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Anne efpoufed, in 1725, Charles Frederick, Duke of HolPtein-Gottorp, to whom fhehad been long betrothed. Bred up with the expectation of two crowns *, the was dif-appointed of both ; nominated by her mother, Catharine I., one of the council of re-gency during the minority of Peter II. ; excluded from that council after once takingher feat, by the defpotifm of Prince Mentchikof, whom lhe herfelf had promoted withall her influence; driven from Ruffia by the mandate of that arrogant minifter, theretired with her hufband to Kiel, where fhe died in 1728, in the twenty-fecond year ofher age, leaving one fon, the unfortunate Peter II'I .
Her coufin, the Emprefs Anne, fecond daughter of Ivan Alexievitch, is interred inthe fame cathedral. She was widow of the Duke of Courland, and refided at Mittau ,when fhe was unexpectedly called to take pofleflicn of the empire. On the death ofPeter II. without iflue, the fceptre, according to Catharine’s will, ought to have revertedto her grandfon, afterwards Peter III. , fon of Anne of Holftein; but as hereditary rightwas abolifhed by Peter’s decree, and no fucceflor appointed by Peter II. , a privy coun-' cil of feven nobles, in whom the regal power was veiled at the deceafe of the Emperor,formed a plan for limiting the prerogative of the crown, leaving the title and pomp ofroyalty to the reigning monarch, but referving to themfelves the fupreme authority.Having drawn up certain conditions for the ratification of the future fovereign, theychofe the Princefs Anne, in preference to the family of Peter the Great , and to her el-ded fider Catharine of Mecklenburgh, becaufe having no legal claim, die would morereadily agree to the terms which might fecure her the fuccedion. Anne figned thearticles without hefitation, only for the purpofe of breaking them, and had fcarcelyarrived at Mofcow before die was enabled, by the afliflance of the guards, to annul theaft of renunciation, to diffolve the privy council itfelf, and to re-affume the imperial
* Thofe of Sweden and Ruffia; the former by marriage, and the latter by her father’s nomination.
"With refpeft to the crown of Sweden, her hufband, the only fon of Hedwige, eldeft fitter of Charles XII .was undoubted heir of the Swedifh crown, but was fet afide by the Swedes , who preferred Uliica Eleonora,Charles’s youngeft filter. See Genealogical table of the Houfe of Vafa, and the chapter on the death ofCharles XII. , both in the fourth volume.
As to her expectations of the Ruffian crown, Baflevitz, her hnfband’s minifter, pofitively alferts, thatPeter I. had formed the refolution of raifing her to the throne. “ C’etoit- dans les mains de cette Princeffe,que Pierre le Grand fouhaitoit de voir paffer fon fceptre.” Buf. Hif. Mag. ix. p. 371.
A fhort time before his laft illnefs, he explained to her and the Duke of Holltein the fyltem he had pur-fued during his reign, and inftrufted them in the details of government. While he lay upon his death-bed,having recovered his underftanding by a momentary intermilfion of the delirium, (fee chap. viii. on Catha-rine 1 .) he called for Anne to di&ate his laft fentiments, but upon her arrival he relapfed into his formerftate of infenfibility. Ibid. p. 372.
It alfo appears, from Sir Luke Schaube’s difpatches, in the pofleffion of the Earl of Hardwicke, thatPeter had even taken fome fteps towards fettling the crown upon his daughter Anne.
<< Le Cardinal [Dubois] ne paroit guere touche de l’injuftice qui fevoit faite au fils du Czarowitz ; et ildit, que ii le Czar regleroit la fucceffion en faueur de fa fide, il faudroit bien que ceux qui voudroient fe Her aveclui de fon vivant, promiffent de la maintenir apres fa mort, apres laquelle toutefois il arriveroit vrayfembla-blement de cette difpofition comme fi elle n’avoit jamais exifte.” Sir Luke Schaube to Lord Carteret,Paris , Jan. 20, 1722.
*« £ e q ue les miniftres Mofcovites difoient au Monf. de Campredon que le Czar voulut fe procurer unegarantie pour la fucceffion a fes etats de la maniere qu’ilfe propofe de I'etab/ir, paroit fort fingulier, &c. Parrapport a Vexclufton de fon petits-fils en favour de Jafile, fans marquer en meme temps a quel Prince il la deftine.”Lord Carteret to Cardinal Dubois, Paris , Jan. 1721-2.
The decree which he iffued in February 1722, feemed a prelude to this appointment, which was probablyprevented by the fuddennefs of his death.
Catharine I. was no lefs inclined to appoint Anne her fucceflor, and a ftrong party was formed in herfavour ; but that Emprefs was prevented from following her inclinations in this inftance by the fhortnefs ofher reign, and the danger of excluding Peter Alexievitch; who, as the graudfon of Peter the Great , wasfupported by a ftill more powerful party,
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