THE EMPEROR'S TOUR.
1697
Objects of the tour--An embassy to be sent--The emperor to go
incognito--His associates--The regency--Disposition of the Guards--The
embassy leaves Moscow--Riga--Not allowed to see the
fortifications--Arrival at Konigsberg--Grand procession in entering the
city--The pages--Curiosity of the people--The escort--Crowds in the
streets--The embassy arrives at its lodgings--Audience of the
king--Presents--Delivery of the letter from the Czar--Its contents--The
king's reply--Grand banquet--Effects of such an embassy--The policy of
modern governments--The people now reserve their earnings for their own
use--How Peter occupied his time--Dantzic--Peter preserves his
incognito--Presents--His dress--His interest in the shipping--Grand
entrance into Holland--Curiosity of the people--Peter enters Amsterdam
privately--Views of the Hollanders--Residence of the Czar--The East India
Company--Peter goes to work--His real object in pursuing this course--His
taste for mechanics--The opportunities and facilities he enjoyed--His old
workshop--Mode of preserving it--The workmen in the yard--Peter's visits
to his friends in Amsterdam--The rich merchant--Peter's manners and
character--The Hague--The embassy at the Hague
At the time when the emperor issued his orders to so many of the sons of
the nobility, requiring them to go and reside for a time in the cities of
western Europe, he formed the design of going himself to make a tour in
that part of the world, for the purpose of visiting the courts and
capitals, and seeing with his own eyes what arts and improvements were to
be found there which might be advantageously introduced into his own
dominions. In the spring of the year 1697, he thought that the time had
come for carrying this idea into effect.
The plan which he formed was not to travel openly in his own name, for he
knew that in this case a great portion of his time and attention, in the
different courts and capitals, would be wasted in the grand parades,
processions, and ceremonies with which the different sovereigns would
doubtless endeavor to honor his visit. He therefore determined to travel
incognito, in the character of a private person in the train of an
embassy. An embassy could proceed more quietly from place to place than
a monarch traveling in his own name; and then besides, if the emperor
occupied only a subordinate place in the train of the embassy, he could
slip away from it to pursue his own inquiries in a private manner
whenever he pleased, leaving the embassadors themselves and those of
their train who enjoyed such scenes to go through all the public
receptions and other pompous formalities which would have been so
tiresome to him.
General Le Fort, who had by this time been raised to a very high position
under Peter's government, was placed at the head of this embassy. Two
other great officers of state were associated with him. Then came
secretaries, interpreters, and subordinates of all kinds, in great
numbers, among whom Peter was himself enrolled under a fictitious name.
Peter took with him several young men of about his own age. Two or three
of these were particular friends of his, whom he wished to have accompany
him for the sake of their companionship on the journey. There were some
others whom he selected on account of the talent which they had evinced
for mechanical and mathematical studies. These young men he intended to
have instructed in the art of ship-building in some of the countries
which the embassy were to visit.
Besides these arrangements in respect to the embassy, provision was, of
course, to be made by the emperor for the government of the country
during his absence. He left the administration in the hands of three
great nobles, the first of whom was one of his uncles, his mother's
brother. The name of this prince was Naraskin. The other two nobles
were associated with Naraskin in the regency. These commissioners were
to have the whole charge of the government of the country during the
Czar's absence. Peter's little son, whose name was Alexis, and who was
now about seven years old, was also committed to their keeping.
Not having entire confidence in the fidelity of the old Guards, Peter did
not trust the defense of Moscow to them, but he garrisoned the
fortifications in and around the capital with a force of about twelve
thousand men that he had gradually brought together for that purpose. A
great many of these troops, both officers and men, were foreigners.
Peter placed greater reliance on them on that account, supposing that
they would be less likely to sympathize with and join the people of the
city in case of any popular discontent or disturbances. The Guards were
sent off into the interior and toward the frontiers, where they could do
no great mischief; even if disposed.
At length, when every thing was ready, the embassy set out from Moscow.
