PETER THE GREAT, AND RUSSIA.
[Sidenote: Early History of Russia.]
While Louis XIV. was prosecuting his schemes of aggrandizement, and
William III. was opposing those schemes; while Villeroy, Villars,
Marlborough, and Eugene were contending, at the head of great armies,
for their respective masters; a new power was arising at the north,
destined soon to become prominent among the great empires of the
world. The political importance of Russia was not appreciated at the
close of the seventeenth century, until the great resources of the
country were brought to the view of Europe by the extraordinary genius
of Peter the Great.
The history of Russia, before the reign of this great prince, has not
excited much interest, and is not particularly eventful or important.
The Russians are descended from the ancient Sclavonic race, supposed
to be much inferior to the Germanic or Teutonic tribes, to whom most
of the civilized nations of Europe trace their origin.
The first great event in Russian history is the nominal conversion of
a powerful king to Christianity, in the tenth century, named Vladimir,
whose reign was a mixture of cruelty, licentiousness, and heroism.
Seeing the necessity of some generally recognized religion, he sent
ten of his most distinguished men into all the various countries then
known, to examine their religious systems. Being semi-barbarians, they
were disposed to recommend that form which had the most imposing
ceremonial, and appealed most forcibly to the senses. The
commissioners came to Mecca, but soon left with contempt, since
Mohammedanism then made too great demands upon the powers of
self-control, and prohibited the use of many things to which the
barbarians were attached. They were no better pleased with the
Manichean philosophy, which then extensively prevailed in the East;
for this involved the settlement of abstract ideas, for which
barbarians had no relish. They disliked Roman Catholicism, on account
of the arrogant claims of the pope. Judaism was spurned, because it
had no country, and its professors were scattered over the face of the
earth. But the lofty minarets of St. Sophia, and the extravagant
magnificence of the Greek worship, filled the commissioners with
admiration; and they easily induced Vladimir to adopt the forms of the
Greek Church; which has ever since been the established religion of
Russia. But Christianity, in its corrupted form, failed to destroy,
and scarcely alleviated, the traits of barbarous life. Old
superstitions and vices prevailed; nor were the Russian territories on
an equality with the Gothic kingdoms of Europe, in manners, arts
learning, laws, or piety.
[Sidenote: The Tartar Conquest.]
When Genghis Khan, with his Tartar hordes, overran the world Russia
was subdued, and Tartar princes took possession of the throne of the
ancient czars. But the Russian princes, in the thirteenth century,
recovered their ancient power. Alexander Nevsky performed exploits of
great brilliancy; gained important victories over Danes, Swedes,
Lithuanians, and Teutonic knights; and greatly enlarged the boundaries
of his kingdom. In the fourteenth century, Moscow became a powerful
city, to which was transferred the seat of government, which before
was Novgorod. Under the successor of Ivan Kalita, the manners, laws,
and institutions of the Russians became fixed, and the absolute power
of the czars was established. Under Ivan III., who ascended the
Muscovite throne in 1462, the Tartar rule was exterminated, and the
various provinces and principalities, of which Russia was composed,
were brought under a central government. The Kremlin, with its mighty
towers and imposing minarets, arose in all the grandeur of Eastern art
and barbaric strength. The mines of the country were worked, the roads
cleared of banditti, and a code of laws established. The veil which
concealed Russia from the rest of Europe was rent. An army of three
hundred thousand men was enlisted, Siberia was discovered, the
printing press introduced, and civilization commenced. But the czar
was, nevertheless, a brutal tyrant and an abandoned libertine, who
massacred his son, executed his nobles, and destroyed his cities.
His successors were disgraced by every crime which degrades humanity;
and the whole population remained in rudeness and barbarism,
superstition and ignorance. The clergy wielded enormous power; which,
however, was rendered subservient to the interests of absolutism.
[Sidenote: Accession of Peter the Great.]
Such was Russia, when Peter, the son of Alexis Michaelovitz, ascended
the throne, in 1682--a boy, ten years of age. He early exhibited great
sagacity and talent, but was addicted to gross pleasures. These,
strangely, did not enervate him, or prevent him from making
considerable attainments. But he was most distinguished for a military
spirit, which was treated with contempt by the Regent Sophia, daughter
of Alexis by a first marriage. As soon, however, as her eyes were open
to his varied studies and his ambitious spirit, she became jealous,
and attempted to secure his assassination. In this she failed, and the
youthful sovereign reigned supreme in Moscow, at the age of seventeen.
No sooner did he assume the reins of empire, than his genius blazed
forth with singular brilliancy, and the rapid development of his
powers was a subject of universal wonder. Full of courage and energy,
he found nothing too arduous for him to undertake; and he soon
conceived the vast project of changing the whole system of his
government, and reforming the manners of his subjects.
