The surviving family of Maria Miloslavski and Tsar Alexis consisted of six sturdy daughters and one purblind1, weak-pated boy. On the approved principles of Russian, especially imperial, education, these daughters ought to have been reconciled to the modest position to which the inferiority of their sex condemned2 them, and, as their brother was plainly incapable3 of ruling, they ought to have passed into convents or been distributed amongst the households of wealthy courtiers. But there was at least one daughter, Sophia, who had not the least intention of submitting to the priestly theory. If her fifteen-year old brother could make no effort for the throne, she would make it for him. She would fight the hated Anastasia.
Visitors to the court have left us very different impressions of this remarkable4 princess, but we have little difficulty in removing the thick coat of flattery and obtaining a satisfactory glimpse of her. She was twenty-five years old at the death of Feodor: a short, very stout5, and very vigorous young woman, her face covered to some extent with a fine hair which gave her an even more masculine appearance. Probably she had led the usual enclosed life during her father’s reign6, but in the time of her invalid7 brother she had had more freedom. She especially made the acquaintance of Vassili Gallitzin, a very clever and accomplished8 prince, of European culture, who overlooked her entire lack of personal charm and—either then or at a later date—became her lover. In her apartments she formed a literary circle, and through her visitors she got into touch with remote elements of Moscow society.
One of these sections of the population of Moscow which a conspirator9 would naturally explore was the military force known as the streltsui: a privileged corporation of soldiers who handed on the office from father to son and gave themselves airs of importance. We have no direct proof that Sophia got into communication with this body, but the historical facts, and the later action and expressions of Peter the Great, seem to put it beyond question. The streltsui were mutinous10 at the time of the death of Feodor, because their pay was, as usual, in arrears11. They were reduced to silence by the application of the knout, publicly, to the shoulders of their officers, but they remained sullen12 and inflammable. It is said that the agents of Sophia and her uncle went amongst them distributing money and whispering poisonous libels. The late Emperor, it was suggested to them, had died of poison.
When Matveeff returned from Siberia they greeted him with apparent respect, and the court settled to its usual prosperous life. Four days later, however, the Kreml awoke to find a grave and ominous13 movement afoot. Twenty regiments14 of the streltsui had seized their arms and were irregularly massed in front of the Kreml. The sleeves of their red shirts were rolled up, as if for butchery, and a close observer would have found that they reeked16 with vodka. Behind them was the rabble17 of the town. The bells were calling shrilly18 from the steeples. Drums were beaten, and cannon19 rumbled21 toward the palace. The servants of the court learned that some one had spread amongst them a report that Princes Ivan and Peter had been strangled, and a brother of Natalia had seized the crown. Natalia hastened to show the princes at the top of the red staircase, to the crowd, and for a moment it seemed to be baulked. Matveeff and the Patriarch prudently23 addressed the men, and they were about to disperse24.
It is said that Prince Dolgoruki, one of the group of courtiers about the Tsarina, then made offensive and arrogant25 remarks to the soldiers, and the whole mass of inflammable material took flame. The prince was soon flung from the head of the steps and caught on the spears of the soldiers below. Matveeff was cut to pieces, and the murderers searched the palace for Natalia’s brother. After murdering one or two wrong men, they found him in the chapel26 and dispatched him. Another brother was torn from Natalia’s arms and cut to pieces. Three younger brothers escaped from Moscow. For three days the friends and relatives of the Tsarina were sought and butchered: dragged by the hair through the streets, knouted to death, flung from windows upon the spears, roasted with red-hot spears, cut to pieces, and so on. One does not like to dwell upon the horrors, but there will come presently a page in the life of Peter the Great that requires explanation. Peter, then nine years old, trembled by the side of his mother in the Kreml while her friends and relatives were barbarously slain27 on every side—by the streltsui. It is said that Sophia at length interceded28 and arrested the butchery; and that she gave ten roubles each to the streltsui.
A week later the emboldened29 soldiers came again and demanded that the idiot Ivan should be associated with Peter in the Tsardom. Most of the boyars were opposed to so ridiculous and unprecedented30 a change, but the Patriarch and other ministers were conveniently at hand, and it was done. In a few more days there was a fresh riot. Ivan, being the elder, must have precedence of Peter; and so it was appointed. Some historians find it not unnatural31 that after this display of zeal32 for her brother Sophia should provide a feast for the streltsui, and with her own plump hand pour out their wine. Perhaps it was just as natural that the streltsui should next return with a demand that Sophia be appointed Regent for the young Tsars. The nobles now saw how the wind sat, and they obeyed. A double throne was ordered of the Dutch merchants and, when it came, Sophia had a hole, decently veiled, cut into the back, so that she could listen to the audiences. She occupied the place of the Tsarina and, with the aid of her lover Gallitzin, ruled the Empire. Gallitzin was married, but, at Sophia’s suggestion, it is said, he “persuaded” his wife to enter a convent, which left him free to marry again. Apparently33 the virago34 would wed35 him and share the throne with him.
But the streltsui were old-fashioned believers, and were in no mind to see the traditions of Russian decency36 thus violated. Their murmurs37 were strengthened by those of other malcontents. Sophia was more punctilious38 about ritual and doctrine39 than conduct, and, like Nikon, she laid a heavy hand upon dissenters40. One of their leaders at Moscow was executed. The rumble20 in the city grew louder, and Sophia, affecting at least to believe that the streltsui now threatened her life, fled with her court to the large and fortified41 monastery42 at Troitsa, eighteen miles from Moscow. She prudently took with her Ivan and Peter, and she issued a frantic43 summons to the country to protect her and them. Tens of thousands of boyars and soldiers streamed to Troitsa, and the streltsui became apprehensive44. Their leader, Khovanski, and his son were invited to come and confer with Sophia at Troitsa, and they unsuspectingly went. They were arrested on the way and put to death; and the streltsui, cowed by her strength, came, with ropes round their necks, to Troitsa, to ask and obtain forgiveness.
