^oos. jyioris or his-lifter. A few days after this trail fact ion thefe
— v— ’perfons were taken into cuftody, and Mons was carried to
the winter palace, where no one had admiffion to him but
Peter, who himfelf brought him his provifions. A report
was at the fame time circulated, that they were imprifoned
for having received bribes, and making their influence over
the emprefs fubfervient to thei-r own mercenary views.
Mons being examined by Peter, in the prefence of major-general
Ufchakof, and threatened with the torture, confefled
the corruption which was laid to his charge. He was beheaded
; his After received five ftrokes of the knoot, and was
banifhed into Siberia; two of her fons, who were chamberlains,
were alfo degraded and fent as common foldiers among
the Ruffian troops in Perfia. On the day fubfequent to the
execution of the fentence, Peter conveyed Catharine in an
•open carriage under the gallows, to which was nailed the
head of Mons: the emprefs, without changing colour at this
dreadful fight, exclaimed, f* What a pity it is, that there is
“ fo much corruption among courtiers * !”
This event happened in the latter end of the year 1 7 24,
and as it was foon followed by Peter’s death, and as Catharine,
upon her acceffion, recalled Madame Balke, it has been
fufpedted that ihe ihortened the days of her hufband by poi-
fon. But, notwithftanding the critical fituation for Catharine
in which he died, and her fubfequent elevation, yet this
charge is totally deftitute of the leaft fhadow of proof; for
the circumftances of Peter’s diforder were too well known, and
tending in the lea ft to criminate 'Catharine.
•The Auftrian envoy, from whom the above
elation is chiefly extracted, fays, that he received
information o f the whole affair from
t he p.ifge fent by Peter, whofe name was
Prevenich. Buie. Hift. Mag. XI. p. 49.
Baflevitz himfelf mentions the anecdote
o f his driving her under the gallows, which
■feems to imply that Peter certainly thought
¿Catharine guilty o f . an intrigue with Mons.
* Baflevitz in Bufc.’ Hift. Mag. IX. p.
372.
the peculiar fymptoms * of his laft illnefs fufficiently account c h a p .
for his death without the neceffity of recurring to poifon.»
Peter having, in the year 17 24, decreed that the reigning
fovereign fhould have the power of appointing his fuccelfor,.
ought, in common prudence, to have provided one in cafe
of his fudden death ; but he was feized with his laft illnefs
before he had performed that neceflary duty. The diforder
with which he was attacked was a ftrangury, which at firft
did not carry with it any alarming fymptoms of. immediate-
danger ; but fuddenly increafing to a violent degree, occafi-
oned fucfi excruciating tortures, as, in a ihort time, totally
deprived him of his fenfes. In a lucid interval he demanded,
pen and paper, and endeavoured to write, but he could only
trace characters that were not legible. He then called for
his daughter Anne, but before ihe arrived his fpeech and his*,
tinderftanding entirely forfook him, and he remained in a:
ftate of perfeCt imbecility, but ftill breathing, for fix and.
thirty hours before he expired f.
From this account, drawn from the mofi unqueftionabler
authorities, it is evident that' he did not appoint his heir r
and though fome perfons have concluded that he purpofed'
* “ Peter, A y s the Auftrian envoy, “ ended in his death. Upon his death-bed
“ , had formerly contrafled from one .of his “ he grievoufly repented o f hisfins.confeffed-
“ miflrefles a complaint, which op account “ that he had fhedsnuch innocent blood, e x -
“ '.of his exceffcs was never completely era- “ preffed the greateft concern for his beha--
“ ’dicated; and, upon, his drinking, at the. “ vioitr to his unfortunate fon, adding, h ow -
“ ridiculous, election o f the mock patriarch | , “ ever, that he hoped God would forgive his
“ tan enormous quantity o f wine, beer, mead, “ fins in. confideration o f the good he had,
“ and brandy, it increafed to fuch a degree “ conferred on his country.” Bufc. Hift.. -
“ as to become incurable j but as there ap- Mag, X I . p. 496.
“ peared no external fymptoms o f the com- Gordon, fays,. “ he caught cold, which
“ plaint, thephyficians conceived the diforder “ with a violent flranguiy and retention o f
*' to be the (lone, andtreated it accordingly. “ urine, occafioned.by an impqfthuroe in his
“ By thefe means the virus at length gradia- “ bladder, put an end to his lift on.the aSthr
“ ally gained fuch ah height as to form an “ o f January,. 1725.P
“ abfeefe in the bladder, which, in his laft f Baffewitz in BufchinglX. p . 373. alfm-
“ illnefs,. brought on a ftrangury, that foon Weber Ver. Ruff. V o l. II. p. 199.
J See an account of thisrin Bruce’s Memoirs,.
entailing: