the 
 French minister, Vergennes, to determine him 
 to arm for the deliverance of Poland. As the 
 Russian ambassador, on being asked whether 
 his court would abstain from interfering in the 
 affairs of Poland, gave not a satisfactory answer, 
 
 * Mayo, Vol. I. p. 511. 
 
CATHERINE II. 2(37 
 
 he was thrown into the castle of the Seven 
 Towers. A manifesto was delivered to the 
 foreign ministers at Constantinople, justifying 
 this step, accusing Catherine of having violated 
 the treaties of the Ottoman empire, and expos- 
 ing her conduct in the affairs of Poland. Ex- 
 traordinary preparations for war were made by 
 the Turks.* 
 
 Catherine had not expected that neighbour- 
 ing powers would patiently acquiesce in her 
 usurpations upon the Poles; and, though she 
 would willingly have delayed the war for some 
 time, she was not afraid of the menaces or 
 numerous forces of the sultan. When informed 
 of the imprisonment of her ambassador, and 
 the manifesto which Mustapha had issued, she 
 justified her own conduct, in a counter mani- 
 festo, by those fair pretexts, that ambition em- 
 ploys to impose upon men, and prepared with 
 her peculiar spirit to resist her enemies. Her 
 armies, in a good condition, supplied with 
 stores and provisions, early in 1769, extended 
 themselves from the Danube to the Kuban. 
 Prince Galitzin was stationed on the Dniester 
 with 70,000 men and 100 pieces of artillery, 
 and Romantzof with 40,000 men, advanced into 
 the Ukraine. The Tartars, who had made an 
 
 Life of Catherine, Vol. II. p, 38. Mayo, Vol. I. 
 p. 395 514. 
 
268 HOtJSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 irruption into New Servia, were driven back 
 into the Crimea, and Galitzin crossing the 
 Dniester with 30,000 men defeated the Turks 
 under the walls of Choczim. The first advan- 
 tages, however, seemed on the side of the Otto- 
 mans; for Galitzin was obliged to retire from 
 Choczim, and Romantzof was repulsed before 
 Otchakof, the grand army under the vizier ad- 
 vanced through Moldavia, and Galitzin, who 
 had a second time undertaken the siege of 
 Choczim, was compelled to retreat. But the 
 tide soon turned, and events declared for op- 
 pression and injustice. Intrignes removed the 
 vizier, Selictar Hamsey Pacha, and the Russians 
 crossing the Dniester, defeated the Turks, and 
 made themselves masters of Choczim, Jassy, and 
 Bucharest.* 
 
 While Catherine employed her troops against 
 the Turks, all descriptions of men in Poland 
 roused by the oppressions which she exercised 
 under the pretence of humanity, formed con- 
 federacies to check her violence, declaring that 
 their honour, liberties, fortunes, and homes, 
 being attacked by unprincipled ambition, they 
 were resolved to shed the last drop of their 
 blood in defence of their rights. It can hardly 
 be related without tears, that the princes of 
 Europe, called by interest, humanity, and jus- 
 
 * Mayo, Vol. I. p. 536. 
 
CATHERINE II. 269 
 
 tice, to oppose the aggressions of Russia, allowed 
 this noble spirit, which might have saved Poland, 
 to be extinguished in blood, desolation, and 
 unexampled outrages. When the campaign 
 against the Turks was closed, the Russian 
 troops again over-ran Poland, and their disci- 
 pline gave them a decided advantage over the 
 confederates. The excess to which cruelty was 
 carried, may be conjectured from the following 
 fact : Nine Polish noblemen, whose arms had 
 been cut off at the wrists, appeared in Warsaw, 
 a spectacle sufficient to awaken in every breast 
 sentiments of pity, indignation, and horror. 
 This atrocity had been perpetrated by the orders 
 of the Russian general Drevitch. To such a 
 state of dependence were the king and senate of 
 Poland reduced, that they were obliged to de- 
 clare war against the Turks, who had taken 
 arms for their deliverance.* 
 
 Aware that her designs for the subjugation of 
 Poland must depend on the event of the Turkish 
 war, the empress made the utmost exertion to 
 bring it to a successful conclusion. While her 
 armies should harrass the Ottomans in Moldavia 
 and Valachia, and her fleet on the Don should 
 pass into the Euxine to awe the Crirn Tartars, 
 she resolved on executing the design, suggested 
 by marshal Munich, of attacking the Turkish 
 
 * Life of Catherine, Vol. II. p, 10. Mayo, Vol. I. p. 538. 
 
270 HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 possessions in the Mediterranean. She em- 
 ployed every expedient to build ships and pro- 
 cure seamen, and kept up the best understand- 
 ing with Denmark and England. In Septem- 
 ber, 1769, her fleets sailed from Archangel and 
 Revel, and steered for the islands of Greece. 
 The British, the natural defenders of liberty, 
 who ought to have supported both Poles and 
 Turks, against the ambition of Catherine, to 
 merit her friendship, supplied her ships with 
 good officers, and allowed them to winter and 
 refit in the ports of England and Minorca. 
 Orlof, early in the spring of 1770, sailed from 
 Port Mahon, and appeared off the Morea, to 
 assist the Mainots and Greeks, whom the 
 emissaries of the empress had prepared for revolt, 
 in asserting their independence. Having re- 
 duced Navarino, Coron, and Patros, he was 
 joined by the squadron under admiral Elphinston. 
 With this fleet, consisting of seventeen sail of 
 the line, and several smaller vessels, he encoun- 
 tered the Turkish fleet, which he obliged, after 
 some slight engagements, to withdraw. Pursu- 
 ing the Turks, he brought them to an action, 
 July 5th, between Scio and the coast of Asia 
 Minor. The fight was desperate, the admirals' 
 ships both blew up; and, after a short pause, 
 the contest being renewed, and victory declar- 
 ing for the Russians, the Turks took shelter in 
 the bay of Tschesme, which proved their de- 
 
CATHERINE II. 271 
 
 struction. While Elphinston blocked up the 
 bay, four fire ships were prepared lo destroy 
 the Turkish fleet. But no person could be 
 found to conduct so dangerous an enterprise, 
 till lieutenant Dugdale undertook to manage 
 the fire ships, and vice-admiral Greig to cover 
 them. At midnight, Greig, in defiance of the 
 Turkish batteries, began the attack, while 
 Dugdale entered the harbour with his fire ships, 
 and as none of the seamen would venture, with 
 British intrepidity, he, having lashed the helm, 
 and pressing in, fastened himself the grapplings to 
 the first of the Turkish ships, and saved his life 
 by swimming again to the Russian squadron. The 
 fire took such effect that all the fleet was consum- 
 ed, except one man of war and a few gallies, which 
 were towed away by the Russians, who bom- 
 barded the town and the castle which defended it. 
 A shot falling into the magazine of the latter, 
 both were laid in ashes. In the morning, scarce 
 a vestige remained of a town, castle, and fine 
 fleet all in existence the preceding evening. 
 Though this celebrated exploit was entirely 
 owing to the skill and gallantry of three English- 
 men, Elphinston, Greig, and Dugdale, the em- 
 press ascribed it to Alexey Orlof; but this 
 officer, whom crimes, not merit, had raised 
 from the rank of a common soldier to the com- 
 mand of the Russian fleet, was not capable 
 even of improving the advantages of victory 
 
272 HOUSE OF RQiMANOF. 
 
 or accident. Hasan Bey, with 3000 Turks, 
 obliged him to raise the siege of the fortress 
 which protected Lemnos ; while baron de 
 Tott, a French officer, in the service of the 
 Sultan, prevented him from forcing the passage 
 of the Dardanelles.* 
 
 The armies of Russia, which the empress had 
 reinforced, endeavoured, in the meantime, to im- 
 prove to the utmost the diversion made by the fleet. 
 Count Panin prepared for the siege of Bender, 
 and generals Prosorowsky and de Berg were 
 employed, the one on the side of Otchakof, and 
 the other against the Crim Tartars. Romantzof, 
 who had succeeded Galitzin, as commander in 
 chief, advanced with the main army through 
 Moldavia. The Turkish armies which had 
 likewise received great reinforcements, were 
 stationed the one under the command of the vizier, 
 on the Danube, and the other under the khan 
 of the Crimea, upon the banks of the Pruth. 
 This army of 80,000 men, Romantzof found ad- 
 vantageously posted upon a hill, which, as it 
 was .extremely dangerous to attack, he resolved 
 to wait with patience, till the imprudence of 
 his enemy should afford him a more favourable 
 opportunity. At the end of the three weeks 
 20,000 Turks, drawn into the plain by an arti- 
 
 *e-". 
 * Life of Catherine, Vol. II. p. 3035, 4347. Mayo, - 
 
 Vol. II. p. 26. 
 
CATHERINE If. 273 
 
 fice of the Russian general, were repulsed with 
 such success as to encourage the assailants to 
 storm the Ottoman camp After a vigorous re- 
 sistance he Khan abandoned his entrenchments 
 with part of his artillery and baggage, and 
 retired upon the army of the vizier, who passed 
 the Danube to his assistance. Roman tzof, impru- 
 dently pursuing the retreating enemy, advanced 
 toward the confluence of the Danube and the 
 Pruth, where he was encountered by 150,000 
 Turks; his own army being weakened by a 
 large detachment, which he had sent to protect 
 a convoy of provisions. He was now in a situa- 
 tion like that of Peter the great, in 1711 ; but 
 his courage, though not less resolute than the 
 tzar's, was more temperate, his skill greater, 
 and his troops better disciplined. Confident in 
 his own talents, and the steady valour of his 
 soldiers, Romantzof hesitated not to give his 
 enemies battle. Such was the advantage of 
 science and discipline, that the Turks were 
 driven from the triple entrenchments with w r hich 
 they had fortified their camp across the Danube, 
 with the loss of a great part of their army, 
 143 pieces of artillery, and 7000 waggons laden 
 with provisions. These two victories decided 
 the fate of the campaign. The Budziac Tar- 
 tars were obliged to submit, Panin reduced 
 Bender, general Igelstrohoi took Akerraan, 
 T 
 
HOUSE OF ROMAN OF. 
 
 and the three provinces of Valachia, Moldavia, 
 and Bessarabia paid homage to the empress.* 
 
 The news of these victories excited extreme 
 joy in the court of Petersburgh ; Catherine cele- 
 brated them with magnificent festivities and 
 prepared for fresh success. Her progress, how- 
 ever, alarmed the court of Vienna ; and, as the 
 disasters, which the Turks had suffered in the 
 course of the war, were greatly aggravated by 
 title plague which daily carried off thousands 
 in Constantinople, and a spirit of revolt, which 
 spread over the Asiatic provinces of their em- 
 pire, they were disposed to peace. Austria and 
 Prussia undertook the office of mediators. But 
 as his Prussian majesty, who thought to share 
 in the fruits of Catherine's triumphs, acted not 
 with earnestness, and as the demands of the 
 empress were exorbitant, hostilities were re- 
 newed with additional violence in the different 
 scenes of contest. The war on the Danube 
 promised but little advantage, and might pro- 
 voke Austria to declare openly for the Turks ; 
 the empress therefore determined to direct her 
 principal efforts against the Crimea. Her emis- 
 saries having previously seduced the Tartars 
 from their allegiance, prince Dolgoruky ad- 
 vanced to the Peninsula, and though the isthmus 
 of Prekop, five miles in extent, presented a 
 
 * Mayo, vol. ii. p. 29 81. 
 
CATHERINE II. 275 
 
 ditch seventy-two feet wide, and forty-two feet 
 deep, with fortifications manned by 57,000 
 Turks and Tartars, the prince forced this bar- 
 rier, made himself master of all the Crimea, 
 and substituted a new Khan in the room of Se- 
 liui Guerai, who was compelled to take shelter 
 in the Turkish dominions, where he died of 
 grief. 
 
 Meanwhile the Turkish army on the Danube 
 having* gained considerable advantages over the 
 generals Weisman and Essen prepared to esta- 
 blish itself in Valachia, which induced Romant- 
 zof to resume offensive operations. The vizier 
 was driven from his entrenched camp into the 
 mountains of Bulgaria, and his general Mousson 
 Oglow was obliged to abandon Giurgewo, which 
 he had taken, and recross the Danube*. 
 
 Alex&y Orlof repaired to Petersburgh to enjoy 
 his triumphs and solicit additional means of pur- 
 suing his conquests in the Archipelago. He 
 proposed to the council a plan by which Greece 
 might be conquered, Egypt delivered from the 
 Turkish yoke, the Dardanelles forced, and the 
 Russians obtain a firm footing on the shores and 
 islands of the Marmora. 
 
 As he required for this purpose but 10,000,OdO 
 of rubles, the empress, who never spared ex- 
 
 * Life of Catherine, vol. ii. p. 71 73. Mayo, vol. ii. 
 p. 63. 
 
 T 2 
 
276 HOUSE OJF ROM AN OF. 
 
 *' :' /ji} iXfc 3 if.;/. //"J ti >'; il" : '.- : J.*ij 
 
 pense, and was resolved that nothing should be 
 wanting to establish her dominion in the Medi. 
 terranean, granted him twenty, and ordered his 
 fleet to be reinforced by a strong squadron. 
 Orlof, however, though he had obtained the 
 fame of great exploits, was more qualified to 
 perpetrate dark and villainous crimes, than to ac- 
 complish such mighty undertakings. Passing 
 through Vienna, he supped with the Russian 
 ambassador and many others; he spoke of the 
 revolution by which Peter 111. lost his throne 
 and his life ; without the least solicitation, he 
 related the death of that unhappy prince ; and 
 while the whole company was seized with hor- 
 ror, he coolly observed, that it was lamentable 
 that a man of so much humanity as he, should 
 be forced to execute such commands. He had 
 been commissioned by the empress to get four 
 paintings done in Italy representing the destruc- 
 tion of the Turkish fleet ; and, as the painter 
 flackert to whom he applied had never seen a 
 vessel blow up, the admiral made no difficulty 
 in affording him such a spectacle, though at the 
 hazard of setting fire to all the vessels in the 
 roads of Leghorn. 
 
 If Alexey Orlof achieved not the conquests 
 which he had confidently undertaken, he per- 
 formed to his mistress another service, more 
 suited to his temper and capacity. The princess 
 Tarrakanof has been already mentioned as one 
 
CATHERINE II. 277 
 
 of the children of the empress Elizabeth 
 by Alexy Razumofsky. Prince Radzivil, 
 having learnt the secret of her birth, thought 
 that she might be made the instrument of re- 
 venging the injuries which the Poles had suffered 
 from the ambition of Catherine. He gained 
 the persons entrusted with the education of the 
 young princess, and conveyed her to Rome. 
 When Catherine was informed of the affair, she 
 began to frustrate the designs of the prince by 
 confiscating his estates, which reduced him to 
 the necessity of leaving the princess in narrow 
 circumstances to the care of a governess, and 
 of repairing to Poland His possessions being 
 offered to him on condition of bringing his 
 ward into Russia, though Radzivil would not 
 submit to that proposal, he agreed, as the 
 price of pardon, to abandon the daughter of 
 Elizabeth. 
 
 As Orlof had orders from Catherine to send 
 the unoffending Tarrakanof to Petersburg!], 
 he no sooner joined his fleet at Leghorn than he 
 began to execute his commission. He employed 
 a Neapolitan, named Ribas, who presented 
 himself to the princess in the dress and style of 
 a Russian officer, come to pay his homage. 
 Having, by pretended sympathy and some as- 
 ist ance, gained the confidence both of the un- 
 fortunate Tarrakanof and her governess, he 
 professed to be sent by count Alexey Orjof to 
 
27$ HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 offer her the throne of her mother. It was easy 
 to impose upon an unsuspecting girl. When 
 she was sufficiently prepared, Orlof himself ap- 
 peared, and not only enflamed the sentiments 
 of ambition with which she had been inspired, 
 but by feigning a passion for her, gained her 
 heart, and drew from her promises of marriage. 
 The ceremony was performed according to the 
 Greek ritual, by villains suborned to appear as 
 priests and lawyers. Orlof insinuated to the 
 princess, whom he had thus seduced, that it 
 would be expedient to retire to a place less ex- 
 posed to observation than Rome, till the con- 
 spiracy should break out which should place her 
 on the throne. Not suspecting his intention, she 
 accompanied him to Pisa, where he lodged her 
 in a magnificent palace, and gave her every mark 
 of tenderness and respect. As the Russian ships 
 under admiral Greig had just arrived at Leg- 
 horn, Orlof pretended that his presence was 
 necessary there, and offered to take the princess 
 with him. The report, which she had heard 
 of the beauty of Leghorn, and the magnificence 
 of the Russian fleet, induced her readily to em- 
 brace the offer. At Leghorn she. appeared as a 
 princess, every thing seemed at her command, 
 and all was eagerness to gratify her desires. 
 After spending several days in pleasures and 
 amusements she expressed a wish to see the 
 Russian ships. Orders were immediately given; 
 she was conveyed from the shore in a boat with 
 
CATHERINE IT. 279 
 
 splendid awnings, and two other boats followed, 
 with count Alexey Orlof, admiral Greig, and 
 several Russian and English officers. The pro- 
 cession was welcomed by the fleet with music, 
 salutes of artillery, and repeated acclamations; 
 honours, the princess was told, paid to her 
 rank. The deluded and unfortunate Tarrakanof, 
 however, was scarce upon the deck of the vessel, 
 when she was handcuffed. Youth, beauty, in- 
 nocence, tears, and cries appealed in vain to 
 the assassin of Peter III. who next day sent 
 his victim to Petersburgh, where she was thrown 
 into prison, and perished ; by what means is 
 unknown.* 
 
 This relation sufficiently exposes the cha^ 
 racter of Alex&y Orlof, and reflection would only 
 impair the sentiments of abhorrence, that it 
 must awaken in every mind. It ought, however, 
 to be remembered that this monster enjoyed the 
 highest honours in the brilliant court of Cathe- 
 rine, and that the above series of imposition, 
 perfidy, seduction, impiety, and barbarity was 
 committed in executing the orders of a prin- 
 cess, who by legislating for her subjects and 
 patronizing learning, claimed the praise of pre- 
 venting crimes, protecting innocence, and im- 
 proving the morals of men. 
 
 While the armies of Catherine triumphed 
 over the Turks along the Danube, Poland 
 
 * Life of Catherine, vl, II p, 5270. 
 
80 H<$USB OF ROMAN OF. 
 
 the original cause of the war, was staking* 
 deeper in calamity and its provinces were dis- 
 membered to enlarge the territories of its too 
 powerful neighbours The origin and progress 
 of this famous partition, from uhich Europe 
 dates so many of its miseries, it is now neces- 
 sary to relate 
 
 The king of Prussia, who had acquiesced in 
 the confusion and desolation, which Russian 
 violence and barbarity spread through Poland, 
 in expectation of sharing in the spoil, sent, 
 toward the close of 1770, his brother, prince 
 Henry, to confer with the empress on the sub- 
 ject. To avoid suspicion, this prince gave it 
 out that he intended to visit his sister, the queen 
 of Sweden, and return by Denmark. But 
 while at Stockholm, he accepted an invitation 
 to pass a few days at Petersbnrgh, under pre- 
 tence of paying respects to Catherine. While 
 nothing seemed to engage the Russian court but 
 rejoicings in celebration of victories gained over 
 the Turks, and entertainments of a splendour 
 and costliness unexampled in Europe, in honour 
 of their noble guest, the empress and prince 
 Henry concerted measures tor the subversion of 
 Poland. It was Catherine's original policy to 
 render I. sis kingdom subservient to her will and 
 eventually subject it to her dominion. But 
 when she perceived, from the conversation of 
 prince Henry, that Prussia and Austria would 
 
CATHERINE IT. 81 
 
 oppose her designs, except they shared in the 
 prey, she acceded to the plan of the Prussian 
 monarch Events favoured the iniquitous de- 
 signs of these princes. 
 
 Poland itself was not in a condition to offer 
 any resistance Dumouriez, an agent of the 
 French court, had indeed made some progress 
 in reconciling the confederacies which opposed 
 the usurpations of Russia, and in concerting 
 measures for vigorous resistance. But d'Aiguil- 
 lon, succeeding the duke de Choisuel as prime 
 minister, adopted a line of polics contrary to 
 his predecessor, and the confederates left to 
 themselves yielded to the discipline of the 
 troops commanded by Su war row. Prussian and 
 Austrian soldiers, under pretence of checking 
 the progress of the plague, drew round the 
 Polish provinces : the Russian ambassador in 
 Warsaw dieted the measures of government : 
 the kino- was seized and carried off in his capital, 
 and, after various hardships, narrowly escaped 
 assassination ; while the plague extended its 
 ravages, and the fields afforded not enough to 
 subsist the armies of the confederates, and the 
 Russians. In this deplorable condition, labour- 
 ing at once under the evils of anarchy, foreign 
 invasion, civil war, famine, and pestilence, 
 Poland was abandoned by those nations who 
 had expended so much blood and treasure to 
 maintain a balance of power in Europe. 
 
282 HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 The British monarch, the dupe of Cathe- 
 rine's policy, sacrificed the glory of combining 
 neighbouring states in support of an oppressed 
 people, to preserve the precarious advantage of 
 Russian commerce. Domestic contentions oc- 
 cupied the courts of Denmark and Sweden, 
 while France was not in circumstances to in- 
 terfere with spirit, her revenues were in disorder, 
 her trade declined, and the licentiousness and 
 imbecility of Louis XV. who had lost the af- 
 fection of his subjects, exposed him to contempt. 
 Austria was the only power that seemed likely 
 to obstruct the schemes of Frederic and Ca- 
 therine. Jealous of Russia, the court of Vienna 
 encouraged the confederates, and entered into a 
 treaty with the Porte to assist him against the 
 Russians, on condition of being reimbursed the 
 expenses of the war. The Prussian monarch, 
 however, undertook to engage the concurrence 
 of the young emperor Joseph II. and the three 
 powers concluded an alliance by which they 
 agreed to dismember Poland, and settled the 
 portions which each was to receive. Without 
 avowing their intentions, they pursued their 
 designs ; the Russian troops reduced the con- 
 federates, and made themselves masters of all 
 the fortresses ; Frederic seized Prussia royal ; 
 and the emperor took possession of the salt 
 works of Wielickza and Bochinia. Having 
 
. CATHERINE II. 283 
 
 thus made themselves sure of success, they 
 published a manifesto, setting- forth their preten- 
 sions. They expatiated upon the evils which 
 the contiguous nations had suffered from the 
 confusions of Poland, and in order to preserve 
 the kingdom from entire dissolution, and maintain 
 the peace of Europe, they proposed to take 
 possession of such territories of the republic, as 
 might be an equivalent for their claims, and form 
 a natural boundary between the partitioning 
 powers and the kingdom of Poland. After 
 this, they proceeded to specify the provinces 
 which they respectively claimed. Poland by 
 this partition lost territory containing five mil- 
 lions of inhabitants. The country usurped by 
 Catherine had for its limits the Vella, from its 
 source to its junction with the Niemen, and 
 the Berezina to its junction with the Dnieper, 
 and amounted to 3440 square leagues, with 
 a population of 1,500,000 souls. 
 
 With arms in their hands, the partitioning 
 powers despised the feeble remonstrances of 
 the courts of London, Paris, Stockholm, and 
 Copenhagen, as well as the declaration of the 
 Polish monarch, which, with great force of pa- 
 thos and argument, exposed the iniquity and 
 danger of their pretensions. Adding insult to 
 violence, the three powers now required Stanis- 
 laus to assemble a diet t ratify their usurpations. 
 
284 HOUSE OF ROHANOF. 
 
 The unfortunate monarch without confidence in 
 his subjects, or prospect of relief from foreign 
 states, and at the mercy of his enemies, in con- 
 formity to their orders, summoned a diet which 
 met April J 9, 1773. A spirit of resistance 
 seemed to actuate the members of the diet as 
 well as the king 1 ; but by bribing some, alluring 
 others by promises, and threatening to depose 
 the king ruin his friends, and pillage Warsaw, 
 the portioners brought the deputies to obey their 
 , commands. Acts were passed, which not only 
 ratified their claims, but which, as they per- 
 petuated the principles of anarchy and insubor- 
 dination, exposed the kingdom to still further 
 encroachments.* 
 
 While Catherine enlarged her dominions on 
 the Polish frontier, she entered into negotiations 
 with the Turks for peace, to which, notwith- 
 standing her victories, several circumstances dis- 
 posed her. The Russian fleet, though it still 
 carried on a piratical war in the Mediterranean, 
 was weakened by distempers among the seamen, 
 and decay in the ships, while her officers in that 
 quarter had never availed themselves of the spirit 
 of revolt which spread through Greece, Egypt, 
 and Syria. War carried on in so many quarters 
 exhausted the re venues of the empress, her victories 
 were gained at an immense loss of men, and the 
 
 * Coxe, vol. I p. 5362. Mayo, vol. ii. p. 32, 9197. 
 Life of Catherine, vol.ii.28, 107128. 
 
CATHERINE IF. 285 
 
 plague, passing- into the Russian armies, spread 
 into the towns and villages, and carried desola- 
 tion to Moscow, about the close of 1770. It 
 continued its ravages for two years, and its fury 
 was prodigiously increased, by the ignorance 
 and superstition of the people, who despised 
 precaution and prescriptions, and looked upon 
 devotion to the pictures of the saints as the sove- 
 reign remedy. Gregory Orlof was commissioned, 
 by the empress, as soon as she learnt the ex- 
 tent of the calamity, to repair to Moscow and 
 endeavour to exterminate the evil. In Septem- 
 ber 1771, a fortnight before his arrival, an 
 enthusiast of the populace declared to a crowd 
 which he had collected together, that the picture 
 of God's mother, at St. Barbara's gate, assured 
 him, that if she were zealously worshipped, she 
 would quell the pestilence. The story spread- 
 ing, multitudes flocked to St. Barbara's gate, 
 imploring the aid of the picture. Processions 
 followed successively in which the infected and 
 uninfected mingling together diffused the con- 
 tagion. The primate of Moscow, Ambrosius, 
 an enlightened man, repaired with five soldiers 
 sent by general Yerapkin, to fetch away the 
 picture, which aggravated the public distress. 
 But the populace, who frequented the gate by 
 night as well as by day, drove away the sol- 
 diers, reproached the bishop with heresy, and 
 ringing the bells, drew together the people to 
 
28(5 HOUSE OF ttOMAKOF. 
 
 inform them of the violation offered to the pic- 
 ture. It being reported that the prelate had 
 taken refuge in the Donskoi monastery, the in- 
 furiated rabble ran thither, and finding him 
 engaged in divine worship threw him down, 
 without regard to his age, office, habits, or pre- 
 sent employment, beat him on the head and 
 dispatched him with knives. Returning to the 
 city, they vented their rage on the hospitals, 
 quarantine house, and the physicians and sur- 
 geons. An Italian dancing master, whom they 
 took for a physician, having his legs and arms 
 broken, was left in the street. General Yerap- 
 kin towards night, encountered this crew with 
 150 soldiers, and two field pieces, and after an 
 obstinate and protracted contest in which 25Q 
 lost their lives, and 300 were made prisoners, 
 succeeded in dispersing them. In the morning, 
 he paraded the streets at the head of his 
 men, with drawn sabres, and the day after a 
 regiment of infantry came to his assistance; 
 while all the civil officers had fled. Eight hun- 
 dred died every day of the plague, and the 
 tumults heightened the grief and terror that 
 agitated men's minds. At length the severity 
 of th'e winter conspired with the authority, cou- 
 rage, and zeal of Orlof, to abate the scourge. 
 Catherine rewarded his services, by erecting 
 a column and striking a medal, as memorials 
 
CATHERINE II. 287 
 
 of them; nor did she forget the meritorius 
 Yerapkin *. 
 
 To these circumstances, which lessened the 
 value of the Russian victories, it must be added, 
 that the sultan's affairs were somewhat im- 
 proved by the men of capacity whom he had 
 placed at the head of the military and naval 
 departments, and the exertions of baron de Tott, 
 his chief engineer. As Turks and Russians 
 both were inclined to peace, an armistice was 
 agreed upon May 30, 1772, and a congress 
 was opened at Fokshiani between Gregory 
 Orlof and Osman Effendi, The unreasonable 
 demands of the empress prevented an agree- 
 ment; but marshal Romantzof and Mousson 
 Oglow, the grand vizier, aware how much their 
 armies required repose, prolonged the armistice 
 to the beginning of the following year; ami 
 another attempt to reconcile the differences was 
 made at Bucharest with no better effect f. 
 
