476 
R U S 
Ropscha, Alexey Orlof, accompanied by an officer named 
Teploff, came to him with the news of his speedy deliverance, 
and asked permission to dine with him. According to the 
custom of that country, wine-glasses and brandy were brought 
previous to dinner ; and while the officer amused the tzar 
with some trifling discourse, his chief filled the glasses, and 
poured a poisonous mixture into that which he intended for 
the prince. The tzar, without any distrust, swallowed the 
potion, on which he immediately experienced the most severe 
pains; and on his being offered a second glass, on pretence 
of its giving him relief, he refused it, with reproaches against 
Orlof. 
He called aloud for milk, but the two monsters offered 
him poison again, and pressed him to take it. A French 
valet-de-ehambre, greatly attached to him, now ran in. 
Peter threw himself into his arms, saying, in a faint voice, 
“ It was not enough then to prevent me from reigning 
in Sweden, and to deprive me of the crown of Russia! I 
must also be put to death." 
The valet-de-chambre presumed to intercede for his master; 
but the two miscreants forced this dangerous witness out 
of the room, and continued their ill-treatment of the tzar. 
In the midst of this tumult the younger of the princes 
Baratinsky came in, and joined the two former. Orlof, 
who had already thrown down the emperor, was pressing 
upon his breast with both his knees, and firmly griping his 
throat with his hand. The unhappy monarch, now 
struggled with that strength which arises from despair, but the 
two other assassins threw a napkin round his neck, and put 
an end to his life by suffocation. 
It is not known with certainty what share the empress had 
in this event; but it is affirmed, on the very day on which it 
happened, while the empress was beginning her dinner with 
much gaiety, an officer (supposed to be one of the assassins) 
precipitately entered the apartment with his hair dishevelled, 
his face covered with sweat and dust, his clothes torn, and 
his countenance agitated with horror and dismay. On enter¬ 
ing, his eyes, sparkling and confused, met those of the 
empress. She arose in silence, and went into a closet, 
whither he followed her; a few moments afterwards she sent 
for Count Panin (the former governor of Peter), who was 
already appointed her minister, and she informed him that 
the emperor was dead, and consulted him on the manner of 
announcing his death to the public. Panin advised her to 
let one night pass over, and to spread the news next day, as 
if they had received it during the night. This counsel 
being approved, the empress returned with the same counte¬ 
nance, and continued her dinner with the same gaiety. On 
the day following, when it was published that Peter had 
died of an hsemorrhoidal cholic, she appeared bathed in tears, 
and proclaimed her grief by an edict. 
The corpse was brought to St. Petersburg!), there to be 
exposed. The face was black, and the neck excoriated. 
Notwithstanding these horrible marks, in order to assuage 
the commotions which began to excite apprehension, and 
to prevent impostors from hereafter disturbing the em¬ 
pire, he was left three days, exposed to all the people, with 
only the ornaments of a Holstein officer. 
On her accession, Catharine behaved with great magna¬ 
nimity and forbearance towards those who had opposed 
her elevation, or were the declared friends of the deceased 
emperor. She gave to prince George, in exchange for his 
title of duke of Courland, conferred on him by Peter, the 
government of Holstein. She reinstated Biron in his duke¬ 
dom of Courland; received into favour Marshal Munich, 
who had readily transferred his fidelity from the dead to the 
living, and even pardoned her rival, the countess Vorontzoff, 
and permitted her to retain the tokens of her lover’s muni¬ 
ficence. She permitted Gudovitch, who was high in the 
confidence of Peter, and had incurred her particular dis¬ 
pleasure, to retire to his native country. Perhaps the most 
unexpected part of her conduct towards the friends of Peter, 
v. as her adhering to the treaty of peace which that monarch 
bad concluded with the king of Prussia six months before. 
The death of his inveterate enemy, Elizabeth, had relieved 
S I A. 
