ment of the meditated revolution. The young Elizabeth Petrowna, daughter of Peter the great, and aunt of the reigning Emperor, engaged in the plot. Adınitted to the intimate Society of Peter the second, who had been hitherto kept under the most severe restraint, they soon inspired him with a desire for a more uncontrouled and agreeable mode of life; while the pleasures and amusements which were every day procured for him, induced him to consider the yoke imposed by Menzicoff as an insupportable tyranny. Menzicoff, when his health was re-established, was greatly chagrined to see the change which had taken place. He perceived that it was become necessary to practise certain compliances; and though he kept the Princess Elizabeth at as great a distance as it was in his power to do, as she was more to be feared than any other, on account of the natural authority she would possess over her nephew, he did not think it prudent to thwart the friendship which the Emperor had conceived for the young Dolgorouki, as he could entertain no suspicion of a boy of his age, and wishing at the same time to make a merit of this act of complaisance. It was with the same view that he consented to conduct the Czar to Petershof, a royal country house at the distance of a few leagues from Petersburgh, and where he was to enjoy, for the first time, the pleasures of the chase. This journey was fatal to Menzicoff. Osterman regarded it as a most favourable opportunity for the execution of the projects which occupied him: and he flattered himself that he should make a profitable use in the capital of those moments which the minister was wasting at Petershof. He communicated his designs to the senators of the highest rank, and to the commanding officers of the guards, and made it apparent to them that the moment was come, when they might dissolve the tyrannical power of Menzicoff, and deliver the Czar and his empire from the bane~ ful influence that oppressed them.-They did not hesitate to join in a revolution which they so much desired. Measures were accordingly taken and the hours were appointed. The officers answered for their soldiers; and the senators under different pretexts, agreed to repair to the vicinity of Petershof to receive the Emperor who was to be delivered into their hands. This was a principal object; and the young Dolgorouki, who had been instructed by his father, undertook to determine Peter to engage in this decisive measure. He slept in the chamber of the Prince; and at midnight he quitted his bed, awakened his imperial friend, and urged him to free himself by flight, from the state of slavery in which Menzicoff kept him. He represented to him that he would never reign till he was removed from the power of that minister,

within the walls of Petersburgh, and in the midst of the senate. The Czar did not hesi tate a moment, but escaped through a window with Dolgorouki, traversed the garden unobserved by the guard which was placed at the doors of his apartment, and immediately found himself surrounded by the senators and a great number of the lords of his court. He proceeded directly to the capital, and arrived there before the dawn of day.

The flight of the emperor was soon disco vered at Petershof, and when the fatal intelligence was communicated to Menzicoff, he received it as if he had been struck by a thunderbolt. Nevertheless, he did not yet despair of his fortune He hastened to Petersburgh,

but, on his arrival every thing he saw confirmed his misfortune. The guard was chang ed, and the garrison under arins. On addressing himself to some of the officers, he was informed that they had received their or ders from the emperor. In this state of doubt and perplexity he proceeded to his palace, where he beheld nothing but solitude and disgrace. No sooner had he entered it, than the place was surrounded by grenadiers, and an officer, at the head of a detachment, presented him with the orders of arrest by command of the Czar.

Having risen through all degrees of fortune, Menzicoff must now sink through all those of disgrace. He was ordered to retire immediately to his estate at Oranienburgh, but was permitted to carry away all his valua ble effects, and to be attended by all his domestics; he still continued also to be treated not only with attention but with honour, His enemics did not yet know to what length they might be able to push their victory and their vengeance, and his former fortune scern ed to predominate over their hatred and their authority. The Czar gave no orders respecting him, but such as had been especially de manded; and it appeared that neither Dolgorouki or Osterman, had sufficient courage to ask for all those which they wished to ob tain.