 Gregory Orlof, who had long aspired to a 
 union with Catherine, thought the congress at 
 Fokshiani favourable to his schemes, and pro- 
 cured the honour of treating with the Turkish 
 plenipotentiaries, in hope, that if the negotia- 
 tions succeeded, he should acquire such favou r 
 with the Russians as would smooth his way to 
 
 * Life of Catherine, vol. ii. p. 78 90. f Idem, p. 94-. 
 103105, 
 
288 HOUSE OF B.O3KANOF. 
 
 the throne. But the event disappointed his 
 expectation. The affection which the empress 
 entertained for Orlof had been returned, not 
 so much with a like attachment as with the 
 attention which gratitude and ambition inspired. 
 When he imagined his services proportionate to 
 any reward, he assumed a distant behaviour,, 
 and the more Catherine wished to recover him 
 to his usual assiduities, the more he frequented 
 the company of other women. Though this 
 conduct offended the empress, her fondness for 
 Bobrinsky, her son, by this haughty favourite, 
 prevented her from coming to an open rupture, 
 and induced her to propose a clandestine mar- 
 riage, which he rejected with disdain, deeming 
 himself not unworthy to share with her a throne, 
 which she acquired and preserved by his va- 
 lour. The empress dissembled for a time; but 
 Panin, who watched an opportunity to accom- 
 plish his rival's downfall, perceived her resent- 
 ment; and, during his absence, contrived to 
 introduce to her affection a young handsome 
 officer, named Yassiltschikof. The stratagem 
 succeeded; and while no expedient was neg- 
 lected to confirm the new attachment of the 
 empress, it was insinuated to her, that Orlof 
 meant to avail himself of his appointment as 
 negotiator, to betray the interests of Russia, and 
 acquire the sovereignty of Moldavia and Va- 
 lachia. 
 
CATHERINE-' II. 
 
 When the count learnt, at Fokshiani, that he 
 was supplanted in Catherine's affection, he was 
 at first seized with rage ; but afterwards suppo- 
 sing that by his presence he would recover his 
 influence, and crush his enemies, he abandoned 
 the negotiations to repair to Petersburg!!. Or 
 approaching the city an officer delivered him ner 
 majesty's orders not to enter; and he retired in 
 silence to one of his country seats, where to 
 his mortification he found, that those who had 
 courted him, were attached only to his fortune ; 
 and that the magnitude of his power alone had 
 concealed his enemies. In this forlorn situa- 
 tion, Orlof retained his courage ; and when 
 Catherine, apprehensive of his influence in the 
 army, demanded the relinquishment of his em- 
 ployments he refused compliance. She forbore 
 to chastise a man whom she had so long distin- 
 guished ; and Orlof softened by her bounty, 
 consented to leave Petersburgb. His submis- 
 sion was rewarded with 100,000 rubles, a yearly 
 pension of 150,000, a magnificent service of plate, 
 and an estate with 6000 boors. Assuming, at 
 her majesty's wish, the title of prince, Orlof set 
 out upon his travels in different parts of Eu- 
 rope, displaying a splendour and prodigality that 
 showed the profuse magnificence of his former 
 mistress *. 
 
 * Life of Catherine, vol. ii. p. 95101 
 
290 HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 During the negotiations, which were pro- 
 tracted for the purpose of mutual deception, 
 the belligerent powers prepared to renew the 
 contest. Catherine accomplished her views in 
 Poland, by the treaty of partition, and formed 
 an alliance with the Khan of the Crimea, by 
 which the Tartars put themselves under her 
 protection. The sultan was freed from the 
 most formidable of those chiefs, who had shaken 
 off his authority, AH Bey ; and as he could not 
 yet submit to the terms of the empress, active 
 operations recommenced early in 1773. The 
 Russian arms, however, were not crowned with 
 their former success. Romantzof endeavoured 
 to bring his enemy to an immediate engagement ; 
 but all his efforts being frustrated by the skill of 
 the vizier, he ventured to cross the Danube to 
 lay siege to Silistria. But after forcing the 
 Turks into the town, while he prepared for a 
 general assault, he learnt that the vizier, who 
 had perpetually harassed his march, had dis- 
 patched 50,000 men against him, and took 
 measures to prevent his retreat. The marshal 
 under cover of an attack upon Silistria, silently 
 retired during the night ; but although he con- 
 cl^cted his army across the Danube, this enter- 
 prize cost him 10,000 men, and the able general 
 Weissman, and so much were his troops enfee- 
 bled by fatigue, watching, and sickness, from heat 
 and noxious exhalations of the swamps, that 
 
CATHERINE II. 291 
 
 he was obliged to withdraw to Jassy to recruit 
 and refresh. Prince Dolgoruky endeavoured 
 to possess himself of Varna in Bulgaria, but 
 after some success he found it necessary to raise 
 the siecre, and on his retreat, the Turks routed 
 him with great slaughter. 
 
 When Catherine perceived that her armies, 
 maintained at great expense, were destroyed 
 without gaining any advantage, she was dis- 
 contented, and inquired of marshal Romantzof 
 why he gave not battle. The marshal answer- 
 ing, that the vizier possessed three times more 
 men than he, she immediately replied, " The 
 Romans never asked the number of their 
 enemies, but where they were." In defiance of 
 the enemy's superiority, Romantzof resolved to 
 obey, and advanced again to Silistria ; but after 
 six weeks of nnremitted assault, the vizier con* 
 strained him to retire with great loss. 
 
 While Mousson Oglow thus defeated the de- 
 signs of Catherine's troops, her fleet consisting 
 ot thirteen sail of the line, and as many frigates, 
 accomplished nothing of moment. Orlof was 
 satisfied himself with committing depredations 
 on the Turkish islands, and affording a feeble 
 assistance to the rebel chiefs in Syria and 
 Egypt. 
 
 The following year, however, the empress 
 brought the war to an advantageous close, 
 U 2 
 
292 HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 Though rebellion raged in the southern pro- 
 vinces, she was freed from all apprehensions 
 from Sweden and Poland, and accordingly put 
 her army under Romantzof, in a condition to 
 defeat the vast preparations made by the new 
 sultan, Abdul hamet. It being the intention of 
 the Russian general to penetrate into Bulgaria, 
 the Turks, who disputed the passage, after 
 several hours fighting, were forced to yield to 
 the valour of Soltikof, and generals Kamensky 
 and Suwarrow, who crossed the river at another 
 place, defeated the Reis Effendi at the head of 
 70,000 men, taking a fine train of brass artillery, 
 cast by baron Tott. These disasters excited a 
 spirit of revolt in the Ottoman troops, and 
 Romantzof, who remarked that the vizier, en- 
 camped at Schumala, was at distance from 
 other corps of the army, cut off his communica- 
 tion with his magazines, as well as with his 
 generals. Without succour, and disabled from 
 fighting by the insubordination of his soldiers, 
 the brave Mousson Oglow had no other resource 
 than to sue for peace. Two plenipotentiaries 
 were dispatched to Kainardgi, and, as the 
 Russians persisted in their former demands, con- 
 cluded, in July, a treaty with prince Repnin, 
 granting to the empress the free navigation of 
 the Dardanelles, and of the Turkish seas and 
 the cession of Kilburn, Kerche, Jenickala, with 
 
CATHERINE If. 203 
 
 a tract between the Bog and the Dnieper, Azof, 
 and Taganrok, on condition that she restored 
 her other conquests. The Turks acknowledged 
 the independence of the Crimea, and as a 
 reimbursement for the expences of the war, 
 stipulated to pay 4,000,000 of rubles. Besides 
 the direct advantages which Catherine derived 
 from this treaty, she was also enabled in con- 
 sequence of it to undermine the power of the 
 Turks in Moldavia and Valachia, to extend her 
 authority over the Tartars, and to carry on war 
 in the regions of the Danube, with increased 
 facilities, as well as to secure her acquisitions 
 in Poland. Thus the empress obtained, by the 
 supineness and impolicy of other nations, and 
 the sagacity and vigour of her own mind, those 
 great objects at which Peter I. aimed on the 
 Euxine. The joy which the peace occasioned 
 in Petersburg!! was extreme. The empress 
 ordered eight days of rejoicing ; the prison doors 
 to be thrown open to all who were not guilty 
 of treason ; and all who had been sent to Siberia, 
 since 1746, to be released.* 
 
 Subverting the independance of Poland, and 
 humbling the pride of the Ottomans, enlarging 1 
 her territories along the whole extent of her 
 
 * Life of Catherine, VoL II. p. 143147, 165 175, 
 Mayo, Vol.11, p. 137174. 
 
294 HOtFSE OP ROMANOF. 
 
 empire, from the Baltic to the Euxine, and 
 opening fresh sources of wealth in the com- 
 merce of the Mediterranean and Turkish seas, 
 Catherine seemed to acquire an ascendancy 
 formidable to the nations of Europe. The ad 
 vantages, however, which her arms and foreign 
 policy procured, were, in a degree, counter- 
 balanced, by the evils which preyed upon the 
 interior of her dominions. Her fleets and armies 
 had been maintained at an expense, which ren- 
 dered it necessary to impose extraordinary taxes, 
 a burden not long supportable by nations with- 
 out liberty and trading capital. The plague 
 spread among her troops, and through many 
 provinces, conspired with the sword to waste 
 the lives of her subjects. Flourishing districts 
 were converted into desarts, by the migration of 
 the Calmuck Tartars, a curious event. Tribes 
 of these wanderers had taken up their seat upon 
 the step of the Volga, above Astrakhan, and 
 about the middle of the last century, acknow- 
 ledged a dependance upon Russia. Subsisting 
 on the produce of their cattle, they led a roam- 
 ing life, and though inclined to peace, often 
 served in the Russian armies. As the empress 
 innovated upon their customs, and infringed 
 their liberty, of which they were very tenacious, 
 they took great offence, which was aggravated 
 by the rapacity and insolence of the Russian 
 
CATHERINE II. 295 
 
 inspector, Kischenskoy. The priests and elders 
 having 1 resolved to migrate, easily prevailed 
 with the people, by telling them, that the Rus- 
 sians intended to force them to embrace Chris- 
 tianity, pursue agriculture, and furnish recruits. 
 To this they added a pretended order from the 
 great high priest at Thibet, to return to their 
 ancient residence. Having made preparations, 
 they departed in the autumn of 1770, and after 
 suffering from the Cossacks of the Yaik and 
 the Kirghises, they reached the Chinese borders 
 in the summer of 1771, where they were pro- 
 tected. They fled with such secrecy and speed, 
 that it was impossible to pursue them. Appli- 
 cation was made by the empress for their resti- 
 tution ; but she received from the Chinese 
 government a contemptuous and satirical reply, 
 very mortifying to her vanity. Russia lost by 
 this migration 70,000 tents or families, about 
 350,000 souls.* 
 
 A still heavier calamity, which even threaten- 
 ed to overturn the government of Catherine, 
 afflicted the Russian empire in the rebellion of 
 Pugatchef. The Russians could not forget the 
 means by which Catherine acquired the crown ; 
 the nobility were offended by the arrogance of 
 her favourites ; the clergy lamented the loss of 
 
 * Life of Catherine, Vol. II. p. 17518^. 
 
296 HOUSE OF 
 
 their privileges; and the draughts made from 
 their children, together with a multitude of 
 vexations, exasperated the peasants.* The 
 memory of Peter III. was cherished with affec- 
 tion, and the priests to revenge the loss of their 
 possessions spread a report that he was not dead, 
 but would soon appear to reclaim his throne. 
 Several impostors, accordingly pretended to be 
 the unfortunate tzar. The first was a shoe- 
 maker, of Voronetz, who, assuming the name 
 of Peter, in 1767, was seized and executed. 
 In 1770 another, a deserter from Orlof 's regi- 
 ment, named Chernichef, arose in the village of 
 Kopena, on the frontiers of the Crimea ; but a 
 Russian colonel, who marched through the 
 place, just when the priests, having procured 
 him many partizans, prepared to crown the 
 deserter, with a strong* guard dragged him from 
 the altar to execution. This man was succeeded 
 by a peasant, belonging to the Vorontzof family, 
 who, leaving his village, served as a Cossack 
 at the station of Dubof ka on the Volga. As a 
 body of the Cossacks marched to the Russian 
 army, he collected them, in a small post house, 
 between the Don and the Volga, professing to 
 be the late emperor. They acknowledge him ; 
 but their commander unexpectedly appearing, 
 confounded them, and, seizing the impostor by 
 
 * Life of Catherine, Vol. II. p. 204-. 
 
CATHERINE II. 297 
 
 the hair, conducted him with their assistance to 
 Tzaritzen. During his trial, some movements, 
 in his favour, were made by the inhabitants, 
 which being* repressed with difficulty, he was 
 conveyed to a small island in the Volga, where 
 he perished by the knoot. A malefactor at 
 Irkutsk made a like attempt with a like event. 
 These were the forerunners of Yemelka Pu- 
 gatchef. 
 
 This man, son of the Cossack, Ivan Pugat- 
 chef, born at Simoveisk, on the Don, served as 
 a common Cossack in the war against the 
 Prussians, as well as under count Panin, at the 
 taking of Bender. Being refused his discharge, 
 he fled into Poland, where he was concealed by 
 hermits of the Greek religion, to whom, relat- 
 ing his adventures, he said among other things, 
 that a Russian officer, fixing his eyes upon him, 
 exclaimed, " Were not my master Peter III., 
 dead, I should believe 1 saw him once more in 
 you." The monks found no difficulty in making 
 him concur in their imposture. He passed to 
 the sectaries in Little Russia, and made pre- 
 tensions to uncommon sanctity. Danger of de- 
 tection led him to repair to the Cossacks, on 
 the Yaik, several of whom he gained ; but he 
 was arrested for treason, and being sent to 
 Casan to be tried, the supineness of the governor 
 allowed him to escape. He descended the 
 
HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 Volga, and passed by the Irghis into the desart. 
 As his company increased, he publicly professed 
 to be Peter III., who had miraculously escaped 
 assassination, and circumstances favoured his 
 imposture. 
 
 The Cossacks are generally attached to the 
 principals of the Russian sectaries, who abound 
 in Siberia. Some recruits raised, in 1771, from 
 the Cossacks of the Yaik, were ordered to shave 
 their beards, which they prized almost as much as 
 their lives. This order being opposed, an officer 
 sent to enforce obedience, commanded them to be 
 shaven in the midst of the town, which raised 
 a rebellion. In the spring, as general Preyman 
 garrisoned Yaitsk, and proceeded to chastise 
 the rebels, many of them fled into the desart, 
 subsisting by the chace, and the bounty of their 
 relatives. The impostor availed himself of the 
 religious prejudices as well as discontent of 
 these Cossacks, who flocked to his standard, 
 in great numbers, as to their deliverer from 
 civil and ecclesiastical oppression. In the mid- 
 dle of September, 1773, Pugatchef had only 
 nine followers ; but in a few days they increased 
 to 300. He now appeared before Yaitsk, but 
 his attempt being frustrated, he attacked tlie 
 colonies of the Oeloets reducing their forts. A 
 body of troops sent from Orenburgh fell into 
 his hands, through the imprudence of 
 
CATHERINE II. 299 
 
 commander, colonel Bulof ; and his followers 
 ensnared another detachment in the defiles and 
 overpowered them. In these actions the officers, 
 whom he made captive, were barbarously 
 murdered, while the soldiers joined his fol- 
 lowers, or remained prisoners. These successes 
 emboldened him to attack Orenburgh, which 
 he was on the point of carrying, when it was 
 relieved by the garrison of Krasnogorsk. This 
 disappointment, however, was more than com- 
 pensated by large accessions from the Bashkirs, 
 the peasants employed in the mines of the 
 Uralian mountains, and 11,000 Calmucks, who 
 having murdered their commander, brigadier 
 Vegezak, joined the rebel. The whole district 
 of Orenburgh submitted to his arms, and he 
 would have taken Catherinenburgh, if his march 
 had not been delayed by a false report. The 
 success of Pugatchef was prodigious. Moscow 
 was ready to receive him, and the people were 
 so devoted to him, that wherever he came, they 
 furnished his soldiers with provisions and forage, 
 But this tide of prosperity, which was owing 
 no less to the temper of the peasants, and the 
 uuskilfulness of his enemies, than to his own 
 address, courage, and activity, served to ruin 
 him. He soon abandoned his pretensions to 
 sanctity ; he butchered with the greatest bar- 
 
300 HOUSE OF RCMANOF. 
 
 barity the Russian nobles and officers who fell 
 into his power ; he indulged in riot and intoxi- 
 cation; and, above all, by delay to improve 
 his advantages allowed the ardour of his followers 
 to cool, and his enemies time to prepare his 
 overthrow. 
 
 The progress of the rebellion alarming Ca- 
 therine, she recalled Bibikof from the Turkish 
 war to march against the insurgents. She 
 published manifestoes, cautioning her subjects 
 against imposture, and offering pardon to the 
 Cossacks, who might return to duty, and a re- 
 ward of 100,000 to him who should put Pugat- 
 chef to death. Counter manifestoes were issued 
 by the impostor, who affixed to them the name 
 of Peter III., and struck rubles with his effigy 
 and this inscription, " Peter III. emperor and 
 autocrator of all the Russias," and on the re- 
 verse, <; Redivivus et ultor." 
 
 Bibikof had meanwhile advanced to Casan, 
 he invited the nobility to unite in extinguishing 
 the rebellion; while his generals gained some 
 advantages over the insurgents. Pugatchef, 
 obliged to raise the siege of Orenburgh, was 
 attacked by prince Galitzin, and retreated after 
 a brave resistance. He fell upon Bibikof un- 
 expectedly, who lost his life ; but being pur- 
 sued by Galitzin, he suffered a total defeat, 
 
CATHERINE IT. 301 
 
 March, 1774, near Kargaula, twelve miles from 
 Orenburgh, and escaped, with difficulty, to the 
 Ural mountains. It was not long, however, 
 before he appeared in great force on the east of 
 those mountains, burning whatever offered the 
 least resistance. In order to retrieve his losses 
 by some signal exploit, he suddenly descended 
 towards Casan, marking his track with fire and 
 blood. The suburbs of the town were burnt, 
 and siege was laid to the citadel, when the in- 
 defatigable colonel Michaelson compelled the 
 rebel to retire, and after three days severe fight- 
 ing, to flee with 300 Cossacks, across the 
 Volga. But his losses being instantly repaired 
 by Cossacks, Bashkirs, and peasants, he re- 
 solved to march to Moscow. The favourable 
 moment, however, had elapsed ; peace with 
 the Turks released the army of the Danube ; 
 and the rebel, bending his course down the 
 Volga, routed general Dies, stormed Saratof, 
 and obtained possession of Demitrefsk by 
 treachery. Near this place, the astronomer 
 Lovitch was employed in taking levels for the 
 projected canal between the Volga and the Don. 
 Being ordered to appear before Pugatchef, he 
 commanded his soldiers to raise him on their 
 pikes, " in order," said he, " that he may be 
 nearer the stars," and in this situation he but- 
 chered the unoffending astronomer. Thus the 
 
302 HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 barbarian filled up the measure of his enormities, 
 as his fate approached. 
 
 Count Panin was now sent against the im- 
 postor. He reinforced colonel Michaelson, who 
 cut off Pugatchef 's convoys, and falling upon him 
 in the passes, while he was greatly incumbered, 
 forced him, after an obstinate conflict, to swim 
 the Volga, and betake himself to the desart, 
 where he began his revolt. Deserted by his 
 followers, whom thirst and hunger undeceived, 
 as he gnawed the bones of a horse to prolong 
 his life, some of them, probably excited by the 
 hope of pardon, accosted him ; " Come," said 
 they, " you have been long enough emperor." 
 He shattered the arm of the foremost with a 
 pistol shot ; but the other Cossacks having bound 
 him, delivered him to general Suwarrow, who 
 commanded the troops on the Yaik. This 
 general conveyed him to count Panin, who sent 
 him in an iron cage to Moscow, where he was 
 beheaded and quartered. He endured his 
 punishment with great resolution. Only eight 
 of his accomplices suffered death. This rebel- 
 lion cost i 00,000 men, the loss of many towns, 
 250 villages, and interrupted the mines of Oren- 
 burgh and the trade of Siberia, The empress 
 amply rewarded colonel Mtchaelson, by whose 
 activity arid perseverance it was extinguish- 
 ed, and abolished the name of the Yaik and 
 
CATHERINE IT. 
 
 Yaitsk, substituting Ural and Uralsk in their 
 stead.* 
 
 Thus Catherine, while she accomplished her 
 schemes on Poland and on Turkey, terminated 
 happily, a war which endangered the existence 
 of her empire. The glory of these achieve- 
 ments, however, will appear more imposing 
 than solid, if it be considered, that by the wars 
 undertaken at the instigation of ambition and 
 the evils of misgovernment, she lost as many 
 subjects as were contained on her new acquisi- 
 tions ; and that there was no advantage to coun- 
 terbalance the calamities, which she diffused 
 over Poland, the fairest provinces of Turkey, 
 and vast districts of her own dominions. It is 
 a heavy misfortune, that those, who in a brilliant 
 manner, waste the lives and increase the miseries 
 of men, should obtain their admiration. 
 
 While these warlike operations proceeded, 
 several occurrences took place, to which we must 
 now return. When the courtiers rejoiced in the 
 absence of prince Orlof, and expected that he 
 would continue on his travels at least two years, 
 he suddenly re-appeared, after five months, in 
 Petersburgh. The empress, indeed, ordered 
 him at first to retire to Reval ; but afterwards 
 
 * Life of Catherine, Vol. II. p,203 24-5. Cox<*, Vol. HI. 
 p, 91109. 
 
304 HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 allowed him to appear sit court. Though he 
 was restored to his employments, to serve as a 
 counterpoise to the faction of Panin, who sup- 
 ported the pretensions of the grand duke, he 
 never recovered his influence, and though 
 Catherine seemed to regard him with her former 
 affection, she would not consent to the banish- 
 ment of his rival. On the marriage of the 
 grand duke, October 10th, 1773, it was ex- 
 pected, according to a promise made to Orlof, 
 that count Panin, his governor, would fall into 
 disgrace. His pupil, however, interposed, and 
 instead of ordering him to retire, the empress 
 thanked him for the care he had bestowed on 
 the education of her son, confirmed him in his 
 office of minister, and loaded him with pre- 
 sents. 
 
 The empress's favourite, Vassiltchikof, who 
 avoided the envy of the courtiers, and daily 
 gained upon her esteem, by his moderation, was 
 all at once ordered to repair to Moscow. Orlof, 
 who attributed this occurrence, to the returning 
 kindness of the empress for him, had the mor- 
 tification to perceive that the young officer, who, 
 on the day of the revolution, had gallantly sup- 
 plied a deficiency in the empress's dress, engaged 
 her affection. Potemkin, proud and presump- 
 tuous as he advanced in favour, one day, play- 
 ing at billiards with Alexey Orlof, boasted that 
 
CATHERINE II, 
 
 he could remove from court whoever might be 
 obnoxious to him. A quarrel ensued between 
 these courtiers of Catherine ; Potemkin received 
 a blow, which occasioned the loss of an eye ; 
 and Orlof informing 1 his brother of the affair, 
 he requested the empress to dismiss her paramour. 
 Fotemkin was sent ito Smolensk, where he con- 
 tinued nearly twelve months.* 
 
 * Life f Catherine, Vol. If. p. 190, 1S& 2^8. 
 
306 HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 CHAP. XI. 
 
 Laudable pursuits of Catherine Rccal of Potemkin Jour- 
 ney of the Empress to Moscow Affairs of Poland Po- 
 temkin ordered to retire, but disobeys Disgrace of Razn- 
 mqfsky Marriage of the grand duke Fall of Zavadqfsky 
 Visit of Gustavus to Petersburgh Conduct of Catherine in 
 the Crimea Korzakof, a serjeant in the guards, favourite 
 Armed neutrality Interview of the Empress with Joseph 
 II. Turkish Affairs Settlement of the Jesuits in Poland 
 Acquisitions of Catherine on the Engine Death of 
 Panin Orlof and Lanskoi Commercial Treaties-^-Ger- 
 man professor of Geography Toleration Momonof 
 favourite Progress of Catherine to the Crimea. 
 
 AMIDST schemes of ambition, and the intrigues 
 of her court, Catherine neglected not altogether 
 other objects. She carried on public buildings 
 for the embellishment of Petersburgh, and in 
 order to render the practice of inoculation gene- 
 ral, established hospitals for the purpose, in the 
 extremities even of her dominions. When the 
 empire began to repose from foreign wars and 
 internal convulsions, she employed her cares in 
 applying remedies to the evils which her ambi- 
 tion had gendered, or which sprung up from 
 the wretched constitution, and enormous extent 
 of her provinces. She abolished the taxes im- 
 
CATHERINE It. 307 
 
 posed to support the war, as well as many of 
 the old imposts of an impolitic or oppressive 
 nature, assisted the provinces, which the rebel- 
 lion hnd ruined, with loans of money without 
 interest, and corn from the stores of govern- 
 ment, and enhanced the value of a general 
 pardon, by condemning matters relative to the 
 calamitous transactions to oblivion. She issued 
 other regulations tending to encourage industry, 
 banish invidious distinctions, or facilitate the 
 administration of justice. The treasurers of the 
 empire having embezzled the public money, 
 Catherine would not allow them even to be 
 tried,* an act of high injustice to her subjects, 
 though perhaps necessary to her glory, as it is 
 probable many of her courtiers were implicated. 
 Of nothing was Catherine more apprehensive 
 than that men might cease to talk of her. To 
 this fear must be ascribed her perpetual inter- 
 ference in the occurrences of Europe, her wars, 
 her munificent patronage of men of genius, as 
 well as many of the splendid and salutary insti- 
 tutions that distinguish her reign. This inor- 
 dinate desire of notoriety, though the govern- 
 ing passion of her mind, which prompted her to 
 vast, dangerous, beneficent, or pernicious un- 
 dertakings, often yielded to the superiority of 
 
 * Life of Catherine, Vol. II. p. 193, 20S, 249- 
 X 2 
 
308 HOUSE OF ROMANOF; 
 
 another, which exhibited her in a light, not & 
 little amusing. 
 
 Potemkin, in his solitude, now threatening 1 to 
 turn monk, then to be the greatest man in 
 Russia, suddenly wrote the empress desiring her to 
 think of him. He was recalled, and, while prince 
 Orlof was absent at his hunting seat, installed 
 into the post of favourite. On his return, Orlof 
 uttered complaints and reproaches to no pur* 
 pose. The new favourite acquired an absolute 
 ascendancy over the empress, added every day 
 to his honours and emoluments, and, with no 
 other recommendation than a handsome person 
 and an insatiable ambition, was introduced into 
 the council, and obtained the vice-presidency 
 in the war department, count Chernichef, an 
 old general, whom he had ruined, being obliged 
 to resign. The presumption and audacity of 
 Potemkin were not inferior to his power or 
 ambition. One day, while engaged at play, 
 he refused to attend the council, and the mes- 
 senger humbly asking for a reason to allege 
 on his return, he said, it was to be found in the 
 first psalm and the first verse : Blessed is the 
 man who goes not in the council of the ungodly. 
 
 Prince Orlof, though by the efforts of the 
 empress he had been reconciled to Potemkin^ 
 could not bear to see him possessed of such 
 honour and authority, and accordingly begged 
 .permission to retire. It is very edifying to ob- 
 
CATHERINE IT. 309 
 
 serve the condition to which Catherine was re- 
 duced by two men who had derived all their 
 consequence from her favour. The passion of 
 which Potemkin was the object obliged her to 
 support his arrogance, and indulge his boundless 
 desire of power, while in order to serve as a 
 check upon this minion, as well as to prevent 
 the consequences of Orlofs resentment, she found 
 it necessary to sooth him by condescension 
 and flatteries* To such subjection was brought 
 "the princess who distributed kingdoms *. 
 
 Soon after Pugatchef was executed, the em* 
 press resolved on a journey to Moscow, and 
 employed every art to gain popular favour. 
 Though she despised the priests, as they enjoyed 
 the veneration of the people, she disdained not 
 to court their approbation. With this view, 
 she carried with her a great number of small 
 pictures of the saints, which she distributed in 
 the churches and chapels by the way, and 'a 
 large figure decorated with gold and diamonds 
 for the cathedral of Moscow. She entered the 
 capital, under triumphal arches, attended with 
 a brilliant train, and proclaimed a reduction of 
 the taxes. But hypocrisy, magnificence, and 
 bounty could not procure the acclamations of 
 the people, who would have hailed the impostor 
 
 * Life of Catherine, Vol.11, p. 308 311. 
 
