, 1880-05-23
ROMANOFFS.

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KU1lANUFESs
The 1,egftfmacv or the Rusxfan 1mna-
rial Family
Pau HAL Gaztfte,
The stories formerly current among lovers Of
scandal respecting the legitimacy OF the Pre-
tender, of Louis XIV, OF the Comte de Cham
borl of Queen Isabella. and of the Kiur OF
Rome. have died ont with the extinction Of their
dynasties or political Importance; and no one
now cares to repeat tho rumors which once
amused the credulous with regard to James l.,
George IT,. and Napoleon III. But political
jealousy still delights in attacking the lineage
OF the Russian Imperial dynasty by casting
doubts upon the birth Of the Emperor Paul.
which have found their way into popular his
+a.,a. ,,,,+h,,,+ onv avominat,or NJ tha evidence
on which they are based although any one VINO
has read many French political sqn1os must DO
a.+xa,,a no-,, ,,... +h; 70 -or,+ 1rounon and tba
o1111 o1H, Aso n 80 p|e ss,,.4"ns 49, 49, re1t,na1+
example mas been 1olo"eo on tno con1'uent
fash'qns are IN
Catherine u was puonshea IL E,encn ana %,;3.a+ En
Herzen, 1850; aud it was stated that the orig
inai was preserved in the Imperial archives OF
Russia, whence a copy had been obtained by
stealth or bribery. me WORK IS not dateo' oue
could not have been written earlier than 1850,
frorn s;heria md other events inrfnp catner,ne's
at,-r tto,,a,, +ha ror.tfra e1ocs M fnrther than
relgn' 11 rnoogn tne socs ~ ~ &C., ~
wears Of age when she sat down to compile q
chronicle Of small details md Court-eosst such
os m5rht have heon written bv anv Young lady
young Grand Duke Peter and tho superior tal~
ents OF hs "t.s =, 49, u - NV
Inc rfeucn' afe aueps ~ eue ~ t..' " ~.
gerry, and translation gives scope forany mum.
rorth with a distinct nolittcal object in view, and
throughout % his career was so confident as to bis
an % that he lad @ little scrpIe @ rs to the means by
which that object was to be furthered, couteque
conte wa have no guarantee that he has given
states to tn Hal It was fonnd among the Empress
Cathertna's naners after hor death, addressed
win cr11el fronv TO her ubcIoyed son. his I'm
pail: altiourh throughout it has more tho tone
of being written for q foreign public, as she ex-
plains matters quite as familiar 70 Russian as
ahoye-menfioned doubts are generally quoted
from this autobiography, it is dif1cult to see
what motive the Empress could have had in
to add one more to the many indlgnittes
sho had already heaped upon: her son..
u bs her vii andseu se had !ss the sens 6ane
aside Paul: and, II she really meant the infer
ence e, Of bis ilegiitimacy to be drawn from her
silence the claims OF her direct heir, and also
prevent hin from paying fillal respect to the
her @ G ne fy o nsn aenr
family quarrel, once assured her son, Ferdinand
VII, that ho was not the son Of her husband,
met,ts: and it was always The Empress Gather
ines ambition to found dynasty, and not
merely to reign as the wife and mother OF
nnnt that the a11tobIocrap1y is genuine; ret
even then an impartial reader can only see In
these memoirs desire to justify the Empress
,,sarnation bv pointing out the fmbecility and
ignornnce Of her husband to bis son; and
Tie carly neglect which first led her
iiae later moments Of reflection may have
occurred to her required some Justification, for
She admits her own inhdelity t1ro years before
Pams IS npja rarne
to his mothor's Iaxness- It is we'll known that
t sd to the sores
tendinQ to show that her son was illegltimate;
but where have such rumors not been circulated
H. ~ ,np r,,mnrs we're then Believed to forcshadow
Paul's dIsappearance,- the Empress would
nu6l,cly have married Gregory 0rloa; and
nar1isan reneats them in bis @Kevolution in
Rnssia." Yet the Princess Dashkov, who was in
far better position to know the truth, and used
tn hoast that she had saved PauTs life, said this
hook was made up merely of gossip. II Gather
Inc could have satisfied the public that
| Paul WIS not her hu6Dands son, IL
would have been an obvious means
Of checking the formidable insurrections which
broke out 10 various parts OF the Empire for
sides which she had other children whom che
loved as much she hated Paul Would she not
have tried If it were possible to replace bin as
her heir by the handsome young Alexis Gregoro-
yitz, before this son had repaid her maternal
affection with insrattude, and had at at isnsth length
whare even he had long been q disgrace2 Why
was this YOUTH with ali his errors, dear to her
while she detested Paul from infancy. il it were
strikip9ly resembled- they are stated to have
done-the unhappy Peters and constantly anti re-
minded her of n crime which she would willingly
whom she could not remove, as she had removed
Ivan VI and the Princess Tarrakonof, SO long
ant of Peter the Great Mason. the
French author Of the Secret Memoirs"
is another writer sometimes quoted as an
authority on the subject He was Republican
VIM for short time held post in the household