Изображения страниц
PDF
EPUB
[graphic][subsumed][merged small][merged small]

mastered it thoroughly, we can, when we return, be victors over the enemies of Jesus Christ, and liberators of the Christians who live under them, which I shall not cease to wish for till my latest breath."

Peter allowed no difference to be made between himself and the other workmen, and it is said that, when the Duke of Marlborough and the Earl of Portland came expressly from the king's château at Loo to have a sight of him, the overseer, in order to point him out, said: "Carpenter Peter of Zaandam, why don't you help your com

rades?" and Peter, without a word, placed his shoulder under the timber which several men were carrying, and helped to raise it to its place. In the moments of rest, the Tsar, sitting down on a log, with his hatchet between his knees, was willing to talk to any one who addressed him simply as carpenter Peter, or Baas Peter, but turned away and did not answer those who called him Sire or Your Majesty. He never liked long conversations.

When Peter came home from the wharf,

66

*

he devoted much of his time to learning the theory of ship-building, for which he had to make additional studies in geometry. His note-books, which have been carefully preserved, show the thoroughness with which he worked. But, besides that, he had many letters to answer, and now that he was away from home he took more interest in at least the foreign policy of his Government. Every post from Moscow brought him a package of letters, some asking questions and favors, -for, in spite of the Supreme Regency, many matters were still referred to him,some giving him news, and others containing nothing but good wishes or friendly talk about social matters. To all of these Peter endeavored to reply by each Friday's post, but, as he wrote once to Vinius, sometimes from weariness, sometimes from absence, and sometimes from Khmelnitzky, one cannot accomplish it." He was the first to communicate to Moscow news and congratulations on the battle of the Zenta, where Prince Eugene of Savoy defeated the Turks commanded by the Grand Vizier, for which he ordered Te Deums and festivities at home, and had a banquet given by his embassy in Holland. The defeat of the Tartars near Azof, and the splendid defense of Taván against the Turks, made an occasion for another feast. Until the Prince de Conti ignominiously returned by post from Danzig, after he had gone there with a French squadron, the Tsar was much troubled with Polish affairs. He had also to thank Charles XII. of Sweden for his timely gift of three hundred cannon to arm his infant fleet, while, at the same time, Lefort was asking the Chancellor Oxenstjerna for explanations about the attitude of Sweden in regard to Poland. He was in constant communication with the great embassy, and used his best efforts to persuade William III. to join in the league against the Turks. Partly for this purpose, together with Lefort and Witsen, he went to Utrecht, where he had an interview with the King in the Toelast Hotel. Although the details of this interview have never been known, it was thought worthy of a commemorative medal. The Government of the Netherlands, fearing for its Smyrna and Eastern trade, was unwilling to enter into any such alliance, and made no offer of money nor of a loan, which, indeed, the Russians had not asked, and it was with some difficulty even

• Iváshka Khmelnitzky, from Khmel, hops, is the Russian substitute for Bacchus.

VOL XXI.-2.

that men could be found to enter the Russian service as officials, engineers, or craftsmen. Those who went, did so without the recommendation of the Government, and on their own responsibility.

We

The Tsar was also greatly interested in the conferences at Ryswyk, which at last resulted in a treaty. He understood well that if the Emperor of Austria were freed from the war in the West, he could so much the more readily devote himself to operations against the Turks. Nevertheless, he had little confidence in the duration of the treaty, even before it was signed. Not understanding how necessary it was for England and the Netherlands, he believed it to be simply a maneuver on the part of France for gaining time, and expected a new war soon. know the history of the negotiations at Ryswyk, the struggles for precedence, and the interminable disputes on etiquette. Now that Russia had made up her mind to enter upon regular diplomatic intercourse with other nations, it was important that she should make her début properly. No better stage could be found than the Hague, where the most skilled diplomates of all European countries were then assembled. On the whole, Russia did well. The embassy was splendidly received at the Hague, and lodged in the Oude Doelen Hotel, for the palace of Prince Maurice, the usual embassadorial lodging, was already full. The embassadors were men of good presence, Lefort had wit and good breeding, the liveries were new and gorgeous, the entertainments were sumptuous, the presence of the Tsar (for he had gone on to the Hague for a few days, to witness the ceremonies) added to the éclat. Visits were made to all the foreign embassadors except to the French. The feeling created by Prince Dolgorúky's report of his mission, in 1687, was still so strong, added to the irritation of Peter against the French intrigues in Poland and at Constantinople, that he would not permit his embassadors to call on the French. In this he was unwise, for it was in consequence of this that certain persons continually tried to cause difficulties in his negotiations, and that untrue and malicious reports with regard to the embassy, and to the Tsar in particular, had circulation then, and have since found credence.

