636 



CATHARINE II. 



Catharine pearance. She had an aquiline nose, a chin some- 

 n ' y what long, an agreeable mouth, auburn hair, and blue 



V- " >rY """ eyes arched with black and thick eye brows. " Her 

 physiognomy," says one of her biographers, " was 

 not deficient in expression ; but that expression never 

 discovered what was passing in the soul of Catharine, 

 or rather it served her better to disguise it." Dissi- 

 mulation, indeed, was the occupation of her life. She 

 had been early practised in its arts, and she gained 

 the favour of her people more by her hypocritical 

 devotion, than by any other action of her reign. 

 Though an infidel in principle, and a disciple of the 

 new philosophy ; though she often expressed her 

 contempt for the doctrines and ceremonies of the na- 

 tional religion, and even held its ministers in abhor- 

 rence, yet she sometimes condescended to enter into 

 its most childish superstitions. She not only attend- 

 ed the churches during public worship, and prayed 

 with all the semblance of a sincere and fervent piety, 

 but she was punctual in the most superstitious prac- 

 tices of the Greek religion. On her journey to Mos- 

 cow in 1775, she carried with her a great number 

 of little figures of saints, which she distributed in 

 churches and chapels on the road ; and even per- 

 formed a pilgrimage with all her court, to a convent 

 situated about 4-0 versts from that city, walking on 

 foot the whole way. The garb of religion was assu- 

 med by her merely for purposes of policy, in order to 

 gain the affections, or to attract the reverence of 

 the ignorant multitude. In private, she was destitute 

 both of its influence and its spirit. In the midst of a 

 licentious court, she herself was the most licentious. 

 After the death of Peter III., she would never sub- 

 mit to the authority of a husband, though repeatedly 

 solicited both by Orlof and Potemkin ; but chose ra- 

 ther to indulge herself in all the variety of unrestrain- 

 ed wantonness. Whenever she cast her eyes upon 

 one of her subjects with whom she wished to exalt to 

 the situation of favourite, she immediately created 

 him her general aid-de-camp, that he might accom- 

 pany her every where without reproach or observa- 

 tion ; and appointed him an apartment in the palace, 

 which apartment communicated with that of the em- 

 press by a private passage. He was then given to 

 understand, that, if he wished to retain her favour, 

 he must not converse familiarly with any other wo- 

 man, or leave the palace without express permission, 

 When the favourite had rendered himself obnoxious. 

 or had lost the power of pleasing, he received orders 

 to travel ; but his dismissal was accompanied with a 

 suitable recompence, which, in general, corresponded 

 with the time he had served her majesty. During 

 her reign, twelve persons had been distinguished by 

 this high honour, upon whom she bestowed in lands, 

 money, jewels, &c. to the value of above 88,000,000 

 of rubles ; and the estates which were given to the 

 family of Orlof alone contained nearly 45,000 boors. 

 The love of fame was another predominating feature 

 in the character of Catharine. Whatever was likely to 

 conduce to the advancement of her glory, was underta- 

 ken with eagerness, and prosecuted with vigour. This 

 passion, which in her degenerated into vanity, often led 

 her to engage in unjust wars, from which no benefit was 

 to be reaped either to the empire or herself, but the 

 empty satisfaction of having conquered. It however 

 also induced her to undertake many projects, both 

 laudable in themselves and beneficial, to her subjects ; 



but such was the restlessness of her mind, that her Catharint 

 plans seldom received their full execution. She was 

 continually carried away by some new passion, to '""Y"'* 

 which all preceding ones gave place ; and this conti- 

 nued only until some other idea of stronger influence 

 was started. Every thing was begun with great 

 pomp, but was soon forgotten, so that at her death, 

 the monuments of her reign are said to have resem- 

 bled so many wrecks and dilapidations : colleges, co- 

 lonies, education, establishments, manufactories, hos- 

 pitals, canals, towns, fortresses, &c. all had been be- 

 gun, but all were given up before they were finish- 

 ed. This weakness of Catharine's drew a most sa- 

 tirical remark from the emperor Joseph II. When 

 travelling in the Crimea, he was invited by the em- 

 press to place the second stone of the town of Eka- 

 tarinoslaf, of which she herself, with great parade, 

 had laid the first j and on his return he said, te I have 

 finished in a single day a very important business with 

 the empress of Russia, she has laid the first stone of 

 a city, and I have laid the last," Her vanity led 

 her even to aspire to literary fame, and to rival the 

 reputation which Frederick of Prussia had obtained by 

 his writings. She wrote her celebrated " Instruc- 

 tions for a Code of Laws," copies of which were 

 sent to several of the sovereigns of Europe for their 

 approbation ; some dramatic pieces, which were act- 

 ed and admired at the Hermitage ; and several moral 

 tales and allegories for the instruction of her children. 

 But these were praised rather on account of the hand 

 that wrote them, than for their merit ; and the best 

 of all her writings are her Letters to Voltaire, which 

 are indeed much more interesting than those of the 

 old philosophical courtier himself. 



With all her failings, however, Catharine possessed 

 many noble qualities, which shed a lustre over her 

 reign, and which will be long remembered by her 

 country. The murder of her husband, and the but- 

 cheries of Ismail and Warsaw, were the crimes of her 

 station, not of her heart. The one, as she had usurp- 

 ed a throne, was necessary for her own safety and 

 the continuance of her power ; the others arose from 

 the bloody dispositions of the Russian soldiery. Ca- 

 tharine was naturally humaue and generous, of most 

 engaging manners, and was never known to be immo- 

 derately transported with passion. Her criminal 

 laws breathe a spirit of mildness, worthy the imita- 

 tion of more civilized nations ; and during her long 

 reign a sentence of death was extremely rare. Though 

 possessed of absolute power, yet, in her " Instruc- 

 tions," she acknowledges no authority but that which 

 was founded upon justice ; and her whole plan was 

 directed to the formation of a solid legislature, and 

 to prevent the capricious injustice of all who were 

 intrusted with the administration of the laws. Her 

 spirit of toleration was truly admirable. At the com- 

 mencement of her reign, she laid down a resolution, 

 which she adhered to, without any deviation, to the 

 last day of her life, that no person should suffer in any 

 respect on account of his religious opinions. Papist, 

 Calvinist, Mahometan, or Heathen, could aspire to 

 any office in the state, civil or military, without any 

 apprehension of his being rejected for his particular 

 creed. When once speaking of heretics, she said 

 smiling, " Poor wretches, since we know that they 

 are to suffer so much, and so long in the world to 

 come, it is but reasonable that we should endeavour 



