The History of Peter the Great, Emperor of Russia. Вольтер
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to raise his dignity above that of the throne; for he not only assumed the privilege of sitting by the side of the czar in the senate, but pretended that neither war nor peace could be made without his consent. His authority was so great, that, being supported by his immense wealth, and by his intrigues with the clergy and the people, he kept his master in a kind of subjection. He had the boldness to excommunicate some senators who opposed his excessive insolence; till at last, Alexis, finding himself not powerful enough to depose him by his own authority, was obliged to convene a synod of all the bishops. There the patriarch was accused of having received money from the Poles; and being convicted, was deposed, and confined for the remainder of his days in a monastery, after which the prelates chose another patriarch in his stead.
From the first infancy of Christianity in Russia, there have been several sects there, as well as in other countries; for sects are as frequently the fruits of ignorance, as of pretended knowledge: but Russia is the only Christian state of any considerable extent, in which religion has not excited civil wars, though it has felt some occasional tumults.
The Raskolnikys, who consist at present of about two thousand males, and who are mentioned in the foregoing list,[17] are the most ancient sect of any in this country. It was established in the twelfth century, by some enthusiasts, who had a superficial knowledge of the New Testament: they made use then, and still do, of the old pretence of all sectaries, that of following the letter, and accused all other Christians of remissness. They would not permit a priest, who had drank brandy, to confer baptism; they affirmed, in the words of our Saviour, that there is neither a first nor a last, among the faithful; and held, that one of the elect might kill himself for the love of his Saviour. According to them it is a great sin to repeat the hallelujah three times; and, therefore, repeat it only twice. The benediction is to be given only with three fingers. In other respects, no society can be more regular, or strict in its morals. They live like the quakers, and, like them, do not admit any other Christians into their assemblies, which is the reason that these have accused them of all the abominations of which the heathens accused the primitive Galileans: these latter, the gnostics, and with which the Roman catholics have charged the protestants. They have been frequently accused of cutting the throat of an infant, and drinking its blood; and of mixing together in their private ceremonies, without distinction of kindred, age, or even of sex. They have been persecuted at times, and then they shut themselves up in their hamlets, set fire to their houses, and thrown themselves into the flames. Peter took the only method of reclaiming them, which was by letting them live in peace.
But to conclude, in all this vast empire, there are but twenty-eight episcopal sees; and in Peter's time there were but twenty-two. This small number was, perhaps, one of the causes to which the Russian church owes its tranquillity. So very circumscribed was the knowledge of the clergy, that czar Theodore, brother to Peter the Great, was the first who introduced the custom of singing Psalms in churches.
Theodore and Peter, especially the latter, admitted indifferently, into their councils and their armies, those of the Greek, the Latin, the Lutheran, and the Calvinist communion, leaving every one at liberty to serve God after his own conscience, provided he did his duty to the state. At that time there was not one Latin church in this great empire of two thousand leagues, till Peter established some new manufactures at Astracan, when there were about sixty Roman catholic families, under the direction of the capuchins; but the jesuits endeavouring to establish themselves in his dominions, he drove them out by an edict, published in the month of April, 1718. He tolerated the capuchins as an insignificant set of monks, but considered the jesuits as dangerous politicians.
The Greek church has at once the honour and satisfaction to see its communion extended throughout an empire of two thousand leagues in length, while that of Rome is not in possession of half that tract in Europe. Those of the Greek communion have, at all times, been particularly attentive to maintain an equality between theirs and the Latin church; and always upon their guard against the zeal of the see of Rome, which they look upon as ambition; because, in fact, that church, whose power is very much circumscribed in our hemisphere, and yet assumes the title of universal, has always endeavoured to act up to that title.
The Jews never made any settlements in Russia, as they have done in most of the other states of Europe, from Constantinople to Rome. The Russians have carried on their trade by themselves, or by the help of the nations settled amongst them. Theirs is the only country of the Greek communion, where synagogues are not seen by the side of Christian temples.
Conclusion of the State of RUSSIA before PETER the GREAT.
Russia is indebted solely to czar Peter for its great influence in the affairs of Europe; being of no consideration in any other reign, since it embraced Christianity. Before this period, the Russians made the same figure on the Black Sea, that the Normans did afterwards on the coasts of the ocean. In the reign of the emperor Heraclius, they fitted out an armament of forty thousand small barks; appeared before Constantinople, which they besieged, and imposed a tribute on the Greek emperors; but the grand knez Wolodimar, being wholly taken up with the care of establishing Christianity in his dominions, and wearied out with intestine broils in his own family, weakened his dominions by dividing them between his children. They almost all fell a prey to the Tartars, who held Russia in subjection near two hundred years. At length John Basilides freed it from slavery, and enlarged its boundaries: but, after his time, it was ruined again by civil wars.
Before the time of Peter the Great, Russia was neither so powerful, so well cultivated, so populous, nor so rich as at present. It had no possessions in Finland, nor in Livonia; and this latter alone had long been worth more than all Siberia. The Cossacks were still unsubjected, nor were the people of Astracan reduced to obedience; what little trade was carried on, was rather to their disadvantage. The White Sea, the Baltic, the Pontus Euxinus, the sea of Azoph, and the Caspian Sea, were entirely useless to a nation that had not a single ship, nor even a term in their language to express a fleet. If nothing more had been wanting but to be superior to the Tartars, and the other nations of the north, as far as China, the Russians undoubtedly had that advantage, but they were to be brought upon an equality with civilized nations, and to be in a condition, one day, of even surpassing several of them. Such an undertaking appeared altogether impracticable, inasmuch as they had not a single ship at sea, and were absolutely ignorant of military discipline by land: nay, the most common manufactures were hardly encouraged, and agriculture itself, that primum mobile of trade, was neglected. This requires the utmost attention and encouragement on the part of a government; and it is to this that the English are indebted, for finding in their corn a treasure far superior to their woollen manufacture.
This gross neglect of the necessary arts, sufficiently shews that the people of Russia had no idea of the polite arts, which become necessary, in their turn, when we have cultivated the others. They might indeed, have sent some of the natives to gain instruction among foreigners, but the difference of languages, manners, and religion, opposed it. Besides, there was a law of state and religion, equally sacred and pernicious, which prohibited any Russian from going out of his country, and thus seemed to devote this people to eternal ignorance. They were in possession of the most extensive dominions in the universe, and yet every thing was wanted amongst them. At length Peter was born, and Russia became a civilized state.
Happily, of all the great lawgivers who have lived in the world, Peter is the only one whose history is well known. Those of Theseus and Romulus, who did far less than him, and of the founders of all well-governed states, are blended with the most absurd fictions: whereas here, we have the advantage of written truths, which would pass for fictions, were they not so well attested.
CHAP. III.
The ancestors of Peter the Great.
The family of Peter the Great have been in possession of the throne ever since the year 1613. Before that time, Russia had undergone