310 HOUSE *OF .ROM'ANOF. 
 
 Pugatcbef as a God. They beheld the pro- 
 cession with sullen wonder. 
 
 A few days after her arrival at Moscow, 
 Catherine with her court made a pilgrimage on 
 foot to a convent, about thirty miles from that 
 city. Count Panin, the only person not invited, 
 sarcastically observed, " The empress did not 
 wish that I should accompany her on this pil- 
 grimage ; because she thought I have not 
 enough of devotion or the courtier/* 
 
 o 
 
 Potemkin succeeded not only to Orlof's post? 
 but to his hopes of an alliance with the empress, 
 Holding all religion in contempt, he all at once 
 assumed the appearance of devotion, during 
 lent, living on roots and water, daily frequenting 
 confession and importuning the saints with his 
 prayers. He disclosed his irregularities to the 
 empress's confessor, whom he entreated to inform 
 her that his uneasy conscience would not allow 
 him to indulge any longer a commerce, which 
 marriage alone could render lawful. Coming 
 to an explanation with her paramour, Catherine 
 told him, that though she had a regard for him, 
 she was able to renounce it, and that were he 
 resolved not to fill the post of favourite any 
 longer, she could substitute another in his place. 
 Disappointed and confounded, Potemkin talked 
 of taking orders and becoming archbishop ; but 
 he soon returned to the pursuits and pleasures 
 of the court. 
 
CATHERINE II. 311 
 
 The empress distinguished this visit to Moscow 
 by bestowing- rewards on those who had con- 
 tributed to victories of the late war. Romanize f 
 Aiexey Orlof, general Panin, prince Dolgorucky, 
 count Soltikof and Chernichef, arid admiral 
 Greig, the principal officers, received different 
 orders of knighthood, with promotions or pe- 
 cuniary rewards. As an example of these re- 
 wards, and of Catherine's munificence, Roman t- 
 zof, received an estate with 5000 peasants, 
 100,000 rubles, a hat encircled with a laurel 
 branch of jewellery, a fine service of plate, with 
 the order of St. George, an epaulette of dia- 
 monds, a magnificent marshal's staff, and the 
 sirname of Zadunaisky *. 
 
 It was a great object with Catherine to pro- 
 mote commerce. As the trade of Siberia, 
 which the late rebellion had interrupted, was 
 checked through want of money, she esta- 
 blished a bank at Tobolsk, which remedied the 
 evil. Privileges were granted to those of her 
 subjects, who might engage in commerce. It 
 was attempted to form settlements on the fron- 
 tiers of China to facilitate the intercourse with 
 that nation. New manufactories were establish- 
 ed, and the commercial treaty with Great Bri- 
 tain was renewed. 
 
 Though the treaty, by which Russia, Austria, 
 
 * Life of Catherine, Vol. II. p. 311318, 230, 332> 335. 
 
HOlTSE OF ROM AN OF. 
 
 and Prussia seized the territories of Poland,, de* 
 scribed the frontiers of each of the powers, ike 
 two latter continually encroached upon the 
 republic. The empress, for a time, connived 
 at these fresh usurpations; but no sooner was 
 she freed from the Turkish war, and the rebel- 
 lion of Pugalchef, than she made such remon- 
 strances a induced them to keep within the 
 limits which the treaty prescribed. The part* 
 which fell to her share, was so much better 
 governedthan that of the other partitioning powers, 
 that numbers of the Jews fled to her provinces 
 from their oppression. She sent the king of 
 Poland 250,000 rubles as an indemnification for 
 that part of his domains that had fallen into her 
 hands. Her influence was employed to miti- 
 gate the violence of Austria and Prussia, to 
 repress the turbulent factions of the nobility, 
 and to procure for the dissidents the public 
 exercise of their religion, and a right of appeal, 
 in case of grievance, to a tribunal composed 
 partly of their own communion *. 
 
 Potemkin seemed to have so entirely gained 
 the heart of Catherine, that it was not easy to 
 suppose, he could be supplanted. But her desires 
 were as fickle as they were insatiable. While 
 loading Potemkin with dignities^ Zavadofsky, 
 
 * Coxe, Vol. I. p. 62, 68. 3 Jafe of Catherine, Vol. II. 
 p. 305, 331. 
 
CATHERINE If. 
 
 a young 1 Ukrainer, privately enjoyed her smiles, 
 and being 1 soon publickly acknowledged as 
 favourite, a curious scene ensued. Potemkin 
 being ordered to travel, pretended to obey; 
 but next day, to the astonishment of the cour- 
 tiers, he placed himself with great composure 
 before the empress, as she sat down to whist. 
 Far from exhibiting signs of displeasure, she 
 handed him a card, saying he always played 
 luckily. Potemkin allowed Zavadofsky to please 
 a woman approaching fifty, and satisfied himself 
 with retaining unimpaired his influence and 
 grandeur. When the news of Potemkin's dis- 
 grace reached prince Orlof, he hastened to Pe- 
 tersburgh in high expectation of recovering her 
 majesty's confidence j but seeing his rival at 
 her side, he kissed her hand, and full of disap- 
 pointment returned immediately to Moscow. 
 
 Meanwhile the party of Panin, who were 
 desirous of seeing Paul Petrovitch assert his 
 claim to the throne, filled the mind of the em- 
 press with uneasiness. Paul himself, indeed, 
 gave no encouragement to their designs ; but 
 the suspicions of the empress, induced her to 
 attempt he ruin of his confidant, count Ra- 
 zumofsky, a daring man. Observing signs of 
 intelligence between the count and the grand 
 dutchess, she carefully informed the grand duke, 
 who, though he did not credit the surmises of 
 his mother, resolved to keep an eye over Ra~ 
 
314 HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 zumofsky, and recommended circumspection to 
 his consort. Whether the grand dutchess had 
 an inclination to Razumofsky is uncertain ; but 
 she kept up a correspondence with him, and it 
 was said, entered into intrigues, dangerous to 
 her accuser, when she died in childbed. Ca- 
 therine, who was suspected of being accessory 
 to this event, expressed the greatest sorrow. 
 The papers of the grand dutchess tending to 
 criminate Razumofsky, he fell into disgrace ; 
 but the services, which his father had rendered 
 the empress, mitigated his punishment into 
 exile in the quality of minister first to Venice 
 and then to Naples. 
 
 The apprehensions, which Catherine enter- 
 tained from the partizans of the grand duke, 
 had not escaped the king of Prussia. When he 
 wished her to second his purposes he always 
 testified a great concern for her son ; and as the 
 empress knew well with what ease Frederic 
 could encourage her discontented subjects to 
 disturb her government, she neglected nothing 
 to secure his friendship. Prince Henry had 
 been sent by his brother, a few days before the 
 death of the grand dutchess, to settle some dif- 
 ferences that had arisen between Prussia and 
 Russia, respecting the demarcations in Poland, 
 and Catherine, as soon as the grand dutchess 
 was interred, seeming to consult him about a 
 second consort for her son, informed him that 
 
CATHERINE IT. 315 
 
 she bad cast her eyes upon his niece, the prin- 
 cess Sophia of Wirtemburgh Stutgard. The 
 proposal was communicated to his Prussian ma- 
 jesty ; and though the princess was betrothed to. 
 the hereditary prince of Hesse Darmstadt, 
 Frederic hesitated not a moment. The pros- 
 pect of so large a fortune dissolved the ties of 
 affection, and, as the union was likely to con- 
 firm the alliance between Frederic and the 
 empress, it was never considered whether it 
 would promote the happiness of the princess 
 Sophia. The matter being arranged, the grand 
 duke, attended with a splendid retinue, accom- 
 panied Prince Henry to Berlin, to see his in- 
 tended spouse, and the princess having previ- 
 ously embraced the Greek religion, and adopted 
 the name of Maria Feodorovna, the nuptials 
 were solemnized at Petersburgh, October 7th, 
 1776 *. 
 
 Zavadofsky had, for eighteen months^ satis- 
 fied himself with ministering in obscurity to 
 the gratification of the empress, when stimu- 
 lated by the example of Potemkin, he aspired 
 to the function of prime minister. The in- 
 trigues, into which he entered for that purpose, 
 tending in the first instance to ruin Potemkin, 
 he determined instantly to crush his feeble rival. 
 A young Servian, named Zoritch, tall and of 
 
 * Life of Catherine, Vol. II. p. 343358. 
 
316 HOUSE OF 
 
 an appearance adapted to attract a licentious 
 woman, coming to Petersburgh to seek promo- 
 tion, Poteinkin gave him a captain's commision, 
 and put him in the way of the empress. Next 
 day Zavadofsky was dismissed to make room 
 for the Servian, who employed his influence to 
 support the fortunes of the man to whom he 
 was so much indebted *. 
 
 While these intrigues occupied the court of 
 Catherine, her attention was turned to the 
 foreign relations of her empire. Though policy 
 should have induced Denmark to unite with 
 Sweden against the growing power of Russia, 
 the influence which Peter I. had established, 
 at the court of Copenhagen, was exercised with 
 little interruption by his successors, and Cathe- 
 rine had confirmed it by relinquishing all claims 
 upon Holstein for the counties of Oldenburgh 
 and Delmenhorst. If it gave the empress plea- 
 sure to rule in the councils of Denmark, the 
 revolution of Sweden in 1772, which destroyed 
 the Russian ascendency in the court of Stock- 
 holm, was a source of mortification. She 
 watched with extreme jealousy all the motions 
 of the Swedish monarch, and fitted out a fleet, 
 which excited such alarm among his adherents, 
 that he resolved to have an interview with her 
 in order to discover her real intentions. He 
 
 * Life of Catherine, Vol. II. 361 364. 
 
CATHERINE II. 317 
 
 arrived at Petersburgh, June 16th, 1777, and 
 after visiting count Panin went to Tzarsko-selo, 
 where the empress at that time resided. Confe- 
 rences passed with feigned cordiality ; and the 
 empress treated Gustavus with sumptuous en- 
 tertainments, in which she affected to display 
 her magnificence. She often discoursed with 
 him to discover his character, and perceiving 
 that he was deficient in prudence, she endea- 
 Youred to involve him in danger, by challeng- 
 ing him to make innovations in the dress of 
 the Swedes. Gustavus accepted the challenge, 
 and though the consequence which Catherine 
 expected ensued not, her malignity was not the 
 less in proposing the temptation. The Swedish, 
 monarch, laden with rich presents, took his 
 departure, confirmed in his apprehensions of 
 the empress's power, while she was more fully 
 disposed to humble a prince of so much enter-* 
 prize and turbulence. 
 
 It was, however, in her transactions with the 
 Turks, that Catherine discovered the iniquity 
 of her counsels, no less than the vigor of her 
 policy. The peace of Kainardgi had not long 
 been concluded, when her agents corrupting the 
 Crim Tartars, excited them to revolt from their 
 Khan Doulet Gueray, devoted to the Ottomans. 
 Her troops suddenly entered into the Crimea, 
 and compelling Doulet Gueray to flee, elected 
 Gueray in his stead. This Khan, igno- 
 
318 HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 rant of the nature of Russian protection, was 
 advised to send a deputation of nobles to im-^ 
 piore the support of the empress, which she 
 cheerfully granted. While a town and fortress 
 were constructed between Kerche and Jenickala 
 for the Christians of the Crimea, who fled to 
 the Russians, orders were given to Romantzof to 
 collect an army on the Dnieper. The Turks 
 being justly provoked, a rupture would have 
 followed, had not prince Repnin, appointed 
 ambassador extraordinary, succeeded in lulling 
 their suspicions. 
 
 The confusions of the Crimea, in the mean 
 time increased ; the Ottomans substituted a new 
 Khan, Selim, in the room of Doulet; and the 
 Russians furnished their Khan with a guard of 
 soldiers, whom the Tartars for the most part 
 slaughtered. The empress now sent fresh troops 
 into the Crimea, who defeated the adherents of 
 Selim and put him to flight , and by her mini- 
 ster solicited the Porte to acknowledge Sahim 
 Gueray. This not succeeding, marshal Romant- 
 zof declared to the divan that his mistress would, 
 rather than abandon Sahim, have recourse to 
 war, a declaration which was not calculated to 
 conciliate the Turks. But as they came not to 
 an immediate decision, while talking of the in- 
 dependence of the Crimea, Catherine reduced 
 it to subjection, and made preparations to extend 
 her authority over Valachia and Moldavia. 
 
CATHERINE II. 31 # 
 
 These implausible encroachments roused the 
 indignation of the Ottomans, and the whole 
 
 o 
 
 nation breathed hostilities. The French, who 
 had formerly incited the Porte against the Rus- 
 sians, being- on the eve of a war with Great 
 Britain, were desirous of weakening- the con- 
 nexion between this power and Russia, and in- 
 terposed, at this crisis their interested mediation. 
 Catherine wished to avoid a rupture, and the 
 disorders incident to the Turkish government 
 were aggravated by the plague which in a short 
 time carried off 160,000 persons. In this state 
 of the two powers, the French ambassador M. 
 de St. Priest, easily effected (March 21st, 1779) 
 an accommodation, very advantageous to the 
 empress. While she abandoned some of her 
 pretensions on Moldavia and Valachia, the 
 Porte surrendered some vessels which had been 
 detained in the Dardanelles, and acknowledged 
 Sahim Gueray as the sovereign of the Crimea. 
 This treaty afforded Catherine such satisfaction 
 that she bestowed magnificent presents on her 
 own minister at the Porte, as well as on M. de St. 
 Priest.* 
 
 Freed from apprehensions of a Turkish war, 
 the empress at the solicitation of his Prussian 
 majesty interposed her powerful mediation to 
 terminate the contest that had arisen between 
 
 * Life of Catherine, Vol, II. p. 338< 340, 399405. 
 
320 HOUSE OF ROMANO*?* 
 
 him and the house of Austria, respecting the 
 succession to Bavaria, and was a principal in- 
 strument in accomplishing the pacification of 
 Germany. 
 
 During these events, Catherine amused her 
 courtiers with banquets, masquerades, and en- 
 tertainments of splendor unexampled in other 
 courts of Europe. It was so common for her to 
 change her favourite, that the substitution of 
 another instead of Zoritch, might have been 
 passed over in silence, had it not been attended 
 with a curious incident. This young man, who 
 seemed daily more pleasing to the empress, 
 being suddenly ordered to leave court, imme- 
 diately complained to his benefactor Potemkin, 
 who hesitated npt to enquire why she had dis^- 
 carded him. <* I was fond of him yesterday," 
 replied Catherine, " and to day I am not. If 
 he were better informed, perhaps I might pre- 
 fer him still ; but his ignorance makes me blush. 
 He can only speak Russ ; let him travel into 
 France and England to learn foreign languages." 
 Potemkin acquiesced ; and after looking about 
 for a successor to Zoritch, he went to pass the 
 evening with the empress, when he learnt with 
 surprize, that his pains were superfluous. Rim-* 
 sky Korzakof, a Serjeant in the guards, was ap- 
 pointed aide-de-camp to the empress, and dis- 
 tinguished by the usual marks of her favourites. 
 A fact will serve to shew that his information 
 
CATHERINE IT. 321 
 
 did not constitute his merit. Thinking that a 
 man like him ought to possess a library, he sent 
 for the principal bookseller in Petersburgh, and 
 told him that he wanted books put up in a large 
 room of the house, which he had received from 
 the empress. The bookseller inquiring what 
 books he would please to have, Korzakof re- 
 plied ; (6 you know that better than I ; let large 
 books be at the bottom, and smaller and smaller 
 up to the top/'* 
 
 The service which the French had rendered 
 to the empress in procuring an accommodation 
 with Turkey, disposed her to favour that na- 
 tion, while the naval superiority of the English, 
 awakening her jealousy, detached her from 
 them. Their commerce, however, was too pro- 
 fitable to lose, and though she encouraged their 
 revolted colonies, she invited them to fetch from 
 her dominions the commodities which they 
 could no longer obtain from America. Po- 
 temkin indeed advised, that with a view to the 
 increase of trade, an object to which the em- 
 press devoted great attention, she should adhere 
 to her alliance with England. But the counsels 
 of Potemkin, and the efforts of the English mi- 
 nister, Sir James Harris, were defeated by the 
 partizans of France. Vergennes, the French 
 ambassador, conceived the plan of an armed 
 
 * Life of Catherine, Vol. IT. p,408, 42g. 
 T 
 
322 HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 neutrality, in order to counterbalance the mari- 
 time superiority of Great Britain, and by a very 
 singular stratagem, which deserves to be men- 
 tioned, as showing on what trivial circumstances 
 the most important events depend, succeeded 
 in rendering Catherine the principal instrument 
 of his designs. 
 
 The British minister aware of the attempts 
 which were made to induce the empress to pro- 
 pose the armed neutrality, drew up a memorial 
 to counteract their designs, which Potemkin 
 promised to recommend to her majesty. Inv 
 formed of this, the partisans of France gained 
 a mademoiselle Guibald, governess of the 
 prince's nieces, who stole the paper from his 
 pocket, and after it was enriched with notes re- 
 futing the objections of the English minister, 
 restored it to its former place. The empress, 
 supposing that the notes had been added by Po- 
 temkin, was fully confirmed in the resolution, 
 to which impatience of any superiority had in- 
 clined her, of uniting the northern powers 
 against England. The maritime nations were 
 disposed to concur in a scheme, which pro- 
 mised to reduce a greatness so long the object 
 of their dread and envy. Russia^ Sweden, and 
 Denmark formed a league, to which other neu- 
 tral nations acceded, for the purpose of sup- 
 porting new principles of maritime law ; that 
 free bottoms make free goods; and that neu- 
 
CATHERINE II. 323 
 
 tral states have a right to carry on trade with 
 the same facilities, with belligerent powers in 
 time of war as in time of peace. To maintain 
 these pretensions, the members of the confe- 
 deracy agreed to protect each other's vessels, 
 in case of aggression, in conformity with the 
 conditions of the league. As soon as the em- 
 press learnt the views of Denmark and Sweden, 
 she published a manifesto, stating the objects of 
 the alliance, and her determination to support 
 it with the greatest part of her naval force. 
 France and Spain, as it was calculated to pro- 
 mote their interests, were quite astonished at 
 the wisdom, justice, and liberality of this system; 
 while the British, whom it was designed to 
 humble, being in no circumstances to resent 
 the injury, were obliged to suppress their in- 
 dignation. 
 
 In order fo accomplish the objects of the ma- 
 ritime league, Catherine ordered eight ships of 
 the line to be built at Petersburgh, and twelve 
 at Cherson, on the completion of which the 
 Russian navy amounted to forty -two sail of the 
 line in the Baltic, and twelve in the Euxine, 
 exclusive of a great number of smaller vessels. 
 This force protected commerce, and gave the 
 empress great weight in the affairs of Europe. 
 She might now have directed her attention 
 solely to the welfare of her subjects, if the lust 
 Y 2 
 
HOUSE OF ROM AN OF. 
 
 0f conquest had not predominated ia her 
 mind. 
 
 Potemkin still enjoyed the highest favour 
 with Catherine, and while he manifested the 
 roost entire devotion to her service, actually go* 
 verned her according to his will. No less am- 
 bitious than herself, he aspired to the glory .of 
 crowning her at Constantinople; and, as the 
 concurrence of the emperor of Germany was 
 necessary t0 this scheme, it was proposed to 
 court his alliance. Accordingly the empress 
 desirous of an interview with Joseph, invited 
 him into Poland, and departing herself for 
 Mohilef, met that prince> May 30th, 1780. 
 It was concerted by these princes to attack the 
 Turks, share the spoil, and re-establish the 
 Greek republics. Catherine engaging to sup- 
 port the emperor in his designs upon Bavaria, 
 Joseph accepted an invitation to visit the em- 
 press's dominions ; and, after exploring whatever 
 was curious iu Moscow or Petersburgh, re- 
 turned, admiring the mixture of refinement 
 and barbarity exhibited in Russia, and the 
 singular spectacle of a woman, qualified to 
 govern the world, enslaved to two of her 
 courtiers. 
 
 The greatest harmony seemed to subsist be- 
 tween Russia and Turkey. Instead of inter- 
 posing in the contentions of the Tartars, the 
 
CATHERINE IT. 
 
 impress turned her cares to the improvement of 
 those advantages for lucrative commerce, which 
 the Euxine afforded. She farnrshed merchants 
 with the free use of s&ips, and promised to in- 
 demnify them for the losses which they might 
 at first incur. But unreasonable claims started 
 by Catherine respecting- the navigation of the 
 Euxine, the ascendancy which she had esta*- 
 Wished among the Little, Crim, and Budziac 
 Tartars, and demands, which she made, that the 
 governors of Moldavia and Valachia should not 
 
 o 
 
 be deposed or punished, were so alarming to the 
 Ottomans, that they began to prepare for war. 
 As however the empress deemed not a rupture 
 expedient at present, and as the French mi- 
 nister proffered his mediation, both powers 
 lowering their pretensions, matters were ami- 
 cably adjusted. 
 
 Although the affair seemed to be settled, the 
 causes of contention still existed, and a new 
 claim advanced by the empress of establishing 
 consuls in Moldavia, Valachia, and Bessarabia, so 
 provoked the sultan, that nothing but extreme 
 weakness prevented him from coming to hos- 
 tilities in the beginning of 1781. But the con- 
 cession of this point, together with the dis- 
 mission of a minister obnoxious to Catherine, 
 was far from satisfying the boundless cupidity 
 of this princess. The state of vassalage to 
 which, in violation of the late treaties, she had 
 
326 HOUSE OF ROM A NO r. 
 
 reduced the Khan Sahim Gueray, roused the 
 indignation of the high-spirited Tartars to such 
 a degree, that they chose a new Khan, and 
 attacking- Sahim, entirely defeated him. While 
 the civil war which now raged in the Crimea, 
 furnished her with a pretext for pouring in 
 troops into that devoted country, a terrible fire 
 broke out in Constantinople, which in a short 
 time consumed 40,000 houses, 300 corn-mills, 
 and 50 mosques. The distress, which this ca- 
 lamity, added to the plague, produced among 
 the Turks, presented an opportunity, which the 
 empress and her German ally seized to prose- 
 cute their designs. Accusing the Ottomans of 
 fomenting rebellion among the Tartars, she pre- 
 sented in concert with Joseph, a memorial to the 
 Porte, insisting that the Turkish government 
 should not interpose in the affairs of the Tartars, 
 infringe on the privileges of Moldavia and Va- 
 lachia, or obstruct the navigation of the Euxine 
 or Archipelago. As any evil seemed to the 
 Turks preferable to such abject submission, 
 this memorial had not immediately its intended 
 effect *. 
 
 Meanwhile the empress suffered a heavy dis- 
 appointment in her son Bobrinsky. This youth, 
 \vhom she loved with extreme tenderness, and 
 on whose education she had bestowed great care, 
 
 * Life of Catherine, Vol. II. p. 477467. 
 
CATHERINE IT. 327 
 
 being arrived at a fit age, she wished him to 
 make the tour of Europe. The villain, liihas, 
 Alexey Griefs agent in the seduction of the 
 princess Tarakanof, was recommended by one 
 of her courtiers, as a person qualified to take 
 the charge of the darling child. The empress 
 believed the deceitful courtier, and Bobrinsky, 
 who left Russia modest and docile, made such 
 progress under the tuition of Ribas, that on his 
 return his incorrigible perversity compelled his 
 fond mother to send him into a sort of exile 
 at Reval. 
 
 The diversity of objects which employed the 
 mind of Catherine is very remarkable. At the 
 time when she prepared to wrest fresh provinces 
 from the Turks, she completed the plan of di- 
 viding her empire into governments, and of 
 establishing in every part of it the regulations 
 which six years before (1776) she had intro- 
 duced into Twer and Smolensk ; she erected 
 in honour of Peter the Great an equestrian statue, 
 a work of uncommon magnitude and great sub- 
 limity; and she composed moral and historical 
 works for the instruction of her grand-children, 
 the princes Alexander and Constantine, as well 
 as endeavoured to instil just principles into 
 their minds, discoursing in their presence with 
 their tutor, and writing marginal remarks on 
 their lessons *. 
 
 * Life of Catherine, Vol. III. p. 2, 8, 11. 
 
328 Ji6tsE OF 
 
 When the Jesuits were driven from all th 
 other kingdoms of Europe, she gave them art 
 asylum. She had observed in her journey to 
 Mohilefj that the inhabitants of White Russia, 
 all Roman Catholics, were extremely attached 
 to the Jesuits, and she appointed a catholic 
 archbishop of Mohilef, with a Jesuit as an as- 
 sistant, allowed the Jesuits to establish them- 
 selves in that province, and sent an ambassador 
 with a letter, which, though written by herself, 
 she disavowed in the Petersburgh Gazette, t6 
 solicit his holiness the pope to sanct ; on the esta- 
 blishment* Whether Catherine expected by 
 this step to draw the riches of Paraguay into 
 her dominions, or designed merely to display 
 her superiority to the alarm that was spread 
 through other European courts> is uncertain 5 but 
 it was curious to observe the head of the Greek 
 church affording protection to the great defenders 
 of the Latin church, when catholic princes had 
 unanimously conspired their doWnfal. 
 
 The ambitious schemes of Catherine, in the 
 meantime, proceeded on the frontiers of Tur- 
 key. Cherson, on the shores of the Dnieper, 
 whose foundations had been recently laid, al- 
 ready contained 40,000 inhabitants, and from 
 its dock-yards sent out not only merchant ves- 
 sels, but ships of war fit to strike terror into the 
 Ottoman empire. Having corrupted the Khan y 
 and excited a revolt against him, Catherine 
 
CATHERINE II. 29 
 
 Unxler colour of protecting him, dispatched Po- 
 lemkin with an army into the Crimea. The 
 malcontents were easily subdued, and Sahim- 
 Gueray being; restored, was persuaded to de^ 
 mand the cession of Otchakof. This insolent 
 demand excited a faint resistance on the part 
 of the Turks, which affording" a pretence for 
 the active operation of the Russian armies col- 
 lected in the Ukraine, they quickly seized the 
 whole of the peninsula, while Potemkin and 
 Suwarrow reduced the Kuban, In justifica- 
 tion of these flagrant measures, Catherine had 
 the assurance to issue, April 8, 1783, a mani- 
 festo, accusing the Turks of having violated the 
 treaty of Kainardgi, and declaring the Crimea, 
 isle of Taman, and the Kuban, to be re-united 
 to the Russian empire, as a recompence for the 
 expence incurred in preserving the peace of 
 those countries. To complete the farce, Sahim 
 Gueray, whom she had made captain in a regi- 
 ment of her guards, abdicated the throne in 
 her favour. As it could not be expected that 
 the Turks would tamely submit to these usur- 
 pations, vast preparations were made in con- 
 cert with the German emperor to maintain 
 them, and even to extend the territories both of 
 Austria and Russia, 
 
 Though the dispositions of the Porte were pa* 
 cific, and the French ambassador again inter* 
 posed his mediation^ as the empress demanded 
 
&JO HOUSE OP ROMANOF. 
 
 the possession of the Crimea, the isle of Taman, 
 Ka.iban, and Budziac Tartary, and the emperor 
 the restoration of all that had been ceded by 
 the treaty of Belgrade, the wisest and the most 
 moderate of the Turks judged it would be better 
 to hazard the event of a war, than yield to re- 
 quisitions as dangerous as dishonourable. In 
 conformity with these sentiments large bodies 
 of troops were drawn to the frontiers of the 
 Danube, and foreign officers and engineers 
 were employed to discipline the armies, and 
 improve the artillery ; and fleets were pre- 
 pared in the Euxine and the Mediterranean. 
 An alliance was concluded with Spain, and as- 
 sistance was expected from France, Sweden, 
 and Prussia. And a manifesto, written with 
 great energy of language, and cogency of ar- 
 gument, was issued in reply to the shameless 
 pretensions of Catherine. But notwithstanding 
 these warlike measures, the Ottomans thought it 
 expedient to concede. The empress in a per- 
 sonal interview with the Swedish monarch at 
 Fredericksham, prevailed on him to remain 
 neutral; and such vast preparations were made 
 on the Dnieper, and in Hungary, as must ensure 
 an easy victory over the present weakness of 
 the Turkish empire. After long consultation, 
 the divan, therefore, resolved to concedej and 
 a treaty was signed, January 9, 1784, by which 
 Catherine retained the sovereignty of the 
 
CATHERINE II. 331 
 
 Crimea, the isle of Tarn an, and great part of 
 the Kuban ; thus, without going to war, acquir- 
 ing 1 a vast territory, containing 1,500,000 souls. 
 With so much sagacity and spirit did she con- 
 duct her affairs, She restored their ancient 
 names to the Crimea and the Kuban, the former 
 being called Taurida, and the latter Caucasus. 
 While this politic princess obtained such advan- 
 tages for herself, she satisfied her ally, the em- 
 peror, with prospects of acquisition, when cir- 
 cumstances should recommend renewal of hosti- 
 lities with the Turks; and promises of support 
 in his contest with the Dutch, respecting the 
 navigation of the Scheldt.* Catherine was as 
 capable of overreaching her allies, as of subdu- 
 ing her enemies. 
 
