See PARR.

CATHERINE I. Empress of Russia, a most extraordinary personage, whose history deserves to be given in detail. She was the natural daughter of a country girl; and was born at Ringen, a small village upon the lake Virtschee, near Dorpt, in Livonia. The year of her birth is uncertain; but, according to her own account, she came into the world on the 5th of April 1687. Her original name was Martha, which she changed for Catherine when she embraced the Greek religion. Count Rosen, a lieutenant-colonel in the Swedish service, who owned the village of Ringen, supported, according to the custom of the country, both the mother and the child; and was, for that reason, supposed by many persons to have been her father. She lost her mother when she was but three years old; and, as Count Rosen died about the same time, she was left in so destitute a situation, that the parish-clerk of the village received her into his house. Soon afterwards Gluck, Lutheran minister of Marienburgh, happening, in a journey through those parts, to see the foundling, took her under his protection, brought her up in his family, and employed her in attending his children. In 1701, and about the 14th year of her age, she espoused a dragoon of the Swedish garrison of Marienburgh. Many different accounts are given of this transaction: one author of great credit affirms that the bride and bridegroom remained together eight days after their marriage; another, of no less authority, affirms, on the contrary, that on the morning of the nuptials her husband being sent with a detachment for Riga, the marriage was never consummated. This much is certain, that the dragoon was absent when Marienburgh surrendered to the Russians, and Catherine, who was reserved for a higher fortune, never saw him more.

General Bauer, upon the taking of Marienburgh, saw Catherine among the prisoners; and, being smitten with her youth and beauty, took her to his house, where she superintended his domestic affairs, and was supposed to be his mistress. Soon afterwards she was received into the family of Prince Menzikof, who was no less struck with the attractions of the fair captive. With him she lived until 1704; when, in the 17th year of her age, she became the mistress of Peter the Great, and won so much upon his affections, that he espoused her on the 29th of May 1711. The ceremony was secretly performed at Jawerow in Poland, in the presence of General Bruce; and on the 20th of February 1712, it was publicly solemnized with great pomp at Peterburgh.

Catherine, by the most unwearied assiduity and unremitting attention, by the softness and complacency of her disposition, but above all by an extraordinary liveliness... Catherine's liveliness and gaiety of temper, acquired a wonderful ascendancy over the mind of Peter. The latter was subject to occasional horrors, which at times rendered him gloomy and suspicious, and raised his passions to such a height as to produce a temporary madness. In these dreadful moments Catherine was the only person who durst venture to approach him; and such was the kind of fascination she had acquired over his senses, that her presence had an instantaneous effect, and the first sound of her voice composed his mind and calmed his agonies. From these circumstances she seemed necessary not only to his comfort, but even to his very existence; she became his inseparable companion on his journeys to foreign countries, and even in all his military expeditions.

The peace of Pruth, by which the Russian army was relieved from certain destruction, has been wholly attributed to Catherine, though she was little more than an instrument in procuring the consent of Peter. The latter, in his campaign of 1711 against the Turks, having imprudently led his troops into a disadvantageous situation, took the desperate resolution of cutting his way through the Turkish army in the night. With this resolution he retired to his tent in an agony of despair, and gave positive orders that no one should be admitted under pain of death. In this important juncture the principal officers and the vice-chancellor Shafirov assembled in the presence of Catherine, and drew up certain preliminaries in order to obtain a truce from the grand vizier. In consequence of this determination, plenipotentiaries were immediately dispatched without the knowledge of Peter, to the grand vizier, and a peace obtained upon more reasonable conditions than could have been expected. With these conditions Catherine, notwithstanding the orders issued by Peter, entered his tent, and prevailed upon him to sign them. Catherine, by her conduct on this occasion, acquired great popularity; and the emperor particularly specifies her behaviour at Pruth as one of the reasons which induced him to crown her publicly at Moscow with his own hand. This ceremony was performed in 1724; and although designed by Peter only as a proof of his affection, was the principal cause of her subsequent elevation.

Her influence continued undiminished until a short time before the death of the emperor, when some circumstances happened which occasioned such a coldness between them as would probably have ended in a total rupture, if his death had not fortunately intervened. The original cause of this misunderstanding arose from the following discovery of a secret connection between Catherine and her first chamberlain, whose name was Mons. The emperor, who was suspicious of this connection, quitted Petersburgh under pretence of removing to a villa for a few days, but privately returned to his winter palace in the capital. From thence he occasionally sent one of his confidential pages with a complimentary message to the empress, as if he had been in the country, and with secret orders to observe her motions. From the page's information the emperor, on the third night, surprized Catherine in an arbour of the garden with her favourite Mons; while his sister, Madame Balke, who was first lady of the bedchamber to the empress, was, in company with a page, upon the watch without the arbour.

Peter, whose violent temper was inflamed by this discovery, struck Catherine with his cane, as well as the page, who endeavoured to prevent him from entering the arbour, and then retired without uttering a single word either to Mons or his sister. A few days after this transaction these persons were taken into custody, and Mons was carried to the winter palace, where no one had admission to him but Peter, who himself brought him his provisions. A report was at the same time circulated, that they were imprisoned for having received bribes, and making their influence over the empress subservient to their own mercenary views. Mons being examined by Peter, in the presence of Major-general Ushakov, and threatened with the torture, confessed the corruption which was laid to his charge. He was beheaded; his sister received five strokes of the knout, and was banished into Siberia; two of her sons, who were chamberlains, were also degraded, and sent as common soldiers among the Russian troops in Persia. On the day subsequent to the execution of the sentence, Peter conveyed Catherine in an open carriage under the gallows to which was nailed the head of Mons. The empress, without changing colour at this dreadful sight, exclaimed, "What a pity it is that there is so much corruption among courtiers!"

This event happened in the latter end of the year 1724; and as it was soon followed by Peter's death, and Catherine upon her accession recalled Madame Balke, it has been suspected that she shortened the days of her husband by poison. But notwithstanding the critical situation for Catherine in which he died, and her subsequent elevation, this charge is totally destitute of the least shadow of proof; for the circumstances of Peter's disorder were too well known, and the peculiar symptoms of his last illness sufficiently account for his death, without the necessity of recurring to poison.

While Peter was yet lying in the agonies of death, several opposite parties were caballing to dispose of the crown. At a considerable meeting of many among the principal nobility, it was secretly determined, on the moment of his dissolution, to arrest Catherine, and to place Peter Alexievitch upon the throne. Bafflevitz, apprised of this resolution, repaired in person to the empress, although it was already night. "My grief and consternation," replied Catherine, "render me incapable of acting myself; do you and Prince Mensikof consult together, and I will embrace the measures which you shall approve in my name." Bafflevitz, finding Mensikof asleep, awakened and informed him of the pressing danger which threatened the empress and her party. As no time remained for long deliberation, the prince instantly seized the treasure, secured the fortresses, gained the officers of the guards by bribes and promises, also a few of the nobility, and the principal clergy. These partizans being convened in the palace, Catherine made her appearance; she claimed the throne in right of her coronation at Moscow; she exposed the ill effects of a minority; and promised, that, "so far from depriving the great duke of the crown, she would receive it only as a sacred deposit, to be restored to him when she should be united, in another world, to an adored husband, whom she was now upon the point of losing." The pathetic manner with which she uttered this address, and the tears which accompanied it, added to the previous distribution of large sums of money and jewels, produced the desired effect; at the close of this meeting the remainder of the night was employed in making the necessary preparations to ensure her accession in case of the emperor's death.

