c; A T H A R I N E. 
certainly knew your imperial hlghnefs, and thought it 
would be an affront to alk a peifon of fo exalted a rank 
any thing lefs than a live-copeck piece.” The emprefs 
laughed, and thought that the baker ailed very naturally 
in making her grandfon pay for wanting to get the bread 
cheaper by putting on a difguife, and the young prince 
faw his good intention of undeceiving his grandmother for 
that time fruflrated. 
It is welt known that Catharine lived wi h her Con Paul 
Petrovitch not on the-molt friendly footing. The reafon 
of this was partly to be found in the character of the em¬ 
prefs, and partly in that of the grand-duke. It went fo 
far, that (lie even took away his children from him ; who, 
jis every body knows, were brought up under Iter eyes. 
Not one of them dared even to vifit him without her ex¬ 
press permiffion. Prince Conllantine, however, had litch 
a ftrong alfeiftion for lps father, that, being hut feldom 
allowed by his grandmother to fee him, he would go by 
Health, Jet what would be the confequence, and accord¬ 
ingly was fometimes punifhed for it by being put under 
home-arreft. In his feventeenth year lie was, by his own 
choice, to he married to the princefs of Saxe-Coburg. 
The emprefs, on this occafion, gave him 50,000 rubles, 
to lay out in-prefers for his young bride : but, knowing 
the (lender income of his father, for lie received from the 
emprefs nothing more than the bare allowance fixed by 
Peter the Great, and which was very fraall for a grand- 
duke, this excellent young prince carried all the money, 
that was given him in order to he fpent in jewels, to his 
father, with this declaration : “ That his kind grandmo¬ 
ther had heaped on him and his amiable bride, already, 
fuch fuperabundant tellimoaies of her-munificence, that 
to lay out the prefent would be no better than mere pro¬ 
digality, and that lie knew not how to bellow it more fitly 
than to put it in his father’s poffellion. He hoped that his 
fatherly magnanimity would not reject this tellimony of 
filial love and attachment, and not refufe him the joy of 
being for ever obliged to him by the kind acceptance of 
it.” The father, much affedted at the generous action of 
his fon, accepted this beautiful mark of duty and love, 
on condition that he fliould be allowed hereafter to repay 
it; and thus the young grand-duke thought the whole 
affair was over, and enjoyed the delightful fentiment of 
having actually (hewn his tender attachment to his worthy 
parent, in perfect filence ; as he had not told a word of 
the matter to his intended bride. In the mean time, the 
latter being.with the emprefs, her majefty afked her what 
fort of a noble prelent Hie had received from her future 
hulband ? The princefs, unacquainted with the generous 
act of Conllantine, direftly anfvvered, that (he had receiv¬ 
ed nothing, nor expected any thing, perfectly fatisfied in 
the poffellion of his love. Catharine was altonillied, and 
confidered with herfelfwhat her grandfon, whom fhe knew 
to be no fpendthrift, could have done with the money 
which (he gave to him. Juft at this moment he entered 
the apartment. He was immediately interrogated, in the 
prefence of the young princefs, liovv he had difpofed of 
the fifty thoufand rubles which had been prefented to him ? 
“ I gave them,” anfwered the prince, in his frank and 
open manner, “ to a man who was more in want of them 
than I was.” “ 1 know your good-natured difpofition,” 
faid the emprefs: “ but fifty thoufand rubles was rather 
too large a fum to he given away in alms. To whom did 
you give it?” “ To my father. .1 hope your majefiy will 
not be angry.” “ No ; I am not angry,” replied the em¬ 
prefs; and turning to her writing-table, while the young 
princefs was fo affedled as to (lied tears, Ihe wrote ah or¬ 
der on the treafury for the fum of one hundred thoufand 
rubles. “ There,” added file, “ take that, and you need 
not bellow it in the fame manner; I (hall fee that he (hall 
not be more in want of it than you.” The next day, (he 
wrote a very alfeCting letter to her fon Paul Petrovitch, 
(the prefent emperor,) inviting him to a private confer¬ 
ence, and Ihortly afterward was perfectly reconciled with 
him. Conllantine had a prefent of a magnificent palace 
at St. Peterlb irgh, with a confiderable eftate in the coun¬ 
try; and, at the fame time, full liberty was granted to 
him and his brother and lifters to lee their father as often 
as they pleafed. 