But the discontent was not eased at Moscow, and the policy upon which Sophia and Gallitzin now concentrated their resources fed the murmurs. All Europe was alarmed at the continuous menace of the Turks, and in 1686 Gallitzin led south a large army for the purpose of chastising45 them and their Tatar allies, and regaining46 territory for Russia. The costly47 army, terribly reduced in the southern wilderness48, was forced to return without having even sighted the Turks, and the complaints and satire49 of Moscow were loud. Sophia and Gallitzin endeavoured to cover the disgrace by sending to Siberia an inoffensive general and loading the soldiers with honours. It was, however, necessary to redeem50 the failure, and in 1689 a second grand army was entrusted51 to Gallitzin. His nerve may have been shaken when, as he was starting, he found a coffin52, placed by unknown hands, on his doorstep; and he can scarcely have been unaware53 that it was generally believed that during his absence Sophia consoled herself with the attentions of his colleague Shakloviti. He failed once more, and all Sophia’s pretence54 of triumph could not hide his disgrace. She walked in triumphal procession, distributed brandy, and heaped honours upon the “victors.”
Men now spoke55 of her with contempt. It was rumoured56 that she had a melodramatic plot of marrying Ivan and—since he would have no children—providing his wife with a lover. When this woman bore a son, Peter could be thrust aside as not in the line of succession; and, when Peter was excluded from the situation, the illegitimacy of the child might be discovered, and Sophia and Gallitzin might rule in peace. The plot was so ludicrous that she can scarcely have entertained it, but it served to fan the growing resentment57 of her rule.
That rule was, however, now threatened by Peter himself. During these years the boy had grown up sturdily, with his mother, in a village a few miles from Moscow. On important occasions he would be driven into Moscow, to sit beside his goggle-eyed half-brother on the golden throne, but he detested58 the Kreml and loved the free, open-air life of the village. His mother, Natalia, seems to have belied59 entirely60 the excellence61 of her early years and scandalously neglected his education. He learned to read, and he read a great and confusing assortment62 of books of history and adventure. He learned to write, but the lesson stopped at so rudimentary a stage that he always had great difficulty in spelling. His days were spent amongst grooms63, servants, and any boys with whom he pleased to associate. He became a creature of impulse, and in that world in which he grew up the impulses one followed were neither gentle nor decent. The theory that Peter the Great profited by his rude education in contact with nature and real human beings, instead of being reared in the artificial atmosphere of the imperial terem, may point with some pride to his energy, his promptness, his scorn of conventions; but it must embrace also those impulsive64 outbursts of ferocity and those unchecked debauches which kept his character throughout life little above the level of a savage66.
Peter had lately passed his seventeenth birthday when, in 1689, Gallitzin returned from his second failure. The one imperial idea which grew amidst his vices67 was the thought that he would some day command the military forces of Russia, and his play constantly turned upon soldiering. He formed companies out of his servants and associates. He had a fort built at the village of Preobrajenshote, which he made his chief centre, and a kind of rough, informal court grew up about him. Nobles and boyars joined his military games, his mimic68 regiments; and they joined also in his nightly revels69. He must have heard much disdainful talk about the campaigns of Prince Gallitzin, and no doubt there were ambitious men who urged him to act. The city, he would know, now openly complained. One day a paper was found in one of the squares telling the finder that a valuable paper was hidden behind a picture of the Virgin70 in a certain church. A crowd sought the miraculous71 communication, and found a lampoon72 on the Regent Sophia.
View of Destroyed Tower of Nicholas, Arsenal73, etc., in the Kremlin, A.D. 1812 From a Contemporary Drawing
Hence when Sophia would prepare a triumphal return for her lover, and grant honours to the defeated soldiers, Peter refused his imperial consent. When Gallitzin thought it prudent22 to visit Preobrajenshote, after Sophia had acted on her own account, Peter refused to see him. The two camps began to glower74 at each other; and men began to pass from the Kreml to the village.
During the night of August 7th, a few weeks after Gallitzin’s return, Peter was roused from sleep with the news that his half-sister was gathering75 troops at the Kreml which were to come and destroy him. It transpired76 afterwards that there was a troop assembled at the Kreml that night. Sophia declared that the soldiers were to accompany her on a pilgrimage on the morrow, but it seems to be proved that Sophia and her friends discussed the idea of dispatching Peter, and it was, apparently, some of the soldiers themselves who brought the news. Peter was not a youth of courage. He jumped out of bed, got a horse from the stables, and rode hard, in his shirt, for the forest. A few officers and soldiers took his clothes and joined him, and they galloped77 to the famous monastery at Troitsa. They arrived at six in the morning, and Peter, shuddering78 with fright, the tears streaming down his blanched79 cheeks, implored80 the archimandrite (abbot) to protect him.
During the day Natalia joined her son, bringing the young wife, Eudoxia, whom she had driven him to wed, but whom he had promptly81 discarded for coarser pleasures. A few regiments of soldiers came, and the monastery-fortress was put into shape for a fight. The majority of the troops had not yet made up their minds which of the royal autocrats82 they would support, and a period of uncertainty84 and parleying followed. With Peter there were able nobles like Boris Gallitzin, cousin of Vassili, and they urged him to be bold. He ordered detachments of the various regiments at Moscow to appear before him at Troitsa. Sophia’s servants intercepted86 the orders, and she bade the troops, under penalty of death, to keep to their barracks. But the balance of confidence was on the side of Peter, and as time went on furtive87 streams of soldiers and nobles passed to Troitsa. A formidable army grew up there.
