of his clenched hand thrust back General | Lefort, who was coming up to mitigate his fury."

We involuntarily ask ourselves the question why Peter, whose presence was so aweinspiring, was so frequently obliged, then and afterward, to use the stick, and to resort to the personal chastisement of his ministers and friends. Much is to be explained by the character of the times. The nation was undeveloped and unripe. No strong power nor strong will was restrained by self-respect or by public opinion. Besides this, Peter had lowered himself in his dealings and intercourse with his subjects. He had not only thrown off the dignity and safeguards which formerly surrounded the Tsar, but he had condescended to be the equal, if not the inferior, of his subjects, by his manual occupations and his love of practical joking. It was natural, therefore, that even in serious things his subjects sometimes forgot themselves, and looked upon him as their equal. There are princes nowadays who have been accused of lowering their royal dignity by being too careless of the company with which they associated, but who yet carry themselves in such a way that no man has ever dared to take a liberty with them. This is the effect, partly of personal character, and partly of modern society and well-disciplined and well-organized public opinion. In Peter's time this last was lacking.

It was at Vorónezh, where Peter went three times in the first winter after his return, where he was away from the society of Lefort and his friends, looking after his ships, that he most gave way to melancholy and despondency. Firm as was his will, and strong as was his belief in himself, he even began to doubt whether, after all, he was on the right road. He wrote to Vinius on the 2d of November, 1698, from Vorónezh: "Thank God! we have found our fleet in an excellent condition, and have approved the magazine. But still a cloud of doubt covers my mind whether we shall ever taste of this fruit, like dates, which those who plant never gather. However, we hope in God and in St. Paul. The husbandman that laboreth must be the first partaker of the fruit.'" In another letter he writes: "Here, by God's help, is great preparation; but we only wait for that blessed day when the cloud of doubt over us shall be driven away. We have begun a ship here which will carry sixty guns." His doubts and his hesitations were being rapidly driven away

6

by hard work, when he received from Moscow the melancholy news of the sudden death of General Lefort. Lefort had entertained the envoys from Denmark and Brandenburg, on the eve of their departure for Voronezh, where they were going by permission of the Tsar, to see his new fleet. The banquet had lasted so long that they had finished it by drinking in the open air, in the cold of February. The next day, Lefort was taken alarmingly ill with a burning fever, and died a week after, in delirium. The Tsar immediately returned from Voronezh to be present at the funeral. At the news of the death, he burst into thick sobs, and, with a flood of tears, broke out in these words: "Now I am left without one trusty man. He alone was faithful to me; in whom can I confide henceforward?" The Tsar frequently spoke of his loss, and years after, when Menshikóf gave an entertainment which was to his taste, said: "This is the first time that I have really enjoyed myself since Lefort's death." It is to be mentioned to Lefort's honor that, with all the opportunities he had for making himself rich, he died almost penniless. The Tsar maintained in his service Peter Lefort, the nephew and steward of the general, and sent to Geneva for Henry Lefort, the only son of the deceased, saying that he always wished to have one of the name near his person.

A few inonths later, on the 29th of November, 1699, the Tsar lost another and an older friend, with whom we have had much to do-General Gordon. Peter visited him five times during his short illness, was with him twice on the last night, and closed his dying eyes with his own hand. The last entry in Gordon's diary is on the last day of December, 1698, when, as if anticipating his death, he wrote: "In this year I have felt a sensible failing of my health and strength-though Thy will be done, O my gracious God!"

CHAPTER IX.

A TRUCE WITH TURKEY.

