ad requested them,
as soon as he should be dead, to acknowledge the Empress Catharine as
their sovereign. He even took the precaution to exact from them an
oath that they would do this. Peter died in the fifty-third year of
his age. None of the children whom he had by his first wife survived
him. Both of the sons whom he had by the Empress Catharine were also
dead. Two daughters still lived. After the Empress Catharine, the next
heir to the throne was his grandson, Peter, the orphan child of the
guilty Alexis.

Immediately upon the death of the emperor, the senate assembled and
unanimously declared Catharine Empress of Russia. In a body, they
waited upon Catharine with this announcement, and were presented to
her by Prince Menzikoff. The mourning for the tzar was universal and
heartfelt. The remains were conveyed to the tomb with all the
solemnities becoming the burial of one of the greatest monarchs earth
has ever known. Over his remains the empress erected a monument
sculptured by the most accomplished artists of Italy, containing the
following inscription:

HERE LIETH
ALL THAT COULD DIE OF A MAN IMMORTAL,

PETER ALEXOUITZ;

IT IS ALMOST SUPERFLUOUS TO ADD
GREAT EMPEROR OF RUSSIA;
A TITLE
WHICH, INSTEAD OF ADDING TO HIS GLORY,
BECAME GLORIOUS BY HIS WEARING IT.
LET ANTIQUITY BE DUMB,
NOR BOAST HER ALEXANDER OR HER CAESAR.
HOW EASY WAS VICTORY
TO LEADERS WHO WERE FOLLOWED BY HEROES,
AND WHOSE SOLDIERS FELT A NOBLE DISDAIN
AT BEING THOUGHT LESS VIGILANT THAN THEIR GENERALS!
BUT HE,
WHO IN THIS PLACE FIRST KNEW REST,
FOUND SUBJECTS BASE AND INACTIVE,
UNWARLIKE, UNLEARNED, UNTRACTABLE,
NEITHER COVETOUS OF FAME NOR FEARLESS OF DANGER-CREATURES
WITH THE NAMES OF MEN,
BUT WITH QUALITIES RATHER BRUTAL THAN RATIONAL
YET EVEN THESE
HE POLISHED FROM THEIR NATIVE RUGGEDNESS,
AND, BREAKING OUT LIKE A NEW SUN
TO ILLUMINE THE MINDS OF A PEOPLE,
DISPELLED THEIR NIGHT