On the other hand, Moscow was very far from united in favour of Sophia. Her troops melted away. The dissenters, whom she had heavily punished, gathered boldly about the Kreml and noisily advised her to go into a convent. Vassili Gallitzin wanted to go to Poland, to borrow an army. Whether or no Sophia distrusted her nervous associate, she refused to consent, and Vassili deserted88 her and retired89 to his country seat. She sent the Patriarch to Troitsa, and presently learned that the prelate had decided90 to remain there, a supporter of her detested half-brother. Then she boldly set out for a personal discussion with Peter—she had twice as much courage as he and, at that time, three times as much energy—but troops barred her way and sent her back to Moscow. She threw herself upon the gratitude91 of the streltsui, and they loudly swore that they would die for her. But in a few days they came to demand that her second favourite, Shakloviti, be surrendered, as a scapegoat92, to Troitsa, and, after a frantic and tearful resistance, she was compelled to yield.
She had, for the moment, lost the struggle. Shakloviti was knouted until he confessed that there was a plot against Peter, and he was then beheaded. Vassili Gallitzin, the man of many accomplishments93 and few capabilities94, crawled to the feet of Peter’s rude throne and begged forgiveness. He was banished95 to the frozen north. Other nobles were executed or exiled, and Sophia was at her brother’s mercy. She would foresee the hated sentence. Peter permitted her to choose her own convent, and she chose the convent of the Virgin, near Moscow. She may have smiled at his leniency96.
But Peter had wanted merely security for his wild life, not the heavy duties and responsibilities of reigning97. His simple half-brother Ivan he did not notice, and it is much to his credit—one of the very few things to the credit of his personal character—that as long as the weak-witted man lived Peter left him untouched. It was not the Moscovite way. He let Boris Gallitzin and his mother’s relatives squabble for power, as was the custom, and he returned to the almost useless, and partly disgraceful, life he led on the outskirts98 of Moscow.
Peter was now a well-formed and handsome young giant, more than six feet high, with intelligence enough to know his duty and strength enough to achieve it. To say, as is said, that he was slowly preparing himself for a great task is mendacious99 flattery. He was enjoying himself, and he cared for naught100 else. What there is in his later life to entitle this flower of the Romanoff shoot to be called “great” we will consider in the next chapter, but well into his manhood he was merely vicious, impulsive, and selfish. He disliked the pomp and conventions of the court, and avoided them, mainly because he had the taste of a boor101, and was happier in squalid rooms where he could spit, and slop brandy, and riot as he willed. His days, especially in the summer, were spent in hard work, because he loved it. He worked at ship-building—there was a large lake at hand—with just the same zest102 and motive103 that a boy does, not from any far-sighted vision of a need to cleave104 a path for Russia to the sea. He drilled and drilled, and gradually formed regiments which would one day be famous, because he had a passion for soldiering and, as I said, a vague imperial idea of one day commanding armies and gaining great victories. And when the work was over, or when the fierce grip of winter arrested all work, he sat down to orgies which few could endure long.
Between the village where he lived and Moscow lay the foreign settlement to which I have occasionally referred, and here Peter got some education. The neat brick villas105 did not impress his imagination, for he had not even an elementary taste, but he had a mechanical, inquiring mind, and the instruments these foreigners brought into the heart of Russia piqued106 and stimulated107 him. Somehow these people beyond the plains could do everything better than the Russians. They could make clocks, watches, astronomical108 instruments, elaborate tools, superb weapons, magnificent fire-arms. He heard that they could make ships compared with which his boats on the lake were like children’s toys. He must get these secrets for Russia. One secret he learned—the making of fireworks—and the whole country reeked and stank109 with his constant displays.
And they could drink, these English and Scots and Germans of the foreign quarter. Caravans110 of wine and brandy poured into the quarter, and Peter would come along, black with the smoke of his fireworks or streaming with perspiration111 from drill or shipbuilding, and sit down to a glorious carouse112. His great friend was a Swiss named Lefort, whose capacity for drink was phenomenal. Peter built a small palace, with a huge ballroom113, for Lefort, and made it the headquarters of their debauches. It was a general rule that everybody was drunk every night. If a woman refused a pot of brandy Peter would fetch her a clap on the side of the head to which drunkenness was preferable. Decent women kept far away from the two colonies. Peter sober had little self-restraint, but Peter drunk . . .
The shipping114 idea grew upon him until, in 1693—he had wasted four years since the retirement115 of Sophia—he decided to visit Archangel. It is curious to read of such a man asking, like a boy, his mother’s permission, and promising116 not to go upon the water. He, of course, took no notice of his promise when he got there and saw the ocean. A ship he had ordered from Amsterdam was out in the roads and he impulsively117 started off in a totally unsuitable boat to visit it. He was nearly drowned. When he trod the deck, dressed as a Dutch captain, and saw the great sails belly118 in the wind above him, he went into transports. He sat for hours drinking hard with the Dutch sailors and listening to stories of their voyages round the world. There was no country like Holland, and he there and then adopted for Russia the Dutch red, white and blue flag, reversing the order of the colours. In January he was summoned back to Moscow with the news that his mother was dying. She died so slowly, and kept him so long from the sea, that he cursed volubly. But he shed copious119 tears, boy as he was, when she died; and he fled like the wind back to Archangel.