He first directed his attention to the art of war, and resolved to
increase the military strength of his empire. With the aid of Le Fort,
a Swiss adventurer, and Gordon, a Scotch officer, he instituted,
gradually, a standing army of twenty thousand men, officered, armed,
and disciplined after the European model; cut off the long beards of
the soldiers, took away their robes, and changed their Asiatic dress.
He then conceived the idea of a navy, which may be traced to his love
of sailing in a boat, which he had learned to navigate himself. He
studied assiduously the art of ship-building, and soon laid the
foundation of a navy.
His enterprising and innovating spirit created, as it was to be
expected, considerable disaffection among the partisans of the old
_régime_--the old officers of the army, and the nobles, stripped of
many of their privileges. A rebellion was the consequence; which,
however, was soon suppressed, and the conspirators were executed with
unsparing cruelty.
He then came to the singular resolution of visiting foreign countries,
in order to acquire useful information, both in respect to the arts of
government and the arts of civilization. Many amusing incidents are
recorded of him in his travels. He journeyed incognito; clambered up
the sides of ships, ascended the rigging, and descended into the hold;
he hired himself out as a workman in Holland, lived on the wretched
stipend which he earned as a ship-carpenter, and mastered all the
details of ship-building. From Holland he went to England, where he
was received with great honor by William III.; studied the state of
manufactures and trades, and sought to gain knowledge on all common
subjects. From England he went to Austria, intending to go afterwards
to Italy; but he was compelled to return home, on account of a
rebellion of the old military guard, called the _Strelitz_, who were
peculiarly disaffected. But he easily suppressed the discontents, and
punished the old soldiers with unsparing rigor. He even executed
thirty with his own hands.
[Sidenote: Peter's Reforms.]
He then turned himself, in good earnest, to the work of reform. His
passions were military, and he longed to conquer kingdoms and cities.
But he saw no probability of success, unless he could first civilize
his subjects, and teach the soldiers the great improvements in the art
of war. In order to conquer, he resolved first to reform his nation.
His desires were selfish, but happened to be directed into channels
which benefited his country. Like Napoleon, his ruling passion was
that of the aggrandizement of himself and nation. But Providence
designed that his passions should be made subservient to the welfare
of his race. It is to his glory that he had enlargement of mind
sufficient to perceive the true sources of national prosperity. To
secure this, therefore, became the aim of his life. He became a
reformer; but a reformer, like Hildebrand, of the despotic school.
The first object of all despots is the improvement of the military
force. To effect this, he abolished the old privileges of the
soldiers, disbanded them, and drafted them into the new regiments,
which he had organized on the European plan.
He found more difficulty in changing the dress of the people, who,
generally, wore the long Asiatic robe, and the Tartar beard; and such
was the opposition made by the people, that he was obliged to
compromise the matter, and compelled all who would wear beards and
robes to pay a heavy tax, except priests and peasants: having granted
the indulgence to priests on account of the ceremonial of their
worship, and to peasants in order to render their costume ignominious.
His next important measure was the toleration of all religions, and
all sects, with the exception of the Jesuits, whom he hated and
feared. He caused the Bible to be translated into the Sclavonic
language; founded a school for the marine, and also institutions for
the encouragement of literature and art. He abolished the old and
odious laws of marriage, by which women had no liberty in the choice
of husbands. He suppressed all useless monasteries; taxed the clergy
as well as the laity; humiliated the patriarch, and assumed many of
his powers. He improved the administration of justice, mitigated laws
in relation to woman, and raised her social rank. He established
post-offices, boards of trade, a vigorous police, hospitals and
almshouses. He humbled the nobility, and abolished many of their
privileges; for which the people honored him, and looked upon him as
their benefactor.
Having organized his army, and effected social reforms, he turned his
attention to war and national aggrandizement.
[Sidenote: His War with Charles XII.]
[Sidenote: Charles XII.]