The departure of the expedition from the gates of the city made quite an
imposing scene, so numerous was the party which composed the embassadors'
train. There were in all about three hundred men. The principal persons
of the embassy were, of course, splendidly mounted and equipped, and they
were followed by a line of wagons conveying supplies of clothing, stores,
presents for foreign courts, and other baggage. This baggage-train was,
of course, attended by a suitable escort. Vast multitudes of people
assembled along the streets and at the gates of the city to see the grand
procession commence its march.
The first place of importance at which the embassy stopped was the city
of Riga, on the shores of the Gulf of Riga, in the eastern part of the
Baltic Sea.[1] Riga and the province in which it was situated, though
now a part of the Russian empire, then belonged to Sweden. It was the
principal port on the Baltic in those days, and Peter felt a great
interest in viewing it, as there was then no naval outlet in that
direction from his dominions. The governor of Riga was very polite to
the embassy, and gave them a very honorable reception in the city, but he
refused to allow the embassadors to examine the fortifications. It had
been arranged beforehand between the embassadors and Peter that two of
them were to ask permission to see the fortifications, and that Peter
himself was to go around with them as their attendant when they made
their visit, in order that he might make his own observations in respect
to the strength of the works and the mode of their construction. Peter
was accordingly very much disappointed and vexed at the refusal of the
governor to allow the fortifications to be viewed, and he secretly
resolved that he would seize the first opportunity after his return to
open a quarrel with the King of Sweden, and take this city away from him.
Leaving Riga, the embassy moved on toward the southward and westward
until, at length, they entered the dominions of the King of Prussia.
They came soon to the city of Konigsberg, which was at that time the
capital. The reception of the embassy at this city was attended with
great pomp and display. The whole party halted at a small village at the
distance of about a mile from the gates, in order to give time for
completing the arrangements, and to await the arrival of a special
messenger and an escort from the king to conduct them within the walls.
At length, when all was ready, the procession formed about four o'clock
in the afternoon. First came a troop of horses that belonged to the
king. They were splendidly caparisoned, but were not mounted. They were
led by grooms. Then came an escort of troops of the Royal Guards. They
were dressed in splendid red uniform, and were preceded by kettle-drums.
Then a company of the Prussian nobility in beautifully-decorated coaches,
each drawn by six horses. Next came the state carriages of the king.
The king himself was not in either of them, it being etiquette for the
king to remain in his palace, and receive the embassy at a public
audience there after their arrival. The royal carriages were sent out,
however, as a special though indirect token of respect to the Czar, who
was known to be in the train.
Then came a precession of pages, consisting of those of the king and
those of the embassadors marching together. These pages were all
beautiful boys, elegantly dressed in characteristic liveries of red laced
with gold. They marched three together, two of the king's pages in each
rank, with one of the embassadors' between them. The spectators were
very much interested in these boys, and the boys were likewise doubtless
much interested in each other; but they could not hold any conversation
with each other, for probably those of each set could speak only their
own language.
Next after the pages came the embassy itself. First there was a line of
thirty-six carriages, containing the principal officers and attendants of
the three embassadors. In one of these carriages, riding quietly with
the rest as a subordinate in the train, was Peter. There was doubtless
some vague intimation circulating among the crowd that the Emperor of
Russia was somewhere in the procession, concealed in his disguise. But
there were no means of identifying him, and, of course, whatever
curiosity the people felt on the subject remained ungratified.
Next after these carriages came the military escort which the embassadors
had brought with them. The escort was headed by the embassadors' band of
music, consisting of trumpets, kettle-drums, and other martial
instruments. Then came a body of foot-guards: their uniform was green,
and they were armed with silver battle-axes. Then came a troop of
horsemen, which completed the escort. Immediately after the escort there
followed the grand state carriage of the embassy, with the three
embassadors in it.
The procession was closed by a long train of elegant carriages, conveying
various personages of wealth and distinction, who had come from the city
to join in doing honor to the strangers.
