BAD NEWS FROM MOSCOW.
To Admiral Carmarthen, of the British Navy, Peter of Russia was
indebted for one of the supremest pleasures of his life. This was
a review, or naval sham-fight, which the admiral organized for the
Tsar's benefit at Spithead. We can imagine how Peter, whose heart was
so set at this time upon ships and all matters connected with the sea
and maritime affairs, must have gazed in rapture and delight at the
beautiful battle-ships that manoeuvred before his eyes; how he must
have knit his strong face, and bent his eagle glance which nothing ever
escaped, upon each turn and evolution of the vessels, and watched each
manoeuvre, drinking in for his future guidance the reason for every
movement made and the probable result, had this been actual warfare,
of every gun fired. There is no doubt that the young autocrat learned
much from this memorable scene, and laid to heart many hints to be
utilized afterwards when he himself, in command of a Russian fleet,
engaged and overcame a stronger fleet of the King of Sweden.
Peter's delight with the day's entertainment may be gauged by his
conversation, when it was ended, with Admiral Carmarthen. "Admiral," he
said, "you are a lucky man! I would rather be the admiral of a British
fleet such as this than the Tsar of all the Russias!"
Probably Peter's excited state of mind was responsible for this
somewhat exaggerated manner of expressing his satisfaction; but there
is no doubt that his enthusiasm and delight were perfectly sincere at
the time. Boris was present also, and his delight was no less than
that of his master. He, too, felt that it must indeed be a delightful
position to be in command of so magnificent a sea-army as this.
"Boris, Boris!" said Peter, as the two tall men stood side by side
watching the beautiful spectacle, "shall I ever own a fleet like this,
and a good seaport to keep it in?"
"That depends upon your Majesty," said Boris. "Every one knows that
Peter Alexeyevitch will perform anything to which he puts his hand and
sets his heart!"
"Ah, Boris," said the Tsar, "I thought so too before we left Russia;
but I am humbler now! Oh, for the sea, my Bear-eater--the sea! that is
what we must fight for and live for. Our poor Russia is cramped and
stifled for want of windows; we must break through her walls, Boris,
and that as quickly as possible. I can build a fleet, there is no fear
of that. If we had but a hundredth part of the seaboard that these
happy Britons possess, I should be blessed indeed!"
"Never fear, your Majesty; we shall have seaports yet!" said Boris, to
whom the matter presented no difficulty whatever, for did not Peter
desire it?
As the Tsar and his henchman walked through the streets of London, they
attracted considerable attention by reason both of their size and of
the conduct of Peter, whose actions were at times very eccentric. He
would stop people in the street, in order to ask questions as to the
make of their clothes and hats and watch-chains. Once he seized the
wig of a passing pedestrian, to that individual's surprise and alarm,
who thought he had to deal with a gigantic lunatic. Peter carefully
examined the wig, which was of a new-fashioned shape and did not
please him, gave a short laugh and a grunt of disgust, and clapped
it back upon the man's head so violently that the unfortunate fellow
nearly fell forward upon his nose. He would enter jewellers' and other
shops, and question the artificers very minutely as to their trade and
craft, frequently ending the conversation by inviting the shopman to
remove his business to Moscow, where he should be assured of a fine
trade among Peter's subjects. Sometimes these offers were accepted,
and numbers of goldsmiths, blacksmiths, gunsmiths, joiners, and other
skilled workmen were prevailed upon to travel to the far north, where
they were subsequently well treated and made fortunes for themselves,
while they were useful in teaching their crafts to the Russian people.
Couriers frequently passed between London and Moscow, and through
their good offices Boris was able to keep up a constant communication
with his friend Nancy. The hunter was no great hand at letter writing,
though he had long since learned the arts of reading and writing, of
which of course he had been ignorant while still the bear-hunter of
Dubinka. In one of his epistles Boris wrote to this effect, the letter
being partly in English and partly in Russian:--
"His Majesty is exceedingly pleased with this city [London], wherein
are more people than would fill a score of Moscows. The people are
kind and hospitable, but somewhat boastful, and think but little of
the Russians. His Majesty deigns to take his pleasure in causing me
to wrestle and otherwise contend with great wrestlers and swimmers
and fighters of the English. In these matters there are some experter
than I, excepting in swimming. I have seen your friends and delivered
your letters and packages, wherewith all were greatly pleased. Your
friends made much of me, far more than I deserve. For their kindness I
am indebted to you, and also for many good words spoken of me in your
letters, portions of which they read to me.