His first war was with Sweden, then the most powerful of the northern
states, and ruled by Charles XII., who, at the age of eighteen, had
just ascended the throne. The _cause_ of the war was the desire of
aggrandizement on the part of the czar; the _pretence_ was, the
restitution of some lands which Sweden had obtained from Denmark
and Poland. Taking advantage of the defenceless state of
Sweden,--attacked, at that time, by Denmark on the one side, and by
Poland on the other,--Peter invaded the territories of Charles with an
army of sixty thousand men, and laid siege to Narva. The Swedish
forces were only twenty thousand; but they were veterans, and they
were headed by a hero. Notwithstanding the great disproportion between
the contending parties, the Russians were defeated, although attacked
in their intrenchments, and all the artillery fell into the hands of
the Swedes. The victory at Narva settled the fame of Charles, but
intoxicated his mind, and led to a presumptuous self-confidence; while
the defeat of Peter did not discourage him, but braced him to make
still greater exertions--one of the numerous instances, so often seen
in human life, where defeat is better than victory. But the czar was
conscious of his strength, and also of his weakness. He knew he had
unlimited resources, but that his troops were inexperienced; and he
made up his mind for disasters at the beginning, in the hope of
victory in the end. "I know very well," said he, "that the Swedes will
have the advantage over us for a considerable time; but they will
teach us, at length, to beat them." The Swede, on the other hand, was
intoxicated with victory, and acquired that fatal presumption which
finally proved disastrous to himself and to his country. He despised
his adversary; while Peter, without overrating his victorious enemy,
was led to put forth new energies, and develop the great resources of
his nation. He was sure of final success; and he who can be sustained
by the consciousness of ultimate triumph, can ever afford to wait. It
is the spirit which sustains the martyr. It constitutes the
distinguishing element of enthusiasm and exalted heroism.
But Peter not only made new military preparations, but prosecuted his
schemes of internal improvement, and projected, after his unfortunate
defeat at Narva, the union, by a canal, of the Baltic and Caspian
Seas. About this time, he introduced into Russia flocks of Saxony
sheep, erected linen and paper manufactories, built hospitals, and
invited skilful mechanics, of all trades, to settle in his kingdom.
But Charles thought only of war and glory, and did not reconstruct or
reproduce. He pursued his military career by invading Poland, then
ruled by the Elector of Saxony; while Peter turned his attention to
the organization of new armies, melting bells into cannon,
constructing fleets, and attending to all the complicated cares of a
mighty nation with the most minute assiduity. He drew plans of
fortresses, projected military reforms, and inspired his soldiers with
his own enthusiasm. And his energy and perseverance were soon
rewarded. He captured Marianburgh, a strong city on the confines of
Livonia and Ingria, and among the captives was a young peasant girl,
who eventually became the Empress Catharine, and to whose counsels
Peter was much indebted for his great success.
She was the daughter of a poor woman of Livonia; lost her mother at
the age of three years; and, at that early age, attracted the notice
of the parish clerk, a Lutheran clergyman: was brought up with his own
daughters, and married a young sergeant of the army, who was killed in
the capture of the city. She interested the Russian general, by her
intense grief and great beauty; was taken into his family, and, soon
after, won the favor of Prince Menzikoff, the prime minister of the
czar; became mistress of his palace; there beheld Peter himself,
captivated him, and was married to him,--at first privately, and
afterwards publicly. Her rise, from so obscure a position, in a
distant country town, to be the wife of the absolute monarch of an
empire of thirty-three millions of people, is the most extraordinary
in the history of the world. When she enslaved the czar by the power
of her charms, she was only seventeen years of age; two years after
the foundations of St. Petersburg were laid.
[Sidenote: Building of St. Petersburg.]
The building of this great northern capital was as extraordinary as
the other great acts of this monarch. Amid the marshes, at the mouth
of the Neva, a rival city to the ancient metropolis of the empire
arose in five months. But one hundred thousand people perished during
the first year, in consequence of the severity of their labors, and
the pestilential air of the place. The new city was an object of as
great disgust to the nobles of Russia and the inhabitants of the older
cities, as it was the delight and pride of the czar, who made it the
capital of his vast dominions. And the city was scarcely built, before
its great commercial advantages were appreciated; and vessels from all
parts of the world, freighted with the various treasures of its
different kingdoms and countries, appeared in the harbor of Cronstadt.
Charles XII. looked with contempt on the Herculean labors of his rival
to civilize and enrich his country, and remarked "that the czar might
amuse himself as he saw fit in building a city, but that he should
soon take it from him, and set fire to his wooden house;" a bombastic
boast, which, like most boasting, came most signally to nought.
[Sidenote: New War with Sweden.]
Indeed, success now turned in favor of Peter, whose forces had been
constantly increasing, while those of Charles had been decreasing.
City after city fell into the hands of Peter, and whole provinces were
conquered from Sweden. Soon all Ingria was added to the empire of the
czar, the government of which was intrusted to Menzikoff, a man of
extraordinary abilities raised from obscurity, as a seller of pies in
the streets of Moscow to be a prince of the empire. His elevation was
a great mortification to the old and proud nobility. But Peter not
only endeavored to reward and appropriate merit, but to humble the old
aristocracy, who were averse to his improvements. And Peter was as
cold and haughty to them, as he was free and companionable with his
meanest soldiers. All great despots are indifferent to grades of rank,
when their own elevation is above envy or the reach of ambition. The
reward of merit by the czar, if it alienated the affections of his
nobles, increased the veneration and enthusiasm of the people, who
are, after all, the great permanent foundation on which absolute power
rests; illustrated by the empire of the popes, as well as the
despotism of Napoleon.