As the procession entered the city, they found the streets through which
they were to pass densely lined on each side by the citizens who had
assembled to witness the spectacle. Through this vast concourse the
embassadors and their suite advanced, and were finally conducted to a
splendid palace which had been prepared for them in the heart of the
city. The garrison of the city was drawn up at the gates of the palace,
to receive them as they arrived. When the carriage reached the gate and
the embassadors began to alight, a grand salute was fired from the guns
of the fortress. The embassadors were immediately conducted to their
several apartments in the palace by the officers who had led the
procession, and then left to repose. When the officers were about to
withdraw, the embassadors accompanied them to the head of the stairs and
took leave of them there. The doors of the palace and the halls and
entrances leading to the apartments of the embassadors were guarded by
twenty-four soldiers, who were stationed there as sentinels to protect
the precincts from all intrusion.
Four days after this there was another display, when the embassadors were
admitted to their first public audience with the king. There was again a
grand procession through the streets, with great crowds assembled to
witness it, and bands of music, and splendid uniforms, and gorgeous
equipages, all more magnificent, if possible, than before. The
embassadors were conducted in this way to the royal palace. They entered
the hall, dressed in cloth of gold and silver, richly embroidered, and
adorned with precious stones of great value. Here they found the king
seated on a throne, and attended by all the principal nobles of his
court. The embassadors advanced to pay their reverence to his majesty,
bearing in their hands, in a richly-ornamented box, a letter from the
Czar, with which they had been intrusted for him. There were a number of
attendants also, who were loaded with rich and valuable presents which
the embassadors had brought to offer to the king. The presents consisted
of the most costly furs, tissues of gold and silver, precious stones, and
the like, all productions of Russia, and of very great value.
The king received the embassadors in a very honorable manner, and made
them an address of welcome in reply to the brief addresses of salutation
and compliment which they first delivered to him. He received the letter
from their hands and read it. The presents were deposited on tables
which had been set for the purpose.
The letter stated that the Czar had sent the embassy to assure him of his
desire "to improve the affection and good correspondence which had always
existed, as well between his royal highness and himself as between their
illustrious ancestors." It said also that "the same embassy being from
thence to proceed to the court of Vienna, the Czar requested the king to
help them on their journey." And finally it expressed the thanks of the
Czar, for the "engineers and bombardiers" which the king had sent him
during the past year, and who had been so useful to him in the siege of
Azof.
The king, having read the letter, made a verbal reply to the embassadors,
asking them to thank the Czar in his name for the friendly sentiments
which his letter expressed, and for the splendid embassy which he had
sent to him.
All this time the Czar himself, the author of the letter, was standing
by, a quiet spectator of the scene, undistinguishable from the other
secretaries and attendants that formed the embassadors' train.
After the ceremony of audience was completed the embassadors withdrew.
They were reconducted to their lodgings with the same ceremonies as were
observed in their coming out, and then spent the evening at a grand
banquet provided for them by the elector. All the principal nobility of
Prussia were present at this banquet, and after it was concluded the town
was illuminated with a great display of fireworks, which continued until
midnight.
The sending of a grand embassage like this from one royal or imperial
potentate to another was a very common occurrence in those times. The
pomp and parade with which they were accompanied were intended equally
for the purpose of illustrating the magnificence of the government that
sent them, and of offering a splendid token of respect to the one to
which they were sent. Of course, the expense was enormous, both to the
sovereign who sent and to the one who received the compliment. But such
sovereigns as those were very willing to expend money in parades which
exhibited before the world the evidences of their own grandeur and power,
especially as the mass of the people, from whose toils the means of
defraying the cost was ultimately to come, were so completely held in
subjection by military power that they could not even complain, far less
could they take any effectual measures for calling their oppressors to
account. In governments that are organized at the present day, either by
the establishment of new constitutions, or by the remodeling and
reforming of old ones, all this is changed. The people understand now
that all the money which is expended by their governments is ultimately
paid by themselves, and they are gradually devising means by which they
can themselves exercise a greater and greater control over these
expenditures. They retain a far greater portion of the avails of their
labor in their own hands, and expend it in adorning and making
comfortable their own habitations, and cultivating the minds of their
children, while they require the government officials to live, and
travel, and transact their business in a more quiet and unpretending way
than was customary of yore.