The remainder of that day and the succeeding night were allowed him to prepare for his departure, and he employed the allotted interval with that steady mind and unconquered spirit which never forsook him, and which appeared at this moment to render him superior to himself. Unfortunately he affected also to appear superior to his enemies, and to brave them by a pompous ostentation, instead of opposing to them a modest and tranquil resolution. This was the last of his errors. He took his departure from his palace at noonday, and the cavalcade consisted of his most magnificent equipages, and the most brilliant of them contained his family. His domestics, horses and baggage, formed such a numerous suite, that, in the midst of his retinue, ke

had more the appearance of a triumphant warrior returning from victory, than of a criminal retiring into exile. With all this pompous parade he passed through Petersburgh: he saluted with the utmost politeness all those whom he saw at the windows, and if, among the crouds of people assembled on the occasion, he discerned any one whom he particularly knew, he called him by his name and bade him adieu.

It is natural to suppose that his enemies would derive advantage from this imprudent ostentation, and represent it as an insult to the sovereign who inflicted the punishment; but it may be asked, in whatever manner he had conducted himself, would he have been spared? Was it not already determined to pursue him to the last disgrace?-Before he had travelled two leagues, he was overtaken by a second detachment, and the officer who commanded it was commissioned to demand the delivery of the orders of Russia, as well as of those with which he had been honoured by foreign princes. "Here they are," said he without the least emotion, "take back "these proofs of my foolish vanity, I have "collected them all in this coffer, as I had "not the least doubt they would begin with

despoiling me of them, but I ought to have had them on my person, to have "heightened my humiliation."

It must be acknowledged, that, if his departure from Petersburgh was proud, this fanguage was humbled. But if pride in misfortune exasperates hatred, humility does not disarm it. On his arrival at Trover, a town situated on the road which leads fron Petersburgh, to Moscow, he was informed, that orders had been issued to seize on his effects, and to reduce him to the common necessaries of life. His guard was doubled, and the last officer who arrived, informed him that he must descend from his carriage, and with his wife and children enter the waggons which had been sent for their conveyance." I am prepared for every thing," answered he in a tone of indifference, do your duty; the more you take from me, the less disquietude you will leave me. I only complain "of those who are about to revel in my

spoils." He then quitted his carriage, and stepped into the wagon with an air of tranquillity which astonished the officer, and affected the whole troop with sentiments of commiseration. His train of equipages was sent back to Petersburgh; his servants were discharged, and he proceeded on the journey which had been appointed for him: His wife and children were placed in separate waggons, and he was 'not allowed the consolation of conversing with them but when, at any time, he could seize an accidental opportunity of speaking to them; he availed himself of it to exhort them to give way to the storm; to be resigned but not to despair.

In this manner he arrived at Oranienburgh, a small town on his estates, situate between the province of Cazan and that of the Ukraine, at the distance of two hundred and fifty leagues from Petersburgh. But his enemies, to whom all fallen as he was, he continued to be an object of fear and alarm, thought he was still too near them: and, under this impression, Dolgorouki and Osterman, whose authority was absolute, appointed commissioners to institute his trial at Oranienburgh; and he was condemned to finish his days in Siberia, at Beresow in the desert of Jakoustk, on the river Lena, at the distance of fifteen hundred leagues from Mos

cow.

He was permitted to take eight servants with him; but, previous to his departure he was disrobed of the dress, suited to his former rank, which he had hitherto worn, and was compelled to assume that of the Moscovite peasants. His wife and his children had no indulgence shewn to them; they were cloathed in the same rude uniform; consisting of the coarsest woollen cloth, with pelisses of the coarsest fur, and bonnets of sheepskin.

The Princess Menzicoff, smitten as she was by such rapid and multiplied misfortunes, could not support the horrid and fatiguing journey: she had lost her sight from continual weeping, and expired near Casan, in the arms of her husband. She was a woman of pre-eminent merit, distinguished by her birth and by her beauty, and whose virtues never relaxed in the brilliancy of her youth and the height of her fortune. Her memory was long held in veneration at the court of Russia, for the sweetness of her disposition, her sincere piety, and her charity to the poor and wretched. Menzicoff dug the grave with his own hands in which he interred her, and he scarce had time allowed him to shed a few tears over it. He now proceeded by water as far as Tobolsk the capital of Siberia.

The report of his disgrace had preceded him thither, and it may be easily conceived that the people there, would expect with no common eagerness, the arrival of a man so famous as he was, who had so long made Russia tremble beneath his power, and was now in a condition to awaken pity in the hardest hearts. As he landed from the boat, two Russian noblemen who had been banished to Tobolsk during his administration, pushed through the crowd and loaded him with reproaches: another still more violent threw dirt in the faces of the young Menzicoff and his two sisters, when the wretched father exclaimed, "it is at me, it is at me, alone, that you should cast your filth: alas! these chil"dren have done you no injury."

