and dignity of
a bishop in the Church should be degraded from his office; and that,
besides, there was no authority that could degrade him, for they were
all bishops of equal rank, and no one had any jurisdiction or power
over the others. Still, notwithstanding this, they were willing, they
said, to sacrifice their brother if by that means the Church could be
saved from the great dangers which were now threatening her; and they
said that they would depose the bishop who was accused on condition
that Peter would restore the rights of the Church which he had
suspended, by allowing them to proceed to the election of a new
patriarch, to take the place of the one who had died.

Peter would not listen to this proposal; but he created a new bishop
expressly to depose the one who had offended him. The latter was
accordingly deposed, and the rest were compelled to submit. None of
them dared any longer to speak openly against the course which the Czar
was pursuing, but writings were mysteriously dropped about the streets
which contained censures of his proceedings in respect to the Church,
and urged the people to resist them. Peter caused large rewards to be
immediately offered for the discovery of the persons by whom these
writings were dropped, but it was of no avail, and at length the
excitement gradually passed away, leaving the victory wholly in Peter's
hands.

After this the Czar effected a great many important reforms in the
administration of the affairs of the empire, especially in those
relating to the government of the provinces, and to the collection of
the revenues in them. This business had been hitherto left almost
wholly in the hands of the governors, by whom it had been grossly
mismanaged. The governors had been in the habit both of grievously
oppressing the people in the collection of the taxes, and also of
grossly defrauding the emperor in remitting the proceeds to the
treasury.

Peter now made arrangements for changing the system entirely. He
established a central office at the capital for the transaction of all
business connected with the collecting of the revenues, and then
appointed collectors for all the provinces of the empire, who were to
receive their instructions from the minister who presided over this
central office, and make their returns directly to him. Thus the whole
system was remodeled, and made far more efficient than it ever had been
before. Of course, the old governors, who, in