Peter the Great Part 4

The emperor acquired great fame throughout Europe by the success of his operations in the siege of Azof. This success also greatly increased his interest in the building of ships, especially as he now, since Azof had fallen into his hands, had a port upon an open sea.

In a word, Peter was now very eager to begin at once the building ships of war. He was determined that he would have a fleet which would enable him to go out and meet the Turks in the Black Sea. The great difficulty was to provide the necessary funds. To accomplish this purpose, Peter, who was never at all scrupulous in respect to the means which he adopted for attaining his ends, resorted at once to very decided measures. Besides the usual taxes which were laid upon the people to maintain the war, he ordained that a certain number of wealthy n.o.blemen should each pay for one ship, which, however, as some compensation for the cost which the n.o.bleman was put to in building it, he was at liberty to call by his own name. The same decree was made in respect to a number of towns, monasteries, companies, and public inst.i.tutions. The emperor also made arrangements for having a large number of workmen sent into Russia from Holland, and from Venice, and from other maritime countries. The emperor laid his plans in this way for the construction and equipment of a fleet of about one hundred ships and vessels, consisting of frigates, store-ships, bomb-vessels, galleys, and gallia.s.ses. These were all to be built, equipped, and made in all respects ready for sea in the s.p.a.ce of three years; and if any person or party failed to have his ship ready at that time, the amount of the tax which had been a.s.sessed to him was to be doubled.

In all these proceedings, the Czar, as might have been expected from his youth and his headstrong character, acted in a very summary, and in many respects in an arbitrary and despotic manner. His decrees requiring the n.o.bles to contribute such large sums for the building of his fleet occasioned a great deal of dissatisfaction and complaint.

And very soon he resorted to some other measures, which increased the general discontent exceedingly.

He appointed a considerable number of the younger n.o.bility, and the sons of other persons of wealth and distinction, to travel in the western countries of Europe while the fleet was preparing, giving them special instructions in respect to the objects of interest which they should severally examine and study. The purpose of this measure was to advance the general standard of intelligence in Russia by affording to these young men the advantages of foreign travel, and enlarging their ideas in respect to the future progress of their own country in the arts and appliances of civilized life. The general idea of the emperor in this was excellent, and the effect of the measure would have been excellent too if it had been carried out in a more gentle and moderate way. But the fathers of the young men were incensed at having their sons ordered thus peremptorily out of the country, whether they liked to go or not, and however inconvenient it might be for the fathers to provide the large amounts of money which were required for such journeys. It is said that one young man was so angry at being thus sent away that he determined that his country should not derive any benefit from the measure, so far as his case was concerned, and accordingly, when he arrived at Venice, which was the place where he was sent, he shut himself up in his house, and remained there all the time, in order that he might not see or learn any thing to make use of on his return.

This seems almost incredible. Indeed, the story has more the air of a witticism, invented to express the sullen humor with which many of the young men went away, than the sober statement of a fact. Still, it is not impossible that such a thing may have actually occurred; for the veneration of the old Russian families for their own country, and the contempt with which they had been accustomed for many generations to look upon foreigners, and upon every thing connected with foreign manners and customs, were such as might lead in extreme cases, to almost any degree of fanaticism in resisting the emperor's measures.

At any rate, in a short time there was quite a powerful party formed in opposition to the foreign influences which Peter was introducing into the country.

There was no one in the imperial family to whom this party could look for a leader and head except the Princess Sophia. The Czar John, Peter's feeble brother, was dead, otherwise they might have made his name their rallying cry. Sophia was still shut up in the convent to which Peter had sent her on the discovery of her conspiracy against him. She was kept very closely guarded there. Still, the leaders of the opposition contrived to open a communication with her. They took every means to increase and extend the prevailing discontent. To people of wealth and rank they represented the heavy taxes which they were obliged to pay to defray the expenses of the emperor's wild schemes, and the loss of their own proper influence and power in the government of the country, they themselves being displaced to make room for foreigners, or favorites like Menzikoff, that were raised from the lowest grades of life to posts of honor and profit which ought to be bestowed upon the ancient n.o.bility alone. To the poor and ignorant they advanced other arguments, which were addressed chiefly to their religious prejudices. The government were subverting all the ancient usages of the country, they said, and throwing every thing into the hands of infidel or heretical foreigners. The course which the Czar was pursuing was contrary to the laws of G.o.d, they said, who had forbidden the children of Israel to have any communion with the unbelieving nations around them, in order that they might not be led away by them into idolatry. And so in Russia, they said, the extensive power of granting permission to any Russian subject to leave the country vested, according to the ancient usages of the empire, with the patriarch, the head of the Church--and Peter had violated these usages in sending away so many of the sons of the n.o.bility without the patriarch's consent. There were many other measures, too, which Peter had adopted, or which he had then in contemplation, that were equally obnoxious to the charge of impiety. For instance, he had formed a plan--and he had even employed engineers to take preliminary steps in reference to the execution of it--for making a ca.n.a.l from the River Wolga to the River Don, thus presumptuously and impiously undertaking to turn the streams one way, when Providence had designed them to flow in another! Absurd as many of these representations were, they had great influence with the ma.s.s of the common people.