 Not contented with having procured for his 
 sovereign the possession of the Crimea, the do- 
 minion of the Euxine, and the free navigation 
 of the Dardanelles, Potemkin allured the famous 
 prince Heraclius to pay her homage. These 
 services were rewarded by the empress with 
 additional presents and honours. While accu- 
 mulating favours upon the man who enlarged 
 her territories, she was reminded of the series of 
 crimes that raised her to the throne, by the 
 death of two of the agents in that transaction, 
 
 * Life of Catherine, Vol. Ill, p. 1744 Mayo, Vol. II. 
 p,509. 
 
MOUSE OF ROMANOF* 
 
 count Pamn and prince Orlof. The former* 
 driven from the management of affairs by Po- 
 temkin, died of chagrin, and the latter, having 
 passed several years in travelling, sunk into me- 
 lancholy on the loss of his wife in 1782. He 
 appeared immediately in the court of Catherine, 
 a dismal spectacle, now giving himself up to 
 extravagant joy, and then bursting out into such 
 reproaches against the empress, as threw her 
 into the bitterness of grief, and all who heard 
 him into astonishment. Forced to Moscow, he 
 imagined that the shade of Peter III. armed 
 with an avenging dart, incessantly pursued him ; 
 and, tormented night and day by this spectre, 
 expired in agonies. It was, however, another 
 accident that afflicted Catherine. 
 
 Potemkin, having sacrificed Korzakof, by 
 encouraging an intrigue between him and the 
 countess Bruce', whom he wished to ruin, the 
 empress had fixed her eyes on Lanskoi, a Polish 
 youth, without education, but of a figure, as 
 fine as could be imagined, belonging to the che- 
 valier guards. So passionately fond was she of 
 this favourite, that she took upon herself the 
 care of instructing his mind, and giving polish 
 to his manners. But when, under her forming 
 hand, refinement and intelligence began to im- 
 part additional charms to the graces of his per- 
 son, Lanskoi was seized with a violent fever, 
 and expired in the flower of his age. The grief 
 
CATHERINE IT. 333 
 
 of Catherine was so extreme, that she ordered 
 herself to be put to bed, as if indifferent to life 
 or death, refused sustenance for several days, 
 and shutting- herself up in her palace of Tzarsko- 
 selo for three months, declined even the com- 
 pany of the grand duke and dutchess. She 
 afterwards raised a superb monument to this 
 youth, just visible from the windows of her pri- 
 vate apartment, and accidentally walking near 
 it, after an interval of two years, was observed 
 to shed many tears, Potemkin alone ventured 
 to penetrate the" solitude of the empress, and 
 dispel her sorrow. His attention was repaid by 
 new marks of esteem and confidence.* 
 
 It was now the object, which interested the 
 courtiers, to see the post, vacant by the death of 
 Lanskoi, filled by a person whose influence 
 might further their schemes. The princess 
 Dashkof exerted her intriguing spirit to procure 
 it for her son ; but Potemkin, who feigned to 
 favour the young man, exposed both him and 
 bis mother to ridicule in the presence of Ca^ 
 therine, and turned her attention to one of his 
 officers, named Yermolof. The triumph of 
 young Dashkof appeared at hand, and Potemkin 
 redoubled his attentions to the princess Dashkof, 
 who was so pleased, that she requested him to 
 admit one of her nephews into the number of his 
 
 * Life of Catherine, Vol. III. p. 50 92. 
 
334 HOUSE OF ROMANOF* 
 
 aides de camp. He replied maliciously, that the 
 last vacancy had been given to lieutenant Yer- 
 molof, a person whom she had the mortification 
 to see the same clay attending upon the em- 
 press.* 
 
 These intrigues, though they occupied the 
 court of Catherine, interrupted not her schemes 
 for the extension of her fame. She interfered 
 in all the important transactions of Europe. 
 The contests respecting the navigation of the 
 Scheldt, and the exchange of Bavaria for 
 the Austrian Netherlands, which engrossed 
 the public mind in 1784 and 1785, were excited 
 chiefly through her influence. She established 
 a trade in furs in Kamtshatka, and the adjacent 
 islands. She revived the commercial inter- 
 course with China, which the misconduct of the 
 Russians had interrupted, and formed treaties 
 of commerce both with France and Austria. 
 While she took these prudent measures to im- 
 prove the Russian commerce in so many quarters, 
 she gave a striking instance of narrow illiberal! ty 
 in her conduct toward England. The English 
 not only first opened a maritime intercourse with 
 Russia, but discovered that it was capable of 
 such intercourse, and carried on for ages a 
 trade of immense advantage to the Russians. 
 To the assistance which the British, contrary to 
 
 * Life of Catherine, Vol.111, p 95. 
 
CATHERINE II. 335 
 
 their true interests afforded her in the Turkish 
 war, Catherine was indebted for her naval vic- 
 tories. Yet she was the great agent in forming 
 the armed neutrality, so inimical to the welfare 
 of Britain; and now in 1785 consented to a 
 clause in the commercial arrangements with 
 France, detrimental to the interests of England, 
 while the ancient treaty with this power was 
 suffered to expire. Gratitude was not an ele- 
 ment in the character of Catherine ; but it was 
 remarkable, that when seeking commercial al- 
 liances of precarious advantage, from one ex- 
 tremity of the old continent to the other, she 
 should offend the nation who carried on the 
 most profitable half of the whole Russian 
 trade. 
 
 As connected with the subject of trade, may 
 be mentioned the Lombard bank, a singular 
 institution. To furnish those who were disposed 
 to improve their lands, the empress opened a 
 bank with a capital of 33,000,000 of rubles, 
 and power to issue bills to the amount of 
 100,000,000. Of the capital, 2^,000,000 were 
 to be lent to nobles, for the term of twenty years, 
 upon mortgages on their estates, at an interest 
 of five per cent, besides three per cent, to liqui- 
 date the debt. The remaining 11,000,000 were 
 to be lent to merchants and tradesmen for the 
 same period of years, with the same payment, 
 for the purpose of reimbursement, but at an in- 
 
HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 terest of four per cent. This bank was to serve 
 as an insurance office against fire, and a deposi- 
 tary for money. 
 
 As the means of instruction were very dispro- 
 portionate to the population of her empire, Ca- 
 therine resolved to increase them, and with this 
 view appointed a commission to superintend the 
 establishment of schools in various provinces. 
 To this commission, which she deemed of great 
 importance, she frequently sent notes communi- 
 cating hints for the improvement of the schools, 
 and even attended during lesson. One day, 
 while she was present, with several courtiers, a 
 learned German, who had accepted the profes- 
 sorship of geography and history in the Russian 
 tongue, instructed natives of Siberia. After 
 listening attentively, she commended his know- 
 ledge and assiduity, but objected to some of his 
 observations. The professor replying in the 
 most satisfactory manner, the president of the 
 commission, Zavadofsky, appeared enraged at 
 his insolence, while she gave the scholar thanks 
 for correcting her mistake ; and, as she per* 
 ceived Zavadofsky's displeasure, ordered him, 
 when he attended her to her carriage, to repeat 
 her thanks to the professor. But this prevented 
 not Zavadofsky from depriving the German of 
 his office and lodgings, an example of the 
 tyranny exercised by the favourites of .-Ca- 
 therine, 
 
CATHERINE II. 337 
 
 1 Though policy induced the empress to make 
 pretensions of reverence for the rites and ob- 
 servances of the Greek church, it is probable 
 that she had imbibed the sentiments of the 
 French philosophists respecting- religion, and 
 regarded all forms of worship with indifference, 
 if not contempt. She afforded all sects not only 
 protection, but liberty to aspire to any office or 
 dignity under her authority. Those who were 
 reputed heretics met with extreme forbearance 
 from her. " Poor wretches/' said she, " since 
 they are to suffer to such a degree in the future 
 world, it is but reasonable to make their condi- 
 tion here as comfortable as possible.'* In con- 
 formity with this sentiment, which no doubt 
 ought to be considered as a sarcasm, she not 
 only supported Isla'mism in the Crimea, the 
 catholic faith in Poland, and indulged Protes- 
 tants and Pagans with protection, but her con- 
 fessor, by her orders, invited ecclesiastics of all 
 communions, on the day of blessing the waters, 
 to a grand entertainment, which she called the 
 dinner of toleration. At the same table were 
 seated ministers of eight different forms of 
 Christianity. For several years the same eccle- 
 siastic annually invited on the 6th of January to 
 dine with him, the clergy of the several com- 
 munions in Petersbiirgh, who assembled in a 
 body of fifteen or sixteen different persuasions, in 
 the habits of their respective churches. At these 
 
HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 meetings, the archbishop of Novgorod and Pe- 
 ters burgh presided, who, on the close of the 
 repast, uttered aloud, " Glory to God in the 
 highest, on earth peace, and good will to men. 1 ' 
 The evening passed in agreeable discourse, 
 grave, or humorous, in the several tongues of 
 Europe. Catherine defrayed the whole of the 
 expense.* 
 
 Yermolof, soon forgetting his obligations to 
 Potemkin, endeavoured to injure him in the 
 opinion of the empress. In consequence of a 
 quarrel, Potemkin had disgraced an uncle of 
 Yermolof s, who complained to her majesty, and 
 Potemkin being reproved, " Madam," said he 
 enraged, " there is but one alternative, you 
 must either dismiss Yermolof or me ; while you 
 keep that white negro I will not set my foot within 
 the palace." Catherine obeyed ; and the same 
 day Yermolof resigned his post to Momonof. 
 
 The intention, which Catherine had announced 
 in the beginning of 1786, of making a magnifi- 
 cent progress into the southern provinces of her 
 empire, to receive the homage of her new sub- 
 jects, excited the fears of the Turks, and the 
 curiosity of all Europe. It was the great ob- 
 ject of Catherine's ambition to expel the Turks 
 from Europe, and found a new empire on the 
 ruins of the Ottoman greatness. With this 
 
 Life of Catherine, Vol. III. p. UO, 128, 131, 119 127. 
 
CATHERINE TT. 330 
 
 view, her second grandson had been baptized 
 by the name of Const antine, brought up by 
 nurses from Greece, and instructed in the Greek 
 tongue: she had seduced the emperor Joseph 
 from the line of sound policy by prospects of 
 sharing in the spoils of the Turkish empire: 
 and while she intrigued in Egypt and the 
 Archipelago, she had endeavoured to prevent 
 the interference of France, by forming a com- 
 mercial treaty very favourable to that power. 
 The designs of Catherine, however, were hardly 
 ripe for execution ; and that she resolved at this 
 period on the journey to the Crimea, must be 
 ascribed to Potemkin, who, apprehensive that 
 his enemies might employ the abuses of his ad- 
 ministration to undermine his power, hoped to 
 amuse the empress with fictitious appearances 
 of prosperity and submission. The original 
 conception of this progress was formed in a 
 most extraordinary style of magnificence and 
 grandeur; but while preparations were in for- 
 wardness, the young prince Constantine, who 
 was to be conducted to the gates of the eastern 
 empire, was seized with the measles, and it was 
 reported that skirmishes had taken place between 
 the Russians and the Grim Tartars. Though 
 these circumstances narrowed the original de- 
 sign, setting aside the coronation of Catherine 
 as queen of Taurida, and protectress of the 
 Tartars, the empress departed from Petersburg!! 
 z 2 
 
34O HOUSE OF KOMANOF. 
 
 January 18th, 1 787, accompanied by the principal 
 persons of her court, and the ministers of Austria, 
 France, and England. For the space of five 
 hundred leagues the road was illuminated with 
 large fires, at the distance of every thirty fa- 
 thoms; and merchants, summoned from all 
 quarters, with crowds drawn by curiosity, pre- 
 sented the appearance of a numerous and indus- 
 trious population. A great number of horses 
 having been previously prepared, the empress 
 travelled night and day ; and as she distributed 
 upwards of 100,000 rubles in every town on her 
 rout, and had in her carriage a large sack full of 
 gold pieces, which were scattered among the 
 peasants, it may be supposed that she was fol- 
 lowed with acclamations, and that in all the 
 towns balls and illuminations afforded a joyous 
 spectacle. This flattering scene, however, sud- 
 denly changed, as she entered the province of 
 marshal Romantzof. Potemkin, who envied the 
 glory of that veteran, had contrived to leave him 
 destitute of every thing necessary to receive his 
 sovereign with magnificence ; Kief presented a 
 heap of ruins ; the severity of the imposts ex- 
 cited murmurs ; and the troops of the marshal 
 appeared incomplete, and in old clothes. The 
 marshal concealed not his complaints, which 
 Catherine ascribed to jealousy. 
 
 After being delayed in this dismal country 
 three months by the ice, she embarked, with her 
 
CATHERINE II. 341 
 
 numerous retinue, in a fleet of fifty Dallies, an 
 descending the Dnieper, entered the government 
 of Potemkin. His arts, aided by the spring, dif- 
 fused a magic charm over the whole scene. At 
 Krementshuk, 12,000 men, in new uniforms, ma- 
 no3uvring with a body of Cossacks, exhibited a 
 sham fight before the empress. On this occa- 
 sion, when all persons pressed to solicit favours, 
 >he said to Suwarrow, a Do you want nothing-, 
 general." " Only that you would order my 
 lodgings to be paid, madam," returned Suwar- 
 row. The rent of his lodgings was two rubles 
 a month. The bounties of Catherine were cele- 
 brated with all the pomp of rhetoric ; but who 
 has recorded the services which she neglected 
 to reward? 
 
 The king of Poland came to pay respect to 
 the princess, who had raised him to a throne, for 
 the purpose of humbling him. She gave him a 
 cold welcome, and having received vague promises 
 of support, Stanislaus departed with apprehen- 
 sions of a second partition. 
 
 As the empress descended the Dnieper, she 
 ixmnd its banks covered with villages, which 
 had been constructed on purpose, and peasants 
 well dressed, tending numerous flocks, who had 
 been brought from different parts of the country. 
 While she was delighted with the beauties 
 which the artifice of her minister had for a mo- 
 ment imparted to a desart, she was met by the 
 
HOUSE OF BOM AN OF. 
 
 emperor Joseph, who accompanied her to 
 Cherson. This city was wealthy, its harbour 
 full of vessels, and its docks well supplied. A 
 ship of sixty-four, and another of fbrty guns, 
 were launched in Catherine's presence. As she 
 passed through the town, she saw on the eastern 
 gate an inscription to.this effect* " This is the 
 road to Byzantium." While she was here, four 
 Turkish ships of the line anchored in the roads, 
 which excited great indignation in her mind. 
 " See!" said she to her courtiers, " it might be 
 supposed the Turks had forgotten Tscheme!" 
 
 From Cherson, the empress proceeded into 
 the Crimea. Wherever she stopt a night, a 
 palace was prepared for her reception. The 
 evening which she spent at Baktschezerai, a 
 mountain was so illuminated, that it seemed en- 
 tirely on fire. She distributed considerable 
 presents among the Tartar nobles, who in return, 
 testified the most ardent devotion, and in six 
 weeks declared for the Turks. On her way 
 home, when she came to Pultava, Potemkin en- 
 tertained her with an exact representation of the^ 
 battle in which Charles XII. lost the glory of 
 a hundred victories. The emperor Joseph was 
 so captivated with the behaviour of Catherine, 
 that he expressed his inclination to assist her in 
 placing her grandson upon the throne of the 
 Cesars; and, though he was informed of a revolt 
 in the Netherlands, which required his presence, 
 
CATHERINE IT. 
 
 never left her till she reached Moscow.* The 
 progress of the empress to the Crimea, was 
 perhaps the most extraordinary journey ever 
 performed, considering the fascinating ease, 
 humour, and playfulness, with which she enter- 
 tained her companions; the pompous munificence 
 which she employed to astonish her subjects; 
 and the wonderful contrivances devised by 
 Potemkin to impose upon her judgment and 
 flatter her vanity. 
 
 * Life of Catherine, Vol. III. p. 1 511 70. Mayo, Vol. III. 
 p. 6770. 
 
 
 
 
 
344 HOUSE GJT ROMANOF. 
 
 CHAP. XII. 
 
 War 'with Turkey and Sweden "-Success of Catherine 
 Peace tvith Sweden Reduction of Ismail Disgrace of 
 Momonof Disasters of the Turks Peace Death and 
 Character of Potemkin Dismemberment of Poland Ca- 
 therine's opposition to the French Revolution Usurpation 
 of Courland Singular disappointment Projects on the 
 Caspian Sea Death and Character Paul. ; -/.-j.(K|j 
 
 THE splendid journey of Catherine, which 
 originated in ostentation, and produced no ad- 
 vantage to herself, excited serious apprehensions 
 in neighbouring states. The Turks, who were 
 persuaded that Catherine aimed at their ruin, 
 made preparations for defence ; and as it was 
 supposed, that in the interviews between their 
 imperial majesties, measures were .concerted for 
 a joint attack upon Turkey; England and Prus- 
 sia were resolved to maintain the independance 
 of Europe. Tney stimulated the Turks to hos- 
 tilities ; while France, whose interest lay in pre- 
 serving peace, endeavoured to prevent a rupture. 
 When it appeared that the divan considered war 
 as the safest policy, Catherine, whose profusion 
 and costly establishments had deranged her 
 
CATHERINE IT. 345 
 
 finances, was disposed to lower her pretensions 
 but the sultan, provoked by repeated injuries, 
 and in expectation of assistance from other 
 powers, sent her ambassador to the seven towers, 
 and published a declaration of war. In con- 
 formity with this spirit, the Turkish emperor 
 neglected no expedient to inflame the animosity 
 of his subjects against the Russians, or frustrate 
 the designs of his insatiable enemies. England 
 and Prussia, while they encouraged the Turks 
 to warlike measures, instigated the northern 
 powers to seize so favourable an opportunity for 
 curbing the ambition of Catherine ; a design to 
 which the French also contributed; for, though 
 they professed neutrality, they incited the 
 the Swedish monarch to make a diversion in 
 favour of the Ottomans. 
 
 Meanwhile Catherine, who had foreseen a 
 rupture, prepared to execute her designs. She 
 issued a manifesto, in which, accusing the Turks 
 of perfidy, treachery, and contempt of the most 
 solemn engagements, she impudently pretended 
 that she was obliged to recur to arms, as the 
 only means of asserting her rights; and that, 
 perfectly innocent of the calamities which the 
 war might create, she was authorised to rely 
 not only on the providence of God, and the aid 
 of her allies, but on the prayers of Christendom 
 for the success of so just a cause. For the pur- 
 pose of enlisting superstition in the service of 
 
340 HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 her destructive ambition, she circulated among 
 heir subjects the prophesies of the patriarchs, 
 Jeremiah and Nicon, predicting the downfal of 
 Constantinople. These, however, were not the 
 weapons on which Catherine depended for vic- 
 tory. A fleet of eight sail of the line, and 
 twelve frigates, with about two hundred smaller 
 vessels, was equipped in the Euxine, and two 
 strong squadrons were ready at Cronstadt to 
 sail for the Mediterranean. Her armies, to the 
 amount of 1 50,000 men, assembled on the shores 
 of the Bog ; while her ally, the emperor, who was 
 no less desirous of the fall of the Turks than 
 herself, promised to send 80,000 men into 
 Moldavia. 
 
 The hope of triumphs, which these armaments 
 seemed to ensure, was encouraged by the first 
 events of the war. It was the desire of the 
 empress to subject to her authority the Tartars 
 on the Euxine, and other tribes inhabiting the 
 regions of Caucasus. But, animated by the 
 love of independance, and the exhortations of a 
 new prophet, the sheik Man sour, who appeared 
 among them, these hordes took arms in defence 
 of th^ir liberty and religion. An obscure, but 
 destructive warfare, commenced in 1784> had 
 been carried on since that period; and the 
 Russians, though they gained victories, suffered 
 great loss, sometimes a defeat, and made little 
 progress in subduing the enthusiasm of these hide- 
 
CATHERINE II. 347 
 
 pendant tribes. Assisted by the Turks, who 
 considered them as useful allies, they entered the 
 Russian frontiers, under the command of their 
 prophet ; but their irregular courage was over- 
 borne by the numbers, arms, and discipline of 
 their enemies. The Russians defeated Man- 
 sour, and ravaged the country of the Tartars, 
 and foiled the attempts of the Turks on Kin- 
 burne, events which excited uncommon joy in 
 the court of Petersburgh, as ominous perhaps of 
 the result of the contest.* 
 
 While Catherine, in concert with the German 
 emperor, prepared to overwhelm the Ottoman 
 power, she endeavoured to form an alliance with 
 Austria, France, and Spain, to counteract the 
 designs of England and Prussia. But these 
 powers not only frustrated this attempt, by in- 
 timidating Louis XVI., but engaged the Swedish 
 monarch to declare war against Russia, arid in- 
 cited the Poles to embrace the present opportu- 
 nity of throwing off the Russian yoke. 
 
 Though the empress was disappointed in her 
 negotiations, and involved in war, on which she 
 had not calculated, and which spread terror 
 through Petersburgh, she discovered the utmost 
 composure; and while she took measures to 
 repel the immediate danger, relaxed not her 
 
 * Life of Catherine, Vol. Ill, p. 176195. Mayo, Vol. III. 
 p. 7173. 
 
HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 efforts against the Turks. Accident, no less than 
 prudence and firmness enabled her to defeat the 
 designs of the Swedish monarch. Desirous of 
 emulating the fame of Gustavus Adolphus, and 
 Charles XII. this prince joined his troops in 
 Finland, and prepared to lay siege to Frederick- 
 sham with great hopes, as the Russian soldiers 
 had been marched to the Turkish frontier. But 
 his men became mutinous, and would not fight; 
 and at the same time the Danes made an irrup- 
 tion into Sweden. The intrigues of Catherine, 
 which fomented the discontents among the 
 Swedes, and induced the Danes to take the 
 field, would have proved fatal to Gustavus at 
 the moment when he dreamt of victory, if the 
 spirited interference of the English minister, 
 Sir Hugh Elliot, had not led the Danish general 
 to withdraw his army, and agree to an armis- 
 tice. If unforeseen events thus enabled the 
 empress to defeat the military preparations of 
 her new enemy, she was still more remarkably 
 indebted to happy occurrences for preservation 
 from his naval force. The Russian fleet* of 
 eighteen sail of the line, was prepared to sail 
 for the Mediterranean, and pilot boats and ten-, 
 ders were engaged in England. When every 
 thing seemed to favour the expedition, a pro- 
 clamation appeared in the London Gazette, pro- 
 hibiting British seamen from entering into foreign 
 service, and the merchants were ordered not to ; 
 
CATHERINE IT. 310 
 
 furnish tenders, the government being deter- 
 mined to maintain a strict neutrality. To ,re- 
 inedy this disappointment, the empress applied 
 to the Dutch; but influenced by the British, 
 they expressed a like determination. Though 
 nothing could be more vexatious to Catherine 
 than these disappointments, nothing could be 
 more advantageous ; since, if her fleet had sailed 
 early in the season, her capital, her arsenals, and 
 the province of Livonia, had been exposed to im- 
 minent peril. The Swedish fleet of fifteen sail of 
 the line, and five large frigates, appearing in the 
 gulph of Finland, admiral Greig put to sea with 
 seventeen sail of the line. A battle ensued, June 
 30th, 1788, after two hours fighting the fleets 
 parted to refit, and then renewed the contest 
 with redoubled fury. When night came on, 
 the advantage, if any, was on the side of the 
 Swedes ; but Greig, after retiring to Cronstadt 
 for a few weeks, again put to sea with additional 
 force, attacked his enemies by surprize, and, 
 capturing one vessel, obliged the rest to take 
 shelter in the harbour of Sweabourg, where they 
 were blocked up the remainder of the season. 
 Catherine testified the high sense she enter- 
 tained of this service, by writing a letter of 
 thanks to the admiral, and bestowing upon him 
 more substantial rewards.* 
 
 * life of Catherine, Vol III, p, 201251. 
 VoJ.IILp.lI5. 
 
350 HOUSE OF ROMANOV. 
 
 Meanwhile the forces 01 the empress acting 1 
 agaiostthe Turks and Tartars, signalized them* 
 selves by more dangerous exploits. While 
 the Tartars of the Kuban were defeated, and 
 the Turkish fleet repelled, Potemkin advanced 
 through regions, which war and pestilence had 
 desolated, to the siege of Otchakof, which lie 
 began August 29. The place was taken by 
 assault, after a vigorous defence of three months 
 and twenty days, in which the assailants lost 
 12,000, and the besieged 25,000 men. A scene, 
 which lasted three days, ensued, of rapine, de- 
 bauchery, and slaughter. 
 
 Though the arm& of Catherine were so suc- 
 cessful in every quarter, the posture of her 
 affairs seemed only to demand fresh exertions* 
 She ordered new levies to recruit her armies 
 extending from the Caspian sea to the Baltic ; 
 and as the population of Russia was greatly 
 diminished, the exiles were drawn from Siberia 
 to supply the deficiency. Tyranny relaxed at 
 the call of ambition. 
 
 The Swedish monarch, who appeared on the 
 verge of ruin last year, having-, during the 
 winter, made peace with Denmark, and esta- 
 blished absolute authority in his states, again 
 endeavoured to annoy the empress. But, though 
 after gaining two victories, he penetrated into 
 Russian Finland, he was compelled to retire 
 with loss ; while his fleet of gallies of forty sail 
 
CATHERINE If. 3ot 
 
 was defeated by the Russian fleet of seventy sail, 
 under the prince of Nassau. 
 
 Not disheartened by this series of disaster, 
 Gustavus determined to prosecute the war with 
 still greater vigour. In April of 1790, 
 he made himself master of three strong posts 
 within twelve leagues of Petersburg!!, 3000 
 Swedes obliged 10,000 Russians, who were sent 
 to recover the most important of them, to retire 
 with the loss of 2,000 men. The duke of 
 Sudermania attacked the Russian fleet in the 
 harbour of Reval ; but the wind shifting, he 
 narrowly escaped with the loss of a sixty gun 
 ship. To counterbalance this failure, Gustavus, 
 falling upon a division of the Russian fleet, at 
 Fredericksham, took thirty -eight gallies, and 
 destroyed a number of gun-boats. As if it had 
 been determined that defeat should be alternate, 
 the Russians having blocked up the Swedes in 
 the harbour of Viborg, seven or eight of the 
 ships of the line were destroyed ; while the 
 king of Sweden, to revenge the logs, gave battle 
 to the prince of Nassau, and, after a furious 
 combat of two days, captured forty -five of the 
 Russian gallies with 4000 mea. 
 
 Gustavus now perceived that little success 
 could be expected in a war against Russia ; and 
 Catherine, willing to free herself from an adver- 
 sary, who, if not formidable, at kast occasioned 
 a considerable diversion of her forces, con- 
 
352 HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 eluded a treaty, August 14th, 1790, under the 
 mediation of Spain, thing's reverting- to their 
 former condition. The rejoicings on this occa- 
 sion, in the court of Catherine, were extreme, 
 which showed how much she was interested in 
 the event.* But it is time to return to the 
 Turkish war. 
 
 The success of the emperor Joseph, who, in 
 some measure, retrieved the disasters of his first 
 campaign, and the fluctuation which the death 
 of the excellent prince Achmet IV., introduced 
 into the Turkish councils, were favourable to 
 the progress of Catherine's arms. The empress 
 exceeding her usual munificence in rewarding 
 the officers and men engaged in the capture of 
 Otchakof, it excited a spirit of emulation in the 
 Russian armies, which nothing could resist. 
 While Suwarrow, in conjunction with the prince 
 of Saxe Coburg, with 30,000 men, entirely 
 defeated the army of the vizier, amounting to 
 90,000 men in Valachia, Potemkin, with the 
 grand army in Bessarabia, frustrated the at- 
 tempts of the Turks for the recovery of Otcha- 
 kof, and prince Repnin and general Kamenskoi 
 repulsed them in Moldavia. The Russians 
 aimed at the reduction of Bender, and 8000 
 cavalry, who advanced to relieve the fortress, 
 
 * Life of Catherine, Vol. III. p. 262 275. Mayo, Vol 
 III. p. 114, 162, 198. 
 
