was repelled, was fought in
1709, nearly twenty years after the Czar ascended the throne.

During the period while the Czar was thus occupied in his mortal struggle
with the King of Sweden, there appeared upon the stage, in connection
with him, a lady, who afterward became one of the most celebrated
personages of history. This lady was the Empress Catharine. The
character of this lady, the wonderful and romantic incidents of her life,
and the great fame of her exploits, have made her one of the most
celebrated personages of history. We can, however, here only give a
brief account of that portion of her life which was connected with the
history of Peter.

Catharine was born in a little village near the town of Marienburg, in
Livonia.[1] Her parents were in very humble circumstances, and they both
died when she was a little child, leaving her in a very destitute and
friendless condition. The parish clerk, who was the teacher of a little
school in which perhaps she had been a pupil--for she was then four or
five years old--felt compassion for her, and took her home with him to
his own house. He was the more disposed to do this as Catharine was a
bright child, full of life and activity, and, at the same time, amiable
and docile in disposition, so that she was easily governed.

After Catharine had been some time at the house of the clerk, a certain
Dr. Gluck, who was the minister of Marienburg, happening to be on a visit
to the clerk, saw her and heard her story. The minister was very much
pleased with the appearance and manners of the child, and he proposed
that the clerk should give her up to him. This the clerk was willing to
do, as his income was very small, and the addition even of such a child
to his family of course somewhat increased his expenses. Besides, he
knew that it would be much more advantageous for Catharine, for the time
being, and also much more conducive to her future success in life, to be
brought up in the minister's family at Marienburg than in his own humble
home in the little village. So Catharine went to live with the
minister.[2]

Here she soon made herself a great favorite. She was very intelligent
and active, and very ambitious to learn whatever the minister's wife was
willing to teach her. She also took great interest in making herself
useful in every possible way, and displayed in her household avocations,
and in all her other duties, a sort of womanly energy which was quite
re