Page:The Boy Travellers in the Russian Empire.djvu/268

262 gallantly to his own execution. Peter's prediction was correct; and who do you suppose the man was?

"His name was Orloff. He was a faithful adherent of Peter for the rest of his life, and rose to the command of his armies. He was the founder of the Orloff family, which has ever since been prominent in Russian matters, and continues so down to the present day. Various members of the family have been distinguished in land and naval warfare, and in diplomacy and home affairs. One of them was the intimate friend and adviser of Catherine II. He was a man of gigantic stature and great personal courage, and is said to have strangled with his own hands the unfortunate emperor Peter III., in order to place the disconsolate widow Catherine on the throne.

"Catherine II. should not be confounded with Catherine I. It was Catherine II., surnamed 'The Great,' to whom I have just referred, as the conspirator who gained the throne by the murder of her husband. Catherine I. was the widow of Peter the Great, and mother of the Empress Elizabeth. She had great influence over the founder of the Empire, and though not always controlling his violent temper, she did much towards suppressing it on many occasions.

"While we are in sight of Romanoff House let us run over the list of those who have held the throne since the first of this family ascended it. Here they are:

 " 1. Michael Feodorovitch (first of the Romanoffs). " 2. Alexis Mikailovitch (son of Michael). " 3. Feodor Alexeivitch (son of Alexis). " 4. Ivan Alexeivitch (brother of No. 3). " 5. Peter Alexeivitch (Peter I., or, "The Great"). " 6. Catherine I. (widow of Peter I.). " 7. Peter II. (grandson of Peter I.). " 8. Anna (niece of Peter I.). " 9. Ivan III. (imprisoned in his infancy, and afterwards assassinated). "10. Elizabeth (daughter of Peter I.). "11. Peter III. (great-grandson of Peter I.). "12. Catherine II. "13. Paul I. (son of Catherine II.). "14. Alexander I. (son of Paul I.). "15. Nicholas I. (brother of Alexander I.). "16. Alexander II. (son of Nicholas I.). "17. Alexander III. (son of Alexander II.).

"It is a circumstance worthy of note that in the thirty-seven years between the death of Peter the Great and the accession of Catherine the Great, Russia had three emperors and three empresses; the emperors