ONE of the Great Embassy, Prokop Voznítsyn, had been left in Vienna, and was made delegate to the Congress that was to settle the terms of peace with the Turks, and which shortly afterward met at Carlowitz, near Peterwardein, on the Danube. It was, as we remember, greatly against Peter's will that he consented to take any part in the negotiations. He was dissatisfied that

peace should be made by Austria, for he knew that Russia alone was unable to cope with the Turkish Empire, which, in spite of its recent defeats, was still strong. All his efforts at ship-building, so far as they had any national importance, were for creating a fleet which could fight the Turks on their own waters, the Black Sea. He also objected to the principle on which the peace was to be made, that of the uti possidetis. Voznítsyn, therefore, had instructions to insist not only on keeping all that Russia had acquired by force of arms, that is, Azof and the forts on the lower Dnieper, but also on the session of Kertch. Subsequently, when the Tsar found that Austria would, in any event, make peace, he instructed his envoy, in case the Turks were

obstinate, not to insist too strongly on Kertch, provided Azof and the forts on the Dnieper could be retained. He soon saw that the negotiations at Carlowitz proceeded too quickly for him to make any effort at new conquests before the conclusion of a treaty. Austria and Turkey were both sincerely desirous of peace-Austria because she did not wish to risk the conquests she had gained, and wanted to have her hands free, Turkey because the Sultan and his Vizier feared still further defeats. England and the Netherlands desired peace because they foresaw the war of the Spanish succession, and wished to use the whole force of Austria to counterbalance that of France. The Austrian and Turkish commissioners, assisted by the mediators, Lord Paget and

Collier, in a few secret sessions, quickly established the terms of peace, in spite of all the intrigues of Voznítsyn. The Russian envoy had at first applied to the Austrian ministry, and then to the Emperor himself,

THE APOSTLE PETER. (REDRAWN FROM A CONTEMPORARY ENGRAVING.)

asking that, on the basis of the treaty of 1697, by which each party bound itself not to make a separate peace, the overtures of the Turks should be rejected, unless the Russian demands were satisfied. Finding this of no avail, he endeavored to work on the Turks through his old acquaintance Alexander Mavrocordato, a Greek by birth, the dragoman of the Porte and one of the Turkish commissioners. He insisted to the Turks that this was no time for them to make peace, as Austria would soon be in a war with France, and they would have the chance, not only of reconquering all they had lost, but, perhaps, of gaining additional advantages. These negotiations were carried on through the chaplain of Mavrocordato and Doctor Postnikóf, who had returned with his doctor's diploma from Padua. In order to escape observation, they took long circuits through the plains surrounding Carlowitz, and met at distant points. Mavrocordato sent flattering messages, and willingly accepted presents and bribes. When he hinted that it was cold, Voznítsyn sent him his own embroidered caftan lined with blue-fox fur. In return for the caviare, smoked fish, and salted sturgeon, Mavrocordato gave tobacco, coffee, pipes, and writing-paper. The ruse was too transparent; all were astonished that the Russian envoy should take the side of the Turks, and

his plans came to naught. The Turks, sure of the peace with Austria, refused to make concessions, either to the Poles or the Venetians, and demanded from the Russians the evacuation of the lower Dnieper. They would hear nothing of the session of Kertch, were with difficulty prevailed upon to allow Azof still to remain in the Russian possession, and absolutely refused to give up the Dnieper. They wished, by all means, to keep to themselves the Black Sea. Voznítsyn then brought forward the proposition which he had held in reserve, that a two years' truce should be made, which Peter thought would allow him sufficient time to have his fleet in readiness for active offensive operations. This the Turks refused, said they had come to terms with the other powers, and that they were able to fight and to conquer Russia. At this Voznítsyn took a firmer and more threatening attitude, and replied that if they wished war they could have it. This had an effect, and before the arrival of a new proposition from Peter that the forts on the Dnieper should be rased to the ground and not be rebuilt by either side, Voznítsyn had concluded a truce for two years. In defending himself for this, he said that the Congress was over, the treaty signed, and the Turkish commissioners could not be found this side of Constantinople; that the Turks were little disposed to cede anything except what was too far off for them to defend and maintain, as they wished to use all their strength in reconquering the Morea. He therefore advised Peter, instead of running the chances of war, to send a special embassy to Constantinople, headed by some man of quickness and capacity, to see on what terms the Turks were willing to make peace, but not to ask for a peace, and to refuse all terms inconsistent with the dignity and power of Russia.

