REIGN OF CATHARINE II.
From 1774 to 1781.
Peace with Turkey.--Court of Catharine II.--Her Personal Appearance
and Habits.--Conspiracy and Rebellion.--Defeat of the
Rebels.--Magnanimity of Catharine II.--Ambition of the Empress.--Court
Favorite.--Division of Russia into Provinces.--Internal
Improvements.--New Partition of Poland.--Death of the Wife of
Paul.--Second Marriage of the Grand Duke.--Splendor of the Russian
Court.--Russia and Austria Secretly Combine to Drive the Turks out of
Europe.--The Emperor Joseph II.
In 1774 peace was concluded with Turkey, on terms which added greatly
to the renown and grandeur of Russia. By this treaty the Crimea was
severed from the Ottoman Porte, and declared to be independent. Russia
obtained the free navigation of the Black Sea, the Bosporus and the
Dardanelles. Immense tracts of land, lying on the Euxine, were ceded
to Russia, and the Grand Seignior also paid Catharine a large sum of
money to defray the expenses of the war. No language can describe the
exultation which this treaty created in St. Petersburg. Eight days
were devoted, by order of the empress, to feasts and rejoicings. The
doors of the prisons were thrown open, and even the Siberian exiles
were permitted to return.
The court of Catharine II. at this period was the most brilliant in
Europe. In no other court was more attention paid to the most polished
and agreeable manners. The expenditure on her court establishment
amounted to nearly four millions of dollars a year. In personal
appearance the empress was endowed with the attractions both of beauty
and of queenly dignity. A cotemporary writer thus describes her:
"She is of that stature which is necessarily requisite to perfect
elegance of form in a lady. She has fine large blue eyes, with
eyebrows and hair of a brownish color. Her mouth is well-proportioned,
chin round, with a forehead regular and open. Her hands and arms are
round and white, and her figure plump. Her bosom is full, her neck
high, and she carries her head with peculiar grace.
"The empress never wears rich clothes except on solemn festivals, when
her head and corset are entirely set with brilliants, and she wears a
crown of diamonds and precious stones. Her gait is majestic; and, in
the whole of her form and manner there is something so dignified and
noble, that if she were to be seen without ornament or any outward
marks of distinction, among a great number of ladies of rank, she
would be immediately esteemed the chief. She seems born to command,
though in her character there is more of liveliness than of gravity.
She is courteous, gentle, benevolent and outwardly devout."
Like almost every one who has attained distinction, Catharine was very
systematic in the employment of her time. She usually rose at about
five o'clock both in summer and winter; and what seems most
remarkable, prepared her own simple breakfast, as she was not fond of
being waited upon. But a short time was devoted to her toilet. From
eight to eleven in the forenoon she was busy in her cabinet, signing
commissions and issuing orders of various purport. The hour, from
eleven to twelve, was daily devoted to divine worship in her chapel.
Then, until one o'clock, she gave audience to the ministers of the
various departments. From half past one till two she dined. She then
returned to her cabinet, where she was busily employed in cares of
state until four o'clock, when she took an airing in a coach or
sledge. At six she usually exhibited herself for a short time to her
subjects at the theater, and at ten o'clock she retired. Court balls
were not unfrequently given, but the empress never condescended to
dance, though occasionally she would make one at a game of cards.
She, however, took but little interest in the game, being much more
fond of talking with the ladies, generals and ministers who surrounded
her. Even from these court balls the very sensible empress usually
retired, by a side door, at ten o'clock.
The empress informed herself minutely of every thing which concerned
the administration of government. Her ministers were merely
instruments in her hands executing her imperial will. All matters
relating to the army, the navy, the finances, the punishment of crime
and to foreign affairs, were reported to her by her ministers, and
were guided by her decisions.
There must always be, in every government, an opposition party--that
is, a party who wish to eject from office those in power, that they
themselves may enjoy the loaves and fishes of governmental favor. This
is peculiarly the case in an empire where a large class of haughty
nobles are struggling for the preëminence. Many of the bigoted clergy
were exasperated by the toleration which the empress enjoined, and
they united with the disaffected lords in a conspiracy for a
revolution. The clergy in the provinces had great influence over the
unlettered boors, and the conspiracy soon assumed a very threatening
aspect. The first rising of rebellion was by the wild population
scattered along the banks of the Don. The rebellion was headed by an
impostor, who declared that he was Peter III., and that, having
escaped from those who had attempted his assassination, he had
concealed himself for a long time, waiting for vengeance. This
barbaric chieftain, who was called Pugatshef, very soon found himself
at the head of fourteen thousand fierce warriors, and commenced
ravaging oriental Russia. For a season his march was a constant
victory. Many thousand Siberian exiles escaped from their gloomy
realms and joined his standards. So astonishing was his success, that
even Catharine trembled. Pugatshef waged a war of extermination
against the nobles who were the supporters of Catharine, in cold blood
beheading their wives and children, and conferring their titles and
estates upon his followers. The empress found it necessary to rouse
all her energies to meet this peril. She issued a manifesto, which was
circulated through all the towns of the empire, and raised a large
army, which was dispatched to crush the rebellion. Battle after battle
ensued, until, at last, in a decisive conflict, the hosts of Pugatshef
were utterly cut up.
