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the gentleman-barber was under the necessity of obeying, to the great amusement of the whole court, and with the same parade, in which he had arrived, he was then permitted to return.

In 1766, passing through Dantzic, in his way to Holland, and finding that divine service had just began, he desired that "he might be conducted to church:"-The burgomaster immediately waited upon him, and conducted him to the most conspicuous seat, that of the chief magistrate. Peter having seated himself, obliged the burgo master to sit down by him; he then listened to the sermon with great attention, but finding his head grow cold, he all of a sudden, and without saying a word, pulled off the magistrate's periwig, and gravely put it upon his own head; they both remained in that ludicrous situation, till the end of the sermon, when the Czar, with a nod, by way of acknowledgment, returned the periwig.

At the famous affair at Pruth in 1711, the Czar's anxiety being much greater for his empire, than for himself, he dispatched the following letter to his privy-council at Petersburgh :

"I have now to inform you, that without any fault of mine, but from false intelligence, I find myself, together with my whole army, surrounded by the Turks, (who are four times our number, and cut off from every sort of provision. Without the immediate interposition of Heaven, I can expect nothing but a total defeat, or to be made a prisoner by the Turks. If the last should happen, you must no longer consider me as your Sovereign, nor execute any of my commands, although written my own hand :- -If I should be cut off, you must immediately proceed to choose from among yourselves, him whom you think most worthy of being my successor."

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The following is a striking instance of the intrepidity, and presence of mind of this great man.

During the rebellion of the Strelitz, a company of his soldiers, under the command of two of their officers, Sikell, and Sukawnin, had resolved to assassinate the Czar; and the better to effect their purpose, to set fire to Moscow at different places, on the same instant. Upon the day appointed, the conspirators assembled at the house of Sukawnin, dined there, and determined to continue drinking till midnight. About eight o'clock, two of them, who were struck with the atrocity of their enterprize, having retired, they concerted measures between themselves, and finally resolved, without delay, to repair to the palace, and discover the whole conspiracy. Returning then to their companions, they soon found a pretext for ob taining leave, to be absent till the hour appointed, and engaged to rejoin them at the place of rendezvous.

They immediately hastened to the palace, and throwing themselves at the feet of the Emperor, made a complete discovery. As soon as the Czar had ordered them to be secured, he wrote with his own hand to the captain of the guards, to assemble his company, without noise, to draw them up about eleven o'clock, before the house of Sukawin, and the moment the hour struck, to rush in and seize every person he should find there-The captain punctually obeyed.

Peter, however, forgot that he had appointed eleven o'clock, and thought that he had mentioned ten; he therefore imagined, that all would be over at halfpast ten.

Becoming impatient about that time, he went down to the street, and was greatly enraged, at not seeing a single man of the company of guards. He, however entered the house, followed only by the single domestic, and went directly to the room where the conspirators were assembled,

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and saluting them said; that "having observed light in the windows as he was passing along, he concluded they were making merry, and as it was not yet bedtime, he wished to drink a glass with them."

The conspirators expressed their happiness at this unexpected visit drank to his health, and he freely pledged them." In a few minutes, one of them made a signal to Sukawin, and said to him, in a low voice- Brother, it is time." Sukawin answered, with another signal, “not yet."

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That instant, the Czar rushed forward like a lion, giving him a blow on the face with his poignard, which brought him to the ground, cried, "If it is not time for you, villain-it is time for me." The conspirators immediately fell at his feet, and confessed their crime.

The hour of eleven struck, and the captain with his soldiers, entered the room; Peter ordered the conspirators to bind

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