Thus, in traveling over most parts of the United States, you will find
the people who cultivate the land living in comfortable, well-furnished
houses, with separate rooms appropriately arranged for the different uses
of the family. There is a carpet on the parlor floor, and there are
books in the book-case, and good supplies of comfortable clothing in the
closets. But then our embassadors and ministers in foreign courts are
obliged to content themselves with what they consider very moderate
salaries, which do not at all allow of their competing in style and
splendor with the embassadors sent from the old despotic monarchies of
Europe, under which the people who till the ground live in bare and
wretched huts, and are supplied from year to year with only just enough
of food and clothing to keep them alive and enable them to continue their
toil.
But to return to Peter and his embassy. When the public reception was
over Peter introduced himself privately to the king in his own name, and
the king, in a quiet and unofficial manner, paid him great attention.
There were to be many more public ceremonies, banquets, and parades for
the embassy in the city during their stay, but Peter withdrew himself
entirely from the scene, and went out to a certain bay, which extended
about one hundred and fifty miles along the shore between Konigsberg and
Dantzic, and occupied himself in examining the vessels which were there,
and in sailing to and fro in them.
This bay you will find delineated on any map of Europe. It extends along
the coast for a considerable distance between Konigsberg and Dantzic, on
the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea.
When the embassadors and their train had finished their banquetings and
celebrations in Konigsberg, Peter joined them again, and the expedition
proceeded to Dantzic. This was at that time, as it is now, a large
commercial city, being one of the chief ports on the Baltic for the
exportation of grain from Poland and other fertile countries in the
interior.
By this time it began to be every where well known that Peter himself was
traveling with the embassy. Peter would not, however, allow himself to
be recognized at all, or permit any public notice to be taken of his
presence, but went about freely in all the places that he visited with
his own companions, just as if he were a private person, leaving all the
public parades and receptions, and all the banquetings, and other state
and civic ceremonies, to the three embassadors and their immediate train.
A great many elegant and expensive presents, however, were sent in to
him, under pretense of sending them to the embassadors.
The expedition traveled on in this way along the coasts of the Baltic
Sea, on the way toward Holland, which was the country that Peter was most
eager to see. At every city where they stopped Peter went about
examining the shipping. He was often attended by some important official
person of the place, but in other respects he went without any ceremony
whatever. He used to change his dress, putting on, in the different
places that he visited, that which was worn by the common people of the
town, so as not to attract any attention, and not even to be recognized
as a foreigner. At one port, where there were a great many Dutch vessels
that he wished to see, he wore the pea-jacket and the other sailor-like
dress of a common Dutch skipper,[2] in order that he might ramble about
at his ease along the docks, and mingle freely with the seafaring men,
without attracting any notice at all.
[Illustration: Peter among the shipping.]
The people of Holland were aware that the embassy was coming into their
country, and that Peter himself accompanied it, and they accordingly
prepared to receive the party with the highest marks of honor. As the
embassy, after crossing the frontier, moved on toward Amsterdam, salutes
were fired from the ramparts of all the great towns that they passed, the
soldiers were drawn out, and civic processions, formed of magistrates and
citizens, met them at the gates to conduct them through the streets. The
windows, too, and the roofs of all the houses, were crowded with
spectators. Wherever they stopped at night bonfires and illuminations
were made in honor of their arrival, and sometimes beautiful fireworks
were played off in the evening before their palace windows.
Of course, there was a great desire felt every where among the spectators
to discover which of the personages who followed in the train of the
embassy was the Czar himself. They found it, however, impossible to
determine this point, so completely had Peter disguised his person, and
merged himself with the rest. Indeed, in some cases, when the procession
was moving forward with great ceremony, the object of the closest
scrutiny in every part for thousands of eyes, Peter himself was not in it
at all. This was particularly the case on the occasion of the grand
entry into Amsterdam. Peter left the party at a distance from the city,
in order to go in quietly the next day, in company with some merchants
with whom he had become acquainted. And, accordingly, while all
Amsterdam had gathered into the streets, and were watching with the most
intense curiosity every train as it passed, in order to discover which
one contained the great Czar, the great Czar himself was several miles
away, sitting quietly with his friends, the merchants, at a table in a
common country inn.