That there was any large profit in this minute study of ships and sailors may be confidently denied. Monarchs120 and statesmen have built fleets without knowing the difference between port and starboard. Peter was enjoying himself. But in his wild mind there was inevitably122 growing a recognition of his position and opportunities. He was now more than twenty years old, and intelligent. It was quite time that he recollected123 that the destiny of Russia was entrusted to him. Of its internal condition he does not seem to have had the glimmer124 of an idea, but it suited his passion to believe that Russia needed a fleet, and must first have a sea to put the fleet on. The powerful Swedes dominated the Baltic, so he turned south and decided to take Azoff, on the Black Sea, from the Tatars. He may have known that the country was disgusted and scandalised at his idleness, and that Sophia watched eagerly from her convent.
His expedition against Azoff was crudely conceived and a total failure. He saw at least that he and his amateur foreign friends were inadequate126, and on his return to Moscow, he sent abroad for skilled men: sailors and shipwrights127 from Holland and England, soldiers and engineers from Austria and Prussia. Some came, and many of these, when they saw the crowds and the country, returned. All drank copiously128. But Peter’s mighty129 energy was roused, and in a remarkably130 short time he had a sea-going fleet built on the Don, ready to co-operate with his land-attack upon Azoff. He took it, and returned in triumph to Moscow.
The one vague imperial idea in his wild and much-abused brain fed on his success and grew larger. Russia must have a mighty fleet, like Holland and England, and must learn this western art of doing things. He sent fifty officers abroad for education. But he must see these wonderful lands himself—he must know everything himself—and he began the preparations for the famous melodramatic journey which shocked Russia, and scandalised Europe, and undoubtedly131 brought great profit to him and his country. Boyish in all things, he would go incognito132. Russian historians have invented a score of interpretations133 of every weird134 action of the hero. He hated pomp and ceremony, it is said; but the truth is that he sulked heavily when he was not recognised. The simple fact is that he had a boyish, impulsive, muddled135 mind, its great strength and originality136 marred137 by a wicked education and by debauch65. He would pretend that it was a deputation of Russian envoys138, and he made a sort of prince of his friend Lefort, giving him a suite125 of forty-four gentlemen and servants. He would hide his own figure—he was six feet eight inches in height, and wore disguises that would attract attention at a hundred yards—in the crowd under the modest title of Peter Mikhailoff, a non-commissioned officer of the Preobrajenshote regiment15.
The journey was to start in February, after the carnival139 revels, about which a word may be said later. But a plot against his life was discovered at the last moment, and he delayed to punish it. A former servant of Sophia, named Tsikler, and some of the streltsui were implicated140 in it. The implication of the Miloslavskis brought on one of those blind rages in which he behaved as one demented. He had the body of Ivan Miloslavski, which had rotted in the grave for twelve years, dug up and brought on a sledge141, drawn142 by twelve hogs143, to Preobrajenshote. There it was placed, in an open coffin, under the scaffold on which Tsikler and his chief accomplice144 were hacked145 to pieces, so that the blood of the traitors146 might splash upon what was left of the mouldering147 remains148 of Sophia’s relative.
Leaving a large army to overawe Moscow, he set out in March, 1697. The journey has been described so often that only a few details concerning his behaviour need be noted149 here. From Sweden, where his incognito was respected with a cynical150 correctness which infuriated him, he passed to Germany, where the Elector of Brandenburg was eager to conciliate him. His conduct was rather worse than that of an undergraduate on a holiday, as he did not even know the elements of polite behaviour. The Elector sent his Master of Ceremonies, a grave and learned gentleman, to greet Peter at his lodging151, since he refused to be recognised on the ship by the prince sent to receive him. Peter snatched Johann von Besser’s powdered wig152 and flung it away. “Who is this?” he demanded sullenly153; and, when the old gentleman’s functions were explained to him, he broke out: “Let him bring me a wench, then.” Later, when a noble came to announce that the Elector could not call upon him, Peter, drinking heavily and slobbering over his friend Lefort, started angrily to his feet, grasped the noble by the throat, and almost suffocated154 him. In the street he met a lady of the court and startled her with a gruff “Halt”; then he curiously155 examined the watch at her wrist and let her go. One night, when he supped with the Elector, a servant dropped a plate. Peter sprang up, sword in hand, livid with excitement; and he was not pacified156 until the servant was flogged. They had, in the city, a wheel on which criminals were broken, but they protested, in answer to Peter’s wish to see it work, that they were without a criminal. “Let them have one of my men,” he said coolly.
His adventures at Koenigsberg would precede him, and he made his way loutishly157 from court to court until he reached Holland. Every one knows the idyllic158 picture of Peter the Great serving a long apprenticeship159 to shipbuilding in the village of Saardam. It is another exploded myth of our childhood. Peter remained there only a week, staying at the village inn (where he seduced160 the maid), smoking large pipes and drinking large pots with the boatmen. That he used an adze is certain, but there was little romance. His tall, slovenly161 form, very untidily dressed in Dutch fashion, attracted the stones of the little boys, and he moved on. He appeared in more polite quarters in a brown overcoat with horn buttons, coarse darned socks, and dirty shoes.
Some one suggested that he would see better shipbuilding at London, and he crossed, and bewildered London. He had a fine brown skin and large handsome eyes and thick hair, but, apart from his habitual162 untidiness of dress, he had a nervous malady163 which caused a twitching164 of the limbs and a remarkable habit of grimacing165. He constantly took for it a powder made of the flesh and wings of the magpie166. At table his habits were atrocious. In fact, he and his servant Menshikoff discovered a little tavern167 on Tower Hill where he could smoke his pipe and drink peppered brandy as if he were at home. At Deptford, where he lived in Evelyn’s house while he studied shipping, he made such filth168 and damage that Evelyn estimated the repairs at 1,750 dollars. Here, as elsewhere, his morals were notorious. Professor Morfill politely observes in his “History of Russia”: “The great monarch121 was somewhat irregular in these matters, it must be confessed.” The phrase would have sent the great monarch into convulsions of horse-laughter. There is grave reason to believe that such irregularities were not his worst vices.
