The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1861-04-24
MacauIay's Picture off Peter the
Great of Russia.

u
Great of Russia.
From. the forthcoming ffth volume Of Lord
MAcAuLAY's History of England, we take
the following graphic account of the visit o.
Peter the. Great to England, A. D. 1s9s,:
In the same week in which Whitehall per
/ ishsd, The Loadonsfs were supplied with q
new topic Of conversation by royal visit
which Of all royal visits, was the least pom
pous and ceremonious, and yet the most in
teresting and important. On the 10th o.
January . vessel anchored at Greenwich
and; was. welcomed with great respect. Pc
ter the First, Gar Of Auscovy, wss on board
He took boat with few attendants, and was
rowed up the Thames to Norfolk street
where d house overlooking the river, had
been prepared for his reception.
His jo Irncy is an epoch in the history no,
only of his own country, but Of ours, and Of
the world To the epolished nations ofWest
ern Europe, the empire which he go7erned,
had till then been what Bokhara or Siam is
| to US. r ....-..f r. ..
Our ancestors, therefore, were not LITTLE
surprised to learn that a young barbarian
who Lad, at seventeen years of age become
the autocrat of the immense region stretch
| ing from the confines Of Sweden to those o.
China, and whose education had been inferi
or to that of an English farmer or shopman
had planned gigantic Improvements, had
learned enough ofsome languages Of Western
Europe to enable him to mmunicate with
civilized men, had begun to surround himself
with able adventurers from various parts. O
the world, had sent many of his young sub
jccts to study languages, arts and sciences
in foreign cities, and, finally, had determined
to travel as a private man, and to discover
by personal observation, the secret of the
immense prosperity and power enjoyed by
some communities whose whole territory was
far less than the one-hundredth part Of his
dominions. -
1t might have been expected that France
would have been the first object If his Curl
osty For the grace and dignity of The
French King, the splendor of the Frer ch
court, the discipline of the French armies,
and the genius and learning of the French
writers, were then renowned all over the
world But the Cars mind had early taken
strange ply which it retained to the last.
His empire was OF all empires the least capa-
bic of being made great naval power. The
swedish provinces lay between his states
and the Baltic The Bosphorus and the Oar
danells lay between his states and the Mad:-
t,rranean. He had access to the ocean only
n latitude IN which navigation is, during
great part ofthe year. perilous and difficult.
On the ocean he had, only . single port.
Archangel; and the whole shipping ofArch-
angel was foreign. There did not exist a
Russian vessel larger THAN a fishing boat.
Yet, from some cause which can not now be
raced, he had taste for maritime pursuits
which amounted to a passion, indeed almost
to monomania. His imagination was full
of sails, yard arms and rudders. That large
mind, equal to tie highest duties Of the gen
eral and the statesman, contracted itself 10
he most minute d, tails of naval architecture
,nd naval discipline. The chief ambition OF
the great conquerer and legislator vas to be
good boatswsin and good ships csrpen-
ter Holland and England, therefore, had
lor him an attraction which was wanting to
the galleries and terraces of Versailles. He
repaired to Amsterdam, took lodging in the
dock yard, assumed the garb Of a pilot, put
down his name on the list Of workmen
el led with his own hand the calking-h on
and the mallet, fixed the pumps, and twist
ed the ropes ambassadors who came to pay
their respects to him were forced, much
agains. their Will to Chamber up thd rigging
of man of-war, and found him enthroned
ON the cross-trees.
Such was the prince whom the populace
Of London now crowded to behold. His
stately form, his intellectual forehead, his
piercing black eyes, his Tartar nose and
mouth, his gracious smile. his frown black
with all the stormy rage and hate of bar
barian tyrant, and. above al, strange ner-
yous convulsion which sometimes transform
ed his countenance, during a few moments,
into an object on WHICH it vas impossible to
look without terror. the immense quantities
Of meat which he devoured, the pints OF
brandy which he swallowed, and which, ii
was said. he had carefully distilled with his
own hands, the fool who jabbered at his feet
the monkey which grinned at the back Of
his chair, were, during some weeks, popular
topics Of conversation. He meanwhile shur-
ned the public gaze with naughty shyness
which imt,amcd curiosity. He went to a
play; but, as soon as he perceived that pit
boxes, and galleries were staring, not at the
stage, but at him, he retired to back bench,
where he was screened from observation by
his attendants. He was desirous to see a
sitting Of the House of Lords; but, as he
was determined not to be seen, he was forced
to climb up to the leads, and to peep through
small window He heard with great in.
terest the royal assent given toa bill fo'
raising fifteen hundred thousand pounds by
land tax, and learned with amazement that
this sum, thou h larger by one half than
tho whole revenue which he could wiring
from the population Of the immense empire