Still, this indefatigable warrior soon raised another army from the
untamed barbarians of the Don, and, rapidly descending the Volga,
attacked, by surprise, some Russian regiments encamped upon its banks,
and routed them with fearful slaughter. The astronomer, Lovitch, a
member of the imperial academy of sciences at St. Petersburg, was, at
that time, under the protection of these regiments, surveying the
route for a canal between the Don and the Volga. Pugatshef ordered his
dragoons to thrust their pikes into the unfortunate man, and raise him
upon them into the air, "in order," said he, "that he may be nearer
the stars." They did this, and then cut him to pieces with their
sabers.
The troops of Catharine pursued the rebels, encountered them in some
intricate passes of the mountains, whence escape was impossible, and
overwhelmed them with destruction. Their vigorous leader, leaping from
crag to crag, escaped, swam the Volga, crossed, in solitude, vast
deserts, and made new attempts to rally partisans around him. But his
last hour was sounded. Deserted by all, he was wandering from place to
place, pursued like a wild beast, when some of his own confederates,
basely betraying him, seized him, after a violent struggle, put him in
irons, and delivered him to one of the officers of the Russian army.
The wretched man, preserving impenetrable silence, was conveyed to
Moscow in an iron cage. Refusing to eat, food was forced down his
stomach. The empress immediately appointed a commission for the trial
of the rebel. She instructed the court to be satisfied with whatever
voluntary confession of his crime he might make, forbidding them to
apply the torture, or to require him to name his accomplices. The
culprit was sentenced to have his hands and feet cut off, and then to
be quartered. By order of the empress, however, he was first beheaded.
Eight of his accomplices were also executed, eighteen underwent the
knout, and were then exiled to Siberia. Thus terminated a rebellion
which cost the lives of more than a hundred thousand men.
Over those wide regions, whose exact boundaries are even now scarcely
known, numerous nations are scattered, quite distinct in language,
religion and customs, and so separated by almost impassable deserts,
that they know but little of each other. These wilds, peopled by
war-loving races, afford the most attractive field for military
adventures. The energy and sagacity with which Catharine crushed this
formidable rebellion added greatly to her renown. Tranquillity being
restored, the empress, in order to crown a general pardon, forbade any
further allusion whatever to be made to the rebellion, consigning all
its painful events to utter oblivion. She even forbade the publication
of the details of the trial, saying,
"I shall keep the depositions of Pugatshef secret, that they may not
aggravate the disgrace of those who spurred him on."
The empress was ambitious to make her influence felt in every European
movement, and she was conscious that, in order to command the respect
of other courts, she must ever have a formidable army at her disposal.
In all the great movements of kings and courts this wonderful woman
performed her part with dignity which no monarch, male or female, has
ever surpassed. It is strange that it has taken so many centuries for
the nations to learn that peace, not war, enriches realms. Had Russia
abstained from those wars in which she has unnecessarily engaged, she
might now have been the most wealthy and powerful nation on the globe.
Admitting that there have been many wars which, involving her national
existence, she could not have avoided, still she has squandered
countless millions of money and of lives in battles which were quite
unnecessary. Russia, like the United States, is safe from all attacks
from without. Had Russia employed the yearly earnings of the empire in
cultivating the fields, rearing towns, and in extending the arts of
industry and refinement, infinitely more would have been accomplished
for her happiness and renown than by the most brilliant conquests. But
Catharine, in her high ambition, seemed to be afraid that Europe might
forget her, and she was eager to have her voice heard in the
deliberations of every cabinet, and to have her banners unfurled in
the march of every army.