CATHERINE IT. ' 853 
 
 Were totally routed. Repnin, encountering the 
 Turkish army, under the famous Hassan Bey> 
 who had been sent to retrieve the honour of the 
 Ottoman arms, gained a complete victory, tak- 
 ing all his artillery. The reduction of Bender, 
 of Bialogrod, and Kylia Nova, were the fruits 
 of this exploit. 
 
 In the midst of this career of victory the 
 empress lost her ally, Joseph II., who, dying in 
 February, 1790, left his hereditary dominions 
 to his brother Leopold. This prince* embar- 
 rassed by the revolt of his subjects in the Nether* 
 lands, and apprehensive of an attack from the 
 Prussians, concluded a peace with the Porte, 
 restoring all his conquests beyond Choczym. 
 This treaty somewhat damped the flame of war, 
 and several months elapsed without any memora- 
 ble occurrence. But in the autumn of 1790, 
 preparations were made to reduce Ismail, the 
 only fortress, which remained to the Turks on 
 the lower Danube, and which opened a passage 
 to the countries between the Danube and the 
 Ottoman capital. This place well fortified, witfi 
 a strong- garrison, and 232 pieces of artillery, 
 Suwarrow received orders to take, and accord- 
 ingly with 23,000 men, aided by a fleet cf 
 gallies, he obeyed. Under cover of a tremerd- 
 ous fire, from 567 pieces of cannon on board the 
 gallies* and surrounding batteries, he nvde a 
 furious assault, which the Turks receive* with 
 2 A 
 
854 HOUSE OF ROMANOF, 
 
 unshaken firmness, the citizens, men and women 
 supporting" the troops. Suwarrow, though re- 
 pulsed, was not dismayed; he came again to 
 the attack, and forced his way into the fortress, 
 where the desperate courage of the Ottomans 
 prolonged the contest for some time. The 
 commander, who deemed further resistance vain, 
 had consented to capitulate, when, an affray 
 taking place, he and the prisoners fell a prey 
 to the ferocity of the victors, who, continuing 
 the carnage, through the night, filled streets, 
 squares*, mosques, and houses, with heaps of 
 slain, to the number of 15.000. Great booty 
 fell into the hands of the Russians, who lost 
 13,000 of their best soldiers. This is an ex- 
 ample of the effects of Catherine's ambition ; 
 28,000 souls sacrificed in ten hours. The gene- 
 ral, who was incapable of respecting merit in 
 an enemy, gave the following account of his 
 success to the empress : <c The haughty Ismail 
 is at your feet." 
 
 Catherine, elated with these victories, when 
 the British ambassador appeared next at court, 
 said to him: " Sir, since the king, your master, 
 is resolved to drive me from Petersburgh, I hope, 
 will allow me to retire to Constantinople." 
 soon as circumstances would permit, prince, 
 returned to Petersburgh, to enjoy 
 his trWiphs in the approbation of his sovereign, 
 who eWessed her joy in alternate festivities 
 
CATHERINE II. 355 
 
 and presents. Among other thing's, she gave 
 him a coat laced with diamonds, which cost 
 200,000 rubles. The prodigality of the prince 
 seemed to exceed even the munificence of his 
 sovereign. During a few months stay at Peters- 
 burgh he expended upwards of 1,200,000 
 rubles, and the entertainment which he gave 
 to the empress, and all her court, in his palace 
 of Taurida, had no example except in the 
 fables that amuse young minds.* 
 
 Amidst all his grandeur, triumphs, and plea- 
 sures, uneasiness preyed on the spirits of Potem- 
 kin, which the presence of a new favourite 
 increased. Momonof was agreeable enough to 
 the empress; but, not finding any pleasure in 
 pleasing a woman of sixty, he had formed an 
 intimacy with one of her maids of honour, the 
 princess Scherbatof, young, handsome, and 
 sprightly. This connexion, having subsisted 
 some time unknown to Catherine, the jealousy 
 of the courtiers at length opened her eyes ; but 
 she thought fit to connive at the discovery for 
 the present. When, however, the young countess 
 Bruce, one of the richest heiresses of the em- 
 pire, was presented at court, she told Momonof 
 that it was her intention he should marry her. 
 Momonof implored her not to press it, and she 
 
 * Life of Catherine, Vol III. p. 279301, Mayo, VoL 
 III. p. 191, 201. 
 
 2 A 2 
 
HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 insisting 1 upon the reason of his reluctance, he 
 fell at her feet, and confessed that he had 
 pledged himself to the princess Scherbatof. 
 Next day the lovers were married, and sent to 
 Moscow. But Momonof having" disclosed to 
 his wife the secrets of his intercourse with the 
 empress, she divulged them with indiscreet 
 levity. When the couple had retired to rest, the 
 master of the police at Moscow, entering 1 their 
 apartment, delivered them to six men disguised 
 as women. Seizing the talking lady, they stript 
 her of her night clothes, and scourged her with 
 rods, her husband being compelled to kneel 
 during the chastisement. The master of the 
 police, who had meanwhile retired, re-entered 
 the room ; " Thus," said he, " the empress- 
 punishes the first indiscretion ; for the second 
 she sends persons to Siberia."* 
 
 On the day of his marriage, Momonof was 
 succeeded in his post of favourite by Plato 
 Zubof. This person, being very obnoxious to 
 Potemkin, he importuned the empress to dismiss 
 laim ; but the new paramour was too agreeable 
 to Catherine to have any thing to fear, even 
 from the artifices or authority of Potemkin. 
 
 At the close of the late campaign, negotia- 
 tions ha<l been opened at Sistovia, under the 
 mediation of the courts of London, Berlin, and 
 
 * Life of Catherine, Vol. III. p. 294 313. 
 
 
CATHERINE II. 357 
 
 the Hague, to reconcile the contending 1 powers. 
 But as the successive victories of the empress 
 led her to insist on retaining a great part of her 
 conquests, England and Prussia, who had at 
 first persuaded the Porte to engage in the war, 
 now from the same motives of policy dissuaded 
 the sultan from acceding to her terms, and took 
 measures to support him. Selim, animated 
 by their declarations, prepared for a vigorous 
 defence of his dominions; and Catherine to 
 maintain the glory of her arms. Potemkin, 
 taking farewell of his benefactress, repaired to 
 the scene of conflict. Equal success awaited 
 the discipline, and tactics of the Russian armies. 
 Prince Galitzin, April 4th, reduced Maczin, a 
 fortress south of the Danube, and eight days 
 after, defeated a division of the Turkish army 
 near Brailow. Kutuzof routed the Turks and 
 Tartars at Babada; Gudovitch made himself 
 master of Anepe, on the frontiers of the Crimea, 
 taking the garrison consisting of 6000 men ; 
 while prince Repnin, at the head of 25,000 
 Russians, gained an entire victory over 70,000 
 Ottomans, the flower of their armies, near 
 Maczin. 
 
 The negotiations, in the mean time, still 
 proceeded. Though the arms of Catherine had 
 been crowned with such numerous and brilliant 
 victories, as her resources of men and treasure 
 were drained, the king of Prussia undermined 
 
358 HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 her authority in Poland, and the mediating 
 powers enforced their interposition with formid- 
 able armaments, she perceived the necessity of 
 making peace. A treaty was concluded, August 
 4th, 1791, by which she renounced all her con- 
 quests, except Otchakof, and the region between 
 the Bog, the Euxine, and the Dniester. This 
 war, which originated solely in the ambition of 
 Catherine, consumed, it is said, 130,000 Aus- 
 trians, 200,000 Russians, and 330,000 Turks, in 
 all 660,000 men.* 
 
 While the British prepared an armament to 
 compel the empress to terminate hostilities, a 
 plan, for marching an army into Bengal, and 
 driving them from their oriental possessions, 
 suggested by a Frenchman, named de St. Genie, 
 was presented to her, of which she testified her 
 approbation, and which, if matters had come to 
 extremities, she would probably have attempted 
 to execute. 
 
 Soon after the preliminaries of peace were 
 signed, Potemkin finished his course, in a 
 manner forming an edifying contrast to the 
 splendour of his life. Seized with an epidemic 
 fever, which raged at Jassy, he contemned all 
 advice and regimen, indulging in gluttony and 
 intemperance. An expectation of recovering, 
 
 * Life of Catherine, Vol. III. p. 317321. Mayo, 
 Vol. III. p, 24-1. 
 
 
CATHERINE It. 359 
 
 by removal, induced him to set out for Nicho- 
 laef ; but he had proceeded only a little way, 
 when, being much worse, he was taken from 
 his carriage, and, placed on the sloping side of 
 the road, expired in a ditch, October 15th, 
 1791, in the fifty-second year of his age. Prince 
 Gregory Alexandrovitch Potemkin, is the most 
 remarkable example, recorded in authentic his- 
 tory, of the effects of continued indulgence 
 upon the mind of man. He united in himself 
 all the vices, that debase or torment human 
 nature, with many of those qualities, which, 
 when directed by a sound judgment, constitute 
 greatness, activity, courage, resolution, magni- 
 ficence in his projects, unsparing profusion in 
 his expedients, and a power of drawing from 
 others, stores of knowledge, and conversing 
 with propriety on all subjects The ascen- 
 dancy, which he acquired over the mind of 
 Catherine, first by his ardent passion and manly 
 beauty, and maintained, for nearly twenty years, 
 by soothing her apprehensions, and flattering 
 her ambition with prospects of oriental empire, 
 served to display all the properties of his nature. 
 As every thing was in his power, oddity, capri- 
 ciousness, and extravagance, singularly charac- 
 terised his desires, schemes, and mode of life. 
 With one hand he made motions to the women, 
 who pleased him, and with the other the sign of 
 he cross. To be a monk, a bishop, duke of 
 
360 #OXJSE OF ROMANOF, 
 
 Courland, king of Poland, sovereign of Mol- 
 davia, Valachia, and Bessarabia, were objects 
 which alternately occupied his thoughts. Wish- 
 ing to have Plutarch read to him, when the 
 reader came to the life of Agesilaus, he inter- 
 rupted him, saying, " Think you that at a 
 future period, I could go to Constantinople?" 
 <c If her majesty please, it is not impossible," 
 replied the reader 5 " That is enough," returned 
 Potemkin, " if any person should tell me to day 
 that I could not go, I w.ould blow out my brains." 
 It was his opinion, that vyith 10,000 Russians, 
 he could majch through China, and nothing 
 but death prevented an attack, which he medi- 
 tated on that empire. During the siege of 
 Otchakof, he coolly walked backward and for- 
 ward under the guns of the ramparts ; because 
 some persons uttered suspicions of his courage. 
 He often had sterlet soup, when the fish was so 
 dear, that a dish, which was the prelude to his 
 dinner, cost him 300 rubles; and dispatched 
 his officers from the Crimea to Petersburg!!, 
 for oysters or China oranges. Sometimes he 
 passed weeks with his inmates, playing at cards 
 or chess, lounging on a sofa without speaking, 
 jn a morning gown, with bare legs and shirt 
 collar unbuttoned ; at others, he would appear 
 in a magnificent suit, covered with ribbons and 
 shining in diamonds. As he wished to have the 
 
CATHERINE II. 361 
 
 most costly things, he bought ten or a dozen 
 violins, one worth 6000 rubles, and they were 
 all destroyed by dust or rats. Having exhausted 
 all the sources of sensual pleasure, and attained 
 all the power and glory which the sovereign 
 of Russia could bestow, his existence became 
 *;o oppressive to him, that, when he was last at 
 Petersburg!], he sometimes amused himself 
 with pouring his diamonds out of one hand into 
 the other In the presence of a score of per.- 
 sons, he walked for hours up and down his 
 apartment, biting his nails. In the long winter 
 evenings he sat alone with a table before him, 
 spread with black velvet, covered with his dia- 
 monds, which he employed himself in placing 
 in the shape of crosses, circles, and other fanci- 
 ful figures. It occurred one evening' to weigh 
 them, when he found that they amounted to 
 several pounds. 
 
 From the place of his death, the remains of 
 Potemkin were conveyed to Cherson, and depo- 
 sited beneath the dome of a small church be- 
 longing to the fortress. Catherine expressed an 
 intention of erecting a, superb monument to his 
 memory \ but never executed this design. When 
 Paul ascended the throne, he ordered the body 
 of the prince to be removed, and thrown into 
 the ditch of the fortress. A hole was dug in 
 the fosse, into which was thrown, like a dead 
 
362 HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 dog,* the remains of the man, who domineered 
 over the lofty Catherine, with all her subjects, 
 and meditated the conquest of China, and the 
 subversion of the Ottoman empire. 
 
 When the empress was informed of the death 
 of Potemkin, she shut herself up for fifteen 
 hours, not to lament the loss ; but to distribute 
 the employments which he had ingrossed. 
 
 When the empress was engaged in the 
 Turkish war, the Poles had embraced the oppor- 
 tunity to attempt to break the fetters which she 
 had imposed upon them. She now determined 
 to take vengeance, by expunging Poland from 
 the list of nations, a scheme suggested to her 
 some years before, by prince Henry of Prussia. 
 As a new constitution had been formed, which 
 promised to correct the disorders of that wretch- 
 ed country, Catherine declared to the diet, 
 that she was determined to support the old con- 
 stitution, and an army of 120,000 men, poured 
 in from different quarters to crush the rising 
 spirit which the Poles discovered to defend them- 
 selves. She found no difficulty in persuading 
 Frederic William, who supported the Poles in 
 expectation of gaining Thorn and Dantzic, to 
 agree to a final partition of Poland. Overawed 
 by the power and threats of the empress, and 
 
 * Life of Catherine, Vol. III. p, 260, 305, 308, 324-, 327. 
 Clarke's Travels, Vol. I. p. 602. 
 
CATHERINE II. 363 
 
 without hopes from those who had taken arms, 
 Stanislaus assembled deputies from different 
 provinces, and it was resolved, that they should 
 yield to the superiority of the Russians. The 
 king" of Prussia, in concert with Catherine, 
 inarched an army into Poland ; while she de- 
 clared that she would incorporate, with her do- 
 mains, all the territory which her arms had 
 acquired. Though the diet was forced to desist 
 from opposition to the usurpations of the por- 
 tioners, the barbarity and oppressions exercised 
 by the Russians, induced the patriots once more 
 to take arms. They assembled under the standard 
 of the celebrated Kosciusko. Sanguinary con- 
 tests ensued, in which, though they discovered 
 valour and patriotism of the highest order, they 
 were unable to prevent the total overthrow of 
 the republic.* 
 
 While Catherine consummated the subversion 
 of Poland, she endeavoured to restore the Rus- 
 sian ascendancy at the court of Stockholm, and 
 to acquire the merit of supporting the cause of 
 monarchy in the world. For this purpose she 
 encouraged her rival, Gustavus of Sweden, in 
 his enterprise for the restoration of Louis XVI., 
 by the promise of 12,000 men, and an annual 
 subsidy of 300,000 rubles, expecting that this 
 chivalrous adventure would bring him into dis- 
 
 * Mayo, Vol. III. p. 243, 316. 
 
304 HOUSE OP ROM AN OF. 
 
 credit with his subjects. This expedition being- 
 prevented by the assassination of Gustavus, she 
 still promoted the league, for the restoration of 
 the Bourbons, by every expedient, except ac- 
 tually engaging in the contest, in hopes that as 
 the belligerents exhausted their resources, her 
 power would increase. To express her abhor- 
 rence of the French revolution, she renewed 
 the treaty of commerce with Great Britain, 
 which had been interrupted to pay court to 
 France; she promised to send a squadron to 
 join the English fleet, and in 1795 formed a 
 defensive alliance with that power. She pro- 
 hibited the importation of French merchandize 
 into her dominions, welcomed the emigrants, 
 banished all who favoured revolutionary prin- 
 ciples, recalled her ambassador from Paris, re- 
 fused to admit the charge d'affaires of the repub- 
 lican government, and even dismissed colonel 
 THarpe a Swiss, tutor to the princes Alex- 
 ander and Constantine, because he was a friend 
 of liberty.* 
 
 Plato Zubof, who had hitherto been a total 
 stranger to business, employed the post of favourite 
 to make himself minister. He acted in both 
 capacities, what neither Orlof nor Potemkiti 
 could do ; while he succeeded to the authority 
 of these potent personages. To court him was 
 
 * Life of Catherine, Vol. III. 347349. 
 
CATHERINE IT. 365 
 
 the sure way of obtaining the approbation of 
 Catherine. His father, brothers, and sister, were 
 distinguished by honours and presents. 
 
 The empress still prosecuted her schemes of 
 aggrandizement. She had long fixed her de- 
 sire upon Courland; and had not neglected 
 measures to gratify her rapacity. In 1786, on 
 hearing that the duke, son of the famous Biren, 
 was in an ill state of health, she sent a body of 
 troops, into the dutchy, to support the freedom 
 of election, in case of his demise. While the 
 duke made himself odious to his subjects by 
 innovations, her agents gained over the nobility. 
 She embarrassed the trade of the Courlanders, 
 and turned the profits of it into the hands of 
 the Livonians. The Courlanders, without pro* 
 tection, thought it better to be the subjects than 
 the neighbours of the empress ; and the duke 
 being called to Petersburgh, the states of Cour- 
 land and Samogallia, after great altercation, 
 which was terminated by the presence of the 
 Russian general Pahlen, formally surrendered 
 themselves, March 18th, 1795, to the empress of 
 Russia, Not satisfied with this acquisition of 
 territory, Catherine took occasion from the 
 discontents of some of the nobles, to proscribe 
 them, and bestow their estates upon her vora- 
 cious courtiers, particularly the favourite Zubof 
 and his brother.* 
 
 * Life of Catherine, Vol. III. p. $65. 
 
366 HOUSE OF ROMAN OF. 
 
 From the death of Gustavus, Catherine la- 
 boured, without interruption, to undermine the 
 authority of the duke of Sudermania, the re- 
 gent, in order to improve the young king's 
 minority to recover her influence in Sweden. 
 For this purpose, she employed count Stackel- 
 berg, a minister of consummate address, to 
 engage the affection of the king, and negotiate 
 a marriage between Gustavus and her grand- 
 daughter, the princess Alexandra. The ob- 
 stacles, which obstructed this design, seemed 
 insurmountable. Gustavus was betrothed to the 
 princess of Mecklenburgh, and the regent had 
 an extreme aversidn to Catherine. The mar- 
 riage, however, was set aside, and the duke's 
 animosity being softened, he accepted an invi- 
 tation to visit the court of Petersburgh with his 
 ward. On their arrival, Gustavus was received, 
 by the empress, with every mark of respect, and 
 on being introduced to the princess, was capti- 
 vated with her person and accomplishments. 
 Every thing wore the most favourable appear- 
 ance, and the Swedish ambassador demanded 
 the princess in marriage for his sovereign. On 
 September 21, 1796, the day appointed for the 
 espousals, Catherine, with her court, assembled 
 in the apartment of the throne, and the arch- 
 dutchess presented herself, .adorned as a bride, 
 rejoicing in the prospect of a union with a 
 monarch who had gained her affection, when 
 
CATHERINE IT. 367 
 
 neither Gustavus nor the regent appearing, turn- 
 ed the joy which sat on every countenance into 
 the air of disappointment. The empress's arti- 
 fice had deceived her. Building on the im- 
 pressions which she perceived the princess had 
 made on the heart of the young king, Catherine 
 ordered it to be inserted in the marriage articles, 
 that the princess, who was of the Greek reli- 
 gion, should have her private chapel and clergy 
 in the royal palace. These articles, of which 
 he had no knowledge, being presented to Gus- 
 tavus, an hour before the ceremony, he said : 
 that, although he would not impose any restraint 
 upon the conscience of the princess, he could 
 not allow her a chapel or priests in his court. 
 Entreaties and arguments were urged to pro- 
 cure his consent in vain ; and when it appeared 
 he could not gain his point, he at last said ; " I 
 cannot, I will not sign them." As he still con- 
 tinued some days in Petersburgh, the Russian 
 ministers renewed their importunities ; but he 
 remained inflexible, declaring, however, " that 
 since the laws of Sweden, prevented him from 
 acceding to the propositions of the empress, he 
 would refer the matter to the states, when he 
 came of age ; and should they consent to a 
 queen of the Greek religion, he would send 
 for the princess." The mortification of Gather 
 rine was extreme.* 
 
 * Mayo, Vol. IH* p. 536. 
 
368 HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 The cupidity of the empress was too inordi- 
 nate to allow her to omit any opportunity of 
 enlarging- her territories. Under pretence of 
 defending Lolf-Ali-Rhan, a descendant of the 
 Sophis, against Aga-Mahmed the present sove- 
 reign of Persia, she thought to obtain the Per- 
 sian provinces on the Caspian sea. After en- 
 deavouring, in vain, to engage the Porte in her 
 designs, she dispatched Valerian Zubof with an 
 army into Daghestan. That general having 
 reduced Derbent was repulsed by Aga-Mahmed 5 
 and Catherine reinforced her troops. 
 
 But while the empress flattered herself with 
 the conquest of the Persian provinces, she ap- 
 proached the term of her projects and enjoy- 
 ments. Her health, which was on the decline, 
 was considerably impaired by the fatigue of the 
 entertainments given in honour of the Swedish 
 monarch. On the evening of November 4th, 
 1796, she appeared at a private party with hei* 
 usual cheerfulness, and next morning, after 
 transacting business with her secretaries, retired 
 alone to her apartment. An attendant in wait- 
 ing, uneasy at not being called, entered the 
 apartment and found her extended on the floor. 
 Her physician ordered her to be bled; but 
 though her life was prolonged thirty-seven IJOUTSV I 
 after the seizure, she was quite insensible, andk 
 expired November 6th, in the 68th year of her age. 
 
 * Mayo, Vol. III. {* &&. life f Gathering VoCl&r 
 p. 371 
 
CATHERINE IT. 369 
 
 Beautiful in her youth, Catherine preserved a 
 majestic gracefulness to the end of her life. 
 Though of a moderate stature, as she was 
 well proportioned and carried her head high, 
 she seemed tall. Her forehead was open, nose 
 aquiline, mouth agreeable, chin rather long, 
 eyes blue, with thick darkish eye brows, and 
 auburn hair. She usually dressed in the Russian 
 manner, and except on festivals never wore rich 
 attire. Her form, gait, and looks, bore marks 
 of superiority and command. 
 
 The habits of this princess were extremely 
 regular and temperate. She rose usually at six 
 in the morning, and after a light breakfast, 
 transacted business with her secretary till ten, 
 when sitting down to her toilet, she signed 
 papers of various kinds. At eleven she went to 
 chapel, or spent the time with her grand chil- 
 dren the princes Alexander and Constantine. 
 Her dinner, always on the table about one, 
 seldom detained her above an hour. Business 
 then engaged her an hour or two, when she 
 repaired to the theatre or a private concert, 
 and, if there was not a court, spent the evening 
 with a small party at cards, retiring, generally 
 without supping, between ten and eleven. This 
 order and temperance, with equability and cheer- 
 fulness of temper, contributed to preserve her 
 .iealth, which was rarely affected. 
 
 The character* of this extraordinary woman 
 2 B 
 
370 HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 is :npt so easy to describe as her person or habits. 
 Those who approached her in private were 
 fascinated with the courteousness of her beha- 
 viour, and the sprightliness and gaiety of her 
 conversation. Her majestic air and decorous 
 stateliness in public, inspired respect; while 
 the solidity, vigour, and compass of her under- 
 standing, qualified her to govern men. The 
 vast empire, which she obtained by courage 
 and sagacity, she meliorated by her laws, en- 
 larged by her conquests, and exalted by the 
 splendour of her court, the diffusion of know- 
 ledge, the improvement of commerce, of agri- 
 culture, and the arts, and a magnificent patro- 
 nage ot learning. This combination of brilliant 
 qualities and exploits, however, ought not to 
 shelter her vices from severe censure. It cannot 
 be forgotten that she ascended the throne over 
 the body of her dead husband, to whose assassi- 
 nation it is more than suspected she was privy. 
 It must ever excite abhorrence to reflect on 
 her capricious and insatiable licentiousness 
 which cost her subjects 92,820,000 rubles,* 
 presented them with a most pernicious example, 
 and exposed them to the insolent tyranny of 
 profligate favourites, and all their retainers. 
 
 * Catherine bestowed this sum, about 42,000,000, on 
 those persons to the number of twelve, who successively 
 uccupied the post. See Mayo, Vol. HI, p. 539. 
 
371 
 
 Justice and humanity must be extinguished in 
 the minds of men, before they can read the 
 history of the calamities of Poland and the 
 Crimea, of the wars which deluged with blood 
 the shores of the Danube and the Dnieper, and 
 desolated the adjacent countries, without exe- 
 crating the ambition, injustice, and perfidy of 
 Catherine. 
 
 When the grand duke Paul Petrovitch was 
 informed of the danger of the empress, he re- 
 paired to the capital, and quietly succeeded to 
 the empire in the forty third year of his age. 
 Having arrived at such years, under a princess 
 of such talents as his mother, it was natural to 
 expect that he should be qualified for govern- 
 ment. But naturally of a weak understanding, 
 Paul had not received the education of a sove- 
 reign. As Catherine knew not only that his 
 title to the crown was unquestionable ; but that 
 a great and respectable party, dissatisfied with 
 her government, favoured his claims, she re- 
 garded him with extreme jealousy, and treated 
 him in the same way as Elizabeth treated his 
 father. He was excluded from all business. 
 Though generalissimo of the Russian armies, 
 he never led a regiment to battle, and though 
 grand admiral of the Baltic, he never saw the 
 fleet at Cronstadt. When the empress left 
 Petersburg!], the government of it was never 
 entrusted to him. The grand duke was not am- 
 2 B 2 
 
372 HOUSE or ROJUANOF. 
 
 bitious, and he appeared not to afford any 
 countenance to the turbulent intrigues of those 
 who abused his name. But Catherine knew 
 how easily the sovereign of the Russias may be 
 .tript of his boundless authority, and, therefore 
 endeavoured to prolong the childhood of her 
 son, to render him contemptible, and retain 
 him in the most absolute subjection. 
 
 When he was about twenty the empress 
 wished him to make the tour of Europe, and 
 together with the grand dutchess he travelled 
 through Poland, Austria, Italy, France, and 
 Holland. During their journey, a courier was 
 dispatched every day .to inform the empress 
 of their progress and employments. As was 
 natural, they wished to know what passed at 
 Peter sburgh ; but she was resolved they should 
 not be gratified. The letters of Bibikof, ad- 
 dressed to count Soltikof, who accompanied the 
 grand duke, containing an exact account of 
 passing events, were intercepted, and Bibikof 
 was sent to Siberia for presuming to gratify 
 the curiosity of the son and heir of Cathe- 
 rine. 
 
 The usual residence of the grand duke was 
 Gatshina, a magnificent palace, built by Gre- 
 gory Orlof, and on his death, purchased by the 
 empress as a present for her son. Without 
 dignified employment, without knowledge, averse 
 to reflection, Paul wasted his prodigious ao 
 
PAUL. 373 
 
 iivity, in puerilities. His grand occupation 
 was to exercise a few battalions of soldiers at his 
 palace of Gatshina. He was extremely fond of 
 tlie menage, and amused himself frequently 
 with the diversion of a tournament. He studied 
 with great attention whatever related to eti- 
 xjiiette, the shape of a coat, the position of a hat, 
 and the size of a pair of bot ts. He seemed 
 not to be malignant ; but he was ignorant of 
 men and of affairs, conceited, obstinate, whim- 
 sical, and absurd. His conduct when he came to 
 the throne exhibited a most extraordinary mix- 
 ture of caprice, folly, and tyranny. 
 
37 4 HOUSE OF ROM A NO F. 
 
 ^rf^t-mftsmmtw - ,?<r-<i*nfcf 
 
 2ta9t8ii*i'<^ - 
 
 CHAP. XIII. 
 
 Funeral of Peter ///. Absurdities of Paul. War with 
 France awe? to///* England. Paul's challenge to the po- 
 tentates of Europe. Tyranny and Assassination Alexan- 
 der Peace ivith England and France Interview of the 
 .. Emperor Alexander 'with the King of Prussia War *ith 
 France. Battle of Austerlitz. Campaign in Poland. 
 Battle ofEylauofFriedland.Peace of Tilsit. Turkish 
 war. Conferences of Erfurth Progress and termination of 
 the Turkish War. 
 
