by numbers, and cut off by one body of the rebels, when fatigued with combating the other. But no such attempt being made, and the advantage gained over his left wing not being properly improved, the duke returned triumphant to the scene of action; and Mar, who had taken post on the top of a hill, with about five thousand of the flower of his army, not only forebore to molest the king's troops, but retired in the night, and hastened to Perth. In the morning, the duke of Argyle, who had been joined by the remains of his left wing, perceiving that the rebels had saved him the trouble of dislodging them, drew off his army towards Stirling, carrying off the enemy's artillery, bread-waggons, and many persons of distinction.

This battle, though not in itself decisive, proved fatal in its consequences to the affairs of the pretender in Scotland. Lord Lovat, the chief of the Frazers, who seemed disposed to join the rebels, now declared for the established government, and seized the important port of Inverness, from which he drove Sir John Mackenzie; while the earl of Sutherland, who had hitherto been overawed, appeared openly in the same cause. Against these noblemen, Mar detached the marquis of Huntley and the earl of Seaforth, with their numerous vassals. But the rebel chiefs, instead of coming to immediate action, suffered themselves to be amused with negociations; and both, after some hesitation, returned to their allegiance under king George. The marquis of Tullibardine also withdrew from the rebel army, in order to defend his own country against the friends of government ; and the clans, disgusted at their ill success, dispersed on the approach of winter, with their usual want of per

severance.

The pretender, who had hitherto resisted every solicitation to come over, took the unaccountable resolution, in this desperate state of his affairs, of landing in the north of Scotland. He accordingly set sail from Dunkirk in a small vessel, and arrived at Peterhead, December 22, attended only by six gentlemen. He was met at Fetterosse by the earl of Mar, and conducted to Perth. There a regular council was formed, and a day fixed for his coronation at Scone; but he was diverted from all thoughts of that vain ceremony, by the approach of the

duke of Argyle, who having been reinforced with six thousand Dutch auxiliaries, advanced towards Perth, notwithstanding the rigour (severity) of the season.

As that town had no other fortification than a simple wall, and was otherwise unprovided for a siege, the king's troops took possession of it without resistance, 1716. Mar and the pretender had retired to Montrose, and seeing no prospect of better fortune, they embarked for France with the earl of Melfort and other men of rank. General Gordon and earl Mareschal proceeded northward with the main body of the rebels, by a march so rapid as to elude pursuit. Many who did not expect pardon embarked at Aberdeen for the continent. The common people were conducted to the hills of Badenoch, and there quietly dismissed. The whole country submitted to the duke of Argyle.

READING LXXXVIII.

PETER THE GREAT, OF RUSSIA.

Born 1672.-Died 1725.

THE history of Europe, perhaps of the world, cannot produce a more extraordinary character than the illustrious subject of the present Reading. The reputation of the conqueror, whose sole delight is to be the thunderbolt of war, lives only in the interested applause and admiration of his own age; while the memory of the father of his country is immortal.

Peter, deservedly surnamed the Great, was born on the 11th June, 1672, and was the youngest son of the czar Alexis Michaeloviche, and consequently grandson of the illustrious head of the Romanoff dynasty. Peter's infancy was beset with dangers.

When the mild Theodore died without offspring, Ivan and Peter, his two brothers, might properly be considered the two most natural candidates to the vacant throne. The former had attained his sixteenth year when the throne was thus left unoccupied; but a sickly constitution blasted (destroyed) the vigour both of his mind and

body. His brother Peter, whose mother was Natalia, the second wife of his father Alexis, was yet an infant.

The constant illness of the elder prince, urged the boyards (noblemen) to exalt Peter to the throne of his ancestors; to which arrangement the mild Ivan submitted without reluctance: but not so his eldest sister Sophia; who, enraged and disappointed at this election of her step-brother Peter, gained over the strelitzes (Russian guards), by whose means the injured Ivan was restored to his lost prerogative (privilege) of birth.

Sophia and her favourite Gulitzin, emboldened by the support and protection of the strelitzes, whom they gorged with the spoils of those boyards who had espoused the cause of Peter, took possession of the sovereign authority, which they held until the year 1689.

At this period, Peter, now seventeen years of age, displayed the first dawnings of that undaunted firmness which characterised his maturer (more advanced) years. Conscious of his ability to administer the public affairs for the benefit of the people, he scorned to disguise the rancour (hatred) of heart, which he entertained towards that usurper of his power, his daring sister. Their dislike, increased by years, and fomented by the arts of faction, at last reached to such an implacable aversion for each other, as manifested itself on every public occasion.

