Chapter VIII: Part 8

And here I think myself under an obligation to relate what I have met touching this marriage in the dispatches of count Bassewitz, aulic counsellor at Vienna, and long time minister from Holstein at the court of Russia; a person of great merit, and whose memory is still held in the highest esteem in Germany. In some of his letters he speaks thus: 'The czarina had not only been the main instrument of procuring the czar that reputation which he enjoyed, but was likewise essentially necessary in the preservation of his life. This prince was unhappily subject to violent convulsion fits, which were thought to be the effects of poison which had been given him while he was young. Catherine alone had found the secret of alleviating his sufferings by an unwearied assiduity and attention to whatever she thought would please him, and made it the whole study of her life to preserve a health so valuable to the kingdom and to herself, insomuch, that the czar finding he could not live without her, made her the companion of his throne and bed.' I here only repeat the express words of the writer himself.

Fortune, which has furnished us with many extraordinary scenes in this part of the world, and who had raised Catherine from the lowest abyss of misery and distress to the pinnacle of human grandeur, wrought another extraordinary incident in her favour some few years after her marriage with the czar, and which I find thus related in a curious manuscript of a person who was at that time in the czar's service, and who speaks of it as a thing to which he was eye-witness.

An envoy from king Augustus to the court of Peter the Great, being on his return home through Courland, and having put up at an inn by the way, heard the voice of a person who seemed in great distress, and whom the people of the house were treating in that insulting manner which is but too common on such occasions: the stranger, with a tone of resentment, made answer, that they would not dare to use him thus, if he could but once get to the speech of the czar, at whose court he had perhaps more powerful protectors than they imagined.

The envoy, upon hearing this, had a curiosity to ask the man some questions, and, from certain answers he let fall, and a close examination of his face, he thought he found in him some resemblance of the empress Catherine; and, when he came to Dresden, he could not forbear writing to one of his friends at Petersburg concerning it. This letter, by accident, came to the czar's hands, who immediately sent an order to prince Repnin, then governor of Riga, to endeavour to find out the person mentioned in the letter. Prince Repnin immediately dispatched a messenger to Mittau, in Courland, who, on inquiry, found out the man, and learned that his name was Charles Scavronsky; that he was the son of a Lithuanian gentleman, who had been killed in the wars of Poland, and had left two children then in the cradle, a boy and a girl, who had neither of them received any other education than that which simple nature gives to those who are abandoned by the world. Scavronsky, who had been parted from his sister while they were both infants, knew nothing further of her than that she had been taken prisoner in Marienburg, in the year 1704, and supposed her to be still in the household of prince Menzikoff, where he imagined she might have made some little fortune.

Prince Repnin, agreeable to the particular orders he had received from the czar, caused Scavronsky to be seized, and conducted to Riga, under pretence of some crime laid to his charge; and, to give a better colour to the matter, at his arrival there, a sham information was drawn up against him, and he was soon after sent from thence to Petersburg, under a strong guard, with orders to treat him well upon the road.

When he came to that capital, he was carried to the house of an officer of the emperor's palace, named Shepleff, who, having been previously instructed in the part he was to play, drew several circumstances from the young man in relation to his condition; and, after some time, told him, that although the information, which had been sent up from Riga against him, was of a very serious nature, yet he would have justice done him; but that it would be necessary to present a petition to his majesty for that purpose; that one should accordingly be drawn up in his name, and that he (Shepleff) would find means that he should deliver it into the czar's own hands.

The next day the czar came to dine with Shepleff, at his own house, who presented Scavronsky to him; when his majesty, after asking him abundance of questions was convinced, by the natural answers he gave, that he was really the czarina's brother; they had both lived in Livonia, when young, and the czar found every thing that Scavronsky said to him, in relation to his family affairs, tally exactly with what his wife had told him concerning her brother, and the misfortunes which had befallen her and her brother in the earlier part of their lives.

The czar, now satisfied of the truth, proposed the next day to the empress to go and dine with him at Shepleff's; and, when dinner was over, he gave orders that the man, whom he had examined the day before, should be brought in again. Accordingly he was introduced, dressed in the same clothes he had wore while on his journey to Riga; the czar not being willing that he should appear in any other garb than what his unhappy circumstances had accustomed him to.

He interrogated him again, in the presence of his wife; and the MS. adds, that, at the end, he turned about to the empress, and said these very words:--'This man is your brother; come hither, Charles, and kiss the hand of the empress, and embrace your sister.'

The author of this narrative adds further, that the empress fainted away with surprise; and that, when she came to herself again, the czar said, 'There is nothing in this but what is very natural. This gentlemen is my brother in-law; if he has merit, we will make something of him; if he has not, we must leave him as he is.'