Frederick from a load of solicitude, and had extricated him 
from his dangerous situation. He now, as he thought, saw 
himself again involved in a war with the same formidable 
power; but to his great joy he found that Catharine, from 
motives of policy, declined entering into a war at the com¬ 
mencement of her reign. 
In one particular, the empress showed her jealousy and her 
fears. She increased the vigilance with which the young 
prince Ivan was confined in the castle of Schlusselburg, from 
which Peter III. had expressed a resolution to release him. 
Not long after her accession, this unfortunate prince was 
assassinated; though whether this event was to be imputed 
to the empress or her counsellors, cannot be determined. 
In 1768, the empress composed instructions for a new 
code of laws for her dominions; and the same year she sub¬ 
mitted to the danger of inoculation, in order that her sub¬ 
jects, to whom the practice was unknown, might be benefited 
by her example; and the experiment, under Baron Dimsdale, 
having happily succeeded, it was commemorated by an 
annual thanksgiving. 
In the same year a war broke out with the Ottoman 
Porte. The various events of this long and important con¬ 
flict, which continued for seven years, will hereafter be 
more particularly noticed under the article Turkey. At its 
termination the Crimea was declared independent of the 
Porte, all the vast tract of country between the Bog and 
Dnieper was ceded to Russia, besides the Kuban and the 
isle of Taman, with free navigation in all the Turkish seas, 
including the passage of the Dardanelles, a privilege granted 
only to the most favoured nations, and stipulations were 
made in behalf of the inhabitants of Moldavia and Wallachia. 
In 1779, the empress intending to divide the empire into 
viceroyalties, began, in January, with the viceroyalty of 
Orlof. May 13, the treaty of peace between the belligerent 
powers in Germany, and the French king, was signed under 
the mediation of her majesty. In June, she established an 
hospital for invalids at Moscow, to be confined to officers. 
In July, General Baur received orders to cause a canal to be 
cut to supply Moscow with wholesome water. In October, 
a ship built at Taganrok, named the Prince Constantine, 
sailed to Smyrna with Russian commodities. December 3, 
the viceroyaity of Voronetsh was instituted; and the 27th, 
Count Romanzof Zadunaiski opened the viceroyalty of 
Kursk with great solemnity. 
In 1780, February 28, appeared the memorable declara¬ 
tion of her imperial majesty, relating to the safety of navi¬ 
gation and commerce of the neutral Powers. May 9, the 
empress set out on a journey to White Russia from Zarscoi 
Selo, visited Narva, Plescof, met the emperor of Germany 
under the title of Count Falkenstein, at Mohilef, and they 
pursued the journey together to Smolensk. June 6, Count 
Falkenstein arrived at Moscow. The 17th, the empress re¬ 
turned to Zarscoi Selo, and the Count Falkenstein, arrived 
at St. Petersburgh. July 8, the emperor returned to Vienna. 
In 1781, March 1, the empress became mediatrix between 
England and Holland. April 5, instituted the first public 
school in St. Petersburgh. August 27, the grand dukes, 
Alexander and'Constantine, were inoculated by Baron Dims¬ 
dale. August 31, the first stone of a cathedral was laid at 
Cherson, dedicated to St. Catharine. September 19, the 
grand duke, Paul Petrovitch, and his consort, Maria 
Feodorovna, departed from Zarscoi Selo, through Plescof, 
Mohilef, and Kief, on a journey into foreign countries, under 
the title of Count and Countess of the North. 
In 1782, by a command of her majesty, dated January 18, 
a Roman Catholic archbishop was installed in the city of 
Mohilef, with authority over all the Catholic churches and 
convents in the Russian empire. August 7, the famous 
equestrian statue of Peter the Great, being finished, was un¬ 
covered to the public in presence of the empress, on which 
occasion she published a proclamation containing pardons 
lor several criminals, &c. November 22, the order of 
St. Vladimir was instituted. The 27th, the empress pub- 
lished a new tariff. 
In 1783, May 7, the empress instituted a seminary for the 
education 