Peter at length expired on the morning of the 28th of January 1725. This event being made known, the senate, the generals, the principal nobility and clergy, hastened to the palace to proclaim the new sovereign. The adherents of the great duke seemed secure of success, and the friends of Catherine were avoided as persons doomed to destruction. At this juncture Baffevitz whispered one of the opposite party, "The empress is mistress of the treasure and the forts; she has gained over the guards and the synod, and many of the chief nobility; even here she has more followers than you imagine; advise therefore your friends to make no opposition as they value their heads." This information being rapidly circulated, Baffevitz gave the appointed signal, and the two regiments of guards, who had been gained by a largess to declare for Catherine, and had already surrounded the palace, beat to arms. "Who has dared (exclaimed Prince Repnin, the commander in chief), to order out the troops without my knowledge?" "I, (returned General Butterlin), without pretending to dispute your authority, in obedience to the commands of my most gracious mistress." This short reply was followed by a dead silence. In this moment of suspense and anxiety Menzikof entered, preceding Catherine, supported by the duke of Holstein. She attempted to speak, but was prevented by sobs and tears from giving utterance to her words; at length, recovering herself, "I come (she said), notwithstanding the grief which now overwhelms me, to assure you, that, submissive to the will of my departed husband, whose memory will be ever dear to me, I am ready to devote my days to the painful occupations of government, until Providence shall summon me to follow him." Then, after a short pause, she artfully added, "If the great duke will profit by my instructions, perhaps I shall have the consolation, during my wretched widowhood, of forming for you an emperor worthy of the blood and the name of him whom you have now irretrievably lost." "As this crisis (replied Menzikof) is a moment of such importance to the good of the empire, and requires the most mature deliberation, your majesty will permit us to confer, without restraint, that this whole affair may be transacted without reproach, as well in the opinion of the present age as in that of posterity." "Acting as I do (answered Catherine), more for the public good than for my own advantage, I am not afraid to submit all my concerns to the judgment of such an enlightened assembly; you have not only my permission to confer with freedom; but I lay my commands upon you all to deliberate maturely on this important subject, and I promise to adopt whatever may be the result of your decisions." At the conclusion of these words the assembly retired into another apartment, and the doors were locked.

It was previously settled by Menzikof and his party that Catherine should be empress; and the guards, who surrounded the palace with drums beating and colours flying, effectually vanquished all opposition. Catherine: The only circumstance, therefore, which remained, was to give a just colour to her title, by persuading the assembly that Peter intended to have named her his successor. For this purpose Menzikof demanded of that emperor's secretary, whether his late master had left any written declaration of his intentions? The secretary replied, "That a little before his last journey to Moscow he had destroyed a will; and that he had frequently expressed his design of making another; but had always been prevented by the reflection, that if he thought his people whom he had raised from a state of barbarism to a high degree of power and glory, could be ungrateful, he would not expose his final inclinations to the insult of a refusal; and that if they recollected what they owed to his labours, they would regulate their conduct by his intentions, which he had disclosed with more solemnity than could be manifested by any writing." An altercation now began in the assembly; and some of the nobles having the courage to oppose the accession of Catherine, Theophanes archbishop of Pleskoff called to their recollection the oath which they had all taken in 1722 to acknowledge the successor appointed by Peter; and added, that the sentiments of that emperor delivered by the secretary were in effect an appointment of Catherine. The opposite party, however, denied these sentiments to be so clear as the secretary chose to infirmate; and insisted, that as their late monarch had failed to nominate his heir, the election of the new sovereign should revert to the state. Upon this the archbishop farther testified, that the evening before the coronation of the empress at Moscow, Peter had declared, in the house of an English merchant, that he should place the crown upon her head with no other view than to leave her mistress of the empire after his decease. This attestation being confirmed by many persons present, Menzikof cried out, "What need have we of any testament? A refusal to conform to the inclination of our great sovereign, thus authenticated, would be both unjust and criminal. Long live the empress Catherine!" These words being instantaneously repeated by the greatest part of those who were present, Menzikof, saluting Catherine by the title of empress, paid his first obeisance by kissing her hand; and his example was followed by the whole assembly. She next presented herself at the window to the guards and to the people, who shouted acclamations of "Long live Catherine!" while Menzikof scattered among them handfuls of money. Thus (says a contemporary) the empress was raised to the throne by the guards, in the same manner as the Roman emperors by the pretorian cohorts, without either the appointment of the people or of the legions.

The reign of Catherine may be considered as the reign of Menzikof, that empress having neither inclination or abilities to direct the helm of government; and she placed the most implicit confidence in a man who had been the original author of her good fortune, and the sole instrument of her elevation to the throne.

During her short reign her life was very irregular; she was extremely averse to business; would frequently, when the weather was fine, pass whole nights in the open air; and was particularly intemperate in the use of tokay wine. These irregularities, joined to a cancer and a droopy, hastened her end; and she expired on the 17th of May 1727, a little more than two years after her accession to the throne, and in about the 46th year of her age.

As the deaths of sovereigns in despotic countries are seldom imputed to natural causes, that of Catherine has also been attributed to poison; as if the disorders which preyed upon her frame were not sufficient to bring her to her grave. Some assert that she was poisoned in a glass of spirituous liquor; others by a pear given her by General Diever. Suspicion also fell upon Prince Menzikof, who, a short time before her decease, had a trifling misunderstanding with her, and who was accused of hastening her death, that he might reign with still more absolute power during the minority of Peter II. But these reports deserve not the least credit, and were merely dictated by the spirit of party, or by popular rumour.

Catherine was in her person under the middle size, and in her youth delicate and well formed, but inclined to corpulency as she advanced in years. She had a fair complexion, dark eyes, and light hair, which she was always accustomed to dye with a black colour. She could neither read nor write; her daughter Elizabeth usually signed her name for her, and particularly to her last will and testament; and Count Ostroff generally put her signature to the public decrees and dispatches. Her abilities have been greatly exaggerated by her panegyrists. Gordon, who had frequently seen her, seems of all writers to have represented her character with the greatest justice, when he says, "She was a very pretty well-looking woman, of good sense, but not of that sublimity of wit, or rather that quickness of imagination, which some people have believed. The great reason why the czar was so fond of her, was her exceeding good temper; she never was seen peevish or out of humour; obliging and civil to all, and never forgetful of her former condition; withal, mighty grateful." Catherine maintained the pomp of majesty with an air of ease and grandeur united; and Peter used frequently to express his admiration at the propriety with which she supported her high station, without forgetting that she was not born to that dignity.