The redeeming169 feature of his journey was that he learned a vast amount in those few months. Much of his learning was a result of sheer nervous instability and did more harm than good. He studied dentistry—the dentistry of the seventeenth century—and took implements170 home with him, to the terror of his friends. When his valet one day complained to him that his wife refused to discharge her conjugal171 duty on the ground of tooth-ache, the Tsar had the woman brought to him, and he extracted a tooth. He gathered also a box of surgical172 instruments, and often used them. On one occasion he tapped a poor woman of Moscow, who suffered from dropsy, and caused her death. He pried173 into everything, rushing from place to place and working with prodigious174 energy; though it is said that he ended every day of his life intoxicated175. What came of it all for the development of Russia we shall see in the next chapter.
The voyage came to an abrupt176 end at Vienna in the late summer. There had, he heard, been a new revolt of the streltsui. General Shein had put it down, and severely177 punished the rebels, but Peter decided to return to Moscow. On the day after his return the nobles came respectfully to Preobrajenshote to do homage178 and share a banquet. Peter, half drunk, called for scissors, and soon the beards of his nobles—the beards which an almost sacred tradition imposed in Russia—were falling upon the floor. Was it a drunken man’s joke? Peter did far worse things in liquor. He cut right and left with his sword: he caned179 an offending servant until he died; he ran his sword through an abbot who offended him; he even one day knocked down and trampled180 on his intimate friend Lefort. But this was not a jest. The ukase went forth181 that in future Russians must shave. He was going to westernise Russia.
Some Russian historians, seeking to palliate the horror of what is to follow, apply to it in some measure the idea of reform. The streltsui were in the way of the reform of the army. They were undisciplined, obsolete182, incompetent183. Their last revolt had given him the right to destroy them, and he would. But there was much more than this. He was convinced that Sophia was at the bottom of the revolt, and he would make a terrible inquiry184.
There seems to be little doubt that Sophia had fomented185 the spirit of revolt and attempted to direct it in her interest. All the Russian world was scandalised at the Tsar’s conduct, and she had from her convent watched the spread of the discontent. At last, while Peter was in England, some representatives of the streltsui had come to Moscow to complain of their treatment. After the taking of Azoff Peter had brought his favourite regiments to share his triumph and pleasure at Moscow, and had left the streltsui to rebuild the shattered fortifications in the distant south. With something of their old independence they had sent a few men to Moscow to lay their grievances186 before the Tsar. There they were astounded187 and further angered to hear that the Tsar had left Russia months before, and no man knew where he was. There could be no redress188 for grievances when the Tsar turned his back upon his people and wasted his life amongst the detested foreigners. Sophia’s friends and servants pressed the lesson deep. Was it not advisable to think of a new ruler, one who would be considerate to the streltsui?
The men probably saw the great strength of the garrison189 at Moscow, and they returned to Azoff only with a sullen report of their helplessness. The military authorities then ordered part of the streltsui to the Polish frontier, and this drove the men to fury. They set out on the long march to Moscow, in full mutiny, with the intention, apparently, of exterminating190 Peter’s supporters. But the Tsar had left his best generals, Shein and Patrick Gordon, in command of the troops, and they met the mutineers outside Moscow. After a futile191 parley85 the cannon and the cavalry192 were turned upon the helpless foot-soldiers, hundreds were slain and thousands captured. The revolt was thoroughly193 suppressed long before Peter reached Vienna.
But the young Tsar was in one of his moods of deliberate ruthlessness. The streltsui had deluged194 his mother’s palace with blood when he was a child; they had commemorated195 his departure by a plot and had taken advantage of his absence to rebel. These paid servants, these antiquated196 soldiers, presumed to criticise197 his plans and fancy themselves as masters of the Russian throne! And behind all their revolts he saw always, barely concealed198 in the gloom, the figure of his masterful half-sister. He resolved once for all to remove this source of irritation199 from his Empire.
Immediately after his return fourteen torture-chambers were fitted up in the village of Preobrajenshote, and the captured streltsui were soon suffering all the agonies that Byzantine and Moscovite ingenuity200 could devise and the fiendish temper of the Tsar could augment201. Peter himself hovered202 round while his victims writhed203 on human grid-irons or had their flesh torn from the bones by the knout. Many of their womenfolk were included in the ghastly torture, which went on night and day for three days. But Peter got no confession204 of the guilt205 of his sister, and he decided to act without it. On September 30th a first batch206 of two hundred of the unhappy rebels, part of them scarred and drawn with torture, were brought up for execution. It is credibly207 reported that Peter wielded208 the axe209 himself and severed210 five heads. His companions were told to follow his example, and few dared draw back. His infamous211 servant, Menshikoff, is said to have cut off twenty heads, and the horror of incompetent bungling212 by amateurs in such matters may be seen in other pages of medi?val history.
In brief, the slaughter213 extended over several months, and thousands of the streltsui were executed. The ancient corporation was entirely broken and the fragments were included in the new army. In the Red Square at Moscow the heads of the rebels remained on the points of pikes until they rotted into grinning skulls214. The wives and children were driven from Moscow. It was decreed that none should give them bread, and they disappeared silently into the plains and forests beyond. How many escaped famine or the wolves no man knows. Russia learned that it had an autocrat83: Peter the Great.
