PETER THE GREAT AS EXECUTIONER.
"On arriving in Moscow, he made the most searching inquiry, and by torturing some of those who had fallen into his hands he obtained the names of many others. There is no doubt that innocent persons were implicated, as the victims of torture are apt to tell anything, whether true or false, in order to escape from their pain. Those implicated were immediately arrested and put to death, many of them with torture. Nobles, ladies of rank, officers and soldiers, comprised the list. On the spot where we stood to-day hundreds of the streltzi were beheaded, and altogether several thousands of people were killed. Peter himself took part in the executions, if report is true. Once, at a banquet, he ordered twenty of the prisoners to be brought in, and a block arranged for the fearful ceremony. Then he called for a glass of wine. After drinking it, he beheaded the victim, who had been placed on the block, and then he called for another victim and another glass of wine. It is said that he was just one hour in performing the twenty executions; and after he had finished he went in person to the great square in front of the Kremlin, where other executions were going on.
"While he was witnessing one of these executions, one of the prisoners who was about to lose his head came forward as coolly as though he were entering a dining-hall. 'Make way for us,' he said, as he kicked the fallen heads from his path—'make way here, make way.'
"Just as the man lay down upon the block and the executioner raised his axe, Peter ordered the prisoner to be liberated. He pardoned him on the spot, remarking that there was good stuff in a man who could walk so gallantly to his own execution. Peter's prediction was correct; and who do you suppose the man was?
"His name was Orloff. He was a faithful adherent of Peter for the rest of his life, and rose to the command of his armies. He was the founder of the Orloff family, which has ever since been prominent in Russian matters, and continues so down to the present day. Various members of the family have been distinguished in land and naval warfare, and in diplomacy and home affairs. One of them was the intimate friend and adviser of Catherine II. He was a man of gigantic stature and great personal courage, and is said to have strangled with his own hands the unfortunate emperor Peter III., in order to place the disconsolate widow Catherine on the throne.
CATHERINE I.
"Catherine II. should not be confounded with Catherine I. It was Catherine II., surnamed 'The Great,' to whom I have just referred, as the conspirator who gained the throne by the murder of her husband. Catherine I. was the widow of Peter the Great, and mother of the Empress Elizabeth. She had great influence over the founder of the Empire, and though not always controlling his violent temper, she did much towards suppressing it on many occasions.