At length this opposition party became so extended and so strong that the leaders thought the time had arrived for them to act. They accordingly arranged the details of their plot, and prepared to put it in execution.

The scheme which they formed was this: they were to set fire to some houses in the night, not far from the royal palace, and when the emperor came out, as it is said was his custom to do, in order to a.s.sist in extinguishing the flames, they were to set upon him and a.s.sa.s.sinate him.

It may seem strange that it should be the custom of the emperor himself to go out and a.s.sist personally in extinguishing fires. But it so happened that the houses of Moscow at this time were almost all built of wood, and they were so combustible, and were, moreover, so much exposed, on account of the many fires required in the winter season in so cold a climate, that the city was subject to dreadful conflagrations. So great was the danger, that the inhabitants were continually in dread of it, and all cla.s.ses vied with each other in efforts to avert the threatened calamity whenever a fire broke out.

Besides this, there were in those days no engines for throwing water, and no organized department of firemen. All this, of course, is entirely different at the present day in modern cities, where houses are built of brick or stone, and the arrangements for extinguishing fires are so complete that an alarm of fire creates no sensation, but people go on with their business or saunter carelessly along the streets, while the firemen are gathering, without feeling the least concern.

As soon as they had made sure of the death of the Czar, the conspirators were to repair to the convent where Sophia was imprisoned, release her from her confinement, and proclaim her queen. They were then to reorganize the Guards, restore all the officers who had been degraded at the time of Couvansky's rebellion, then ma.s.sacre all the foreigners whom Peter had brought into the country, especially his particular favorites, and so put every thing back upon its ancient footing.

The time fixed for the execution of this plot was the night of the 2d of February, 1697; but the whole scheme was defeated by what the conspirators would probably call the treachery of two of their number.

These were two officers of the Guards who had been concerned in the plot, but whose hearts failed them when the hour arrived for putting it into execution. Falling into conversation with each other just before the time, and finding that they agreed in feeling on the subject, they resolved at once to go and make a full confession to the Czar.

So they went immediately to the house of Le Fort, where the Czar then was, and made a confession of the whole affair. They related all the details of the plot, and gave the names of the princ.i.p.al persons concerned in it.

The emperor was at table with Le Fort at the time that he received this communication. He listened to it very coolly--manifested no surprise--but simply rose from the table, ordered a small body of men to attend him, and, taking the names of the princ.i.p.al conspirators, he went at once to their several houses and arrested them on the spot.

The leaders having been thus seized, the execution of the plot was defeated. The prisoners were soon afterward put to the torture, in order to compel them to confess their crime, and to reveal the names of all their confederates. Whether the names thus extorted from them by suffering were false or true would of course be wholly uncertain, but all whom they named were seized, and, after a brief and very informal trial, all, or nearly all, were condemned to death. The sentence of death was executed on them in the most barbarous manner. A great column was erected in the market-place in Moscow, and fitted with iron spikes and hooks, which were made to project from it on every side, from top to bottom. The criminals were then brought out one by one, and first their arms were cut off, then their legs, and finally their heads. The amputated limbs were then hung up upon the column by the hooks, and the heads were fixed to the spikes. There they remained--a horrid spectacle, intended to strike terror into all beholders--through February and March, as long as the weather continued cold enough to keep them frozen. When at length the spring came on, and the flesh of these dreadful trophies began to thaw, they were taken down and thrown together into a pit, among the bodies of common thieves and murderers.

This was the end of the second conspiracy formed against the life of Peter the Great.

CHAPTER VI.

THE EMPEROR'S TOUR.

