Part 5 (1/2)
There were to be many more public ceremonies, banquets, and parades for the emba.s.sy in the city during their stay, but Peter withdrew himself entirely from the scene, and went out to a certain bay, which extended about one hundred and fifty miles along the sh.o.r.e between Konigsberg and Dantzic, and occupied himself in examining the vessels which were there, and in sailing to and fro in them.
This bay you will find delineated on any map of Europe. It extends along the coast for a considerable distance between Konigsberg and Dantzic, on the southeastern sh.o.r.e of the Baltic Sea.
When the emba.s.sadors and their train had finished their banquetings and celebrations in Konigsberg, Peter joined them again, and the expedition proceeded to Dantzic. This was at that time, as it is now, a large commercial city, being one of the chief ports on the Baltic for the exportation of grain from Poland and other fertile countries in the interior.
By this time it began to be every where well known that Peter himself was traveling with the emba.s.sy. Peter would not, however, allow himself to be recognized at all, or permit any public notice to be taken of his presence, but went about freely in all the places that he visited with his own companions, just as if he were a private person, leaving all the public parades and receptions, and all the banquetings, and other state and civic ceremonies, to the three emba.s.sadors and their immediate train.
A great many elegant and expensive presents, however, were sent in to him, under pretense of sending them to the emba.s.sadors.
The expedition traveled on in this way along the coasts of the Baltic Sea, on the way toward Holland, which was the country that Peter was most eager to see. At every city where they stopped Peter went about examining the s.h.i.+pping. He was often attended by some important official person of the place, but in other respects he went without any ceremony whatever. He used to change his dress, putting on, in the different places that he visited, that which was worn by the common people of the town, so as not to attract any attention, and not even to be recognized as a foreigner. At one port, where there were a great many Dutch vessels that he wished to see, he wore the pea-jacket and the other sailor-like dress of a common Dutch skipper,[2] in order that he might ramble about at his ease along the docks, and mingle freely with the seafaring men, without attracting any notice at all.
[Ill.u.s.tration: Peter among the s.h.i.+pping.]
The people of Holland were aware that the emba.s.sy was coming into their country, and that Peter himself accompanied it, and they accordingly prepared to receive the party with the highest marks of honor. As the emba.s.sy, after crossing the frontier, moved on toward Amsterdam, salutes were fired from the ramparts of all the great towns that they pa.s.sed, the soldiers were drawn out, and civic processions, formed of magistrates and citizens, met them at the gates to conduct them through the streets. The windows, too, and the roofs of all the houses, were crowded with spectators. Wherever they stopped at night bonfires and illuminations were made in honor of their arrival, and sometimes beautiful fireworks were played off in the evening before their palace windows.
Of course, there was a great desire felt every where among the spectators to discover which of the personages who followed in the train of the emba.s.sy was the Czar himself. They found it, however, impossible to determine this point, so completely had Peter disguised his person, and merged himself with the rest. Indeed, in some cases, when the procession was moving forward with great ceremony, the object of the closest scrutiny in every part for thousands of eyes, Peter himself was not in it at all. This was particularly the case on the occasion of the grand entry into Amsterdam. Peter left the party at a distance from the city, in order to go in quietly the next day, in company with some merchants with whom he had become acquainted. And, accordingly, while all Amsterdam had gathered into the streets, and were watching with the most intense curiosity every train as it pa.s.sed, in order to discover which one contained the great Czar, the great Czar himself was several miles away, sitting quietly with his friends, the merchants, at a table in a common country inn.
The government and the people of Holland took a very great interest in this emba.s.sy, not only on account of the splendor of it, and the magnitude of the imperial power which it represented, but also on account of the business and pecuniary considerations which were involved. They wished very much to cultivate a good understanding with Russia, on account of the trade and commerce of that country, which was already very great, and was rapidly increasing. They determined, therefore, to show the emba.s.sy every mark of consideration and honor.
Besides the measures which they adopted for giving the emba.s.sy itself a grand reception, the government set apart a s.p.a.cious and splendid house in Amsterdam for the use of the Czar during his stay. They did this in a somewhat private and informal manner, it is true, for they knew that Peter did not wish that his presence with the emba.s.sy should be openly noticed in any way. They organized also a complete household for this palace, including servants, attendants, and officers of all kinds, in a style corresponding to the dignity of the exalted personage who was expected to occupy it.
But Peter, when he arrived, would not occupy the palace at all, but went into a quiet lodging among the s.h.i.+pping, where he could ramble about without constraint, and see all that was to be seen which could ill.u.s.trate the art of navigation. The Dutch East India Company, which was then, perhaps, the greatest and most powerful a.s.sociation of merchants which had ever existed, had large s.h.i.+p-yards, where their vessels were built, at Saardam. Saardam was almost a suburb of Amsterdam, being situated on a deep river which empties into the Y, so called, which is the harbor of Amsterdam, and only a few miles from the town. Peter immediately made arrangements for going to these s.h.i.+p-yards and spending the time while the emba.s.sy remained in that part of the country in studying the construction of s.h.i.+ps, and in becoming acquainted with the princ.i.p.al builders. Here, as the historians of the times say, he entered himself as a common s.h.i.+p-carpenter, being enrolled in the list of the company's workmen by the name Peter Michaelhoff, which was as nearly as possible his real name. He lived here several months, and devoted himself diligently to his work. He kept two or three of his companions with him--those whom he had brought from Moscow as his friends and a.s.sociates on the tour; but they, it is said, did not take hold of the hard work with nearly as much zeal and energy as Peter displayed.
