COXE*S TRAVELS IN RUSSIA.

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In this cathedral are depofited the remains of Peter the Great , and of all the fuccef-five fovereigns, excepting thofe of Peter II . buried at Mofcow, and of the late unfortu-nate Peter III . * interred in the convent of St. Alexander Nevfki. The tombs are ofmarble, in the lhape of a fquare coffin ; and one excepted, have infcriptions in the Ruf-fian tongue: when I faw them, they were covered with gold brocade, bordered withfilver lace and ermine.

I viewed, not without peculiar veneration and awe, the fepulchre which contains thebody of Peter 1 .; the fternnefs, or rather the ferocity of whofe difpofition, neither fparedage nor fex, nor the deareft connections ; and who yet, with a ftrong degree of com-punction, was accuftorned to fay, “ I can reform my people, but I cannot reform my-felf.” A f royal hiftorian has juftly obferved of Peter , that he redeemed the crueltiesof a tyrant by the virtues of a legifiator. We mult readily allow that he confiderablyreformed and civilized hisfubje&s; that he created a navy, and new-modelled his army;that he encouraged the arts and lciences, promoted agriculture and commerce, and laidthe foundation of Ruffian grandeur. But, inftead of exclaiming in the language ofpanegyric,

Erubefce, ars ! Hie vir maximus tibi nihil debiiit : «

Exulta, natura ! Hoc ftupendium tuum eft *:

we may, on the contrary, venture to regret that he was not taught the lefTons of humanity;that his fublime but unruly genius was not controuled and improved by proper culture ;nor his favage nature corrected and foftened by the refinements of art. And if Peter failedin enlightening the mafs of his fubjedts equal to his wiffies, the failure was occafionedby his own precipitate temper, by the chimerical idea of introducing the arts and fei-ences by force, and of performing in a moment what can only be the gradual work oftime; by violating the eftabliffied cultoms of his people, and in contradiction to thedictates of found policy, requiring an immediate facrifice of prejudices fanCtified by ages.In a word, his failure was the failure of a fuperior genius wandering without a guide;and the greateft eulogium we can juftly offer to his extraordinary character, is to allowthat his virtues were his own, and his defedts thofe of education and country. Peterthe Great was born at Mofcow on the 30th of May, 1672, and died at Peterfburgh onthe 28th of January, 1725, in the fifty-third of his age,, and in the forty-fourth of aglorious reign.

I obferved near the tomb of Peter fome Turkilh colours: they were taken in thenaval engagement of Tchefme, difplayed during a folemn proceffion, and placed bythe hand of the Emprefs, at the tomb of the Sovereign who founded the Ruffian navy.

* Catherine the Second was interred in this cathedral. On the acceffion of Paul, the remains of hisfather Peter the Third were removed from the church ot the monaftery, and after lying in ftate, interred withregal pomp in the cathedral, in the fame fepulchre as the body of Catharine the Second. By order of thenew Emperor, Count Alexey Orlof, and Prince Batatynlki, to whom the death of Peter the Third wasattributed, were ftationed on each fide of the body while it lay in ftate, and compelled to follow the funeralproceffion.

f Pierre I. mourut dansces circonftances, laiflant dans le monde plutfit la reputation d’un homme extra*ordinaire, que d’un grand homme, & couvrani let cruautes d’un Tiran des vertus d’un Ugijlaltur. Hift. de laMaifon de Brandebourg.

x Blufh art! this hero owed thee nothing.

Exult nature ! for this prodigy is all thy own.

See Gordon’s Life of Peter. Vol, II.

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