1697

Objects of the tour--An emba.s.sy to be sent--The emperor to go incognito--His a.s.sociates--The regency--Disposition of the Guards--The emba.s.sy leaves Moscow--Riga--Not allowed to see the fortifications--Arrival at Konigsberg--Grand procession in entering the city--The pages--Curiosity of the people--The escort--Crowds in the streets--The emba.s.sy arrives at its lodgings--Audience of the king--Presents--Delivery of the letter from the Czar--Its contents--The king's reply--Grand banquet--Effects of such an emba.s.sy--The policy of modern governments--The people now reserve their earnings for their own use--How Peter occupied his time--Dantzic--Peter preserves his incognito--Presents--His dress--His interest in the shipping--Grand entrance into Holland--Curiosity of the people--Peter enters Amsterdam privately--Views of the Hollanders--Residence of the Czar--The East India Company--Peter goes to work--His real object in pursuing this course--His taste for mechanics--The opportunities and facilities he enjoyed--His old workshop--Mode of preserving it--The workmen in the yard--Peter's visits to his friends in Amsterdam--The rich merchant--Peter's manners and character--The Hague--The emba.s.sy at the Hague

At the time when the emperor issued his orders to so many of the sons of the n.o.bility, requiring them to go and reside for a time in the cities of western Europe, he formed the design of going himself to make a tour in that part of the world, for the purpose of visiting the courts and capitals, and seeing with his own eyes what arts and improvements were to be found there which might be advantageously introduced into his own dominions. In the spring of the year 1697, he thought that the time had come for carrying this idea into effect.

The plan which he formed was not to travel openly in his own name, for he knew that in this case a great portion of his time and attention, in the different courts and capitals, would be wasted in the grand parades, processions, and ceremonies with which the different sovereigns would doubtless endeavor to honor his visit. He therefore determined to travel incognito, in the character of a private person in the train of an emba.s.sy. An emba.s.sy could proceed more quietly from place to place than a monarch traveling in his own name; and then besides, if the emperor occupied only a subordinate place in the train of the emba.s.sy, he could slip away from it to pursue his own inquiries in a private manner whenever he pleased, leaving the emba.s.sadors themselves and those of their train who enjoyed such scenes to go through all the public receptions and other pompous formalities which would have been so tiresome to him.

General Le Fort, who had by this time been raised to a very high position under Peter's government, was placed at the head of this emba.s.sy. Two other great officers of state were a.s.sociated with him. Then came secretaries, interpreters, and subordinates of all kinds, in great numbers, among whom Peter was himself enrolled under a fict.i.tious name.

Peter took with him several young men of about his own age. Two or three of these were particular friends of his, whom he wished to have accompany him for the sake of their companionship on the journey. There were some others whom he selected on account of the talent which they had evinced for mechanical and mathematical studies. These young men he intended to have instructed in the art of ship-building in some of the countries which the emba.s.sy were to visit.

Besides these arrangements in respect to the emba.s.sy, provision was, of course, to be made by the emperor for the government of the country during his absence. He left the administration in the hands of three great n.o.bles, the first of whom was one of his uncles, his mother's brother. The name of this prince was Naraskin. The other two n.o.bles were a.s.sociated with Naraskin in the regency. These commissioners were to have the whole charge of the government of the country during the Czar's absence. Peter's little son, whose name was Alexis, and who was now about seven years old, was also committed to their keeping.

Not having entire confidence in the fidelity of the old Guards, Peter did not trust the defense of Moscow to them, but he garrisoned the fortifications in and around the capital with a force of about twelve thousand men that he had gradually brought together for that purpose. A great many of these troops, both officers and men, were foreigners.

Peter placed greater reliance on them on that account, supposing that they would be less likely to sympathize with and join the people of the city in case of any popular discontent or disturbances. The Guards were sent off into the interior and toward the frontiers, where they could do no great mischief; even if disposed.

At length, when every thing was ready, the emba.s.sy set out from Moscow.

The departure of the expedition from the gates of the city made quite an imposing scene, so numerous was the party which composed the emba.s.sadors'

train. There were in all about three hundred men. The princ.i.p.al persons of the emba.s.sy were, of course, splendidly mounted and equipped, and they were followed by a line of wagons conveying supplies of clothing, stores, presents for foreign courts, and other baggage. This baggage-train was, of course, attended by a suitable escort. Vast mult.i.tudes of people a.s.sembled along the streets and at the gates of the city to see the grand procession commence its march.