This advice Peter took, and appointed as his embassador Emelian Ukraíntsef, who had long been in the Russian foreign office, and had been intrusted with several delicate and important negotiations. In order to give

By the treaty of Carlowitz, which, after discussions lasting seventy-two days, was signed on January 26th, 1699, Austria regained Transylvania, the Banate, and all of Hungary north-west of the Theiss; Venice kept Dalmatia and the Morea; and Poland received Kamenetz and Podolia, while all tributes to the Porte from these three powers, whether paid as such or as honorary presents, were done away with. It was the beginning of the decadence of Turkey. From that time, Europe felt no fear of the Turkish

arms.

SERAGLIO POINT AND THE GATE OF THE SULTAN'S PALACE.

dignity to the mission, and at the same time to impress the Turks with the new naval power of Russia, he resolved that Ukraintsef, instead of prosecuting his journey by land, should sail from Azof on a frigate, while he, with all the other ships disposable, would accompany him as far as Kertch. Golovin was made general-admiral of the fleet, and invested with the insignia of the new order of St. Andrew. This order Peter created after the model of those decorations he had seen in other countries. He had found out how convenient and cheap a way this was of rewarding services to the state.

On his visit to Voronezh, in the autumn of 1698, Peter found his infant fleet in a far greater state of forwardness than he had expected. Many ships were already built and armed, and ready for a cruise. The magazines were full of material. In this, and in subsequent visits, he labored to make good all the deficiencies, and Cruys, who had arrived from Holland, inspected all the vessels, and recommended that many of them be strengthened, and in part rebuilt. Peter was glad to find that many of his fellow-workmen at Amsterdam and Deptford had already arrived, and he himself set

heartily to work, and laid the keel of a new frigate, one hundred and thirty feet long, to be called the Predestination. By the spring of 1699, there were ready eighty-six ships and boats of all kinds, including eighteen which carried from thirty-six to forty-six guns, besides five hundred barges for transporting provisions and munitions. The fleet, under the command of Admiral Golovín, left Voronezh on the 7th of May, and reached Azof on the 3d of June. Peter went as commander of the forty-four gun ship the Apostle Peter. Cruys, in his journal, gives a full account of the voyage, and after describing the lovely country through which they passed, tells, among other things, how at Pánshin, where they arrived just in time to prevent the assembled Cossacks and Kalmuks from coming to blows over cattlelifting and pasturage, Peter came to see him, and found his men engaged in cleaning some tortoises which they had caught on the

banks of the Don. The Tsar asked what they were for, and being told to make a fricassee for dinner, immediately ordered a similar dish to be prepared for his own table. Tortoises were considered unclean animals. The Russian nobles who dined with him, not knowing of what the dish was composed, but thinking, from its taste, that it was made of young chickens, ate it with satisfaction. When the dish was empty, Peter ordered a servant to bring in the feathers of these excellent chickens, which, to the general astonishment and consterna

tion, turned out to be tortoise shells.

of them laughed at the joke, except Shéïn and Sóltykof, who became sick at having eaten food so repugnant to all their ideas. Peter was fond of practical jokes of this kind, and at a supper at Moscow, not long before, had seized Golovín, who hated oil, and stuffed salad down his throat until the blood ran from his nose.

the harbor, the Pasha consented; but still excuses were made on account of the bad weather. When it seemed that everything had been arranged, Peter returned with his squadron to Taganróg, and in a few days to Voronezh. His departure seemed to give the Turks hope that they might create new delays. Finally, Ukraintsef was forced to give the order for the immediate departure of his vessel, in spite of all the dangers that were set before him by the Turks, who said:

ties of the vessels in maneuvers and a sham fight, Peter started for Kertch with all his

out reason it is called Black. In time of danger, men's hearts grow black on it." Re