There was an office, in the court of the empress, sanctioned by time
in Russia, which has not existed in any other court in Europe. It
perhaps originated from the fact that for about three fourths of a
century Russia was almost exclusively governed by women. The court
favorite was not merely the prime minister, but the confidential
friend and companion of the empress. On the day of his installation he
received a purse containing one hundred thousand dollars, and a salary
of twelve thousand dollars a month. A marshal was also commissioned to
provide him a table of twenty-four covers, and to defray all the
expenses of his household. The twelve thousand dollars a month were
for what the ladies call _pin money_. The favorite occupied in the
palace an apartment beneath that of the empress, to which it
communicated by a private stair-case. He attended the empress on all
parties of amusement, at the opera, the theater, balls, promenades and
excursions of pleasure, and he was not allowed to leave the palace
without express permission. It was also understood that he should pay
no attention to any lady but the empress.
The year 1775 dawned upon Russia with peace at home and abroad.
Catharine devoted herself anew to the improvement of her subjects in
education and all physical comforts. Prince Gregory Orlof had been for
many years the favorite of the empress, but he was now laid aside, and
Count Potemkin took his place.
Catharine now divided her extensive realms into forty-three great
provinces, over each of which a governor was appointed. These
provinces embraced from six to eight hundred thousand inhabitants.
There was then a subdivision into districts or circles, as they were
called. There were some ten of these districts in each province, and
they contained from forty to sixty thousand inhabitants. An entire
system of government was established for each province, with its laws
and tribunals, that provision might be made for every thing essential
to the improvement and embellishment of the country. The governors of
these provinces were invested with great dignity and splendor. The
gubernatorial courts, if they may so be called, established centers of
elegance and refinement, which it was hoped would exert a powerful
influence in polishing a people exceedingly rude and uncultivated.
There were also immense advantages derived from the uniform
administration of justice thus established. This new division of the
empire was the most comprehensive reform Russia had yet experienced.
Thus the most extensive empire on the globe, with its geographical
divisions so vast and dissimilar, was cemented into one homogeneous
body politic.
Until this great reform the inhabitants of the most distant provinces
had been compelled to travel to Petersburg and Moscow in their appeals
to the tribunals of justice. Now there were superior courts in all the
provinces, and inferior courts in all the districts. In all important
cases there was an appeal to the council of the empress. Russian
ships, laden with the luxuries of the Mediterranean, passed through
the Dardanelles and the Bosporus, and landed their precious freights
upon the shores of Azof, from whence they were transported into the
heart of Russia, thus opening a very lucrative commerce.
The Polish nobles, a very turbulent and intractable race of men, were
overawed by the power of Catharine, and the masses of the Polish
people were doubtless benefited by their transference to new masters.
Russia was far more benignant in its treatment of the conquered
provinces, than were her banditti accomplices, Prussia and Austria.
The road to China, traversed by caravans, was long and perilous,
through pathless and inhospitable wilds, where, for leagues, no
inhabitant could be seen, and yet where a fertile soil and a genial
clime promised, to the hand of industry, all the comforts and luxuries
of life. All along this road she planted villages, and, by the most
alluring offers, induced settlers to establish themselves on all
portions of the route. Large sums of money were expended in rendering
the rivers navigable.
In the year 1776, the grand duchess, consort of Paul, who was heir to
the throne, died in childbirth, and was buried in the same grave with
her babe. About the same time Prince Henry of Prussia visited the
Russian court to confer with Catharine upon some difficulties which
had arisen in the demarcations of Poland. It will be remembered that
in the division which had now taken place, the whole kingdom had not
been seized, but a remnant had been left as the humble patrimony of
Poniatowski, the king. In this interview with the empress, Prince
Henry said,
"Madam, I see one sure method of obviating all difficulty. It may
perhaps be displeasing to you on account of Poniatowski.[23] But you
will nevertheless do well to give it your approbation, since
compensations may be offered to that monarch of greater value to him
than the throne which is continually tottering under him. The
remainder of Poland must be partitioned."
[Footnote 23: Poniatowski had been formerly a favorite of the
empress.]
The empress cordially embraced the plan, and the annihilation of
Poland was decreed. It was necessary to move slowly and with caution
in the execution of the plan. In the meantime, as the grand duchess
had died, leaving no heir to the empire, the empress deemed it a
matter of the utmost moment to secure another wife for the Grand Duke
Paul, lest Russia should be exposed to the perils of a disputed
succession. Natalia was hardly cold in her grave ere the empress
proposed to Prince Henry, that his niece, the princess of Wirtemberg,
should become the spouse of the grand duke. The princess was already
betrothed to the hereditary prince of Hesse Darmstadt, but both Henry
and his imperial brother, Frederic of Prussia, deemed the marriage of
their niece with the prospective Emperor of Russia a match far too
brilliant to be thwarted by so slight an obstacle. Frederic himself
informed the prince of the exalted offer which had been made to his
betrothed, and without much difficulty secured his relinquishment of
his contemplated bride. Frederic deemed it a matter of infinite moment
that the ties subsisting between Russia and Prussia should be more
closely drawn. He wrote to his brother Henry of his success, and by
the same courier invited the Grand Duke Paul to visit Berlin that he
might see the new spouse designed for him. He also expressed his own
ardent desire to become acquainted with the grand duke.
