A Biographical Dictionary of the Celebrated Women of Every Age and Country/Catharine II.
CATHARINE II. (Empress of Russia),
Daughter of Christian Augustus, prince of Anhalt–Zerbst, and born at Stettin, in the king of Prussia's dominions, May 2, 1729. Her name, at that time, was Sophia Augusta Frederica. A lady of quality, who frequently saw her, describes her in the following manner. "Her deportment, at that time, was remarkably good; she grew uncommonly handsome, and was a great girl for her years. Her countenance, without being beautiful, was very agreeable: to which the peculiar gaiety and friendliness which she ever displayed gave additional charms. Her education was conducted by her mother alone, who kept her strictly, and never suffered her to shew the least symptom of pride, to which she had some propensity; accustoming her, from her earliest infancy, to salute the ladies of distinction who came to visit the princess, with the marks of respect that became a child."
She lived till her fifteenth year alternately in Stettin, and in Dornburg or Zerbst, always accompanying her mother on little journies to Berlin, and different places in Germany, which contributed much to form her mind and manners. She was early addicted to reading and employment. At Brunswick, in 1743, she was duly instructed in the doctrines of the Lutheran religion, by the court preacher Dove, who at that time little thought his illustrious disciple would so suddenly afterwards adopt the faith of another church.
Elizabeth, empress of Russia, proposed to the king of Prussia a marriage between his sister and her nephew, the young duke of Holstein, whom she had adopted. But Frederick was not fond of the changes of religion required in Russia on such occasions, and declined the offer, but pointed out the princess Sophia of Zerbst, as a relation of the grand-duke (their grandfathers were brothers), and this proposal met with the empress's full approbation.
The princess of Zerbst accordingly repaired to Petersburg, where she was cordially received. Her daughter, who was handsome, and endowed with all the graces of youth, immediately made a forcible impression on the heart of the young grand-duke; and as he himself was at that time good-looking and well made, the attachment became reciprocal.
But while magnificent preparations were making for their nuptials, the grand-duke was attacked with a violent fever, and a small-pox of a very malignant nature soon made its appearance. The prince did not fall under the violence of this disease, but the metamorphosis was terrible. He not only lost the comeliness of his face, but it became for a time distorted and almost hideous.
Notwithstanding the precaution of her mother, who had forewarned her of the change, Catharine could not revisit the grand duke without feeling secret horror; she was artful enough, however, to repress her emotion, and running to meet him, fell upon his neck and embraced him. But no sooner retired to her apartment, than she fell into a swoon, and it was three hours before she recovered the use of her senses.
The nuptials were soon after solemnized, and they lived some time in an apparently good understanding, which Catharine compelled herself to support as long as she conceived it necessary, though more and more dissatisfied with her husband. Peter had sense, but his education had been totally neglected. He possessed an excellent heart, but he wanted politeness, and was become very ugly. He frequently blushed at the superiority of his wife, and his wife as often at seeing him so little worthy of her. Hence arose that mutual dislike which soon became but too visible, and which was daily increasing.
The principal families had beheld Peter with jealousy from the instant of his arrival, as a man who would share with them the power they had now long enjoyed, or perhaps entirely deprive them of it. Among those who strove most to injure him, was the great chancellor Bestucheff. His foresight was too great to allow him to flatter himself with the expectation of seeing Peter completely disinherited, but he hoped at least to banish him to the camps and armies, and to place Catharine at the head of affairs.
Soon after his marriage, his aunt had made Peter a present of Oranienbaum, a country palace; and, as soon as the fair weather permitted him to leave Petersburg, where he lived more like a state prisoner than the heir of a throne, thither he used to retire, amuse himself with the practice of the Prussian military exercise, and give way to habits which his enemies had first been the occasion of practising, by persuading him, that it was in drinking, smoking, and gaming, that the Prussian officers spent their leisure hours.
Catharine, all this time, was pursuing a conduct totally different. She was employed solely in gaining partizans from among the most powerful persons of the court; yet her mother failed herself in the circumspection she advised, and being too busy in state matters, was ordered by the empress to leave the kingdom.