66

While he was in the prison of Tobolsk, the viceroy of Siberia sent him five hundred rou bles by order of Peter II. for the subsistence of

himself and his family. These he employed in providing every thing proper to assist him in contending with the misery of a desert, where he might otherwise perish for want. He according furnished himself with the necessary instruments of labour, with grain for sowing, pots for fishing, and a supply of salted meat, on which he depended for subsistence, till the place of his abode was brought into a state to produce food. Such cares as these proceed from a wef ordered, calm and powerful mind, that will never debase itself by despair, but feels a capacity to do and suffer every thing: It is the proper courage of man ; if it be true, that he is born to combat and to suffer.

He now left Tobolsk, but always attended by an escort who never lost sight of him, and in an uncovered waggon, drawn by a single horse occasionally relieved by dogs. It employed five months to traverse the immense deserts of Siberia from Tobolsk to Beresow, in which long journey he was exposed to all the inclemencies of the open air, in such a rude and severe climate; nevertheless his health, and that of his children, experienced no diminution. An unalterable patience supported him throughout, and he never appeared to bend for a moment beneath the rigour of his fate.

It was a singular occurrence, that having been admitted into a Siberian hut for the night, he should see a Russian officer enter it whom he knew, as having served under him, and who was returning from Kamschatska, where he had been sent, during the reign of Peter the great, on a commission relative to the discoveries which Captain Bering had been employed to make on the sea of Amur.-When Menzicoff saluted him and called him by his name, the officer was astonished to find that he was known by any one in that remote region; but vain would be the attempt to describe his feelings when he found that the person who addressed him was Prince Menzicoff whom he had left in Russia in such a state of grandeur and power, as to render it almost impossible that he should be reduced to his present abject condition :-But thus he saw him, and there he beheld his son mending the soles of his boots, and his daughters sitting on the ground and moistening in a wooden bowl of milk, the hard crusts of a black loaf.

"That young

lass," said Menzicoff, pointing to one of them," had the honour to be betrothed "to our emperor Peter the second."

The officer who knew nothing of what had passed in Russia during the period of his absence naturally expressed his astonishment; when Menzicoff related all that had happened to him, from the death of Peter, to the moment of his own exile. "You will," added he," find Dolgorouki and Oster

68

"" man at the head of the government, and you may describe to them the state in "which you found me. Their hatred may "be flattered by it; but assure them that my "mind is more at large, and far more tran"quil, than it ever was in the days of my prosperity."

66

:

Arrived at the place of his residence, Menzicoff, immediately occupied himself in mitigating for his children the horrors of their abode, by making it yield to his labour all the produce that labour could draw from it. He began by grubbing up a piece of ground sufficient to provide for his immediate necessities and there he sowed the seeds which he had brought with him. His cabin was very small, but with the assistance of his servants, he contrived to build a habitable dwelling. Each of his children had a separate department in the interior of the house. The eldest daughter, who had been betrothed to the Emperor, had the care of the kitchen; her sister's employment was to wash the linen and to mend the clothes: and two servants assisted them in the more laborious and fatiguing parts of their work.

He had arrived but a short time at Beresow, when he received a present which was as useful as it was unexpected. It consisted of a bull, and four cows in calf, a ram, and several sheep, and a great number of fowls. This was a magnificent gift. These were real riches. But he could never discover from whose hand he received this act of real friendship and benignant bounty.

Religion, which is the last asylum of fallen grandeur and a disturbed mind, appeared to be the principal support and occupation of Menzicoff. He had constructed an oratory, and his house, in its religious offices, resembled a cloister. The whole family assembled daily for public worship; in the morning and at noon; in the evening and at midnight.

