20 - Peter the Great by Jacob Abbott

Few figures in history are as renowned as Peter the Great, often hailed as the architect of modern Russian civilization. His legacy captures the imagination of many, particularly young people, largely due to his adventurous journey to Holland. There, he immersed himself in the world of shipbuilding, even rolling up his sleeves to work in a local shipyard. The very workshop where Peter honed his skills still stands in Saardam, near Amsterdam, albeit in a state of decay. To protect this historical gem, it has been encased in a larger brick structure, drawing curious visitors from around the globe each year. The captivating story of Peter the Great, underscored by his hands-on approach to learning, offers profound insights and lessons for everyone.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Chapter nineteen of Peter the Great. This is a LibriVox recording.
All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Recording
by russ Lemker Peter the Great by Jacob Abbott, Chapter

(00:23):
nineteen conclusion. At the time of the death of Alexis,
the Tsar's hopes in respect to a successor fell upon
his little son, Peter Petrowitz, the child of Catherine, who
was born about the time of the death of Alexis's wife,
when the difficulties between himself and Alexis were first beginning

(00:44):
to assume an alarming form. This child was now about
three years old, but he was of a very weak
and sickly constitution, and the Tsar watched him with fear
and trembling. His apprehensions proved to be well founded. For
about a year after the unhappy death of Alexis, he
also died. Peter was entirely overwhelmed with grief at this

(01:08):
new calamity. He was seized with the convulsions to which
he was subject when under any strong excitement, His face
was distorted and his neck was twisted and stiffened. In
a most frightful manner. In ordinary attacks of this kind,
Catherine had power to soothe and allay the spasmodic action
of the muscles, and gradually release her husband from the

(01:31):
terrible grip of the disease. But now he would not
suffer her to come near him. He could not endure it,
for the sight of her renewed so vividly the anguish
that he felt for the loss of their child, that
it made the convulsions and the suffering worse than before.
It is said that on this occasion Peter shut himself

(01:53):
up alone for three days and three nights in his
own chamber, where he lay stretched on the ground in
anguish and agony, and would not allow anybody to come in.
At length, one of his ministers of state came, and,
speaking to him through the door, appealed to him in
a most earnest manner to come forth and give them
directions in respect to the affairs of the Empire, which

(02:15):
he said urgently required his attention. The minister had brought
with him a large number of senators to support and
enforce his appeal. At length, the Tsar allowed the door
to be opened, and the minister, with all the senators
came together into the room. The sudden appearance of so
many persons and the boldness of the minister in taking

(02:36):
this decided step, made such an impression on the mind
of the Tsar as to divert his mind for the
moment from his grief, and he allowed himself to be
led forth and to be persuaded to take some food.
The death of Petruitz took place in seventeen nineteen, and
the Tsar continued to live and reign himself after this

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period for about six years. During all that time he
went on vigorously and successfully in completing the reforms which
he had undertaken in the internal condition of his empire,
and increasing the power and influence of his government among
the surrounding nations. He had no further serious difficulty with

(03:17):
the opponents of his policy, though he was always under
apprehensions that difficulties might arise after his death. He had
the right, according to the ancient constitution of the monarchy,
to designate his own successor, choosing for this purpose either
one of his sons or any other person. And now
since both his sons were dead, his mind revolved anxiously

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the question what provision he should make for the government
of the empire after his decease. He finally concluded to
leave it in the hands of Catherine herself, and to
prepare the way for this, he resolved to cause her
to be solemnly crowned Empress during his lifetime. As a
preliminary measure. High however, before publicly announcing Catherine as his

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intended successor, Peter required all the officers of the Empire,
both civil and military, and all the nobles and other
chief people in the country to subscribe a solemn declaration
and oath that they acknowledged the right of the Tsar
to appoint his successor, and that after his death they
would sustain and defend whomsoever he should name as their

(04:25):
emperor and sovereign. This declaration, printed forms of which were
sent all over the kingdom, was signed by the people
very readily. No one, however, imagined that Catherine would be
the person on whom the Tsar's choice would fall. It
was generally supposed that a certain prince Narishkin would be
appointed to the succession. The Tsar himself said nothing of

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his intention, but waited until the time should arrive for
carrying it into effect. The first step to be taken
in carrying the measure into effect was to issue a
grand proclamation announcing his design and explaining the reasons for it.
In this proclamation, Peter cited many instances from history in
which great sovereigns had raised their consorts to a seat

(05:10):
on the throne beside them, and then he recapitulated the
great services which Catherine had rendered to him and to
the State, which made her peculiarly deserving of such an honor.
She had been a tried and devoted friend and counselor
to him, he said, for many years. She had shared
his labors and fatigues, and had accompanied him on his journeys,

