boot the marines and Tailors being more inclined to execute the
. , orders o f an admiral than thofe o f a general. Having
fecured the general’s perfon, he announced to the garrifoti
the revolution at Peterfburgh; he acquainted them that
the emperor was depofed ; that the army and ten ate had
declared for Catharine; and that all oppofltion muft be
fruitlefs and dangerous. Thefe arguments, joined to a large
quantity o f fpirituous liquors, produced the defired effecfir;
and Catharine was proclaimed foie emprefs. Thus a place,
o f fo much importance aa to have delayed, i f not prevented,
the final fuccefs o f the infurreftion, was feized by admiral
Talicin, without the leaf! oppofltion ; and Peter was denied
admittance.
Upon this difappointment,. his only remaining; reiburce
was inftantly to croud fail for the Gulf orBothnia, and to feefc
an afylum in Sweden, from whence he might eafily penetrate
to his army in Pomerania, or to- his dominions in IIol-
• ftein. But it was the fate-of that monarch to act no decifive
part. in. this important crifis : flattering himfelf with the
hopes o f ftill bringing,about a reconciliation with the^ emprefs,
and prevailed, upon by the-cries and entreaties o f the
women who were-on board, he returned to Oranienbaum,
where he arrived about four in the morning. When Peter
quitted that palace on the preceding morning h e was drefled
in his Pruflian regimentals.- Upon his return he was in his
Ruffian uniform : he now faw his error in defpifing the.prejudices
o f his iubje.as,hnt it was-too late.. Little circumftances
of this kind are not unworthy o f the hiftorian’S notice, as-
great*events frequently turn upon them, and they often dif-
cover the true characler of the principal perfonages concerned
in the. fcene..
Upon"
Upon his return to Oranienbaum, he immediately retired CI^AI’-
alone and in great agitation to his houfe in the fortrefs,1— i— >
leaving marihal Munich and the reft o f the couit in the
palace. About ten he again made his appearance in a more
calm and compofed ftate o f mind. The Holftein guards no
fboner beheld their royal mafter, than they all * crouded
round h im ; fome were ftruggling to kifs his hand, others
hung about his perfon, many knelt down, fome even prof-
trated themfelves before him ; all ihedding tears o f affeition,
and in terms o f the ftrongeft attachment conjured him to
lead them againft the emprefs ; offering to ftand by him
to the laft extremity, and to faerifice their lives in his defence.
Peter was fo much animated by thefe affecting
aflurances o f zeal and fidelity, that he caught their fpiritfor
a moment, and cried out, il To arms !” but the tears o f the
women, his own irrefolution, and the reflection that refinance
would be ineffectual, foon damped this momentary fit
o f courage, and he again reconciled himfelf to fubmiflion.
Early in the morning he had difpatched major-general If-
mahilof,' in whom he repofed implicit confidence, to the
emprefs, with a letter, offering to refign his crown, upon
condition that he ihould be permitted to retire into Holftein,
with Elizabeth Voronzof, and his favourite Godovitz. If-
mahilof found the emprefs in the convent o f Strelna, and
was immediately admitted to her prefence. The great policy
on the fide of Catharine now confifted in getting pofieflion
o f the emperor’s perfon without effufion o f blood ; it was
her objecil, therefore, to amufe him, without driving him to
defperate meafures; for fhe well knew it was yet in his
* I had th efe circumftances from a p e r - v io u r o f th e Ho lftein tro ops . H e faid h e ■
fon who was prefen t ; h e had te a r s - in his n e v e r faw fo affe ftin g a fee no. .
>«yes w h ile h e defcribed* th e animated b eh a-
E a power