While Peter contended, with various success, with the armies of
Sweden, he succeeded in embroiling Sweden in a war with Poland, and in
diverting Charles from the invasion of Russia. Had Charles, at first,
and perseveringly, concentrated all his strength in an invasion of
Russia, he might have changed the politics of Europe. But he was
induced to invade Poland, and soon drove the luxurious and cowardly
monarch from his capital and throne, and then turned towards Russia,
to play the part of Alexander. But he did not find a Darius in the
czar, who was ready to meet him, at the head of immense armies.
The Russian forces amounted to one hundred thousand men; the Swedish
to eighty thousand, and they were veterans. Peter did not venture to
risk the fate of his empire, by a pitched battle, with such an army of
victorious troops. So he attempted a stratagem, and succeeded. He
decoyed the Swedes into a barren and wasted territory; and Charles,
instead of marching to Moscow, as he ought to have done, followed his
expected prey where he could get no provisions for his men, or forage
for his horses. Exhausted by fatigue and famine, his troops drooped in
the pursuit, and even suffered themselves to be diverted into still
more barren sections. Under these circumstances, they were defeated in
a disastrous battle. Charles, struck with madness, refused to retreat.
Disasters multiplied. The victorious Russians hung upon his rear. The
Cossacks cut off his stragglers. The army of eighty thousand melted
away to twenty-five thousand. Still the infatuated Swede dreamed of
victory, and expected to see the troops of his enemy desert. The
winter set in with its northern severity, and reduced still further
his famished troops. He lost time by marches and counter-marches,
without guides, and in the midst of a hostile population. At last he
reached Pultowa, a village on the banks of the Vorskla. Peter hastened
to meet him, with an army of sixty thousand, and one of the bloodiest
battles in the history of war was fought. The Swedes performed
miracles of valor. But valor could do nothing against overwhelming
strength. A disastrous defeat was the result, and Charles, with a few
regiments, escaped to Turkey.
Had the battle of Pultowa been decided differently; had Charles
conquered instead of Peter, or had Peter lost his life, the empire of
Russia would probably have been replunged into its original barbarism,
and the balance of power, in Europe, been changed.
[Sidenote: War with the Turks.]
But Providence, which ordained the civilization of Russia, also
ordained that the triumphant czar should not be unduly aggrandized,
and should himself learn lessons of humility. The Turks, in
consequence of the intrigues of Charles, and their hereditary
jealousy, made war upon Peter, and advanced against him with an army
of two hundred and fifty thousand men. His own army was composed of
only forty thousand. He was also indiscreet, and soon found himself in
the condition of Charles at Pultowa. On the banks of the Pruth, in
Moldavia, he was surrounded by the whole Turkish force, and famine or
surrender seemed inevitable. It was in this desperate and deplorable
condition that he was rescued by the Czarina Catharine, by whose
address a treaty was made with his victorious enemy, and Peter was
allowed to retire with his army. Charles XII. was indignant beyond
measure with the Turkish general, for granting such easy conditions,
when he had the czar in his power; and to his reproaches the vizier of
the sultan replied, "I have a right to make peace or war; and our law
commands us to grant peace to our enemies, when they implore our
clemency." Charles replied with an insult; and, though a fugitive in
the Turkish camp, he threw himself on a sofa, contemptuously cast his
eye on all present, stretched out his leg, and entangled his spur in
the vizier's robe; which insult the magnanimous Turk affected to
consider an accident.
After the defeat of Peter on the banks of the Pruth, he devoted
himself with renewed energy to the improvement of his country. He
embellished St. Petersburg, his new capital, with palaces, churches,
and arsenals. He increased his army and navy, strengthened himself by
new victories, and became gradually master of both sides of the Gulf
of Finland, by which his vast empire was protected from invasion.
[Sidenote: Peter Makes a Second Tour.]