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and had even repeatedly encountered all the discomforts and dangers
of the camp in following him in his military campaigns.
By so doing, she had rendered him the most essential service,
and on one occasion she had been the means of
saving his whole army from destruction. He therefore declared his
intention of joining her with himself in the Supreme Power,

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and to celebrate this event by a solemn coronation. The
place where the coronation was to be performed was, of course,
the ancient city of Moscow, and commands were issued to
all the great dignitaries of the Church and state, and
invitations to all the foreign ambassadors to repair to that
city and be ready on the appointed day to take

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part in the ceremony. It would be impossible to describe
or conceive without witnessing it the gorgeousness and splendor of
the spectacle which the coronation afforded. The scene of the
principal ceremony was the cathedral, which was magnificently decorated for
the occasion. The whole interior of the building was illuminated

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with an immense number of wax candles contained in chandeliers,
and branches of silver and gold which were suspended from
the arches or attached to the walls. The steps of
the altar, and all that part of the pavement of
the church over which the Czarina would have to walk
in the performance of the ceremonies were covered with rich

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tapestry embroidered with gold, and the seats on which the
bishops and other ecclesiastical dignitaries were to sit were covered
with crimson cloth. The ceremony of the coronation itself was
to be performed on a dais, or raised platform, which
was set up in the middle of the church. This platform,
with the steps leading to it, was carpeted with crimson velvet,

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and it was surmounted by a splendid canopy made of
silk embroidered with gold. The canopy was ornamented, too, on
every side, with fringes, ribbons, tufts, tassels, and gold lace
in the richest manner. Under the canopy was the double
throne for the Emperor and Empress, and near it seats
for the royal princesses, all covered with crimson velvet trimmed

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in gold. When the appointed hour arrived, the procession was
formed at the Royal Palace and moved toward the cathedral
through a dense and compact mass of spectators that everywhere
thronged the way. Every window was filled, and the housetops,
wherever there was space for a footing, were crowded. There
were troops of guards mounted on horseback and splendidly caparisoned.

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There were bands of music and heralds, and great officers
of state bearing successively on cushions ornamented with gold and jewels.
The imperial mantle, the globe, the scepter and the crown.
In this way the royal party proceeded to the cathedral,
and there after going through a great many ceremonies, which,

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from the magnificence of the dresses of the banners and
the various regal emblems that were displayed, was very gorgeous
to behold, but which it would be tedious to describe.
The crown was placed upon Catharine's head, the moment being
signalized to all Moscow by the ringing of bells, the
music of trumpets and drums, and the firing of cannon.

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The ceremonies were continued through two days by several other
imposing processions, and were closed on the night of the
second day by a grand banquet, held in a spacious
hall which was magnificent, simply decorated for the occasion. And
while the regal party within the hall were being served
with the richest viands from the golden vessels, the populace

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without were feasted by means of oxen roasted whole in
the streets, and public fountains made to run with exhaustless
supplies of wine. The coronation of Catherine as Empress was
not a mere ceremony. There were connected with it formal
legal arrangements for transferring the supreme power into her hands

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on the death of the Tsar. Nor were these arrangements
made any too soon, for it was less than a
year after that time that the Czar, in the midst
of great ceremonies of rejoicing connected with the betrothal of
one of his daughters, the Princess Anna Petrovna, to a
foreign duke, was attacked suddenly by a very painful disease,
and after suffering great distress and anguish for many days,

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he at length expired. His death took place on the
twenty eighth of January seventeen twenty five. One of his daughters,
the Princess Natalia Petrona, the third of Catherine's children, died
a short time after her father, and the bodies of
both parent and child were interred together at the same
formal ceremony, which was conducted with the utmost pomp and parade.

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The obsequies were so protracted that it was more than
six weeks from the death of the Czar before the
bodies were finally committed to the tomb, and a volume
might be filled with an account of the processions, the ceremonies,
the prayers, the chantings, the costumes, the plumes and trappings
of horses, the sledges decked in mourning, the requiems sung,

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the salvos of artillery fired, and all the various other
displays and doings connected with the occasion. Thus was brought
to an end the earthly personal career of Peter the Great.
He well deserves his title, for he was certainly one
of the greatest, as well as one of the most
extraordinary men that ever lived. Himself half as savage, he

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undertook to civilize twenty million people, and he pursued the
work during his whole lifetime, through dangers, difficulties, and discouragements
which it required a surprising degree of determination and energy
to surmount. He differs from other great military monarchs that
have appeared from time to time in world history, and
by their exploits, have secured for themselves the title of

