e first step to be taken in carrying the measure into effect was to
issue a grand proclamation announcing his design and explaining the
reasons for it. In this proclamation Peter cited many instances from
history in which great sovereigns had raised their consorts to a seat on
the throne beside them, and then he recapitulated the great services
which Catharine had rendered to him and to the state, which made her
peculiarly deserving of such an honor. She had been a tried and devoted
friend and counselor to him, he said, for many years. She had shared his
labors and fatigues, had accompanied him on his journeys, and had even
repeatedly encountered all the discomforts and dangers of the camp in
following him in his military campaigns. By so doing she had rendered
him the most essential service, and on one occasion she had been the
means of saving his whole army from destruction. He therefore declared
his intention of joining her with himself in the supreme power, and to
celebrate this event by a solemn coronation.

The place where the coronation was to be performed was, of course, the
ancient city of Moscow, and commands were issued to all the great
dignitaries of Church and state, and invitations to all the foreign
embassadors, to repair to that city, and be ready on the appointed day to
take part in the ceremony.

It would be impossible to describe or to conceive, without witnessing it,
the gorgeousness and splendor of the spectacle which the coronation
afforded. The scene of the principal ceremony was the Cathedral, which
was most magnificently decorated for the occasion. The whole interior of
the building was illumined with an immense number of wax candles,
contained in chandeliers and branches of silver and gold, which were
suspended from the arches or attached to the walls. The steps of the
altar, and all that part of the pavement of the church over which the
Czarina would have to walk in the performance of the ceremonies, were
covered with rich tapestry embroidered with gold, and the seats on which
the bishops and other ecclesiastical dignitaries were to sit were covered
with crimson cloth.

The ceremony of the coronation itself was to be performed on a dais, or
raised platform, which was set up in the middle of the church. This
platform, with the steps leading to it, was carpeted with crimson velvet,
and it was surmounted by a splendid canopy made of silk, embroidered with
gold. The canopy was ornament