From the various accounts we penile of this emprefs, it 
is impoflible to forbear to exclain, What a wondeful wo¬ 
man ! In all the hiftorical pictures of her, her public lile- 
is uniformly great and illuftrious. “ I have made,” lays 
D derot, “ propofals to the emprefs of Ruflia to buy my 
library: (lie takes it; (lie orders me to be paid what I 
afked for it ; Hie then leaves it to me, and gives me an 
additional pention of a hundred pilloles ! With what at¬ 
tention, with what delicacy, with what grace, are all her 
adls of generofity performed !” This great princefs drew 
up herfelf the inflructions for a new code of laws for her 
extenlive empire. The tianflation of it into French was 
not permitted to be fold at Paris under the ancicn regime of 
that country. The two following fentences would necei- 
farily caufe the prohibition : “ Every government fliould 
be fo conftituted, that one citizen fliould have no reafon 
to fear another citizen ; but that all men Ihould fear the 
laws.”—“ I.aws ought only to prohibit thole things that 
may caufe mifehief to the individual, or to fociety in ge¬ 
neral.” Catharine compofed two comedies; of which 
Voltaire fpeaks well. The title of one of them is “ The 
Impoftor ;” a ridicule upon the notions of animal mag nek 
tifm, the power of railing the dead, and the philofopher’s 
ftone. She appears to have read Ben Tonfon’s “ Alchy- 
mift the principal character in The Impoftor is called 
Califalkgerftan. Belides the choice and coftly library of 
Diderot, the emprefs bought the Houghton colledlion qr 
pictures, for fomething above 35,0001. and had thus the 
merit of introducing into her country tliofe excellent mo¬ 
dels in art, which ihould have been preferved, for the 
ufe of (Indents of a celebrated academy of painting in this 
kingdom, which does not poffefs one foreign picture for 
their imitation. 
“ You are aftonifiied,” fays the emprefs, in writing to 
Voltaire upon the occafion, “ that I fhould buy pictures. 
I, perhaps, Ihould have done better not to have-bought 
them ; yet, you know, an opportunity once loft is not 
often regained. But my money is not confounded with 
that of my empire; and, by method and order,-every 
thing may be done. I fpeak from experience. But, alas!” 
fays (he, in fpeaking to Voltaire refpecting her code of 
laws, “ Thefe laws, about which there is fo much talk, 
tliele laws are not yet finilhed ; who then can judge, whe¬ 
ther! hey are good for any thing ? Poflerity, not ourfelyes, 
mu ft decide that queftion. Conceive, I beg you, that they 
are made for Europe and for Afia: what a difference of 
climate, of perfons, of cuftoms, and even of ideas ! Be¬ 
hold me now in Alia ; I wilhed to fee every thing with 
my own eyes; I am among!! twenty different nations to¬ 
tally at variance with each other ; I mult Hill make them 
a drefs that will ferve them all. I may, perhaps, find, 
out fome general principles ; but, for the details, (and 
what details I was going to fay,) I have nearly an univerfe 
to form, to unite, and to preferve!” 
“ Laws,” continues this legillatrefs, “ are made for all 
perfons; all perfons are obliged to conform to them; they 
fliould then be drawn up in fuch a maimer that all perfons 
may underlland them ; the ftyle of them fliould be Ample 
and concife, and admit of 1113 latitude of interpretation. 
AH laws Ihould be written in clear and pj'ecife terms; but 
there are none in which the fatety of the fubjedl is more 
concerned than in thofe made again!! treafon : they fliould 
be peculiarly clear and precife. Nothing contributes to 
render the crime of tryalon fo arbitrary, as w hen it re¬ 
lates to words. To implicate any other crime under that 
of treafon, is to diminifh the horror which that crime ne- 
ceffarily infpires. It is, better to prevent crimes than to 
punifli them. Would you prevent crimes, take all pofli- 
ble means to enlighten the people. Punifliments Ihould 
be fpeedy, proportioned to the crime, and public. The 
moft efficacious preventive of crimes is not the feverity of 
4 the 
