The Empire of Russia Part 30

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 G.o.d 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 a.s.sured that my grat.i.tude, 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 mult.i.tude, 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 a.s.suring 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 a.s.sure 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 h.o.a.ry-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 a.s.sembled. 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, a.s.suming 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, surpa.s.sed 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 b.u.t.tons, 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 sh.o.r.es 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 reestablish 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 unsurpa.s.sed 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 att.i.tude, ever ready to appeal to arms.

CHAPTER XXVII.

TERMINATION OF THE REIGN OF CATHARINE II.

From 1781 to 1786.

Statue of Peter the Great.--Alliance between Austria and Russia.--Independence of the Crimea.--The Khan of the Crimea.--Vast Preparations for War.--National Jealousies.--Tolerant Spirit of Catharine.--Magnificent Excursion to the Crimea.--Commencement of Hostilities.--Anecdote of Paul.--Peace.--New Part.i.tion of Poland.--Treaty with Austria and France.--Hostility to Liberty in France.--Death of Catharine.--Her Character.

Catharine found time, amidst all the cares of empire, to devote special attention to the education of her grandchildren Alexander and Constantine, who had been born during the five years which had now elapsed since the marriage of Paul and Maria. For their instruction as they advanced in years, she wrote several historical and moral essays of no small merit. The "Tales of Chlor, Son of the Tzar," and "The Little Samoyede," are beautiful compositions from her pen, alike attractive to the mature and the youthful mind. The histories and essays she wrote for these children have since been collected and printed in French, under the t.i.tle of "Bibliotheque des grands-ducs Alexandre et Constantin."

The empress, about this time, resolved to erect, in St. Petersburg, a statue of Peter the Great, which should be worthy of his renown. A French artist, M. Falconet, was engaged to execute this important work. He conceived the design of having, for a pedestal, a rugged rock, to indicate the rude and unpolished character of the people to whom the emperor had introduced so many of the arts of civilization.

Immediate search was made to find a suitable rock. About eight miles from the city a huge boulder was discovered, forty-two feet long, thirty-four feet broad, and twenty-one feet high. It was found, by geometric calculation, that this enormous ma.s.s weighed three millions two hundred thousand pounds. It was necessary to transport it over heights and across mora.s.ses to the Neva, and there to float it down to the place of its destination. The boulder lay imbedded a few feet in the ground, absolutely detached from all other rock, and with no similar substance anywhere in the vicinity.

It would seem impossible that a ma.s.s so stupendous could be moved. But difficulties only roused the energies of Catharine. In the first place, a solid road was made for its pa.s.sage. After four months'

labor, with very ingenious machinery, the rock was so far raised as to enable them to slip under it heavy plates of bra.s.s, which rested upon cannon b.a.l.l.s five inches in diameter, and which b.a.l.l.s ran in grooves of solid metal. Then, by windla.s.ses, worked by four hundred men, it was slowly forced along its way. Having arrived at the Neva, it was floated down the river by what are called camels, that is immense floating fabrics constructed with air chambers so as to render them very buoyant.

This statue as completed is regarded as one of the grandest ever executed. The tzar is represented as on horseback, ascending a steep rock, the summit of which he is resolved to attain. In an Asiatic dress and crowned with laurel, he is pointing forward with his right hand, while with his left he holds the bridle of the magnificent charger on which he is mounted. The horse stands on his hind feet bounding forward, trampling beneath a brazen serpent, emblematic of the opposition the monarch encountered and overcame. It bears the simple inscription, "To Peter the First, by Catharine the Second, 1782." The whole expense of the statue amounted to over four hundred thousand dollars, an immense sum for that day, when a dollar was worth more than many dollars now.

At the close of the year 1782, the Emperor of Germany and Catharine II. entered into an alliance for the more energetic prosecution of the war against the Turks. They issued very spirited proclamations enumerating their grievances, and immediately appeared on the Turkish frontiers with vast armies. The attention of Catharine was constantly directed towards Constantinople, the acquisition of which city, with the Bosporus and the Dardanelles, was the object which, of all others, was the nearest to her heart. On the banks of the Dnieper, eighteen hundred miles from St. Petersburg, she laid the foundations of Kherson as a maritime port, and in an almost incredibly short time a city rose there containing forty thousand inhabitants. From its ship-yards vessels of war were launched which struck terror into the Ottoman empire.

By previous wars, it will be remembered, the Crimea had been wrested from the Turks and declared to be independent, remaining nominally in the hands of the Tartars. Catharine II. immediately took the Tartar khan of the Crimea under her special protection, loaded him with favors, and thus a.s.sumed the guidance of his movements. He became enervated by luxury, learned to despise the rude manners of his countrymen, engaged a Russian cook, and was served from silver plate.