Catharine, highly gratified with this success, placed a purse of fifty
thousand dollars in the hands of her son to defray the expenses of his
journey. It was at the close of the summer of 1776 when the grand duke
left the palaces of St. Petersburg to visit those of Berlin. His
mother, who made all the arrangements, dispatched her son on this
visit in a style of regal splendor. When the party reached Riga, a
courier overtook them with the following characteristic letter,
written by the empress's own hand to Prince Henry:
"June 11, 1776.
"I take the liberty of transmitting to your royal highness the four
letters of which I spoke to you, and which you promised to take care
of. The first is for the king, your brother, and the others for the
prince and princesses of Wirtemberg. I venture to pray you, that if my
son should bestow his heart on the Princess Sophia, as I have no doubt
but what he will, to deliver the three letters according to their
directions, and to support the contents of them with that persuasive
eloquence with which God has endowed you.
"The convincing and reiterated proofs which you have given me of your
friendship, the high esteem which I have conceived for your virtues,
and the extent of the confidence which you have taught me to repose in
you, leave me no doubt on the success of a business which I have so
much at heart. Was it possible for me to place it in better hands?
"Your royal highness is surely an unique in the art of negotiation.
Pardon me that expression of my friendship. But I think that there has
never been an affair of this nature transacted as this is; which is
the production of the most intimate friendship and confidence.
"That princess will be the pledge of it. I shall not be able to see
her without recollecting in what manner this business was begun,
continued and terminated, between the royal house of Prussia and that
of Russia. May it perpetuate the connections which unite us!
"I conclude by very tenderly thanking your royal highness for all the
cares and all the troubles you have given yourself; and I beseech you
to be assured that my gratitude, my friendship, my esteem, and the
high consideration which I have for you, will terminate only with my
life.
"Catharine."
The Grand Duke Paul was received in Berlin with all the honors due his
rank as heir to the imperial throne of Russia. The great Frederic even
came to the door of his apartment to greet his guest. The grand duke
was escorted into the city with much pomp. Thirty-four trumpeters,
winding their bugles, preceded him, all in rich uniform. Then came a
strong array of soldiers. These were followed by a civic procession,
in brilliant decorations. Three superb state coaches, containing the
dignitaries of Berlin, came next in the train, followed by a
detachment of the life-guards, who preceded the magnificent chariot of
the duke, which chariot was regarded as the most superb which had then
ever been seen, and which was drawn by eight of the finest horses
Prussia could produce. This carriage conveyed Paul and Prince Henry. A
hundred dragoons, as a guard of honor, closed the procession. At the
gates of the city the magistracy received Paul beneath a triumphal
arch, where seventy beautiful girls, dressed like nymphs and
shepherdesses, presented the grand duke with complimentary verses, and
crowned him with a garland of flowers. The ringing of bells, the
pealing of cannon, strains of martial music, and the acclamations of
the multitude, greeted Paul from the time he entered the gates until
he reached the royal palace.
"Sire," exclaimed Paul, as he took the hand of the King of Prussia,
"the motives which bring me from the extremities of the North to these
happy dominions, are the desire of assuring your majesty of the
friendship and alliance to subsist henceforth and for ever between
Russia and Prussia, and the eagerness to see a princess destined to
ascend the throne of the Russian empire. By my receiving her at your
hands, I assure you that she will be more dear to myself and to the
nation over which she is to reign. It has also been one of the most
ardent aspirations of my soul to contemplate the greatest of heroes,
the admiration of our age and the astonishment of posterity."
Here the king interrupted him, replying,
"Instead of which, you behold a hoary-headed valitudinarian, who could
never have wished for a superior happiness than that of welcoming
within these walls the hopeful heir of a mighty empire, the only son
of my best friend, Catharine."
After half an hour's conversation, the grand duke was led into the
apartment of the queen, where the court was assembled. Here he was
introduced to his contemplated bride, Sophia, Princess of Wirtemberg,
and immediately, in the name of the Empress of Russia, demanded her in
marriage of the grand duke. The marriage contract was signed the same
day. The whole company then supped with the queen in great
magnificence. Feasts and entertainments succeeded for many days
without interruption.