The first place of importance at which the emba.s.sy stopped was the city of Riga, on the sh.o.r.es of the Gulf of Riga, in the eastern part of the Baltic Sea.[1] Riga and the province in which it was situated, though now a part of the Russian empire, then belonged to Sweden. It was the princ.i.p.al port on the Baltic in those days, and Peter felt a great interest in viewing it, as there was then no naval outlet in that direction from his dominions. The governor of Riga was very polite to the emba.s.sy, and gave them a very honorable reception in the city, but he refused to allow the emba.s.sadors to examine the fortifications. It had been arranged beforehand between the emba.s.sadors and Peter that two of them were to ask permission to see the fortifications, and that Peter himself was to go around with them as their attendant when they made their visit, in order that he might make his own observations in respect to the strength of the works and the mode of their construction. Peter was accordingly very much disappointed and vexed at the refusal of the governor to allow the fortifications to be viewed, and he secretly resolved that he would seize the first opportunity after his return to open a quarrel with the King of Sweden, and take this city away from him.

Leaving Riga, the emba.s.sy moved on toward the southward and westward until, at length, they entered the dominions of the King of Prussia.

They came soon to the city of Konigsberg, which was at that time the capital. The reception of the emba.s.sy at this city was attended with great pomp and display. The whole party halted at a small village at the distance of about a mile from the gates, in order to give time for completing the arrangements, and to await the arrival of a special messenger and an escort from the king to conduct them within the walls.

At length, when all was ready, the procession formed about four o'clock in the afternoon. First came a troop of horses that belonged to the king. They were splendidly caparisoned, but were not mounted. They were led by grooms. Then came an escort of troops of the Royal Guards. They were dressed in splendid red uniform, and were preceded by kettle-drums.

Then a company of the Prussian n.o.bility in beautifully-decorated coaches, each drawn by six horses. Next came the state carriages of the king.

The king himself was not in either of them, it being etiquette for the king to remain in his palace, and receive the emba.s.sy at a public audience there after their arrival. The royal carriages were sent out, however, as a special though indirect token of respect to the Czar, who was known to be in the train.

Then came a precession of pages, consisting of those of the king and those of the emba.s.sadors marching together. These pages were all beautiful boys, elegantly dressed in characteristic liveries of red laced with gold. They marched three together, two of the king's pages in each rank, with one of the emba.s.sadors' between them. The spectators were very much interested in these boys, and the boys were likewise doubtless much interested in each other; but they could not hold any conversation with each other, for probably those of each set could speak only their own language.

Next after the pages came the emba.s.sy itself. First there was a line of thirty-six carriages, containing the princ.i.p.al officers and attendants of the three emba.s.sadors. In one of these carriages, riding quietly with the rest as a subordinate in the train, was Peter. There was doubtless some vague intimation circulating among the crowd that the Emperor of Russia was somewhere in the procession, concealed in his disguise. But there were no means of identifying him, and, of course, whatever curiosity the people felt on the subject remained ungratified.

Next after these carriages came the military escort which the emba.s.sadors had brought with them. The escort was headed by the emba.s.sadors' band of music, consisting of trumpets, kettle-drums, and other martial instruments. Then came a body of foot-guards: their uniform was green, and they were armed with silver battle-axes. Then came a troop of hors.e.m.e.n, which completed the escort. Immediately after the escort there followed the grand state carriage of the emba.s.sy, with the three emba.s.sadors in it.

The procession was closed by a long train of elegant carriages, conveying various personages of wealth and distinction, who had come from the city to join in doing honor to the strangers.

As the procession entered the city, they found the streets through which they were to pa.s.s densely lined on each side by the citizens who had a.s.sembled to witness the spectacle. Through this vast concourse the emba.s.sadors and their suite advanced, and were finally conducted to a splendid palace which had been prepared for them in the heart of the city. The garrison of the city was drawn up at the gates of the palace, to receive them as they arrived. When the carriage reached the gate and the emba.s.sadors began to alight, a grand salute was fired from the guns of the fortress. The emba.s.sadors were immediately conducted to their several apartments in the palace by the officers who had led the procession, and then left to repose. When the officers were about to withdraw, the emba.s.sadors accompanied them to the head of the stairs and took leave of them there. The doors of the palace and the halls and entrances leading to the apartments of the emba.s.sadors were guarded by twenty-four soldiers, who were stationed there as sentinels to protect the precincts from all intrusion.