He had not been six months in the desert, when his eldest daughter was attacked by the small pox; he was her nurse and her physician, but all his care was in vain; he saw her die as he had seen her mother; and he recited over her lifeless form, the prayers which the Greek ritual prescribes for the dead. She was buried in his oratory, and he marked the place where he wished to be interred near her remains, and which it was appointed by the being who measures out our days and years, that he should shortly occupy. The disease which had carried off his eldest daughter, was communicated to his other children; he had, however, the happiness to see them recover, but it was for a short time that he enjoyed it. Paternal solicitude more painful and afflicting than the fatigue he underwent and the privations he suffered, exhausted his strength; its decay he endeavoured

in vain to conceal. A slow fever brought him to his end. "How happy should I be," said he, at his last hour, if I had only to "render an account to God, of the period of "myexile." He died in the month of November, 1729, in the arms of his children, exhorting them, while the power of utterance remained to him, to remember his errors and to avoid them.

The officer appointed to guard him took the first opportunity of transmitting the news of his death to Petersburgh; and indulged his children with more liberty than they had hitherto enjoyed. One day when the young Princess Menzicoff was returning from the church at Beresow, she was astonished to hear herself called by her name, and to see a man, who, from the lattice of a hut covered with snow, made signs for her to approach. How great must have been her astonishment when she recognised Dolgorouki, the most bitter enemy of her father; and who had been

the author of all the misfortunes of her family. Another striking example of the instability of human things! The court of Petersburgh had undergone a total change. Peter II. was dead, and Dolgorouki had contrived by his intrigues to place the Princess Anne, the niece of Peter the first, on the throne, to the prejudice of Elizabeth Pertowna, the daughter of that great man, and who afterwards reigned. The Empress Anne, oppressed by the weight of her obligations to him, and having given up herself and the management of her empire to foreigners, banished Dolgorouki, with all his family to the same Siberian deserts, where Menzicoff had finished his days. He had been treated even with greater rigour than Menzicoff; his wife was already dead; and one of his daughters was then dying. He concluded his narrative by uttering the most horrid imprecations against the empress, and her favourites. The violence of his emotions alarmed the princess and she hastily took her leave. When she communicated this adventure to her brother, his vindictive spirit broke forth on the occasion; but the officer who guarded them, threatened to deprive him of the little liberty he enjoyed, if he attempted to insult Dolgorouki in his misfortune, and exhorted him to follow the example of his father.

In a short time after, the minister of the Empress Anne, being informed of the fate of Menzicoff, consented to the return of the children, but more from interest than humanity. All the property of their father had been seized, and in the inventory of his ef fects, it appeared that he had placed considerable sums in the banks of Amsterdam and Venice; which their respective directors refused to pay to any one but the right heirs of Menzicoff, who must also give legal proofs that they had the entire disposition of their

ney.

property. The Empress having a desire to make the fortune of Biren, brother of the Count of that name, her chamberlain and favourite, whom she afterwards created Duke of Courland, had it in view to give him in marriage the daughter of Menzicoff, who would now bring a portion amounting to three millions of livres, without the interest. An order for the recal of this unfortunate family was accordingly expedited, and an officer dispatched who had orders to provide every possible accommodation for their jourOn receiving this unexpected news, they, in the first effusion of their joy, proceeded to return thanks to God in the church of Beresow; and as they passed by the hut of Dolgorouki, the young Menzicoff, remembering the lesson which he had lately received, spoke to him in terms of compassion and kindness. When he mentioned that they were free and recalled to court, Dolgorouki breathed a profound sigh, and conjured the children of Menzicoff to forget their former enmity, and interest themselves for him at the court of Petersburgh. "Remember some"times," said he to them," the wretches "whom you leave in the desert; we are

sinking beneath the weight of our misery; "look through the lattice we beseech you, "and see my daughter, and my daughter-in"law borne down by disease, stretched "along on planks, and having no expecta"tion but to die; they have not sufficient strength to raise themselves; but refuse "them not the sad consolation of receiving "" your adieus."

This spectacle of wretchedness did not fail to excite the most painful and commiserating emotions in the bossom of the young Menzicoff and his sister." We do not promise "you," said the prince," to speak in your "favour at court, as that might be attended "with danger to ourselves; but you may "become the master of that habitation "which we are about to quit; it is provided "with all the necessaries of life; and till a "better fortune is your's, receive this pre"sent, in the same spirit with which we "offer it."