He now reached the exalted height to which he had long aspired. He
assumed the title of _emperor_, and his title was universally
acknowledged. He then meditated a second tour of Europe, with a view
to study the political constitutions of the various states. Thirteen
years had elapsed, since, as a young enthusiast, he had visited
Amsterdam and London. He now travelled, a second time, with the
additional glory of a great name, and in the full maturity of his
mind. He visited Hamburg, Stockholm, Lubec, Amsterdam, and Paris. At
this latter place he was much noticed. Wherever he went, his course
was a triumphal procession. But he disdained flattery, and was wearied
with pompous ceremonies. He could not be flattered out of his
simplicity, or the zeal of acquiring useful knowledge. He visited all
the works of art, and was particularly struck with the Gobelin
tapestries and the tomb of Richelieu. "Great man," said he,
apostrophizing his image, "I would give half of my kingdom to learn of
thee how to govern the other half." His residence in Paris inspired
all classes with profound respect; and from Paris he went to Berlin.
There he found sympathy with Frederic William, whose tastes and
character somewhat resembled his own; and from him he learned many
useful notions in the art of government. But he was suddenly recalled
from Berlin by the bad conduct of his son Alexis, who was the heir to
his throne. He was tried, condemned, disgraced, humiliated, and
disinherited. He probably would have been executed by his hard and
rigorous father, had he not died in prison. He was hostile to his
father's plans of reform, and indecently expressed a wish for his
death. The conduct of Peter towards him is generally considered harsh
and unfeeling; but it has many palliations, if the good of his
subjects and the peace of the realm are more to be desired than the
life of an ignominious prince.
Peter prosecuted his wars and his reforms. The treaty of Neustadt
secured to Russia, after twenty years of unbroken war, a vast increase
of territory, and placed her at the head of the northern powers. The
emperor also enriched his country by opening new branches of trade,
constructing canals, rewarding industry, suppressing gambling and
mendicity, introducing iron and steel manufacture, building cities,
and establishing a vigorous police.
[Sidenote: Elevation of Catharine.]
After having settled the finances and trade of his empire, subdued his
enemies at home and abroad, and compelled all the nobles and clergy to
swear fealty to the person whom he should select as his successor, he
appointed his wife, Catharine; and she was solemnly crowned empress in
1724, he himself, at her inauguration, walking on foot, as captain of
her guard. He could not have made a better choice, as she was, in all
substantial respects, worthy of the exalted position to which she was
raised.
In about a year after, he died, leaving behind him his principles and
a mighty name. Other kings have been greater generals; but few have
derived from war greater success. Some have commanded larger armies;
but he created those which he commanded. Many have destroyed; but he
reconstructed. He was a despot, but ruled for the benefit of his
country. He was disgraced by violent passions, his cruelty was
sanguinary, and his tastes were brutal; but his passions did not
destroy his judgment, nor his appetites make him luxurious. He was
incessantly active and vigilant, his prejudices were few, and his
views tolerant and enlightened. He was only cruel when his authority
was impeached. His best portraiture is in his acts. He found a country
semi-barbarous, convulsed by disorders, a prey to petty tyrannies,
weak from disunion, and trembling before powerful neighbors. He left
it a first-class power, freed in a measure from its barbarous customs,
improved in social life, in arts, in science, and, perhaps, in morals.
He left a large and disciplined army, a considerable navy, and
numerous institutions for the civilization of the people. He left
more--the moral effect of a great example, of a man in the possession
of unbounded riches and power, making great personal sacrifices to
improve himself in the art of governing for the welfare of the
millions over whom he was called to rule. These virtues and these acts
have justly won for him the title of Peter the _Great_--a title which
the world has bestowed upon but few of the great heroes of ancient or
modern times.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: Early History of Sweden.]
The reign of Charles XII. is intimately connected with that of Peter
the Great; these monarchs being contemporaries and rivals, both
reigning in northern countries of great extent and comparative
barbarism. The reign of Peter was not so exclusively military as that
of Charles, with whom war was a passion and a profession. The interest
attached to Charles arises more from his eccentricities and brilliant
military qualities, than from any extraordinary greatness of mind or
heart. He was barbarous in his manners, and savage in his resentments;
a stranger to the pleasures of society, obstinate, revengeful,
unsympathetic, and indifferent to friendship and hatred. But he was
brave, temperate, generous, intrepid in danger, and firm in
misfortune.
Before his singular career can be presented, attention must be
directed to the country over which he reigned, and which will be
noticed in connection with Denmark; these two countries forming a
greater part of the ancient Scandinavia, from which our Teutonic
ancestors migrated, the land of Odin, and Frea, and Thor, those
half-fabulous deities, concerning whom there are still divided
opinions; some supposing that they were heroes, and others,
impersonations of virtues, or elements and wonders of nature.