I am of opinion, that this speech shews as much greatness as simplicity, and a greatness not very common. My author says, that Scavronsky remained a considerable time at Shepleff's house; that the czar assigned him a handsome pension, but that he led a very retired life. He carries his relation of this adventure no farther, as he made use of it only to disclose the secret of Catherine's brother: but we know, from other authorities, that this gentleman was afterwards created a count; that he married a young lady of quality, by whom he had two daughters, who were married to two of the principal noblemen in Russia. I leave to those, who may be better informed of the particulars, to distinguish what is fact in this relation, from what may have been added; and shall only say, that the author does not seem to have told this story out of a fondness for entertaining his readers with the marvellous, since his papers were not intended to be published. He is writing freely to a friend, about a thing of which he says he was an eye-witness. He may have been mistaken in some circumstances, but the fact itself has all the appearance of truth; for if this gentleman had known that his sister was raised to so great dignity and power, he would not certainly have remained so many years without having made himself known to her. And this discovery, however extraordinary it may seem, is certainly not more so than the exaltation of Catherine herself; and both the one and the other are striking proofs of the force of destiny, and may teach us to be cautious how we treat as fabulous several events of antiquity, which perhaps are less contradictory to the common order of things, than the adventures of this empress.

The rejoicings made by the czar Peter for his own marriage, and that of his son, were not of the nature of those transient amusements which exhaust the public treasure, and are presently lost in oblivion. He completed his grand foundry for cannon, and finished the admiralty buildings. The highways were repaired, several ships built, and others put upon the stocks; new canals were dug, and the finishing hand put to the grand warehouses, and other public buildings, and the trade of Petersburg began to assume a flourishing face. He issued an ordinance for removing the senate from Moscow to Petersburg, which was executed in the month of April, 1712. By this step he made his new city the capital of the empire, and early he employed a number of Swedish prisoners in beautifying this city, whose foundation had been laid upon their defeat.

CHAP. XXIII.

Taking of Stetin.--Descent upon Finland.--Event of the year 1712.

Peter, now seeing himself happy in his own family, and in his state, and successful in his war against Charles XII. and in the several negotiations which he had entered into with other powers, who were resolved to assist him in driving out the Swedes from the continent, and cooping them up for ever within the narrow isthmus of Scandinavia, began to turn his views entirely towards the north-west coasts of Europe, not laying aside all thoughts of the Palus Mæotis, or Black Sea. The keys of Azoph, which had been so long withheld from the basha, who was to have taken possession of that place for the sultan, his master, were now given up; and, notwithstanding all the endeavours of the king of Sweden, the intrigues of his friends at the Ottoman Porte, and even some menaces of a new war on the part of the Turks, both that nation and the Russian empire continued at peace.

Charles XII. still obstinate in his resolution not to depart from Bender, tamely submitted his hopes and fortunes to the caprice of a grand vizier; while the czar was threatening all his provinces, arming against him the king of Denmark, and the elector of Hanover, and had almost persuaded the king of Prussia, and even the Poles and Saxons, to declare openly for him.

Charles, ever of the same inflexible disposition, behaved in the like manner towards his enemies, who now seemed united to overwhelm him, as he had done in all his transactions with the Ottoman Porte; and, from his lurking-place in the deserts of Bessarabia, defied the czar, the kings of Poland, Denmark, and Prussia, the elector of Hanover (soon afterwards king of England), and the emperor of Germany, whom he had so greatly offended, when he was traversing Silesia with his victorious troops, and who now shewed his resentment, by abandoning him to his ill fortune, and refused to take under his protection any of those countries, which as yet belonged to the Swedes in Germany.

1712.] It would have been no difficult matter for him to have broken the league which was forming against him, would he have consented to cede Stetin, in Pomerania, to Frederick (the first) king of Prussia, and elector of Brandenburg, who had a lawful claim thereto; but Charles did not then look upon Prussia as a power of any consequence: and indeed neither he, nor any other person, could at that time foresee, that this petty kingdom, and the electorate of Brandenburg, either of which were little better than deserts, would one day become formidable. Charles therefore would not listen to any proposal of accommodation, but determined rather to stake all than to give up any thing, sent orders to the regency of Stockholm, to make all possible resistance, both by sea and land: and these orders were obeyed, notwithstanding that his dominions were almost exhausted of men and money. The senate of Stockholm fitted out a fleet of thirteen ships of the line, and every person capable of bearing arms came voluntarily to offer their service: in a word, the inflexible courage and pride of Charles seemed to be infused into all his subjects, who were almost as unfortunate as their master.

It can hardly be supposed, that Charles's conduct was formed upon any regular plan. He had still a powerful party in Poland, which assisted by the Crim Tartars, might indeed have desolated that wretched country, but could not have replaced Stanislaus on the throne; and his hope of engaging the Ottoman Porte to espouse his cause, or convincing the divan that it was their interest to send ten or twelve thousand men to the assistance of his friends, under pretence that the czar was supporting his ally, Augustus, in Poland, was vain and chimerical.

Sep. 1712.] Nevertheless, he continued still at Bender, to wait the issue of these vain projects, while the Russians, Danes, and Saxons, were overrunning Pomerania. Peter took his wife with him on this expedition. The king of Denmark had already made himself master of Stade, a sea-port town in the duchy of Bremen, and the united forces of Russia, Saxony, and Denmark, were already before Stralsund.