"The Tsar and I had an adventure last night which might have ended in
bloodshed, but ended actually only in laughter; for we were fallen
upon by robbers, of whom there were five, in an outlying, lonely part
named Hampstead. The robbers surprised us in the midst of this place,
and would, no doubt, have cut our throats, but that his Majesty and I,
being armed with thick oaken sticks, kept them at bay, and in process
of time banged two of them on the head. The rest his Majesty, with some
assistance from me, pitched into a small pond covered with green ooze,
whence they issued half-drowned, and ran to their homes."
Nancy, on her part, told all the Moscow news and the progress of the
ship-building throughout the country, of which she heard much talk,
for every one spoke of it. Nancy also mentioned that many reports were
being disseminated in Moscow by the priest party to the effect that
the Tsar had been drowned on his way to England. Others said that he
had been captured by the Queen of Sweden, placed in a barrel, and
rolled into the sea. The motive of these reports was obvious. If Peter
were dead, his widow, or his brother, or his son would be proclaimed
head of the realm, and in any case his policy would be reversed;
foreigners would be sent out of the country, and Russia given back to
the Russians. It may be mentioned in this connection that so deeply
was the belief in Peter's death at this time rooted in the minds of
hundreds among the lower classes, both in Moscow and throughout the
country, that to their dying day many of these believed that the man
who returned eventually from abroad, and assumed the government of
the realm, though he certainly resembled Peter, was an impostor and
a pretender, and that the real Tsar lay drowned at the bottom of the
North Sea.
During his stay in London, Peter had many opportunities of conversation
with all classes of the subjects of William III. He visited country
houses, where he startled the sober rural folks by the eccentricity of
his manners--loving to amuse himself in rough and barbarous ways, such
as causing Boris to wheel him, afterwards himself wheeling Boris, in a
barrow through a massive holly hedge at Saye's Court. The Tsar could
not endure the ways of refinement and luxury, and preferred to sleep on
the floor rather than in a grand bed, and loved to drink quantities of
English beer, which he condescended to admire.
Boris thought little of England from the point of view of the hunter.
There were no woods, he said, fit to hide a bear or a wolf; as for
hunting the fox, it was poor sport. The country was well enough, but
not in his line; he preferred the broad forests of his native land, and
the excitement and danger of hunting big game. In a word, Boris was
well tired of England when, at the end of a few months, Peter declared
that he had seen enough, and would now depart homewards, taking Vienna
on the way, and travelling slowly in order to see as much as possible
of every country visited.
The English king made Peter the most acceptable of presents at parting,
in the shape of a small frigate of twenty-four guns. The delight of
the Tsar in his new possession was immense, and his return voyage to
Holland was made aboard of this vessel. But Peter, too, desired to
offer a memento of his visit to the hospitable British sovereign, and
did so in a characteristic manner; for, while bidding William farewell,
he pressed into his hand a small object wrapped in a piece of dirty
brown paper, which he took out of his waistcoat pocket. This proved to
be a magnificent ruby, and was valued afterwards at ten thousand pounds.
So the Tsar and Boris and the rest took ship and set sail for Holland
in the frigate which the English king had presented to his Russian
brother. And that voyage came well-nigh to being the last that any of
the party were to undertake; for a terrific storm arose in the North
Sea, and for a day or two they were uncertain whether they should live
or die. The Tsar's suite were greatly concerned at their master's
danger, knowing well that the destiny of Russia was kept by this
man in the hollow of his hand. But Peter himself professed to have
perfect confidence in the happy outcome of the voyage; he inquired of
his long-visaged companions whether they had ever heard of a Tsar of
Russia being drowned in the North Sea? All admitted that they certainly
never had read of such a disaster! "Very well then," said Peter; "I
don't intend to be the first to set the example!" Whereupon the suite
took heart of grace, and trusted to the good luck of the Tsar to pull
them through, which it did; for the good ship sailed safely into port,
and was then sent round to Archangel, while the Tsar and his embassy
continued their journey by land, and in due course arrived at Vienna.
