Peter the Great

Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year one thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, by Harper & Brothers, In the Clerk's office of the District Court of the Southern District of New York.

Copyright, 1887, by Benjamin Vaughan Abbott, Austin Abbott, Lyman Abbott, and Edward Abbott.

PREFACE.

There are very few persons who have not heard of the fame of Peter the Great, the founder, as he is generally regarded by mankind, of Russian civilization. The celebrity, however, of the great Muscovite sovereign among young persons is due in a great measure to the circumstance of his having repaired personally to Holland, in the course of his efforts to introduce the industrial arts among his people, in order to study himself the art and mystery of shipbuilding, and of his having worked with his own hands in a ship-yard there. The little shop where Peter pursued these practical studies still stands in Saardam, a ship-building town not far from Amsterdam. The building is of wood, and is now much decayed; but, to preserve it from farther injury, it has been incased in a somewhat larger building of brick, and it is visited annually by great numbers of curious travelers.

The whole history of Peter, as might be expected from the indications of character developed by this incident, forms a narrative that is full of interest and instruction for all.

[Transcriber's note: In the original book, each page had a header summarizing the contents of that page. These headers have been collected into introductory paragraphs at the start of each chapter. The headers also contain the year in which the events on the page took place. These dates have been placed between the chapter title and the introductory paragraph, in the form of a date range, e.g., for Chapter I, "1676-1684."]

CONTENTS.

Chapter

I. THE PRINCESS SOPHIA II. THE PRINCESS'S DOWNFALL III. THE CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH OF PETER IV. LE FORT AND MENZIKOFF V. COMMENCEMENT OF THE REIGN VI. THE EMPEROR'S TOUR VII. CONCLUSION OF THE TOUR VIII. THE REBELLION IX. REFORMS X. THE BATTLE OF NARVA XI. THE BUILDING OF ST. PETERSBURG XII. THE REVOLT OF MAZEPPA XIII. THE BATTLE OF PULTOWA XIV. THE EMPRESS CATHARINE XV. THE PRINCE ALEXIS XVI. THE FLIGHT OF ALEXIS XVII. THE TRIAL XVIII. THE CONDEMNATION AND DEATH OF ALEXIS XIX. CONCLUSION

ENGRAVINGS.

PORTRAIT OF PETER . . . . . . . . . . . . Frontispiece.

THE ESCAPE

MENZIKOFF SELLING HIS CAKES

PETER AMONG THE SHIPPING

PETER TURNING EXECUTIONER

MAP OF THE RUSSIAN AND SWEDISH FRONTIER

STRATAGEMS OF THE SWEDES

SITUATION OF ST. PETERSBURG

FLIGHT OF THE KING OF SWEDEN

THE EMPRESS CATHARINE

THE CZAR'S VISIT TO ALEXIS IN PRISON

PETER THE GREAT.

CHAPTER I.

THE PRINCESS SOPHIA.

1676-1684

Parentage of Peter--His father's double marriage--Death of his father--The princesses--Their places of seclusion--Theodore and John--Sophia uneasy in the convent--Her request--Her probable motives--Her success--Increase of her influence--Jealousies--Parties formed--The imperial guards--Their character and influence--Dangers--Sophia and the soldiers--Sophia's continued success--Death of Theodore--Peter proclaimed--Plots formed by Sophia--Revolution--Means of exciting the people--Poisoning--Effect of the stories that were circulating--Peter and his mother--The Monastery of the Trinity--Natalia's flight--Narrow escape of Peter--Commotion in the city--Sophia is unsuccessful--Couvansky's schemes--Sophia's attempt to appease the soldiers--No effect produced--Couvansky's views--His plan of a marriage for his son--Indignation of Sophia--A stratagem--Couvansky falls into the snare--Excitement produced by his death--Galitzin--Measures adopted by him--They are successful