The mythology of Greece does not more fully abound with gods and
goddesses, than that of the old Scandinavia with rude deities,--dwarfs,
and elfs, and mountain spirits. It was in these northern regions that
the Normans acquired their wild enthusiasm, their supernatural daring,
and their magnificent superstitions. It was from these regions that
the Saxons brought their love of liberty, their spirit of enterprise,
and their restless passion for the sea. The ancient Scandinavians were
heroic, adventurous, and chivalrous robbers, holding their women in
great respect, and profoundly reverential in their notions of a
supreme power. They were poor in silver, in gold, in the fruits of the
earth, in luxuries, and in palaces, but rich in poetic sentiments and
in religious ideas. Their chief vices were those of gluttony and
intemperance, and their great pleasures were those of hunting and
gambling.
Fabulous as are most of their legends as to descent, still Scandinavia
was probably peopled with hardy races before authentic history
commences. Under different names, and at different times, they invaded
the Roman empire. In the fifth century, they had settled in its
desolated provinces--the Saxons in England, the Goths in Spain and
Italy, the Vandals in Africa, the Burgundians in France, and the
Lombards in Italy.
Among the most celebrated of these northern Teutonic nations were the
pirates who invaded England and France, under the name of _Northmen_.
They came from Denmark, and some of their chieftains won a great name
in their generation, such as Harold, Canute, Sweyn, and Rollo.
[Sidenote: Introduction of Christianity.]
Christianity was probably planted in Sweden about the middle of the
ninth century. St. Anscar, a Westphalian monk, was the first
successful missionary, and he was made Archbishop of Hamburg, and
primate of the north.
The early history of the Swedes and Danes resembles that of England
under the Saxon princes, and they were disgraced by the same great
national vices. During the Middle Ages, no great character appeared
worthy of especial notice. Some of the more powerful kings, such as
Valdemar I. and II., and Canute VI., had quarrels with the Emperors of
Germany, and invaded some provinces of their empire. Some of these
princes were warriors, some cruel tyrants, none very powerful, and all
characterized by the vices of their age--treachery, hypocrisy, murder,
drunkenness, and brutal revenge.
The most powerful of these kings was Christian I., who founded the
dynasty of Oldenburgh, and who united under his sway the kingdoms of
Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. He reigned from 1448 to 1481; and in his
family the crown of Sweden remained until the revolution effected by
Gustavus Vasa, in 1525, and by which revolution Sweden was made
independent of Denmark.
[Sidenote: Gustavus Vasa.]
Gustavus Vasa was a nobleman descended from the ancient kings of
Sweden, and who, from the oppression to which his country was
subjected by Christian and the Archbishop of Upsal, was forced to seek
refuge amid the forests of Dalecarlia. When Stockholm was pillaged and
her noblest citizens massacred by the cruel tyrant of the country,
Gustavus headed an insurrection, defeated the king's forces, and was
made king himself by the Diet. He, perceiving that the Catholic clergy
were opposed to the liberties and the great interests of his country,
seized their fortresses and lands, became a convert to the doctrine of
the reformers, and introduced Lutheranism into the kingdom, which has
ever since been the established religion of Sweden. He was despotic in
his government, but ruled for the good of his subjects, and was
distinguished for many noble qualities.
The celebrated Gustavus Adolphus was his descendant, and was more
absolute and powerful than even Gustavus Vasa. But he is chiefly
memorable as the great hero of the Thirty Years' War, and as the
greatest general of his age. Under his sway, Sweden was the most
powerful of the northern kingdoms.
He was succeeded by his daughter Christina, a woman of most
extraordinary qualities; a woman of genius, of taste, and of culture;
a woman who, at twenty-seven, became wearied of the world, and of the
enjoyment of unlimited power, and who changed her religion, retired
from her country, and abdicated her throne, that she might,
unmolested, enjoy the elegant pleasures of Rome, and be solaced by the
literature, religion, and art of that splendid capital. It was in the
society of men of genius that she spent most of her time, and was the
life of the most intellectual circle which then existed in Europe.
She was succeeded by her cousin, who was elected King of Sweden, by
the title of _Charles Gustavus X._, and he was succeeded by Charles
XI., the father of Charles XII.
Charles XII. was fifteen years of age when he came to the throne, in
the year 1697, and found his country strong in resources, and his army
the best disciplined in Europe. His territories were one third larger
than those of France when ruled by Louis XIV., though not so thickly
populated.
[Sidenote: Early Days of Charles XII.]
The young monarch, at first, gave but few indications of the
remarkable qualities which afterwards distinguished him. He was idle,
dissipated, haughty, and luxurious. When he came to the council
chamber, he was absent and indifferent, and generally sat with both
legs thrown across the table.
But his lethargy and indifference did not last long. Three great
monarchs had conspired to ruin him, and dismember his kingdom. These
were the Czar Peter, Frederic IV. of Denmark, and Frederic Augustus,
King of Poland, and also Elector of Saxony; and their hostile armies
were on the point of invading his country.