 AMONG the first acts of Paul on his acces- 
 sion, was the reinterment of his father Peter 
 III. He ordered the corpse to be taken up and 
 brought to the palace to receive the same ho- 
 nours as were to be shown to Catherine. As the 
 unfortunate Peter had omitted the ceremony of 
 coronation, the imperial crown was fetched from 
 Moscow and placed upon his coffin, as it lay by 
 that of the deceased empress. Over both was 
 a species of true lover's knot, with this inscrip- 
 tion in Russ; "divided in life, united in death.'* 
 Count Alex&y Orlof, and prince Baratinsky, 
 
PAUL. 376 
 
 the assassins of Peter, were stationed, as chief 
 mourners, on each side of the corpse, white it 
 lay in state, and on the day of the funeral pro- 
 cession appeared in the same office, before the 
 whole court, amidst all the ceremonial of pompous 
 grief. This strange but awful species of punish- 
 ment, the callousness of Orlof endured with 
 composure ; but prince Baratinsky was so over- 
 whelmed, that he was enabled to support his 
 station only by the application of volatile salts, 
 and other stimulants *. 
 
 The character of the new sovereign, so dif- 
 ferent from that of Catherine, and the hatred 
 which he discovered to her institutions, produced 
 an entire and sudden change in the court, theg i cl- 
 vernment, and foreign relations of Russia, The 
 ease and gaiety which the presence of the Inte 
 empress diffused among her courtiers gave- place 
 to the restraint of military discipline, and irf- 
 stead of the pleasures and entertainments which 
 spread the sound of joy in her palace, nothing 
 was heard but the clatter of swords, and the 
 echo of enormous boots. Though the habits 
 ^nd manners of Paul at once realized the fore- 
 bodings of the courtiers, his first public aets 
 seemed to announce a reign of popularity. He 
 liberated Kosciusko and other Poles, whom zeal 
 for their country had brought to a prison. He 
 
 * Life of Catherine, Vol. III. p. "52. 
 
376 HOUSE OP .ROM AN OF. 
 
 granted honours to the mobility, which though 
 of little value, were adapted to gain their con- 
 fidence. He conciliated the clergy by raising* 
 the bishops to the orders of the empire, and 
 founding a church to St. Michael, as he said, 
 by divine inspiration. But whatever favour he 
 ^acquired by justice or clemency, he soon for- 
 feited by his absurd and tyrannical innovations 
 and enactments. It may be proper to subjoin 
 a few instances of his vexatious regulations 
 and minute oppression. 
 
 The guards, so formidable to the tzars, since 
 the reign of Peter the great, and the authors of 
 so many revolutions, were rendered incapable 
 of injuring him, by a bold step of the new em- 
 peror. With these turbulent regiments, he in- 
 ^corporated the troops, which he had employed 
 himself in exercising at Gatshina, distribut- 
 ed the officers, promoted several steps, among 
 different companies. This measure, which had 
 it not been so opportunely effected, might 
 have cost him his life, had no other consequence 
 than that of inducing several hundred officers to 
 retire. Free from all apprehensions from the 
 guards, Paul entered upon his career of innova- 
 tion. His guard was mounted, in a totally dif- 
 ferent uniform, and he employed himself in 
 the court, three or four hours a day, in teaching 
 his soldiers to manoeuvre. In the midst of 
 
PAUlr. 377 
 
 patterns of uniforms and accoutrements he issued 
 his regulations respecting hats, caps, feathers, 
 boots, spatterdashes, cockades, and sword-belts. 
 The officers who first appeared in the uniform 
 \vhich he had last introduced, were sure of 
 reward. 
 
 While modelling the dress of his soldiers upon 
 the antiquated uniform of Germany, Paul put 
 forth a decree that all who appeared in round 
 hats, should have them taken from them 
 or torn in pieces. The vexations arising from 
 this order were innumerable; the Cossacks and 
 soldiers of the police seizing the people's hats, 
 or beating those, who, ignorant of the prohibi- 
 tion, offered resistance. Another prohibition 
 appeared, allowing a fortnight to procure har- 
 ness for carriages, in the German mode, and 
 authorizing, after that period, the police to 
 cut the traces of every carriage harnessed 
 in the Russian manner. An ancient cus- 
 tom among the Russians was, when they met 
 the tzar, his consort, or his son, to alight and 
 prostrate themselves in the snow or filth. This 
 tyrannical homage, which had been abolished 
 in the former reign, Paul re-exacted in all its 
 rigor. Several persons, whose coachmen passed 
 on without observing the emperor, were thrown 
 into prison. Those who were permitted to kiss 
 the hand of Paul, were obliged to make the 
 
378 HOUSE OF ROMAN OF. 
 
 floor resound by striking- it with their knees 
 and smack their lips aloud. Prince George 
 Galitzin was arrested by his^majesty himself 
 for negligence in performing this ceremony. 
 All tradesmen were ordered to efface the French 
 word magazin, from the front of their shops, and 
 substitute the Russian word signifying shop; 
 because, said Paul, the emperor alone can have 
 magazines of wood, flour, corn, and other 
 articles. 
 
 These regulations, which show the vexatious 
 puerility of the emperor, were attended with 
 a j 'complete change : in the governments of the 
 empire. The viceroyalties were remodelled, 
 and their boundaries altered, which threw twenty 
 thousand persons of condition out of employ. 
 
 Paul's aversion to his mother, which occa- 
 sioned this alteration, influenced him likewise 
 in his foreign policy. He countermanded the 
 troops, which had been ordered to march into 
 Gallicia, and seemed disposed to preserve peace 
 with the French republic. But he soon found 
 reason 'to adopt a different line of conduct. The 
 success of the French arms, which spread terror to 
 the" r'emotesrextremities of Europe, taught those 
 princes, who had remained spectators of the 
 contest, that resistance ! was essential to their 
 safety. With this conviction, the insolence of 
 tire French directory, and Buonaparte's unpro- 
 
379 
 
 yoked invasion of Egypt, conspired to determine 
 Paul to measures of hostility. The directory, 
 inflated with their victories, having declared 
 that if any ship were allowed to pass the sound 
 with English merchandise, it would be con- 
 sidered as a formal declaration of war against 
 the French nation, he ordered, May 15th, 1798, 
 twenty-two sail of the line, and two hundred 
 and fifty gallies to proceed to the Sound for 
 the protection of trade against French oppres- 
 sion. When the knights of Malta, indignant 
 at the pusillanimity of their grand master Hom- 
 pesch, offered to put themselves under his pro- 
 tection, he not only accepted the title of grand- 
 muster, but promised to maintain the order in its 
 institutions and privileges, and employ all his 
 power to restore it to its former condition. De- 
 cember 18th he entered into a treaty with his 
 Britannic majesty, to send 45,000 men with 
 suitable artillery into the field, on condition of 
 receiving 225,000, to defray the first expences, 
 and 75,000 per month as soon as his troops 
 should pass the Russian frontiers. A few da\> 
 after, an alliance was concluded between him 
 and the Porte, for the mutual guarantee of each 
 other's dominions. 
 
 In conformity with these stipulations, the 
 emperor dispatched Suwarrow, famous alike by 
 his victories and barbarities on the Turkish 
 
380 HOUSE OF HOMANOF. 
 
 frontier and in Poland, at the head of 60,000 
 men, to co-operate with the Austrians in Italy. 
 He fitted out twelve sail of the line in the Bal- 
 tic, to act in concert with the British fleet, sent 
 a squadron to join the Turks in the Mediterra- 
 nean, declared war against Spain as the ally of 
 France, concluded a defensive treaty with Por- 
 tugal, and endeavoured to stimulate the German 
 states to a vigorous prosecution of the war. He 
 agreed likewise to furnish 17,595 men to assist 
 in the expedition projected by the British against 
 Holland. This ardour, however, which Paul 
 discovered in favour of the allies, was but of 
 short duration. 
 
 Suwarrow, having joined the Austrians in 
 Lombardy, by a succession of brilliant victories 
 subverted the French power in Italy, and 
 passed the Alps to form a junction with the 
 archduke Charles. After surmounting innumer- 
 able difficulties in making his way through the 
 mountainous districts of Switzerland, he found 
 on reaching the canton of Glarus, that the arch- 
 duke had been withdrawn, and that he was left 
 alone to extricate himself from peril and em- 
 barrassments. The retreat which he was com- 
 pelled to make in the face of the French armies 
 procured him no less glory than his victories. 
 With the retreat of his army in Switzerland, 
 which Paul attributed to the court of Vienna, 
 
581 
 
 the failure of the expedition to Holland con- 
 curred to alienate his mind from the cause of 
 the allies. He not only recalled his naval and 
 military forces ; but, not being- indulged with 
 the cession of Malta he entered zealously into 
 the project of the French for reviving the armed 
 neutrality ; he laid an embargo upon all British 
 shipping in his ports; and he conceived an 
 extravagant admiration of Buonaparte, which 
 he expressed with his usual thoughtlessness. 
 One day, general Pahlen being at dinner with 
 him, he said he would give as a toast, the great- 
 est man in Europe, and immediately drank, Buo- 
 naparte ! Huzza ! vive Buonaparte ! 
 
 The king of Sweden, a zealous partizan 
 of the armed neutrality, having gone to Peters* 
 burgh, to concert measures with the emperor, 
 he entertained that prince with his favourite 
 diversion of a tournament. In the evening, 
 while the glass went briskly round, a dispatch 
 arriving from Buonaparte the conversation turn- 
 ed on the success of the French arms, the pro- 
 jects formed to humble the pride of England, 
 and the prowess which the emperor displayed in 
 the course of the day. Inspired with the spirit 
 of chivalry, Paul conceived the design of send- 
 ing a challenge to all the potentates of Europe, 
 which was announced in the court gazette of 
 Pftmburgh, December 30th, in the following 
 
HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 terms. ., " It is said that his majesty the empe- 
 ror, seeing 1 that the powers of Europe cannot 
 agree, and wishing to terminate a war which 
 has .raged eleven years, intends to propose a 
 place where he will invite all other potentates, 
 to fight them in closed barriers; for which 
 purpose they are to bring with them their most 
 enlightened ministers, and most skilful gene- 
 rals, as squires, umpires and heralds; such as 
 Tmigut, Pitt, and Bernstorff. He intends 
 himself, to have with him, counts Vander Pah- 
 leu,. andKutusof." 
 
 While the emperor ruined the commerce of 
 Russia by an embargo on English shipping, 
 and exposed the state to the calamities of a 
 rash and destructive war, he continued to pro- 
 voke the patience of his subjects by acts of 
 folly, caprice, and insanity. His rage against 
 the English rose to a perfect paroxysm. He 
 not only employed all his efforts to unite the 
 northern powers in a confederacy against the 
 British, laid an embargo on their shipping, 
 marched their seamen into the interior, seques- 
 trated their property and threatened the Turks 
 with war if they allowed them to land in Egypt ; 
 but returned the dispatches of the British go- 
 vernment with terms of pacification, unopened, 
 after having pierced them in many places 
 with a penknife. Discoursing in private, with 
 one of his nobles, his majesty without any pro- 
 
PAUL. 88:5 
 
 vocation, gave him a slap in the face, adding 1 ; 
 " The salutation by the hand of me, Paul." 
 Flourishing his cane in a fit of passion, he acci- 
 dentally broke the branch of a large glass lustre, 
 and perceiving what he had done, he attacked the 
 lustre and reduced it to pieces. As he passed along 
 one day he observed a nobleman looking at some 
 men planting trees. " What are you doing," 
 said he, " Merely seeing the men work," replied 
 the nobleman. "* Oh, is that your employment; 
 take off his pelisse and give him a spade." He 
 ordered the author of an epigram, in which his 
 reign was contrasted with his mother's to lose 
 his tongue, and sent him to one of the Aleutian 
 isles. While reviewing some soldiers in front 
 of his palace, an officer was thrown from his 
 horse and dislocated his arm. Far from dis- 
 covering any appearance of sympathy, the 
 emperor kicked the officer as he lay on the 
 ground. The regulations of Paul multiplied 
 oppressions and punishments, his furious passions 
 kept his courtiers, and even his family in con- 
 tinual alarm, and the vigilant inspection which 
 his spies exercised over words, looks, gestures, 
 and the most indifferent actions spread mistrust, 
 suspicion and dismal uncertainty throughout 
 Petersburgh, A subject of ridicule among fo- 
 reign nations, the contempt and the terror ot 
 his subjects, a cabal it is said was formed in 
 
384 HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 the state to deprive the emperor of his po\ter, 
 when he fell a sacrifice to private revenge and 
 ambition. 
 
 The last of Catherine's favourites, Plato 
 Zubof, delivered to the new sovereign her will, 
 which appointed Alexander her successor ; but 
 instead of receiving the reward which he ex- 
 pected, was banished from the court in disgrace. 
 In order to revenge this affront, and open again 
 the path to distinction, he formed in. his retire- 
 ment the design of murdering the emperor. He 
 contrived by his intrigues to insinuate himself 
 into the favour of Paul, and associated with him- 
 self several other noblemen of rank. Having 
 taken their measures, the assassins proceeded to 
 the palace on the evening of March 22d. The em- 
 peror, who usually slept on a sofa, in anapartment 
 next to that of the empress, having contrary to 
 his custom kissed the members of his family very 
 affectionately, visited the centinels at their posts, 
 and then retired to rest. The guard being 
 changed by officers who were in the conspiracy, 
 the murderers penetrated with ease to the door 
 of the emperor's apartment, where a hussar, 
 whom it had been found .impossible to remove 
 presenting his fusee, Zubof cut him down with 
 his sabre. The murder of his faithful servant 
 roused the unfortunate prince, who springing 
 from his sofa, when the conspirators entered 
 
PAUL. JJ85 
 
 the" room, at first endeavoured to shelter him- 
 self behind chairs and tables, then assuming an 
 air of authority commanded them to surrender, 
 as his prisoners. As they fiercely advanced to- 
 ward him, he implored them to spare his life, 
 offering to accept of any terms which they 
 might propose. Finding supplication vain, he 
 made a violent effort to reach the window, in 
 which he cut his hand ; and being drawn back, 
 he knocked down one of the assailants with a 
 chair. The empress awakened by the noise 
 would have called for assistance, if a voice had 
 not whispered to her to remain silent under pain 
 of instant death. While the emperor made a 
 desperate resistance, one of the conspirators 
 brought him to the floor with a blow on the 
 temples ; when recovering a little, he again sup- 
 plicated for his life, another taking off his sash, 
 threw it twice round the neck of the defenceless 
 prince ; and one end being held by himself and 
 another given to Zubof, they strangled their 
 sovereign. Having accomplished the horrid 
 deed, the assassins retired without molestation 
 td their respective homes. Thus perished Paul 
 the sovereign of all the Russias in the fifth 
 year ot his reign. So precarious is the most 
 despotic authority,, when folly and oppression 
 expose it to hatred and contempt. 
 
 The death of the emperor, which the court 
 attributed to apoplexy, diffused an extreme joy 
 2 C 
 
386 HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 among Russians, who expected a mitigation of 
 all their calamities, from his successor his eldest 
 son Alexander. This prince, the delight of his, 
 subjects, and the admiration of the civilized 
 world, was born December 12th, 1777. Ca- 
 therine, who was fond of her grandchildren in 
 proportion as she disliked her son, intended 
 Alexander for her successor, and neglected not 
 the means to qualify him for the labours of 
 government. While she entrusted the care 
 of his education to L'Harpe, a philosopher 
 distinguished by amiable manners, and a pas* 
 sionate admiration of the liberty, which the 
 French revolution promised to the nations ; she 
 united her efforts with those of his tutor, to in- 
 form the understanding, and discipline the affec- 
 tions of the young prince. She composed for 
 his use a u Sketch of Russian History," and 
 u Miscellaneous Pieces/' a work of amusement 
 and instruction, and employed every expedient 
 to .support the authority of the teacher, and ex- 
 cite the industry and application of the pupil. 
 It was not perhaps to the advantage of Alex- 
 ander that he was mar, ied*, at the early age 
 of fifteen, or that al out the same age he was de- 
 prived of his preceptor In his early years, 
 however, he discovered those qualities which 
 have shone out in iiis subsequent life, and are 
 
 *ar -MS * wtfa^wrt fi i& mtdMm>r ffi&IMo 
 * To the.prmcess of Ba^en Burlac)*, Match 2Ist, 1793. 
 
ALEXANDER. 387 
 
 so adapted to engage the hearts of men, eleva- 
 tion of sentiment, equability of temper, recti- 
 tude of judgment, generosity, condescension, 
 humanity and benevolence. Placed in a very 
 critical situation between his grandmother and 
 his father, he acquired a degree of caution and 
 circumspection not very suitable to his age. He 
 never seemed to approve of the intentions of 
 Catherine in his favour, and though his father 
 treated him coldly, so strong was the filial prin- 
 ciple in his mind, that he always obeyed his 
 orders, even when they were contrary to his in- 
 clinations. With these amiable qualities it was 
 suspected that he had not sufficient confidence 
 in his own understanding, and would yield too 
 easily to the persuasions of others, a suspicion 
 which some events of his reign have served to 
 confirm. 
 
 About the time of his accession to the throne, 
 Paul gave several proofs of the distrust which 
 he entertained of his son. He retained the 
 young prince about his person, placed around 
 him officers on whom he could rely, and trans- 
 ferred him from his own regiment to the com- 
 mand of another. He appointed him to perform 
 the function of clerk in the office of the minister 
 Besborodko, an employment which no doubt 
 tended to the benefit of the grand duke. The 
 soldiers loved him for his humanity ; and me- 
 diating between the despot and such of his sub- 
 2c 2 
 
BLOUSE OF HOMANOF. 
 
 j.ects as incurred his displeasure, he excited 
 general admiration. 
 
 The expectations which all men entertained 
 from the character of Alexander, were realized, 
 when he was proclaimed emperor. He resolved 
 at once to terminate the war with Great Britain, 
 into which his father had improvidently entered, 
 an event which would probably have taken 
 place had the late emperor survived ; since 
 the British had reduced the Danes to terms, 
 compelled the Swedish fleet to take refuge in 
 Carlscrona, and rode triumphant in the Baltic 
 with 25 sail of the line, and 45 frigates. The 
 Dew emperor ordered the British seamen to be 
 conducted carefully to the ports from which they 
 bad been taken, and British ships and mer- 
 chandise to be restored, he removed all prohibi- 
 tions against the exportation of grain; and he 
 re-established peace and friendship with the 
 court of London. 
 
 The first public declaration of the emperor 
 was, that he would adhere to the system pursued 
 by his grandmother. In the month of October 
 lie concluded a treaty with France, highly fa- 
 vourable to the commercial interests of that 
 nation. The great objects at which he aimed 
 were to, improve the condition of his subjects, 
 and to preserve the peace of Europe. The 
 former of these objects, though not absolutely 
 jieglected, he has hitherto been obliged in 3 
 
ALEXANDER. 389 
 
 great measure to defer, so much attention has 
 the latter required. 
 
 In the course of 1802, his imperial majesty 
 had an interview with the king- of Prussia at 
 Menrel, which was supposed to relate to mat- 
 ters of great moment* but appeared in the event 
 a mere complimentary visit The time was 
 past in gaiety and pleasure. During this visit 
 the emperor and king walking on the quay of 
 Memel, fell into conversation with the master 
 of an English vessel, and after some time, the 
 king said to the master of the vessel, this is 
 the emperor of Russia. Very much surprised, 
 the mariner assumed a more respectful tone; 
 but when the emperor added, this is the king 1 
 of Prussia, he immediately turned off, saying, 
 O ! your servant gentlemen, don't think you 
 can dupe me in that way ; Mr. Emperor and 
 Mr. King, I wish you a very good morning. 
 
 Though of a pacific disposition, and littfe 
 inclined to take offence, Alexander beheld with 
 uneasiness the incroachments of Buonaparte in 
 Italy and Germany ; and soon had just reason 
 of complaint. The treaties which he had form- 
 ed with France were flagrantly violated, and his 
 ambassador at Paris treated with insult. These 
 provocations, however, produced nothing far- 
 ther than coldness between the two powers, till 
 the murder of the due d'Enghien, when Alex* 
 
390 HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 ander addressed a spirited remonstrance to the 
 French government on that barbarous transac- 
 tion- To this an irrelevant and threatening 
 reply being given, another note was presented, 
 in which the overbearing and encroaching con- 
 duct of the French government was exposed 
 with temper, dignity, and force. The emperor 
 required that in conformity with the convention 
 of 1801, the French troops should be withdrawn 
 from Naples, the neutrality of that kingdom 
 being respected; that a principle of concert 
 should be laid down for the adjustment of the 
 affairs of Italy ; that the king of Sardinia should 
 be indemnified for his losses; and that the 
 French troops should be withdrawn from the 
 north of Germany. As the ruler of France was 
 disposed to resent rather than satisfy these equit- 
 able demands, Alexander recalled his minister 
 from Paris, and soon (April llth, 1805) formed 
 an alliance with his Britannic majesty for the 
 purpose of applying a remedy to the evils 
 which afflicted Europe. It was proposed to 
 combine the European states in a general league, 
 and independently of the succours furnishefl 
 by his Britannic majesty, to collect a force of 
 500,000 men, which might bring the French 
 to consent, to the establishment of such an order 
 of things as would insure a lasting peace, and 
 prove a barrier to all future usurpations. 
 
ALEXANDER. 391 
 
 Sweden and Austria acceded to the coalition ; 
 and the latter power, after ineffectual attempts 
 to accommodate differences by negotiation, com- 
 menced hostilities against France. 
 
 In this short war, which the Austrians began 
 prematurely, conducted without skill and ter- 
 minated with the loss of many of their fairest 
 provinces, the emperor of Russia conducted 
 himself with promptitude, spirit, and firmness. 
 Three armies, whose preparations he superin- 
 tended himself, he dispatched successively to 
 the aid of the Austrians. While the court of 
 Berlin, complained of the violation of their 
 territories by the French armies, he appeared 
 in that city ; and gaining all hearts by the 
 suavity of his manners, he seemed to infuse 
 animation and vigor into the irresolute and 
 dastardly councils of Prussia. The Austrian 
 armies having been entirely vanquished in Swa- 
 bia, and the first of his own armies compelled 
 to retreat from the Inn, he quickly repaired to 
 the field of contest to encourage his troops by 
 his presence and example. The emperor join- 
 ed his army a few days before the battle of 
 Austerlitz, which was fought December the 
 2nd. In this contest, so fatal to the hopes of 
 the combined powers, the armies were nearly 
 equal, each amounting to between 70,000 and 
 80,000 men ; bu,t the French were so superior in 
 
392 HOUSE OF ROM AN OF. 
 
 the skill of their officers, the discipline and 
 confidence of their troops, that they gained a 
 most splendid victory over the courage of the 
 allies. On this day the gallantry of Alexander 
 was conspicuous. It is said, that when victory 
 had declared for the enemy, he thrice at the 
 head of his guards charged the assailants, and 
 not only covered the retreat of the allied army, 
 which would otherwise have been entirely de- 
 stroyed, but rescued the greater part of the 
 Russian artillery, which had fallen into the 
 iiands of the victors. As the fate of Austria 
 was decided in the field of Austerlitz, the em- 
 peror Francis was obliged to submit to the 
 terms of the conqueror ; but Alexander refusing 
 to be a party in so humiliating a transaction, 
 retreated towards Russia with his unbroken 
 armies, and the French judged it not expedient 
 to molest him. 
 
 Though the object of the coalition was wholly 
 frustrated, the connexion still subsisted between 
 the courts of London and Petersburgh; and 
 when Mr. Fox opened a correspondence with 
 the French government, with a view to adjust 
 the differences between England and France, he 
 insisted on the Necessity of admiting Russia as a 
 party to the negotiation. M. D'Oubril was in 
 consequence dispatched by the emperor with full 
 powers to conclude a peace. After some fruit- 
 
ALEXANDER. 393 
 
 less discussion, the weakness or imprudence of 
 this minister induced him to separate the interests 
 of his court from those of Great Britain, and 
 sign a treaty for Russia alone. When, however, 
 he carried the treaty to Petersburgh for the ap- 
 probation of his master, it was declared that he 
 had exceeded his instructions ; and his imperial 
 majesty signified to the French government his 
 determination not to assent to the articles which 
 M. D'Oubril had signed. 
 
 Meanwhile Prussia, whose mean, vacillating, 
 and dangerous politics, had allowed her to be- 
 hold with indifference the aggressions of France, 
 upon the liberties of Germany, and the total 
 overthrow of Austria, in the plains of Austerlitz, 
 receiving from the ruler of France insults and 
 mortifications, the usual rewards of his allies, 
 came to extremities with that nation. Among 
 other great errors, by which the Prussians con- 
 tributed to the abasement of their power, they 
 neglected, till it was too late, to communicate 
 their intentions to England and Russia ; and 
 though Alexander, as soon as assistance was 
 solicited, gave orders for the march of his troops, 
 the event of the war was determined in the 
 battle of Auerstadt, a month before they could 
 feave reached the scene of action. 
 
 The Russian troops, marching to the aid of 
 the Prussians, had entered Warsaw; but th^ 
 general, Benningsen, informed of the advance of 
 
394 HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 the French force abandoned that place, and re- 
 tired behind theNarew. Buonaparte, having put 
 himself at the head of his armies, crossed that 
 river in pursuit of the Russians. While his left 
 wing, under Ney and Bessieres, prevented the 
 Prussians, under Lestoc, from joining" the Rus- 
 sians, he himself attacked the main Russian 
 army, which had been greatly reinforced, and 
 entrusted to the command of general Kamen- 
 skoy. On the 23rd of December, the Russian 
 general was driven from his intrench ments at 
 Nasielsk, and his position behind the Wkra 
 being forced, he resolved to retreat beyond the 
 Niemen. General Benningsen, however, con- 
 sidering himself at liberty to use his own dis- 
 cretion, gave the French battle at Pultusk on 
 the 26th. The contest was long and obstinate, 
 and both parties claimed the victory. The ad- 
 vantage perhaps was small on either side ; since 
 the French went into cantonments, and the Rus- 
 sian general deemed it expedient to retire during 
 the night. 
 
 Benningsen being now appointed commander 
 in chief, he determined to harass his enemy by 
 all possible means ; but Buonaparte penetrating 
 his design, resolved to become the assailant, and 
 for this purpose ordered the corps of the prince 
 of Ponte Corvo, and marshal Ney, posted, the 
 one in Elbing, and the other on the right bank 
 of the Alia, to surprize Konigsberg. This 
 
ALEXANDER. 395 
 
 plan was defeated by the Russian generals, 
 Pahlen and Galitzin, who drove Ney from the 
 banks of the Alia ; and part of whose corps, en- 
 gaging- the French at Mohringen, January 25, 
 compelled the prince of Ponte Corvo, after a 
 sharp action, to retreat thirty leagues. In con- 
 sequence of these advantages, which enabled 
 Benningsen to advance to the lower Vistula, 
 Buonaparte broke up his cantonments at the 
 close of January, and collecting his troops, to 
 the number of 120,000 men, resolved to attack 
 the centre of the Russian army on its march to 
 the Vistula, by the way of Wildenberg. As 
 soon as the Russian general perceived the supe- 
 riority of the enemy in number, he began to re- 
 tire upon the Pragel, from which it was the plan 
 of the French to cut off his retreat. Much des- 
 perate fighting occurred on the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 
 and 6th of February, when the Russians ap- 
 peared on the 7th, posted behind the little village 
 of Eylau. A most bloody contest took place for 
 the village which the French were eager to 
 possess before the general engagement. Both 
 armies having passed the night facing each 
 other, the Russians commenced the attack upon 
 the village of Eylau, where Buonaparte was 
 posted in the church. He judged it of the ut- 
 most importance to gain the rising ground, 
 which commands the plain in which Eyiari is 
 situated, and ordered martjhal ^ugg&gi% with 
 
-396 HOUSE OF ROMAN OF. 
 
 40 pieces of cannon against it. A terrible can-* 
 nonade was opened on both sides, and the 
 armies being- within half a gun shot of each 
 other, the carnage was horrible. At this mo- 
 ment a thick fall of snow, which intercepted the 
 view of the troops, continued for half an hour. 
 When the weather cleared up, the main body of 
 the French army appeared on the verge of 
 destruction, from which they were rescued by a 
 desperate charge, made by Murat, on the 
 the Russian infantry. The contest was main- 
 tained for twelve hours; and when the com- 
 batants separated from each other, it was impos- 
 sible to determine on which side lay the victory, 
 so nearly were the losses and advantages ba- 
 lanced, and so much did the paiient and ob- 
 stinate courage of the Russians avail against the 
 superior number, science, and discipline of the 
 French. While the Russian general, instead 
 of driving the French over the Vistula, was forced 
 beyond the Pragel, Buonaparte was disappointed 
 in his design upon Konigsberg, and obliged to fall 
 back upon the Vistula. This was the severest 
 check which he had as yet received, and a prelude 
 of what he might expect from the valour and 
 snows of Scythia. In this battle, the French 
 army amounted to 90,000 men, and the Russian 
 60,000; and each of them was reduced a 
 third. 
 
