tenoient les Czars en tutelle. † held Cette milice, plus This soldiery, more force, more the Czars in tutelage. held the Czars in subjection. This formidable à ses maîtres qu'à ses voisins, étoit com formidable to her masters than to her neighbours, was comformidable to its masters than to its neighbours, was com posée d'environ trente mille hommes de pied, dont posed of about thirty thousand posed of about thirty thousand la moitié men restoit à Moscou, + remained at Moscow, of whom were stationed at Moscow, the half répandue sur les frontières. spread over the frontiers. scattered over the frontiers. of foot, of-which infantry, half et l'autre étoit and the other + was while the rest were Un strélitz n'avoit que A strelitz not + had than The pay of a strelitz was only Pierre forma d'abord une compagnie d'étrangers, a Peter formed at first Peter began by forming a dans laquelle il s'enrôla in the-which he himself enrolled in which he enrolled pas de commencer par être to-begin by to-be to begin * of fonctions; functions; as a company of strangers, company of foreigners, lui-même, et ne dédaigna him-same, and not disdained himself, and did not disdain tambour, et d'en faire les drummer,, and of of-it to-do the drummer, and perform the tant la nation avoit besoin d'exemple. so-much the nation + had want of example. duties of one; so greatly did the nation stand in need of examples. Il fit petit à petit de nouveaux He made little to little of He gradually formed se sentant maître de himself feeling master of feeling himself master of étoit à peu près ce qu'est la cavalerie Polonoise, et t was to little near that which is the cavalry Polish, and was nearly the same as the Polish now is, and ce qu'étoit autrefois la Françoise, quand le royaume that which † was other-time the French, the when the kingdom French formerly was, when the kingdom de France n'étoit qu'un assemblage de fiefs. Les of France nott was than an assemblage of France of fiefs. The was only a collection of fiefs. The gentilshommes Russes montoient à cheval à leurs horse to their themselves, dépens, et combattoient sans discipline, quelquefois expenses, and and + combated without discipline, sometimes without discipline, sometimes sans autres armes qu'un sabre ou un carquois; in without other arms with no other arms than a sabre or a quiver; inthan a sabre or a quiver; in capables d'être commandés, et par conséquent de capable of to-be commanded, and by consequence of capable of submitting to command, and, vaincre. to-vanquish. conquering. Pierre le Grand leur apprit Peter the Great to-them taught Peter the Great taught them exemple et par les supplices. example and by the punishments. own example and by punishment. consequently, of à obéir par par son to to-obey by his to obey by his Car il servoit en For het served in qualité de soldat et d'officier subalterne, et punissoit quality of soldier and of officer subaltern, and † punished the rank of a private and of a subaltern officer, while, as Czar, he rigoureusement en Czar les boyards, c'est-à-dire, les rigorously de la noblesse étoit de ne servir l'état qu'à leur of the nobility † was of not to-serve the state than at their by the privilege of birth from serving the state otherwise than at Il établit un corps régulier pour He established a body regular He established a regular corps volonté. will. their own pleasure. and took five hundreds churches for to-found of-the cannons. churches to cast as cannon. for for aux to-the bells bells from the Il a eu treize He has had thirteen In the year seventeen mille canons de fonte en l'année mille sept cents thousand cannons of cast-metal in the year thousand seven hundred hundred and fourteen he had thirteen thousand pieces of brass quatorze. Il a formé aussi des corps de dragons, He has formed also of-the bodies of dragoons, cannon. He also formed some dragoon corps, a sort of fourteen. milice très convenable au génie des Moscovites, et à soldiery very suitable to-the genius of-the Muscovites, and to force very suitable to the character of the Russians, and to la forme de leurs chevaux, qui sont petits. La Mos which are small. which are small. The Mus covie avoit, en mille sept cents trente-huit, trente covy + had, in thousand seven hundreds thirty-eight, thirty In seventeen hundred and thirty-eight, Russia had thirty régimens de dragons, de mille hommes chacun, regiments of dragoons, of regiments of dragoons, of a thousand bien entretenus. C'est lui qui a établi les Houssards en Russie. Enfin il a eu jusqu'à une école d'in génieurs dans un pays où personne ne savoit avant gineers in a country where nobody not + knew before gineers in a country where nobody before his time lui les élémens de la géométrie. him the elements of the geometry. knew even the elements of geometry. Il étoit bon ingénieur lui-même, mais sur-tout il Het was good engineer him-same, He was a good excelloit dans tous les arts de la marine; bon capi† excelled in all the arts of the marine; good capexcelled in all the nautical arts'; he was a good taine de vaisseau, habile pilote, bon matelot, adroit tain of ship, able pilot, good sailor, expert captain of a ship, an able pilot, a good sailor, an expert charpentier, et d'autant plus estimable dans ces arts, carpenter, and of so-much more estimable in these arts, carpenter, and the more admirable in the attainment of these arts, qu'il étoit né avec une crainte extrême de l'eau. the water. extreme dread of the water. that he was born with dread Il He In ne pouvoit dans sa jeunesse passer sur un pont not was-able in his youth to-pass over a bridge his youth he could not cross a bridge sans frémir; il faisoit fermer alors les volets de bois without to-shudder; he made to-shut then the shutters of wood without shuddering, and always shut the wooden blinds de son carrosse; le courage et le génie domptèrent en of his carriage; the courage and the genius subdued of his carriage; courage and genius conquered lui cette foiblesse machinale. in him this weakness mechanical. this constitutional weakness. at Il fit construire un beau port auprès d'Azoph, à He made to-construct a beautiful port to-the-near of Azoph, at He constructed a beautiful port near Azoph, l'embouchure du Tanais; il vouloit y entretenir des of-the Tanais; he willed there to-maintain of-the of the Tanais; he wished to station galleys the mouth the mouth VOL. I. I vessels galères; et dans la suite croyant que ces vaisseaux galleys; and in the sequel believing that these there; and thinking, subsequently, that these long, longs, plats et légers devoient réussir dans la Mer long, flat and light flat, and light vessels + ought to-succeed in the Sea were calculated to succeed in the Bal Baltique, il en a fait construire plus de trois to-construct more of three more than three hundred to Baltic, he of-them has made tic Sea, he caused cents hundreds dans sa ville favorite de Pétersbourg. in his city favourite be built in his of Petersbourg. favourite city of Petersburg. Il a montré à ses sujets du simple sapin, et celui de l'art de les bâtir avec the art of them to-build with the art of building them with les conduire. Il avoit of-the simple fir, and that of them to-conduct. He + had deal alone, and in that of navigating them. He even appris jusqu'à la chirurgie; on l'a vu learnt until to acquired a knowledge of surgery; he has been seen the surgery; one him has seen dans un besoin faire la ponction à un hydropique : to-make the puncture to a dropsical: in a case of need to make the puncture in a dropsical patient : il he in a want réussissoit dans les mécaniques, et instruisoit + succeeded in the mechanics, and instructed and instructed he was very successful in les artisans. mechanics, the artisans. the artisans. Les finances du Czar étoient à la vérité peu de The finances of-the Czar The finances of the Czar † were to the truth little of were, indeed, very small chose, par rapport à l'immensité de ses états; il n'a thing, by relation to the immensity of his states; he not has in relation to the immensity of his states; he jamais eu vingt-quatre millions de revenu, à compter never had twenty-four millions of revenue, to to-count never had a revenue of twenty-four millions, reckoning |