about thirty persons, he traveled with the utmost possible dispatch to
Moscow.

[1] William, Prince of Orange, was descended on the female side from
the English royal family, and was a Protestant. Accordingly, when
James II., and with him the Catholic branch of the royal family of
England, was expelled from the throne, the British Parliament called
upon William to ascend it, he being the next heir on the Protestant
side.

CHAPTER VIII.

THE REBELLION.

1698

Precautions taken by the Czar--His uneasiness--His fury against his
enemies--His revolting appearance--Imperfect
communication--Conspiracy--Arguments used--Details of the plot--Pretext
of the guards--They commence their march--Alarm in Moscow--General
Gordon--A parley with the rebels--Influence of the Church--The clergy on
the side of the rebels--Conservatism--The Russian clergy--The armies
prepare for battle--The insurgents defeated--Massacre of
prisoners--Confession--Peter's arrival at Moscow--His terrible
severity--Peter becomes himself an executioner--The Guards--Gibbets--The
writer of the address to Sophia--The old Russian nobility--Arrival of
artisans--Retirement of Sophia--Her death

It will be recollected by the reader that Peter, before he set out on his
tour, took every possible precaution to guard against the danger of
disturbances in his dominions during his absence. The Princess Sophia
was closely confined in her convent. All that portion of the old Russian
Guards that he thought most likely to be dissatisfied with his proposed
reforms, and to take part with Sophia, he removed to fortresses at a
great distance from Moscow. Moscow itself was garrisoned with troops
selected expressly with reference to their supposed fidelity to his
interests, and the men who were to command them, as well as the great
civil officers to whom the administration of the government was committed
during his absence, were appointed on the same principle.

But, notwithstanding all these precautions, Peter did not feel entirely
safe. He was well aware of Sophia's ambition, and of her skill in
intrigue, and during the whole progress of his tour he anxiously watched
the tidings which he received from Moscow, ready to return at a moment's
warning in case of necessity. He often spoke on this subject to those
with whom he was on terms of familiar intercourse. On such occasions he
would get into a great rage in denouncing his enemies, and in threatening
veng