Here Peter had intended to stay some little while, in order to learn
whatever the Austrians might have to teach him; but disquieting news
came from Moscow, which compelled him to give up the contemplated
visit, and to make all the haste he could towards his own capital. So
bad was the news, indeed, that the Tsar was at his blackest and most
savage during the whole of the hurried journey home, and those pleased
him best who talked least, and left him most alone to his gloomy
thoughts. Like a storm-cloud that rushes over the face of the sky, the
angry Tsar flew over the hundreds of miles that lay between him and the
objects of his wrath; and like the piled-up masses of black vapour that
burst and vomit forth water and lightning, so burst the anger of Peter
upon those who had vexed him, when, a very few days after receiving
the news, he dashed into Moscow with a few attendants only, the rest
following as quickly as they could.
The purport of the letter received by Peter in Vienna was certainly
disquieting enough, for the epistle contained an account of a
military revolt, and of a march upon the capital by the Streltsi. It
appeared that these regiments, ever on the watch for opportunities of
interfering in existing affairs, had sent a deputation to Moscow to
inquire into the truth of the rumours as to the absence or death of the
Tsar, and to demand of the authorities orders for the immediate return
of all the Streltsi regiments to Moscow. Their wives and families were
still in the capital, and they had been absent long enough at Azof and
elsewhere. Besides, political affairs demanded their presence in the
capital.
The deputation were unable to obtain the ear of the authorities, and
were dismissed with scant ceremony from Moscow--very loath to leave
the city, and extremely angry with those who would not listen to their
grievances.
Meanwhile the main body of the Streltsi had become impatient, and sent
word that, if not summoned to Moscow in compliance with their request,
they intended to come without waiting for an invitation.
It was at this stage of affairs that letters were despatched to the
Tsar at Vienna, summoning him to his capital, which was menaced by a
descent upon it by the dissatisfied Streltsi regiments.
Meanwhile, however, the two generals, Schéin and Gordon, whom Peter had
left at the head of military affairs in his absence, proceeded wisely
to take the bull by the horns. They prepared a moderate force, selected
from the new regiments, and marched towards the seat of disturbance.
Before they had gone very far they met emissaries from the Streltsi,
who informed them that the massed regiments of that body were in
full march upon Moscow, with intent to chase the foreigner from the
soil of holy Russia; to place the Grand-Duchess Sophia, late regent,
upon the throne in lieu of the Tsar Peter, who, they had heard, was
dead; and to restore the old _régime_ and the good old days of a
Streltsi-dominated Moscow, without a foreigner in the place to set
everything upside down and worry the souls of the priests.
Gordon sent these men back with a message to their comrades to get home
as quickly as might be to their quarters, and there to pray Heaven to
so rule the heart of the Tsar Peter (who was quite alive enough to cut
the throat of every Streletz in Russia), that he might be led to look
with indulgence upon their foolish imaginings, and forgive them in
consideration of their instant and complete submission, tendered from
their barracks.
But the Streltsi would not believe the words of Gordon, and declared
that they must and would come to Moscow in order to see with their own
eyes that all was well with the Tsar and the country.
Thereupon Gordon and Schéin met these misguided men half way as they
marched upon Moscow. The Streltsi would not surrender at demand, and
therefore a volley was fired over their heads. This set the brave
fellows running, which proved that their courage was scarcely equal to
the noise they made in the world. Three thousand of them were taken
prisoners and brought to Moscow; the rest were permitted to escape and
return to their own quarters.
Such was the state of affairs when the enraged young Tsar dashed into
Moscow in his angriest and blackest mood, and with his mind set upon
making a terrible example of this body of men, who had been a thorn in
the flesh to him since his first experience of their eccentricities, at
the age of ten.
How he carried out his intentions, and the bearing which this affair
had upon the career of our bear-hunter, shall be treated of in the
following chapter.