But the hour now approached when these dissensions were to cease by the fall of Sophia and the exaltation of Peter. Ancient custom required the sovereigns of Russia to assist (be present) at certain festivals of the Greek church, in their most sumptuous habits of ceremony. To one of these Sophia repaired, wearing on her brow a diadem, and invested with all the other emblems of sovereign authority. The despised Peter appeared next in the solemn procession; but unable to stifle his transports of indignation at the superior majesty assumed by his sister, he abruptly retired from the church and the city, to Kolumna, followed by his friends, who eagerly sought every opportunity to exasperate the resentment of their prince.

Peter's decision, not less than the exertions of his friends, ultimately succeeded in depriving Sophia of her unjust power, and that princess, after vainly attempt

ing to escape into Poland, was arrested and conducted to the Devitchee, a nunnery, where she ended her days, in all the misery consequent upon blighted ambition.

Our present object being to exhibit Peter rather in his private, than public capacity, we shall pass over the chief political events of his reign, in order to consider him more at length in his domesticity.

The mansion in which he was accustomed to repose himself, after he had laid the foundations of St. Petersburg, was a wooden cottage. This humble dwelling of a powerful prince, has since been covered by a brick building standing on arches, in order to preserve it as a memorial of its illustrious occupant. The whole stock of royal moveables was confined to a bed, table, compass, a few books and papers. In the shortest days of the winter, which are not more than seven hours in these latitudes, the indefatigable sovereign was prepared for the various and important duties of the day, at four in the morning. It was his usual custom to labour alone for the public service till the morning light. Sometimes he employed that time, which most of his subjects dedicated to rest, in the consideration and despatch of urgent business with his ministers.

The royal table was always served at one; and in the choice of his dishes he was not less distinguished from the poorest of his subjects, than by the splendour of his attire. His ordinary food consisted of soup, with sour crout, which the Russians call chtchi, gruel, lampreys, cold roast meat seasoned, pickled cucumbers, or salted lemons, and pig with sour cream for sauce; while Linibourg cheese was uncommonly agreeable to his plebeian appetite. But he compensated (made up) for this hasty and frugal dinner by such copious draughts of French and Hungarian wines, and of the strong liquors of his country, that his guests might easily perceive that he was not very scrupulous in observing the laws of sobriety. Cast in a mould of uncommon strength, and delighting in violent exercises, one repast could not satisfy the voraciousness of his appetite. To whatever place his various avocations (affairs) called him, he never forgot to be provided with a sufficient quantity of cold meat.

Instead of those magnificent entertainments of the ancient czars, where the table was oppressed by the

weight of the gold and silver plate, the parsimonious (frugal) emperor established a mess with his ministers, his generals, and favourites, each of whom paid his share, which rarely exceeded the value of a ducat. But if the table was not served with a profusion of costly dishes, there was no economy observed in the distribution of wine.

It was the invariable maxim of the czars to give their first audience to ambassadors with every circumstance of pomp which might display the greatness of the empire. The unceremonious Peter presented himself to these representatives of their sovereigns, without the smallest attention to any of the rules prescribed (laid down) by courtly etiquette (ceremony). It was his constant saying, that they were sent to be introduced to him, and not to his halls or palaces. One instance, will be sufficient to shew, that in this respect his actions perfectly corresponded with his words.

When the grand marshal and ambassador of the Prussian court, Printz, wished to present his credentials to the conqueror of the renowned Charles,-to the ruler of an immense empire, he was conducted on board of an unfinished ship. Unaccustomed to such little ceremony, he demanded to be ushered into the presence of the Russian emperor. The attendants pointed to a man who was actively employed in attaching some ropes to the top of a mast. Peter, for such was the dexterous sailor, on recognizing the ambassador, called on him to ascend the shrouds (rope ladders), but the astonished and stately Prussian, pleaded his inability to perform so new and dangerous a task, upon which the alert monarch then instantly descended, and held a conference with him on deck.

The unlimited obedience which Peter exacted from his subjects, had so entirely excluded from his ears every word which militated against duty and homage, that he was accustomed to confound the independence of foreign ministers, with the servility of his people, and to expect from their courtesy a similar acquiescence (consent) in his caprices (whims). One day, this proficient in navigation proposed to them an aquatic excursion from St. Petersburg to Cronstadt. The ambassadors assembled in a Dutch packet-boat, which sailed along with its