Oct. 1712.] And now king Stanislaus, seeing the deplorable state of so many provinces, the impossibility of his recovering the crown of Poland, and the universal confusion occasioned by the inflexibility of Charles, called a meeting of the Swedish generals, who were covering Pomerania with an army of eleven thousand men, as the last resource they had left in those provinces.

When they were assembled, he proposed to them to make their terms with king Augustus, offering himself to be the victim of this reconciliation. On this occasion, he made the following speech to them, in the French language, which he afterwards left in writing, and which was signed by nine general officers, amongst whom happened to be one Patkul, cousin-german to the unfortunate Patkul, who lost his life on the wheel, by the order of Charles XII.

'Having been hitherto the instrument of procuring glory to the Swedish arms, I cannot think of proving the cause of their ruin. I therefore declare myself ready to sacrifice the crown, and my personal interests, to the preservation of the sacred person of their king, as I can see no other method of releasing him from the place where he now is.'

Having made this declaration (which is here given in his own words), he prepared to set out for Turkey, in hopes of being able to soften the inflexible temper of his benefactor, by the sacrifice he had made for him. His ill fortune would have it, that he arrived in Bessarabia at the very time that Charles, after having given his word to the sultan, that he would depart from Bender, and having received the necessary remittances for his journey, and an escort for his person, took the mad resolution to continue there, and opposed a whole army of Turks and Tartars, with only his own domestics. The former, though they might easily have killed him, contented themselves with taking him prisoner. At this very juncture, Stanislaus arriving, was seized himself; so that two Christian kings were prisoners at one time in Turkey.

At this time, when all Europe was in commotion, and that France had just terminated a war equally fatal against one part thereof, in order to settle the grandson of Lewis XIV. on the throne of Spain, England gave peace to France, and the victory gained by Marshal Villars at Denain in Flanders, saved that state from its other enemies. France had been, for upwards of a century, the ally of Sweden, and it was the interest of the former, that its ally should not be stript of his possessions in Germany. Charles, unhappily, was at such a distance from his dominions, that he did not even know what was transacting in France.

The regency of Stockholm, by a desperate effort, ventured to demand a sum of money from the French court, at a time when its finances were at so low an ebb, that Lewis XIV. had hardly money enough to pay his household servants. Count Sparre was sent with a commission to negotiate this loan, in which it was not to be supposed he would succeed. However, on his arrival at Versailles, he represented to the marquis de Torci the inability of the regency to pay the little army which Charles had still remaining in Pomerania, and which was ready to break up and dispute of itself on account of the long arrears due to the men; and that France was on the point of beholding the only ally she had left, deprived of those provinces which were so necessary to preserve the balance of power; that indeed his master, Charles, had not been altogether so attentive to the interests of France in the course of his conquests as might have been expected, but that the magnanimity of Lewis XIV. was at least equal to the misfortunes of his royal brother and ally. The French minister, in answer to this speech, so effectually set forth the incapacity of his court to furnish the requested succours, that count Sparre despaired of success.

It so happened, however, that a private individual did that which Sparre had lost all hopes of obtaining. There was at that time in Paris, a banker, named Samuel Bernard, who had accumulated an immense fortune by making remittances for the government to foreign countries, and other private contracts. This man was intoxicated with a species of pride very rarely to be met with from people of his profession. He was immoderately fond of every thing that made an éclat, and knew very well, that one time or another the government would repay with interest those who hazarded their fortune to supply its exigencies. Count Sparre went one day to dine with him, and took care to flatter his foible so well, that before they rose from table the banker put six hundred thousand livres[91] into his hand; and then immediately waiting on the marquis de Torci, he said to him--'I have lent the crown of Sweden six hundred thousand livres in your name, which you must repay me when you are able.'

Count Steinbock, who at that time commanded Charles's army in Pomerania, little expected so seasonable a supply; and seeing his troops ready to mutiny, to whom he had nothing to give but promises, and that the storm was gathering fast upon him, and being, moreover, apprehensive of being surrounded by the three different armies of Russia, Denmark, and Saxony, desired a cessation of arms, on the supposition that Stanislaus' abdication would soften the obstinacy of Charles, and that the only way left him to save the forces under his command, was by spinning out the time in negotiations. He therefore dispatched a courier to Bender, to represent to the king of Sweden the desperate state of his finances and affairs, and the situation of the army, and to acquaint him that he had under these circumstances, found himself necessitated to apply for a cessation of arms, which he should think himself very happy to obtain. The courier had not been dispatched above three days, and Stanislaus was not yet set out on his journey to Bender, when Steinbock received the six hundred thousand livres from the French banker above-mentioned; a sum, which was at that time an immense treasure in a country so desolated. Thus unexpectedly reinforced with money, which is the grand panacea for all disorders of state, Steinbock found means to revive the drooping spirits of his soldiery; he supplied them with all they wanted, raised new recruits, and in a short time saw himself at the head of twelve thousand men, and dropping his former intention of procuring a suspension of arms, he sought only for an opportunity of engaging the enemy.

