T R A V E L S I N T O RU S S I A .
b o o k g ut as that prince * fcarcely ever faw him, and placed about
. 1 ' , him the moft improper perfons, he feems to have intentionally
given a fullfcope to his vicious inclinations, and to have
abandoned him to the company of the lowed: wretches, by
whom he was encouraged to continual ebriety, and to every
hind of the lowed: excefs : yet this deiigning minifter artfully
extorted from the .tzarovitch, in prifon, a confeffion that
he was the only perfon who had taken any care of his education
+. S
It appears, from feveral faits, that Peter had conceived a
very early prejudice againfl: hisfon ; and infpired him with fuch
terror, that, in order to avoid drawing before his father, the
young prince once difcharged a piftol againit his right hand.
A ll perfons,however, join incondemningtheimprudence and
obitinacy of Alexèy, which feem to have warped his judgement,
and, at times, to have tranfported him to a degree of
infanity. Bruce, who knew him well, gives the, following
account of his perfon and manners ; and, as he was not prejudiced
againd: him, his tedimony muft be eiteemed more
valid than all the laboured accufations of his enemies.
te T h e czarowitz arrived in Mofcow this winter (1714) where I faw him for the fir ft
H time,. He kept a mean Finlandifli girl for his miftrefs. I went often with the. general
“ to wait on him j and he came frequently. to the general’s houfe, attended by very
“ mean and low perfons. He was very flovenly in his drefs ; his perfon was tall, well
“ made, o f a brown complexion, black hair and eyes, o f a ftern countenance, and ftrong
“ voice.
* Buf. H. M. p. 196. “ & le plus outrageant? Si on le contraigt
L ’Evefque makes the following juft “ nit à louer le favori de Pierre, l ’ami de
reflections upon this unaccountable clrcum- “ Catharine, ne peut-on pas lui avoir diCte
ftance. “ Croira-t-on qu’il ait fait fincé- “ de même tout ce qu’on voulait lui faire
“ rement & de lui-même l’éloge des foins “ dire ?” Hift. de Ruffle, tom IV . p. 442.
“ que Menchikof avait pris de fon éduca- This conjecture is greatly ftrengthened
“ rion ; „îorfqu’on fait d’ailleurs que Men- by_confidering that the eulogium o f prince
“ chikof approchait de lui tout au plus Menzikof was obtained from Alexèy in
46 trois ou quatre fois par as , Sc ne lui par- prifon by Tolftoè the creature o f Menzikof.
“ lait qu’ avec le ton du mépris le plus dur
[ A L E X E Y P E T R O V I T C H. 5-75
*e voice, t ie frequently did me the honour to talk with me in German, being fully CHA P ;
Ct mailer o f that language; ' he was adored b y the populace, but little refpedted by the V i l l i
“ fuperior ranks, for whom he never ihewed the leaft regard j he was always furrounded *
“ by a number o f debauched ignorant priefts, and other mean perfons of bad character-,
|| in whofe company he always reflected-on his father’ s condu&foraboliihingtheantient
“ cuftoms o f the country, declaring, that as foon as he came tp fucceed, he iliould foon
“ reftore Ruffia to its former ftate ; and threatening to deftroy, .without referve, all his
“ father’s favourites. This he d id jb often, and with fo little referve, that it could not
f ‘ mifs reaching the emperor’s ears ; and it was generally thought he now laid the foun-
“ dation o f that ruin he afterwards met with.”
And again, “ It was very remarkable, that the prince never appeared at any o f the
publick meetings, when his majefty was attended by ail perfons o f quality and rank,
fuch as birth-days, celebrating o f victories, launching o f iliips, &e. General Bruce,
M who lived next door to the prince, had orders always to give the prince notice the day
“ before o f fuch publick days or meetings, and I had the honour to carry and deliver
“ the meifage; but his highnefs, to avoid appearing in publick, either took phyfick or
“ let blood, always making his excufe, that he could, not attend for want o f health ;
“ when-, at the fame time, it was notorioufly known that he got drunk in very bad com-
44 pany, when he ufed conftantly-to condemn all his father’ s a&ioas
Being inflamed by continual drunkennefs, and worn out by
a feries of perfecutions, he was driven to a ftate of defpera-
tion, and at length, in the year 1 7 16 , fuddenly renouncing
his right of fucceffion in favour of Peter’s fon by Catharine,
he demanded pefmiffion to retire into a convent. But,
foon afterwards adopting the advice of his principal adherents,
he made his efcape to Vienna, where he put him-
felf under the protection of Charles VI. That emperor,
in order to ihelter him from the refentment of his father,
fent him firft to Infpruck in the Tyrol, and afterwards
removed him, for ftill greater fecurity, to the caftle of
St. Elmo at Naples. Being fecretly betrayed by his Fin-
landiih miftrefs, whom he is reported to have married, and
influenced by the moft folemn promifes of perfect forgive-
nefs, he was prevailed upon, by the emiflaries of his father,
to return to Mofcow. Having there folemnly renounced all
* Bruce’s lylemoirs, p. 100 8c 127.
right