C H A P . VIII.
Account o f Alexey Petrovitch.— Principles by which Peter
juflified his exclufion from the throne.— Ejfefis o f his bad
education.— Bread of bis father.— His efcape from Peterf-
burgh.— His trial and condemnation.— Inquiry into the
caufe of bis death.— Hijlory o f his wife Charlotte Cbriftina
Sophia prince/s o f Brunfwick.— Circumjlances of her death*
■— Falfe rumours o f her efcape and fubfequent adventures,
b o o k \ LEXE'Y, the foie fruit of the inaufpicious marriage
1V‘ . between Peter the Great and Eudocia of Lapukin, was
born in the year 1690 ; and never was the birth of any
prince more unfortunate to himfelf, to his pareflts, and to
his country.
I ihall introduce the account of thisperfonage by a tranf-
lation of a curious letter,, written in 1 7 1 5 , from an Auftrian
envoy atPeteriburgh to the prime minifter at Vienna, which
will ferve to develope the principles upon which Peter attempted
to juftify the exclufion of his fon from the throne.
« v* In my laft I informed your excellency that I had an
« opportunity of penetrating the'fentiments of the tzar;
“ and I ihall now acquaint you with the particulars, which
“ will furprize you. Being at dinner laft Sunday at the
u vice-chancellor Shaffirof’s, in company with the tzar, his
“ majefty did me the honour to converfe with me upon dif-
“ ferent topics, when, the difcourfe turning upon the late
“ king of France, his majefty faid, ‘ Certainly France was
“ never governed by a greater man than Louis XIV. never-
“ thelefs,’ added he, ‘ when 1 confider the little care which
* Buf. Hiftv Mag. III. p. 1&5, &c.
“ he
| he took to perpetuate the glofy of his kingdom after his
“ demife, I have no longer the fame efteem for his memory
“ which I have hitherto held for his great and heroick a ¿lions.
“ Louis XIV. at his advanced age, could not reafonably havfe
indulged the hope of a much longer life : if, therefore,
“ he difcovered in the infant (Louis XV.) his fucceifor any
“ evident marks of a future incapacity to reign, why did he
“ entruft him to the care of a man who will not fail to adopt;
“ any means, howeverdefperate, that may tend to fecure the
“ throne to himfelf? Why did he not exclude the duke of
« Orleans from any ihare in the regency ? Or, if he knew
“ the duke to be a man of a fuperior genius, as he un-
“ doubtedly is, and his great-grandfon, either on account
“ of his tender age or fome corporal infirmity, incapable
“ of governing, why did he not declare a perfon of
'm fuch abilities as the duke of Orleans his fucceifor? By
“ thefe means his grand fyftem would have flood un-
“ ihaken even by his death ; whereas we have now every
“ reafori to conclude that France will decline.’ I made an-
“ fwer, ‘ that as, according to the fundamental laws of the
“ kingdom, the firft prince of the blood is neceifarily regent
“ during the king’s minority, Louis XIV. could not exclude
“ the duke of Orleans from the regency without breaking
“ the law of fucceifion, which no king of'France could ven-
“ ture to infringe,’ i k e . ‘ Therefore,’ replied the tzar, ‘ a
“ prince, who, by facrificing his health, and even frequently
“ expofing his life, had at length rendered his country re-
“ fpedlable and formidable, would, according to your hypo-
“ thefis, be conftrained to fuffer the fruits of his labours to
“ be deftroyed in the hands of a madman, provided he was
ic his neareft relation. I own I am not of your opinion. It is
“ by no means, as it appears to me, fufficient, that a monarch
4 b* 2 “ fhould