Boyhood Of Peter The Great

Peter the Great, grandson of the first emperor of the Romanof line, was

a man of such extraordinary power of body and mind, such a remarkable

combination of common sense, mental activity, advanced ideas, and

determination to lift Russia to a high place among the nations, with

cruelty, grossness, and infirmities of vice and passion, that his reign

of forty-three years fills as large a place in Russian history as do the

nnals of all the preceding centuries, and the progress of Russia during

this short period was greater than in any other epoch of three or four

times its length.



The character of the man showed in the boy, and while a mere child he

began those steps of progress which were continued throughout his life.

He had two brothers, both older than he, and sons of a different mother,

so that the throne seemed far from his grasp. But Theodore, the oldest

of the three, died after a brief reign, leaving no heirs to the throne.

Ivan, the second son, was an imbecile, nearly blind, and subject to

epileptic fits. The clergy and grandees, in consequence, looked upon

Peter as the most promising successor to the throne. But he was still

only a child, not yet ten years of age.



The czar Alexis had left also several daughters; but in those days the

fate of princesses of the blood was a harsh one. They were not permitted

to marry, and were consigned to convents, where they knew nothing of

what was passing in the busy world without. One of the daughters, Sophia

by name, had escaped from this fate. At her earnest request she was

taken from the convent and permitted to nurse her sickly brother

Theodore.



She was a woman of high intelligence, bold and ambitious by nature, and

during her residence in court learned much of the politics of the empire

and took some part in its government. After the death of Theodore she

contrived to have herself named regent for her two brothers, Ivan being

plainly unfit to rule, and Peter too young.



There are many stories told about her, of which probably the half are

not true. It is said that she kept her young brother at a distance from

Moscow, where she surrounded him with ministers of evil, whose business

it was to encourage him in riot and dissipation, to the end that he

might become a moral monster, odious and insupportable to the nation at

large. Such a course had been pursued with Ivan the Terrible, and to it

was largely due his incredible iniquity.



If Sophia had really any such purpose in view, she was playing with

edge-tools. She quite mistook the character of her young brother, and

forgot that the same rule may work differently in different cases. The

steps taken to make the boy base, if really so intended, aided to make

him great. His morals were corrupted, his health was impaired, and his

heart hardened by the excesses of his youth, but his removal from the

palace atmosphere of flattery and effeminacy tended to make him

self-reliant, while his free life in the country and the activity which

it encouraged helped to develop the native energy of his character.



It is probable that Sophia had no such intention to corrupt the nature

of the child, for she showed no ill will against him. It was apparently

to his mother, rather than to his sister, that his residence in the

country was due, and he was obliged to go frequently to Moscow, to take

part in ceremonial affairs, while his name was used in all public

documents, many of which he was required to sign.



From early life the boy had shown himself active, intelligent, quick to

learn, and full of curiosity. He was particularly interested in military

affairs, and playing at soldiers was one of the leading diversions of

his youth. Only a day or two after a great riot in Moscow, in which

numbers of nobles were slaughtered, and in which the child had looked

unmoved into the savage faces of the rioters, he sent to the arsenal for

drums, banners, and arms. Uniforms and wooden cannon were supplied him,

and on his eleventh birthday--in 1683--he was allowed to have some real

guns, with which he fired salutes.



From his country home at Preobrajensk messengers came almost daily to

Moscow for powder, lead, and shot; small brass and iron cannon were

supplied the boy, and drummer-boys, selected from the different

regiments, were sent to him. Thus he was allowed to play at soldier to

his heart's content.



A company was formed from the younger domestics of the place, fifty in

number, the officers being sons of the boyars or lords. But these were

required by the alert boy to pass through all the grades of the service,

which he also did himself, serving successively as private, sergeant,

lieutenant, and captain, and finally as colonel of the regiment which

grew from this youthful company. Peter called his company "the guards,"

but it was known in Moscow as the "pleasure company," or "troops for

sport." In time, however, it grew into the Preobrajensky Guards, a

celebrated regiment which is still kept up as the first regiment of the

Russian Imperial Guard, and of which the emperor is always the colonel.

Another company, formed on the same plan in an adjoining village, became

the Semenofsky Regiment. From these rudiments grew the present Russian

army.



These military exercises soon ceased to be child's play to the active

lad. He gave himself no rest from his prescribed duties, stood his watch

in turn, shared in the labors of the camp, slept in the tents of his

comrades, and partook of their fare. He used to lead his company on long

marches, during which the strictest discipline was maintained, and the

camps at night were guarded as in an enemy's country.



On reaching his thirteenth year the boy took further steps in his

military education, building a small fortress, whose remains are still

preserved. This was constructed with great care, and took nearly a year

to build. At the suggestion of a German officer it was named Pressburg,

the name being given with much ceremony, Peter leading from Moscow a

procession of most of the court officials and nobles to take part in the

performance.



These military sports were not enough for the active mind of the boy,

who kept himself busy at a dozen labors. He used to hammer and forge in

the blacksmith's shop, became an expert with the lathe, and learned the

art of printing and binding books. He built himself a wheelbarrow and

other articles which he needed, and at a later date it was said that he

"knew excellently well fourteen trades."



