New travels of the czar.
Wismar was at this time besieged by the czar's allies. This town, which
belonged of right to the duke of Mecklenburg, is situated on the Baltic,
about seven leagues distant from Lubec, and might have rivalled that
city in its extensive trade, being once one of the most considerable of
the Hans Towns, and the duke of Mecklenburg exercised therein a full
power of protection, rather than of sovereignty. This was one of the
German territories yet remaining to the Swedes, in virtue of the peace
of Westphalia: but it was now obliged to share the same fate with
Stralsund. The allies of the czar pushed the siege with the greatest
vigour, in order to make themselves masters of it before that prince's
troops should arrive; but Peter himself coming before the place in
person, after the capitulation, (Feb. 1716,) which had been made without
his privacy, made the garrison prisoners of war. He was not a little
incensed, that his allies should have left the king of Denmark in
possession of a town which was the right of a prince, who had married
his niece; and his resentment on this occasion (which that artful
minister, de Gortz, soon after turned to his own advantage) laid the
first foundation of the peace, which he meditated to bring about between
the czar and Charles XII.
Gortz took the first opportunity to insinuate to the czar, that Sweden
was sufficiently humbled, and that he should be careful not to suffer
Denmark and Prussia to become too powerful. The czar joined in opinion
with him, and as he had entered into the war, merely from motives of
policy, whilst Charles carried it on wholly on the principles of a
warrior; he, from that instant, slackened in his operations against the
Swedes, and Charles, every where unfortunate in Germany, determined to
risk one of those desperate strokes which success only can justify, and
carried the war into Norway.
In the meantime, Peter was desirous to make a second tour through
Europe. He had undertaken his first, as a person who travelled for
instruction in the arts and sciences: but this second he made as a
prince, who wanted to dive into the secrets of the several courts. He
took the czarina with him to Copenhagen, Lubec, Schwerin, and Nystadt.
He had an interview with the king of Prussia at the little town of
Aversburg, from thence he and the empress went to Hamburg, and to
Altena, which had been burned by the Swedes, and which they caused to be
rebuilt. Descending the Elbe as far as Stade, they passed through
Bremen, where the magistrates prepared a firework and illuminations for
them, which formed, in a hundred different places, these words--'Our
deliverer is come amongst us.' At length he arrived once more at
Amsterdam, (Dec. 17, 1716,) and visited the little hut at Saardam, where
he had first learned the art of ship-building, about eighteen years
before, and found his old dwelling converted into a handsome and
commodious house, which is still to be seen, and goes by the name of the
Prince's House.
It may easily be conceived, with what a kind of idolatry he was received
by a trading and seafaring set of people, whose companion he had
heretofore been, and who thought they saw in the conqueror of Pultowa, a
pupil who had learned from them to gain naval victories; and had, after
their example, established trade and navigation in his own dominions. In
a word, they looked upon him as a fellow-citizen, who had been raised to
the imperial dignity.
The life, the travels, the actions of Peter the Great, as well as of his
rival, Charles of Sweden, exhibit a surprising contrast to the manners
which prevail amongst us, and which are, perhaps, rather too delicate;
and this may be one reason, that the history of these two famous men so
much excites our curiosity.
The czarina had been left behind at Schwerin indisposed, being greatly
advanced in her pregnancy; nevertheless, as soon as she was able to
travel, she set out to join the czar in Holland, but was taken in labour
at Wesel, and there delivered of a prince, (Jan. 14, 1717,) who lived
but one day. It is not customary with us for a lying-in-woman to stir
abroad for some time; but the czarina set out, and arrived at Amsterdam
in ten days after her labour. She was very desirous to see the little
cabin her husband had lived and worked in. Accordingly, she and the czar
went together, without any state or attendance, excepting only two
servants, and dined at the house of a rich ship-builder of Saardam,
whose name was Kalf, and who was one of the first who had traded to
Petersburg. His son had lately arrived from France, whither Peter was
going. The czar and czarina took great pleasure in hearing an adventure
of this young man, which I should not mention here, only as it may serve
to shew the great difference between the manners of that country and
ours.
Old Kalf, who had sent this son of his to Paris, to learn the French
tongue, was desirous that he should live in a genteel manner during his
stay there; and accordingly had ordered him to lay aside the plain garb
which the inhabitants of Saardam are in general accustomed to wear, and
to provide himself with fashionable clothes at Paris, and to live, in a
manner, rather suitable to his fortune than his education; being
sufficiently well acquainted with his son's disposition to know, that
this indulgence would have no bad effect on his natural frugality and
sobriety.
As a calf is in the French language called veau, our young traveller,
when he arrived at Paris, took the name of De Veau. He lived in a
splendid manner, spent his money freely, and made several genteel
connexions. Nothing is more common at Paris, than to bestow, without
reserve, the title of count and marquis, whether a person has any claim
to it or not, or even if he is barely a gentleman. This absurd practice
has been allowed by the government, in order that, by thus confounding
all ranks, and consequently humbling the nobility, there might be less
danger of civil wars, which, in former times, were so frequent and
destructive to the peace of the state. In a word, the title of marquis
and count, with possessions equivalent to that dignity, are like those
of knight, without being of any order; or abbé, without any church
preferment; of no consequence, and not looked upon by the sensible part
of the nation.
Young Mr. Kalf was always called the count de Veau by his acquaintance
and his own servants: he frequently made one in the parties of the
princesses; he played at the duchess of Berri's, and few strangers were
treated with greater marks of distinction, or had more general
invitations among polite company. A young nobleman, who had been always
one of his companions in these parties, promised to pay him a visit at
Saardam, and was as good as his word: when he arrived at the village, he
inquired for the house of count Kalf; when, being shewn into a
carpenter's work-shop, he there saw his former gay companion, the young
count, dressed in a jacket and trowsers, after the Dutch fashion, with
an axe in his hand, at the head of his father's workmen. Here he was
received by his friend, in that plain manner to which he had been
accustomed from his birth, and from which he never deviated. The
sensible reader will forgive this little digression, as it is a satire
on vanity, and a panegyric on true manners.
The czar continued three months in Holland, during which he passed his
time in matters of a more serious nature than the adventure just
related. Since the treaties of Nimeguen, Ryswic, and Utrecht, the Hague
had preserved the reputation of being the centre of negotiations in
Europe. This little city, or rather village, the most pleasant of any in
the North, is chiefly inhabited by foreign ministers, and by travellers,
who come for instruction to this great school. They were, at that time,
laying the foundation of a great revolution in Europe. The czar, having
gotten intelligence of the approaching storm, prolonged his stay in the
Low Countries, that he might be nearer at hand, to observe the
machinations going forward, both in the North and South, and prepare
himself for the part which it might be necessary for him to act therein.