Catharine could not, without great regret, see her mother depart; but the hope of the throne, which fortified her against other misfortunes, supported her under this, and a connection she soon formed drove it effectually from her mind.
A handsome and tolerably well-accomplished young man, named Soltikoff, found means at Oranienbaum to withdraw her fidelity from the grand duke. He was chamberlain to Peter, and not in the least suspected by him; but others saw clearer, and secretly found means to accuse him to the empress, who threatened him with Siberia. With the indignant air of innocence, he complained to the grand duke of the slander, appealed to him, and begged leave to retire to Moscow. The credulous prince believed him, undertook his defence, and obtained his pardon, while the affair occasioned a temporary return of kindness between Peter and Catharine, but Soltikoff still continued in favour, and the chancellor paid him great court, secretly persuading him to remove every respectable character from his master, and supply their places with vile and obscure persons. As soon as he had done this, Bestucheff complained of him to the empress, who sent him to Stockholm to notify to the king the birth of Paul Petrovitch, of whom the grand duchess had just been delivered, Oct. 1, 1754.
On his return, he was stopped, and desired to reside at Hamburgh. The grand duchess would have solicited his return, but the chancellor told her the consequences, and ambition silenced love. She, however, wrote to him, and frequently received answers; when all at once, the arrival of the young count Stanislaus Poniatofsky, whom she afterwards raised to the throne of Poland and again hurled from it, banished all remembrance of Soltikoff; but Elizabeth was quickly informed of this intrigue, and gave orders to Poniatofsky to leave Russia without delay, which he obeyed; but Bestucheff, studying to render himself agreeable to Catharine, colleagued with the Polish minister, Poniatofsky was sent back as minister plenipotentiary, and he contrived also to gain the favour of the grand duke.
Forgetful of the lessons of prudence taught her by her mother, but which she afterwards took as rules for her conduct, Catharine betrayed a faint imitation of the irregularities of her aunt the empress, and public report began to be very loud in her prejudice.
The grand duke alone knew nothing of what was passing, till Bestucheff fell into disgrace, when his enemies called his attention to the conduct of Catharine and Poniatofsky.
Peter was overwhelmed with grief and consternation, and no longer observed the respect he had hitherto shewn the grand duchess. He forbade her to be seen with Poniatofsky, and then hastened to the empress, and besought her to revenge the affront he had received; telling her, that the chancellor had not only favoured their misconduct, but repeatedly betrayed her confidence. Bestucheff was arrested on the spot. At once deprived of his place, tried, pronounced guilty of treason, and sentenced to death; but the empress contented herself with banishing him to an estate at a considerable distance from Moscow.
Catharine now, abandoned on all sides, resolved to try what her eloquence would do with the empress once more, and demanded an audience, which Elizabeth refused. She applied to the French ambassador, but he declined interfering. Still, however, the young Pole did not quit Russia.
The grand duke, about this time, forming an attachment with the sister of the beautiful and spirited princess Dashkoff, who afterwards made such a distinguished figure, fell into some disgrace with Elizabeth, whose health visibly declined. Catharine thought this a favourable opportunity. She threw herself at her feet, and implored forgiveness; but she would listen to no accommodation, except on the most mortifying conditions. It was afterwards proposed to her, by message, to confess her guilt, and submit to the clemency of her husband and the empress.
From this moment Catherine summoned up all her pride: she purposely avoided appearing at court, kept close to her apartments, and asked leave of the empress to retire into Germany; a permission which she was very sure of being refused: the extreme fondness of Elizabeth for the young Paul Petrovitch would never let her consent to the departure of a child's mother, which would thereby be exposed to the hazard of being hereafter declared illegitimate. The stratagem succeeded; an accommodation shortly after ensued, and, to the great astonishment of the court, she made her appearance at the theatre, by the side of the empress, who paid her much attention.
In the mean time, the cabal, formed by Bestucheff, continued to blacken Peter in the eyes of his aunt, so that she began to think of leaving the empire to her favourite grand nephew; but whatever were her designs, the execution was prevented by death. While her end was rapidly approaching, the court divided into two powerful parties; one consisted of the remains of the friends of Bestucheff, with count Ivan Schuvaloff at their head; which the grand duchess secretly seconded with all her power. Animated by the two-fold motive of ambition and fear.
