€jB CODE'S TK.AVBL8 Ui RUSSIA.
madnefs the fury of a difaffe&ed foldiery, and calmly leading them from aflafllnaticn toairalfination *.
But is it not more reafonable to fuppofe, that Ivan Milolaffld, who had, during thereign of Alexey Michaelovitch, formed a party againll the Nariikins, Ihould take ad-vantage of the (edition of the Strelitz, with whom he had long entertained a fecret in-telligence; and that Sophia was the oftenfibie inftrument of his defigns? In a word,that fhe was raifed to the regency by the cabals of a powerful party, who forefaw theirown ruin in the nomination of Peter ; and who, in the midft of an infurreftion, heldforth to this licentious body the unalienable rights of Ivan. Examples were not wantingto prove that the incapacity of Ivan was no bar to his election : a memorable inftancewas exhibited in she perfori of Feodor Ivanovitch, who, notwithftanding his imbecility,was raifed to the throne, and a regency entrufted with the adminiftration of affairs!.It mud alfo be confidered, that Peter, then only in his eleventh year, had not difplayedany inltances of that valt fuperiority of undemanding, which afterwards marked hischaracter; and that his mother, who was to fway the reins of empire, was a perfon ofno experience, and extremely unpopular. Nor is it matter of furprize that the care ofIvan and the adminiftration of government Ihould be committed to Sophia. The vic-torious family would naturally choofe a regent devoted from intereft and inclinationto their party; a perfon of imperial lineage, popular manners, refpedtable character,and great abilities ; all thefe requifites centered in Sophia.
However authors may have cenfured the ambitious defigns of Sophia; they una-nimoufly concur in delineating her engaging manners, the beauties of her perfon J, thevigour and wifdom of her adminiftration, and her extenfive plans for the advantage ofher country.
Sophia repofed her principal confidence in Prince Vaffili Galitzin, commonly knownby the name of the Great Galitzin, a mod able minifter and confummate politician.The fcandalous chronicle of thofe times, or rather of a later period, attributed her Dar-tiality to a fofter paflion, though he was above fixty years of age; and her enemieshave not even fcrupled to declare §, that fhe had formed the plan of affafiinating thetwo Tzars , ufurping the throne, and efpoufing Prince Galitzin, who was to obtain adivorce from his wife.
Sophia jj has been alfo accufed not only of negle&ing the education of Peter, but ofintroducing him into the company of the mo ft profligate young men, and encouraging
* “ Tandis que les Strelitz comrr.en$aient ainfi a fe faire craindre, la Princeffe Sophie, qui Us onimait fiusmain, pour tes conduire de crime en crime,” &c, Voltaire .
f S. R. G. vol. i. p. 19.
j Weber, the Hanoverian envoy at St. Peterfburg in the beginning of this century, fays of Sophia.“ the Tzar was frequently heard to declare, that, excepting her inordinate ambition, (he was a Princefs ofgreat perfonal and mental accompliftrments.” Ver. Ruff. vol. i. p. 143-Voltaire clofes a fpirited por-
trait by faying, “ une figure agr cable relevoit tous fes talens,” Perry defcribes her, at the time of the re-volution, as a hcmdfome young lady, then upwards of twenty-three- He came into Ruffia in 1702, twoyears before her death ; and though he never faw her himfelf, on account of her imprifonment, muff have
known many who had been perfonally acquainted with her. Perry's State of Ruffia, p. 143_Sumoro-
kof fays of her, that fhe poffeffed a good underftanding and great beauty, p. 10.——Many other authorsmight be quoted to the fame purpofe, but as there is nothing which party-malice will not invent to depre-ciate an obnoxious character, the fuppofititious Polifh envoy, La Neuville , has raifreprefented her perfon asmuch as her conduit : “ Sophie dont l’efprit & !e merite ne tiennent rien de la diffbrmite de/on corps, etantd'unegrojfcur monjlreufe, avtc une tete large cotnme un boijfeau, dtt poll au vifage, des leaps aux jambes & au moins40 an6; maie autant que fa faille eft large, courle, & grojftere, autant fon efprit eft fin, delie & politique ; &fans avoir jamais lu Machiavel, elle pofiede naturellement toutes fes maximes,” &c. p. 151.
bis