CATHERINE II.
"While we are in sight of Romanoff House let us run over the list of those who have held the throne since the first of this family ascended it. Here they are:
| "1. Michael Feodorovitch (first of the Romanoffs). |
| "2. Alexis Mikailovitch (son of Michael). |
| "3. Feodor Alexeivitch (son of Alexis). |
| "4. Ivan Alexeivitch (brother of No. 3). |
| "5. Peter Alexeivitch (Peter I., or, "The Great"). |
| "6. Catherine I. (widow of Peter I.). |
| "7. Peter II. (grandson of Peter I.). |
| "8. Anna (niece of Peter I.). |
| "9. Ivan III. (imprisoned in his infancy, and afterwards assassinated). |
| "10. Elizabeth (daughter of Peter I.). |
| "11. Peter III. (great-grandson of Peter I.). |
| "12. Catherine II. |
| "13. Paul I. (son of Catherine II.). |
| "14. Alexander I. (son of Paul I.). |
| "15. Nicholas I. (brother of Alexander I.). |
| "16. Alexander II. (son of Nicholas I). |
| "17. Alexander III. (son of Alexander II.). |
"It is a circumstance worthy of note that in the thirty-seven years between the death of Peter the Great and the accession of Catherine the Great, Russia had three emperors and three empresses; the emperors reigned, but cannot be said to have ruled, only three and a half years altogether, while the empresses held the throne for the rest of the time. Catherine was Empress from 1762 till 1796; so that during the eighteenth century the Russian crown was worn by women for nearly seventy years.
GRAND-DUKE NICHOLAS ALEXANDROVITCH.
"The heir to the throne at present is too young to have made his mark in any way; and besides, he has had no opportunity, even if he were of age. His name is Nicholas; he is the eldest son of Alexander III., and when he ascends the throne he will be known as Nicholas II. He was born in 1868, and is said to be a young man of great promise.
"Four at least of the seventeen rulers named above were murdered, and there were suspicions of poisoning in the cases of two others. Consequently the description of the Government of Russia as 'despotism tempered by assassination' is not so very far from the truth.