The other party was headed by the senator Vorontzoff, brother of the new grand chancellor, and father of the emperor's mistress. Guided by him, Peter resolved to assemble the troops at the instant the empress should close her eyes, cause himself to be proclaimed emperor, repudiate the grand duchess, declare her son illegitimate, and publicly marry his daughter. All things seemed to favour the success of this enterprize; but while perpetual intrigues and agitations filled the court of the dying monarch, count Panin, who afterwards filled, for many years, the place of prime minister, undertook to reconcile all their opinions. He devoted himself entirely to Catherine; but saw the dangers with which she was surrounded, and accordingly resolved to bring about a revolution, that Peter might ascend the throne; but that the power might be secured to his wife and son. He persuaded the heads of Catharine's party, that they were too daring; and Peter Schuvaloff, in his turn, who was ill, saw the grand duke, and told him the ideas entertained of his future conduct; assuring him, if he repudiated the grand-duchess and married Romanovna, he would dishonour his memory for ever. The grand duke, in an indecisive manner, denied that he intended this, and promised to forget all the machinations formed against him.
The empress had been so prejudiced against Peter, that she was alarmed with the idea that he might poison her, and had denied him and the grand duchess admission into her apartment ever since her illness. This, among such credulous people, would have been a very suspicious affair, had she died without seeing them; Panin therefore prevailed on the confessor of Elizabeth, to urge her to forgive, in the hope of being forgiven. She consented, the grand duke and duchess entered, and received a blessing pronounced with carelessness and languor.
Elizabeth died on Christmas-day, 1761, and the grand-duke ascended the throne without the least mark of discontent or ill-will. He was thought too fond of the Germans; but to the astonisment of those who knew him only by his vices, his first measures were popular and auspicious: to Catherine, he seemed to forget the wrongs he had received, passed a great part of the day in her apartments, discoursed with her on the most friendly footing, and consulted her on all delicate and important affairs. He affranchised the nobles, and put an end to a cruel form of law, which oppressed the people: but he soon began to sink into intoxication and all his old habits. What prevented him most from gaining the confidence of the people, was their firm persuasion that he preferred the Lutheran to the Greek religion. He took the treasures of the church into his own hands, put the clergy on yearly salaries, and did many things obnoxious to the religious prejudices of the Russians, such as taking down the figures of the saints, &c.: and, at the same time, by a number of unpopular acts, got out of favour with the army.
His behaviour to his wife was equally inconsistent; at the very moment when he was doing homage to the superiority of her mind, he would let slip some plain insinuations of the indignation his wrongs had inspired. He began to treat her, on every occasion, with marked insult and unkindness; and, while he created himself new enemies, by the most unpopular and foolish excesses, the empress acted a very different part, and conciliated the good-will of the public, while she attached to herself men of talents and courage.
When her dissimulation and her judgment thus rendered her more powerful, the czar began seriously to think of divorcing her, declaring the illegitimacy of her son, and raising his mistress to the throne. Acquainted with the intentions of her husband, Catherine was more than doubly careful in her outward conduct, and kept a new lover, Orloff, so much in the back ground, that her most intimate friends suspected not the attachment, though he was one of the conspirators against Peter, whose downfal alone, the indignities he had heaped upon the empress, and the measures he was now pursuing, it was plain, could ensure her safety.
The young princess Dashkoff, sister of the emperor's mistress, was one of the fast friends of Catherine. Bold and intriguing, the latter contrived to make her talents useful. She herself kept in the back ground, while her several agents were busy in detaching from Peter any friend who yet remained, or any who had power to injure him, and might be influenced by venal or ambitious motives. Her arrest was to take place in two days; her adherents were many, and the plot liable to be betrayed by some one, in which she had every thing to fear. Some of them wished her to be regent only during the minority of her son, who was to be declared emperor; but Catherine persisted in claiming the imperial dignity; and July 9th, 1762, entered Petersburgh with Orloff and a few soldiers, the number of which were soon augmented, by whom she was proclaimed Czarina: amidst the acclamations of all the people, and the imperial crown was placed upon her head, by the bishop of Novogorod. Every thing was favourable; no blood had been shed, and the czar was leaving his country house for Petershoff, whence he found the empress had escaped, before he was informed of the insurrection. Appalled and irresolute, he neglected the advice of the brave count Munich for that of his mistress, his courtiers, and his own imbecility, and returned to Oranienbaum, when boldness only could have saved him.
