Petard

pe-tard', a former contrivance of war. It consisted of a hollow cylinder of gun metal open at one end but terminating in a cone at the other. It was loaded with several pounds of powder, well rammed down and secured with wadding. The open end was then fastened to a stout square of oak plank by which it was suspended. It came into use during the sixteenth century and was employed to break in castle doors, breach walls, and the like. A storming party sent forward a petarder, who hung his petard against a door, for instance, set fire to a fuse leading to the powder through the conical end, and then hastened to a place of safety. The effect of a successful discharge was much greater than that of a battering ram. The work of the petarder was attended with danger, aptly expressed by the popular saying, "hoist with his own petard." The defenders of fortifications still use a similar device in springing countermines.

Peter I (1672-1724), emperor of Russia, known also as Peter the Great. He was born near Moscow, June 7, 1672, and died at St. Petersburg, February 8, 1724. He was the third son of the Czar Alexis. His mother was noted for a small foot. His predecessor, his older brother Fedore, died 1682. His second brother Ivan was a man of feeble mind. After much intrigue Peter and Ivan were proclaimed czars jointly, with a sister, Sophia, regent. Peter betook himself to the study of mathematics and military tactics. In 1689 he married into a influential family by whose assistance he ventured to send his sister Sophia to a convent to end her days. Though Ivan did not die until 1696 Peter was virtually sole emperor.

Thus, at the early age of seventeen, Peter found himself absolutely master of an inland Asiatic empire. The people of Russia were adherents of the Greek Church, but otherwise they had no tie with the rest of Europe. The country had no water frontage save on the Arctic Ocean. Its commercial interests were chiefly with the caravan trade of eastern Asia. It was Peter's mission to make Russia a country of Europe, and this he proceeded to do against the strenuous opposition, not only of the priesthood, but the nobility of the country. His first care was to reform the army. Under the guidance of a military adventurer named Lefort from Switzerland, but of Scottish descent, he organized the loose militia of Russia into a compact standing army. For this purpose he studied the military system of Austria. He required the sons of nobility to serve in the army and to rise from the ranks by a regular system of promotion instead of receiving office through favoritism. His next step was to take the Sea of Azov and obtain a footing on the Black Sea. He then left his capital under the military command of one Gordon and set out on a tour through Europe. Arsenals and manufacturing establishments were visited. Instruments and models were purchased and sent home to be imitated. Whenever he found a workman, an architect, an officer, or an engineer of ability, he invited him to come to Russia under promise of liberal pay. In this way he attracted no small number of men of ability to his empire. For want of funds Peter's promises of reward were not always well kept. He made a thorough study of government administration, methods of collecting taxes, and the like. His heart was set on making Russia a naval power. In order to learn the details of shipbuilding he labored as a common workman in a shipyard in Holland. This part of his life is well described by John Lothrop Motley, from whose writings the following paragraphs are condensed:

One day, in the year 1697, the great Duke of Marlborough happened to be in the village of Saardam. He visited the dockyard of one Mynheer Calf, a rich shipbuilder, and was struck with the appearance of a journeyman at work there. He was a large, powerful man, dressed in a red woolen shirt and duck trousers, with a sailor's hat, and seated, with an adze in his hand, upon a rough log of timber which lay on the ground. The man's features were bold and regular; his dark brown hair fell in natural curls about his neck; his complexion was strong and ruddy, with veins somewhat distended, indicating an ardent temperament and more luxurious habits than comported with his station; and his dark, keen eye glanced from one object to another with remarkable restlessness. He was engaged in earnest conversation wth some strangers, whose remarks he occasionally interrupted, while he rapidly addressed them in a gutteral but not unmusical voice. As he became occasionally excited in conversation his features twitched convulsively, the blood rushed to his forehead, his arms were tossed about with extreme violence of gesticulation, and he seemed constantly upon the point of giving way to some explosion of passion or else falling into a fit of catalepsy. His companions, however, did not appear alarmed by his vehemence, although they seemed to treat him with remarkable deference; and after a short time his distorted features would resume their symmetry and agreeable expression, his momentary frenzy would subside, and a smile would light up his whole countenance.