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the great in this that, while they acquired their renown
by conquests, gained over foreign nations, which, in most cases,
after the death of their conquerors, lapsed again into their
original condition, leaving no permanent results behind the triumphs which
Peter achieved were the commencement of a work of internal
improvement and reform, which is, now, after the lapse of

(11:45):
a century and a half since he commenced it, still
going on. The work is, in fact advancing at the
present day, with perhaps greater and more successful progress than
ever before. Notwithstanding the stern severity of Peter's character, the
terrible violence of his passions, and the sort of savage
grandeur which marked all his great determinations and plans, there

(12:08):
was a certain vein of playfulness running through his mind,
And when he was in a jocose or merry humor,
no one could be more jocose and merry than he.
The interest which he took in the use of tools
and in working with his own hands at various handicrafts.
His notion of entering the army as a drummer, the
navy as a midshipman, and rising gravely by regular promotion

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in both services through all the grades. The way in
which he often amused himself when on his travels, in
going about in disguise among all sorts of people, and
a thousand other circumstances which are related of him by historians,
are indications of what might be called a sort of
boyish spirit, which strongly marked his character and was seen
continually coming out into action during the whole course of

(12:54):
his life. It was only two years before his death
that a striking instance of this occurred. The first vessel
that was built in Russia was a small skiff, which
was planned and built almost entirely by Peter's own hands.
This skiff was built at Moscow, where it remained for
twenty or thirty years, an object all this time in
Peter's mind of special affection and regard. At length, when

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the naval power of the Empire was firmly established, Peter
conceived the idea of removing this skiff from Moscow to
Petersburg and consecrating it solemnly there as a sort of souvenir,
to be preserved forever in commemoration of the small beginnings
from which all the naval greatness of the Empire had sprung.
The name which he had given to the skiff was

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the Little Grandfather, the name denoting that the little craft,
frail and insignificant as it was, was the parent and
progenitor of all the great frigates and ships of the
line which were then at anchor in the roads about
Cronstadt and off the mouth of the Neva. A grand
ceremony was accordingly arranged for the consecration of the Little Grandfather.

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The little vessel was brought in triumph from Moscow to Petersburg,
where it was put on board a sort of barge
or gallio, to be taken to Cronstad. All the great
officers of state and all the foreign ministers were invited
to be present at the consecration. The company embarked on
board yachts provided for them and went down the river,
following the Little Grandfather, which was borne on its gallio

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in the van, drums beating, trumpets sounding, and banners waving
all the way. The next day, the whole fleet, which
had been collected in the bay for this purpose, was
arranged in the form of an amphitheater. The Little Grandfather
was let down from its gallio into the water. The
Emperor went on board of it. He was accompanied by
the admirals and vice admirals of the fleet, who were

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to serve as crew. The Admirals stationed himself at the
helm to steer, and the vice admirals took the oars.
These grand officials were not required, however, to do much
hard work at rowing, for there were two shallops provided,
manned by strong men, to tow the skiff in the
In this way the skiff rode to and fro over
the sea, and then passed along the fleet, saluted everywhere

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by the shouts of the crews upon the yards and
in the rigging, and by the guns of the ships.
Three thousand guns were discharged by the ships in these
salvos in honor of their humble progenitor. The Little Grandfather
returned the salutes of the guns with great spirit by
means of three small swivels, which had been placed on board.

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The Empress Catharine saw the show from an elevation on
the shore, where she sat with the ladies of her
court in a pavilion or tent which had been erected
for the purpose. At the close of the ceremonies, the
skiff was deposited with great ceremony in the place which
had been prepared to receive it, in the castle of Cronstadt,
And there, when one more day had been spent in
banquetings and rejoicings, the company left the Little Grandfather to

(15:50):
its repose and returned in their yachts to the town.
Not many days after the death of Peter, Catherine, in
accordance with the arrangements that Peter had previously made, was
proclaimed Empress by a solemn act of the Senate and
Ministers of State, and she at once entered upon the
exercise of the sovereign power. She signalized her accession by

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a great many acts of clemency, liberating prisoners, recalling exiles,
removing bodies from gibbets and wheels, and heads from poles
and delivering them to friends for burial, remitting the sentence
of death pronounced upon political offenders, and otherwise mitigating and
assaging sufferings which Peter's remorseless ideas of justice and retribution

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had caused. Catherine did not, however, live long to exercise
her beneficial power. She died suddenly about two years after
her husband, and was buried with great pomp in a
grand monumental tomb in one of the churches of Saint Petersburg,
which she had been engaged ever since his death in
constructing for him. End of Peter the Great by Jacob Abbott,

(16:58):
recording by Russ Mker of I dynam Minnesota,