And this meant the end of the career of the masculine Sophia. As she shuddered215 in her convent two hundred of the rebels were brought up and hanged within sight of her windows. Some of them held in their dead hands copies of a petition to her to see their grievances remedied. Then Peter turned upon her. She must lose her rank, have her hair shorn, and pass the rest of her life in strict seclusion216 as a nun217. With the name of “Sister Susanna” the forceful and unscrupulous woman passes out of sight. Although there was no evidence of her guilt, and it is indeed unlikely that she was involved, Peter’s wife, Eudokia Lapukhin, was condemned to the same fate. She was at least guilty of refusing to share Peter’s tastes, and he had lived little with her. He was free; and from the horrible shambles218 he turned to the revels of the carnival of 1698 and the more congenial company of the women of his favourite district.
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purblind
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| adj.半盲的；愚笨的 | |
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condemned
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| adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
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incapable
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| adj.无能力的，不能做某事的 | |
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4
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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6
reign
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| n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势 | |
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7
invalid
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| n.病人，伤残人；adj.有病的，伤残的；无效的 | |
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8
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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9
conspirator
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| n.阴谋者，谋叛者 | |
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10
mutinous
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| adj.叛变的，反抗的；adv.反抗地，叛变地；n.反抗，叛变 | |
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11
arrears
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| n.到期未付之债，拖欠的款项；待做的工作 | |
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sullen
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| adj.愠怒的，闷闷不乐的，(天气等)阴沉的 | |
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13
ominous
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| adj.不祥的，不吉的，预兆的，预示的 | |
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14
regiments
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| （军队的）团( regiment的名词复数 )； 大量的人或物 | |
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15
regiment
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| n.团，多数，管理；v.组织，编成团，统制 | |
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16
reeked
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| v.发出浓烈的臭气( reek的过去式和过去分词 )；散发臭气；发出难闻的气味 (of sth)；明显带有（令人不快或生疑的跡象） | |
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17
rabble
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| n.乌合之众，暴民；下等人 | |
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18
shrilly
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| 尖声的； 光亮的，耀眼的 | |
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19
cannon
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| n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮 | |
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20
rumble
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| n.隆隆声；吵嚷；v.隆隆响；低沉地说 | |
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21
rumbled
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| 发出隆隆声，发出辘辘声( rumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 轰鸣着缓慢行进； 发现…的真相； 看穿（阴谋） | |
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22
prudent
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| adj.谨慎的，有远见的，精打细算的 | |
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23
prudently
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| adv. 谨慎地，慎重地 | |
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24
disperse
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| vi.使分散；使消失；vt.分散；驱散 | |
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25
arrogant
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| adj.傲慢的，自大的 | |
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26
chapel
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| n.小教堂，殡仪馆 | |
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27
slain
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| 杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的过去分词 )； (slay的过去分词) | |
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28
interceded
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| v.斡旋，调解( intercede的过去式和过去分词 )；说情 | |
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29
emboldened
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| v.鼓励，使有胆量( embolden的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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30
unprecedented
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| adj.无前例的，新奇的 | |
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31
unnatural
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| adj.不自然的；反常的 | |
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32
zeal
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| n.热心，热情，热忱 | |
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33
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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34
virago
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| n.悍妇 | |
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35
wed
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| v.娶，嫁，与…结婚 | |
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36
decency
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| n.体面，得体，合宜，正派，庄重 | |
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37
murmurs
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| n.低沉、连续而不清的声音( murmur的名词复数 )；低语声；怨言；嘀咕 | |
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38
punctilious
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| adj.谨慎的，谨小慎微的 | |
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39
doctrine
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| n.教义；主义；学说 | |
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40
dissenters
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| n.持异议者，持不同意见者( dissenter的名词复数 ) | |
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41
fortified
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| adj. 加强的 | |
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42
monastery
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| n.修道院，僧院，寺院 | |
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43
frantic
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| adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的 | |
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44
apprehensive
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| adj.担心的，恐惧的，善于领会的 | |
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45
chastising
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| v.严惩（某人）（尤指责打）( chastise的现在分词 ) | |
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46
regaining
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| 复得( regain的现在分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地 | |
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47
costly
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| adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的 | |
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48
wilderness
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| n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠 | |
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49
satire
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| n.讽刺，讽刺文学，讽刺作品 | |
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50
redeem
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| v.买回，赎回，挽回，恢复，履行（诺言等） | |
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51
entrusted
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| v.委托，托付( entrust的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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52
coffin
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| n.棺材，灵柩 | |
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53
unaware
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| a.不知道的，未意识到的 | |
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54
pretence
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| n.假装，作假；借口，口实；虚伪；虚饰 | |
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55
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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56
rumoured
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| adj.谣传的；传说的；风 | |
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57
resentment
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| n.怨愤，忿恨 | |
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58
detested
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| v.憎恶，嫌恶，痛恨( detest的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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59
belied
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| v.掩饰( belie的过去式和过去分词 )；证明（或显示）…为虚假；辜负；就…扯谎 | |
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60
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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61
excellence
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| n.优秀，杰出，(pl.)优点，美德 | |
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62
assortment
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| n.分类，各色俱备之物，聚集 | |
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63
grooms
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| n.新郎( groom的名词复数 )；马夫v.照料或梳洗（马等）( groom的第三人称单数 )；使做好准备；训练；（给动物）擦洗 | |
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64
impulsive
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| adj.冲动的，刺激的；有推动力的 | |
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65
debauch
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| v.使堕落，放纵 | |
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66
savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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67
vices
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| 缺陷( vice的名词复数 )； 恶习； 不道德行为； 台钳 | |
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68
mimic
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| v.模仿，戏弄；n.模仿他人言行的人 | |
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69
revels
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| n.作乐( revel的名词复数 )；狂欢；着迷；陶醉v.作乐( revel的第三人称单数 )；狂欢；着迷；陶醉 | |
