The Works of Voltaire: History of the Russian empire under Peter the GreatWerner, 1904 |
Common terms and phrases
affairs afterward Alexis ambassador ancient arms arts Astrakhan Baltagi Mahomet Baltic Baltic Sea battle battle of Poltava Boristhenes boyars Charles XII Christian Church command Cossacks court Crim Tartary crown custom czar Czar Peter czar's dominions duke elector emperor empire enemy Europe Feodor Finland fleet France German Goertz Golitzin grand vizier Greek Holstein honor hundred Ingria inhabitants janissaries King Augustus king of Denmark king of Poland king of Prussia king of Sweden kingdom land leagues Lefort Livonia Louis XIV manner master Mazeppa minister monarch Moscow Narva nations Norberg obliged officers Ottoman Porte Patkul patriarch peace person Petersburg Poltava Pomerania possession present Prince Menshikoff prisoners province Pruth regiment river Russian Empire Russians Saxony Sea of Azov sent Sheremeto ships Siberia siege soon sovereign Stanislaus Steinbock strelitzes Swedish army taken Tartars thousand throne tion took town treaty troops Turks Ukraine victory young
Popular passages
Page 162 - Cronslot, as yet hardly finished. This fleet consisted of twenty-two ships of war, from fifty-four to sixty-four guns each, besides six frigates, two bomb-ketches, and two fire-ships. The troops that were sent on this expedition, made a descent on the little island of Kotin ; but a Russian colonel, named Tolbogwin, who commanded a regiment there, ordered his soldiers to lie down flat on their bellies, while the Swedes were coming on shore, and then suddenly rising up, they threw in...
Page 130 - Antichrist, because he would not admit of a paVoL 34—9 triarch ; and the art of printing, which the czar encouraged in his kingdom, was made use of to publish libels against him ; but on the other hand, there was another priest who started up to prove that Peter could not be Antichrist, because the number six hundred and sixty-six was not to be found in his name, and that he had not the sign of the beast.
Page 121 - Petersburg. the dress of a Friesland boor, and all who spoke to him addressed him in that character, at the same time talking to him of the great czar of Muscovy. These are trifling particulars ; but whatever revives the remembrance of ancient manners and customs, is in some degree worthy of being recorded. Peter was ready to set out from Vienna, in order to proceed to Venice, to complete his tour of instruction, when he received the news of a rebellion, which had lately broke out in his dominions.
Page 298 - ... and navigation in his own dominions. In a word, they looked upon him as a fellow-citizen, who had been raised to the imperial dignity. The life, the travels, the actions of Peter the Great, as well as of his rival, Charles of Sweden, exhibit a surprising contrast to the manners which prevail amongst us, and which are, perhaps, rather too delicate ; and this may be one reason that the history of these two famous men so much excites our curiosity. The czarina had been left behind at Schwerin, indisposed,...
Page 174 - Besseval, the French envoy in Saxony, interposed, in order to bring about a reconciliation between, the czar and the king of Sweden. It was thought at that time by the court of France, that Charles, having no longer either the Russians or Poles to fight against, might turn his arms against the emperor Joseph, with whom he was not on very good terms, and on whom he had even imposed several laws during his stay in Saxony.
Page 94 - ... in the most dangerous design that a prince of that country could possibly form, namely, that of putting himself in a condition to be able one day to break the seditious and barbarous body of forces called the strelitzes.
Page 149 - Marienburg was a little town on the confines of Ingria and Livonia, which, besieged by Peter's army, surrendered at discretion. Either through accident or design, the Swedes who defended it set fire to the magazine, which so incensed the Russians, that they destroyed the town, and carried away all the inhabitants. Among the prisoners was a young girl of about sixteen years of age, a Livonian by birth, who had been brought up from charity in the house of a Lutheran minister. There is no reason to...
Page 129 - Previous to this great work, he thought, that in a state like his, which stood in need of being peopled, the celibacy of the monks was contrary to nature and to the public good. It was the ancient...
Page 172 - Livonian gentlemen, who were sent as deputies from the whole province : having been condemned to die for fulfilling the first of duties, that of serving his country agreeable to her laws.
Page 107 - Holland,* to learn the method of building and working large ships : and others likewise into Germany, to serve in the land forces, and instruct themselves in the military discipline of that nation. At length he took a resolution to absent himself for a few years from his own dominions, in order to learn how to govern them the better. He had an irresistible inclination to improve himself by his own observation and practice in the knowledge of naval affairs, and of the several arts which he was so...