The following anecdotes will prove that she bore her elevation meekly; and, as Gordon affirms, was never forgetful of her former condition. When Wurm, who had been tutor to Gluck's children at the time that Catherine was a domestic in that clergyman's family, presented himself before her after her marriage with Peter had been publicly announced, she recollected and addressed him with great complacency, "What, thou good man, art thou still alive! I will provide for thee." And she accordingly settled upon him a pension. She was no less attentive to the family of her benefactor Gluck, who died a prisoner at Moscow; she pensioned his widow; made his son a page; portioned the two eldest daughters; and advanced the youngest to be one of her maids of honour. If we may believe Weber, she frequently inquired after her first husband; and, when she lived with Prince Menzikof, used secretly to send him small sums of money, until, in 1705, he was killed in a skirmish with the enemy.

But the most noble part of her character was her peculiar humanity and compassion for the unfortunate. Motraye has paid a handsome tribute to this excellence. "She had, in some sort, the government of all his (Peter's) passions; and even saved the lives of a great many more persons than Le Fort was able to do: she inspired him with that humanity which, in the opinion of his subjects, nature seemed to have denied him. A word from her mouth in favour of a wretch, just going to be sacrificed to his anger, would disarm him; but if he was fully resolved to satisfy that passion, he would give orders for the execution when she was absent, for fear she should plead for the victim." In a word, to use the expression of the celebrated Munich, "Elle estoit proprement la médiateur entre le monarque et ses sujets."

Catherine II., empress of Russia, whose original name was Sophia Augusta Frederica, was the daughter of Christian Augustus of Anhalt Zerbitz, a small district in Upper Saxony, and was born in the castle of Zerbitz, on the 23rd of May 1729. She was educated under the eye of her parents, along with her brother Prince Frederic Augustus, and at an early period displayed a masculine spirit. Elegant, majestic, and handsome in her person, her complexion exhibited the union of the lily and the rose, while a native dignity was tempered by a smile of benevolence. But it was early observed, that the concealed under this a certain austerity of disposition, and an ambition, which was even then considered as excessive, and proved afterwards to be infatuated.

She soon learned all the fashionable accomplishments of that day. In addition to her native language, she wrote and conversed in French; of music she acquired a competent knowledge, and excelled particularly in needlework, which she did not disdain to practice after her elevation to the throne.

The empress Elizabeth, who had pitched upon her nephew the duke of Holstein Gottorp Oldenburg for her successor, was also desirous to choose a consort for him, and the princess of Anhalt Zerbitz was selected upon this occasion, when only fourteen years of age. She was chiefly indebted for so unexpected an honour to the tender regard which her imperial majesty always entertained for the memory of her uncle, who had been her lover; and in an evil hour she united the fate of the prince, better known afterwards by the name of Peter III. to that of the princess of Anhalt Zerbitz. In consequence of a special invitation, the future empress repaired to St. Petersburg, accompanied by her mother, and being admitted into the bosom of the Greek church, the ceremonial of marriage, after some delay, took place; on which these august personages were formally acknowledged, by her imperial majesty and the senate, as grand duke and duchess of Russia. Elizabeth, at the same time, presented them with the palace of Oranienbaum, delightfully situated on the gulf of Cronstadt, as a summer residence; this had formerly belonged to Menzikof, the favourite of Peter the Great, who, in this capricious court, had been by turns a pie-boy, a prince, and an exile.

The grand duke was far from being handsome; on the contrary, his person was disagreeable, and almost disfiguring. His education had been greatly neglected, and he was passionately fond of military parade. Frederick Catherine, derick of Prussia was at once his friend and his model; he kept up a secret correspondence with that monarch, at the time when Russia was at open war with him; he was accustomed in his cups to kneel before a picture of his hero; and, after quaffing a bumper, he would exclaim, "My brother! we shall conquer the world together."

The first moments of this union seemed to be peculiarly auspicious. The illustrious pair were accustomed to withdraw themselves daily, as if desirous to enjoy the pleasure of each other's company, in preference to the giddy dissipation of a court. It was perceived at last, that grandeur was not incompatible with happiness, and that nuptial felicity was not confined to plebeian life.

The empress hoped that the name and pretensions of Prince Ivan would be obliterated by the issue of the grand duke, and the whole empire impatiently wished for and now expected an heir to the throne of Peter the Great. It has since been discovered, that this young couple occupied their time in a far different manner than was then suspected! His highness, it seems, retired from society on purpose to perfect himself in the Prussian exercises, and his comfort on these occasions participated in his diversions, for he was accustomed to make her stand for hours together, as a centinel, with a musket at her shoulder. This species of entertainment did not altogether suit the disposition of a young princess of an ardent temperament, and her highness accordingly began, in her own language, to think "that she was made for something else." Although she did not love, she at this period governed her husband, and even concealed his foibles; imagining at first that he could not reign but by means of him, she wisely determined to make him appear worthy of a throne.

A marriage of eight years was not productive of any issue, and strange suspicions began to be entertained. This alarmed the court, for a formidable rival, who possessed a superior claim to the throne, still existed; it is true, he was in bondage, but in a country like Russia, the interval might not be long between a dungeon and a throne. The birth of a son and daughter, soon after this, put an end to all apprehensions of this kind, and tended not a little to give stability to the empire.

The grand duke, who at times discovered noble, and even magnanimous sentiments, had about this period formed a most unfortunate connexion with Elizabeth Voronoff, a lady of high rank, but neither celebrated for her beauty nor her talents. He seldom saw his comfort in private, and all the hours that were not occupied either by military exhibitions, or the pleasures of the table, were entirely devoted to his mistress.

The grand duchess, on the other hand, is said to have spent much of her time in company with a young Pole, whose history, like that of Catherine's, has since been interwoven with the annals of Europe. This was Count Poniatowski, afterwards known as Stanislaus Augustus king of Poland. He was the third son of a grandee of the same name, the favourite of Charles XII. of Sweden, by the princess Ezatoryska, who boasted the possession of the noblest blood in Poland, as she traced her descent from the Jagellon, the ancient sovereigns of Lithuania. His person was of exquisite symmetry, his air noble, his manners agreeable; in short, he possessed a charming exterior, and his mind, a circumstance extremely rare, was no less graceful than his person. At this period he was in no higher station, than a gentleman in the suite of the minister plenipotentiary from England, who had formed an intimacy with his family during a former mission at Warsaw. Being now taught to look higher, he returned to his native country, and appeared soon after at Petersburgh, as ambassador from the king of Poland. In this new capacity he did not forget to pay his respects at the little court of Oranienbaum, and the young plenipotentiary, with a view of ingratiating himself with the grand duke, smoked, drank, and praised the king of Prussia. At length Paul Petrovitch received the Polish minister with coolness, and he was actually forbidden to visit at the palace. This, however, it is said, did not deter him from concealing the order of the white eagle, and disguising himself as a mechanic, under which assumed quality he repaired one summer's evening to the gardens, in the neighbourhood of the gulf of Cronstadt; but he was discovered by his highness, who ordered him to be brought before him, and, after affecting to reprimand the captain of his guard for his disrespect to the representative of a crowned head, told him he was at liberty to depart.

From this moment the grand duchess is said to have changed both her system and her conduct. She had formerly aspired only to direct the councils of the future emperor; she now resolved, if possible, to obtain the crown for her son, and the regency for herself. Such a task would have discouraged a common mind, for it was impossible to achieve this without prevailing on the empress to consent to dethrone her own nephew. Beluchef, the grand chancellor, who hated the heir apparent, joined cordially in their scheme; and Elizabeth, who herself had obtained the crown by means of a revolution, was taught to tremble for her life, in consequence of the designs of her successor, who was represented as having resolved to shorten her days by poison. But a sudden and unexpected revolution in the ministry put an end to these intrigues; for Beluchef was driven into exile, and Poniatowski recalled.