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70
virgin
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| n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的 | |
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71
miraculous
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| adj.像奇迹一样的，不可思议的 | |
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72
lampoon
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| n.讽刺文章；v.讽刺 | |
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73
arsenal
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| n.兵工厂，军械库 | |
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74
glower
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| v.怒目而视 | |
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75
gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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76
transpired
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| （事实，秘密等）被人知道( transpire的过去式和过去分词 )； 泄露； 显露； 发生 | |
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77
galloped
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| （使马）飞奔，奔驰( gallop的过去式和过去分词 )； 快速做[说]某事 | |
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78
shuddering
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| v.战栗( shudder的现在分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
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79
blanched
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| v.使变白( blanch的过去式 )；使（植物）不见阳光而变白；酸洗（金属）使有光泽；用沸水烫（杏仁等）以便去皮 | |
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80
implored
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| 恳求或乞求（某人）( implore的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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81
promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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82
autocrats
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| n.独裁统治者( autocrat的名词复数 )；独断专行的人 | |
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83
autocrat
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| n.独裁者；专横的人 | |
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84
uncertainty
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|
| n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物 | |
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85
parley
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| n.谈判 | |
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86
intercepted
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| 拦截( intercept的过去式和过去分词 )； 截住； 截击； 拦阻 | |
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87
furtive
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| adj.鬼鬼崇崇的，偷偷摸摸的 | |
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88
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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89
retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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90
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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91
gratitude
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| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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92
scapegoat
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| n.替罪的羔羊，替人顶罪者；v.使…成为替罪羊 | |
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93
accomplishments
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| n.造诣；完成( accomplishment的名词复数 )；技能；成绩；成就 | |
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94
capabilities
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| n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力 | |
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95
banished
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| v.放逐，驱逐( banish的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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96
leniency
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| n.宽大（不严厉） | |
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97
reigning
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| adj.统治的，起支配作用的 | |
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98
outskirts
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| n.郊外，郊区 | |
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99
mendacious
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| adj.不真的，撒谎的 | |
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100
naught
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| n.无，零 [=nought] | |
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101
boor
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| n.举止粗野的人；乡下佬 | |
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102
zest
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| n.乐趣；滋味，风味；兴趣 | |
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103
motive
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| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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104
cleave
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| v．(clave；cleaved)粘着，粘住；坚持；依恋 | |
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105
villas
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| 别墅，公馆( villa的名词复数 )； （城郊）住宅 | |
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106
piqued
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| v.伤害…的自尊心( pique的过去式和过去分词 )；激起（好奇心） | |
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107
stimulated
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| a.刺激的 | |
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108
astronomical
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| adj.天文学的，（数字）极大的 | |
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109
stank
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| n. (英)坝，堰，池塘 动词stink的过去式 | |
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110
caravans
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| （可供居住的）拖车（通常由机动车拖行）( caravan的名词复数 )； 篷车； （穿过沙漠地带的）旅行队（如商队） | |
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111
perspiration
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| n.汗水；出汗 | |
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112
carouse
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| v.狂欢；痛饮；n.狂饮的宴会 | |
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113
ballroom
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| n.舞厅 | |
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114
shipping
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| n.船运（发货，运输，乘船） | |
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115
retirement
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| n.退休，退职 | |
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116
promising
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| adj.有希望的，有前途的 | |
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117
impulsively
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| adv.冲动地 | |
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118
belly
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| n.肚子，腹部；(像肚子一样)鼓起的部分，膛 | |
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119
copious
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| adj.丰富的，大量的 | |
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120
monarchs
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| 君主，帝王( monarch的名词复数 ) | |
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121
monarch
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| n.帝王，君主，最高统治者 | |
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122
inevitably
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| adv.不可避免地；必然发生地 | |
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123
recollected
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| adj.冷静的；镇定的；被回忆起的；沉思默想的v.记起，想起( recollect的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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124
glimmer
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| v.发出闪烁的微光；n.微光，微弱的闪光 | |
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125
suite
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| n.一套(家具)；套房；随从人员 | |
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126
inadequate
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| adj.(for,to)不充足的，不适当的 | |
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127
shipwrights
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| n.造船者，修船者( shipwright的名词复数 ) | |
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128
copiously
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| adv.丰富地，充裕地 | |
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129
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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130
remarkably
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| ad.不同寻常地，相当地 | |
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131
undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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132
incognito
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| adv.匿名地；n.隐姓埋名；adj.化装的，用假名的，隐匿姓名身份的 | |
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133
interpretations
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| n.解释( interpretation的名词复数 )；表演；演绎；理解 | |
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134
weird
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| adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的 | |
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135
muddled
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| adj.混乱的；糊涂的；头脑昏昏然的v.弄乱，弄糟( muddle的过去式)；使糊涂；对付，混日子 | |
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136
originality
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| n.创造力，独创性；新颖 | |
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137
marred
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| adj. 被损毁, 污损的 | |
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138
envoys
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| 使节( envoy的名词复数 )； 公使； 谈判代表； 使节身份 | |
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139
carnival
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| n.嘉年华会，狂欢，狂欢节，巡回表演 | |
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140
implicated
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| adj.密切关联的；牵涉其中的 | |
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141
sledge
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| n.雪橇，大锤；v.用雪橇搬运，坐雪橇往 | |
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142
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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143
hogs
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| n.（尤指喂肥供食用的）猪( hog的名词复数 )；（供食用的）阉公猪；彻底地做某事；自私的或贪婪的人 | |
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144
accomplice
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| n.从犯，帮凶，同谋 | |