 Alexander, though the intrigues of the French 
 
ALEXANDER. 397 
 
 had involved him in a war with the Ottomans, 
 his ally, the king of Prussia, had, in a few 
 months, lost his armies, and almost all his do- 
 minions, and his troops had suffered so severely 
 in the late contests, seemed resolved to maintain 
 the struggle. When Buonaparte, after the 
 battle of Eylau, sent general Bertrand to the 
 Russian commander in chief with pacific over- 
 tures, Benningsen replied, " that his master had 
 sent him to fight, not to negotiate." The em- 
 peror himself, with the grand duke Constantine, 
 and a reinforcement of 60,000 men, joined his 
 armies. He was met by the king of Prussia, 
 and both monarchs proceeded to Konigsberg. 
 
 Buonaparte, disappointed in the capture of 
 that city, employed every expedient to strengthen 
 his position behind the Passarge, exacted fresh 
 auxiliaries from his vassals in Italy, Germany, 
 and Switzerland, and culled out the conscription 
 of 1808. Aware that a defeat would be the 
 signal of revolt to the subjected nations, and 
 inflame the spirit of discontent, which his ty- 
 ranny had excited in France, he directed all the 
 resources of his genius and empire to secure vie- 
 tory. While he refreshed and recru ted his 
 armies, he pushed the siege of those places, 
 which remained to the Prussian monarchy, parti- 
 cularly Dantzic. This place was long defended 
 with skill and resolution against the attacks of 
 marshal Le Febre, and an army 40,000 
 
398 HOUSE OF ROMAN OF. 
 
 strong ; but a detachment of Russians sent to 
 its relief, from Pilau, having been defeated* 
 the garrison surrendered by capitulation, 
 May 27. 
 
 Buonaparte again proposed to the emperor 
 to renew negotiations for peace ; but though 
 negotiations actually commenced, they produced 
 no favourable result. On the 5th and 6th of 
 July, the French lines were attacked at different 
 points by the Russians. This movement, which 
 was defeated, induced the French ruler to re-' 
 commence offensive operations. After various 
 affairs, always to the advantage of the French, 
 Benningsen took up a position in front of Fried- 
 land, on the left bank of the Alia. A mighty 
 and decisive struggle now ensued. In this ter- 
 rible engagement, which began at three in the 
 morning, and continued till eleven at night, 
 though the Russians made a successful resistance 
 during the early part of the day, their centre 
 being forced about five in the afternoon, they 
 were obliged, after performing whatever valour 
 and constancy could effect, to retire in disorder 
 beyond the Alia. Oh this day, the loss of the 
 Russians amounted to 12,000 men. Pursued by 
 the French cavalry, Benningsen continued his 
 retreat by Tilsit, over the Niemen, for four 
 days'; and on the 19th, having proposed an 
 armistice to the French generals, hostilities^ 
 ceased. Ati interview took place betweett 4 fife 
 
ALEXANDER. 399 
 
 French ruler, and the emperor of Russia on a 
 ruft in the Niemen. Half of the town of Tilsit 
 was considered as neutral ground, and feasts and 
 
 entertainments succeeded to the ra^e of war. 
 
 o 
 
 As Alexander was only an auxiliary in the con- 
 test, he had nothing 1 to adjust with the French 
 on his own account. In consenting", however, 
 to the treaty of Tilsit, concluded July 7, he ex- 
 posed himself to great censure, as it seemed 
 a dereliction of his engagements with England, 
 for the purpose of restoring an equilibrium of 
 power among 1 European states. Instead of 
 liberating the north of Germany, re-establishing 
 Holland and Switzerland, and securing Italy, 
 he recognized ail the usurpations of Buonaparte, 
 and agreed to the sacrifice of half the Prussian 
 dominions. It may somewhat abate the severity 
 of this censure to remark, that though the English 
 government granted him a subsidy ot 500,000, 
 they attempted no diversion in his favour till it 
 was too late, and that to persevere in the 
 struggle would only have lessened the means of 
 accomplishing the objects of the league, when a 
 more favourable opportunity should occur. After 
 all, the conduct of the emperor of Russia in de- 
 serting the common cause, seems not to admit 
 of justification. His council was divided, and 
 the faction, which favoured France, and the 
 prosecution of the Turkish war, prevailed. 
 When Buonaparte had resolved : on war with 
 
400 HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 Prussia, he dispatched Sebastian! to Constan- 
 tinople to persuade the Turks to break off tlieir 
 connexion with England and Russia. Listening 
 to his artifices, they recalled the hospadors of 
 Moldavia and Valachia, in direct violation of the 
 late treaty with Russia, and 40,000 men, under 
 general Michelson, who should have reinforced 
 the army in Poland, entering Moldavia, took 
 possession of Choczym, Bender, and Jassy, in 
 November 1806. The Turks, who would have 
 satisfied all the reasonable complaints of the 
 court of Petersburg!), were so incensed by this 
 aggression, that a rupture was unavoidable. 
 Prosecuting the unjust and ambitious views of 
 his court, the Russian general soon added Bes- 
 sarabia and Valachia to his conquests, and 
 threatened to join the revolted Servians. For 
 the purpose of retaining these acquisitions, the 
 faction inimical to England, not only induced 
 the emperor Alexander to consent to the peace 
 of Tilsit, but zealously to second the designs of 
 Buonaparte for the destruction of British com- 
 merce, and of the independence of all the secon- 
 dary powers of Europe. In conformity with 
 secret engagements, into which he entered to 
 this effect at Tilsit, the emperor of Russia broke 
 off all intercourse with England, revived the 
 armed neutrality, and laid an embargo on all 
 British ships in his ports. 
 
 The obstruction which the insurrections in 
 
ALEXANDER. 40t 
 
 Spain created to Buonaparte's perfidious 
 schemes of aggrandizement, rendered it neces- 
 sary for him to draw the armies of Germany 
 into France, as well to prevent the German- 
 princes from uniting with the house of Austria 9 
 as to support his tyrannical measures in France. 
 As the emperor Alexander held in his hand the 
 balance of Europe, it was of the utmost moment 
 to confirm him in his present mean and dan- 
 gerous line of policy. Buonaparte, therefore, 
 determined to have a personal interview with 
 the emperor of the north, as he assiduously 
 styled the Russian autocrat. A meeting between 
 those princes took place September 27, 1808, at 
 Erfurth, a city in the north of Thuringia, be- 
 longing to the electorate of Mayence, Kings, 
 princes, and other personages of rank crowded 
 to pay homage to the French ruler. Great 
 pomp of ceremony and splendour of entertain- 
 ment distinguished this imperial convention* 
 In one of the rides, which Napoleon and Alex- 
 ander took after their morning conferences, it 
 was proposed by the former, and acceded to by 
 the latter, to visit the field of Jena. Whether 
 the insolence on the one hand, or the meanness 
 on the other were greater, is not easy to deter- 
 mine. Buonaparte flattered the grand duke 
 Constantine with the hope of reigning on the 
 ruins of the Ottoman empire; he dexterously 
 contrived a negotiation, by which, under pre- 
 
 2 D 
 
40*2 HOUSE OP RCMANOF. 
 
 tence of favouring- their Russian and Prussian 
 majesties, he agreed to evacuate the Prussian 
 territories as soon as the contributions graciously 
 reduced two thirds should be paid; and per- 
 suaded the emperor Alexander that the Spanish 
 insurrections were the natural consequence of 
 the treaty of Tilsit. 
 
 As the king of Sweden persisted in his ridi- 
 culous opposition to Buonaparte, hostilities com- 
 menced between that country and Russia. 
 While Swedish Finland submitted to his autho- 
 rity, Alexander raised his army on the Danube 
 to 80,000 men, in order to push his conquests 
 in that quarter. This impolitic war rag^d during 
 1809, and the following year, with no otjier con- 
 sequence than the destruction of human lives. 
 In 1811 the Turks, who were determined not to 
 submit to the disgraceful conditions proposed by 
 the Russians, made great exertions to recruit 
 their armies. The early part of the campaign 
 was not favourable to the Russians, since they 
 were compelled to abandon the right bank of 
 the Danube. When the confidence of the vizier 
 induced him to convey the greatest part of his 
 army to the left bank of the Danube, Kutusof, 
 who had hitherto acted on the defensive, dis- 
 patched, October 14, 8000 men across the river 
 to attack the Turkish camp near Rudshuck. 
 The enemy was surprised, and his camp taken, 
 while the divisions of the Turkish army were 
 
ALEXANDER. 40$ 
 
 Entirely separated from each other. In the 
 mean time general Gamber retook Silistria, and 
 general Sass forced Ismail, Bey of Seres, who 
 had entered Valachia, to recross the Danube. 
 In consequence of these advantages of th# 
 Russians, the vizier proposed to renew the ne- 
 gotiations; but tke war proceeding, his army 
 surrendered December 8, after losing 10,000 
 men. Though both powers continued hostile 
 demonstrations some months longer, peace was 
 so obviously their policy, that a treaty was con- 
 cluded August 14, which constituted the Pruth, 
 from its entrance into Moldavia, to its junction 
 with the Danube ; and this river, to the Euxine, 
 the boundaries of the two empires.- 
 
 2 D 
 
404 HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 CHAP. XIV. 
 
 Invasion of Rus*ia-*~Progresf of the French Zeal of tfa 
 Russians Fall of Smolensk Battle of Borodino Cap- 
 ture and Conflagration of Moscow Firmness of the Em- 
 peror Alexander Buonaparte's barbarity and difficulties-^- 
 Success of the Russians Destruction of the French Armies 
 Passage of the Berezina-^-Flight of Buonaparte- Hoss 
 of the French in the campaign Laudable conduct of 
 Alexander Advance of the Russians into Germany^ 
 Battles of Lutzen, Bautzen, and Wurtschen Armistice 
 Progress of the Allies Total defeat of Buonaparte at 
 Leipsic Consequences of this Battle Declaration of the 
 Allied Sovereigns from Frankfort Efforts of Buonaparte 
 Negotiations at Chatillon Progress of the War Capture 
 of Paris Fall of Buonaparte Conclusion, 
 
 THE conclusion of the treaty with the Ottomans 
 \vas accelerated by the dangers, which now 
 threatened the existence of the Russian power. 
 Though Alexander had for a time concurred in 
 the views of the French ruler, his eyes were at 
 last opened to the consequences of ministering 
 to the ambition of his domineering ally. The 
 war with England, as it interrupted a most 
 lucrative trade with that country, had never 
 been popular in Russia, and the emperor could 
 
ALEXANDER. 405 
 
 not be brought to a rigorous proscription of 
 British commodities. Finland having been 
 ceded to Russia in 1809, he refused the de- 
 mand of France for its restoration, and shewed 
 no satisfaction at Napoleon's arbitrary inter- 
 ference in the politics of the north. The differ- 
 ences which subsisted on these subjects, it ap- 
 peared early in 1812 must be terminated by a 
 terrible conflict. Buonaparte, whose successes had 
 inspired him with a confidence that nothing- was 
 impossible to his arms, marched his troops to the 
 Russian frontier. He concluded treaties of 
 offensive alliance with Austria and Prussia, and 
 seized Pomerania in order to influence the 
 councils of Sweden. June 16, he appeared 
 at the head of his armies, amounting to 400,000 
 men, drawn from almost every nation of the 
 European continent. This force, the most for- 
 midable which had ever been assembled under 
 one leader, it was supposed would intimidate 
 the Russian emperor into a compliance with 
 whatever terms Napoleon might dictate. But 
 happily for Europe, Alexander resolved on re- 
 sistance. 
 
 He had already left Petersburgh and joined 
 his army, April 26, at Wilna; and when Buo- 
 naparte, who still made professions of friendship, 
 renewed his demands for the exclusion of British 
 goods from all the ports of Russia, he refused to 
 adopt any measure which might injure the trade 
 
405 HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 .of. his dominions- As Buonaparte perceived 
 that he could not terrify his late ally, he gave 
 orders to pass the Niemen, and issued a brief 
 address to his troops, in which he threatened to 
 destroy the overbearing influence which Russia 
 had for forty years exercised in the affairs of 
 Europe. As soon as the French had commenced 
 hostilities, Alexander published a declaration to 
 his subjects, which, after stating his earnest de~ 
 sire, and repeated efforts to prevent a rupture, 
 .concludes as follows. " The hope of peace, 
 without a contest, is gone. We have no other 
 resource than to oppose our brave soldiers to the 
 invader, and to invoke the Supreme Judge to 
 bless the righteous cause. We have no occa- 
 sion to remind our generals, officers, or troops, of 
 their duty or honour. The blood of the Slavo?- 
 nians, so illustrious by their virtues and conquests, 
 flows in their veins. Soldiers! you defend your 
 faith, your country, and your liberty. Your 
 emperor marches at your head, and the God of 
 Justice is against the aggressor. Alexander/' 
 
 Though the emperor had foreseen the con- 
 test, and made preparations for it, yet his troops 
 were inferior jn number to those of the enemy, 
 by nearly one half. The mode of warfare, 
 which it was deemed expedient to pursue, was 
 that of gradually retiring, leaving a desert to 
 the invaders. In pursuance of this plan, the 
 Jlussian army, which, besides having corps 
 
ALEXANDER. 10? 
 
 Riga and Loutsk, extended from Tele h to 
 Bailistock, after a march of eleven days, began, 
 July 7th, to concentrate on the banks of the 
 Duna. In this retreat, the Russians, who sus- 
 tained trifling loss, received the first assistance 
 from their auxiliary, the cold, which destroyed 
 several thousand horse of the French, and re- 
 tarded their march. Prince Bagration, having 
 the command of the Russian left wing, was in- 
 tercepted in his march toward Wilna, and ob- 
 liged to retire upon the Dnieper. In hopes of 
 effecting a junction with this part of his army, 
 the commander in chief, Barclay de Tolly, 
 abandoned his entrenchechuamp at Drissa, and 
 took up a position before Yitepsk, having left 
 count Vigtenstien at Dris^-a to cover Peters- 
 burgh. Sharp conflicts took place at Ostrovna, 
 between the French corps of Murat and Beau- 
 harnois, and the Russian corps under count 
 Ostennan. Barclay de Tolly prepared for a 
 g-eueral battle, when learning that Bagration 
 intended to make for Smolensk, he resolved to 
 approach that city, where Bagration, after a 
 perilous march, and a terrible conflict with the 
 corps of Davoust at Mohilef, July 22nd, joined 
 the grand army, August the 6th. During this 
 time Ondinot, who designed to advance to 
 Petersburgh, after three days obstinate fighting, 
 was repulsed by Vigtenstien. 
 
 When the Russian army reached Polotzk, 
 
408 HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 Alexander, who had hitherto continued with it, 
 issued two addresses, one to the inhabitants of 
 Moscow, and another to the nation at large, ex- 
 posing the designs of the invader, inflaming 
 their zeal in defence of their country, and call- 
 ing upon them to arm for the destruction of the 
 foe. The whole empire seemed to rouse at the 
 voice of its sovereign. Multitudes volunteered 
 their services, others contributed large sums of mo- 
 ney and diamonds, and many of the nobles raised, 
 clothed, and mounted whole regiments at their 
 own expence. When the emperor went to Moscow 
 to direct the armaments, the inhabitants of that 
 government engaged to furnish 100,000 men 
 armed, clothed, and disciplined, as far as time 
 would allow. Other governments sent forth 
 their armed multitudes with equal alacrity, the 
 regular levies meanwhile proceeding. An ap- 
 peal to the nation from the holy synod appeared, 
 in which the atrocities of Buonaparte were ex- 
 hibited; and the Russians were urged to rise 
 against him as a tyrant, who under the guise 
 of friendship, entered countries with fire, sword, 
 famine, pestilence, and death, in his train. An 
 enthusiastic ardour Was kindled in the minds of 
 the people, equal to the most heroic deeds, and 
 the sublimest sacrifices. Nothing was too dear 
 for them to offer on the altar of their country 
 and their religion. 
 
 While the emperor roused the spirit of his 
 
ALEXANDER. 409 
 
 subjects against the enemy of national indepen- 
 dence, and called forth all the resources of his 
 empire to overwhelm his legions, he renewed 
 the treaty of peace with England, and in a per- 
 sonal interview with the crown prince of 
 Sweden at Aho in Finland, August 28th, formed 
 an alliance with that power. 
 
 Buonaparte, in pursuing the Russians, found 
 it necessary to allow his troops ten days repose, 
 not as he pretended, because the heat was so 
 excessive, but because they were exhausted by 
 want and fatigue. Removing from his posi- 
 tion at Vitepsk, Buonaparte appeared before 
 Smolensk on August 16th, and on the following 
 day commenced a vigorous attack on that city. 
 30,000 men made a resolute defence, and the 
 work of death proceeded at a dreadful rate on 
 both sides, when Barclay de Tolly, resolving to 
 abandon a post no longer tenable, ordered 
 general Korf, as soon as the army had cleared 
 the French lines, to destroy whatever might be 
 serviceable to the enemy. The whole city was 
 soon in a blaze, affording, to the French, said 
 Buonaparte, the spectacle presented to the 
 inhabitants of Naples during an eruption of 
 Vesuvius. 
 
 Buonaparte still prosecuted his barren con- 
 quests. Kutusof, who now took the command 
 of the Russian armies, having arrived at Boro- 
 dino, resolved to wait the enemy's approach \ 
 
410 HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 and preparations for a general engagement were 
 made by both parties on the 6th of September. 
 The contest began in the morning, and lasted 
 the whole of the day. The French army was 
 140,000 strong, and the Russian little inferior. 
 1QOO pieces of artillery from both armies replied 
 to each other. The soldiers fought man to 
 man, and the destruction was proportionate to 
 so close, desperate, and protracted a conflict. 
 The chiefs of both armies claimed the victory. 
 Buonaparte, however, retired nine miles, leav- 
 ing his adversary in possession of the field, 5000 
 prisoners, and thirty pieces of cannon. 
 
 Kutusof, not being in a condition to risk a 
 second engagement, because his enemy had 
 been reinforced, and his own supplies had not 
 arrived, came to the desperate resolution of sa- 
 crificing the ancient capital of the empire. 
 This bold measure was approved by most of 
 his officers, and nobly seconded by count Ras- 
 topchin, the military governor of Moscow. 
 Having passed through the city, Kutusof turned 
 to the right, and took up a position to the south, 
 by which movement he preserved his army 
 entire, opened a communication with the armies 
 marching from the Danube, covered the fertile 
 provinces of the empire, and completely inter- 
 sected the enemy's line of operations. Every 
 thing of value was removed from Moscow ; it 
 was deserted by its inhabitants, and a large de- 
 
tachment was posted to the north of the city to 
 cover the road to Petersburg. The Russian 
 commander appears to have had high confidence 
 in the success of his measures. In a dispatch l< 
 the emperor, in explanation of his conduct, h 
 said, I boldly assure your most gracious ma- 
 jesty, that the entrance of the French into 
 Moscow is not the conquest of Russia. The sa- 
 crifice of the city of our ancestors must wound 
 all our hearts; but it is a city for an empire. 
 The invader will be compelled to evacuate the 
 capital of the tzars/* 
 
 Buonaparte entered the city the 14th of Sep- 
 tember; and scarcely had he arrived in the 
 palace of the tzars, when the flames burst forth 
 in different quarters of the town, and continued 
 to rage for fi v days. At the height of the con- 
 flagration, the capital seemed a sea of fire. 
 Such a sacrifice was never before made to na- 
 tional independence. Three fourths of the 
 city were entirely destroyed, 1600 churches, and 
 1000 palaces. 
 
 The fall of Moscow diffused a horror among 
 the Russians ; but shook not their determination 
 to defend themselves to the last extremity. The 
 emperor issued a declaration, assuring his sub- 
 jects, that the commander in chief had recoiled, 
 only to fall with accumulated force on the 
 enemy ; that Moscow deserted and rifled, offered 
 a tomb rather than a dwelling to the invaders; 
 
412 HOUSE OF ROMAS OF. 
 
 and that the enemy would soon be compelled 
 by famine to attempt his escape through the 
 inclosing" armies of Russia. As a precautionary 
 measure, he sent the whole of his naval force to 
 winter in England, and made preparations to 
 abandon even Petersburgh, being determined, 
 he said, to drain the last drop of the cup of 
 misery, rather than subject Russia to a foreign 
 yoke. When the king of Sweden, in 1788, 
 made some insulting proposals to Catherine, she 
 exclaimed, " Were the king of Sweden at 
 Moscow, I would then shew him what a woman 
 like me could do, standing on the ruins of a 
 mighty empire." Alexander, placed in more 
 critical circumstances than she had imagined, 
 actually displayed the magnanimity of which she 
 could only boast. 
 
 The term of Buonaparte's prosperity had 
 now arrived. A spirit of resistance, on which 
 he had not calculated, pervaded all ranks, from 
 th6 emperor on the throne, to the slave in the 
 mines. Instead of the gold and plenty with 
 which he animated his followers as the spires of 
 Moscow shone at a distance, that city presented 
 a heap of ruins, and smoaking ashes. After 
 signalizing his sojourn in the desolated capital, 
 by the murder of a hundred Russians, who, at 
 the command of their superiors, had lighted the 
 flumes to stop the invaders of their country, 
 famine forced him to think of a retreat. He at 
 
ALEXANDER. 
 
 first tried to negotiate. General Lauriston sent to 
 the Russian head quarters, informed Kutusof that 
 his master, desirous of preventing the further effu- 
 sion of Russian blood, still wished to renew the 
 friendship between the two empires. <c As to 
 the effusion of Russian blood," the chief replied, 
 " every Russian is ready to shed his blood to 
 support the independence of the empire; and his 
 imperial majesty will not listen to peace, as long 
 as a foreigner remains within the frontiers." 
 To negotiate for peace being in vain, an at- 
 tempt was made to procure an armistice. But 
 Kutusof s reply was, that it was not time to 
 grant peace, or an armistice, as the Russians 
 were just opening the campaign. Buonaparte 
 now determined to retire into the Polish pro- 
 vinces, where he had established his magazines, 
 and hoped to recruit his armies ; but he had de- 
 layed too long. A strong corps, of 45,000 men, 
 under Murat, which he had dispatched toward 
 Koluga to engage the main Russian army, 
 while he effected his retreat with the rest of his 
 troops, was defeated October 18th at Maloyar- 
 raslavitz, with the loss of 2500 killed, 1000 
 prisoners, 38 pieces of cannon, and 40 ammuni- 
 tion waggons. In consequence of tLis disaster, 
 Napoleon next day quitted Moscow. The 
 French hospitals fell into the hands of the 
 Russians, and their attempts to blow up the 
 Kremlin were frustrated. The calamities, which 
 
414 HOUSE OF ROMANO*. 
 
 began to threaten the troops under the i 
 diate command of Buonaparte, were greatly 
 aggravated by the successes of the Russians in 
 other quarters. General Essen repulsed the 
 French and Prussians who menaced Riga; 
 count Vigtenstien, by two days hard fighting, 
 drove marshal Gouvion St. Cyr from his en- 
 trenchments, and pursuing him to Polotzk, made 
 himself master of that place October 20th. 
 Tormozof, having checked the advance of the 
 Austrians and Saxons in Volhynia, joined the 
 army of the Danube, under admiral Tchitchagof, 
 September 17th; and these generals, having 1 
 cleared Volhynia, proceeded to Minsk to form a 
 junction with Vigtenstien, and thus intercept the 
 retreat of the grand French army. 
 
 This army, pressed on right and left by the? 
 accumulating forces of the Russians, proceeded 
 towards Smolensk ; at which, Buonaparte, with 
 his imperial guard, arrived November 9th, leav- 
 ing his generals to conduct his dispirited, and 
 famished troops. The men expired under the 
 pressure of want, and the swords of the Cossacks; 
 the cavalry were dismounted that their horse* 
 might drag on the cannon; and ammunition 
 waggons were blown up. In this state they 
 were overtaken on the 7th by a Russian winter 
 of unusual severity. On the 8th and 9th, the 
 corps of Beauharnois was attacked at all points, 
 while teams of horses perished at once in the 
 
ALEXANDER. 415 
 
 harness, and the men surrendered themselves in 
 despair. 3000 men were made prisoners, and 62 
 pieces of cannon were taken by the Cossack 
 Platof. On the llth, 2000 men and 60 officers^ 
 surrounded by count Orlof Denizofs cavalry, 
 laid down their arms. Victor, who was ordered 
 to open a path for the retreat of the main army, 
 by driving Vigtenstien across the Duna, was 
 defeated by that officer on the 14th at Sniolnya, 
 after a desperate conflict, in which that place 
 was taken and retaken six times. 
 
 Having blown up the fortifications of Smo- 
 lensk, the French advanced to Krasnoi, at 
 which, part of Kutusof s army had previously 
 arrived. The corps of marshal Davoust was 
 brought to action, and entirely turned. Buona- 
 parte, who accompanied this division of his 
 troops, fled at the beginning of the conflict, 
 which terminated in the destruction of the 
 corps, 4000 men being killed, and 9170, with 
 2 generals, 58 officers, and 70 pieces of cannon, 
 falling into the hands of the victors. Next day, 
 the 17th, Milaradovitch, greatly reinforced, at- 
 tacked the rear of the French, under marshal 
 Ney, which had been cut off from the main 
 body, and attempted to pierce the Russian lines. 
 After a horrible carnage, this division was en- 
 tirely destroyed or dispersed, and the marshal, 
 wounded, fled; leaving to the enemy, his colours, 
 camion, and baggage. 1 1,000 men, who formed 
 
41$ HOUSE OF BO3VIANOF. 
 
 the rear guard, laid down their arms. Admiral 
 Tchitctagof, meanwhile, having taken posses- 
 sion of Minsk, expelled the Polish general, 
 Dombrowsky, from Borirsof, occupied all the 
 passes of the Berezina, and opened a coiri^ 
 muuication with Vigtenstien. Without cavalry, 
 without artillery, assailed by intense cold, pur- 
 sued ]by a victorious enemy, and his path ob- 
 structed by two armies, the invader of Russia 
 was, in what he termed, " an extremely vexa- 
 tious situation." Nothing was left but to force 
 the Berezina, With this view, he dispatched 
 Dombrowsky to the left of Borrisof, and mar- 
 shals Oudinot and Victor to the right to oppose 
 Vigtenstien, while he conducted himself the 
 relics of his armies, and those reinforcements 
 who had joined him, to the river. Vigtenstien, 
 having intercepted the march of Victor, and 
 seized two regiments of cavalry in excellent 
 condition, overtook Napoleon in the act of cross- 
 ing the Berezina. A horrible scene ensued; 
 men, cavalry, artillery, and waggons of all kinds, 
 pressed to the bridge; many were crushed or 
 trampled to death ; multitudes were drowned in 
 the stream, and thousands fell by the weapons of 
 the Russians, when the flying chief, to stop the 
 pursuers, set fire to the bridge, which, laden with 
 fugitives, sunk with a mighty crash into the 
 flood* This affair cost the French upwards of 
 20,000 men with great quantities of artillery 
 
ALEXANDER. 417 
 
 stores, and all the plunder of the Russian 
 cities. 
 
 The French continued their rout to Wilna, 
 strewing* the road with dead bodies, cannon, 
 baggage, and arms. Abandoned by their leader, 
 who, having devolved the command on the king 
 of Naples, fled in disguise December 5th, march- 
 ing by night, and halting by day, and harrassed 
 by the Cossacks, they reached Wilna on the 
 10th. The Russians allowed them not to re- 
 pose, but pursued them- to the banks of the 
 Nieinen, taking in this space 22,00k) prisoners, 
 150 pieces of cannon, and vast magazines, 
 which the French had provided. Such was the 
 close of this campaign, which was generally 
 expected would have completed the subjugation 
 of the European continent; but in which, the 
 conqueror of Marengo, Austerlitz, Jena, Fried- 
 land, and Wag-ram, was routed by men whom 
 he despised as barbarians; his legions entirely 
 destroyed; and himself compelled to flee in a 
 solitary sledge under a feigned name. The 
 Russians are stated to have taken, in the course 
 of the French retreat, 41 generals, 1298 inferior 
 officers, 167,510 non-commissioned officers and 
 privates, and 1131 pieces of artillery. 
 