A long and melancholy interval now ensued, during which the ambition of the grand duchess was rather frustrated than annihilated. She, however, had recourse to, and soothed her anguish by means of books; it was in her study that she laid the foundation of her future greatness, and rendered herself in some measure deserving of a throne. During her leisure moments she found means to gain partisans, and she acquired the favour of the soldiery, who did duty around her person, by means of her liberality and condescension. Peter, on the other hand, to the personal exertions of a common soldier, added the orgies of a debauchee. Surrounded by his male and female favourites, he consumed whole days and nights in intoxication, and forgot that he was a prince. There were some few moments, however, when he appeared great, and even magnanimous, but unfortunately they were of short duration; and it was his misfortune to have a weak woman for his mistress, and an able and ambitious one for his wife.

Such was the situation of the court when Elizabeth died, on the 5th of January 1762. This event, so productive of interesting effects, had been long foreseen. Catherine, by Catherine, who now began to act a more conspicuous part on the theatre of public affairs. Her sorrow, which appeared unbounded, was only equalled by her devotion. She was constantly employed either at her prayers in the cathedral, or occupied in public processions, during which she fervently adhered to all the ceremonious practices of the Greek church. The courtiers were astonished at the sudden change, and affected to survey it with contempt; but it imposed on the populace, and the priests were highly gratified with the zeal of the empress, more especially as her consort had always treated their mysteries with indignity.

Another design, meditated with no less art, proved unsuccessful. She is said to have made use of all her eloquence to persuade Peter, that he ought to leave off the barbarous custom of being proclaimed emperor by the army, in the same manner as his predecessors: instead of this, she proposed that his title should be recognized by the senate alone, and produced a speech which she herself had composed for the occasion; but Godowitz, one of the favourites, and the only friend of the new sovereign, perceived the snare, and partly owing to his entreaties, and partly from an attachment to everything military, the soldiery were as usual gratified with the ceremony of saluting the czar.

The grand duke now ascended the throne, by the name of Peter III, and the commencement of the new reign appeared to be peculiarly auspicious. The catastrophe, which terminated a short reign of six months, may be attributed to three apparently trifling, but, in reality, irretrievable errors; for it is allowed on all hands, that if they did not constitute the original cause, they at least afforded the pretext for his dethronement and murder. The first of these was, the sudden peace with, and marked predilection for, the king of Prussia, certainly the greatest monarch of his age; the second, an attempt to reform a barbarous and fanatical clergy, whose power Peter I. had curbed, but whose persons he still affected to consider as sacred; the third was, the war against Denmark.

Let it be recollected, however, in honour to his memory, that the young monarch, immediately after his elevation, threw open the state prisons, recalled Munich, Biron, Lefort, and several others, who had offended him during the late reign, from Siberia; that he limited the despoticism of his officers, abridged his own power, by abolishing a state inquisition, exercised under the name of the Secret Council of Chancery; and that he framed the memorable decree which enfranchised the nobles from compulsive service in the army, and permitted them to travel without the royal permission.

The following answer to a letter from the king of Prussia, who had requested him to be on his guard against the plot then meditating, conveys no unfavourable opinion of his heart.

"Touching the interdict you express for my safety, I request you will rest contented. I am called the father of my soldiers—they prefer a male to a female government. I walk alone constantly in St Petersburg—if any mischief is meditated, it would have been affected long since; but I am a general benefactor. I repose myself on the protection of heaven; trusting to that, I have nothing to fear."

This false security proved his ruin. While his mind was occupied with plans of reform, and he aspired to Catherine's rival, and even to excel, his illustrious predecessor, whose name he had assumed, a person who had sworn fidelity to him at the altar, and who owed allegiance by the double ties of a wife and a subject, was actually employed in planning a conspiracy, and organizing a revolt, against him. It has been said that he intended to have shut up his consort and son in a convent. But did a meditated imprisonment justify treachery, treason, and murder? On the other hand, it is known that, far from this being the intention of Peter, he was preparing for a journey to Holstein, and had actually empowered his consort to act as regent during his absence.

The mistakes of the emperor did not escape the eagle eyes of his enemies. He purposed to carry his guards into Holstein, with a view to recover the possessions wrested from his ancestors. The regiments that had hitherto done duty at the palace, and were incurred to the indulgences of the capital, revolted at the idea of a foreign war; they had been accustomed to be governed by women, and they were taught to fix their eyes on the comfort of the czar.

It is not the least wonderful part of her conduct, that, previously to the great catastrophe now meditating, Catherine contrived to appear abandoned by all the world. She knew how interesting a female, and more especially an empress, appeared while in distress; and she took care to heighten the sensibility of the public, by bursting at times into a flood of tears. This artful woman had found means to attach many persons to her destiny: it must be owned, however, that her adherents were neither so powerful, nor so numerous as to afford her any well founded hopes of success. She had gained several favourites, and some privates, of the guards; but her principal partisans consisted of the princess D'Aschevski, niece to the new chancellor; Prince Rozamouki, who had risen from obscurity, having been originally a peasant; Odart, an intriguing Italian; and Panin, governor to the grand duke. The arrest of Pafliak, one of the conspirators, seemed to lead to a discovery, which would have proved fatal to the malcontents; but this very circumstance induced them to declare instantly, and in the end crowned an apparently rash attempt with success.

The empress, who was asleep at the castle of Petershoffer, received intimation of their design by a common soldier, who soon after returned with a carriage and eight horses. On the faith of this man, and accompanied only by a few peasants, a German female domestic, and a French valet de chambre, she arrived at eight o'clock in the morning in the capital, and stopped opposite the barracks of the regiment of Ilmaioff. There she addressed the soldiers in an eloquent speech, intermingled with sighs and tears, and actually found means to persuade them that she and her son had but that moment escaped from the hands of assassins, sent by the emperor to murder them. This story, by agitating the passions of the troops, had a wonderful effect on them, and they all swore, with the exception of only one regiment, to die in defence of her and the young archduke. On this the empress ordered a crucifix to be brought, and commanded the priests to administer a new oath of allegiance. She afterwards repaired to one of the principal churches, where she was met by the bishop of Novgorod and the clergy, and, having returned thanks to Almighty God, ascended a balcony, and presented her son to the people. In a few hours she was again seen, draped in the uniform of the guards, riding at the head of a numerous and well-appointed army against her husband.

That unfortunate prince first made a show of resistance, and manned his Lilliputian batteries, at Oranienbaum, with his Holstein guards, in order to oppose what appeared to him to be a contemptible sedition. When it was too late, he attempted to get possession of Cronstadt. He might still have escaped to Revel, but the women in his galley were apprehensive of danger, and the courtiers shuddered at the proposition of old Munich, who wished them to assist the sailors in rowing.

