. How he had been qualified for this task by education does not
clearly appear; but even setting aside the stories which attribute to
his sister the detestable design of leading him into all sorts of
excess, and especially drunkenness, with the hope of ruining both his
constitution and intellect, it is probable that no pains whatever had
been taken to form his intellect or manners for the station which he was
to occupy. One of the few anecdotes told of his early life is, that
being struck by the appearance of a boat on the river Yausa, which runs
through Moscow, and noticing it to be of different construction from the
flat-bottomed vessels commonly in use, he was led to inquire into the
method of navigating it. It had been built for the Czar Alexis by a
Dutchman, who was still in Moscow. He was immediately sent for; he
rigged and repaired the boat, and under his guidance the young prince
learned how to sail her, and soon grew passionately fond of his new
amusement. He had five small vessels built at Plescow, on the lake
Peipus; and not satisfied with this fresh-water navigation, hired a ship
at Archangel, in which he made a voyage to the coast of Lapland. In
these expeditions his love of sailing was nourished into a passion which
lasted through life. He prided himself upon his practical skill as a
seaman; and both at this time and afterward exposed himself and his
friends to no small hazard by his rashness in following this favorite
pursuit.

[Illustration: The life of Peter the Great saved at the foot of the
altar.]

The first serious object of Peter's attention was to reform the army. In
this he was materially assisted by a Swiss gentleman named Lefort; at
whose suggestion he raised a company of fifty men, who were clothed and
disciplined in the European manner, the Russian army at that time being
little better than a tribe of Tartars. As soon as the little corps was
formed, Peter caused himself to be enrolled in it as a private soldier.
It is a remarkable trait in the character of the man, that he thought no
condescension degrading which forwarded any of his ends. In the army he
entered himself in the lowest rank, and performed successively the
duties of every other; in the navy he went still further, for he
insisted on performing the menial duties of the lowest cabin-boy, rising
step by step, till he was qualified to rate as an able seaman. Nor was
this done merely for the sake of singularity; he had resolved that