He wrote to the empress, who was on her march towards him; she returned no answer, but proceeded forward. Neglecting any measures of security, he ordered the place to be dismantled, as a sign of submission, and wrote a second letter, in the most humiliating terms, offering to resign the empire, if she would permit him to retire to Holstein; no answer was returned; but he was counselled to show his submission by proceeding forward to meet the empress. He went; and, after suffering a thousand indignities from her adherents, he wrote a formal renunciation of the empire, declaring his own incapacity, flattering himself with the idea that she would permit him to retire to Holstein, though during his captivity he was denied the solace of a violin and a few books. When, at the end of a week, it was thought unsafe, from the movements of compassion and remorse among the soldiers, to spare him longer, Alexis Orloff, brother of the favourite, with another officer, went to dine with the czar, to whom they contrived to administer a glass of poison; and, on his discovery of it and rejection of a second, pushed away a servant who had come into the room to succour him, and, after some struggles, strangled the unfortunate prince.
When Catherine was publicly informed of his death, she shed tears, retired, and secluded herself for several days. Recalling those whom Peter had banished; making her arrangements with foreign powers, and settling the internal affairs of the empire, formed her first cares. She had many mortifications to endure, in the coldness in which she was received at Moscow, and in the cabals of the priests, whom she had promised but neglected to reinstate in the privileges Peter had taken from them, and who began to prepare the minds of the people for a counter revolution. But prompt severity and decisive measures, uninterrupted by the scruples of pity or gratitude, not only put an end to these movements, but rid her of some troublesome friends, whose services she wished to have been forgotten. Amongst others, of the princess Dashkoff, who was banished by her to Moscow, but afterwards recalled, and the memory of whose courage and actions she wished to obliterate.
She abolished the secret court, instituted by Peter I. to inquire into and punish religious and state crimes: she strove to sooth the people by proclamations, in which her maternal interest was much dwelt upon: and the wise measures she took to increase trade and civilization are entitled to the highest praise. She annihilated torture, as a means of forcing the confession of crimes, and made the laws more mild and equitable. The general toleration she allowed in point of religion, and the invitation she gave to the professors of the liberal arts, and the industrious agriculturist, induced thousands to come from foreign countries and settle upon the unpeopled districts of her empire, while the ingenious beautified her capital by their works, and gave birth to taste amidst a rude and uncultivated people.
Yet Catherine was subject to much disquietude, and obliged to temporize with many, who gave her very different advice. The turbulence of Gregory Orloff, her favourite, disgusted all men of refinement, and filled the court with people like himself boisterous and unlearned. He was induced even to aspire to be her husband; but whether the intentions of the empress were not really in favour of the project, or that the murmurs of the people obliged her to abandon it, it was soon laid aside. But a conspiracy had been set on foot, which was sanctioned by the most considerable names, and big with the greatest danger. In this dilemna; not knowing the reality of her suspicions, she thought to obtain from the princess Dashkoff more certain intelligence, and wrote to her a most flattering letter, which was thus answered:
- "Madam,
"I have heard nothing: but, if I had, I should beware of what I spoke. What is it that you require of me? that I should expire upon a scaffold? I am ready to ascend it."
The empress continued to be harrassed by plots, which she could not stifle, and which yet had not sufficient strength or address to effect their purposes. She employed her mind much in objects of public utility at home, but despotically forced her former lover Poniatofsky, upon the Poles, as their king.
In July, 1764, the unfortunate prince Ivan, who had once been intended by her husband for his successor, in consequence of an order signed by the empress, that the officers on guard were to put him to death, if any attempt was made for his liberation, fell a sacrifice to the zeal of a man who wished to raise him to the throne, and was ignorant of the orders given.
