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CHAPTER XII.

THE GREAT CZAR: TRAVELS AND TROUBLES.

THE Great Czar! Who was he, and why was he great? Perhaps some day you may go to Russia, and, if you do, travel northward towards the Gulf of Finland. You will go through miles and miles of forest and morass, dark and dank and lonely, and suddenly you will burst upon a great magnificent city, like a jewel cast away in a marsh.

And round it flow the blue cold waters of the Neva, and it stands up, gorgeous with granite palaces, lofty and high. And in the midst of the great square stands a vast statue-a man on a horse, standing on a huge block of granite, and looking straight out to Europe across the Gulf of Finland. There it stands, though the waters of the Gulf have rushed inland and roared round it many times.

And that city is St. Petersburg, the window into Europe, and that man is Peter the Great, its founder.

And his mind was huge, like the statue, above that of other men, and his perseverance, like the granite, standing firm for ever. And as he worked for

Russia he ever looked out to Europe, till he won her glory abroad, and made her take her place in the rank of the nations once and for ever.

Yet if you had lived then you would not have felt certain that Peter would ever be really Czar at all, though he and his half brother, a poor idiotic boy called Ivan, were crowned Czars.

For Peter had a step-sister, by name Sophia. Some say she was a noble woman, full of love for her country, some that she was vulgar and bold and fat, and had a moustache like a man's. All agree that she was very clever.

However this may be, the Streltsi, who were full of rebellion, made up their mind that Sophia should help to rule Russia. So they marched against the Kremlin with cannons, crying out that "Peter's friends have killed Ivan, and we must take vengeance.'

And although they saw Ivan alive, they plundered the palace for a week. They looked under the beds and the altar, and killed any they found in hiding. At last they agreed to be peaceful if Sophia was to reign till Ivan and Peter grew old enough to rule themselves.

So Sophia reigned, and either from good or bad reasons she was very glad to reign.

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Peter grew up a strong tall boy, with bright eyes and an eager mind. He did little lessons, but he loved to read of the old Russian kings and the battles they fought.

One day he happened to go into an old storehouse of rubbish. In the corner was a boat turned bottom upwards. Now Peter, who had lived inland, had never seen a boat before. So he asked, "What is that?" And they showed him. Then he jumped for joy, and after that made many boats and sailed in them. Do not forget that little old boat. It was the grandfather of the Russian fleet.

Now all this time Ivan was growing more weakly and idiotic. The Streltsi, when they saw the brothers, said one to another, "Ivan is a poor idiot, but Peter will make a fine Czar." Besides that, they did not like being ruled by a woman. So one day they came to Peter and said, "We will not serve Sophia any longer; you shall be our Czar." So Peter sent Sophia away to a convent, and there she lived till the day of her death.

Now that Peter was Czar he could do what he had a mind to. And above all things he longed to see the sea and the mighty ships. So he sailed down the Dwina in his painted barge till he reached the great city Archangel, on the Icy Sea. Then he stood on the sea-shore, and watched the great green waves rise and come breaking in foam with strong

sweep along the beach. And when he saw that he could not speak for wonder.

Many days he passed there, sailing and making ships with his own hands. He would not be called Czar, but only Skipper Peter.

While he was there the great merchant ships came in to fetch furs and hemp and tallow.

But Peter's heart was full of sorrow when he saw that there was no Russian ship among them. Then Skipper Peter vowed that Russia too should have ships. Now read how the Czar Peter kept that

Vow.

There was one great difficulty. Where were the ships to sail from? You remember how few doors the Russians had, and how the harbours on the Icy Ocean were locked half the year. For the rest, the Swedes held all the doors on the Baltic, and the Turks held the Black Sea.

Now the Russians ever hated the Turks, and loved to fight them; and so Peter, bold as brass, declared aloud to all his men, "We will fight the Turks and conquer the ports on the Black Sea, and Russia shall have a fleet.”

So he led his army against the mighty city Azov, on the Black Sea. But it was built all round about with walls strong and thick. Peter worked hard among his soldiers, and filled shells and bombs like any other man, and shouted and fought boldly. But

it was of no use. There was no fleet to attack Azov by sea, and the Russians were forced to go home again. But Peter was not a whit abashed, and they made a long procession into Moscow, though all they had to show was one poor prisoner.

Then, as he saw he could not do without ships, he set to work at once to make them. He was in such of green wood.

a hurry that they were all built Besides that, many workmen ran away on the sly, and there was a great fire in the dockyard. Yet Peter worked on. And at last a few ships were made, very shabby and clumsy; but Peter did not care at all, and set sail down the Don in good heart. Then the Russians made a breach in the city walls, and fought bravely; and at length the city had to beg for peace, and the Russians had conquered.

You are surprised, and so was all Europe when they heard it. And they began to think that Russia was worth considering after all. As for the Russian army, they made another much grander procession into Moscow, under green arches, with pictures and inscriptions, all the officers, in new uniforms, sitting in gorgeous carriages.

"But where is the Czar?" asked all the people watching. Where was he, do you think? Marching among the common soldiers, in the neat light dress of a German ship-captain. The old Muscovites shook their heads and said, "What a want of dignity!

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