when the Tsar Michael did not repeat the oath which he had sworn once before. At the same time, complaints were made by the Russians of the treatment which the Grand Embassy and the Tsar himself had undergone at the hands of the Governor of Riga, and a demand was made for satisfaction. The embassadors were unable to explain the affair at Riga, of which they said they had never heard, and promised to report it to the King. After many conferences, they finally agreed to accept the precedent of Queen Christina, on the faith of the Russian documents, as the Swedish

ones had been consumed in a fire, and at their farewell audience received, instead of the Tsar's oath on the Gospels, a formal letter from him to the King, confirming all the previous treaties of peace exactly the same as if he had sworn to them anew.

Nine days before this, Peter had signed a treaty with Carlowitz agreeing to make war upon Sweden. This duplicity may have been necessary, and may have formed a part of the received diplomacy of those times, but luckily in the present day sovereigns are shielded from personal moral responsibility, because they do not them

against Sweden.

It had been arranged that the attack on Riga should be made on Christmas-day. The plot in Riga was ripe, the Saxon troops had been collected in Curland, close to the Livonian frontier, and yet the Swedes, and even Dahlberg, who had been so suspicious at the time of Peter's visit, apparently mistrusted nothing. But this very time had been chosen by Flemming to leave his army and to go to Saxony, to marry a lady of the famous house of Sapieha. General Paikul, who commanded the Saxon troops in his absence, knew nothing of the plot against Riga, and, however much Carlowitz tried to persuade him, refused to advance. The secret got out, and Dahlberg took such measures that any sudden attack was impossible. When Flemming returned, in February, he wrote to the King that he would immediately attack Riga, and began to move his troops on the very day on which Peter left Moscow for Voronezh. But it was too late. All his efforts were vain, and Carlowitz was killed in an attack on Dünamünde. Flemming then went back to Warsaw, and Paikul, in spite of his proclamations, was, by the vigor of the Swedish generals, forced to retreat into Curland.

"By dissipation and inexcusable thoughtlessness, much precious time has been lost," Golovín reported to Peter.

"It is a pity," Peter replied; "but there is nothing to be done. I have not yet heard from Constantinople."

He, however, ordered Golovín to send a young engineer, Kortchmín, to Narva to buy some cannon-six, nine, and twelve pounders that he heard were for sale, and, at the same time, to pay particular attention to the defenses and fortifications of the town, and, if possible, penetrate as far as Oréshek, "and if that be impossible, at least alongside of it. That position there is very necessary. It is the outlet from Lake Ládoga to the sea-look on the mapand very necessary to keep back the reinforcements. The child, I think, is not stupid, and can keep a secret. It is very necessary that Kniper should not find out about it, for he knows that he is well instructed."

Soon after, the news came to Moscow that the King of Denmark had begun war by invading Holstein-Gottorp with 16,000 men, and laying siege to Tönning. The time was propitious for action on Peter's part, but as yet there was nothing decisive from Constantinople. He had had no

direct reports for some time from Ukrain tsef, but rumors came from all directions that the Turks were making preparations for war. These rumors disturbed Peter so much that he considered it necessary to reassure the King of Sweden as to his peaceful intentions by sending an embassy. At the end of April he therefore appointed Prince Jacob Dolgorúky, Prince Theodore Shahofskóy, and the scribe Domnín as embassadors, and sent in advance Prince Andrew Hilkof to announce their arrival, and to obtain information as to the actual policy of Sweden. He was instructed to make formal inquiries against whom the King of France had concluded an alliance with Sweden, why a war had broken out between King Charles and King Augustus, why Saxon troops had attacked Riga, whether there were any Polish troops with them, and whether Sweden was at war or peace with Denmark and Brandenburg. Knipercrona, the Swedish Resident at Moscow, spoke in high terms of the members of the embassy, especially of Prince Dolgorúky, and, as an evidence of the peaceful intentions of the Tsar, reported to King Charles, on the 26th of May, as follows:

"His Tsarish Majesty, on the next day after his return from Vorónezh, visited my house, and jestingly blamed my wife for having written to her daughter at Voronezh that Russian troops were preparing to march into Livonia, which had made a great panic among all the Swedes at Moscow. Your daughter,' said the Tsar, 'cried so much that I could scarcely appease her. "You foolish creature," I said to her, "do you really think that I would consent to begin an unjust war, and to break an eternal peace that I have just confirmed?" We were all so much moved by his words that we could not refrain from tears, and when I asked him to excuse my wife, he embraced me, adding, Even if the King of Poland should take Riga, it would not remain in his possession. I would tear it out of his hands.'"