This was the same Steinbock, who in the year 1710, after the defeat of Pultowa, had revenged the Swedes on the Danes by the eruption he made into Scania, where he marched against and engaged them with only a few militia, whom he had hastily gathered together, with their arms slung round them with ropes, and totally defeated the enemy. He was, like all the other generals of Charles XII. active and enterprising; but his valour was sullied by his brutality: as an instance of which, it will be sufficient to relate, that having, after an engagement with the Russians, given orders to kill all the prisoners, and perceiving a Polish officer in the service of the czar, who had caught hold on king Stanislaus' stirrup, then on horseback, in order to save his life, he, Steinbock, shot him dead with his pistol in that prince's arms, as has been already mentioned in the life of Charles XII. and king Stanislaus has declared to the author of this History, that had he not been withheld by his respect and gratitude to the king of Sweden, he should immediately have shot Steinbock dead upon the spot.

Dec. 9, 1712.] General Steinbock now marched by the way of Wismar to meet the combined forces of the Russians, Danes, and Saxons, and soon found himself near the Danish and Saxon army, which was advanced before that of the Russians about the distance of three leagues. The czar sent three couriers, one after another, to the king of Denmark, beseeching him to wait his coming up, and thereby avoid the danger which threatened him, if he attempted to engage the Swedes with an equality of force; but the Danish monarch, not willing to share with any one the honour of a victory which he thought sure, advanced to meet the Swedish general, whom he attacked near a place called Gadebusch. This day's affair gave a further proof of the natural enmity that subsisted between the Swedes and Danes. The officers of these two nations fought with most unparalleled inveteracy against each other, and neither side would desist till death terminated the dispute.

Steinbock gained a complete victory before the Russian army could come up to the assistance of the Danes, and the next day received an order from his master, Charles, to lay aside all thoughts of a suspension of arms, who, at the same time, upbraided him for having entertained an idea so injurious to his honour, and for which he told him he could make no reparation, but by conquering or perishing. Steinbock had happily obviated the orders and the reproach by the victory he had gained.

But this victory was like that which had formerly brought such a transient consolation to king Augustus, when in the torrent of his misfortunes he gained the battle of Calish against the Swedes, who were conquerors in every other place, and which only served to aggravate his situation, as this of Gadebusch only procrastinated the ruin of Steinbock and his army.

When the king of Sweden received the news of Steinbock's success, he looked upon his affairs as retrieved, and even flattered himself with hopes to engage the Ottoman Porte to declare for him, who at that time seemed disposed to come to a new rupture with the czar: full of these fond imaginations, he sent orders to general Steinbock to fall upon Poland, being still ready to believe, upon the least shadow of success, that the day of Narva, and those in which he gave laws to his enemies, were again returned. But unhappily he too soon found these flattering hopes utterly blasted by the affair of Bender, and his own captivity amongst the Turks.

The whole fruits of the victory at Gadebusch were confined to the surprising in the night-time, and reducing to ashes, the town of Altena, inhabited by traders and manufacturers, a place wholly defenceless, and which, not having been in arms, ought, by all the laws of war and nations, to have been spared; however, it was utterly destroyed, several of the inhabitants perished in the flames, others escaped with their lives, but naked, and a number of old men, women, and children, perished with the cold and fatigue they suffered, at the gates of Hamburg. Such has too often been the fate of several thousands of men for the quarrels of two only; and this cruel advantage was the only one gained by Steinbock; for the Russians, Danes, and Saxons pursued him so closely, that he was obliged to beg for an asylum in Toningen, a fortress in the duchy of Holstein, for himself and army.

This duchy was at that time subjected to the most cruel ravages of any part of the North, and its sovereign was the most miserable of all princes. He was nephew to Charles XII. and it was on his father's account, who had married Charles's sister, that that monarch carried his arms even into the heart of Copenhagen, before the battle of Narva, and for whom he likewise made the treaty of Travendahl, by which the dukes of Holstein were restored to their rights.

This country was in part the cradle of the Cimbri, and of the old Normans, who overrun the province of Neustria, in France, and conquered all England, Naples, and Sicily; and yet, at this present time, no state pretends less to make conquests than this part of the ancient Cimbrica Chersonesus, which consists only of two petty duchies; namely, that of Sleswic, belonging in common to the king of Denmark and the duke of Holstein, and that of Gottorp, appertaining to the duke alone. Sleswic is a sovereign principality; Holstein is a branch of the German empire, called the Roman empire.

The king of Denmark, and the duke of Holstein-Gottorp, were of the same family; but the duke, nephew to Charles XII. and presumptive heir to his crown, was the natural enemy of the king of Denmark, who had endeavoured to crush him in the very cradle. One of his father's brothers, who was bishop of Lubec, and administrator of the dominions of his unfortunate ward, now beheld himself in the midst of the Swedish army, whom he durst not succour, and those of Russia, Denmark, and Saxony, that threatened his country with daily destruction. Nevertheless, he thought himself obliged to try to save Charles's army, if he could do it without irritating the king of Denmark, who had made himself master of his country, which he exhausted, by raising continual contributions.

