b o o k . But it was not merely by a£ts of buffoonery and cruelty
IV .
i that he acquired the efteem and confidence of Peter, but by
his fuperior abilities, both as ^ ftatefman and a foldier
Being chofen for the companion o f his travels into foreign
parts, he was, in 1706, created prince of the German empire,
and was rapidly elevated to the higheft employments
both in the civil and military line. On particular occalions’
he was even permitted toperfonate his fovereign, by giving
publick audience to foreign embafladors; while Peter, averfe
to the pomp of royalty, appeared as a private perfon in his
fuite. So great indeed was the afcendancy which this favourite
acquired over the emperor (an afcendancy confirmed
and maintained by the influence of Catharine t), as to give
rife to a report among the Ruffians, that he had fafcinated
by witchcraft the mind of his mailer.
Upon the death of Peter his power was ftill more un- •
bounded. Catharine, who was chiefly indebted to his intrigues
and abilities for her elevation to the throne, gratefully
refigned to him the foie adminiftration of affairs, and
ihe may be called the oltenfible, while he was the real fove-
Teign 1. His authority continued undiminiihed to the moment
of her deceafe ; and the claufe in her will §, by which
ihe ordered her fucceffor Peter II. to efpoufe the prince’s
•daughter, was at once a proof of his afcendancy, and her
gratitude.
* A t the battle o f Pukawa he had three § Gordon iirppofes that this will was
l i cries ihot under him. forged by prince Menzikof: a fuppofition
+ Catharine more than once prevented for which there is not the leail: proof. We
Menzikof’ s difgrace, which had been ine- nruft diftinguiih between thofe parts o f Gor-
vitable without her interceffion. Baffevitz don’s hiftory( which relate to events while he
in Buie H. M, IX. p. 294. - was in Ruffia-and the others which he wrote
% “ Le gouveroement,” fays Count Mu- after he quitted that country in 17 11,
ntch, ** n’etoit autre chofe que le couloir He fpeaks worfe ofprince M enzikof than he
** deipotiqve d* PrinceMenfchiko-jo." Ebauche, feems to deferVe, and partipularly arraigns
&c p. 63. his courage.
His-
His intrigues and power, his ambition and arrogance, c h a p .
Iiis difrepedtful behaviour to Peter II. * and the peculiar cir- - v —
cumftances of his difgrace, are all related in the Memoirs of
Manftein t, a book which cannot be too highly commended
as an authentick and impartial work.
Two days before his fall the prince repaired to his palace
o f Oranienbaum for the dedication of a chapel, having
previoufly invited Peter II. to be prefent at the ceremony;
the latter however excufing himfelf, under pretence of in-
difpolition, the chapel was confecrated ; and it did not efcape
notice, that Menzikof feated himfelf on a throne which had
been raifed for the emperor.
Being arrefted, in the month of September, 17 2 7 ,
he was imprifoned at Berefof, a fmall town upon the river
Oby, in a wooden hovel enclofed with palifadoes, where
he ended his days. He is faid to have fupported his difgrace
with firmnefs and refignation J : he received a
daily allowance of ten roubles §, from which he even
faved a fufficiency to build a wooden church, and amufed
himfelf by affifting the. workmen in its conftrudtion.
Pie furvived his fall about two years and five months, dying
in the month of November, 1729, of a repletion of blood ||.
* Munich gives, amongft others, the fol- T h e authority o f Manftein, however, is in
lowing inftances o f his arrogance : “ Lorf- this inftance to be preferred to that.of We*
“ qu’il ccrivoit au jeune empereur il le ber ; as he had frequent opportunities dur-
“ traitoit de fils et fous-fignoit la le ttre : ing his refidence in Ruflia o f making in-
“ Votre Pere Menfchikow. _Aux eglifes.it quiries concerning the death o f prince Men-
“ fe mettoit a la tribune de 1 ■Empereur,’ ' • zikof, after his family had been releafed Iw
&c. Ebauche, &c. p. 67. . , the emprefs Anne. Whereas Weber had
P. 2 to p. 13, quitted Ruffia before that period ; and he
X Manftein, p. xo. Weber, on the con- inferts his account o f the prince’s death
trary, aflerts, that he was wretched and im- merely as a report, “ und man meldete
patient, and became fo weary o f his exift- tc damals," &c. Ve r . Ruff. v. III. p. 178.
ence, as to refufe all nouriihment, and § £ z .
could be prevailed upon to fwallow nothing || See Schmidt Matferia'ien, &c. who has
but water. Having continued in this ftate collefted every thing relating to priKce
a few days without uttering a fingle word, Menzikof, p. 248, &c.
he expired on the 2d o f November, 1729.