Peter, at his return from his Persian expedition, found himself in a better condition than ever to be the arbiter of the North. He now openly declared himself the protector of Charles XII. whose professed enemy he had been for eighteen years. He sent for the duke of Holstein, nephew to that monarch, to his court, promised him his eldest daughter in marriage, and began to make preparations for supporting him in his claims on the duchy of Holstein Sleswick, and even engaged himself so to do by a treaty of alliance, (Feb. 1724.) which he concluded with the crown of Sweden. He continued the works he had begun all over his empire, to the further extremity of Kamtshatka, and for the better direction of them, established an academy of sciences at Petersburg. The arts began now to flourish on every side: manufactures were encouraged, the navy was augmented, the army well provided, and the laws properly enforced. He now enjoyed his glory in full repose; but was desirous of sharing it in a new manner with her who, according to his own declaration, by remedying the disaster of the campaign of Pruth, had been in some measure the instrument of his acquiring that glory. Accordingly, the coronation of his consort Catherine was performed at Moscow, in presence of the duchess of Courland, his eldest brother's daughter, and the duke of Holstein, his intended son-in-law. (May 28, 1724.) The declaration which he published on this occasion merits attention: he therein cites the examples of several Christian princes who had placed the crown on the heads of their consorts, as likewise those of the heathen emperors, Basilides, Justinian, Heraclius, and Leo, the philosopher. He enumerates the services Catherine had done to the state, and in particular in the war against the Turks,--'Where my army,' says he, 'which had been reduced to 22,000 men, had to encounter an army above 200,000 strong.' He does not say, in this declaration, that the empress was to succeed to the crown after his death; but this ceremony, which was altogether new and unusual in the Russian empire, was one of those means by which he prepared the minds of his subjects for such an event. Another circumstance that might perhaps furnish a stronger reason to believe that he destined Catherine to succeed him on the throne, was, that he himself marched on foot before her the day of her coronation, as captain of a new company, which he had created under the name of the _knights of the empress_. When they arrived at the cathedral, Peter himself placed the crown on her head; and when she would have fallen down and embraced his knees, he prevented her; and, at their return from the church, caused the sceptre and globe to be carried before her. The ceremony was altogether worthy an emperor; for on every public occasion Peter shewed as much pomp and magnificence as he did plainness and simplicity in his private manner of living.