This bishop and administrator was entirely governed by the famous baron Gortz, the most artful and enterprising man of his age, endowed with a genius amazingly penetrating, and fruitful in every resource: with talents equal to the boldest and most arduous attempts; he was as insinuating in his negotiations as he was hardy in his projects; he had the art of pleasing and persuading in the highest degree, and knew how to captivate all hearts by the vivacity of his genius, after he had won them by the softness of his eloquence. He afterwards gained the same ascendant over Charles XII. which he had then over the bishop; and all the world knows, that he paid with his life the honour he had of governing the most ungovernable and obstinate prince that ever sat upon a throne.

Gortz had a private conference with general Steinbock,[92] at which he promised to deliver him up the fortress of Toningen,[93] without exposing the bishop administrator, his master, to any danger: and, at the same time, gave the strongest assurances to the king of Denmark, that he would defend the place to the uttermost. In this manner are almost all negotiations carried on, affairs of state being of a very different nature from those of private persons; the honour of ministers consisting wholly in success, and those of private persons in the observance of their promises.

General Steinbock presented himself before Toningen: the commandant refused to open the gates to him, and by this means put it out of the king of Denmark's power to allege any cause of complaint against the bishop administrator; but Gortz causes an order to be given in the name of the young duke, a minor, to suffer the Swedish army to enter the town. The secretary of the cabinet, named Stamke, signs this order in the name of the duke of Holstein: by this means Gortz preserves the honour of an infant who had not as yet any power to issue orders; and he at once serves the king of Sweden, to whom he was desirous to make his court, and the bishop administrator his master, who appeared not to have consented to the admission of the Swedish troops. The governor of Toningen, who was easily gained, delivered up the town to the Swedes, and Gortz excused himself as well as he could to the king of Denmark, by protesting that the whole had been transacted without his consent.

The Swedes retired partly within the walls, and partly under the cannon of the town: but this did not save them: for general Steinbock was obliged to surrender himself prisoner of war, together with his whole army, to the number of eleven thousand men, in the same manner as about sixteen thousand of their countrymen had done at the battle of Pultowa.

By this convention it was agreed, that Steinbock with his officers and men might be ransomed or exchanged. The price for the general's ransom was fixed at eight thousand German crowns;[94] a very trifling sum, but which Steinbock however was not able to raise; so that he remained a prisoner in Copenhagen till the day of his death.

The territories of Holstein now remained at the mercy of the incensed conqueror. The young duke became the object of the king of Denmark's vengeance, and was fated to pay for the abuse which Gortz had made of his name: thus did the ill fortune of Charles XII. fall upon all his family.

Gortz perceiving his projects thus dissipated, and being still resolved to act a distinguished part in the general confusion of affairs, recalled to mind a scheme which he had formed to establish a neutrality in the Swedish territories in Germany.

The king of Denmark was ready to take possession of Toningen; George, elector of Hanover, was about to seize Bremen and Verden, with the city of Stade; the new-made king of Prussia, Frederick William, cast his views upon Stetin, and czar Peter was preparing to make himself master of Finland; and all the territories of Charles XII. those of Sweden excepted, were going to become the spoils of those who wanted to share them. How then could so many different interests be rendered compatible with a neutrality? Gortz entered into negotiation at one and the same time with all the several princes who had any views in this partition; he continued night and day passing from one province to the other; he engaged the governor of Bremen and Verden to put those two duchies into the hands of the elector of Hanover by way of sequestration, so that the Danes should not take possession of them for themselves: he prevailed with the king of Prussia to accept jointly with the duke of Holstein, of the sequestration of Stetin and Wismar, in consideration of which, the king of Denmark was to act nothing against Holstein, and was not to enter Toningen. It was most certainly a strange way of serving Charles XII. to put his towns into the hands of those who might choose if they would ever restore them; but Gortz, by delivering these places to them as pledges, bound them to a neutrality, at least for some time; and he was in hopes to be able afterwards to bring Hanover and Brandenburg to declare for Sweden: he prevailed on the king of Prussia whose ruined dominions stood in need of peace, to enter into his views, and in short he found means to render himself necessary to all these princes, and disposed of the possessions of Charles XII. like a guardian, who gives up one part of his ward's estate to preserve the other, and of a ward incapable of managing his affairs himself; and all this without any regular authority or commission, or other warrant for his conduct, than full powers given him by the bishop of Lubec, who had no authority to grant such powers from Charles himself.

Such was the baron de Gortz, and such his actions, which have not hitherto been sufficiently known. There have been instances of an Oxenstiern, a Richlieu, and an Alberoni, influencing the affairs of all parts of Europe; but that the privy counsellor of a bishop of Lubec should do the same as they, without his conduct being avowed by any one, is a thing hitherto unheard of.

June, 1713.] Nevertheless he succeeded to his wishes in the beginning; for he made a treaty with the king of Prussia, by which that monarch engaged, on condition of keeping Stetin in sequestration, to preserve the rest of Pomerania for Charles XII. In virtue of this treaty, Gortz made a proposal to the governor of Pomerania, Meyerfeld, to give up the fortress of Stetin to the king of Prussia for the sake of peace, thinking that the Swedish governor of Stetin would prove as easy to be persuaded as the Holsteiner who had the command of Toningen; but the officers of Charles XII. were not accustomed to obey such orders. Meyerfeld made answer, that no one should enter Stetin but over his dead body and the ruins of the place, and immediately sent notice to his master of the strange proposal. The messenger at his arrival found Charles prisoner at Demirtash, in consequence of his adventure at Bender, and it was doubtful, at that time, whether he would not remain all his life in confinement in Turkey, or else be banished to some of the islands in the Archipelago, or some part of Asia under the dominion of the Ottoman Porte. However Charles from his prison sent the same orders to Meyerfeld, as he had before done to Steinbock; namely, rather to perish than to submit to his enemies, and even commanded him to take his inflexibility for his example.

