wever, to do much hard work at
rowing, for there were two shallops provided, manned by strong men, to
tow the skiff. In this way the skiff rowed to and fro over the sea, and
then passed along the fleet, saluted every where by the shouts of the
crews upon the yards and in the rigging, and by the guns of the ships.
Three thousand guns were discharged by the ships in these salvos in honor
of their humble progenitor. The Little Grandfather returned the salutes
of the guns with great spirit by means of three small swivels which had
been placed on board.

The Empress Catharine saw the show from an elevation on the shore, where
she sat with the ladies of her court in a pavilion or tent which had been
erected for the purpose.

At the close of the ceremonies the skiff was deposited with great
ceremony in the place which had been prepared to receive it in the Castle
of Cronstadt, and there, when one more day had been spent in banquetings
and rejoicings, the company left the Little Grandfather to his repose,
and returned in their yachts to the town.

Not many days after the death of Peter, Catharine, in accordance with the
arrangements that Peter had previously made, was proclaimed empress by a
solemn act of the senate and ministers of state, and she at once entered
upon the exercise of the sovereign power. She signalized her accession
by a great many acts of clemency--liberating prisoners, recalling exiles,
removing bodies from gibbets and wheels, and heads from poles, and
delivering them to friends for burial, remitting the sentence of death
pronounced upon political offenders, and otherwise mitigating and
assuaging sufferings which Peter's remorseless ideas of justice and
retribution had caused. Catharine did not, however, live long to
exercise her beneficial power. She died suddenly about two years after
her husband, and was buried with great pomp in a grand monumental tomb in
one of the churches of St. Petersburg, which she had been engaged ever
since his death in constructing for him.

***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PETER THE GREAT***

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