"Peter hated his first wife, who was the mother of the Czarovitz Alexis, and he extended his hatred to his son, whom he first disinherited, and afterwards poisoned with his own hands, in the fortress of St. Petersburg. Though the fierce Czar had quarrelled with Catharine, his wife, and had some doubts in regard to her character, she was his successor. She was almost as remarkable a person as he was, and had a powerful influence over him. She was born in Sweden, but spent her earlier years as a servant in Livonia, one of the Baltic provinces of Russia, which formerly belonged to Sweden. At the age of sixteen she was married to a Swedish dragoon, who was ordered away two days after the marriage. The town in which she lived was captured by the Russians, and she was employed as a servant in the family of the Princess Mentchikof, where Peter first saw her. He carried her away with him, and perceiving that she had a large capacity for assisting in the mission of his life, he privately married her in 1707, and repeated the ceremony publicly four years later. "From a common servant girl of the humblest parentage, she became the empress of a mighty nation. After her husband's death, she endeavored to carry out his progressive measures, during the two years of her reign; but she softened the rule of the Czar by lowering the taxes, and recalling the exiles from Siberia. Mentchikof was perhaps the real ruler, though her gentleness and humanity are apparent in public measures. Peter II., the son of the unfortunate Alexis, succeeded her, according to the will of the empress. He was only twelve years old, and a council of regency was appointed to rule during his minority; but Prince Mentchikof soon seized the supreme control, and the young emperor was betrothed to his daughter. He was so arrogant and brutal, that he finally disgusted his imperial master, and with his whole family, including the affianced of Peter, was banished to Siberia, and his wealth confiscated. He had nine million rubles in notes and securities, one million in cash, one hundred and five pounds of gold utensils, four hundred and twenty pounds of silver plate, and a million rubles' worth of precious stones, besides his palaces, and numerous landed estates, all over Russia. His property was not less than forty millions, or thirty millions of our money, most of which he had stolen from the public treasury. Prince Dolgoruki took his place at the head of the government.