Gortz, finding that the governor of Stetin had broke in upon his measures, and would neither hearken to a neutrality nor a sequestration, took it into his head, not only to sequester the town of Stetin of his own authority, but also the city of Stralsund, and found means to make the same kind of treaty (June, 1713,) with the king of Poland, elector of Saxony, for that place, which he had done with the elector of Brandenburg for Stetin. He clearly saw how impossible it would be for the Swedes to keep possession of those places without either men or money, while their king was a captive in Turkey, and he thought himself sure of turning aside the scourge of war from the North by means of these sequestrations. The king of Denmark himself at length gave into the projects of Gortz: the latter had gained an entire ascendant over prince Menzikoff, the czar's general and favourite, whom he had persuaded that the duchy of Holstein must be ceded to his master, and flattered the czar with the prospect of opening a canal from Holstein into the Baltic Sea; an enterprise perfectly conformable to the inclination and views of this royal founder: and, above all, he laboured to insinuate to him, that he might obtain a new increase of power, by condescending to become one of the powers of the empire, which would entitle him to a vote in the diet of Ratisbon, a right that he might afterwards for ever maintain by that of arms.

In a word, no one could put on more different appearances, adapt himself to more opposite interests, or act a more complicated part, than did this skilful negotiator; he even went so far as to engage prince Menzikoff to ruin the very town of Stetin, which he was endeavouring to save; and in which, at length, to his misfortune, he succeeded but too well.

When the king of Prussia saw a Russian army before Stetin, he found that place would be lost to him, and remain in the possession of the czar. This was just what Gortz expected and waited for. Prince Menzikoff was in want of money; Gortz got the king of Prussia to lend him four hundred thousand crowns: he afterwards sent a message to the governor of the place, to know of him--whether he would rather choose to see Stetin in ashes, and under the dominion of Russia, or to trust it in the hands of the king of Prussia, who would engage to restore it to the king, his master?--The commandant at length suffered himself to be persuaded, and gave up the place, which Menzikoff entered; and, in consideration of the four hundred thousand crowns, delivered it afterwards, together with all the territories thereto adjoining, into the hands of the king of Prussia, who, for form's sake, left therein two battalions of the troops of Holstein, and has never since restored that part of Pomerania.

From this period, the second king of Prussia, successor to a weak and prodigal father, laid the foundation of that greatness, to which his state has since arrived by military discipline and economy.

The baron de Gortz, who put so many springs in motion, could not, however, succeed in prevailing on the Danes to spare the duchy of Holstein, or forbear taking possession of Toningen. He failed in what appeared to have been his first object, though he succeeded in all his other views, and particularly in that of making himself the most important personage of the North, which, indeed, was his principal object.

The elector of Hanover then had secured to himself Bremen and Verden, of which Charles XII. was now stripped. The Saxon army was before Wismar (Sept. 1715); Stetin was in the hands of the king of Prussia; the Russians were ready to lay siege to Stralsund, in conjunction with the Saxons; and these latter had already landed in the island of Rugen, and the czar, in the midst of the numberless negotiations on all sides, while others were disputing about neutralities and partitions, makes a descent upon Finland. After having himself pointed the artillery against Stralsund, he left the rest to the care of his allies and prince Menzikoff, and, embarking in the month of May, on the Baltic Sea, on board a ship of fifty guns, which he himself caused to be built at Petersburg, he sailed for the coast of Finland, followed by a fleet of ninety-two whole, and one hundred and ten half-gallies, having on board near sixteen thousand troops. He made his descent at Elsingford, (May 22. N. S. 1713.) the most southern part of that cold and barren country, lying in 61 degrees north latitude; and, notwithstanding the numberless difficulties he had to encounter, succeeded in his design. He caused a feint attack to be made on one side of the harbour, while he landed his troops on the other, and took possession of the town. He then made himself master of Abo, Borgo, and the whole coast. The Swedes now seemed not to have one resource left; for it was at this very time, that their army, under the command of general Steinbock, was obliged to surrender prisoners of war at Toningen.

These repeated disasters which befel Charles, were, as we have already shewn, followed by the loss of Bremen, Verden, Stetin, and a part of Pomerania; and that prince himself, with his ally and friend, Stanislaus, were afterwards both prisoners in Turkey: nevertheless, he was not to be undeceived in the flattering notion he had entertained of returning to Poland, at the head of an Ottoman army, replacing Stanislaus on the throne, and once again making his enemies tremble.

CHAP. XXIV.

Successes of Peter the Great.--Return of Charles XII. into his own
dominions.

[Sidenote: 1713.]

