b o o k 0f amity and alliance; but in effeft he abolifhed the coiii-
'— i.— -pany’s privileges in the year before that event; and his indignation
againli the Engliih for their rebellion was .only
a political pretext; the real motive "being derived from
the offers made by the Dutch to pay duties of export and
import, to the amount o f 15 per cent, i f they were indulged
with the liberty o f carrying on as free a trade as the Engliih
throughout his dominions. For not long afterwards the
tzar fuffered William Prideaux, Cromwell’s agent, to refide
at Archangel; and permitted the Engliih to renew their
commerce in that port upon the fame footing with other foreigners
n
It appears alfo, from Milton’s and Thurloe’s State Papers,
that the tzar not only received feveral letters from Cromwell,
and returned anfwers to them, but that, at the prote&or’s re-
■queft, he even agreed to admit his embaffador at Mofcow.
In confequence o f this permiflion, Richard Bradihaw,
Grbmwell’s refident at Hamburgh, proceeded in his way to
Mofcow as far as Mittau, where he was honourably entertained
by the duke o f Courland ; from that town feveral ffif-
patches paired between Bradihaw and the Ruffian chancellor,
with refpedt to the fuperfcription o f the letter Which the
protector addreifed to the tzar, and which did not confer up-
1. ' ' -
ion and unicorn grotefqiaely ca rved m wood. K h ita igo rod ; b u t it e v id en tly appears,
T h e f e b e in g the fupporters o f the R o y a l from an in ictiption over th e .g a tew a y , that
arms o f En g lan d , anthors ha ve conje£tured th is b u ild in g w as n o t con v erted into a print-
th a t this g a tew a y was the enfrance to th e ing-office on a c count o f the execution o f
•hotel; coh ftru&ed b y order o f Ivan V a ffilie - C h a r le s I . T h is mfcription d en o te s ,’ that
v itc h I I . fo r th e re iiden ce o f the E n g liih M ich a e l Feodorovi'tch, and his fo n Alexey,
embaffador, and th a t th e t z a r A le x e y was catifed thefe apartments and this ga te to-be
fo offended a t th e execution o f C h a r le s I . coa ftru& ed in th eprin tin g -huu -je Jnne^gtli.,
th a t he converted the h o te l in to a p r in t in g - 7-152,, o r , a c co rd in g to ou r tera, E645 : a
office. I t is p ro b ab le, indeed, from th e plain .proof that th e eftablffhment o f the
figures o f th e iion and unicorn, that this p r in t in g -h o u ie was p r io r , b y a t l'eaft three
ga tew a y had fome reference to the En g liih , y e a r s , to th e execution Of C h a r le s I . .and
a lth o u gh it was not the embaffador’s h o tel, co u ld ha ve no referen ce to th a t event-,
•becaufe th a t was fttuated n ea r the ch u rch * T h u r lo e , v o l. I I . p. 558— 562.
o f S t . Maximu s, in an o th er p a r t o f the
■ ■ ' on
on that monarch all the titles which he required : this feems chap.
to have been merely a pretext, as Bradihaw afferts, to pro- J P £ j
long the time ; and in effect he foon afterwards returned to
Hamburgh without having accomplilhed his intended em-
baffy to Mofcow
Cromwell, however, feems to have gained a great point
in opening the commerce o f Archangel to the Engliih, although
he could not obtain fuch honourable terms as they
had formerly enjoyed ; and although Alexey could not be
induced to grant unto the Engliih a free trade into the interior
parts o f his dominions ; yet this excluiion was not peculiar
to them, for he equally prohibited all foreigners from
carrying on any traffick, excepting at Archangel t.
Soon after the Reftoration, Charles II. defirous o f obtaining
a renewal o f the. company’s privileges, as they exifted
before the abolition in 1648, difpatched the earl o f Carliile
to Mofcow, who was ordered to reprefent, that “ thefe very
“ privileges were the bafis and foundation upon which the
“ amity o f the two crowns o f England and Mufcovy were
“ fuperftrufted.” The embaffy failed of fuccefs : the failure
was imputed to the haughty deportment of the embaffador,
who expreffed difguft at the bad accommodations in Ruffia ;
did not pay fufficient court to the minifters and favourites
of the tzar; tendered repeated remonitrances in a manner totally
repugnant to the Ruffian cuftom; and, under a falfe
notion o f maintaining the dignity o f his fovereign, objected
to the Ruffian ceremonial £.
It
,6 P - T h l , r - th e 111 P ° lic^ o f th<! En g lifli embaffador,
1 T h , 1 ^ TTan 408, 4 3 2 ,4 3 9 ., w h o , as he wiflied to gain a point o f fome
7 r-h r f , ’ T? L P ’ S98 - . confequence, o u g h t to have paid ev e ry polt
h e f r i .n l ! " g t ' l o ta t l,n wil1 d ifp lay fible deference to the prejud ice s an d prid e
nr ” °hs natu re o f th e difputes abou t o f th e Ruffians.
V e i l ? : and 'ViW ihCW at th e fam e tim e ■ “ A ' r l>ile a f te r came Fronchiflbf. one o f
1 » “ th e