In his hours of recreation, Peter's curiosity was insatiable. He visited factories, work-shops, anatomical museums, cabinets of coins, botanical gardens, theaters and hospitals, inquired about everything he saw,

[merged small][ocr errors]

THE EVENING PIPE. (FROM AN ENGRAVING IN THE
POSSESSION OF SENATOR RAVINSKI).

mate acquaintance of the Dutch military engineer Baron Van Coehorn, and of Admiral Van Scheij. He talked of architecture with Simon Schynvoet, visited the museum of Jacob de Wilde, and learned to etch under the direction of Schonebeck. An impression of a plate he engraved-for he had some knowledge of drawing-of Christianity victorious over Islam, is still extant. He often visited the dissecting and lecture room of Professor Ruysch, entered into correspondence with him, and finally bought his cabinet of anatomical preparations. He made himself acquainted with Dutch home and family life, and frequented the society of the merchants engaged in the Russian trade. He became especially intimate with the Thessing family, and granted to one of the brothers the right to print Russian books at Amsterdam, and to introduce them into Russia. Every market day he went to the Botermarkt, mingled with the people, studied their trades, and followed their life. He took lessons from a traveling dentist, and

It now forms part of the museum of the Academy of Sciences at St. Petersburg.

| experimented on his servants and suite; he mended his own clothes, and learned cobbling enough to make himself a pair of slippers. He visited the Protestant churches, and of an evening he did not forget the beerhouses, which we know so well through the pencils of Teniers, Brouwer and Van Ostade.

The frigate on which Peter worked so long was at last launched, and proved a good and useful ship for many years, in the East India Company's service. But Peter, in spite of the knowledge he had acquired, as is shown by the certificate of his master Baas Pool, was not satisfied with the empirical manner in which the Dutch built ships. He had labored in vain to acquire a theory in ship-building which, with a given length, or the length and the width, would show him the necessary best proportions. For this he had written to Witsen, from Archangel, in 1694, and had then been told that every ship-builder made the proportions according to his experience and discretion. Peter's dissatisfaction was evident in two ways-by his sending an order to Voronezh, that all the Dutch ship-carpenters there should no longer be allowed to build as they pleased, but be put under the supervision of Danes or Englishmen, and by resolving to go to England for several months, to see what he could learn in English ship-yards. He had, indeed, been recently delighted by receiving a truly royal present from King William. This was the King's best yacht, the Transport Royal, which had just been constructed on a new plan, was light, of beautiful proportions, and armed with twenty brass cannon. In answer to the letter of Lord Caermarthen, which spoke of it as the best and quickest vessel in England, Peter sent to London Major Adam Weyde, who had just come back from a special mission to Vienna, and from taking part in the battle of the Zenta. Weyde was also instructed to obtain the King's consent to the visit of the Tsar, with a request that his incognito should be as far as possible preserved. Together with a favorable answer, came English vessels for himself and the great embassy, and on the 17th of January, 1698, Peter, leaving his embassy in Holland, set out for England.

[graphic]

CHAPTER III.

VISIT OF THE TSAR TO ENGLAND.

THE weather was stormy, and the ships of Admiral Mitchell could carry but half

their canvas, but the wind was in the right direction, and early in the morning of January 30th they were coasting along Suffolk, and the Tsar was saluted by the guns of the fort at Orford. Leaving its convoy at the mouth of the Thames, the yacht anchored at St. Katherine's, and Peter was rowed in a barge past the Tower and London Bridge, and landed at a house in Norfolk street, Strand, which had a few years before been the refuge of William Penn, when under accusation of treason and conspiracy.* The Tsar was immediately waited upon by a chamberlain, with the congratulations of the King, who, at his request, appointed Admiral Mitchell to be in constant attendance upon him. Three days later, the King came in person to see him. Peter was without his coat, made no ceremony, and received him in his shirt sleeves. He slept in one small room, together with the Prince of Imeritia and three or four others. When the King entered, the air was so bad that, notwithstanding the very cold weather, it was necessary to open a window. This visit the Tsar returned a few days afterward, when he made the acquaintance of the Princess Anne, the heiress to the throne, and her husband, Prince George of Denmark. The Princess Anne apparently made a deep impression, for four years after, when she had come to the throne, Peter remarked, in a letter to Apráxin, that she was "a veritable daughter of our church."

The first days of Peter's stay were occupied in seeing the sights of London, and making acquaintances. He visited the

Royal Society, the Tower, the Mint, the Observatory, was much in the society of the eccentric Lord Caermarthen, with whom he used to sup at a tavern near the Tower, now the "Czar of Muscovy," visited Caermarthen's father, the Duke of Leeds, and frequently went to the theater. One of the favorite actresses of the day, Miss Cross, pleased him so much that his relations with her became very intimate, and continued so during his stay in England. More than all, he was attracted by the docks and the naval establishments, although "the exceed ing sharp and cold season," which the Londoners jestingly said the Russians had

Tradition says that at this time the door was never opened without the servant first reconnoitering through a loop-hole to see whether the visitor looked like a constable or a dun. The house is now No. 21 Norfolk street, and is converted into a lodginghouse and private hotel, in which, by chance, the present writer spent his first days in London.

