by a still more powerful attachment, and the
pleading of the Czarina Catherine could not
be disregarded. Peter, however, ceased not to
collect proofs of the crimes and misdemeanours
of his late adored friend, and the
tempest would probably have burst on the
devoted head of Prince Mentchikoff, had it
not been decreed otherwise. Peter the Great
died suddenly. This unexpected event took
place in seventeen hundred and twenty-five.
It appeared that no time had been given
to the monarch to settle the succession.
Mentchikoff was saved, and now felt that his full
power must be exerted to prevent the
chance of future danger: he must secure the
eternal gratitude of the Czarina, by confirming
her as ruler. His position as field-marshal
secured to him the command of the army, and
when the senators assembled at his residence,
to deliberate as secretly as possible, he caused
the house to be surrounded by troops, and
then, appearing in his character of first
senator and president, boldly proposed the
Czarina as successor to the throne of Russia.
He represented all the obligations the country
owed her, and the known wish of the Czar
Peter, as well as the oaths they had already
made, but the rest of the senators were of a
different opinion, and insisted that the proper
heir was the young Grand Duke of Moscow,
Peter Alexiowitz, son of the
unfortunate Prince Alexius. Mentchikoff replied
with contempt to this proposition, and a
violent altercation ensued, during which,
one of the senators advanced to open
the windows in order to appeal to the
people. Mentchikoff haughtily bade him
desist, as it was not warm enough to have
the windows open; and almost immediately,
at a given signal, an armed troop entered the
hall. Resistance was evidently useless, and
the senators were forced to give way.

But, although Catherine owed the crown to
her former lover she saw that his motives in
thus exerting himself were personal, and
Mentchikoff saw that her confidence was
not that of genuine friendship. He therefore
entered into secret negotiations with
the court of Vienna in favour of the
succession of the young Grand Duke of
Moscow, nearly connected, by his mother's
side, with the Empress of the Romans; but
the conditions on which he engaged to bring
about this result were, that the Czar should
marry his eldest daughter. A treaty between
the parties had not long been solemnly
attested, when on the seventeenth of May,
seventeen hundred and twenty-seven, the
Empress Catherine died, so opportunely and
suddenly, that suspicions of poison
immediately arose, and Mentchikoff was not
spared in the accusations made. It was
asserted that he had presented to the Czarina
a large glass of Dantzic brandy, part of
which she drank and gave the rest to her
maid, who was taken ill immediately; but
who, owing to her husband's promptitude
in procuring remedies, recovered; it is added
that, although he knew it to have been poison
which affected his wife, their terror of the
powerful field-marshal prevented their
informing the physicians of the Czarina, who
thus became the victim.

Mentchikoff had, at all events, taken every
precaution, as though he expected the death
to occur, and had caused every one who
inclined towards theDuke and Duchess of
Holstein, to be banished, so that he could count
upon his partisans; at the same time he
communicated with no one, and the young
Czarowitz and his friends lived retired and
unnoticed at a distance from the, court, nor did
the prince ever reveal by the slightest action,
the interest he took in his advancement.
When, therefore, without a moment's delay, on
the death of Catherine, the Grand Duke of Moscow
was proclaimed Czar of Russia, as Peter
the Second, the whole country was taken by
surprise. To secure this triumph it was now
necessary to convince the young monarch of
his entire dependence, and the necessity of
giving his whole trust to the friend who had
dared and accomplished so much for his sake.
He detailed to the terrified boy all the
dangers from traitors and enemies which
surrounded him, and represented that, young
and inexperienced as he was, he required a
powerful protector who could guard his
throne from all conspiracies. To effect this
he declared it was requisite that he should
be named vicar-general of the empire, and
generalissimo of the armies. No opposition
to his claims was made by the admiring and
grateful Czar, and the ex-pastrycook saw
himself at the topmost height of his
ambition. From this moment Alexander
Mentchikoff, looked down on all the world as
his vassals, and gave laws throughout the
land: the marriage of his daughter to the
Czar was at once spoken of, and measures
were taken to secure the accomplishment
of that event as soon as Peter the Second's
age should permit. Shocked, astonished
at so much presumption, and trembling
for the country and their own interests, the
nobles observed in secret dread the rapid
strides of power taken by the successful
favourite who braved their opinion,—but this
last daring proposition caused them to utter
open murmurs, and proclaim their resolve to
oppose it. Mentchikoff knew these nobles
well, and was aware that many possessed
the courage to oppose him,' and would be
joined by others if there were a chance of
success; he therefore got up accusations
of sufficient weight to cause several of the
most violent to be arrested as conspirators
in the supposed plot, and contrived to criminate
them in such a manner that they were
sentenced to exile in Siberia. This vigorous
management terrified the rest into silence,
and not a single voice was raised to oppose
the betrothal of the Czar and the young
daughter of the successful minister. This