COXE’s TRAVELS IN RUSSIA.
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the crown, fceptre, and imperial robe, was ftamped upon the reverfe; in the public actsher name was added to the fignature of the two Tzars *, and (he appeared in procef-lions decorated with all the enligns of royalty!; circumftances which gave umbrage tothe rival family, and afforded a fpecious pretence for inveighing againft her ambitiousdefigns.
Peter, as he advanced in years, and felt himfelf born for empire, beheld with diffatis-fafiion the power lodged in the hands of a rival party : encouraged by his mother andher adherents, he claimed a (hare in the adminiftration, and took his feat, for the firfttime, in the privy council, on the 25th of January, 1688, in the eighteenth year of hisage. Sophia, though unwilling to refign any part of her authority, could not withholdher confent ; but as Peter’s fpirit was above controul, fhe availed herfelfof fome violentaltercations which palled between them, to exclude him from his feat. From this pe-riod their dilfenfions arofe to fo great an height, as to threaten an open rupture ; and thefall of the one feemed neceffary for the fecurity of the other J.
Things remained in thisftate of jealoufy and variance until September, 1689 •, whenthe afpiring genius of Peter acquired the afcendancy, and fecured his undivided autho-rity by the fall and imprifonment of Sophia. By the advice of Boris Galitzin and theNarifkins, Peter refolved to arreft his filter, and feize the reins of government. It isafferted by. his adherents §, that Sophia and Prince Vaffili Galitzin, apprized of his in-tentions, determined to prevent their own ruin by his affalfination ; that they gainedover the chief of the Strelitz and a corps of fix hundred men, and actually commiffionedthem to perpetrate tha.t infamous deed. Peter had retired to deep at his palace ofPreobalhenlki near Mofcow ; when two || of the confpirators, it is faid, {truck with hor-ror at their crime, quitted their companions, and haftened to the young Tzar with theinformation, that a body of Strelitz were apon their march to affaffinate him. Peterrefufed to credit their report, until it was confirmed by Boris Galitzin and one of hisuncles, whom he difpatched to reconnoitre; and the confpirators were already fo nearthat he had fcarcely time to make his efcape^f. He inftantly proceeded to the conventof the Holy Trinity , where troops flocked from all quarters, and in three days he had anarmy of fixty thoufand men under his command.
Meanwhile Sophia, in a ftate of confternation, denied all intercourfe with the con-fpirators, exprefifed the utmoft horror at their attempt, difpatched repeated meflfagesto her brother to juftify her conduct, and even fet off in perfon to affert her innocence;but was ordered to return to Mofcow, and deliver the ringleaders of the mutiny. Soonafterwards Peter himfelf repaired to the capital; the principal confpirators being tor-tured in his prefence, conf effed a defign againft his life, and fuffered the fevereft punifh-
* She did not fign her name in the public decrees until 1687. Buf. Hift. Mag. vol. i. p. 9.
f Thefe circumftances cannot imply a deiign of ufurping the fovereign authority 5 for the was only ac-•cufed, even by her enemies, of fecretly confpiring againft Peter, and not of an open attempt to feize thecrown.
f Journ.. of St. Pet. for 1778, p. 175, 176. $ Gordon.
|| It is remarkable, that this fame ftory of two confpirators who were engaged to affaffinate Peter,but, repenting, dilcovered the plot, is again related as happening fn 1697. Schmidt. Ruff. Gef. vol. H*p. 90.
Voltaire , though convinced of Sophia’s intention to affaffinate Peter, and notwithftanding the intelli-gence he received from the court of Peterfburg, can only give us the following fcanty information : “ LaNeuville refident alorsa Mofco-iv, et temoin oculaire de ce qui fepaffa t pretend que Sophie et Galitzin engagerentle nouveau chef des Strelitz a leur facrifier leur jeune Czar : il parait au moins que fix-cent de ces Strelitzdevaient s’emparer de fa perfonne. Les memoires fecrettes que la cour de Ruffle m’a confies, affurent qn cle parti etoit pris de tuer Pierre Premier ; le coup allait etre porte, et la Ruffle etait prive a jamais de lanouvelle existence, qu’elle,” &c. . ■
jnent*
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