Prince Dolgorúky was told not to hasten, but Prince Hilkof set out for Stockholm at the end of June. He passed through Narva, inspected its fortifications, and made a report on them to the Tsar, but arrived in Sweden too late to find the King, who had already departed for the Danish war; and he was finally presented to Charles XII. in the camp before Copenhagen, at the end of August, after the conclusion of the peace. Following Hilkof, Prince Yúry Trubetzkóy was sent on a secret mission to Berlin to state to the Elector Frederick the intention of the Tsar to make war on Sweden as soon as he had arranged affairs with Turkey, and begging him to take part in the league on

the basis of the mutual engagement by which the Tsar and the Elector had bound themselves to assist each other. This invitation was not accepted. In July, King Augustus went in person to his army before Riga, and sent Baron Langen to Moscow to persuade the Tsar immediately to send auxiliary troops and to attack Ingria, in order to draw off the Swedes from Riga. In his letter he said: "Dear brother, I beg you to spare the bearer of this from strong drinks, because they do mortal harm to his life." Peter replied that he had no intention of injuring Langen, but that drink was evidently no novelty to him, as his gout showed. Langen was very well received, and, at his request, entirely without ceremony.

"The Tsar sent his ministers out of the room, and, with tears in his eyes, said to me in broken Dutch how grieved he was at the delay in concluding peace with Turkey, through the intrigues of the opposite party, notwithstanding that he had ordered his embassador at Constantinople to conclude a peace or a truce in the quickest possible time, even to his own loss, so as to have his hands free to aid the allies with all his forces."

To Langen's earnest entreaties, Peter finally consented to give two-thirds of the cannon then in Smolénsk, and to send a few regiments of Little Russian Cossacks, but refused to come to an open rupture, because, although he was now sure of peace, "it was not yet signed, and the Porte had been informed by the Polish minister of the secret league, and had begun to be obstinate again as soon as it had heard of the war in the North." He said, however, that he "was waiting for a courier from hour to hour, and if he received news of peace to-day, he would move his troops against the Swedes tomorrow." Peter kept his word. On the 18th of August, the dispatch of Ukraíntsef, announcing the signature of the treaty, arrived. That evening, the peace with Turkey was celebrated with "extraordinary fireworks," and on the very next day war was declared in the usual form by proclamation from the Bed-Chamber Porch, "for the many wrongful acts of the Swedish King, and especially because during the journey of His Majesty through Riga, much opposition and unpleasantness was caused to him by the inhabitants of Riga." The troops were ordered to march at once, and were put under the command of Golovín, who was created field-marshal. The same day, Peter dispatched an autograph letter to Augustus, informing him of the fact-" and we hope, by the help of God, that Your Majesty will not see other than profit."

CHAPTER XII.

CHARLES THE TWELFTH.

NO MORE unpropitious time for declaring war could have been chosen. The attempt of King Augustus and his Saxon troops on Riga had failed, and the King of Denmark had been awed into submission by the Swedish forces, and, on the very day that the news of the treaty with the Turks arrived at Moscow, had concluded with Charles XII. the peace of Travendal. A new and unexpected element had spoiled all the calculations of the allies. They had counted upon the youth and carelessness of the Swedish King. They were grievously disappointed.

Charles XII. of Sweden, the son of Charles XI., was born in 1682, and was therefore just ten years younger than Peter. His early years were tenderly cared for by his mother, Ulrica Eleanora, a Danish princess, whose many virtues made her beloved by all save her husband. Without being precocious, the mind of Charles was bright and active, and it was rapidly developed under the guidance of his tutor Norcopensis. His native language he neither wrote nor spoke well; German, which was then the court language of the North, he learned to speak as his mother tongue; Latin he spoke better than either, but he was only induced to learn it when told that the King of Denmark and the King of Poland habitually used it. To the study of French he always showed a repugnance, and could rarely be induced to speak it, but he understood it, read it, and enjoyed the French theater. History he studied eagerly, whether it treated of the deeds of Cæsar and Alexander, or of the Reformation and of his great predecessor, Gustavus Adolphus. He was well drilled in religion and morals, and showed a quick intelligence and much power of application, though, at the same time, great self-will and determination. His education was well begun, but the death of his mother, and then of his tutor, when he was not twelve years old, brought changes and interruptions, and it was not so carefully continued.

