riari, that as Peter Ï. opened by this law an abundant fourcë
■'ôf troublés and conFuïîdn, it had'been better for thé bountr.y
'if that weak prince, with àll his defeâs-, had been fuffered to
reîgà And I may vent lire to add, that tlïé re-eitâhïiih-
ment of hereditary right may be clafled among the For'emoft
of thofe excellent regulations, which dlffiriguiih the reign o f
Catharine II.
“ officers in the other regiments, to be
“ majors ; bat as the captains o f thè guards
“ were unaniinoufly diffatisfied with thefe
.“ regulations, flie was conftrained tò piade
“ aflaifs upon the old footing.” A u lt r ia a
Envoy in B. H. Mi XI. p. 507.
Alfo, upon Elizabeth’ s acceffion,; Man-
tfein fays, “ The whole company o f grena-
•“ diets o f the régiment o f Preobrefhenlky
44 were ehnobied and promoted. The pri-
“ ï vate men had the rank o f lieutenants ;
‘ ‘ .and the corporals o f majors ; the ar-
rnourer and quarter-mailer that Of lieu-
tenant-colonels ; and the ferjeants that
“ o f colonels o f the army. It was called
“ the company o f body-guards. 'Gruiiilein
“ was made adjutant o f this company, with
“ the title of- brigadier. He did not long
“ keep his ground-; accuftomed to the low
44 ambition o f a private foldier, his head
44 was too weak to bear a higher fortune,
“ and growing giddy with his preferment,
“ he was guilty o f all kind o f infoletices,
“ broke out into difrefpeir to the emprefs
“ herfelf, and ended with undergoing the
“ knout, and beifig banilhed to the land3
“ which the emprefs had given him when
“ ilie firft promoted him.
“ This company committed all imagin*
“ able diforders fo r the firffc months that
“ the empreis remained at Peteribiirg'h..
“ The new noble lieutenants ran through
44 all the dirtieft public-houfes, got drunk,
“ and wallowed in-the ftreets. Th ey èn-
“ tered into the houfes o f the'greateil no**
4‘ bleuaen, demanding money with threats,
In
“ and took away, without ceremony, what-
“ ever they liked. There was, no keeping;
“ within bounds, men, who having been
“ all their life-time ufed to be difciplined!
44 by drubbing, could not 'prefently famili -
“ arife themfelves to a more civil treàt-
“ meht. I t mult have been- the work o f
“ • time to reduce them to good ’manners. Ï
“ do not know whether they wëré ever
“ brought to correct themfelves, but the
“ moil unruly o f them were expelled the:
“ corps, and placed as officers in d tlie r ie -
44 giments o f the army, where the Vacancies-
“ were many. A n adfe’ir^ble expedient
<4 this for procuring excellent officers !”
Memoirs of'Ruffia, p; 319, 32a.
* “ C ’eft à cette imprudente loi, qu’ob
“ • doit attribuer toutes les révolutions qui
“ ont affligé la Ruffie. C ’eft PiérTe I. qui
4‘ a ouvert dans fon empiré ’ cette fou fee-
“ abondante de troublés et de défolafidn,
“ Ne valait-il pas'mieux qu’ Alexis ieg-
“ nât? ” L ’Evefque,. vol. IV . p. 454.
An ingenious author,' who has lately pub--,
liflred part o f , a voluminous work tipoi*
Ruffia, controverts this judicious- refle£lion„
juilifies this' decree o f Peter, apd denies,
that it had the lcaft bad tendency, or has
been the caufe o f any revolutions. See Le
Clerc s Hift- Mo'derne de lluffie, p. 441 toi
445-
I I»9 arguments, however, will fcareely
appear convincing to any perfon who has-
perufed with, attention the Hiftoryof Ruffia.
fince the demife o f Peter tht Great ; and
mufl appear o f little weight, imlef* the following
In the fame vault which contains the body of the unfor- c h a p .
tun ate Alexey is placed that of Charlotte Chriftina Sophia. ' .
princefs of Brunfwick, his no lefs unfortunate wife, and
whofe fate is more affecting, becaufe fhe deferved it lefs.
She was born in 1694, married in 17 n the tzarovitch.
who had feen her at her father’s court, and died on the 1 ft
of November, 1 7 1 5 , partly of a broken heart-occafioned by
her hulband’s ill treatment, and partly by the confequences
of her delivery of Peter II. *
Among the imperial fepulchres is that of Anne o f Hol-
ftein, eldeft daughter of Peter and Catharine, who is lefs
known, though far more deferving of notice, than her filter
the emprefs Elizabeth, becaufe her virtues wrere not ennobled
by a diadem. Anne is defcribed t as a princefs of a
majeftick
lowing queries can be anfwered in the negative.
Was not the acceffion o f Catharine I. a
revolution ? The abolition o f defpotick authority,
and the election o f Anne, a revolution
? The refumption o f defpotick authority
by the fame emprefs a revolution ?
T h e removal o f Biren from the regency a
revolution ? Th e acceffion o f -Elizabeth a
revolution ? The dethronement o f Peter III.
and the acceffion o f Catharine (though
jultified by the peculiar fituation o f the
empire) a revolution ? Were they not
all occaiioned by the loofe notions concerning
the right o f fucceffion, and accompli
ihed by the intervention o f the
guards? Were not the execution, fcourg-
ing, and banifliment of many principal nobles,
the confifcation o f eftates, and the
confinement o f numberlefs ftate-prifoners,
the fatal confequences o f thefe frequent
changes ? the lalt excepted, when the lenity
o f the emprefs fpared the ufual victims to
policy and refentment. Have not thefe
civil feuds, which fo long convulfed this
empire, been diminiilied by the vvell-ground-
U u u 2
ed expectation o f an unbroken hereditary
line in the prc e i t imperial family? And
as the influence o f Peter’s fatal decree is
confiderably abated, and the moll diilant
probability o f another rovolution fcarccly
exifls, has not the rapid increafe o f commerce
and population throughout every
part o f this vail empire proclaimed the be*
neficial effects o f the more liable government
o f Catharine II. ?
* See an account o f this princefs in Chap.
V I I I . o f this Book. s
f “ Anna retrowna reflembioit de v ifage
“ et d’humeur à fon auguile pere, mais la'
“ nature et l’éducation avoieht tout embelli
“ chez elle. On lui pafloit »plus de cinq
“ piés de hauteur', en faveur d’une taille
“ extrêmement déliée, et d’une finefle par-
“ faite dans toutes les proportions.' Rien
“ de plus majeltueux que fon port et fa
“ phÿiioncmie, rien de plus régulier que
“ les traits, et non obilant cela, des graces
“ tendres dans le regard et le fourire; des
“ cheveux et des fourcils noirs, un teint
“ d’une blancheur éclatante, et ce ver mil -
“ Ion frais e t délicat qui reliera fans celle
“ inimitable