1718.

As to the Letter of which fhe has made a Depofition, and which I denied, faying it was a Plan of the Siege of Belgrade, I now acknowledge it was not a Plan, but a Letter which I had written to the Archbishop of Kiovia, a little before M. Tolstoi came to Naples. I will give the Contents of this Letter by and by.

Tho' I made my firft Confeffion in Writing, I had really forgotten both this, and what regards the Czarewna Mary, upon my having difcourfed with her upon the Defign of my Efcape; and tho' I afterwards recollected it, I was afraid to tell it. The Compaffion I bore to the Princefs, was the Motive of my concealing her other Difcourfe.

I do not deny what John Afonaffief has depofed concerning the Speeches which fell from me in a Fit of Drunkennefs, tho' I do not remember it Word for Word; but I was drunk, and when I was in that Condition, I commonly faid what came in my Mind, and having Confidence in the People that were about me, gave no heed to my Difcourfe.

The Subftance of the Letter to the Archbishop of
Kiovia.

YOUR

OUR Holiness was ignorant of my Departure from Ruffia, because it is long fince I wrote to you. I now acquaint you, that I left my Country upon a Refolution that was taken of forcing me into a Monastery. It was this Reason that obliged me to retire. When God fhall recal me from a Refuge I have found among my Benefactors, to return to you into Ruffia, I beg

you

you would receive me; and for the present, let those who are defirous to hear of me, know that I am in good Health, and acquaint them with the Reason I had to leave the Country.

I fent this Letter to Vienna by the Secretary of the Viceroy of Naples, but I do not know whether it was delivered; I am also uncertain what became of the foregoing Letters, which I committed to the Care of Count Schonborn's Secretary; however, I had no Answer from Vienna whether they were received or no.

I heard Dubrofski talk of the Epilepsy, and made Reflections upon it.

The Czarewitz was examined the fame Day, upon the following Articles, drawn up by his Czarian Majesty.

His Anfwers were figned with his own Hand.

Article the First.

Who of the Laity were acquainted with your Defigns and Difpofitions to be disobedient? What Difcourfe paffed betwixt you and them upon this Subject?

ANSWER.

I know of no one whatsoever that had any Knowledge of my ill Defign, or spoke of it to me, except thofe I have already confeffed.

Article the Second.

Was what Affonafief has depofed concerning the Rebellion before the Settlement of the Succeffion?

1718.

AN

1718.

ANSWER.

When I talked to Affonaffief about the Rebellion it was in a drunken Fit, and I thought the People were in Arms.

Article the Third.

What was the Meaning of the Words at prefent, which were twice expreffed in the Minutes of the Letter to the Archbishops?

once.

ANSWER.

The Words at prefent twice written were a Slip of my Pen, for I defigned to write it but The Meaning was, that they should fpread thofe Letters among the People, as I thought it might the more engage them to declare for me, having feen Examples of it in the printed Gazettes. I then thought it was wrong, and therefore blotted it out.

Article the Fourth.

When you faw in Bleyer's Letter that there was a Revolt in the Army of Mecklenbourg, you expreffed your Satisfaction, God does not Juffer Matters to proceed according to my Father's Wishes; I fuppofe you had fome Views in rejoicing in this Manner, and would have declared for the Rebels, tho' I was alive.

ANSWER.

When I was informed of the Revolt of the Army in Mecklenbourg, I expreffed my Joy by faying, that God did not permit Matters to proceed according to my Father's Wishes.

If this News had been true, and they had called for me, I fhould have joined the Male

contents;

contents; but I had no form'd Defign of going to join them without being called; on the other Hand, I fhould have been afraid to come without it; but if they had fent for me I should have gone.

I thought they would not fend for me whilst you was living, because their Design was not to remove you, and I never thought that they would dethrone you whilft you were alive; but if they had called me even before your Death, I fhould certainly have gone, if they had been ftrong enough.

The Czarewitz confessed in this last Answer, that he had criminal Defigns, which he meant to execute, even during his Father's Life-time, if Occafion offered. His Czarian Majefty ordered Meffieurs Tolstoi and Buturlin, to examine him again upon the aforefaid Letters to the Archbishops, to know in what Senfe, and with what View he had written the Words, Don't forfake me at present.

The Czarewitz affirm'd, That 'twas in the fame
Senfe he had expressed in his late Answer;
and be wrote with his own Hand the following
Account:

May 26th, 1718.

ESSIEURS TOLSTOI and Buturlin have

M demanded of me, by your
Order, with

what View I made ufe of the Words at prefent,
which are found in my Confeffion, when I wrote
to the Senate and the Archbishops not to for-
fake me.

As

1718.

1718.

As I have own'd in my last Confession, tha if the Rebels had at any Time invited me, even tho' it were in your Life-time, I would have gone to them; I wrote the Words at prefent with a Defign, that when the Matter fhould be publifh'd among the People, they might declare in my Favour, either by Solicitations or Menaces.

REFLECTIONS upon the preceding PIECES.

TH

HE better to comprehend the Care his Czarian Majesty has taken to bring back the Czarewitz into the right Way, and to make him return to it when he was fallen, that he might engage him to become worthy of the Succeffion; and to let the Publick fee how the Czarewitz, on the other Hand, has broke through all his Father's Measures, by the Oppofitions he has made to them; we fhall fet the Matter in a ftill greater Light, tho' it may be amply deduced from the preceding Pieces.

'Tis notorious, by the firft Manifefto which was publish'd upon the Arrival of the Czarewitz at Mofcow, and by the Letters his Majesty wrote to him, which are inferted above, with what reiterated Solicitations his Majefty, his Father, exhorted him to make himself capable and deferving of the Succeffion; and yet, notwithstanding, he always fhewed himself refractory.

The Czarewitz, in his Reply to the Letter which his Czarian Majefty had written to him, did not tell him the Reasons why he would not take Pains, as his Father defired, to make himfelf capable of the Succeffion: He only deceived