b o o k a£fc in dire£t oppofition to their interefts, and enfure, by the
_ v — »nomination of Peter, the adminiftration of affairs to the
Nariikins; and this ftate of the cafe has been lately efta-
hliihed by an hiftorian * of unqueftionable authority, who
informs us, after the moft authentic records, that Peter did
not owe his elevation to any declaration of Feodor in his
favour, but merely to the fufffages of thofe perfons in whom
.the right of nominating the fucceffor was veiled.
2. In regard to the fecond pofition, the unanimity of Peter’s
election, Muller, who has explored the Ruffian archives
with a view of afcertaining this point, can fupply us with
no better proofs than the following information f .
“ Soon after the death of Feodor, all the fervants of the
court, the officers, and ecclefiaftics, who were then at Mofcow,
,c affembled in the palace and the court-yard to kifs the hand
“ of the deceafed monarch; after which ceremony they alfo
*l kiffed the hands of the two princes Ivan and Peter, the
“ former of whom was fixteen, and the latter ten years of
“ age. The ill health of Ivan, the hopeful appearance of
“ Peter, and the well-known prudence and virtue of his
“ mother J, induced all who were prefent to prefer the
“ younger to the elder brother, and unanimoufly to raife
“ Peter to the throne. The aftoniffiing quiet and unanimity
“ with which this important affair was accompliihed, feems
“ to prove, that it was preconcerted by the patriarch and
“ principal nobility.
“ The patriarch Joachim, defcended from a noble
“ family, was at the head of this tranfaftion. As foon as
* Frince Sherebatof. See Bach. RuiT. years o f age, and had hitherto given no
Bib. vol. V . p. 50*. proofs o f her prudence and wifdom.—
•f Von Peter’s des Groflen erftern Ge- L ’ Evefque more juftly llyles her ** jeune
langung zum Thron. in Jour. Pet. for 1780. ** princefle qui n’avoit pu fe faire encore
J This princefs was then fcarceiy 24 “ aucune reputation,”
4 “ the
S O P H I A A L E X I E F N A. m
“ the principal courtiers, ecclefiaftics, nobles, officers, mer- chap.
* ' ' ' VIII
“ chants, and a great concourfe of people,-were affembled be- ■ . * ■
“ fore the imperial palace, he demanded o f them, whom they
“ would nominate tzar, Ivan or Peter? The queftion was
u extremely unufual, but, being juftified by the circumftances,,
“ was immediately anfwered in favour o f Peter. Probably the
“ party of Ivan had not forefeen that a younger prince who,
“ was a minor, would be preferred to his elder brother, and
flj were therefore net prepared to make any oppojition to the ap-
“ pointment o f Peter.
u Two contradictory accounts of this nomination are
u given in two of the moft authentic records in the ar-
“ chives of Mofcow. The firft informs us that Ivan, as-the
“ eldeft, publickly renounced his right to the crown, before
u it could be conferred upon Peter : the fecond makes no
<£ mention of this renunciation, but afcribes the nomination
“ o f Peter to the general wiihes of the nation.”
The firft record in the office for foreign affaire thus relates
the tranfaClion.
And the patriarch Joachim, and the metropolitans and
“ archbiihops, and all the clergy, and the Siberian and Kaf-
“ fimovian princes, and the Boiars and Okolnitfhi, and the
“ Doumnie-Diaki, and theStolnics andStraeptihi, and the no-
“ bilityof Mofcow,.and the Shilitfi, and the nobles from the
“ country, and the foldiers and Gofti, and the merchants and
“ people, entreated the princes, Ivan- and Peter, that one of
“ them would pleafe to afGend tile hereditary throne o f
“ Ruffia,’’ 8cc.
And the Tzarovitch Ivan faid, “ It being advantageous for
“ the publickthat my brother the Tzarovitch and great-duke
“ Peter ffiould afcend the throne of Ruffia, becaufe his mother
“ the tzarina Natalia is alive: I,, therefore,, the tzarovitch
“ andi