Book jjoj. to.be purchafed at any price. He removed from tfee,
<— 1 churches the pictures of deceafed perfons, to which
many of the Ruffians offered the moil blind adoration ; he
abolifhed a few ceremonies which had been carried to a mo ft
fuperftitfous excefs : in a word, his labours tended more to
the reformation of the church, than the united efforts of all,
his predeceffors in the patriarchal fee.
Nor did he folely diftinguifh hitnfelf in his .profeffional
duties; but fhewed himfelf no lefs qualified in a civil capacity.
Notwithstanding the courfe of his Studies hitherto
folely confined to eccleiiaftical fubjeits, and the reclufenefs.
of his.former life which feemed to have impeded the attainment
of political knowledge, yet he was no fooner called
to a public Station, than his abilities expanded in proportion,
as thé objects which they embraced became more numerous,
and important: his fagaçity,.lharpened by.continual application,
foon rendered him mailer of. the moil intricate affairs
a f government ; taught him to .comprehend and difcrimi-
nate a variety of the moft oppofite intereils; and to adopt
that decifive line of conduit, which marks the great and enlightened
ftatefman. Being.confulted by the tzar upon all.;
occafions, he. foon became the foul of his . councils * ; and
gained the, afcendancy in the cabinet by the Splendour o f
his reafoning, and by a vaff Superiority of genius, %ever fertile
in expedients, and prone to recommend the. moil : vigorous.
and Spirited meafures.
" T h e influence which Nicon, frorn .thç
fuperiority of- his genius-, obtained in . the
tzar’s councils-, perhaps induced Vplxaire,
in his erroneous’account o f this.patrjaroh,
to declare, t h a t ,he “ voulut elever fa
‘ ‘ .chaire au-defïus du trône ; non feulement
“ âl.ufurpait le , droit, de s’afleoir dans le
I.
“ fena.t à côte du czar,, mais il prétendait,
“ .qu’on nç.pouvait faire.ni la guerre-ni w
“ paix fans Ion . eonfeo tcmen t . ” & c . Hi fide
Pierre, le Grand, p. 74. From Voltaire
the compiler o f the article o f .Rulîia, in
the Univerfal Hiftory, has adopted this idle
aflertion, V. X XXV III. p. 140.,
Whefi
'tVhén he feemed thus to have attained the higheil füm- chap.
mit of human grandeur to which a fubjeit can arrive, he ^__
fell a vfotim to popular difcontents, and to the cabals of a
court. His fall, no lefs Sudden than his rife, mbit be traced
from the following caufes. The removal of the painted
images from the churches difgufted a large party among the
Ruffians fuperititiouily addicted to the adoration of their
anceftors ; the correition of the errors in the Liturgy and
Bible, the abolition of fome ceremonies, and the ádmiffion
of a few others (introduced, perhaps, with too much hafte,
and without paying a due deference to the prejudices of his
countrymen), occasioned a fchifm in the church; many
perfons averfe to all innovations, and adhering to the old
tenets and ceremonies, formed a very considerable fecit under
the appellation of Old Believers, and, riling in feveral parts,
created much disturbance to the ilate, circumitances naturally
imputed to Nicon by his enemies : he attracted the
hatred of an ignorant and indolent clergy by the appointment
of Greek and Latin feminaries; he railed the envy
and jealoufy of the prime-minifler and courtiers by his pre-
dominance in the cabinet, and by the haughtinefs of his
deportment; and by the fame means he offended the tza-
rina and her father, who were implacable in their refent-
ment.
All thefe various parties uniting in one great combination
againft him, Nicon hailened his fall by a Supercilious demeanour,
which ocoalionally bordered upon arrogance, by
fruiting folely for his Support to the redlitude of his conduit
and the favour of his fovereign ■; and by difdaining to guard
againft, what he confidered, as the petty intrigues of a court.
T t a Thé