its being the origin o f the Ruffian fleet. Peter I. ufed to call
rit the Little Grandfire ; and, in the latter part o f his reign,
ordered it to be tranfported to Peterfburgh : it was conducted
in folemn proceffion, in order to excite the admiration o f
the people, and held up that they might compare in what
' condition he had found the marine, and to what perfection
he had brought it. T h e hiftory o f this little boat is worthy
o f notice, as well becaufe it comprehends the fir ft rife o f the
navy, as becaufe, during the courfe o f this narrative, I fhall
be enabled to obferve fundry errors which have been advanced
by many hiftorians o f Peter the.Great ; and which,
i f not duly correfted, will be confecrated by time, and be
admitted as truths.
I fhall begin by remarking, that there is not the leali
foundation in the report* that Peter was naturally afraid o f
the water, and that he had the utmoft difficulty in furmount-
ing this averfion : on the contrary, he feems to have always
* L ’Evefque has adopted this notion, and to the great regret o f all lovers o£ hiftory,
he cites for his authority a Hiftory o f Peter has been prevented by other occupations
the Great in the Sclavohian tongue, fir ft from carrying his defign into, execution,
printed at Venice, and republifhed at Pe- I find, from Bachmeifter’s Ruff! Bibb for
teriburgh, with Notes., by Prince Sherebatof. 1782, that a. German tranilation o f it is
He feems to cite from the text, and not given in Part IV . o f the journal o f St. Pe~
from the notes. But I may venture to con- teriburgh for 1782, which 1 have not yet feen.
tra dici this notion from the undoubted au- Gordon died in 1699, fo much regretted by
thority o f General Patrick Gordon, cited by the tzar, that, to ufe the words o f his reia-
Mr. Muller, in his Nachricht von der Urf- tioa, “ His majefty vifited hini five times
pung, &c. in journal o f St. Pet* for 1778, “ during his illnefs, was prefent the mop.
241. ' “ ment he expired, and iliut his eyes with
General Gordon was a native o f Scotland, u his own' hand.”
and was born in 1635 : having ferved with " Thè fame author alfo fays o f him, greatly
glory in the Swediih and Polifh armies, he to his honour, “ General Gordon was. a
entered into the Ruffian fetvice in 1661, in “ fober man, in a country where drinking
which he continued to the end o f his life. “ is much in faihion; and though he ufed
He wrote his Journal in the Englifh tongue r “ to be milch in the czar’s company, his
it is now in the archives at Mofeow, and “ majefty, knowing his inclinations, would
has never been printed. M r . Muller, ** never allow him to be urged. He was
who has made great ufe o f it in fome o f his “ ever mindful o f his bufinefs, and did great
writings, propofed toextra£l and publifli a ll “ fervice to the Ruffian nation.” Gordon’s
the circumftances relating to Ruffia3. but Hift, o f Peter the Greatvvol. I. p. 137, 138.
expreffed
expreffed a ftrong attachment to that element. T h e boat,
which has given rife to this detail, was conftruCled, daring 1
the reign o f Alexe y Michaelovitch, by Karftens Brandt, a
Dutch fhip-right, whom Alexey Michaelovitch had invited
into Ruffia. Peter *, about the year 1 6 9 1 , .accidentally feeing
this boat at a village near Mofcow, inquired why it was
built in a different manner from all thofe which he had hitherto
obferved : Timmerman, a foreigner, who taught him
fortification, and to whom he addrefled the queftion, informed
him that it was a veffel t fo contrived as to go againft
the wind. Peter’s curiofity was roufed by this intelligence,
and Brandt, who was ftill in Ruffia, being inftantly fum-
moned, • repaired it without delay, provided it with a mail
and rigging, and, having launched It upon the Yaufa, failed
in it, to the furprize and aftonifhment o f the young tz a r ,.
who immediately embarked in it himfelf, and, under the
direction o f Brandt, foon learned to comprehend the management
o f the veffel.
Having repeated thefe experiments upon the Yaufa, as
well as upon a neighbouring lake, to which it was tranfp
o rted ,h e ordered Brandt to build a yatch upon the banks-
o f the Moikva, which was launched in 1 6 9 1 , and in which
Peter embarked and failed as far as Columna. Animated
with the fuccefs o f this expedition, he commanded the fame
ihipwright to conftruCt, upon the lake_of Periilaf, feveral
fmall veffels carrying guns, in which the tzar failed on the
* This part is taken from L ’ Evefque, Angloife; but we muft prefer the authority
who cites for his authority the Life o f Peter, o f General Gordon, who fays it was b u il t '
by the archbifhop Theophanes, with Notes, by Brandt. Perhaps Timmerman might--,
by Prince Sherebatof. Hift. de Ruffie,- vol. . think it an Englifh vefiel.
IV . p. h i . t From hence I fjllow implicitly Mulf
L ’Evefque fays, from jfye-authority o f ler’s . Extrails from General Gordon’s
Prince Sherebatof, that it was line chaloupe Journal.
6 8th