Peter himself worked for the greatest part of every day among the other workmen, wearing also the same dress that they wore. When he was tired of work he would go out on the water, and sail and row about in the different sorts of boats, so as to make himself practically acquainted with the comparative effects of the various modes of construction.
The object which Peter had in view in all this was, doubtless, in a great measure, his own enjoyment for the time being. He was so much interested in the subject of s.h.i.+ps and s.h.i.+p-building, and in every thing connected with navigation, that it was a delight to him to be in the midst of such scenes as were to be witnessed in the company's yards. He was still but a young man, and, like a great many other young men, he liked boats and the water. It is not probable, notwithstanding what is said by historians about his performances with the broad-axe, that he really did much serious work. Still he was naturally fond of mechanical occupations, as the fact of his making a wheelbarrow with which to construct a fortification, in his schoolboy days, sufficiently indicates.
Then, again, his being in the s.h.i.+p-yards so long, nominally as one of the workmen, gave him undoubtedly great facilities for observing every thing which it was important that he should know. Of course, he could not have seriously intended to make himself an actual and practical s.h.i.+p-carpenter, for, in the first place, the time was too short. A trade like that of a s.h.i.+p-carpenter requires years of apprentices.h.i.+p to make a really good workman. Then, in the second place, the mechanical part of the work was not the part which it devolved upon him, as a sovereign intent on building up a navy for the protection of his empire, even to superintend. He could not, therefore, have seriously intended to learn to build s.h.i.+ps himself, but only to make himself nominally a workman, partly for the pleasure which it gave him to place himself so wholly at home among the s.h.i.+pping, and partly for the sake of the increased opportunities which he thereby obtained of learning many things which it was important that he should know.
Travelers visiting Holland at the present day often go out to Saardam to see the little building that is still shown as the shop which Peter occupied while he was there. It is a small wooden building, leaning and bent with age and decrepitude and darkened by exposure and time. Within the last half century, however, in order to save so curious a relic from farther decay, the proprietors of the place have constructed around and over it an outer building of brick, which incloses the hut itself like a case. The sides of the outer building are formed of large, open arches, which allow the hut within to be seen. The ground on which the hut stands has also been laid out prettily as a garden, and is inclosed by a wall. Within this wall, and near the gate, is a very neat and pretty Dutch cottage, in which the custodian lives who shows the place to strangers.
While Peter was in the s.h.i.+p-yards the workmen knew who he was, but all persons were forbidden to gather around or gaze at him, or to interfere with him in any way by their notice or their attentions. They were to allow him to go and come as he pleased, without any molestation. These orders they obeyed as well as they could, as every one was desirous of treating their visitor in a manner as agreeable to him as possible, so as to prolong his stay.
Peter varied his amus.e.m.e.nts, while he thus resided in Saardam, by making occasional visits in a quiet and private way to certain friends in Amsterdam. He very seldom attended any of the great parades and celebrations which were continually taking place in honor of the emba.s.sy, but went only to the houses of men eminent in private life for their attainments in particular branches of knowledge, or for their experience or success as merchants or navigators. There was one person in particular that Peter became acquainted with in Amsterdam, whose company and conversation pleased him very much, and whom he frequently visited.
This was a certain wealthy merchant, whose operations were on so vast a scale that he was accustomed to send off special expeditions at his own expense, all over the world, to explore new regions and discover new fields for his commercial enterprise. In order also to improve the accuracy of the methods employed by his s.h.i.+p-masters for ascertaining the lat.i.tude and longitude in navigating their s.h.i.+ps, he built an observatory, and furnished it with the telescopes, quadrants, and other costly instruments necessary for making the observations--all at his own expense.
With this gentleman, and with the other persons in Amsterdam that Peter took a fancy to, he lived on very friendly and familiar terms. He often came in from Saardam to visit them, and would sometimes spend a considerable portion of the night in drinking and making merry with them.
He a.s.sumed with these friends none of the reserve and dignity of demeanor that we should naturally a.s.sociate with the idea of a king. Indeed, he was very blunt, and often rough and overbearing in his manners, not unfrequently doing and saying things which would scarcely be pardoned in a person of inferior station. When thwarted or opposed in any way he was irritable and violent, and he evinced continually a temper that was very far from being amiable. In a word, though his society was eagerly sought by all whom he was willing to a.s.sociate with, he seems to have made no real friends. Those who knew him admired his intelligence and his energy, and they respected his power, but he was not a man that any one could love.
Amsterdam, though it was the great commercial centre of Holland--and, indeed, at that time, of the world--was not the capital of the country.
The seat of government was then, as now, at the Hague. Accordingly, after remaining as long at Amsterdam as Peter wished to amuse himself in the s.h.i.+p-yards, the emba.s.sy moved on to the Hague, where it was received in a very formal and honorable manner by the king and the government.
The presence of Peter could not be openly referred to, but very special and unusual honors were paid to the emba.s.sy in tacit recognition of it.
At the Hague were resident ministers from all the great powers of Europe, and these all, with one exception, came to pay visits of ceremony to the emba.s.sadors, which visits were of course duly returned with great pomp and parade. The exception was the minister of France. There was a coolness existing at this time between the Russian and the French governments on account of something Peter had done in respect to the election of a king of Poland, which displeased the French king, and on this account the French minister declined taking part in the special honors paid to the emba.s.sy.
The Hague was at this time perhaps the most influential and powerful capital of Europe. It was the centre, in fact, of all important political movements and intrigues for the whole Continent. The emba.s.sy accordingly paused here, to take some rest from the fatigues and excitements of their long journey, and to allow Peter time to form and mature plans for future movements and operations.
[1] For the situation of Riga in relation to Moscow, and for that of the other places visited by the emba.s.sy, the reader must not fail to refer to a map of Europe.