The greatness of the danger brought to light his great qualities. He
vigorously prepared for war. His whole character changed. Quintus
Curtius became his text-book, and Alexander his model. He spent no
time in sports or magnificence. He clothed himself like a common
soldier, whose hardships he resolved henceforth to share. He forswore
the society and the influence of woman. He relinquished wine and all
the pleasures of the table. Love of glory became his passion, and
continued through life; and this ever afterwards made him insensible
to reproach, danger, toil, fear, hunger, and pain. Never was a more
complete change effected in a man's moral character; and never was an
improved moral character consecrated to a worse end. He was not
devoted to the true interests of his country, but to a selfish, base,
and vain passion for military fame.
But his conduct, at first, called forth universal admiration. His
glorious and successful defence against enemies apparently
overwhelming gave him a great military reputation, and secured for him
the sympathies of Christendom. Had he died when he had repelled the
Russian, the Danish, and the Polish armies, he would have secured as
honorable an immortality as that of Gustavus Adolphus. But he was not
permitted to die prematurely, as was his great ancestor. He lived long
enough to become intoxicated with success, to make great political
blunders, and to suffer the most fatal and mortifying misfortunes.
The commencement of his military career was beautifully heroic.
"Gentlemen," said the young monarch of eighteen to his counsellors,
when he meditated desperate resistance, "I am resolved never to begin
an unjust war, and never to finish a just one but with the destruction
of my enemies."
[Sidenote: Charles's Heroism.]
In six weeks he finished, after he had begun, the Danish war having
completely humbled his enemy, and succored his brother-in-law, the
Duke of Holstein.
His conflict with Peter has been presented, when with twenty thousand
men he attacked and defeated sixty thousand Russians in their
intrenchments, took one hundred and fifty pieces of cannon, and killed
eighteen thousand men. The victory of Narva astonished all Europe, and
was the most brilliant which had then been gained in the annals of
modern warfare.
Charles was equally successful against Frederic Augustus. He routed
his Saxon troops, and then resolved to dethrone him, as King of
Poland. And he succeeded so far as to induce the Polish Diet to
proclaim the throne vacant. Augustus was obliged to fly, and
Stanislaus Leczinski was chosen king in his stead, at the nomination
of the Swedish conqueror. The country was subjugated, and Frederic
Augustus became a fugitive.
But Charles was not satisfied with expelling him from Poland. He
resolved to attack him also in Saxony itself. Saxony was then, next to
Austria, the most powerful of the German states. Nevertheless, Saxony
could not arrest the victorious career of Charles. The Saxons fled as
he approached. He penetrated to the heart of the electorate, and the
unfortunate Frederic Augustus was obliged to sue for peace, which was
only granted on the most humiliating terms; which were, that the
elector should acknowledge Stanislaus as king of Poland; that he
should break all his treaties with Russia, and should deliver to the
King of Sweden all the men who had deserted from his army. The humbled
elector sought a personal interview with Charles, after he had signed
the conditions of peace, with the hope of securing better terms. He
found Charles in his jack boots, with a piece of black taffeta round
his neck for a cravat, and clothed in a coarse blue coat with brass
buttons. His conversation turned wholly on his jack boots; and this
trifling subject was the only one on which he would deign to converse
with one of the most accomplished monarchs of his age.
Charles had now humbled and defeated all his enemies. He should now
have returned to Sweden, and have cultivated the arts of peace. But
peace and civilization were far from his thoughts. The subjugation of
all the northern powers became the dream of his life. He invaded
Russia, resolved on driving Peter from his throne.
[Sidenote: His Misfortunes.]
He was eminently successful in defensive war, and eminently
unsuccessful in aggressive war. Providence benevolently but singularly
comes to the aid of all his children in distress and despair. Men are
gloriously strong in defending their rights; but weak, in all their
strength, when they assail the rights of others. So signal is this
fact, that it blazes upon all the pages of history, and is illustrated
in common life as well as in the affairs of nations.
When Charles turned as an assailant of the rights of his enemies, his
unfortunate reverses commenced. At the head of forty-three thousand
veterans, loaded with the spoils of Poland and Saxony, he commenced
his march towards Russia. He had another army in Poland of twenty
thousand, and another in Finland of fifteen thousand. With these he
expected to dethrone the czar.
His mistakes and infatuation have been noticed, and his final defeat
at Pultowa, a village at the eastern extremity of the Ukraine. This
battle was more decisive than that of Narva; for in the latter the
career of Peter was only arrested, but in the former the strength of
Charles was annihilated. And so would have been his hopes, had he been
an ordinary man. But he was a madman, and still dreamed of victory,
with only eighteen hundred men to follow his fortunes into Turkey,
which country he succeeded in reaching.