The duke inquired the name of this workman and was told that it was one Peter Baas, a foreign journeyman of remarkable mechanical abilities and great industry. Approaching, he entered into some slight conversation with him upon matters pertaining to his craft. While they were conversing a stranger of foreign mien and costume appeared, holding a voluminous letter in his hand; the workman started up, snatched it from his hand, tore off the seals and greedily devoured its contents, while the stately Marlborough walked away unnoticed. The duke was well aware that, in this thin disguise, he saw the Czar of Muscovy. Peter Baas, or Boss Peter, or Master Peter, was Peter, the despot of all the Russias, a man who, having just found himself the undisputed proprietor of a quarter of the globe with all its inhabitants, had opened his eyes to the responsibilities of his position, and had voluntarily descended from his throne for the noble purpose of qualifying himself to reascend it.

The doings of Peter form so important a part of the period in which he lived, that it is difficult to give a brief account of them. He extended his dominions at the expense of the Turks, the Poles, and the Swedes. May 27, 1703, he laid the foundation of a new city, St. Petersburg, on the Neva. In 1713 he transferred his government from Moscow to St. Petersburg. Twice he crushed a revolt of his bodyguards with great severity, that is to say, he had the heads of the principal offenders stricken off. He obliged his subjects to adopt a European garb by laying a heavy tax on the long Tartar robes then customary. He emancipated his countrywomen from the Turkish seclusion to which they had been accustomed and allowed them to show their faces in public. He reformed the calendar. He adopted improved methods of collecting taxes and paying obligations. He had himself made the virtual head of the church, a position still retained by his successors. He introduced improved breeds of cattle and horses, set up manufacturing of arms, tools, and implements, and introduced the weaving of various kinds of cloth. He opened up the mines of Russia and established forges. He ransacked Europe for skillful workers in metal to teach his people. He ordered a canal constructed between the Don and the Volga. He established schools of navigation and mathematics. In 1724 he founded the Academy of Sciences at St. Petersburg.

Peter's domestic life was not a particularly pleasant one. He divorced his first wife on the plea that she sided with the reactionary party, that is to say, the nobles who were striving to preserve the Asiatic features of Russian society. At all events, he married a Swedish adventuress, whose name he changed to Catharine, and whom he made his successor. The reactionary party mentioned had great hopes of carrying their policy into effect under the rule of Peter's oldest son, Alexis. The latter appears to have entered into a conspiracy with the probable purpose of dethroning his father. Alexis was arrested and thrown into prison, where, it is whispered, he died under repeated torture inflicted with the purpose of learning the names of the unfortunate young man's assistants.

One school of historians claims that Peter "knouted Russia into civilization." They admit that he cared a great deal for his country, but, like other Russian autocrats, had little regard for the wishes or will of the common people. Others regard him as "the true father of his country." All will agree that he was a man of genius and tremendous energy, and that he accomplished wonders for Russia in the face of bitter and treacherous opposition both at home and abroad. We are indebted to Motley for the following paragraphs also:

In the vast square of the admiralty at St. Petersburg stands the celebrated colossal statue of Peter the Great. . . . He waves his hand as if, like a Scythian wizard as he was, he had just caused this mighty swarming city, with all its palaces and temples, to rise like vapor from the frozen morasses of the Neva with one stroke of his wand. In winter, by moonlight, when the whole scene is lighted by the still cold radiance of a polar midnight, we defy any one to pause and gaze upon the statue without a vague sensation of awe. The Czar seems to be still presiding in sculptured silence over the colossal work of his hands; to be still protecting his capital from the inundations of the ocean, and his empire from the flood of barbarism which he always feared would sweep over it upon his death.

It is impossible not to admire his genius, his indomitable energy, his unconquerable will. He proposed to himself, while yet a youth, the mighty task of civilizing his country and of converting an Asiatic empire into a powerful European state. But while we admire the concentration of purpose which sustained him throughout his labors, we cannot help deploring the great and fundamental mistake which made them all comparatively worthless. A despot by birth, education and temperament, he never had a glimmering notion of the existence of a people.

It is difficult to judge him justly. Perhaps it would have been impossible to have planted the germ of civil or even social liberty in such a wilderness as Russia was at his accession. It was something to lift her ever so little above the waves of barbarism, where he found her "many fathoms deep." He accomplished a great deal. He made Russia a maritime country, gave her a navy and commercial capital, and quadrupled her revenue. If he had done nothing else, he would for these great achievements deserve the eternal gratitude of his country.