The government and the people of Holland took a very great interest in
this embassy, not only on account of the splendor of it, and the
magnitude of the imperial power which it represented, but also on account
of the business and pecuniary considerations which were involved. They
wished very much to cultivate a good understanding with Russia, on
account of the trade and commerce of that country, which was already very
great, and was rapidly increasing. They determined, therefore, to show
the embassy every mark of consideration and honor.
Besides the measures which they adopted for giving the embassy itself a
grand reception, the government set apart a spacious and splendid house
in Amsterdam for the use of the Czar during his stay. They did this in a
somewhat private and informal manner, it is true, for they knew that
Peter did not wish that his presence with the embassy should be openly
noticed in any way. They organized also a complete household for this
palace, including servants, attendants, and officers of all kinds, in a
style corresponding to the dignity of the exalted personage who was
expected to occupy it.
But Peter, when he arrived, would not occupy the palace at all, but went
into a quiet lodging among the shipping, where he could ramble about
without constraint, and see all that was to be seen which could
illustrate the art of navigation. The Dutch East India Company, which
was then, perhaps, the greatest and most powerful association of
merchants which had ever existed, had large ship-yards, where their
vessels were built, at Saardam. Saardam was almost a suburb of
Amsterdam, being situated on a deep river which empties into the Y, so
called, which is the harbor of Amsterdam, and only a few miles from the
town. Peter immediately made arrangements for going to these ship-yards
and spending the time while the embassy remained in that part of the
country in studying the construction of ships, and in becoming acquainted
with the principal builders. Here, as the historians of the times say,
he entered himself as a common ship-carpenter, being enrolled in the list
of the company's workmen by the name Peter Michaelhoff, which was as
nearly as possible his real name. He lived here several months, and
devoted himself diligently to his work. He kept two or three of his
companions with him--those whom he had brought from Moscow as his friends
and associates on the tour; but they, it is said, did not take hold of
the hard work with nearly as much zeal and energy as Peter displayed.
Peter himself worked for the greatest part of every day among the other
workmen, wearing also the same dress that they wore. When he was tired
of work he would go out on the water, and sail and row about in the
different sorts of boats, so as to make himself practically acquainted
with the comparative effects of the various modes of construction.
The object which Peter had in view in all this was, doubtless, in a great
measure, his own enjoyment for the time being. He was so much interested
in the subject of ships and ship-building, and in every thing connected
with navigation, that it was a delight to him to be in the midst of such
scenes as were to be witnessed in the company's yards. He was still but
a young man, and, like a great many other young men, he liked boats and
the water. It is not probable, notwithstanding what is said by
historians about his performances with the broad-axe, that he really did
much serious work. Still he was naturally fond of mechanical
occupations, as the fact of his making a wheelbarrow with which to
construct a fortification, in his schoolboy days, sufficiently indicates.
Then, again, his being in the ship-yards so long, nominally as one of the
workmen, gave him undoubtedly great facilities for observing every thing
which it was important that he should know. Of course, he could not have
seriously intended to make himself an actual and practical
ship-carpenter, for, in the first place, the time was too short. A trade
like that of a ship-carpenter requires years of apprenticeship to make a
really good workman. Then, in the second place, the mechanical part of
the work was not the part which it devolved upon him, as a sovereign
intent on building up a navy for the protection of his empire, even to
superintend. He could not, therefore, have seriously intended to learn
to build ships himself, but only to make himself nominally a workman,
partly for the pleasure which it gave him to place himself so wholly at
home among the shipping, and partly for the sake of the increased
opportunities which he thereby obtained of learning many things which it
was important that he should know.