Four days after this there was another display, when the emba.s.sadors were admitted to their first public audience with the king. There was again a grand procession through the streets, with great crowds a.s.sembled to witness it, and bands of music, and splendid uniforms, and gorgeous equipages, all more magnificent, if possible, than before. The emba.s.sadors were conducted in this way to the royal palace. They entered the hall, dressed in cloth of gold and silver, richly embroidered, and adorned with precious stones of great value. Here they found the king seated on a throne, and attended by all the princ.i.p.al n.o.bles of his court. The emba.s.sadors advanced to pay their reverence to his majesty, bearing in their hands, in a richly-ornamented box, a letter from the Czar, with which they had been intrusted for him. There were a number of attendants also, who were loaded with rich and valuable presents which the emba.s.sadors had brought to offer to the king. The presents consisted of the most costly furs, tissues of gold and silver, precious stones, and the like, all productions of Russia, and of very great value.

The king received the emba.s.sadors in a very honorable manner, and made them an address of welcome in reply to the brief addresses of salutation and compliment which they first delivered to him. He received the letter from their hands and read it. The presents were deposited on tables which had been set for the purpose.

The letter stated that the Czar had sent the emba.s.sy to a.s.sure him of his desire "to improve the affection and good correspondence which had always existed, as well between his royal highness and himself as between their ill.u.s.trious ancestors." It said also that "the same emba.s.sy being from thence to proceed to the court of Vienna, the Czar requested the king to help them on their journey." And finally it expressed the thanks of the Czar, for the "engineers and bombardiers" which the king had sent him during the past year, and who had been so useful to him in the siege of Azof.

The king, having read the letter, made a verbal reply to the emba.s.sadors, asking them to thank the Czar in his name for the friendly sentiments which his letter expressed, and for the splendid emba.s.sy which he had sent to him.

All this time the Czar himself, the author of the letter, was standing by, a quiet spectator of the scene, undistinguishable from the other secretaries and attendants that formed the emba.s.sadors' train.

After the ceremony of audience was completed the emba.s.sadors withdrew.

They were reconducted to their lodgings with the same ceremonies as were observed in their coming out, and then spent the evening at a grand banquet provided for them by the elector. All the princ.i.p.al n.o.bility of Prussia were present at this banquet, and after it was concluded the town was illuminated with a great display of fireworks, which continued until midnight.

The sending of a grand emba.s.sage like this from one royal or imperial potentate to another was a very common occurrence in those times. The pomp and parade with which they were accompanied were intended equally for the purpose of ill.u.s.trating the magnificence of the government that sent them, and of offering a splendid token of respect to the one to which they were sent. Of course, the expense was enormous, both to the sovereign who sent and to the one who received the compliment. But such sovereigns as those were very willing to expend money in parades which exhibited before the world the evidences of their own grandeur and power, especially as the ma.s.s of the people, from whose toils the means of defraying the cost was ultimately to come, were so completely held in subjection by military power that they could not even complain, far less could they take any effectual measures for calling their oppressors to account. In governments that are organized at the present day, either by the establishment of new const.i.tutions, or by the remodeling and reforming of old ones, all this is changed. The people understand now that all the money which is expended by their governments is ultimately paid by themselves, and they are gradually devising means by which they can themselves exercise a greater and greater control over these expenditures. They retain a far greater portion of the avails of their labor in their own hands, and expend it in adorning and making comfortable their own habitations, and cultivating the minds of their children, while they require the government officials to live, and travel, and transact their business in a more quiet and unpretending way than was customary of yore.

Thus, in traveling over most parts of the United States, you will find the people who cultivate the land living in comfortable, well-furnished houses, with separate rooms appropriately arranged for the different uses of the family. There is a carpet on the parlor floor, and there are books in the book-case, and good supplies of comfortable clothing in the closets. But then our emba.s.sadors and ministers in foreign courts are obliged to content themselves with what they consider very moderate salaries, which do not at all allow of their competing in style and splendor with the emba.s.sadors sent from the old despotic monarchies of Europe, under which the people who till the ground live in bare and wretched huts, and are supplied from year to year with only just enough of food and clothing to keep them alive and enable them to continue their toil.

But to return to Peter and his emba.s.sy. When the public reception was over Peter introduced himself privately to the king in his own name, and the king, in a quiet and unofficial manner, paid him great attention.