from the throne, and travel in the train of his own ambassadors as a private person, rejecting all the pageantry of state, and disdaining no means which appeared necessary to perfect himself in those arts which he thought of essential importance to his country. He began his journey in 1697. The first country in which he made any stay was Holland, taking up his quarters in the admiralty yard at Amsterdam. In the disguise of a Dutch skipper, he went to the famous ship-building town of Saardam, where he worked as a common carpenter and blacksmith, clad and fed like his fellow-laborers. People were strictly prohibited from standing about him or going to gaze at him,things which gave him great uneasiness. The following year, he visited England, and took lodgings at the navy-yard of Deptford, devoting his time principally to the acquisition of maritime knowledge. The variety of religious sects, both in England and Holland, attracted his notice, and probably gave him those views of the benefits of religious toleration upon which he always acted in his intercourse with foreigners. From England he proceeded to Vienna, for the purpose of studying the military discipline of the Austrians.

His return to Russia was hastened by the news of a formidable rebellion which had broken out among the Strelitzes, fomented by some of the old nobility and clergy, who hated all innovations. A body of eight thousand of this licentious soldiery collected on the borders of Lithuania, and marched towards Moscow, with the intention of placing on the throne the Princess Sophia, who is accused of having secretly instigated their revolt. This attempt, however, was quickly de

feated by General Gordon, the commander of Peter's troops, who killed and made prisoners nearly all the rebels. Those who were captured suffered the severest punishment. Two thousand of them were hanged, the body of the Strelitzes was broken up, and the very name abolished. New regiments were formed upon the German model; and the dress and discipline of the rest of Europe were introduced into the Russian army.

Peter proceeded with similar vigor in his other meditated reforms. He altered the calendar by re moving the beginning of the year from September to January. In all the lesser manners and customs he introduced alterations, the object of which was to assimilate the Russians to the more polished nations of Europe. In many things he was too precipitate, and in others he did not well understand the peculiar circumstances and character of his subjects. In general, the impatience of his temper and his despotic will led him to look for effects before the causes were duly prepared, the common fault of arbitrary power. He wished to make his people orderly, polished, and industrious, without giving them either education, property, or freedom. Desiring to raise a magnificent structure, he provided the ornaments before clearing away the rubbish, or laying the foundation. He com. pelled his nobles to travel into other countries, without preparing them by any previous education, or providing society or occupation for them on their return. He shaved the beards of his barbarians by force, and fancied that they would act, because they looked, like polished men. He did not scruple at reforms which required the aid of the axe and the knout; and, blinded

with the plenitude of that power to which he trusted for success, he did not perceive, in that abasement which made his slaves kiss the rod with which he struck them, an invincible obstacle to his preposterous ambition of enriching a nation of serfs with the treasures of civilization.

In his war with Charles the Twelfth of Sweden, he at first suffered defeat, owing to the superior discipline of the Swedish troops. But Peter was not a man to be dispirited by a failure, and his perseverance at length enabled him to overthrow his enemy completely at the battle of Pultawa. He conquered Finland in 1713 and 1714. His military enterprises were mostly crowned with success, and large additions were made to his empire by the peace of Neustadt in 1721. He had now attained the summit of his glory. He was requested, and after some hesitation consented, to adopt the titles of "Peter the Great, Emperor of all the Russias, and. Father of his Country." This was done amid great rejoicings, which continued for fifteen days. He now turned his undivided attention to the arts of peace. He made canals to unite navigable rivers, encouraged by bounties the manufacture of woollen and linen cloths, the erection of corn, powder, and sawing mills; established a manufactory of small arms, instituted hospitals, established a uniformity of weights and measures, founded an academy of sciences, collected books, pictures, &c.

The most magnificent monument of his reign is the city of St. Petersburg, founded by him in 1703, in a marsh surrounded by forests. A vast number of lives were expended in carrying on the labors necessary for

this gigantic undertaking, amidst innumerable hardships of every sort; but human life was a trifling object in the consideration of Peter. Nothing could be more arbitrary than the means he took to fill the new capital with inhabitants, one of which was, compelling all the nobility and principal merchants to have houses there. It was peopled, however, chiefly by the foreigners whom he settled in his dominions, and, to this day, foreigners and their descendants make a great part of its population, and have given the tone to its character and appearance. The removal of the metropolis to a corner of this vast empire, at such a distance from the most fertile and populous districts, has been by many considered an impolitic sacrifice made by Peter to his ruling passion. It was, however, powerfully instrumental in civilizing the Russians, by breaking through those national habits of life which were fostered in the barbaric grandeur of Moscow.

Peter married a parish foundling, who afterwards governed Russia as the Empress Catharine the First. By the sweetness of her temper and the charm of her manners, she was able to soften the violence of her husband in the paroxysms of gloomy rage to which he was subject, and she retained her influence over him to the end of his life. By a former marriage he had a son named Alexis, whose history forms a dark chapter in Peter's life, and has left a stain on his memory. The education of this young prince was much neglected, and he grew up ignorant, debauched, and full of vulgar and obstinate prejudice against all his father's improvements. In consequence of his disorderly behaviour, Peter first excluded him from the succession

year

of his age.

to the crown, and subsequently brought him to trial for high treason, on a charge of conspiracy to depose his father. A confession was extorted from him, and he was condemned to death. The next day he died in convulsions, and there were suspicions that he had been forced to take poison. The whole of this tragic affair is shrouded in mystery. It is certain that Peter showed little paternal affection, and he punished with extreme barbarity all whom his son named as his confidants. Peter the Great died on the 28th of January, 1725, in the fifty-third He was of a lofty stature, and of a commanding, but coarse and ferocious countenance. His gestures were quick and impatient; his speech fluent and animated. His character was compounded of striking contradictions. Benevolence and humanity were as conspicuous in him as a total disregard of human life. He was at once kind-hearted, and severe even to ferocity. Without education himself, he promoted arts, science, and literature. He gave a polish to his people, and was himself a savage. He taught them the art of war, of which he was himself ignorant. From the sight of a small boat in a river, he created a powerful fleet, and made himself an expert and active shipwright, sailor, pilot, and commander. His manners and tastes were gross and boorish. While in England, he passed his nights either in a pot-house near Tower Hill, regaling himself in low company, with beer and tobacco, or with King William, drinking brandy and pepper.

In 1717, he visited the king of Prussia, at Berlin, with his empress and whole court. A most amusing account of this visit may be found in the Memoirs of