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Chap. VIII .—Of the Pr'mcefs Sophia Alexiefna.—Mifreprefentation of her Character ,-—Juftif cation of her Conduct.—Her Fall and bnprifonment. — Unjufly accufed of attempt-ing to affaffinate Peter.—She ajfdmes the Veil.—Her Heath .
SCARCELY any portion in the annals of this country is more important than theminority of Peter the Great ; and no character more grofsly mifreprefented than thatof his filter Sophia Alexiefna, who governed Ruflia during that period. This illuftri-ous Princefs united many perfonal and mental accomplifhments; but as Ihe headed aparty in oppofition to Peter, the idolatry univerfally paid to him has contributed todiminifh the luftre of her adminiltration.
I was led into thefe reflections from a vifit which I paid to the Devitchei nunnery inthe fuburbs of Mofcow, where Sophia was confined during the laft feventeen years ofher life; and as we have fcarcely any knowledge of her character but through the me-dium of her adverfaries, I fhall throw together a few particulars, which induce me tojudge favourably of her conduct * *.
Sophia
body of the true Demetrius is depofited in the cathedral of St. Michael; that he is adored as a faint, and hisrelics perform miracles What will become of thefe relics fhould Grifka be proved to be the real Deme-trius ?” “ True,” returned the Emprefs, fmiling, “ but let me know what would be your opinion if thefe
relics did not exill ?” Muller, however, Hill prudently declined giving a direft anfwer, and the Emprefsurged him no farther.
This confeflion of Mr Muller, who was the mofl able advocate of the opinion, that the Tzar was animpoftor, might perhaps render it unneceflary to reprint the remaining part of the chapter, which wasprincipally employed in refuting his arguments ; but for the fatisfaftion of the reader, who may wifh to feethe ftatements on both fides of the queltion, it is inferted in the Appendix .
* Three foreign writers have principally contributed to render the character of Sophia extremely odious.
1. The firft is Gordon, in his “ Life of Peter the Great.” But his teftimony is extremely exceptionable,as well on account of his partiality to Peter, as becaufe he was prejudiced again!! Prince Vaffili Galitzin,Sophia’s prime miniller, for having degraded his relation and patron General Patrick Gordon. See KorbDiarium, p. 216.
2. The fecond author is La Neuville, in his “ Relation de la Mofcouie,” who dignifies himfelf with thetitle of Envoy from the King of Poland to the court of Mofcow, and is generally fuppofed to have beenrefident in that city at the time of Sophia’s fall. His authority, therefore, is deemed unqueftionable, andthe enemies of this Princefs have not failed to cite it in proof of their accufations. Any perfon, however,in the leal! converfant with the hiftory of Ruffia, will perceive in this work the groffefl; contradictions, andthe mo!! abfurd tales. The author, after loading the character of Sophia with more deceit and cruelty thanever difgraced a Tiberius , or a Csefar Borgia, affedls the moll perfedl knowledge of the fecret cabals be-tween her and Prince Galitzin : he afferts their intention of marrying, of re-uniting the Greek and Latin churches, of compelling Peter to alfume the monallic habit, or, if that failed, of .iffaffinating him, of de-claring the children of Ivan illegitimate, and of fecuring the throne to therofelves and their heirs. And asif this chimerical projefl was fure of fuccefs, he adds, Prince Galitzin had Hill further views : he hoped, byre-uniting Ruffia to the Roman catholic church, to obtain the Pope ’s permiffion (if he Ihould i'urvive So-phia) to appoint his fon fucceffor to the throne, in preference to thofe whom he Ihould have by the Princefs,while his wife was alive. But fuch abfurd'accounts carry their own refutation, and the writer who retailsthem mull furely deferve no credit, even fhould he be « le temoin occulaire,” as Voltaire llyles him, ‘ f dece qui fe paffa.” But the truth is, this envoy to Mofcow is a fuppofititious perfon : the author was AdrienBaillet , who ftyled himfelf de la Neuville, from a village of that name, in which he was born, and was neverin Ruffia. The “ Relation de la Mofcovie," was publilhed at the Hague in 1699 ; and was probably com-piled by the author from the vague accounts of fome of Peter’s adherents, who in 1697 accompanied thatMonarch into Holland.
In Menkeui Bibliotheca, La “ Relation de la Mofcovk” is mentioned among the works of Adrien Baillet ,for an account of whom, lee Niceron, “ JHommet Ilhjlres article Ad. Baillet .