Peter, while he was following the course of his conquests, completed the establishment of his navy, brought twelve thousand families to settle in Petersburg, kept all his allies firm to his person and fortunes, not withstanding they had all different interests and opposite views; and with his fleet kept in awe all the sea-ports of Sweden, on the gulfs of Finland and Bothnia.

Prince Galitzin, one of his land-generals, whom he had formed himself, as he had done all his other officers, advanced from Elsingford, where the czar had made his descent, into the midst of the country, near the village of Tavasthus, which was a post that commanded the gulf of Bothnia, and was defended by a few Swedish regiments, and about eight thousand militia. In this situation, a battle was unavoidable, (Mar. 13, 1714.) the event of which proved favourable to the Russians, who entirely routed the whole Swedish army, and penetrated as far as Vaza, so that they were now masters of about eighty leagues of country.

The Swedes were still in possession of a fleet, with which they kept the sea. Peter had, for a considerable time, waited with impatience for an opportunity of establishing the reputation of his new marine. Accordingly he set out from Petersburg, and having got together a fleet of sixteen ships of the line, and one hundred and eighty galleys, fit for working among the rocks and shoals that surround the island of Aland, and the other islands in the Baltic Sea, bordering upon the Swedish coast, he fell in with the fleet of that nation near their own shores. This armament greatly exceeded his in the largeness of the ships, but was inferior in the number of galleys, and more proper for engaging in the open sea, than among rocks, or near the shore. The advantage the czar had in this respect was entirely owing to himself: he served in the rank of rear-admiral on board his own fleet, and received all the necessary orders from admiral Apraxin. Peter resolved to make himself master of the island of Aland, which lies only twelve leagues off the Swedish coast; and, though obliged to pass full in view of the enemy's fleet, he effected this bold and hazardous enterprise. His galleys forced a passage through the enemy, whose cannon did not fire low enough to hurt them, and entered Aland; but as that coast is almost surrounded with rocks, the czar caused eighty small galleys to be transported by men over a point of land, and launched into the sea, at a place called Hango, where his large ships were at anchor. Erenschild, the Swedish rear-admiral, thinking that he might easily take or sink all these galleys, stood in shore, in order to reconnoitre their situation, but was received with so brisk a fire from the Russian fleet, that most of his men were killed or wounded; and all the galleys and praams he had brought with him were taken, together with his own ship. (Aug. 8.) The admiral himself endeavoured to escape in a boat, but being wounded, was obliged to surrender himself prisoner, and was brought on board the galley where the czar was, navigating it himself. The scattered remains of the Swedish fleet made the best of their way home; and the news of this accident threw all Stockholm into confusion, which now began to tremble for its own safety.

Much about the same time, colonel Scouvalow Neuschlof attacked the only remaining fortress on the western side of Finland, and made himself master of it, after a most obstinate resistance on the part of the besieged.

This affair of Aland was, next to that of Pultowa, the most glorious that had ever befallen the arms of Peter the Great, who now saw himself master of Finland, the government of which he committed to prince Galitzin, and returned to Petersburg (Sept. 15.), victorious over the whole naval force of Sweden, and more than ever respected by his allies; the stormy season now approaching, not permitting him to remain longer with his ships in the Finlandish and Bothnic seas. His good fortune also brought him back to his capital, just as the czarina was brought to bed of a princess, who died, however, about a year afterwards. He then instituted the order of St. Catherine, in honour of his consort,[95] and celebrated the birth of his daughter by a triumphal entry, which was of all the festivals to which he had accustomed his subjects, that which they held in the greatest esteem. This ceremony was ushered in by bringing nine Swedish galleys, and seven praams filled with prisoners, and rear-admiral Erenschild's own ship, into the harbour of Cronstadt.

The cannon, colours, and standards, taken in the expedition to Finland, and which had come home in the Russian admiral's ship, were brought on this occasion to Petersburg, and entered that metropolis in order of battle. A triumphal arch, which the czar had caused to be erected, and which, as usual, was made from a model of his own, was decorated with the insignia of his conquests. Under this arch the victors marched in procession, with admiral Apraxin, at their head; then followed the czar in quality of rear-admiral, and the other officers according to their several ranks. They were all presented one after another to the vice-admiral Rodamonoski, who, at this ceremony represented the sovereign. This temporary vice-emperor distributed gold medals amongst all the officers, and others of silver to the soldiers and sailors. The Swedish prisoners likewise passed under the triumphal arch, and admiral Erenschild followed immediately after the czar, his conqueror. When they came to the place where the vice-czar was seated on his throne, admiral Apraxin presented to him rear-admiral Peter, who demanded to be made vice-admiral, in reward for his services. It was then put to the vote, if his request should be granted; and it may easily be conceived that he had the majority on his side.

After this ceremony was over, which filled every heart with joy, and inspired every mind with emulation, with a love for his country, and a thirst of fame, the czar made the following speech to those present: a speech which deserves to be transmitted to the latest posterity.

