memory these tragic scenes by
consecrating himself, with new energy, to the promotion of the
interests of Russia. Utterly despising all luxurious indulgence, he
lived upon coarse fare, occupied plainly-furnished rooms, dressed in
the extreme of simplicity and devoted himself to daily toil with
diligence, which no mechanic or peasant in the realm could surpass.
The war still continued with Sweden. On the night of the 29th of
November, of this year, 1718, the madman Charles XII. was instantly
killed by a cannon ball which carried away his head as he was leaning
upon a parapet, in the siege of Fredericshall in Norway. The death of
this indomitable warrior quite changed the aspect of European affairs.
New combinations of armies arose and new labyrinths of intrigue were
woven, and for several years wars, with their usual successes and
disasters, continued to impoverish and depopulate the nations of
Europe. At length the tzar effected a peace with Sweden, that kingdom
surrendering to him the large and important provinces of Livonia,
Esthonia, Ingria and Carelia. This was an immense acquisition for
Russia.

With the utmost vigilance the tzar watched the administration of all
the internal affairs of his empire, punishing fraud, wherever found,
with unrelenting severity. The enterprise which now, above all others,
engaged his attention, was to open direct communication, by means of
canals, between St. Petersburg and the Caspian Sea. The most skillful
European engineers were employed upon this vast undertaking, by which
the waters of Lake Ladoga were to flow into the Volga, so that the
shores of the Baltic and distant Persia might be united in maritime
commerce. The sacred Scriptures were also, by command of the emperor,
translated into the Russian language and widely disseminated
throughout the empire. The Russian merchants were continually
receiving insults, being plundered and often massacred by the
barbaric tribes on the shores of the Caspian. Peter fitted out a grand
expedition from Astrachan for their chastisement, and went himself to
that distant city to superintend the important operations. A war of
twelve months brought those tribes into subjection, and extended the
Russian dominion over vast and indefinite regions there.

Catharine, whom he seemed to love with all the fervor of youth,
accompanied him on this expedition. Returning to St. Petersburg in
1724, Peter resolved to accomplish a design which he for some time h