Instead of riding on horseback he traveled in a splendid chariot, and even solicited a commission in the Russian army. Catharine contrived to foment a revolt against her protege the khan, and then, very kindly, marched an army into the Crimea for his relief. She then, without any apology, took possession of the whole of the Crimea, and received the oath of allegiance from all the officers of the government. Indeed, there appears to have been no opposition to this measure. The Tartar khan yielded with so much docility that he soon issued a manifesto in which he abdicated his throne, and transferred the whole dominion of his country to Catharine. Turkey, exasperated, prepared herself furiously for war. Russia formed an alliance with the Emperor of Germany, and armies were soon in movement upon a scale such as even those war-scathed regions had never witnessed before. The Danube, throughout its whole course, was burdened with the barges of the Emperor of Germany, heavily laden with artillery, military stores and troops. More than a hundred thousand men were marched down to the theater of conflict from Hungary. Fifteen hundred pieces of artillery were in the train of these vast armies of the German emperor. The Russian force was equally efficient, as it directed its march through the plains of Poland, and floated down upon the waters of the Don and the Dnieper. The Turkish sultan was not wanting in energy. From all his wide-spread domains in Europe and Asia, he marshaled his hosts, and engaged from other nations of Europe, and particularly from France, the most skillful officers and engineers, to introduce into his armies European discipline and improvements in weapons of war.

The Ottoman Porte issued a manifesto, which was a very remarkable doc.u.ment both in vigor of style and n.o.bility of sentiment. After severely denouncing the enormous encroachments of Russia, extending her dominions unscrupulously in every direction, the sultan asked indignantly,

"What right can Russia have to territories annexed for ages to the dominions of the Porte? Should the Porte make such claims on any portion of the Russian dominions, would they not be repulsed? And can it be presumed that the Sublime Porte, however desirous of peace, will acquiesce in wrong which, however it may be disguised, reason and equity must deem absolute usurpation? What northern power has the Porte offended? Whose territories have the Ottoman troops invaded? In the country of what prince is the Turkish standard displayed? Content with the boundaries of empire a.s.signed by G.o.d and the Prophet, the wishes of the Porte are for peace; but if the court of Russia be determined in her claim, and will not recede without the acquisition of territories which do not belong to her, the Sublime Porte, appealing to the world for the justice of its proceedings, must prepare for war, relying on the decrees of Heaven, and confident in the interposition of the Prophet of prophets, that he will protect his faithful followers in the hour of every difficulty."

No Mohammedan pen could have produced so vigorous a doc.u.ment. It was written by the English minister at Constantinople, Sir Robert Ainslie.

Catharine II., apprehensive that, while all her armies were engaged on the banks of the Euxine, Sweden might attack her on the sh.o.r.es of the Baltic, decided to form a new treaty of peace with Gustavus III. An interview was arranged to take place at Frederiksham, a small but strongly fortified town upon the Gulf of Finland, the last town occupied by the Russians towards the frontiers of Sweden. The empress repaired thither in a yacht the 29th of June, 1783. Gustavus III., with his suite, met her at the appointed hour. Two contiguous houses were prepared, furnished with the utmost splendor, and connected by a gallery, so that, during the four days these sovereigns remained at Frederiksham, they could meet and converse at any time. There is still a picture existing, painted by order of Catharine, representing the empress and the Swedish monarch in one of their most confidential interviews. Catharine II. promised Gustavus that if he would faithfully remain neutral during her war with Turkey she would, at its close, aid Sweden in gaining possession of Norway. The two sovereigns, having exchanged rich presents, separated, mutually delighted with each other.

The empress had now seventy thousand men on the frontiers of the Crimea, and a reserve of forty thousand on the march to strengthen them. A third army of great power was rendezvoused at Kief. A large squadron of ships of war was ready for battle in the Sea of Azof, and another squadron was prepared to sail from the Baltic for the Mediterranean. England, alarmed by the growth of Russia, did every thing in her power to stimulate the Turks to action. But the Porte, overawed by the force brought against her, notwithstanding the brave manifesto it had been induced to issue, sued for peace. Yielding to all the demands of Russia a treaty was soon signed. Catharine gained undisputed possession of the Crimea, large portions of Circa.s.sia, the whole of the Black Sea, and also the free pa.s.sage of the Dardanelles.

Thus, without firing a gun, Russia gained several thousand square miles of territory, and an addition of more than a million and a half of inhabitants, with commercial privileges which added greatly to the wealth of the empire.

Catharine's fleet now rode triumphantly upon the Caspian, and she resolved to extend her dominions along the western sh.o.r.es of that inland sea. These vast regions were peopled by warlike tribes, ever engaged in hostilities against each other. Slowly but surely she advanced her conquests and reared her fortresses through those barbaric wilds. At the same time she was pushing her acquisitions with equal sagacity and success along the sh.o.r.es of Kamtschatka. With great vigor she encouraged her commercial caravans to penetrate China, and even opened relations with j.a.pan, obtaining from that jealous people permission to send a trading ship to their coast every year.