'Countrymen and friends! what man is there among you, who could have thought, twenty years ago, that we should one day fight together on the Baltic Sea, in ships built by our own hands; and that we should establish settlements in countries conquered by our own labours and valour?--Greece is said to have been the ancient seat of the arts and sciences: they afterwards took up their abode in Italy, from whence they spread themselves through every part of Europe. It is now our turn to call them ours, if you will second my designs, by joining study to obedience. The arts circulate in this globe, as the blood does in the human body; and perhaps they may establish their empire amongst us, on their return back to Greece, their mother country; and I even venture to hope, that we may one day put the most civilized nations to the blush, by our noble labours and the solid glory resulting therefrom.'

Here is the true substance of this speech, so every way worthy of a great founder, and which has lost its chief beauties in this, and every other translation; but the principal merit of this eloquent harangue is, its having been spoken by a victorious monarch, at once the founder and lawgiver of his empire.

The old boyards listened to this speech with greater regret for the abolition of their ancient customs, than admiration of their master's glory; but the young ones could not hear him without tears of joy.

The splendour of these times were further heightened by the return of the Russian ambassadors from Constantinople, (Sept. 15, 1714.) with a confirmation of the peace with the Turks: an ambassador sent by Sha Hussein from Persia, had arrived some time before with a present to the czar of an elephant and five lions. He received, at the same time, an ambassador from Mahomet Babadir, khan of the Usbeck Tartars, requesting his protection against another tribe of Tartars; so that both extremities of Asia and Europe seemed to join to offer him homage, and add to his glory.

The regency of Stockholm, driven to despair by the desperate situation of their affairs, and the absence of their sovereign, who seemed to have abandoned his dominions, had come to a resolution no more to consult him in relation to their proceedings; and, immediately after the victory the czar gained over their navy, they sent to the conqueror to demand a passport, for an officer charged with proposals of peace. The passport was sent; but, just as the person appointed to carry on the negotiation was on the point of setting out, the princess Ulrica Eleonora, sister to Charles XII. received advice from the king her brother, that he was preparing, at length, to quit Turkey, and return home to fight his own battles. Upon this news the regency did not dare to send the negotiator (whom they had already privately named) to the czar; and, therefore, resolved to support their ill-fortune till the arrival of Charles to retrieve it.

In effect, Charles, after a stay of five years and some months in Turkey, set out from that kingdom in the latter end of October, 1714. Every one knows that he observed the same singularity in his journey, which characterized all the actions of his life. He arrived at Stralsund the 22d of November following. As soon as he got there, baron de Gortz came to pay his court to him; and, though he had been the instrument of one part of his misfortunes, yet he justified his conduct with so much art, and filled the imagination of Charles with such flattering hopes, that he gained his confidence, as he had already done that of every other minister and prince with whom he had entered into any negotiations. In short, he made him believe, that means might be found to draw off the czar's allies, and thereby procure an honourable peace, or at least to carry on the war upon an equal footing; and from this time Gortz gained a greater ascendancy over the mind of the king of Sweden than ever count Piper had.

The first thing which Charles did after his arrival at Stralsund was to demand a supply of money from the citizens of Stockholm, who readily parted with what little they had left, as not being able to refuse any thing to a king, who asked only to bestow, who lived as hard as the meanest soldier, and exposed his life equally in defence of his country. His misfortunes, his captivity, his return to his dominions, so long deprived of his presence, were arguments which prepossessed alike his own subjects and foreigners in his favour, who could not forbear at once to blame and admire, to compassionate and to assist him. His reputation was of a kind totally differing from that of Peter the Great: it consisted not in cherishing the arts and sciences, in enacting laws, in establishing a form of government, nor in introducing commerce among his subjects; it was confined entirely to his own person. He placed his chief merit in a valour superior to what is commonly called courage. He defended his dominions with a greatness of soul equal to that valour, and aimed only to inspire other nations with awe and respect for him: hence he had more partizans than allies.

CHAP. XXV.

State of Europe at the return of Charles XII. Siege of Stralsund.

When Charles XII. returned to his dominions in the year 1714, he found the state of affairs in Europe very different from that in which he had left them. Queen Anne of England was dead, after having made peace with France. Lewis XIV. had secured the monarchy of Spain for his grandson the duke of Anjou, and had obliged the emperor Charles VI. and the Dutch to agree to a peace, which their situation rendered necessary to them; so that the affairs of Europe had put on altogether a new face.

Those of the north had undergone a still greater change. Peter was become sole arbiter in that part of the world: the elector of Hanover, who had been called to fill the British throne, had views of extending his territories in Germany, at the expense of Sweden, who had never had any possessions in that country, but since the reign of the great Gustavus. The king of Denmark aimed at recovering Scania, the best province of Sweden, which had formerly belonged to the Danes. The king of Prussia, as heir to the dukes of Pomerania, laid claim to a part of that province. On the other hand, the Holstein family, oppressed by the king of Denmark, and the duke of Mecklenburg, almost at open war with his subjects, were suing to Peter the Great to take them under his protection. The king of Poland, elector of Saxony, was desirous to have the duchy of Courland annexed to Poland; so that, from the Elbe to the Baltic Sea, Peter the First was considered as the support of the several crowned heads, as Charles XII. had been their greatest terror.