RUSSIA. 



485 



RUM!*' code of laws, the Soodrbnik, compiled by Ivan Vas- 

 p "Y- > * silieviteh I\'., \vhieh was now known under the name 

 of I'ilnj, nil','- (or code of lawn.) He inviu 

 officers into his service, and procured ship-bui, 

 iron i Ani-terdam, who were employed in constructing 

 vessels for the Caspian sea, and greatly encouraged 

 commerce. He waged war with the Poles, und with 

 the Swedes, which terminated in peace. He also led 

 his army against the Turks, and left the prosecution of 

 the war to his successor. His merits have been much 

 overlooked, and especially by the adulators of I 

 the Great ; lor it cannot be doubted, by the impartial 

 records. of Russian history, that some of the improve- 

 ments, attributed to Peter, originated with his grand- 

 father, Alexei. When lie was removed by death from 

 the throne, he left behind him three sons and six 

 daughters. Two of the sons, Pheodor and Ivan, were 

 by a first marriage; the third, Peter, was by a second. 

 Pheodor, the eldest son, who ascended the throne, was 

 a prince of a feeble constitution, and it is generally al- 

 lowed, also of a weak mind. His administration, how- 

 ever, was useful to his country ; and it is supposed that 

 all the beneficial acts of it are to be ascribed to the in- 

 fluence of his sister, Sophia, and the able prime mini- 

 ster, (lalitsin. At his death, in the year 1682, he no- 

 minated his half-brother, Peter, his successor; but this 

 arrangement was powerfully opposed. His brother, 

 Ivan Alexievitch, a prince who was debilitated by epi- 

 leptic fits both in body and mind, if he reigned alone 

 at all, it was only for a very short time. Indeed, it 

 can only be said that he nominally reigned, as Peter 

 the Great, and his sister Sophia, were the real admini- 

 strators of the government. After some disturbances 

 Ivan and Peter were crowned joint Emperors of all 

 the Russias, while Sophia was nominated their copart- 

 ner in the government. In the Museum of Moscow is 

 preserved the double throne in which they usually sat 

 in state, and which contains a secret place behind for 

 Sophia, from which she dictated the minor speeches 

 and answers of the sovereigns. * As the principal 

 events in the life of Peter the Great are already detail- 

 ed under his life (vide Peter the Great), we shall here 

 or.'y give a few short notices of the most importa.t 

 transactions, so as to keep up the connexion of our pre- 

 sent history. 



From the imbecility of Ivan, and the youth of Peter, 

 who was now only ten years of age, the whole power 

 of the government rested in Sophia, and the minister 

 Galitsin. Uy a revolt of the Streltti, a kind of nation- 

 al militia, this ambitious princess's plans were thwart- 

 ed, and Peter's party gained much strength. A war 

 with the Turks was resolved on, and Galitsin, led by 

 his vanity, or cajoled on purp6se to get rid of him, took 

 the command of the army, for the duties of which he 

 was totally inadequate, as was proved by the result. 

 Two campaigns were passed in marches and counter- 

 marches, and nearly 40,000 men were lost between un- 

 succetsful skirmishes and disease. About the middle 

 of the year 1689, Peter, who had now attained his 

 17th year, succeeded in securing to himself the undi- 

 vided sovereignty. Sophia was obliged to retire to the 

 Novo-Devitchei nunnery, at Moscow ; and his bro- 

 ther Ivan, though still nominally Tsar, had voluntarily 

 resigned all participation in the administration of af- 

 i'airs, and withdrawn to a life of obscurity. The first 

 objects to which Peter directed his attention, were the 

 establishment of a regular and well-disciplined army, 



1C7G. 



and the construction of a navy. Lefort, a Genevese, Ros*Lw 



and Gordon, a Scotchman, were of eminent service to '~~<~~~* 

 him for the organization of the array; and he spared 

 neither trouble nor ex pence so as to acquire a navy. 

 has been related in his life, he travelled into fo- 

 reign countries, and worked like a common carpenter 

 in the d-jck-yards, that he might become master of 

 ship-building. He prosecuted the war against the 

 Turks with vigour and success, and made himself ma?- 

 terofA/of. I i e formed a plan, with Augustus king 

 of Poland, and Frederick king of Denmark, to de- 

 prive the young and inexperienced Charles XII. of his 

 dominions, in which they entirely failed. Indeed, at 

 Narva, with a very small body of troops, Charles ob- 

 tained a most signal victory over an immense Russian 

 army. After this Peter evacuated all the provinces 

 that he had invaded. Instructed, however, by disas- 

 ters and skirmishes, in which he was at times victorious, 

 Peter's troops at length defeated the Swedes, which ani- 

 mated them with new courage. Not withstanding this, 

 they suffered a disgraceful defeat near the Dneper, when 

 the northern Tsar was glad to make overtures for an 

 accommodation. The advance of Charles XI I. to with- 

 in a hundred leagues of Moscow his deception by the 

 traitor, Mazcppa, ataman of the Koz;iks, who promised 

 more assistance than he could give the difficulties 

 and hardships his army encountered near the river 

 Disne, in a forest above forty leagues in extent, and 

 filled with rocks, mountains, and marshes and his 

 signal defeat, after gaining different victories at the bat- 

 tle of Poltava, are well-known events, which have been 

 alluded to under SWEDEN. Charles escaped with great 

 difficulty, and at length reached Otchakof, on the frontiers 

 of Turkey. While Peter was reaping the advantages 

 of his victory, Charles found an invaluable friend in 

 Achmet II. who then filled the throne of the east. In 

 1711, this sovereign assembled an immense army, and 

 made preparations to invade Russia. The Tsar having had 

 intimation of his design, and expecting to receive great 

 assistance from Kantemir, hospodar of Moldavia, and 

 a vassal of the Porte, resolved to anticipate the Turks, 

 and by rapid marches advanced as far as Yassy, the 

 capital of that province, situated on the Preuth. Here 

 he was surrounded, and bu^ for the prudent and sage 

 counsels of his consort, Catharine I. he would most 

 probably have been taken prisoner, or reduced to the 

 most humiliating terms. But by the treaty which was 

 concluded, Peter was extricated from a dangerous ene- 

 my, and returned to his capital. Three years after 

 the death of Charles, in 1718, a peace was concluded 17I~. 

 between Russia and Sweden. The Swedes ceded to 

 Russia, Livonia, Esthonia, and Ingria, or part of Kare- 

 lia, the territory of Wiburgh, the isle of Oesel, and all 

 the other islands in the Baltic, from Courland to Wi- 

 burgh. For these concessions they received back Fin- 

 land, which had been conquered by Peter, together 

 with 2,000,000 dollars, and obtained some privi- 

 leges. 



After leading one of the most active, extraordinary, j 

 and useful lives as a sovereign, and repeatedly having 

 known the extremes of good and bad fortune, Peter 

 died in the year 1725. He well merited the cogno- 

 men the Great, as well as the title of emperor, which 

 he first assumed, and which has been ever since con- 

 tinued to his successors. In his public character, Pe- 

 ter must be allowed to have been a great politician, 

 statesman, and general, although he made some im* 



Character of the Russians, p, 224. 