In magnificent shews which amused the court, in the flatteries of the learned all over Europe, to whom she was a liberal patroness, Catherine sought perhaps as well to still the voice of conscience in her heart, as to give a more favourable cast to her character, blackened by the gradual disclosure of the crimes of a revolution which placed her upon the throne, and which even those who had taken a most active part in those scenes, discovered in the disgust her neglect of their former services created.
Yet the excellent code of laws, drawn up by the empress for her empire, obtained her the title of Mother of her Country, and gained her the respect of surrounding nations; and by her liberal patronage of literature and talents, by the benevolent institutions she formed, by her endeavours to ameliorate the condition of the peasants, and for the general improvement and instruction of her country, she deserves the highest praise—but she is said in her care for the borders to have neglected the interior of her dominions; and seized with the frenzy of conquest, was always engaged in warlike preparations or in war, though possessing a territory larger than that of ancient Rome. Great parts are often led by a desire of fame into measures which defeat their own end—a great mind alone rises superior to this delusion, and feels its own award superior to the voice of the multitude. Yet Catherine stands forth amidst the great conquerors, legislators, and politicians, with equal pretensions to the highest. Her resolution, her intrepidity, her presence of mind, her sagacity, penetration, and address, are fully allowed—and we may sometimes add her magnanimity and benevolence.
But her ambition was unsatisfied; she engendered the tyrannical and unprincipled design of dismembering the provinces of Poland; sought, and frequently with success, through the medium of intrigue, to dictate to the cabinets of Stockholm and Copenhagen. But her principal attempts were on the falling empire of the Turks. By the war of 1768, she acquired the provinces of Catherinienslaw, the site of Cherson, and the navigation of the Black Sea. By an uninterrupted series of arbitrary proceedings and cabal, she subjugated the inestimable and beautiful peninsula of Crim Tartary, acquired various districts in the province of Schiraz, and rendered the princes of Georgia her feudatories and vassals. Nothing in the north or east could resist her despotic sway; and, to complete her designs, she was enabled to gain over the restless and capricious mind of the Emperor Joseph to her side, and negociate with him a sort of indefinite project for the conquest of Constantinople, and the partition of Greece.
Perhaps Catherine found her safety alone in war—the factious spirits were thus employed, and the splendour of victories threw a lustre upon her character which endeared her to her subjects, and made them forget the darker shades.
To describe her numberless institutions for the benefit of her subjects, her wise regulations, or the internal commotions which she overcame, would exceed the limits of this work. To trace her list of favourites, or lovers, would be a useless task. As an author, Catherine has some claims: she wrote three works for the entertainment and instruction of her grand-children, comedies for the amusement of the court, and different memorials, which, at the most eventful periods of her life, were necessary to explain, to move, and conciliate the people. Her letters also to Voltaire are interesting and lively.
She was of the middle size, yet by the habit of holding her head high, appeared tall, and had a perfect command of countenance; her eyes were clear and large, her complexion fair, her hair and eye-brows auburn, and her hands and arms beautiful. She, in general, dressed in green, which is the national colour of Russia. She was fond of magnificence, yet familiar and lively in her manner; fond of pleasure, yet vast in her projects, and unbounded in her ambition. It was her wish to leave two vast empires in her family, and she destined the thrones of Petersburgh and Constantinople to her two grandsons, Alexander and Constantine.
A coldness and jealousy, for some time before her death, which happened suddenly on the 4th of November, 1796, in the 67th year of her age, had subsisted between her and the grand duke, Paul; but her affection for his children was excessive, and they lamented her, as did all that had been accustomed to her society, with unfeigned regret.
The distraction of Orloff, and the gloom which imbittered the last days of Potemkin, the two of her favourites, who became afterwards her first ministers and generals, must have occasioned some pangs to the mind of Catherine, though that heart was too closely veiled to let its secret emotions be visible, The former, seized with madness and remorse, fancied he continually saw the murdered Peter, in whose misfortunes he had so great a share, and shocked the ears of Catherine with bitter reproaches. It has been doubted, whether she was privy to the murder of her husband, or ever acquainted with the circumstances. Be it as it will, her mind always kept its balance. The most extravagant projects did not bewilder her imaginations; nor the greatest difficulties disarrange her ideas.