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145
hacked
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| 生气 | |
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146
traitors
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| 卖国贼( traitor的名词复数 )； 叛徒； 背叛者； 背信弃义的人 | |
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147
mouldering
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| v.腐朽( moulder的现在分词 )；腐烂，崩塌 | |
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148
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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149
noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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150
cynical
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| adj.(对人性或动机)怀疑的，不信世道向善的 | |
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151
lodging
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| n.寄宿，住所；(大学生的)校外宿舍 | |
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152
wig
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| n.假发 | |
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153
sullenly
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| 不高兴地，绷着脸，忧郁地 | |
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154
suffocated
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| （使某人）窒息而死( suffocate的过去式和过去分词 )； （将某人）闷死； 让人感觉闷热； 憋气 | |
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155
curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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156
pacified
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| 使（某人）安静( pacify的过去式和过去分词 )； 息怒； 抚慰； 在（有战争的地区、国家等）实现和平 | |
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157
loutishly
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| 笨拙的，粗野的 | |
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158
idyllic
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| adj.质朴宜人的，田园风光的 | |
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159
apprenticeship
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| n.学徒身份；学徒期 | |
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160
seduced
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| 诱奸( seduce的过去式和过去分词 )； 勾引； 诱使堕落； 使入迷 | |
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161
slovenly
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| adj.懒散的，不整齐的，邋遢的 | |
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162
habitual
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| adj.习惯性的；通常的，惯常的 | |
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163
malady
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| n.病，疾病(通常做比喻) | |
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164
twitching
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| n.颤搐 | |
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165
grimacing
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| v.扮鬼相，做鬼脸( grimace的现在分词 ) | |
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166
magpie
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| n.喜欢收藏物品的人，喜鹊，饶舌者 | |
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167
tavern
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| n.小旅馆，客栈；小酒店 | |
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168
filth
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| n.肮脏，污物，污秽；淫猥 | |
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169
redeeming
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| 补偿的，弥补的 | |
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170
implements
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| n.工具( implement的名词复数 )；家具；手段；[法律]履行（契约等）v.实现( implement的第三人称单数 )；执行；贯彻；使生效 | |
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171
conjugal
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| adj.婚姻的，婚姻性的 | |
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172
surgical
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| adj.外科的，外科医生的，手术上的 | |
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173
pried
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| v.打听，刺探（他人的私事）( pry的过去式和过去分词 )；撬开 | |
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174
prodigious
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| adj.惊人的，奇妙的；异常的；巨大的；庞大的 | |
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175
intoxicated
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| 喝醉的，极其兴奋的 | |
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176
abrupt
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| adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的 | |
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177
severely
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| adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地 | |
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178
homage
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| n.尊敬，敬意，崇敬 | |
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179
caned
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| vt.用苔杖打（cane的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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180
trampled
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| 踩( trample的过去式和过去分词 )； 践踏； 无视； 侵犯 | |
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181
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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182
obsolete
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| adj.已废弃的，过时的 | |
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183
incompetent
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| adj.无能力的，不能胜任的 | |
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184
inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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185
fomented
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| v.激起，煽动（麻烦等）( foment的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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186
grievances
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| n.委屈( grievance的名词复数 )；苦衷；不满；牢骚 | |
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187
astounded
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| v.使震惊(astound的过去式和过去分词)；愕然；愕；惊讶 | |
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188
redress
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| n.赔偿，救济，矫正；v.纠正，匡正，革除 | |
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189
garrison
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| n.卫戍部队；驻地，卫戍区；vt.派(兵)驻防 | |
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190
exterminating
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| v.消灭，根绝( exterminate的现在分词 ) | |
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191
futile
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| adj.无效的，无用的，无希望的 | |
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192
cavalry
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| n.骑兵；轻装甲部队 | |
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193
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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194
deluged
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| v.使淹没( deluge的过去式和过去分词 )；淹没；被洪水般涌来的事物所淹没；穷于应付 | |
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195
commemorated
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| v.纪念，庆祝( commemorate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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196
antiquated
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| adj.陈旧的，过时的 | |
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197
criticise
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| v.批评，评论；非难 | |
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198
concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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199
irritation
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| n.激怒，恼怒，生气 | |
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200
ingenuity
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| n.别出心裁；善于发明创造 | |
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201
augment
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| vt.(使)增大，增加，增长，扩张 | |
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202
hovered
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| 鸟( hover的过去式和过去分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫 | |
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203
writhed
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| （因极度痛苦而）扭动或翻滚( writhe的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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204
confession
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| n.自白，供认，承认 | |
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205
guilt
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| n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责 | |
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206
batch
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| n.一批(组，群)；一批生产量 | |
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207
credibly
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| ad.可信地；可靠地 | |
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208
wielded
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| 手持着使用（武器、工具等）( wield的过去式和过去分词 )； 具有； 运用（权力）； 施加（影响） | |
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209
axe
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| n.斧子；v.用斧头砍，削减 | |
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210
severed
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| v.切断，断绝( sever的过去式和过去分词 )；断，裂 | |
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211
infamous
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| adj.声名狼藉的，臭名昭著的，邪恶的 | |
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212
bungling
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| adj.笨拙的，粗劣的v.搞糟，完不成( bungle的现在分词 )；笨手笨脚地做；失败；完不成 | |
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213
slaughter
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| n.屠杀，屠宰；vt.屠杀，宰杀 | |
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214
skulls
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| 颅骨( skull的名词复数 )； 脑袋； 脑子； 脑瓜 | |
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215
shuddered
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| v.战栗( shudder的过去式和过去分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
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216
seclusion
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| n.隐遁，隔离 | |
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217
nun
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| n.修女，尼姑 | |
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218
shambles
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| n.混乱之处；废墟 | |
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