fon o f Annjî o f Mecklenburgh, .and of Anthony Uirick'
-prince o f Brunfwick ; he was born on the 4th o f Auguft,
1740, created great-duke by his aunt the emprefs Anne;
aftd, at her demife, on the 28th o f October, in the fame
year, fuceeeded to the. throne, from which he was depofed
by Elizabeth on the 6th o f December, 1741. '
The foldiers, who were fent to arreft the young emperor;,
were ordered to fteal ibftly into his apartments; and, i f he
was aileep, not to difturb him. Finding him {lumbering by
the fide of his nurfej they ftood round the cradle in refpect-
ful filence, at leaft an hour before the prince opened his
eyes-t then all thé-fbïdiers,- • at1 once endeivOuring'fo' -'feize.
him, and difputing who ihould carry him,-Cthe'child;'-wàk
terrified, and cried ; they immediately defilted, and permitted
the nurfe to approach, who covered him. with à cloak, and
was conveyed with him in a fledge to the palace of Elizabeth.
That princefs took the child, kifled it, and; while it was yet
in her arms, a body o f foldiers paflirfg by the'palace'(houted,
“ Long live Elizabeth !” The infant, 'plé'àied with' the acclamations,
ftretched out his little'hand, and, (iriiling, tried
to imitate the ihouts o f the foldiers y -upon Which Elizabeth
exclaimed, “ Innocent creature, thou perceiveft not that
“ thou art endeavouring to fpeak againft thyfelf
It is difficult to trace Ivan diftinctly from the time o f his
depofitiôn to his imprifonment at Schluffelburgh ; but the
following account feems• the1 'mod probable. He and
his parents .were certainly firft carried to the fortréfs o f
Riga, where they were confined about a year and an-half:
from thence they were removed to Dunamund t, and afterwards
to Oranienburgh, a fmall town in the province o f
Yoronetz. Here they remained at leaft two years under the
■* Bu f. H i f . M a g . v o l. I , p . 5 74 , *j- M an û ein ’ s M em o ir s , p . 3x5.
care
H I S T O R Y O F PR I N CE IVAN. 33
.core o f baron Korf, whohehaved to his prifoners with great
humanity and indulged ee-. I could not learn exactly how -—%— *
long they continued at Oranienburgh, nor whether Ivan was
transferred with his parents to Kolmogori,; at which place his
mother A n n e certainly died in childbed in 174 6 . Bufching
fays, that when his parents were fent to Kolmogori, Ivan,
who was then in the eighth year o f his age; was left at Ora-
nienburgh; and that fome time afterwards a certain monk
contrived to .reieafe him from prifon, and to eorivey him as
far as Smolcniko, where they were furprized and taken f .
•Soon after this.event, he was probably carried to the convent
■of Valdai, fituated upon-an ifland in thelakeof thefamename,
which lies at a little- dlftance from the high road between
Peterftmrgb and Mhfcow. The t ime o f his confinement in
this convent, and his fituation until his removal to Schluffel-
burgh, are circumftances which 1 was not able to afcertain.
B u t i t c a n n o t a p p e a r f u r p r i z in g , i f t h e r e ih o u ld b e f e m e o b -
f c u r i t y i n t h e h i f t o r y o f a f t a t e - p r i f o n e r f e c r e t l y c o n f in e d
f r o m h i s e a r i ie f t in fa n c y .;-
During the lssft’ eighth yearfe o f his' life, Ivan was undoubtedly
imprifomed in the-fortrefs o f Schlulfelburgh; whither
he was firft brought, in r 7 5 6, in the fix-teenth year o f his
age. The fame year he was fecretly conveyed, by count
Peter Sihuvalof, grand-mafter o f the artillery, to the houfe o f
his brother count Ivan Sihuvalof at Peterfburgh; where
* B u f. H ift . M a g . V I . p . .5 2 9 .- There,.-is - B u fch in g was informed , b y b a ron K o r f ,
,«n in a c cu rac y in Bu fch iiig ’s a c c o u n t ,. p r o - th a t th e y w e re all confined to g e th e r a t O ra -
-bably on ly a fa lfe p r in t , viz.- that-he w a s ' in n ien bu rgh ; and I was told 'b y an E n g liflv
th e e ig h th 3 ear o f his -age when his parents g en tlem an , w h o had"been at K o lm o g o r i, th at
w e re - fen t -to K o lm o g o r i ; fo r in M a r c h , Iv an h a d been there imprifoned fo r a
2746,,T h e time .of A n n e’ s death,, he was o n ly ihort- t im e ; b u t as I eou ld n o t le a rn from
f ix ye ars and feven months old : and fome w h a t au th o r ity he had derived his in forma-«
time .muitrbe, a llowed fo r con v ey in g his p a . • tio n , I can n o t ven ture-.to ad o p t it .
.rents from O ran ien b u rgh to K o lm o g o r i.
F 2 Elizabeth