On the first intelligence of the plot this intrepid warrior had repaired to his benefactor, and advised him to march directly to the capital, at the head of his German troops. "I shall precede you," (said the generous veteran,) "and my dead body shall be a rampart to your sacred person." But, on the other hand, the emissaries of the empress, bathing their hands in their crocodile tears, deprecated resistance, magnified the danger, and invited him to repose in the inviolable fidelity of his comfort. In short, on the 14th of July, 1762, he was taken prisoner by the orders of his own wife, to whom he had been married 14 years, prevailed on by the threats and entreaties of Count Panin to renounce his crown, conveyed to the cattle of Robocha, and three days afterwards put to death. Of the titled minions, who perpetrated this daring murder, one carried the guilty marks of the czar's icemiter on his forehead to the grave, and another, tortured for years by the remembrance of the last bloody scene in the tragedy of his expiring sovereign, exhibited a shocking spectacle of insanity and remorse.

The empress, on her assumption of the new vacant crown, notified the event to all the courts of Europe, under her new name of Catherine Alexievna II. But there was still a competitor for the empire, and suspicion never flutters near a throne. This was Prince Ivan, son to the princes of Mecklenburg, and grand nephew to Peter the Great and the empress Anna Ivanovna, who had destined him for her successor; but, in consequence of a former revolution, he was seized while yet an infant, and doomed to lead a life of captivity. During 18 years of precarious existence, he had been shut up in the castle of Schluffelbourg, and never in all that time did he breathe the open air, or behold the sky, but once. This prince was visited by Peter III., who finding him in an arched room, 20 feet square, determined to set him at liberty; but, alas! the youth, in consequence of his long and solitary confinement, had been deprived of his senses. In this situation, the emperor determined to build a house for him, with a convenient terrace, where he might take the air daily within the fortress. Such, however, are the changes of fortune, that, in three weeks, he himself was also precipitated from a throne, and exposed to a violent death. This event was but the prelude to that of Ivan; for, as orders had been given, in case of an attempt to rescue him, that an end should be put to his life, and a real or pretended plot having been hatched for this purpose, the motives and details of which have hitherto been involved in the most profound obscurity, the unhappy prince experienced the same fate as his generous protector.

Catherine being now firmly seated on the throne, wisely determined to divert the thoughts of the nation from the late horrid scenes, and fix them on more agreeable objects. Having foothold Prussia, acquired a preponderance in the cabinet of Denmark, long become an absolute monarchy, and entered into a league with the popular party in Sweden, not yet bereft of its liberties, she cast her eyes on Courland, then governed by Prince Charles of Saxony, the second son of Augustus III., king of Poland; and, finding that country admirably situated for the increase of her present, and the extension of her future power, the, in 1762, expelled the lawful sovereign, and invested Biron, a creature of her own, with the ducal cap. Not content with this, the new duke, soon reduced to the most abject dependence, was prevented from resigning his precarious power, and the states assembled at Mitau were actually interdicted from nominating a successor. This, however, was only a prelude to far greater scenes, for she had hardly dethroned one sovereign before she undertook to create another. Augustus II., or, as he is called by some, Augustus III., of Poland, having died at Dresden, in 1763, her imperial majesty did not let slip so fair an opportunity for interfering in the appointment to the vacant throne, and even placing one of her dependents on it. Count Poniatowski, on the elevation of Catherine, had sent a friend to Petersburgh, to sound the disposition of the empress about his return to that capital, where he naturally hoped to participate in her power, and bask in the sunshine of the royal smiles. But the more prudent German, who was at this very moment meditating a splendid provision for him elsewhere, prohibited the journey from political motives. Accordingly, notwithstanding the opposition of the grand chancellor Belotcheff, and indeed of all her ministers, she determined to invest him with the ensigns of royalty. The head of the house of Brandenburg, swayed by his hatred to Saxony and Austria, or, what is still more likely, the Prussian eagle having perhaps, even now, scented his future prey, Catherine was enabled to send 10,000 men into Poland, who, encamping on the banks of the Vistula, overawed the deliberations of the diet, assembled on the 9th of May 1764, and placed Stanislaus Augustus on the throne. Thus, by the appearance of a camp filled with Russian mercenaries, was violated one of the fundamental laws of the commonwealth, established ever since the time of Sigismund-Augustus, two centuries before, in consequence of which the election of a king is deemed void while there are any foreign troops within the territories of the republic; and so justly jealous were the ancient Poles of their national independence, that the marshal of the diet, on those occasions, was accustomed to request all ambassadors to absent themselves, as he could not be answerable for the safety of their persons.

Having conferred the crown of Poland, September 7, 1764, on an amiable and accomplished prince, who, on account of his youth, his poverty, and even his dependence on Russia, would have been excluded from that painful pre-eminence had the free suffrage of the nation been collected; and who was, in consequence... Catherine, of the hatred of his countrymen, still more subjected to the dominion of the empress, she began to prepare for a war against the Turks, which was accordingly declared in 1768. During this contest the Greek cause was triumphant both by sea and land. On the first of these elements her fleet, under Count Orloff, entered the straits of Gibraltar, and carried terror and devastation among the islands in the Archipelago, and throughout the defences of shores of Asia Minor; on the second, her armies, under Galitzin and Romanoff, achieved many important victories, seized on the fortresses of Choczim, and prevailed on the Greek inhabitants of Wallachia and Moldavia to acknowledge her as their sovereign.

In the meantime, however, a dangerous insurrection broke out in the heart of her dominions, instigated by a Cossack of the name of Pugatscheff, who pretended to be Peter III. After displaying great valour and considerable talents, which had enabled him, at the head of raw and undisciplined levies, to contend against veteran troops and experienced generals, this unfortunate man was at length seized, enclosed in an iron cage, and beheaded at Moscow on the 21st of January 1775.

A peace had been concluded on the 21st of July, in the preceding year, with the Porte, which proved highly honourable to Russia; but it was productive of little benefit, for the liberty of navigating the Black Sea, and a free trade with all the ports of the Turkish empire, which would have afforded inestimable advantages to a civilized people, was scarcely of any consequence to a nation unacquainted alike with commerce and manufactures.

Accordingly, we find her imperial majesty still unsatisfied. Ambition, which in a female bosom is ever insatiable, stimulated her to attempt new acquisitions, and we learn with astonishment that her diplomatic artifices proved infinitely more hostile to the Turkish crescent, than even her victorious arms. Scarcely had four years elapsed, when, after an armed negociation, a new treaty of pacification was agreed to by the reluctant sultan, on the 21st of March 1780, in consequence of which the Crimea was declared independent: an event not calculated to close ancient jealousies, but, on the contrary, to produce fresh dissensions, as it afforded an opening into the very heart of the Turkish empire, and a ready pretext for future interference. New claims and new concessions immediately followed. Russia insisted on establishing consuls in the three provinces of Moldavia, Wallachia, and Bessarabia, which she was accordingly permitted to do by the treaty of 1781. Mortifying as this compliance was, it produced but a short respite. The emperor Joseph was now brought upon the political stage, and the Roman and Russian eagles, after hovering over the carcass of the Turkish empire, and meditating to devour the whole, were at last content with a part of the prey. The empress, as it may be readily believed, was not inattentive to her own interests; and by the treaty of Constantinople, signed January 9, 1784, to Russia was ceded the entire sovereignty of the Crimea, which then received its ancient name of Taurica, the isle of Taman, and part of Cuban.