No persons are so jealous of the encroachments of others as those who are least scrupulous in regard to the encroachments which they themselves make. The English government, whose boast it is that the sun, in its circuit of the globe, never ceases to shine on their domains, watches with an eagle eye lest any other government on the globe should venture upon the most humble act of annexation. So it was with Catharine. Though adding to her vast dominions in every quarter; though appropriating, alike in peace and in war, all the territory she could lay her hands upon, she could inveigh against the inordinate ambition of other nations with the most surprising volubility.

The increasing fame and power of Frederic II. had for some time disturbed her equanimity, and she manifested great anxiety lest he should be guilty of the impropriety of annexing some petty duchy to his domains. Since he had united with Catharine and Austria in the banditti part.i.tion of Poland, he had continually been making all the encroachments in his power; adding acres to his domains as Catharine added square leagues to hers. In precisely the same spirit, England, who was grasping at all the world, protested, with the most edifying devotion to the claims of justice and humanity, against the ambitious spirit of Russia. The "beam" did not exclude the vision of the "mote."

Catharine, offended by the opposition of England, retaliated by entering into a treaty of commerce with France, which deprived England of an important part of the Russian trade.

The spirit of toleration manifested by Catharine is worthy of all praise. During the whole of her reign she would not allow any one to be persecuted, in the slightest degree, on account of religious opinions. All the conquered provinces were protected in the free exercise of their religion. Lutherans, Calvinists, Moravians, Papists, Mohammedans, and Pagans of all kinds, not only enjoyed freedom of opinion and of worship, but could alike aspire to any post, civil or military, of which they could prove themselves worthy. At one time, when urged by the hateful spirit of religious bigotry to frown upon some heresy, she replied 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 endeavor, by all means, to make their situation here as comfortable as we can."

Though Catharine II. had many great defects of character, she had many virtues which those who have denounced her most severely might do well to imitate. Her crowning vice, and the one which, notwithstanding her virtues, has consigned her name to shame, was that she had a constant succession of lovers who by secret and very informal nuptial rites were bound to her for a season, each one of whom was exchanged for another as caprice incited. The spirit of national aggrandizement which influenced Catharine, was a spirit possessed, to an equal extent, at that time, by every cabinet in Christendom. It was the great motive power of the age. Dismembered Poland excites our sympathy; but Poland was as eager to share in the part.i.tion of other States as she was reluctant to submit to that operation herself. In personal character Catharine was humane, tolerant, self-denying, and earnestly devoted to the welfare of her empire. Religious teachers, of all denominations, freely met at her table. This Christian liberality, thus encouraged in the palace, spread through the realm, producing the most beneficial results. On the occasion of a celebrated festival, Catharine gave a grand dinner party to ecclesiastics of all communions at the palace. This entertainment she called the "Dinner of Toleration." The representatives of eight different forms of worship met around this hospitable board.

The instruction of the ma.s.ses of the people occupied much of the attention of this extraordinary woman. She commenced with founding schools in the large towns; and then proceeded to the establishment of them in various parts of the country. Many normal schools were established for the education of teachers. The empress herself attended the examinations and questioned the scholars. On one of these occasions, when a learned German professor of history was giving a lecture to some pupils, gathered from the tribes of Siberia, the empress proposed an objection to some views he advanced. The courtiers were shocked at the learned man's presumption in replying to the objection in the most conclusive manner. The empress, ever eager in the acquisition of knowledge, admitted her mistake, and thanked the professor for having rectified it with so much ability.

She purchased, at a high price, the libraries of D'Alembert, and of Voltaire, immediately after the death of those ill.u.s.trious men. She also purchased the valuable cabinet of natural curiosities collected by Professor Pallas. The most accomplished engineers she could obtain were sent to explore the mountains of Caucasus, and even to the frontiers of China. When we consider the trackless deserts to be explored, the inhospitable climes and barbarous nations to be encountered, these were enterprises far more perilous than the circ.u.mnavigation of the globe. The scientific expedition to China was escorted by a corps of eight hundred and ten chosen men, led by one hundred and seven distinguished officers. The _savans_ were provided with every thing which could be thought of to promote their comfort and to aid them in their explorations, and three years were alloted as the probable term of service required by the mission. At the same time a naval expedition was fitted out to explore the northern seas, and ascertain the limits of the Russian empire. But the greatest work of Catharine's reign was the completion of the ca.n.a.l which united the waters of the Volga and the Neva, and thus established an inland navigation through all the countries which lie between the Caspian Sea and the Baltic.

In the year 1786 the empress announced her intention of making a magnificent journey to the Crimea, in order to be crowned sovereign of her new conquests. This design was to be executed in the highest style of oriental pomp, as the empress was resolved to extend her sway over all the nations of the Tartars. But the Tartars of those unmeasured realms, informed of the contemplated movement, were alarmed, and immediately combined their energies for a determined resistance. The Grand Seignior was also goaded to the most desperate exertions, for the empress had formed the design, and the report was universally promulgated, of placing her second grandchild, Constantine, on the throne of Constantinople.