Travelers visiting Holland at the present day often go out to Saardam to
see the little building that is still shown as the shop which Peter
occupied while he was there. It is a small wooden building, leaning and
bent with age and decrepitude and darkened by exposure and time. Within
the last half century, however, in order to save so curious a relic from
farther decay, the proprietors of the place have constructed around and
over it an outer building of brick, which incloses the hut itself like a
case. The sides of the outer building are formed of large, open arches,
which allow the hut within to be seen. The ground on which the hut
stands has also been laid out prettily as a garden, and is inclosed by a
wall. Within this wall, and near the gate, is a very neat and pretty
Dutch cottage, in which the custodian lives who shows the place to
strangers.
While Peter was in the ship-yards the workmen knew who he was, but all
persons were forbidden to gather around or gaze at him, or to interfere
with him in any way by their notice or their attentions. They were to
allow him to go and come as he pleased, without any molestation. These
orders they obeyed as well as they could, as every one was desirous of
treating their visitor in a manner as agreeable to him as possible, so as
to prolong his stay.
Peter varied his amusements, while he thus resided in Saardam, by making
occasional visits in a quiet and private way to certain friends in
Amsterdam. He very seldom attended any of the great parades and
celebrations which were continually taking place in honor of the embassy,
but went only to the houses of men eminent in private life for their
attainments in particular branches of knowledge, or for their experience
or success as merchants or navigators. There was one person in
particular that Peter became acquainted with in Amsterdam, whose company
and conversation pleased him very much, and whom he frequently visited.
This was a certain wealthy merchant, whose operations were on so vast a
scale that he was accustomed to send off special expeditions at his own
expense, all over the world, to explore new regions and discover new
fields for his commercial enterprise. In order also to improve the
accuracy of the methods employed by his ship-masters for ascertaining the
latitude and longitude in navigating their ships, he built an
observatory, and furnished it with the telescopes, quadrants, and other
costly instruments necessary for making the observations--all at his own
expense.
With this gentleman, and with the other persons in Amsterdam that Peter
took a fancy to, he lived on very friendly and familiar terms. He often
came in from Saardam to visit them, and would sometimes spend a
considerable portion of the night in drinking and making merry with them.
He assumed with these friends none of the reserve and dignity of demeanor
that we should naturally associate with the idea of a king. Indeed, he
was very blunt, and often rough and overbearing in his manners, not
unfrequently doing and saying things which would scarcely be pardoned in
a person of inferior station. When thwarted or opposed in any way he was
irritable and violent, and he evinced continually a temper that was very
far from being amiable. In a word, though his society was eagerly sought
by all whom he was willing to associate with, he seems to have made no
real friends. Those who knew him admired his intelligence and his
energy, and they respected his power, but he was not a man that any one
could love.
Amsterdam, though it was the great commercial centre of Holland--and,
indeed, at that time, of the world--was not the capital of the country.
The seat of government was then, as now, at the Hague. Accordingly,
after remaining as long at Amsterdam as Peter wished to amuse himself in
the ship-yards, the embassy moved on to the Hague, where it was received
in a very formal and honorable manner by the king and the government.
The presence of Peter could not be openly referred to, but very special
and unusual honors were paid to the embassy in tacit recognition of it.
At the Hague were resident ministers from all the great powers of Europe,
and these all, with one exception, came to pay visits of ceremony to the
embassadors, which visits were of course duly returned with great pomp
and parade. The exception was the minister of France. There was a
coolness existing at this time between the Russian and the French
governments on account of something Peter had done in respect to the
election of a king of Poland, which displeased the French king, and on
this account the French minister declined taking part in the special
honors paid to the embassy.
The Hague was at this time perhaps the most influential and powerful
capital of Europe. It was the centre, in fact, of all important
political movements and intrigues for the whole Continent. The embassy
accordingly paused here, to take some rest from the fatigues and
excitements of their long journey, and to allow Peter time to form and
mature plans for future movements and operations.
[1] For the situation of Riga in relation to Moscow, and for that of the
other places visited by the embassy, the reader must not fail to refer to
a map of Europe.
[2] A skipper is the captain of a small vessel.