 The conduct of Alexander, through the whole 
 
 of this mighty struggle, was worthy of the 
 
 highest admiration. Confident in the justice of 
 
 his cause, ^he resources of his empire, and the 
 
 2 E 
 
418 HOUSE OF HOMANOF. 
 
 aid of Providence, he beheld the storm without 
 dismay ; and with a magnanimity, not surpassed 
 by the most renowned patriots of ancient or 
 modern times, made whatever sacrifices the pre- 
 servation of his country required. When the 
 torrent had spent its fury, and the prospect 
 began to brighten, while he expressed unfeigned 
 gratitude to the Author of Deliverance, he neg- 
 lected nothing which might complete the over- 
 throw of his malignant enemy. 
 
 Having succeeded in expelling the enemy of 
 national independence, ruined, and disgraced 
 from his own dominions, Alexander resolved to 
 improve his successes for the salvation of Europe, 
 He rewarded all the soldiers who had been in 
 the late campaign with a silver medal, to be 
 suspended by a blue ribbon ; he ordered a new 
 lew of eight men in every five hundred, except* 
 ing those provinces which had suffered by the 
 invasion ; and proceeding to Wilna, six months 
 after he had quitted it, he issued various 
 regulations for correcting the disorders which 
 the presence of the enemy had spread in many 
 districts, arid preventing the infection from the 
 distempered prisoners, and unburied carcases. 
 He visited the hospitals attentively. When his 
 troops passed the frontiers of Russia, he pub- 
 lished a declaration of his intentions. In this 
 document, he disclaimed all views of conquest, 
 offered peace to those nations which should 
 
ALEXANDER. 419 
 
 abandon the French ruler, and called upon 
 Europe to embrace the opportunity, which Pro- 
 vidence afforded to re-establish an equilibrium 
 of power. 
 
 The first symptoms of a disposition to receive 
 the Russians as deliverers, appeared in the defec- 
 tion of 15,000 Prussians, under the command of 
 D'York; and in an unlimited truce which the 
 Austrians, under prince Schwartzenberg, con- 
 cluded with the Russian general Sacken. These 
 events were followed by a proclamation of his 
 Prussian majesty, calling" upon his subjects to 
 exert themselves for their independence. Before 
 the end of March, the Russian and Prussian 
 troops spread themselves on the left bank of the 
 Elbe, drove the French, under general Morand, 
 from Lnneburg, killing the general, and taking 
 2300 prisoners, and nine pieces of artillery, and 
 frustrated the attempt of Beauharnois to surprize 
 Berlin. Sweden openly declared for the allies, 
 and by a treaty of subsidy with Great Britain, 
 engaged to employ on the continent 30,000 men 
 under the crown prince. About the middle of 
 April, the allied armies concentrated themselves 
 in the vicinity of Leipsic ; the Prussians, under 
 general Blucher, at Altenburg, and the Russians 
 at Doelisch, under Vigtenstien, the veteran 
 Kutusof having finished his career of glory. 
 
 Buonaparte, meanwhile, having silenced the 
 discontents which his disasters excited among 
 2 E 2 
 
420 HOUSE OF ROM AN OF. 
 
 the French, and disposed them to fresh sacrifices 
 to his disappointed ambition, appeared at the 
 head of a new army, consisting, besides the im- 
 perial guards, of twelve corps, respectively com- 
 manded by officers of tried merit. To prevent a 
 junction between the division of the French army, 
 under the viceroy of Italy, posted near Halle, and 
 the main body in the vicinity of Weissenfels and 
 Lutzen, Vigtenstien determined to attack the 
 latter ; and with this view, on the night between 
 the 1st and 2nd of May, passed the defile of the 
 Elester, near Pegau. On the same field where 
 Gustavus the Great lost his life, the battle be- 
 came general about noon, and was maintained 
 with most destructive obstinacy for seven hours. 
 The loss on each side is uncertain, but at least 
 amounted to 12,000 men. Though the allies 
 remained masters of the field, they felt their 
 loss so severely, as to retire beyond the Elbe. 
 Buonaparte, having taken the command of his 
 army, 100,000 strong, planned an attack upon 
 the front of the allies, while a division under 
 Ney, Lauriston, and Regnier, should endeavour 
 to turn their right. Vigtenstein defeated the 
 latter part of the plan, by anticipating the at- 
 tack of those generals on the 19th ; but on the 
 20th, the passage of the Spree being forced by the 
 French, he was compelled, after a hard struggle 
 of seven hours, to abandon his position on. the 
 banks of that river, and to retire to Wurtschen. 
 
ALEXANDER, 4S1 
 
 Here he was attacked again at day-break next 
 morning, and his right wing being turned, found 
 it necessary to retreat. 
 
 Though in these engagements Buonaparte 
 had been successful, the advantage had been 
 dearly purchased, the allies fought bravely, re- 
 tired in good order upon their resources, and 
 had reason to expect new confederates. Buona- 
 parte, therefore, as he could only hope at most to 
 retain his advantages, availed himself of the dis- 
 position of Austria to propose to the emperor 
 Alexander, as a prelude to. a congress for a 
 general pacification, an armistice, which took 
 place June 1st. 
 
 The congress assembled at Prague; but it 
 soon appeared that Buonaparte would not agree 
 to such terms as were likely to insure the tran- 
 quillity of Europe. Austria declared for the 
 allies, and formed a treaty with Great Britain, 
 Russia, and Prussia. During the armistice, 
 which terminated August >7th, preparations for 
 the renewal of hostilities proceeded with 
 alacrity, and the allies took the field with high 
 expectations of conquering a general and per- 
 manent peace. About the middle of August, the 
 emperor Francis and Alexander, and the king 
 of Prussia, met at Prague to concert offensive 
 measures. It was agreed to assail the enemy in 
 front and rear; the Austro-Russislm army, under 
 prince Schwa rtzenberg, to act from Bohemia; 
 
422 HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 the Prussian and Russian army, under Blucher, 
 to move from Silesia. An army 90,000 strong*, 
 consisting chiefly of Russians and Swedes, com- 
 manded by the crown prince of Sweden, was 
 destined to cover Berlin, and counteract the 
 efforts of the French in the north of Germany. 
 
 Buonaparte had collected his armies in 
 Dresden and its vicinity . Reinforcements from 
 France had joined him daily, and Dresden, to- 
 gether with the fortified places in its neighbour- 
 hood, had been put in the best possible state of 
 defence. It was now to be tried, whether Buo- 
 naparte, who had given law to all the nations of 
 the European continent, could be made to relin- 
 quish his usurpations. For a time, his efforts 
 -were worthy of his former fame. On the 21st 
 of August he attacked Blucher on the Bober, 
 and obliged him to retire; and on the 27th, 
 he repulsed the attempt of the allies to carry 
 Dresden by assault. Next day he compelled 
 them to retrograde into the -mountains of Bo- 
 hemia. In these affairs, the allies lost 10,000 
 men , and the famous general Moreau, who had 
 one of his legs carried away, and the other shat- 
 tered, while he conversed with the emperor 
 Alexander. This success, however, was but 
 momentary. A division of the French, under 
 Vandamme and Bertrand, which had pre-oc- 
 cupied the pass of Osterwalde, after a desperate 
 conflict on the 30th with the Russians under 
 
At.EXA.NDER. 123 
 
 eount Osterman, was assailed the next day on 
 all sides, and entirely routed ; Vandamme, with 
 six of his general officers, all his baggage, 60 
 pieces of artillery, and 10,000 prisoners, remain. 
 ing" with the victors. Blucher, having been 
 forced on the 22nd to retire from a sanguinary 
 conflict with marshal Macdonald, attacked the 
 marshal on the 26th, drove him to theKatsbach. 
 The bridges being broken, and the river swoln,the 
 combat, which was renewed on the two follow- 
 ing days, issued in the total defeat of the French, 
 with the loss of 18,000 prisoners, 103 pieces of 
 cannon, two eagles, and large quantities of pro- 
 vision and ammunition. The corps of several 
 generals, amounting to 70,000 men, under the 
 command of marshal Ney, who intended to 
 surprize Berlin, was routed by the crown prince 
 of Sweden at Dennewitz, September 8th. On 
 this occasion, the French lost 18,000 men, 50 
 pieces of cannon, and 400 ammunition waggons. 
 After defeating attempts of Buonaparte, first 
 to overthrow Blucher, and then Schwartzenberg, 
 the allies resolved on a combined movement to- 
 wards Leipsic, which should terminate the cam- 
 paign. To this point, Schwartzenberg moved 
 by Freyberg and Chemnitz with a large army of 
 Austrians, Russians, and Prussians. Blucher cross- 
 ed the Elbe, October 3, and fixed his head quar- 
 ters at Kremberg, and next day the crown prince 
 passed that river at Aeken. In consequence of 
 
424 HOUSTB OF JfcOJUANOF. 
 
 these movements, Buonaparte quitted Dresden, 
 and at Rochlitz, twenty miles south of Leipsic, 
 collected his armies, which amounted to 180,000 
 men* The crown prince and Blucher having 
 formed a j unction, passed the Saale, und the ad- 
 vance of 'the Bohemian army approached ^Al- 
 tenberg just at the time, when in consequence 
 of the treaty concluded between Austria -and 
 Bavaria, 55,000 Bavarians joined the allied cause. 
 In preparing for the mighty struggle, on which 
 were suspended the destinies of the cvvHJzed 
 world, the hostile armies were actuated with 
 very different sentiments. The French, though 
 the recollection of the retreat from Moscow and 
 the late reverses somewhat impaired the confi- 
 dence which the genius of their chief, a.nd 
 twenty years of victory and conquest inspired, 
 burnt, to retrieve their fame and re-establish 
 their power of spoiling the subjected nations. 
 The allies stung by the memory of oppression 
 and insult, animated by recent victories, and 
 the prospects of peace, and freedom, winch 
 ppened upon them, were eager to bless the 
 world, by overthrowing the enemy of its re- 
 pose. It fell to the lot of the veteran Blucher, 
 tO;begin this glorious contest. Advancing -from 
 Halle, October 14th, on the great road toJLeip- 
 sick, he occupied the villages on both sides of it, 
 where he found the French under iars;hals Mar- 
 
ALEXANDER. 425 
 
 fnont and Ney. The possession of the villages 
 was warmly contested, one of them being taken 
 and retaken five times, Buonaparte witnessed 
 the close of this battle, which night terminated 
 with the loss on the part of the allies, of 6000 or 
 7000 men, and on that of the enemy >of J2,060 men 
 with an eagle and 40 pieces of cannon. On the 
 16th the main army made an attack to the 
 south of Leipsic. After great slaughter but 
 little progress, the combatants remained in their 
 different positions. Next day being spent prin- 
 cipally in preparation, the allies moved on the 
 18th to the attack of Leipsic. The crown 
 prince forced the enemy's right, in the course 
 of which movement 22 pieces of Saxon artil- 
 lery, two Saxon battalions, and two regiments 
 of Westphalian hussars joined him, who were 
 immediately employed against the enemy. After 
 considerable resistance the great allied army 
 which assailed on the south, drove the French 
 from all points, and opened a communication 
 with that of the crown prince. The result of 
 this day's success was a loss to the enemy of 
 40*000 men, and 65 pieces of cannon, with the 
 desertion of 17 German battalions, who joined the 
 conquerors. Next day the emperor Alexander, 
 rejecting a flag of truce from the king of Sax- 
 ony, entreating him to spare the town, as an 
 artifice to gain time, ordered a general assault, 
 
426 HOUSE OP ROMANOF. 
 
 and two hours after Buonaparte's escape, Leip- 
 sic was taken with little resistance. The king 
 of Saxony and his court, with the rear guard 
 of the French army, 30,000 strong, the sick 
 and wounded, artillery, and stores, fell into the 
 hands of the allies. The emperor Alexander, 
 the king of Prussia, and the crown prince of 
 Sweden, met at the head of their respective 
 armies, in the square of the city, amidst the 
 acclamations of the people. 
 
 This victory was decisive. Buonaparte fled 
 in disorder, and after a conflict at Hanau with 
 the Bavarians under general Wrede, retreated 
 to Mentz. The nations felt that their chains 
 were broken. From the mouth of the Rhine to 
 the extremities of Calabria, Dutch, Germans, 
 Swiss, Tyrolese, and Italians, all aspired to 
 independence. 
 
 The allied sovereigns conducted their vic- 
 torious troops to the Rhine, in order to finish, 
 what they had begun with such success. They 
 assembled at Frankfort, the emperors of Austria 
 and Russia, the kings of Prussia and Bavaria, 
 with many other German princes. ^Having re- 
 solved on the invasion of France, as the likeliest 
 expedient to procure a lasting peace, to prevent 
 any misapprehensions which this step might oc- 
 casion in the minds, of their friends, as well as 
 deprive Buonaparte of the advantage which it 
 
ALEXANDER. 427 
 
 might afford him in exciting the French to sup- 
 port his preposterous ambition, they issued De- 
 cember 1, a declaration explanatory of their 
 principles and conduct. They made war, they 
 said, not against France, but against the prepon- 
 derance which the emperor Napoleon had so 
 long and so unhappily exercised beyond the 
 limits of his empire. They desired that France 
 might be great, powerful and happy ; but wished 
 to be free, tranquil, and happy themselves. 
 Having made offers of such a peace as might 
 preserve Europe from the calamities which had 
 afflicted it for twenty years, they were deter- 
 mined not to lay down their arms till that great 
 object was secured, The allied armies now 
 passed the frontiers of France, and the French 
 were to feel the evils which they had succes- 
 sively diffused through all the nations of the 
 continent. The armies of France were so com- 
 pletely destroyed that the allies spread them- 
 selves through Alsace and Franche Comte with- 
 out meeting with any thing like resistance. 
 
 The rapidity of the French conquests was 
 a matter of astonishment and alarm to all per- 
 sons interested in the independence of nations, 
 and apprehensive of the evils of universal mo- 
 narchy. But the conquests of the French were 
 lost in as many months as it took years to ac- 
 quire them. In extending their power, tKey 
 
428 HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 were greatly assisted by the deceitful promises 
 of liberty which they held out to the nations, 
 and the abuses of the ancient governments ; but 
 they lost it through extravagant ambition, and 
 insupportable oppressions. In the career of vic- 
 tory the French affected to emulate the Romans. 
 That extraordinary people, however, knew 
 when to limit and how to retain their con- 
 quests. 
 
 When Buonaparte returned in disgrace a 
 second time to his capital, though he boasted of 
 victories, he acknowledged that they had been 
 followed by the same consequences as defeats. 
 Addressing the senate, November 14th, he said, 
 " All Europe is now against us. We should 
 have every thing to fear ; but for the power and 
 energy of the nation. If circumstances appear 
 great and critical, posterity will acknowledge 
 they were not superior to France and me." 
 Never was an anticipation more unfortunate. 
 To meet the present difficulties, Buonaparte im- 
 posed additional taxes, ordered anew conscription 
 of 300,000 men, and appointed commissioners 
 from the senate with authority to organize the 
 means of defence in all the military divisions. This 
 commission suspended every other magistrate. 
 
 All the efforts of Buonaparte to rouse the 
 spirit of the people by misrepresenting the in- 
 tentions of the allies were ineffectual. The desice 
 
ALEXANDER, 429 
 
 of peace was so strong that he was obliged to 
 profess an acquiescence in the moderate terms 
 which his enemies proposed as the basis of 
 negotiation, and an acknowledgement that he in- 
 terposed not any obstacles to the re-establish- 
 ment of peace. But he was not sincere. He 
 laid the correspondence which had passed be- 
 tween his minister, and those of the allies before 
 a committee of the senate, in expectation that 
 they would find in it proofs of his pacific in- 
 tentions, and of an aversion in the allies to 
 reasonable terms of reconciliation. This artifice 
 failed. The committee, aware of the inclina- 
 tions of the people to peace, with a courageous 
 honesty, worthy of the highest commendation, 
 advised their ruler to declare solemnly that the 
 French made war only for their independence, 
 and the integrity of their territories. Though 
 this advice was far from what Buonaparte wished, 
 he found it expedient to yield in appearance at 
 least to public opinion, and sent a minister to 
 treat with the allies. Conferences were opened 
 at Chatillon, February 4th, for the purpose of 
 negotiating a general peace. 
 
 Offensive operations meanwhile proceeded 
 between the belligerents. When the allied 
 armies entered the French territories, not only 
 were declarations issued by their generals, dis- 
 claiming all views of conquest, and expressing 
 
430 HOUSE OF ROMAN or. 
 
 an earnest desire of a peace which might be 
 honourable for France and safe for the rest of 
 Europe ; but the emperor Alexander published 
 an address to his troops, in which after remind- 
 ing them of what their valour and discipline 
 had accomplished, he stated that his wish was 
 that peace might be restored to every nation, and 
 that in all countries the welfare of the people, 
 the service of God, arts and commerce might 
 be promoted. He exhorted his soldiers to forget 
 what they had suffered from the malignity 
 of their enemy, and instead of imitating his 
 crimes, offer him the hand of friendship, and 
 the olive of peace. " In such a conquest over 
 ourselves as well as our enemy," said this im- 
 perial peacemaker; " the effulgence of Russian 
 glory will be conspicuous. The religion that 
 we cherish commands us to forgive our enemies, 
 and to do good to those that persecute us. Sol- 
 diers, I am firmly persuaded, that by your proper 
 behaviour in an enemy's country you will gain 
 the affection of those whom you conquer by your 
 valour. Remember that you will best promote 
 the end which we have in view by temperance, 
 discipline, and Christian love." 
 
 The allies advanced into the interior of France, 
 the grand army, which moved on the Seine en- 
 tered Troyes, February 7th, and the Silesian 
 army, under marshal Blucher, which directed 
 
ALEXANDER. 431 
 
 its march upon the Marne, obtained possession of 
 Chalons on the 5th, and pushed its corps as far 
 as Montmirail and Champaubert. Buonaparte 
 having organized the national guard of Paris, 
 and entrusted the regency to his consort, left 
 his capital for the last time, January 25th, and 
 soon took the command of his troops. His first 
 attacks upon the allies being ineffectual, he col- 
 lected his forces near Sezanne. On the llth he 
 attacked the corps under general D'York and 
 baron Sacken, who marched upon Montmirail. 
 After a sharp contest Sacken was obliged to re- 
 treat with considerable loss. 
 
 Marshal Blucher having learnt that marshal 
 Marmont was at Etoges, determined to attack 
 him, and on the 13th drove him from his po- 
 sition ; but pursuing him next day, he was en- 
 countered by Buonaparte, who by a forced 
 march from Chateau Thierry joined Marmont at 
 Janvilliers. The situation of marshal Blucher 
 at this time was extremely critical, the enemy 
 having double the number of infantry, and treble 
 the number of cavalry. But though assailed on all 
 sides, he maintained a retiring combat for twelve 
 miles, preserving his columns in firm unbroken 
 order. In this desperate conflict, in which it 
 was the intention of the enemy to destroy his 
 whole corps, Blucher lost 3000 men, and seven 
 pieces of cannon. 
 
432 HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 The grand allied army meanwhile having: 
 taken Sens, and sent light troops as far as Melun 
 and Fontainbleau, recalled Buonaparte from 
 the pursuit of marshal Blucher. He fell in 
 with a corps of Vigtenstein's advanced guard on 
 the 17th, and drove it back with great loss. 
 This affair induced prince Schwartzenberg to 
 withdraw the greater part of his army across 
 the Seine. On the following day the posts, 
 which he retained on that riv6r, were attacked 
 with great vigor by the enemy, who though 
 thrice repulsed renewed the attack at night with 
 success. Prince Schwartzenberg retired in con- 
 sequence to Troyes. 
 
 After the action of the 14th, Blucher pursued 
 his retreat without molestation to Chalons. But 
 when he perceived that the enemy had aban- 
 doned the pursuit, he reunited the corps of his 
 army, and began again to advance. On the 
 28th he crossed the Marne, without difficulty 
 near Ferte-sous-Jouarre. The advance of the 
 Silesian army obliged Buonaparte to desist 
 from following prince Schwartzenberg. On this, 
 the prince again moved forward, and took Bar 
 sur Aube on the 27th, and drove the French 
 from all their positions on the Aube., with 
 the loss of between 3000 and 4000 men. 
 March 3d, he defeated marshal Oudinot, be- 
 tween Bar-sur-Seine, and Bar-sur-Aube, taking 
 
ALEXANDER. 433 
 
 3000 prisoners, and 10 pieces of artillery and 
 made himself again master of Troyes. To 
 preserve a communication with marshal Blucher 
 and threaten the rear of Buonaparte, he ordered 
 count Platof to move upon the Sezane. 
 
 On the advance of Buonaparte, marshal Blu- 
 cher retired upon his reinforcements, and on the 
 3rd formed a junction with the corps of gene- 
 rals Winzingerode and Bulow, taking a po- 
 sition behind Soissons. On the 5th Buona- 
 parte, with the whole of his guards, and the 
 corps of marshals Marmont and Mortier, com- 
 menced an attack upon the town which was de- 
 fended by 10,000 Russians. The enemy having 
 gained possession of the suburbs, an obstinate 
 contest ensued till night. In the morning the 
 Russians were left masters of the town ; but 
 Buonaparte having crossed the Aisne, directed 
 his march upon Laon, and next day made a 
 vigorous attack wjth his whole army 60,000 
 strong, upon the droops of marshal Blucher. 
 Though the enemy was resisted at all points 
 with great spirit the marshal toward night re- 
 tired upon Laon. In this position he was again 
 attacked on the 9th by Buonaparte, with all his 
 force, and the contest was maintained for two 
 days, with little intermission, when all the efforts 
 of the enemy were baffled, and he was com- 
 pelled to retire in disorder. Between 5000 an$ 
 2 F 
 
434 HOUSE Of ROMAN OF. 
 
 6000 prisoners, with 48 pieces of camion fell 
 into the hands of the allies. This was the last 
 great battle fought by Buonaparte. He retired 
 to Chavign ; but Rheiins having been taken 
 by general St. Priest, he attacked that place on 
 the 12th. Count St. Priest, was surrounded, 
 and the allies lost the town with 2000 men. 
 This closed the series of Buonaparte's victories. 
 
 Nothing was more advantageous to the allies 
 than the temporary success of Buonaparte in 
 retarding their advance upon Paris. Inspiring 
 him with a vain confidence of retrieving his af- 
 fairs, it induced him to reject the favourable 
 terms, on which the allies offered him peace, 
 His presumption completed his ruin. 
 
 The negotiations at Chatillon having been 
 broken off, Buonaparte passed into the rear of 
 the allies, with the groundless hope of drawing 
 them to the Rhine, in order to protect their 
 magazines and preserve their communication 
 with Germany. As the allied generals soon 
 penetrated his designs, they immediately united 
 their armies 200,000 strong, and marched di- 
 rectly to Paris. On the 25th they drove back 
 the corps of Marmont and Mortier, which they 
 met not far from Vitry, hastening to the aid of 
 Buonaparte, and near Fere Champenoise, a large 
 convoy of provisions and ammunition, escorted 
 by 6000 men, after a stout resistance, fell into 
 
ALEXANDER. 
 
 their hands. Arriving at Paris on the 29th the 
 allies posted themselves from the wood of Vin- 
 cennes on the left to Montmartre on the right. 
 Prince Schwartzenberg sent a proclamation 
 calling upon the citizens to hasten the peace 
 of the world by concurring with the allies in 
 establishing a salutary government in France. 
 The proposition was rejected, and on the 30th 
 Marmont and Mortier joined by the garrison 
 of Paris took post on the heights of Belleville. 
 A sanguinary contest ensued; but the allies 
 forced all the posts of the enemy, and in the 
 moment of victory, a flag of truce arriving from 
 Paris proposed to accept of the offers, which had 
 been already refused. This being agreeable to 
 the victors, next morning the allied princes 
 rode into Paris at the head of their troops. 
 Buonaparte's reception in Moscow was very 
 different from the greeting with which Alexander 
 and his Prussian majesty met on entering vic- 
 torious into Paris. Their progress was like that 
 of a sovereign, returning among his subjects 
 from the conquest of their enemies. They were 
 hailed as deliverers. " Long live the emperor 
 Alexander," " Long live our deliverer," " Long 
 live the king of Prussia," were the loud and 
 hearty acclamations with which the inhabitants 
 of Paris welcomed their conquerors. The voice 
 of the people was unanimous for peace, and a 
 2 F 2 
 
436 HOUSE OP ROMAN OF. 
 
 change of rulers ; and the emperor Alexander, 
 in concert with his ally the king of Prussia, 
 issued a declaration, expressing his purpose not 
 to treat with Buonaparte or any of his family, 
 to respect the integrity of France as it existed 
 under its ancient kings, and sanction whatever 
 constitution the French should adopt. A pro- 
 visional government was in consequence instantly 
 nominated ; the dynasty of Buonaparte sub- 
 verted ; a new constitution formed ; and Louis 
 XVIII. recognized as the legitimate sovereign. 
 
 Buonaparte, meanwhile, apprized of the ad- 
 vance of the allies to Paris, endeavoured to re- 
 pair his error by a rapid pursuit. But 
 disappointed of supplies, with troops harassed 
 by the enemy's cavalry and exhausted by pri- 
 vation and fatigue, he found that his enemies 
 were masters in his capital, while he was at 
 the distance of two days march. Returned aside 
 therefore, to Fontainbleau to collect his forces ; 
 but deserted even by those troops, whom he 
 had so often led to conquest, after an ineffectual 
 attempt to prolong his power by proposing to 
 resign in favour of his son, he renounced for 
 himself, and his heirs, the throne of France, and 
 accepted from the generosity of his enemies, his 
 liberty, a residence, and a pension. 
 
 This was the close of a- war, the most dis- 
 tinguished by a rapid succession of great vicis- 
 
437 
 
 situdes, and so far as it is proper to judge from 
 conjecture, by important consequences, of any 
 recorded in history. Eighteen months ago Buo- 
 naparte* deemed worthy of the appellation Great 
 by the French, possessed of almost all Spain, 
 absolute master in Holland, Germany, Italy, 
 and Poland, having an ascendancy in Austria, 
 and a name armed with the terror of sixteen 
 years of victory, gained in every part of the 
 European continent, threatened from the palace 
 of the tzars in Moscow, to create a duke 
 of Smolensk and Petersbnrgh, and expunge 
 Russia from the list of nations. After being 1 
 driven from Russia as a fugitive, routed in the 
 plains of Leipsic, and foiled in the centre of 
 his dominions, he is now opposed by all Eu- 
 rope, deserted by France, and so humbled as 
 voluntarily to renounce his authority, and receive 
 gratuities from the liberality of his conquerors. 
 
 In this marvellous revolution, which has re- 
 leased so many oppressed nations, and promises 
 to contribute so much to the welfare not only 
 of the other nations of Europe, but of France 
 itself, it is impossible for a Christian mind not to 
 recognize the procedure of the great disposer. 
 Buonaparte, in attempting the invasion of Rus- 
 sia, in consuming so much time amidst the 
 ruins of Moscow, in allowing his position to be 
 turned at Dresden, in rejecting the favourable 
 
438 HOUSE OF ROMANOF. 
 
 terms of the allied sovereigns^ and in abandon- 
 ing his capital to the attack of the combined 
 armies, discovered that infatuation with which 
 providence visits the great of the world, when 
 it wishes a signal triumph over the haughtiness 
 of men. That the emperor Alexander, supposed 
 to be of a yielding temper, should have opposed 
 his adversary with such unshaken resolution 
 when his overwhelming forces had taken pos- 
 session of the ancient capital of his dominions, 
 that the allied princes should have, amidst a 
 tide of prosperity, pressed with harmony to 
 their ultimate object, as well as have shown 
 such forbearance, when their efforts were 
 crowned with success far beyond their most 
 sanguine hopes, are events of so peculiar an 
 order as to indicate a remarkable interference of 
 providence. 
 
 The conduct.of the emperor Alexander through 
 the whole series of these extraordinary trans- 
 actions, it is difficult too highly to commend. 
 Unbending firmness amidst great disasters, ge- 
 nerosity in offering aid to the oppressed, and 
 undeviating constancy in pursuing disinterested 
 projects of vast utility, are indeed qualities which 
 he has discovered in common with other select 
 spirits; but when posterity shall search the 
 records of history for an example of moderation 
 amidst unusual successes, they will fix upon the 
 
ALEXANBER. 
 
 the behaviour of this prince when he led his 
 victorious troops into the capital of France. 
 May his life be prolonged and his mind disposed 
 to accomplish as much for the liberty and hap- 
 piness of his subjects, as he has accomplished 
 for the independence and prosperity of the civi* 
 jized world. 
 
 FINIS, 
 

 H.Bryer, Printer, Bridge Street, Blackfriars, London; 
 

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