In his early years his health was delicate, and grief for his mother threw him into a long fever, which terminated in an attack of small-pox; but his constitution was strong, and his passion for physical sports gave him health and strength, and at the age of fourteen he was tall, slim, and wiry, and

seemed almost like a grown man. He had been put on the back of a pony at the age of four, and had even ridden at reviews of the troops. He speedily became a perfect horseman. His love of hunting developed with equal rapidity. When seven years old, he had shot a fox, and before he was twelve had killed a bear. His taste for military exercises and the art of war now took a more decided turn, and his military education was confided to General Stuart. His father delighted in the promise of the lad, and loved to take him on his hunting parties and military inspections. In this way much time was lost from study.

In April, 1697, Charles XI. died. By his will, he appointed a regency under the presidency of his mother, the Queen Hedwiga Eleanora, but fixed no time at which his son should be declared of age. By custom, the majority of Swedish princes had been fixed at the age of eighteen, but in the present case there were such disputes between the regents themselves, and among the nobles,-who were divided into Danish and French factions,—such jealousy of the nobility on the part of the other estates, such dislike to the influence of the Queenmother, such a general appreciation of the abilities and good qualities of the young prince, and such a desire to gain his favor by being the first to please him, that little opposition was manifested to the project of declaring him of age in November of the same year, when he was just fifteen years old. The plan was matured and executed within ten hours.

Charles had given every reason for confidence. Though still a minor, he had been admitted to the meetings of the council, and had impressed every one not only by his good sense and quick decision, but by his power of silence. He had at times a gravity and determination which were far beyond his years. During the conflagration of the royal palace, shortly after his father's death, he had shown a calmness and selfrestraint which were in striking contrast to the excitement and nervousness of the Queen-mother and which produced a favorable impression on every one. No sooner was he declared of age, and the sole and absolute ruler of the country, than he seemed to change. The nobles, who had counted on a mitigation of the "Reduction" edicts of Charles XI., were disappointed. The young King upheld and defended all the acts of his father. He manifested an excessive amount of self-will and obstinacy,

and made it a point of honor never to draw back from a resolution which he had once made. He at the same time showed a coldness and haughtiness in his demeanor in public which had not before been noticed. At the meetings of the council he would calmly listen for a while to the arguments and statements, and then interrupt by saying that his mind had long been made up. Once having said this he would hear no more, for his will was supreme. Some of the courtiers took advantage of this side of his character to flatter him, hoping thus to advance themselves. It was owing to this that he refused to be crowned in the ordinary way, claiming that while it was proper for elected kings to be solemnly crowned, he, as being born to the throne, had no need of it. In spite of the representations of the more conservative and moderate statesmen, in spite of the entreaties of his grandmother, the utmost that he would yield was to allow himself to be consecrated by the archbishop, in order that he might carry out the Bible injunction and be the annointed of the Lord. But the ceremony was called not the coronation but the consecration, and Charles rode to the church with his crown on his head, and refused to take the oath to govern well and justly, which, on the part of the ruler, corresponds to the oath of allegiance on the part of the subject. The superstitious found many omens for the future of the King and country; there was a violent snow-storm during the ceremony; the procession looked dismal in the black dress required by the court mourning; the King amused himself during the sermon with picking the black specks out of his robe, and, worst of all, the archbishop dropped the annointing horn, and the crown fell from the King's head and rolled upon the ground. Wise and prudent men saw more serious signs of trouble and danger in the conduct of Charles toward the Diet, in his views with regard to the coronation oath, and in the systematic way in which he tried to lower the importance of the members of the council. Too late they repented of having put themselves at the mercy of a wayward and willful youth, jealous of his own power and careless of the rights of others. Determined to show himself the supreme master, Charles constantly humiliated the old councilors and ministers by keeping them waiting for hours in the anterooms while he discussed affairs of state with his favorites, Piper and Wallenstedt. He transacted the weightiest affairs of state