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94 DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. [1667 any Prince of State to His Imperiall Majestie
1667] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 97 storme, wee could not gett over to Embden
136 DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. [1686 Queens hand; whereat his Majestic smileing
1666] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 79 I did writt to Sir John Hebden
110 DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. [1686 I gave up my petition
1667] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 99 I went to Altenaw and heard devotion
42 DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. [1661 misfortune
1667] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 91 Majestic, our most dear and loveing brothers
1667] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 103 to me, desireing me to let him have him
92 DIARY OF PATEICK GORDON. [1667 of your Imperiall Majesties
Summary
Passages from the diary of General Patrick Gordon of Auchleuchries : A.D. 1635-A.D. 1699"
92 DIARY OF PATEICK GORDON. [1667
of your Imperiall Majesties dominions, by such persons as the officers of our
navy shall employ, and in such quantity as they shall desire ; for, otherwise,
wee shall be no better treated by your Imperiall Majestic then our enemyes
are, which wll be no waies suitable to the brotherly professions your
Imperiall Majestic hath made unto us. That the trade of our merchants is,
by your Imperiall Majesties order, forbidden for this yeare, by reason that
your Imperiall Majestic hath been informed, by severall Intelligences and
printed Gazettes, that the plague of pestilence doth still rage in our Royall
Majesties dominions, wee might have hoped that your Imperiall Majestie
would not give crcditt to the printed papers and artifices of our enemyes,
whose practice it hath been, and is, to give out to the world that which may
most advance their designes, without any regard to truth or falshood, when.
In this very particular, we can assure your Imperiall Majestie, contrary to
their malicious rumors, that the plague is totaly ceassed in our Royall citty of
London, and in all our ports, for which Infinite mercy wee give heartly
thanks unto Almighty God ; and as wee doubt not but the knowledge hereof
will be most acceptable to your Imperiall Majestie, our most lovelng brother,
so wee will be Cvtufident that, upon the receipt of these our letters, your
Imperiall Majestie will recall all prohibitions In that kind, so that the next
ships that shall come from our kingdomes may, with their merchants and
merchanilize, be admitted to a ffreedom of trade In your Imperiall Majesties
dominions and ports as formerly. What concernes the restauration of your
Imperiall Majesties priviledges to our subjects, the marchants, seeing wee
cannot prevalll with your Imperiall Majestie to grant them at present,
though wee cannot be satisfied with your Imperiall Majesties answers to
that particular, yet wee do In some measure support our patience with hope
to find the same in short tyme granted to us, not doubting in the least of
your Imperiall Majesties brotherly Inclinations and real performances. So,
wishing your Imperiall Majestie, our most dear and lovelng brother, long
life, with a most happy and successefull reigne, haveing most graciously
dispatched your Imperiall Majesties Colonell Patrick Gordon with these, our
Royall Majesties letters, wee connnitt your Imperiall Majestie to the pro-
tection of Almighty God. Given at our Court, in our Royall.citty of London,
the twenty seventh of December, 1666, in the eighteenth yeare of our ralgne.
Haveing notice that the Baron d'Isola was come from the Roman Em-
Gordon was brought up and remained a lifelong Roman Catholic, at a time when the Church was being persecuted in Scotland. At age of fifteen, he entered the Jesuit college at Braunsberg, East Prussia, then part of Poland. In 1661, after many years experiences as a soldier of fortune, he joined the Russian army under Tsar Aleksei I, and in 1665 was sent on a special mission to England. After his return, he distinguished himself in several wars against the Turks and Tatars in southern Russia. In recognition of his service he was promoted to major-general in 1678, was appointed to the high command at Kiev in 1679, and in 1683 was made lieutenant-general. In 1687 and 1689 he took part in expeditions against the Tatars in the Crimea, being made a full general. Later in 1689, a revolution broke out in Moscow, and with the troops under his command, Gordon virtually decided events in favor of Peter the Great against the Regent, Tsarevna Sophia Alekseyevna. Consequently, he was for the remainder of his life in high favor with the Tsar, who confided to him the command of his capital during his absence from Russia. In 1696, Gordon's design of a "moveable rampart" played a key role in helping the Russians take Azov. One of Gordon's convinced the Tsars to establish the first Roman Catholic church and school in Muscovy, of which he remained the main benefactor and headed the Catholic community in Russia until his death. For his services his second son James, brigadier of the Russian army, was created Count of the Holy Roman Empire in 1701. At the end of his life the Tsar, who had visited Gordon frequently during his illness, was with him when he died, and with his own hands closed his eyes. General Gordon left behind him a uniquely detailed diary of his life and times, written in English. This is preserved in manuscript in the Russian State Military Archive in Moscow. Passages from the Diary of General Patrick Gordon of Auchleuchries (1635–1699) was printed, under the editorship of Joseph Robertson, for the Spalding Club, at Aberdeen, Scotland, 1859.