It was now in the 58th year of her age, and the 25th of her reign, that Catherine may be said to have attained the very summit of her wishes. There was no one who pretended to the throne, unless her son Paul Petrovitch, an amiable prince, who had attained his 33rd year, without displaying the least symptom of ambition, and who besides was superintended with the most watchful jealousy. She had triumphed over a nation, supposed to be the natural enemy of Russia, both by arms and negotiations, and she dazzled her barbarous subjects with the blaze of her glory, for they were eager to forget her errors, in order to contemplate a grandeur which soothed their national vanity. Knowing the effect of splendour upon ignorance, she ushered in the year 1787 with a brilliant journey to Chernov. Accompanied thither at once by a court and an army, with foreign ambassadors, an emperor and a king in her train, she intended to have assumed the high-founding titles of Empress of the East, and Liberator of Greece. At Kiow, where she remained during three months, she was received under triumphal arches, and having heard the petitions of the deputies from distant nations, and extended the walls of that city, she inscribed, with an arrogant anticipation, the following motto, in Greek characters, on the quarter next to Constantinople: "Through this gate lies the road to Byzantium."

Scarcely, however, had the empress, after visiting Molcow, returned to her capital, than the Turk thought proper to declare war. Her majesty, long since prepared for an event which was far from being displeasing, called forth the stipulated succours of her ally the emperor; and the combined army under the Prince de Cobourg made itself master of Choczim, at the end of a siege of three months. Oczzakow, after a still more obstinate resistance, was taken by storm, by the Russians alone. A diversion, however, was made by the king of Sweden, who, subsidized with Turkish gold, and directed by Prussian counsels, fought his own battles at the expense of his ally. But the exertions of this monarch were principally confined to the indecisive naval actions of Stoogland, in which both parties claimed the victory, and this was soon after followed by a convention for peace.

Disembarrassed from an active, if not a powerful enemy, the empress no longer confined her conquests to the course of the Danube, but crowned the campaign with the capture of Imael, which was taken by storm on the 22nd of December. On this occasion Suvarrow, one of her favourite generals, displayed a horrid mixture of courage and cruelty, and thus proved, to a demonstration, that personal bravery is far from being incompatible with the deadliest revenge. Incensed at the gallant resistance of the Turks, like Caesar, he snatched a standard from a subaltern, and planted it with his own hand on the walls of the city; like Sylla, he doomed the vanquished to experience a bloody proscription, and upwards of 30,000 men, women, and children, if we are to credit the boastful account of the barbarians themselves, perished by the sword and bayonet of the unsparing Russians.

Instead of regaining the Crimea, as had been expected by the sultan, the fortresses of Oczzakow, and all the territories between the rivers Bog and Dniefter, were assigned to the empress, who now found herself nearer Having concluded a final treaty of peace with the Turk, on the 9th of January 1792, by which the river Dnieper became the boundary of the two empires, and was to be navigated by both, the empress had more time to apply her attention to European politics. Part of Poland had been dismembered and partitioned during the year 1772, not only in contravention to the general rights of nations, but in direct opposition to the most solemn treaties on the part of Russia, Prussia, and Austria. The revolution which took place in that ill-fated country on May 3, 1791, and which afforded the prospect of a happy and stable government to the remains of the republic, was the signal of its annihilation. The imperial and royal spoilers seized this opportunity to fall once more in concert on their prey, which they forced to expire under their talons, and they have since cut it into shares, and attempted to disfigure it by new names, lest it should one day be reclaimed by the lawful owners. After this insult to humanity, Stanislaus, whom posterity may acknowledge as an unfortunate, but surely not as a great king, was forced soon after to abdicate, and allowed to retire into obscurity with his mistresses, his children, and a pension.

Another great object had for some time engaged the attention of Catherine and her cabinet. This was the French revolution; an event pregnant with consequences that involved the claims, or, more properly speaking, the existence of all the sovereigns of Europe. With a treasury nearly exhausted by the war with the Ottoman Porte, which was not then terminated, and at a distance from the scene of action, the empress could not well engage in the contest; but she readily entered into the coalition, and soon after subsidized her late enemy the king of Sweden; but that enterprising prince met his fate, on the night of the 16th of March 1792, by the hand of an assassin.

Notwithstanding this sinister event, the head of the Greek church, compassionating the fate of the pretended father of the Christian world, promised to exert herself for the restoration of Avignon to the holy see. She also launched forth a menacing manifesto against France, and prepared for a new war.

The empress has hitherto been contemplated in her public character. It may not be amiss now to fix our eyes on the individual; to pay some attention to the sex of the sovereign, and, viewing majesty as it were in an undress, behold the woman lurking behind the princes.

It might have been supposed, that in the neighbourhood of the Hyperborean regions, the passions, if not dormant would be at least moderate, and that the men would consequently be temperate, and the women chaste. The contrary, however, is the case: and it is left to the philosopher to determine, whether the double windows and heated rooms of St. Petersburg, added to an affectation of oriental manners, be not to the full as critical, in respect to female virtue, as the climate of Naples and Turin. Certain it is, however, that, during the reign of Catherine II, no remarkable increase of indecorum took place, and that any occasion-

al indiscretions appear to have made but little impression on the public mind.

Count Gregory Orloff, distinguished in Russia by the appellation of Gregorevitch, was one of the handsomest men in the north. Gratitude and affection both conspired to procure him a favourable reception at court; and from an obscure condition he soon rose to the highest offices of the state, which he, in fact, governed. His opinion in the cabinet was listened to with deference, and he was invested with the supreme military command. Still higher honours awaited him. The empress-queen was solicited to grant him a diploma of prince of the empire; it was next in contemplation to decorate him with the titles of duke of Ingria and Carelia, and the chancellor Beftuchoff actually proposed to the empress that he should be admitted as the partner of her bed and throne. But this scheme was blasted by the interference of Count Panin; who, not content with his own remonstrances, invoked the intervention of Razumofsky and Vorontzoff, and found means to divert Catherine from her purpose.

Soon after this the conduct of Orloff began to give dissatisfaction: for he absented himself from court; went but seldom to the palace; resided principally in the country; and, being extremely addicted to hunting, dedicated whole weeks to the chase of the bear. Panin, who had frequently experienced his arrogance, deemed this a happy opportunity to procure his disgrace. He accordingly introduced a young officer named Vasilchikoff, who, being directed by the artful minister, behaved in such a manner as to give reason to believe that he would soon reign uncontrolled. Pride, however, on this occasion supplied the place of affection, and Orloff suddenly altering his conduct, his rival was dismissed with superb presents, and invested with an employment that required his residence in a remote province.

A new favourite soon after made his appearance in the person of Vasilchikoff, a fubaltern in the guards, and advantage was taken of the absence of Orloff to introduce him at the hermitage. This officer was young and handsome; but nature, which had been lavish to his person, seems to have been at no pains with his mind. He was immediately appointed chamberlain to the empress, enriched with splendid presents, and treated with the most flattering attention. In the mean time Gregorevitch, who had been appointed to treat with the Turkish plenipotentiaries relative to a peace, on hearing of this unexpected event, instantly returned to the capital from Fokhiani, but was arrested at the gates of Peterburgh, and stripped of all his employments. He, however, experienced the imperial bounty, and received, as a recompense for his submission, the sum of 100,000 rubles in hand, a pension of 150,000 more, a magnificent service of plate; and, to crown the whole, an estate, with 6000 peasants upon it, was made over to him.