On the following day they departed, after having paid their last visit to the oratory, and wept once more over the grave of their father. They returned to Moscow with all possible expedition, and were kindly received at court, where they conducted themselves with that modesty and discretion which they had learned in the school of misfortune. The Empress advanced the brother to the rank of captain in the regiment of guards, and married the sister to Biren. It is confidently said, that Madame de Biren always preserved, but unknown to her husband, the peasant's dress which she had worn in her exile. She kept it in a secret place in her apartment, and

found a pleasure in an occasional contemplation of it. She practised, throughout her life, the virtues which her father had displayed only in the time of his disgrace. He declared, indeed, that he never was more happy than in his exile: but, be that as it may,-it may be incontestibly asserted, that he was never so great.

PROPOSITA PHILANTHROPICA.
-homo sum

Humanum nihil a me alienum puto. MISSIONARY SOCIETY. Twelfth Report. May 15, 1806.

The missionaries in Otaheite have made no progress in converting the natives. This mission we understand will be withdrawn. The population of this island is diminishing very rapidly: it is thought that four or five thousand is the utmost number of its inhabitants. Such is the effect of that dreadful disease which poisons the springs of life: and of that inhumanity which steels the heart against the impressions of parental affection. In Africa, the Hottentots are attentive; and some appear to be serious: but the character of the Dutch boors, is degraded, by the reports of the missionaries, almost beyond credibility. A mission is sent to Tranquebar. At Madras, the missionaries have received the protection of the Government. At Ceylon, the Hon. the Governor has received the missionaries very favourably. China is in contemplation. This Society patronizes an effort addressed to the Jews.

FUNDS OF THIS SOCIETY.-Receipts. Balance of last year 252 9 11

Collections, Donations, &c. in

London and vicinity.

Ditto in the country.

Exchequer bills sold

Dividend on 16,000. 3 per cent.

consols, one year.

Ditto on 5,500. 4 per cent. con

sols

Ditto on 3,700. 5 per cents.

2212 2 10 1851 9

2061 9 4

480 0 0

220 0 0

185 0 0 11 9 7 £7273 13 5

STATE OF THE CATHOLIC RELIGION AND MISSIONS IN NORTH AMERICA. Trans

lated from the Mercure de France, July 5, 1806.

In that part of America, which comprehends the states of Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusets, and the province of Maine, which belongs to the fastmentioned state, there are as yet but three missions established: the chief of them is at Boston, the other two are in the province of Maine. That at Boston, and that of Newcastle are of a recent date; the other is an Indian mission, established long since by the Jesuits of Canada.

Prior to the American revolution, the catholic religion was proscribed in the pro vince of Massachusets, and almost in every other part of New-England: and although the penal laws, dictated by puritan enmity, at the establishment of the first colonies, were in some measure mitigated: they still continued very severe, when the revolution broke out; but at that time, partly from a desire of conciliating France and Canada, and chiefly from policy, and the prevailing philosophical ideas respecting tolerance (which had sprung up among Americans as natural consequences of their principles), a system of universal forbearance was adopted, by virtue of which such laws as were inimical to the catholic religion were repealed in some states, and among others in Massachusets, and its dependencies. In others, the presbyterians have a great superiority, and therefore deprive the catholics, indirectly, of certain civil privileges, and occasion some difficulties in the exercise of the clerical administration, notwithstanding the profession and public exercise of this religion be left entirely free.

The

However, when the legal obstacles were removed, others still more powerful, perhaps, prevailed; namely, the prejudices against, and abhorrence of the catholic religion, which the followers of Calvin, and of Knox, retained, and which the policy of England had been attentive to promote on account of the vicinity of the French in Canada. whole people was persuaded that the catholic religion was an abominable perversion, and those who professed it were so many mon sters; and, although, the intercourse of the Americans with the French and other European nations, which the revolution contributed to extend, removed or diminished that impression in the minds of a certain number of persons, yet the mass of the people continue to hold it, and it is still predominant in some parts of the interior. The ideas and sentiments which that impression was naturally calculated to produce, prevented most catholics from settling in the country; and others, whom circumstances had brought there, from confessing their religious principles. Even at the period of the French revolution, there were but very few at Boston,