b o s k cul-ed Ly that horrid expedient, he even repaired to”the
1— 'nunnery of Devitz, and examined her in perfon. The
princefs, whofe high fpiritwas fubdued by her misfortunes*,
and worn out by a long confinement, could not Tefrain from
weeping at the fight of her obdurate brother, and fire even
extorted tears from Peter himfelf, though without melting
has refentment t. But neither this, nor every other effort
that was employed to convidt her, was attended with fuccefs;
and the only proof of her carrying on afee ret correfpondence
with the rebels was derived from the confeffion of a boy
■belonging to an officer of the Strefitz, who -declared, that
letters enclofed in loaves of bread had paffed between Sophia
and his matter J. The latter, however, peremptorily denied
the fadt even upon the rack ; and he was led to execution
perfifting to the laft moment in this afleveration.
The cafe feems to be, that the innovations of Peter created
a large number of malcontents ; that the introdudtion of
the European difcipline, and the partiality which he fliowed
to the foreign regiments, inflamed the difaffedlion of the
Strelitz to fuch a degree as to account for their ^rebellion,
without the'fuppofition of any cabals on the part of Sophia;
that this princefs had long been the objedt of affedlion to all
the enemies of Peter, and was naturally the perfon to whom
they would have configned the adminiftration of affairs, if
the revolt had been attended with fuccefs.
Peter was fo greatly exáfperated againft Sophia, that he
had once determined to put her to death; but, having
* “ Quorundampertinacia demum v-i£la.” , “ publice enim ‘nuperi tumultus vulgo rea
Korb. “ habebatur: primus utriufque introitirs
f “ Ad monafterium Jtfeo-virginum clif- “ ubérrimas amborum 1 scry mas excivifle
1 ceffit tzarus, ut fororem fuam Sophiam, “ dicitur.” Korb.
1 diéto monaíterio inclufam examinaret j J Gordon, vol. I. p. 129— 130.
changed
■changed his refolution, he compelled her to aflume the veil. CHAP-
In order to ftrike her with terror, and to announce to the
publick that he thought her privy to the rebellion, two
hundred and thirty Strelitz were hanged within fight of the
nunnery in which fhe was confined ; and three of the ringleaders
were fufpended upon a gibbet eredted clofe * to the
window of her apartment: they held in their hands petitions
fimilar to that which, according to the confeffion juft
mentioned, was to have been prefented to Sophia.
From this period hiftory is filent in relation to Sophia:
fhe was confined under a ftrict guard in the monaftery until
her death, which happened in the month of July, 1704.
She was interred in the church of the convent; the tomb
is covered with a black cloth, and contains the following in-
fcription : “ A. M. 7 2 r 2 (or 170 4 of the Chriltian sera) on
“ the third of J uly t died Sophia Alexiefna, aged 46 years,
“ nine months and fix days: her monaftick name was Su-
I fanna. She had been a nun five years, eight months and
H twelve (lays: fhe was buried the 4th in this church, called
■“ the Image o f Smolenfko. She was daughter of Alexey
“ Michaelovitch, and o f Maria Uinitchna,” &c.
Although Peter always fufpecfled the intrigues of his
fitter, yet he never failed paying a juft tribute to her genius
and abilities. “ What a pity,” he was frequently heard to
fay, “ that fhe perfecuted me in my minority, and that I
M cannot repofe any confidence in her : oth.erwife, when I
u am employed abroad, file might govern at home if.”
One
* G orfliavp. 95— 13°. fered capital pupMhment. Peter ¡broke at
^ K o r b , who faw them hanging, fays, the fame time the whole body o f Strelitz,
* Tam prope ad ipfas Sophiani cubiculi and atoliihed their name.
‘ feheilras, ut Sophia eofdem manu facile f O. S. the 14th N . S.
“ poflet attmgere.” + This anecdote, which I received from
Vn this Qccafion above 2000 Strelitz fuf- a Ruffian nobleman o f great difiin&ion, is
ViOL. I . •jHC1 ,,hu **■ x„o nfcin r.et,l