Vasilchikoff, during 22 months, enjoyed all the distinction belonging to the reigning favourite; but at the end of that period he also found occasion to lament the inconstancy of fortune. This young man had conducted himself with great prudence, for he had never abused his influence. He possessed none of that haughtiness so common to upstarts; and he did not ap- Catherine, pear eager to increase his own fortune, or to diminish that of his rivals. Such was his moderation, that, as his elevation excited no envy, so his disgrace was unaccompanied by exultation. His faults are still unknown; and most probably he had ceased to please. His retreat, however, was accompanied by every mark of respect; and, as he repaired to Moscow, the place of his destined exile, he received presents, on his journey, which might be styled imperial on account of their magnificence.

No sooner was this change made public than Orloff appeared once more on the scene, and was readmitted to all his former influence. Supposing Panin to be the cause of his late exile, he extorted a promise from his royal mistress to dismiss him from his employments. Her afflent was given with reluctance; and the prayers of the grand duke, who was too generous to suffer his preceptor to fall a prey to the suspicions of a man he did not love, induced her to revoke her intentions.

In the mean time the manly air and elegant appearance of Potemkin make a great impression on an illustrious personage. This officer had been bred in the guards; and, perceiving on that memorable day when the empress, mounted on a fine charger and dressed in regimentals, exhibited herself at the head of the troops, that she had forgotten to place a plume in her hat, he snatched this decoration from his own, and presented it to the new sovereign. Neither this action, nor the grace with which it was performed, had escaped unnoticed; and the time was now arrived when his attachment was to receive an ample remuneration.

The post of favourite is almost peculiar to Russia, and was during many years considered an official employment. Ever since 1730 the nation had been governed by women, except during the short and unfortunate reign of Peter III. In fine, it seemed to be sanctioned, if not by a fundamental law of the empire, at least by prescription; as four empresses had successively consecrated it by their practice, and the age of the last Elizabeth made it be considered in some measure as a mere appendage to imperial grandeur.

Potemkin soon grew giddy with success, and his pride and presumption keeping pace with his elevation, he accordingly exposed himself to a number of disagreeable events. Boasting one day of the extent of his power in presence of Count Alexis Orloff, the brother of his predecessor, he received a blow which deprived him of an eye; and Prince Gregory Orloff having requested his dismission, he was forced to repair to Smolensk, at once the place of his nativity and exile. Such was his vexation, partly from the loss of his eye, and partly from his disgrace, that he actually entertained some idea of turning monk; but a submissive letter produced his recall; and from that moment he seemed to have dropped all thoughts of the cowl.

Ambition now appears to have taken complete possession of the bosom of Potemkin; and this was amply gratified, for his influence soon extended to every department of the state, and he himself, after procuring the dismission of Count Zachar Chernicheff, became vice-president at war, with a seat in the council. But his aspiring hopes were not yet gratified, for he entertained still higher expectations.

With a view to the accomplishment of these, he affected to be once more seized with a fit of religion; and kept Lent with great strictness, living upon roots Catherine and water during that holy season. He also wearied all the saints in the Greek calendar with his prayers; went daily to confession; and, having selected on this occasion the same priest that afforded absolution to a great personage, he besought him to inform her, that his alarmed conscience could no longer permit him to indulge in an intercourse, which, by marriage alone, would cease to be criminal.

This project, however, failed of success; and, soon after the empress's return to Petersburg (for it was at Moscow that it had been first conceived), a young man from the Ukraine, of the name of Zavadofsky, was honoured with the imperial countenance, while the haughty Potemkin received the customary intimation, "that he must prepare to travel." Potemkin did not dare to disobey, but he evaded the order; for, setting out in great form, he proceeded a few miles towards the place indicated for his exile, but returned in the course of next day, and placed himself in the evening exactly opposite to the empress as she was about to sit down to dinner. Every one expected to behold some signal mark of the imperial displeasure; but, on the contrary, Catherine, handing him a pack of cards, desired the ex-favourite to cut in, observing that he had always been a fortunate player. His posts, his honours, his influence, were all restored to him, and he now occupied a new situation about the person of her imperial majesty, for he became her friend.

In the mean time the bosom of the humble Zavadofsky began to catch the flame of ambition; and, as he was jealous of the grandeur of Potemkin, he aimed a deadly blow at his consequence. But the minister at war, become wily in his turn, warded it off, and made it recoil on the head of his rival. Perceiving a handsome young Servian officer of hussars, of the name of Zoritch, who had repaired to Petersburg in search of promotion, he presented him with a captain's commission, and in a few days he was perceived behind the chair of the empress. A large estate, the rank of major-general, and an immense sum of money, soon became the appanage of this fortunate youth; but the empress perceiving that he was ignorant, and being disgusted at his want of accomplishments, recommended, as he could speak no language but that of the Russian boors, that he should be sent abroad for improvement.

Fortune seems to have been in a playful mood when she elevated Rimsky Korzakoff to the post of chamberlain, and successor to the Servian. This man had actually been a sergeant in the guards; he was now declared aide-de-camp general to the empress and presented with the palace of Vassiltchikoff.

He proved to be a vain upstart, whose dress exhibited a profusion of diamonds, and whose conduct was such as could not fail to involve him in ruin. This speedily occurred; for, being detected in a secret correspondence with a lady, he was banished from court, and he was obliged to repair to Moscow.

The same day that beheld his disgrace, witnessed the good fortune of Lukoi, a Pole by descent, and an officer of the body-guards by profession. The education of this young man had been neglected; but this defect was in some measure remedied by the zeal and attachment of an illustrious personage, who superintended Catherine tended his improvement; and in a short time he became as remarkable for the superior elegance of his manners, as the graces of his person: but, while in the flower of his youth, and the very height of his favour, he was attacked by a mortal disease, which cut him off after a short illness. He died in the arms of his mistress, who was inconsolable on the occasion, and refused to take any suifrance during three whole days.

A mausoleum, the plan of which was sketched out by an English artist, attested the respect of the empress, who burst into tears on seeing it two years after. His fortune he had bequeathed to her imperial majesty, but she presented it, with her accustomed generosity, to the sister of this handsome youth.

The next person who aspired to the post of favourite was a young man educated in Scotland, and who had become a fellow of the Royal Society of London. This was Prince Dalmatoff, son to the celebrated princes of the same name, who had participated in the memorable revolution that levelled Peter III. with the dust. A lieutenant of the name of Yermoloff anticipated him, however, in this post, to which he was raised by the interest of Potemkin; but, proving ungrateful to his benefactor, he was suddenly disgraced, being replaced by Momonoff, who attended her imperial majesty during her journey to the Crimea. He fell in love, however, with a lady of the court; and no sooner was the empress informed of this circumstance, than she insisted on his marrying her immediately; after which they were sent into exile at Moscow.

