Previous to the reign of Peter the great, the Russian empire had been far behind the other nations of Europe in the progress of civilization. Even the highest classes amongst the people were extremely ignorant, very few of them could even read or write, and they spent the principal part of their time in feasting and drinking. They had neither ships, nor sailors, and no manufacturing class of people, except a few of the serfs who worked for the sole benefit of their masters. The fine arts were unknown, and the most useful arts were very imperfectly understood. At that time Peter, shared the throne with his elder brother, Ivan; but Ivan, being only a little above an idiot in mind, was a mere cipher. Peter, on the contrary, was possessed of a powerful intellect and great sagacity, and he had moreover an enterprising spirit. One of his early acts on ascending the throne, was, to send a number of the young nobles of his court into Italy, Germany, and Holland, to gain instruction in military and naval affairs. He also sent to foreign countries for ship-builders and various artisans, but not satisfied with that, he afterwards resolved on visiting some of those countries himself, for the express purpose of learning how his own kingdom might best be benefited.
In pursuance of this plan, he, together with a few chosen associates, first went to Holland, at which place he worked as a common labourer in the dockyards, no one but those of his own party knowing who he was. He next came to England. It was his purpose to visit Italy likewise, but a revolt amongst his people at home, and rumours that his sister Sophia was trying to make herself empress of Russia, obliged him to return after an absence of only two years.
Having now acquired considerable knowledge in ship-building and other valuable arts, Peter began to see the advantages which would accrue to his country, by the establishment of a port on the Baltic sea, at the mouth of the Neva. There were many difficulties in the way of such an undertaking, and one of the most formidable was, the low marshy state of the land. These difficulties however, he determined upon conquering. Had the Czar attempted to accomplish the same ends by justifiable means, we should admire his forethought and genius, but as on the contrary, he carried them out by force and cruelty, every humane heart must condemn the act as one of tyranny and oppression. No seemingly desirable end can justify us in using unlawful means.
To provide workmen for the undertaking, the Emperor in the year 1703, sent bands of soldiers into the villages with orders to compel those men who were capable of labour to engage in the task. Our young friends have no doubt heard of the press gangs which were at one time allowed in England, and of the conscription in France. Well, this was a somewhat similar procedure, only instead of being forced to become sailors and soldiers, as the pressed men and conscripts were, these poor people were compelled to make roads and rear a city in an immense bog. The peasants, or serfs, as they are called in Russia, were at that period in a very degraded state. They were considered as much the property of the nobles on whose estates they lived, as any other live stock. Their houses mostly consisted of but one room. In the centre of this room was a large brick oven: in this they baked their black rye bread; and the top served for a bed for the whole family at night. Their only articles of furniture were, a lamp suspended from the ceiling, and a rough bench or two fastened to the walls. They were clothed in sheepskins, and their food was of the coarsest kind. Bad as was their lot, however, very few, if any of them, were willing to exchange it for labour on public works of any kind, especially in such an unhealthy situation as the marshes we have spoken of. The impure air which rises from swampy ground is almost sure to bring on fevers and other disorders. Then no care was taken to make them as comfortable as the circumstances would have permitted; no houses were provided for them to sleep in, and the tools they had given them to work with were so unsuitable and bad, that their labours were thereby made much harder than they would otherwise have been.
Exposed thus to hardships of every kind, the men, as might be expected, perished by hundreds. But these disastrous results were not allowed to interrupt the work: for as fast as they died off, others were pressed into the service and marched off to the place. In Russia the Emperor has absolute power over all his subjects: even the nobles, therefore, dared not to oppose the mandate, had they been so disposed. Among the unhappy individuals who were chosen for the purpose of filling up vacancies made by the sick and deceased, was our friend Michael Kopt. His general home being away from any of the villages, he, for some time, escaped observation; but when strong, healthy men became scarce in the neighbourhood, he and some of his companions were pressed into the service, only a few minutes being given them for preparing, and bidding adieu to their weeping friends.
Poor Margaret was for some time inconsolable, and Gerald was almost in as much grief at seeing her suffer. He tried to cheer her by every means in his power; but finding that she was hopeless of ever having her husband back again, he formed a resolution which our young readers shall hear at another time.
CHAPTER IV.
A GENEROUS RESOLVE.
At the mouth of the river Neva were several little islands; on one of these islands the Emperor had a hut built for himself, and a wooden house for his favourite minister Prince Mentzikoff, who was his companion in all his enterprises. It was Peter’s fancy to take up his abode on that wild spot and watch the progress of the city he had planned. On another of these little islands a fortress was reared, surrounded by a rampart of earth. This fortress was the station of the engineer who directed the works, and the home of a few of the soldiers. The inhabitants of Moscow were at first jealous of the new city. They foresaw that it would, in the course of time, from its very situation, be a more desirable abode for purposes of trade than the ancient capital; and they greatly opposed the plan, lest their dignity should decrease as well as their interests suffer; but the Czar was not a man to yield to any, however high their rank might be; and he persevered with his plans without regarding the dissatisfaction which was so generally expressed. The houses of the new city were at first built wholly of wood, and chiefly inhabited by foreign artisans. Peter, seeing that the Russian nobles and wealthy merchants would not of their own free-will take houses in St. Petersburg, published a decree obliging them to do so. At the same time, however, he gave orders that the houses in the best part of the city should be built of bricks and roofed with tiles. He also made a law (there being no stone-quarries in the neighbourhood) that every large vessel which came into the port should bring thirty stones, and every boat ten, towards the erection of bridges and other public buildings. Every peasant’s cart was likewise compelled to bring three stones; and by these means materials were raised free of cost for the public works.
As the place at which Michael was set to work was not many miles distant from the abode of his family, he had an opportunity of seeing them occasionally, which was a pleasure denied to most of the labourers. Margaret and Gerald often went together, and though it was frequently the case that they were only allowed to speak with him for a few minutes, they were glad to undertake the journey even for that brief joy.
As Gerald was too young to carry on the fishing craft alone, he and Margaret resided wholly with her parents. Gerald helped the old man to make and mend fishing-tackle, which was now their principal means of support; and Margaret did anything she could to earn a trifle, still their circumstances were very much worse than when Michael was at home following his trade. Though Michael was naturally strong, and had all his life been used to hardship, he could not bear the labour to which he was set, so well as many of his companions. The air of the marshes was very different from the sea-breezes, but the principal cause of his sinking under his toil was, his spirit was crushed. While a man possesses a feeling of independence, he may meet difficulties and hardships with a bold front; but when he feels himself to be a slave, (and these poor people were slaves though they bore not the name,) his energies are in most cases benumbed, and his spirit is broken.