When in Moscow, Peter spent much of his time in the foreign quarter,

joining his associates there in the beer, wine, and tobacco of which

they were specially fond, and questioning them about a thousand subjects

unknown to the Russians, thus acquiring a wide knowledge of men and

affairs. He troubled himself little about rank or position, making a

companion of any one, high or low, from whom anything could be learned,

while any mechanical curiosity particularly attracted him.



A sextant and astrolabe were brought him from France, of whose use no

one could inform him, though he asked all whom he met. At length a Dutch

merchant, Franz Timmermann by name, was brought him, who measured with

the instrument the distance to a neighboring house.



Peter was delighted, and eagerly asked to be taught how to use the

instrument himself.



"It is not so easy," replied Timmermann; "you must first learn

arithmetic and geometry."



Here was a new incentive. The boy at once set to work, spending all his

leisure time, day and night, over these studies, to which he afterwards

added geography and fortification. It was in this desultory way that his

education was gained, no regular course of training being prescribed,

and his strong self-will breaking through all family discipline.



We may end here what we have to say about the boy's military activity.

His army gradually grew until it numbered five thousand men, mainly

foreigners, who were commanded by General Gordon, a Scotch officer.

Lefort, a Swiss, who had become one of Peter's favorite companions, now

undertook to raise an army of twelve thousand men. He succeeded in this,

and unexpectedly found himself made general of this force.



It is, however, of the boy's activity in naval affairs that we must now

speak. Timmermann had become one of his constant companions, and was

always teaching him something new. One day in 1688, when Peter was

sixteen years old, he was wandering about one of the country estates of

the throne, near the village of Ismailovo. An old building in the

flax-yard attracted his attention, and he asked one of the servants what

it was.



"It is a storehouse," the man said, "in which was put all the rubbish

that was left after the death of Nikita Romanof, who used to live here."



Peter at once, curious to see this "rubbish," had the doors opened, went

in, and looked about. In one corner, bottom upward, lay a boat, very

different in build from the flat-bottomed, square-sterned boats which

were in use on the Russian rivers.



"What is that?" he asked.



"It is an English boat," said Timmermann.



"But what is it good for? Is it better than our boats?" demanded Peter.



"Yes. If you had sails for it, you would find that it would not only go

with the wind, but against the wind."



"Against the wind! Is that possible? How can it be possible?"



With his usual impatience, the boy wanted to try it at once. But the

boat proved to be too rotten for use. It would need to be repaired and

tarred, and a mast and sails would have to be made.



Where could these be had? Who could make them? Timmermann was able to

tell him. Some thirty years before, a number of Dutch ship-carpenters

had been brought from Holland and had built some vessels on the Volga

River for the czar Alexis. These had been burned by a brigand, and

Brandt, the builder, had returned to Moscow, where he still worked as a

joiner. In those days it was easier to get into Russia than to get out

again, foreigners who entered the land being held there as virtual

prisoners. Even General Gordon tried in vain to get back to his native

land.



Old Brandt was found, looked over the boat, put it in order, and

launched it on a neighboring stream. To Peter's surprise and delight, he

saw the boat moving under sail up and down the river, turning to right

and left in obedience to the helm. Greatly excited, he called on Brandt

to stop, jumped in, and, under the old man's directions, began to manage

the boat himself.



But the river was too narrow and the water too shallow for easy

sailing, and the energetic boy had the boat dragged overland to a large

pond, where it went better, but still not to his satisfaction. Where was

a better body of water? He was told that there was a large lake about

fifty miles away, but that it would be easier to build a new boat than

to drag the English boat that distance.



"Can you do that?" asked the eager boy.



"Yes, sire," said Brandt, "but I will need many things."



"Oh, that does not matter at all," said Peter. "We can have anything."



No time was lost. Brandt, with one of his old comrades and Timmermann,

went to work at once in the woods bordering the lake, Peter working with

them when he could get away from Moscow, where he was frequently needed.

It took time. Timber had to be prepared, a hut built to live in, and a

dock to launch the boats, which were built on a larger scale than the

small English craft. Thus it was not until the following spring that the

new boats were ready to launch.



Peter meanwhile had been married. But the charms of his wife could not

keep him from his beloved boats. Back he went, aided in completing and

launching the new craft, and took such delight in sailing them about the

lake that he could hardly be induced to return to Moscow for important

duties.



In this humble way began the Russian navy, which had grown to large

proportions before Peter died. The little English boat, which some think

was one sent by Queen Elizabeth to Ivan the Terrible, has ever since

Peter's time been known as the "Grand-sire of the Russian navy." It is

kept with the greatest care in a small brick building within the

fortress at St. Petersburg, and was one of the principal objects of

interest in the great parade in that city in 1870 on the two hundredth

anniversary of Peter's birth.



It will suffice to say, in conclusion, that shortly after these events

Peter became the reigning czar, and turned from sport to earnest. Sophia

had enjoyed so long the pleasure of ruling that her ambition grew with

its exercise, and she sought to retain her position as long as possible.

It is even said that she laid a plot to assassinate Peter, so that only

the feeble Ivan should be left. The boy, told that assassins were

seeking him, fled for his life. His fright seems to have been

groundless, but it made him an undying enemy of his sister. The affair

ended in the bulk of the nobility and soldiery turning to his side and

in Sophia being obliged to leave the throne for a convent, where she

spent the remainder of her life in the misery of strict seclusion.