66

brought with them, at first impeded his movements. For greater convenience, and to get rid of the crowds who watched for his appearance, he removed to Deptford, where he occupied Sayes Court, the house of John Evelyn, which was new furnished for him by the King." For fortyfive years, the accomplished author of "Sylva" had been making the plantations and laying out the gardens, and it grieved him to the heart to have such bad tenants as the Muscovites evidently were. While the Tsar was still there, Evelyn's servant wrote to him: "There is a house full of people, and right nasty. The Tsar lies next your library, and dines in the parlor next

CHRISTIANITY VICTORIOUS OVER ISLAM. (FROM AN
ETCHING BY PETER THE GREAT.)

your study. He dines at ten o'clock and six at night, is very seldom at home a whole day, very often in the King's Yard, or by water, dressed in several dresses. The King is expected there this day; the best parlor is pretty clean for him to be entertained in. The King pays for all he has." The great holly hedge, the pride of the neighborhood, was ruined by the Tsar driving a wheelbarrow through it. The King had

already remarked, after receiving Peter's first visit, that he was indifferent to fine buildings and beautiful gardens, and cared only for ships. After Peter had gone, Evelyn writes in his diary: "I went to Deptford to see how miserably the Tsar had left my house after three months making it his court. I got Sir Christopher Wren, the King's surveyor, and Mr. London, his gardener, to go and estimate the repairs, for which they allowed £150 in their report to the Lords of the Treasury."

With the exception of a week spent in going to Portsmouth, where he was gratified by a review of the English fleet off Spithead, and in visiting Windsor and Hampton Court, and a couple of days at Oxford, where he received the degree of Doctor of Laws, Peter remained very steadily at work at Deptford until the beginning of May. He had come to England expecting to stay but a short time, but he found so much to interest and attract him, both at the shipbuilding establishments at Deptford and at the Royal Arsenal at Woolwich, which he frequently visited, that, in spite of the rumors which reached him of troubles at Moscow, he constantly put off his departure, and only went when he had satisfied himself that he had acquired all the special knowledge which he could obtain in England. He evidently formed a high opinion of English shipbuilders, for he subsequently said to Perry that had it not been for his journey to England, he always would have remained a bungler. One thing, however, he could not learn there, and that was the construction of galleys and galliots, such as were used in the Mediterranean, and would be serviceable in the Bosphorus, and on the coast of the Crimea. For this he desired to go to Venice.

Peter, who prided himself on being a good judge of men, spent much of his time in England in looking for suitable persons to employ in Russia, and in examining their qualifications. The night after his return from Portsmouth, together with Golovín, who had come over from Holland for the purpose, he signed contracts with about sixty men, many of whom had been recommended by Lord Caermarthen. The chief of these were Major Leonard van der Stamm, a specialist in ship-designing, Captain John Perry, an hydraulic engineer, whom he appointed to

[blocks in formation]

construct a canal between the Volga and the Don (for Colonel Breckell, a German engineer who had already begun this work, had run away), and Professor Andrew Fergharson, from the University of Aberdeen, who was engaged to found a school of navigation at Moscow. For officers in the fleet, he seems to have preferred Dutchmen to Englishmen, and succeeded in persuading Captain Cornelius Cruys, a distinguished Dutch officer, a Norwegian by birth, to enter his service. Cruys brought with him three other captains, and officers, surgeons and sailors to the number of five hundred and seventy. The officers were chiefly Dutchmen, the sailors Swedes and Danes. Among the surgeons, who had been recommended by the anatomist Ruysch, were some Frenchmen. More than a hundred other officers, including Greeks, Venetians and Italians, who promised to find sailors acquainted with the navigation of the Black Sea, were also taken into the Russian service at this time. With mining engineers, however, Peter found it difficult to enter into any arrangements, as they demanded what he considered exorbitant salaries. He had at first endeavored to find such men through Witsen, but Witsen had always deferred giving advice from day to day, and nothing was done. Finally, the Tsar decided to find some, if possible, in Saxony. He was the more anxious for this, as during his absence Vinius had written to him that magnetic iron ore of the very best quality had been discovered in the Ural mountains, and was begging in every letter that mining engineers be sent as soon as possible.

The mere hand-money which had to be paid to the foreigners entering the Russian service was a great expense, and the treasury of the embassy became so reduced that it was necessary to draw on Moscow for very large sums. One method was found by Peter for obtaining a supply of ready money, and that was by a privilege which he gave to Lord Caermarthen for the monopoly of the tobacco trade in Russia. Smoking tobacco or using it in any form had been forbidden by the Tsar Michael in 1634, under pain of death, and religious and old-fashioned Russians had the greatest prejudices against this narcotic herb. Nevertheless, the use of tobacco spread so fast, in spite of pains and penalties, that before his departure for abroad, Peter made a decree authorizing its use, and even then entered into temporary arrangements for its sale, as

« ПредыдущаяПродолжить »