The morass had to be drained, and the ground raised by bringing earth from a distance.  Wheelbarrows were not in use there, and the laborers conveyed the earth in baskets, bags and even in the skirts of their clothes, scooping it up with their hands and with wooden paddles.  The tzar always manifested great respect for the outward observances of religion, and was constant in his attendance upon divine service.  As we have mentioned, the first building the tzar erected was a fort, the second was a church, the third a hotel.  In the meantime private individuals were busily employed, by thousands, in putting up shops and houses.  The city of Amsterdam was essentially the model upon which St. Petersburg was built.  The wharves, the canals, the bridges and the rectangular streets lined with trees were arranged by architects brought from the Dutch metropolis.  When Charles XII. was informed of the rapid progress the tzar was making in building a city on the banks of the Neva, he said,

“Let him amuse himself as he thinks fit in building his city.  I shall soon find time to take it from him and to put his wooden houses in a blaze.”

Five months had not passed away, from the commencement of operations upon these vast morasses at the mouth of the Neva, ere, one day, it was reported to the tzar that a large ship under Dutch colors was in full sail entering the harbor.  Peter was overjoyed at this realization of the dearest wish of his heart.  With ardor he set off to meet the welcome stranger.  He found that the ship had been sent by one of his old friends at Zaandam.  The cargo consisted of salt, wine and provisions generally.  The cargo was landed free from all duties and was speedily sold to the great profit of the owners.  To protect his capital, Peter immediately commenced his defenses at Cronstadt, about thirty miles down the bay.  From that hour until this, Russia has been at work upon those fortifications, and they can now probably bid defiance to all the navies of the world.

Charles XII., sweeping Poland with fire and the sword, drove Augustus out of the kingdom to his hereditary electorate of Saxony, and then, convening the Polish nobles, caused Stanislaus Leszczynski, one of his own followers, to be elected sovereign, and sustained him on the throne by all the power of the Swedish armies.[13] The Swedish warrior now fitted out a fleet for the destruction of Cronstadt and Petersburg.  The defense of the province was intrusted to Menzikoff.  This man subsequently passed through a career so full of vicissitudes that a sketch of his varied life thus far seems important.  He was the son of one of the humblest of the peasants living in the vicinity of Moscow.  When but thirteen years of age he was taken into the service of a pastry cook to sell pies and cakes about the streets, and he was accustomed to attract customers by singing jocular songs.  The tzar chanced to hear him one day, and, diverted by his song and struck by his bright, intelligent appearance, called for the boy, and offered to purchase his whole stock, both cakes and basket.