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1718.

a Prey to Tyrants, and fubject to that Slavery they have fo long groaned under.

You are much mistaken, if you think it is fufficient for a Prince to have good Generals to act under his Command. All Mens Eyes are fixed upon the King; his Inclinations are ftudied and purfued, as all the World perceives. My Brother, for Inftance, during his Reign, was fond of Magnificence in Drefs, and took Delight in Horfes. This was by no means the Tafte of the Country; but the Inclination. of the Prince foon gained Ground among his Subjects, who are led to imitate him in what he loves, as they difregard what he hates.

If the People are so easily given to change in an Affair of Pleafure, will they not be apt to forget, in Courfe of Time, and even more eafily abandon the Ufe of Arms, which cannot be exercifed without fome Labour and Pains, if they are not constantly inured to it.

You have no Inclination to learn the Bufinefs of War, nor apply yourfelf to it, and confequently can never poffibly be acquainted with it. How then can you command over others, and judge of the Reward which they deferve who do their Duty, or punish those who neglect it? You can do nothing of yourfelf, and will be obliged to judge by the Eyes and Affiftance of another, like a helpless Bird who is fed by its Dam.

You urge, that your Want of Health will not allow you to fupport the Fatigues of War; but this Excufe is no better than the reft. I do not require Fatigues from you; I should only be glad to fee fuch an Inclination in you which is not in the Power of Sickness to prevent. Enquire of those who lived in my Bro

ther's

ther's Reign: His Health was far more indifpofed than ever yours was; he was utterly unable to manage a rough Horfe, and could hardly mount one; but he loved Horfes, and for this Reafon there never was, and perhaps never will be again in the Country, fo fine a Stable as he had.

You fee by this, that Succefs does not always depend upon Labour, but upon Inclination. If you think, that the Affairs of fome Princes are attended with Succefs, tho' themfelves be not present in the War, you are certainly in the Right; but tho' they be not present, their Inclination is there, and it is the Business they understand.

For Inftance, the late King of France did not always make War in Perfon; but every one knows how fond he was of Military Expeditions, and how many glorious Exploits he performed, fo that his Campaigns have been named the Theatre and School of the World. Nor was his Inclination confined only to Military Affairs; he had Regard alfo to Mechanick Arts, Manufactures, and other Establishments, which have rendered his Kingdom more flourishing than those of his Neighbours.

And now, after these Remonftrances, I return to my first Subject, which concerns you.,

I am a Man, and by Confequence muft die; and whom fhall I leave behind me to finish what, by God's Grace, I have begun, and preferve what, in Part, I have received? A Man, who, like the Sluggard in the Gospel, hides his Talent in the Ground, and neglects to exert the Faculties which God has given him.

B 4

Call

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1718.

Call to Mind the Obftinacy of your Temper, and the Perverseness of your Difpofition. How often have I reproached you with them, and even corrected you for them? and for how many Years have I defifted from speaking any longer of them? But all has been to no Purpose; and my Reproofs have been fruitless. I have only loft my Time and beaten the Air. You do not fo much as ftrive to grow better, and all your Satisfaction feems to confift in Lazinefs and Inactivity. What you ought to be moft ashamed of, as being a real Mifery, you feem to be delighted with, without foreseeing the dangerous Confequences attending upon it, with Reference both to yourself and the whole State. It is a great Truth St. Paul has taught us, when he fays, If a Man cannot govern his own Family, how shall he be able to govern the Church of God.

After having confidered all these Inconveniences, and reflected upon them, as I fee I have not been able to engage you by any Motives to do as you ought, I have judged it convenient to lay before you in Writing this Act of my laft Will, refolving ftill to wait a little longer before I come to a final Execution of my Purpose, to try whether you will amend or no; and if not, be affured that I'll deprive you of the Succeffion, and cut you off as an unprofitable Member.

Do not think, that because I have no other Child, I fay this only with a Defign to fright you. I will certainly do what I fay, if it fhall

* This Letter was written eighteen Days before the Birth of the Czarewitz, PETER PETROWITZ, and jo the Czarewitz ALEXIS was then his only Son.

fhall fo please God. For as I fpare not my own Life for the Good of my Country, and the Safety of my People, why fhould I fpare you, who will not be at the Pains to be worthy of them? I fhall rather chufe to tranfmit them into the Hands of a worthy Stranger, than give them to an unworthy Son.

The Original is figned with his Majesty's own

Hand,

PETER.

The Anfwer of the Czarewitz to his Czarian Majefty, written three Days after the Birth of the Lord Czarewitz, PETER PETROWITZ.

I

Moft Clement Lord and Father,

Have read the Writing your Majefty gave me on the 27th of October, 1715, after the Interment of my late Spouse.

I have nothing to reply to it, but that if it is your Majefty's Pleasure to deprive me of the Succeffion to the Crown of Ruffia, by Reason of my Inability, your Will be done. I even earnestly request it at your Majefty's Hands, as I do not think myself fit for the Government. My Memory's much weakened, and without it there is no Poffibility of managing Affairs my Mind and Body are much decayed by the Distempers to which I have been fubject, which renders me uncapable of governing so many People, who muft neceffarily require a more vigorous Man at their Head than I am.

For which Reafon I fhould not afpire to the Succeffion of the Crown of Ruffia after you, whom God long preferve; tho' I had no Bro

ther,

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1718. ther, as I have at prefent, whom I pray God alfo to preserve. Nor will I ever hereafter lay Claim to the Succeffion, as I call God to Witnefs by a folemn Oath; in Confirmation whereof, I write and fign the prefent Letter with my own Hand.

I give my Children into your Hands; and, for my Part, defire no more than a bare Maintenance fo long as I live, leaving all the reft to your Confideration and good Pleasure.

Your most bumble Servant,

And Son,

ALEXIS.

His Czarian Majefty's fecond LETTER to the Czarewitz, written the 19th of January, 1716.

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The laft Admonition.

S my Illness hath hitherto prevented me from letting you know the Refolutions I have taken, with Reference to the Answer you returned to my former Letter, I now fend you my Reply. I obferve that you there speak of the Succeffion, as though I had need of your Confent, to do herein what absolutely depends upon my own Will. But whence comes it you make no Mention of your voluntary Incapacity, and the Averfion you conftantly exprefs to publick Affairs, which I fpoke of in a more particular Manner than I did of your unhealthy Indifpofition, though the latter is the only Thing you take Notice of? I farther expreffed

my

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