On the 3d of August, Paul returned to St. Petersburg, where his
affianced bride soon joined him. As he took leave, the King of Prussia
presented him with dessert service and a coffee service, with ten
porcelain vases of Berlin manufacture, a ring, containing the king's
portrait, surmounted with a diamond valued at thirty thousand crowns,
and also a stud of Prussian horses and four pieces of rich tapestry.
Upon the arrival of the princess, she was received into the Greek
church, assuming the name of Maria, by which she was ever after
called. The marriage soon took place, and from this marriage arose the
two distinguished emperors, Alexander and Nicholas.
The empress was exceedingly gratified by the successful accomplishment
of this plan. With energy which seemed never to tire, she urged
forward her plans for national improvements, establishing schools all
over the empire, which were munificently supported at the imperial
expense. The splendor of the Russian court, during the reign of
Catharine, surpassed all ordinary powers of description. Almost
boundless wealth was lavished upon gorgeous dresses--lords and ladies
glittering alike in most costly jewelry. Many courtiers appeared
almost literally covered with diamonds. They sparkled, in most lavish
profusion, upon their buttons, their buckles, the scabbards of their
swords, their epaulets, and many even wore a triple row as a band
around the hat. Frequently eight thousand tickets were given out for a
ball at the palace, and yet there was no crowd, for twenty saloons, of
magnificent dimensions, brilliantly lighted, afforded room for all.
Her majesty usually entered the saloons about seven o'clock, and
retired about ten.
The empress never ceased to look with a wistful eye upon the regions
which the Turks had wrested from the Christians. The commercial
greatness of Russia, in her view, imperiously required that
Constantinople and its adjacent shores should be in her possession. In
May, 1780, Catharine had an interview with Joseph II., Emperor of
Germany, at Mohilef. Both sovereigns traveled with great pomp to meet
at this place. After several confidential interviews, they agreed to
unite their forces to drive the Turks out of Europe, and to share the
spoil between them. It was also agreed to reëstablish the ancient
republics of Greece. The emperor, Joseph II., received an earnest
invitation to visit Moscow, which he accepted, but, with
characteristic eccentricity, refused to travel with the queen, as he
was excessively annoyed by the trammels of etiquette and ceremonial
pomp. The empress, consequently, returned to St. Petersburg, and
Joseph II. set out for Moscow in the following fashion:
Leaving his carriages with his suite to follow, he proceeded alone,
_incognito_, on horse-back, as the _avant courier_. At each station he
would announce that his master the emperor, with the imperial
carriages, was coming on, and that dinner, supper or lodgings must be
provided for so many persons. Calling for a slice of ham and a cup of
beer, he would throw himself upon a bench for a few hours' repose,
constantly refusing to take a bed, as the expedition he must make
would not allow this indulgence.
At Mohilef, the empress had provided magnificent apartments, in the
palace, for the emperor; but he insisted upon taking lodgings at an
ordinary inn. At St. Petersburg, notwithstanding the emperor's
repugnance to pomp, Catharine received him with entertainments of the
greatest magnificence. Joseph, however, took but little interest in
such displays, devoting his attention almost exclusively to useful
establishments and monuments of art. He was surprised to find at Tula,
manufactories of hardware unsurpassed by those of Sheffield and
Birmingham. He expressed his surprise, on his return home, at the
mixture of refinement and barbarism Russia had presented to his view.
The empress, seeing that so many princes visited foreign countries,
decided to send her son Paul, with Maria, to make the tour of Europe.
Obedient to the maternal commands, they commenced their travels
through Poland and Austria to Italy, and returned to St. Petersburg,
through France and Holland, after an absence of fourteen months. The
empress had a confidential agent in their company, who kept her
informed, minutely, of every event which transpired. A courier was
dispatched every day to inform her where they were and how they were
employed.
The relations between Turkey and Russia were continually growing more
threatening. Turkey had been compelled to yield the Crimea, and also
to surrender the navigation of the Euxine, with the Bosporus and the
Dardanelles, to her powerful rival. Galled by these concessions, which
had been forced upon her by bullet and bayonet, the Ottoman Porte was
ever watching to regain her lost power. Russia, instead of being
satisfied with her acquisitions, was eagerly grasping at more. The
Greek Christians also, throughout the Turkish empire, hating their
Mussulman oppressors, were ever watching for opportunities when they
could shake off the burden and the insult of slavery. Thus peace
between Russia and Turkey was never more than an armistice. The two
powers constantly faced each other in a hostile attitude, ever ready
to appeal to arms.