Plato Zuboff, an officer of the horse-guards, supplied his place. This aspiring young man, not content with wealth and honours, affected public employments; and it is asserted that the idea of the second division of Poland originated with him. In a short time he became omnipotent at Peterburgh. He was decorated with the title of prince; received the post of grand master of the artillery; all the admirals, generals, and ministers of the empire, were to be seen at his levee, bending lowly before him, and, if we are to believe the author of a work of some reputation, paying their compliments at the same time, in great form, to his favourite monkey.

Catherine hitherto had only afforded empty promises to the enemies of France; but, at the instigation of Zuboff, she now formed the design of giving effectual assistance to the confederated kings; and, as a proof of her intentions, issued orders for a squadron of men of war to join the English fleet, and commanded a levy of 60,000 troops. She at the same time prosecuted a war on the frontiers of Persia, where her army, under the command of a near relation of the grand master of the artillery, had experienced a most humiliating defeat; and she was now preparing to send fresh succours to his assistance.

Such were the projects that occupied the mind of Catherine, the overthrow of the French republic, and the subjugation of the distant Persians, when she was smitten by the hand of death. This fortunate princess had hitherto enjoyed an almost uninterrupted state of good health during the whole of her long reign. She was sometimes, indeed, subject to a colic, and her legs were now and then observed to swell; but neither of these symptoms were alarming.

On the morning of the 9th of November she rose at her usual hour, and breakfasted on coffee according to Catherine's custom. Some time after she retired to her closet; and her long absence affording cause of suspicion to her attendants, they entered the apartment, and found her lying speechless. Dr Robertson, her physician, being sent for, he treated her disease as an apoplexy, and considerable relief seemed to ensue after the application of the lancet. But the empress never entirely recovered her senses; and did not utter a single word during the remainder of her life, which was prolonged till ten o'clock in the evening of November 10, 1797.

Thus, with her usual good fortune, after a very short illness, died Catherine II., empress of all the Russias. During her youth she had been extremely handsome, but she got fat as she increased in years; she, however, preferred a certain air of gracefulness, intermingled with dignity, until the last moment of her life.

Her majesty in person was not above the middle size; but, being well proportioned, and carrying her head high, she appeared tall. Her forehead was open, her nose aquiline, her mouth agreeable, and her chin, without being ugly, was rather long. Her hair, in which she took great delight, was auburn, and her eye-brows dark and thick. Her eyes, according to some, were blue, whilst others insist that they were of a brown hue. Upon the whole, her physiognomy was not deficient in expression; but she had such a command of her countenance, that no one could there discover the secrets of her heart.

Her imperial majesty was accustomed, on great occasions, to dress in a splendid manner, and to wear a profusion of jewels. Being particularly fond of diamonds, she possessed a prodigious number; and one in particular was the largest that ever had been seen in Europe. Catherine, however, was accustomed in general to affect the ancient Russian fashions, for the most part wearing green, out of compliment to the nation. Her hair was powdered but slightly. On the other hand, her face was covered with rouge; and as her imperial majesty, like the ladies in the French court, wore it in proportion to her rank, it is not to be wondered if it was of a high colour.

The strictest temperance was regularly preserved by Catherine, in a country, and at a court, where a little deviation would not have given occasion to much scandal. A slight breakfast, a moderate dinner, and two or three glasses of wine (for she never indulged in supper), constituted her usual diet.

It is far more easy to describe the empress than the woman. The acts of the former have now become history, but those of the latter must be left to the pen of genius, that can analyze the springs of human action.

It must be confessed that both she and the empire appear to have been frequently a prey to favouritism; and this part of her conduct, by being connected with the happiness of millions of her subjects, is highly censurable.

As a sovereign she stands conspicuous. She increased the extent of Russia, and added not only new countries, but new nations, to that mighty empire. As a conqueror, her victories were numerous and brilliant; she triumphed equally by sea and by land, and had she lived but ten years longer, might have realized Catherine, the proud dream of her ambition, and beheld her grandson Constantine sitting on the throne of the Ottomans. Her merit as a legislator, too, is great; but she would have been far more worthy of our admiration, had she effected the generous idea of enfranchising all the peasantry of her immense dominions.

She was the only sovereign of Russia who ever exhibited a taste for letters. This was not all; she was an author herself, and did not disdain to compose little treatises for her grandchildren, whose education she superintended.

For music she also possessed an exquisite relish, and brought Gabrielli, and a number of fingers of great note, from Italy, allowing them liberal salaries, and treating them with great attention. Throughout the whole of her long reign Catherine also evinced a marked predilection for painting. In the midst of a war with the Turks she purchased pictures in Holland, to the amount of 60,000 rubles, all of which were lost in consequence of a ship's being wrecked on the coast of Finland. This, however, rather served to stimulate her to fresh exertions, and her agents accordingly procured whatever was to be found in Italy worthy of notice. The Houghton collection from England was also transferred, by an act of her munificence, to the shores of the Baltic; and, while it added to her glory, disgraced this nation in the eyes of foreigners.

Her conduct to learned men was truly worthy of a woman of genius. She was proud of the correspondence and friendship of Voltaire; she invited Diderot to her court, and lived with him, while there, in habits of the utmost familiarity; to D'Alembert she looked up as to a superior being, and endeavoured, although in vain, to seduce him to reside at St Petersburg; but he possessed a haughty soul, was devoted to liberty, and would not consent to degrade the mind of a freeman, by residing among a nation of slaves.

To the honour of Catherine, she was extremely attentive to the education of her people, and instituted a prodigious number of schools for their instruction. To remove their prejudices against inoculation, she herself submitted to the operation, and thus hazarded her life for her nation. Amidst the schemes of grandeur, the allurements of power, and the gratification of the passions, she found leisure to civilize and instruct her subjects: this added not a little to her glory, as it contributed to the benefit of so large a portion of the human race; but it will infensibly operate against a despotic government, by rendering the boors unfit for their chains, which they will some day break, perhaps, on the heads of the boyars, who at once enslave and oppress them.

No woman could so easily forgive; and in this point of view her conduct must be allowed to have possessed a great share of magnanimity. She generously pardoned old Munich and Godowitz, the one the counsellor, the other the favourite of Peter III. She even admitted the former of these into her confidence, and would have conferred honours and preferments on the latter; but he loved his late sovereign, and with a noble scorn spurned at the proffered friendship of his successor. To the misfortunes of Peter III., although her own rival, she granted her life, restored her fortune, and at length admitted her daughters to honourable situations at court.

No personage in our own times has attracted a greater share of censure and eulogium than Catherine; and no woman in any age ever exhibited more of the masculine greatness of one sex, and the feminine weakness of another. As a female, she appears at times the slave of passion, and the puppet of her courtiers; but while we behold her diminishment, in this point of view, into insignificance, we look again, and contemplate the sovereign, towering like an immense colossus, and with one foot placed on Cherbon, and another at Kamtschatka, waving her iron sceptre over the subject nations, and regulating the destiny of a large portion of mankind.

The frailties, however, of the woman will soon be forgotten, while the glory that encircles the brows of the legislator and conqueror will long continue to dazzle the eyes of an admiring world. The present age, however, flutters at the untimely fate of Peter and of Ivan, and posterity will not easily pardon the degradation of Stanislaus, the partition of Poland, and the massacres of Iznailow and of Praga.