His conduct in Turkey was infamous and extraordinary. No reasonings
can explain it. It was both ridiculous and provoking. At first, he
employed himself in fomenting quarrels, and devising schemes to embark
the sultan in his cause. Vizier after vizier was flattered and
assailed. He rejected every overture for his peaceable return. He
lingered five years in endless intrigues and negotiations, in order to
realize the great dream of his life--the dethronement of the czar. He
lived recklessly on the bounty of the sultan, taking no hints that
even imperial hospitality might be abused and exhausted. At last, his
inflexible obstinacy and dangerous intrigues so disgusted his generous
host, that he was urged to return, with the offer of a suitable
escort, and a large sum of money. He accepted and spent the twelve
hundred purses, and still refused to return. The displeasure of the
Sultan Achmet was now fairly excited. It was resolved upon by the
Porte that he should be removed by force, since he would not be
persuaded. But Charles resisted the troops of the sultan who were
ordered to remove him. With sixty servants he desperately defended
himself against an army of janizaries, and killed twenty of them with
his own hand; and it was not until completely overwhelmed and
prostrated that he hurled his sword into the air. He was now a
prisoner of war, and not a guest; but still he was treated with the
courtesy and dignity due to a king, and conducted in a chariot covered
with gold and scarlet to Adrianople. From thence he was removed to
Demotica, where he renewed his intrigues, and zealously kept his bed,
under pretence of sickness, for ten months.
While he remained in captivity, Frederic Augustus recovered the crown
of Poland, King Stanislaus was taken by the Turks, and Peter continued
his conquest of Ingria, Livonia, and Finland, provinces belonging to
Sweden. The King of Prussia also invaded Pomerania, and Frederic IV.
of Denmark claimed Bremen, Holstein, and Scania. The Swedes were
divested of all their conquests, and one hundred and fifty thousand of
them became prisoners in foreign lands.
Such were the reverses of a man who had resolved to play the part of
Alexander, but who, so long as he contented himself with defending his
country against superior forces, was successful, and won a fame so
great, that his misfortunes could never reduce him to contempt.
[Sidenote: Charles's Return to Sweden.]
When all was lost, he signified to the Turkish vizier his desire to
return to Sweden. The vizier neglected no means to rid his master of
so troublesome a person. Charles returned to his country impoverished,
but not discouraged. The charm of his name was broken. His soldiers
were as brave and devoted as ever, but his resources were exhausted.
He succeeded, however, in raising thirty-five thousand men, in order
to continue his desperate game of conquest, not of defence. Europe
beheld the extraordinary spectacle of this infatuated hero passing, in
the depth of a northern winter, over the frozen hills and ice-bound
rocks of Norway, with his devoted army, in order to conquer that
hyperborean region. So inured was he to cold and fatigue, that he
slept in the open air on a bed of straw, covered only with his cloak,
while his soldiers dropped down dead at their posts from cold. In the
month of December, 1718, he commenced the siege of Fredericshall, a
place of great strength and importance, but, having exposed himself
unnecessarily, was killed by a ball from the fortress. Many, however,
suppose that he was assassinated by his own officers who were wearied
with endless war, from which they saw nothing but disaster to their
exhausted country.
[Sidenote: His Death.]
His death was considered as a signal for the general cessation of
arms; but Sweden never recovered from the mad enterprises of
Charles XII. It has never since been a first class power. The national
finances were disordered, the population decimated, and the provinces
dismembered. Peter the Great gained what his rival lost. We cannot but
compassionate a nation that has the misfortune to be ruled by such an
absolute and infatuated monarch as was Charles XII. He did nothing for
the civilization of his subjects, or to ameliorate the evils he
caused. He was, like Alaric or Attila, a scourge of the Almighty, sent
on earth for some mysterious purpose, to desolate and to destroy. But
he died unlamented and unhonored. No great warrior in modern times has
received so little sympathy from historians, since he was not exalted
by any great moral qualities of affection or generosity, and
unscrupulously sacrificed both friends and enemies to gratify a
selfish and a depraved passion.
* * * * *
REFERENCES.--Voltaire's History of Russia, a very attractive
book, on account of its lively style. Voltaire's Life of
Charles XII., also, is equally fascinating. There are
tolerable histories of both Russia and Sweden in Lardner's
Cabinet Cyclopedia; also in the Family Library. See, also, a
History of Russia and Sweden in the Universal History.
Russell's Modern Europe.