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COXE’s TRAVELS IN RUSSIA. 641
ment. Vaflili Galitzin* was banifhed into Siberia, and Sophia imprifoned for life in
the Devitchéei nunnery; Peter alone aflumed the reins of government, and fouuad fuf-
ficient {cope for his vaft and enterprizing genius ; while the name of Ivan was ftill in-
ferted, as a matter of formality, in the public acts until his death, which happened in
1696.
Such are the principal circumftances of this extraordinary revolution; but this is the
account given by the victorious party, and the caufe of Sophia has never undergone a
candid examination, It may be impoflible to exculpate her entirely from ambitious
views: fhe might be unwilling to relinquifh a power which the had long enjoyed, and
exercifed with great ability; fhe might efteem the right of Ivan to the throne as fupe-
rior to that of Peter, and confider Peter’s acquifition to the fole fovereignty as the
certain prelude to her own deftruction; but we have no pofitive evidence + that fhe
confpired againft her brother’s life ; and perhaps the whole ftory of the intended affaf-
fination was feigned by Boris Galitzin{ and her enemies. She wanted not opportu-
nities of efcaping from Ruflia, and never would have imprudently demanded admittance
into Peter’s prefence, to affert her innocence, had the proofs of her guilt been as ftrong
as her adverfaries pretended. In a word, the confli& between Peter and Sophia was
the confli& of two rivals impatient of controul, and {triving for pre-eminence ; the caufe
of the fuccefsful party was deemed juft and equitable, and the vanquifhed faction loaded
with every fpecies of enormity. : .
The reftlefs {pirit of Sophia, brooding in the folitude of a convent, is faid to have ex-
cited frefh troubles and infurreCtions; and, during her life, no confpiracy was formed
again{t Peter, in which fhe was not fufpected of being concerned. She was more par-
ticularly accufed of being privy to the rebellion in 1697; when eight thoufand Strelitz,
feizing the opportunity of Peter’s abfence upon his travels, rofe in arms on the frontiers
of Lithuania, and marched towards Mofcow. ‘The rebels were defeated by the addrefs
and courage of General Patrick Gordon; many were put to the fword, and the re-
mainder furrendered at difcretion. The Tzar received at Vienna the account of the mu-
tiny and defeat of the Strelitz, and inftantly haftened to Mofcow to examine the delin-
quents in perfon.
Peter was anxious to difcover the caufes of the rebellion; to learn by whofe intrigues
it was excited, and, above all, to convict Sophia, whom he charged with fomenting the
public difcontents, and holding a correfpondence with the rebels. But as no perfons
could give immediate and pertinent anfwers to his queftions, he entertained fufpicions
of all his courtiers, and determined to inftitute a court of inquiry at his palace of Preo-
brafhenfki, where the inftruments of torture were brought. The Tzar himfelf examined
the accufed, urged them to confeflion, and ordered thofe who maintained filence to be
racked in his prefence. The cruelty of the tortures employed on this occafion was in-
expreffibly dreadful; human nature fhudders at the recital; but it is neceflary to men-
tion them in juftification of Sophia. Some of the rebels were repeatedly whipped ;
* This able minifter furvived his fall twenty-four years ; he was releafed from prifon in 1718, and died
at his own ellate in 1713. :
+We have no certain proofs that any of the confpirators accufed Sophia of being privy toany defign-upon
Peter’s life; and, even if they did name her as an accomplice, their evidence, extorted by the rack, is by
no means to be depended on. oe t
+ {t appears from the following paflage, that the difcovery of Sophia’s defigns came from that quarter;
« Prince Boris Galitzin, a faithful fubjec&t of the Tzar Peter, coming timely to penetrate into his kinf-
man’s Prince Bafil’s deligns, put the Tzar upon his guard, advifing him, without delay, to take the go-
yernment into his hands.”’~ Gerdon, vol. i, p. 89.
VOL. Ul. 4N others
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