Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - Pages ...
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
778 COXE’S TRAVELS IN RUSSIA»
himfelf with the hopes of a reconciliation with the Emprefs, and pr€vailed upon by the
cries and entreaties of the women who were on board, he returned to Oranienbaum,,
where he arrived at four in the morning. When Peter quitted that palace on the pre-
ceding morning, he was dreffed in his ‘Pruffian regimentals; on his return he was in
his Ruffian uniform; he now faw his error in defpifing the prejudices of his fubjects,
but it was too late. Little circumftances of this kind are not unworthy of the hiftorian’s
Notice, as great events frequently turn upon them; and they often difcover the true
character of the principal perfonages concerned in the fcene.
On his return to Oranienbaum, he retired alone, and in great agitation, to his Honk
in the fortrefs, leaving Marfhal Munic and the reft of the court in the palace. At ten
he again made his appearance in a more compofed ftate of mind. ‘The Holitein guards
n9 fooner beheld their royal mafter, than they all * crowded round him; fome ftruggled.
to kifs his hand, others hung about his perfon; many knelt down; fome even prof-
trated themfelves before him; all fhedding tears of affection, and in terms of the ftrong-
eft attachment conjuring him to lead them again{t the Emprefs, offering to facrifice
their lives in his defence. Peter, animated by thefe affecting marks of zeal and fidelity,
caught their fpirit for a moment, and cried out, ‘ To arms!” but the tears of the
women, and his own irrefolution, foon damped this momentary fit of courage, and he
again reconciled himfelf to fubmiffion.
” Early inthe morning he difpatched Major-General Ifmailof, in whom he repofed im-
plicit confidence, to the Emprefs, with a letter, offering to refign his crown, on condi-
tion that he fhould be permitted to retire into Holftein, with Elizabeth Vorontzof and
Godovitch. Ifmailof found the Emprefs in the convent of Strelna, and was immediately
admitted to her prefence. The great policy on the fide of Catharine now confifted im:
obtaining poffeffion of the Emperor’s perfon without effufion of blood; it was her ob-
ject, therefore, to amufe him, without driving him to defperate meafures ; for it was.
yet in his power to head his Holitein troops, and defend his life to the laft extremity
or he might be able to make his efcape, and involve the empire in all the horrors of a
long civil war. The judicious manner in which fhe conduted this delicate affair, fhews:
her no lefs able in the arts of negociation than in the {pirit of enterprize.
She calmly reprefented to Ifmailof the madnefs of oppofing her, now in full poffef–
fion of fovereign authority: fhe pointed to her troops, who were poited in large bodies
upon the adjacent grounds, adding, that refiftance would only draw on Peter and his
party the vengeance of an enraged army; fhe propofed, therefore, that he fhould him-
felf repair to Peterhof, where the terms of his abdication might be adjufted. Ifmailof,.
finding the tide of fuccefs on the fide of the Emprels, and perceiving the clergy, army,
and principal nobles engaged in her caufe, was convinced that nothing was left to Peter”
but fubmiffion. Seduced by the infinuating eloquence, engaging addrefs, and promifes
of the Emprefs, he undertook to perfuade his unhappy matter, by immediate fubmiflion,
to fave an effufion of blood, which could be productive of no effectual advantage to his
caufe. With this view he returned to Oranienbaum between ten and eleven, and found
the Emperor in the palace with Munic, Elizabeth Vorontzof, Godoyitch, and others,
anxioufly expecting his arrival. Having retired into another apartment, the refult of
their conference was, that in lefs than an hour the Emperor, with Elizabeth Vorontzof,
Godovitch, and Ifmailof, entered the carriage in which the latter had returned to Ora-
* Twas informed of thefe circumftances from the intendant of Oranienbaum; he fhed tears while he’
decribed the animated behaviour of the Rolitein troops, He faid he never witnefled a more affecting
{cene,
nienbaum
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
