New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-01-14
CITWLRINE II.
\ NEW BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

THE ROMANCE OF AN EMPRESS Catherine
n ., Russia Translated from the French of
Il Walis1ew.d with a portrait PIP. viii. i5s
H. Appleton Go.
Ine arises from the perusal Of this boob, CON
WINGED ~ TWO things-thc mpnoionous WEAKNESS Of
vice and the failure OF ahsolutism. The book is Of
great Interest. but IS only because the animal in
Catherine II was guided ana determined though
not restrained. by genius and a WONDERFULLY sIg-
gestive mind. She seemed to herself to turn her
Livorit,s t. Use In her political af - " Walls
zcWsN Show how Ponatowski. both a. her at
t'u!ant and aficrwlrl as King ~ Poland. contrib
uicl 10 plans which looked 10 the final destruction
~ his unhappy country. But II is quite certain
that. II neither he nor Catherine had ever lived
Poland must sooner cor later have disappeared. The
mystery ~ The assassination of Peter III IL deep
cncl. II anything. by the authors study Of T.. 9TH
orwisc IL might be- possible 10 explain the share ~
her orof lovers In relieving Catherine Of her olious
husband. But the cas-. cannot be- cleared up The
only certainty loft by NJ Waliszcwskl is that Peter
died violent death. lie puts improved the sup
position that Catherine hetseIf had preliminary
warning N her husbands taking on. part in the
plot II plot there We're II Is plain. however. that
'Hihc:in" has no such ease Henry II, who could
honestly say that the killing of Erckei was due 10
chance words spoken IN anguish. not to deliberate
purpos" Her cas-" Is rather Ike thnt Of an Eng
hsh queen who consented 30 the tOriurng Of her
husband 10 death AMI who was Indifferent enough
10 watch his sunerings without a pang. II * diff
CUT 10 circuit fHIcifh VITA believing MS own
words when he said. by way Of Renaissance.
twenty years after tn assassination: "rhe En-
pres was quite ignorant Of this crime AMI she heard
Of 1t with despair which was not fcigned. for she
justly f0resaw the Judgment that everybody passes
upon her to-day" Aside from the words ~ the
lriissan King, It would be- difficult 30 nnl any
traces Of despair, either f.igncd or unfegncl. in
GATHERINGS conduct She PIT down all public Dis
cus-ion Of the topic ana cnvclopcd It in all the
darkness within the power of an absolute sover-
egn.' despite her science Of attitudes" says NJ.
WalisZ"wski. that which she saw H. - assume at
the moment Of the catastrophe not. perhaps.
Tn" best calculated To- disarm public malgnlty.
though 1t testified To the strength Of her character
and her resources as an actress" Il was decided
In council called on the instant - keep the news
Of Peters death secret for twenty four hours =
Catherine appeared before the courtiers with dry
eyes and placid face But the next day when a
manifesto, carefully prepared was made public
she wept tears 50 many that she might almost be
thought To have heard that half military. half
rhetorical command. "Irepare 10 shed them now"
She lived and died As many another d.spot has
done In the belief that she WAS absolute But the
very number Of her unfinished projects shows that
she was monarch under the sferncst OF llmra-
tions. that Of people who can neither be led nor
driven. She srmpa thzcd at first, as other Euro
p"an royalties did, with IN" rcyolutionisis in
France Doubtless she imagined all human beings
free ana equal. not with her. but under her sway
sHc WAS shocked ny Marie AutOinettc'S leVlty
long she sympathized with the populace But
when Louis XVI executed Catherine saw
things In totally new light and the best example
OF that political Insight for which she famed
was given In her prophecy close to the future
facts that only Napoleon could fulfil it. In her
own domain she was never anything but the auto
crat. Yet Will search this book and all other
books IN vain to find that she accompli ,acl any Of
her great purposes. She aimed to amclIorate the
condition OF the aeriS. But Sh, only succeeded
doing harm. Before her time. proprietors could
exile serfs To Siberia Catherine added the power
Of condemnng the exile TO hard labor and she sup
pressed the right of appeal from the master 10 the /
throne. 'the sole corrective indeed "A very INSULT
ricnt one. which might. In certain measure. have +
attenuated monstrous abuses" 1t is no wonder .
that NJ. Waliszcwski says "In fact after all her ,
tcntatives. Catherine took the nitll
tive In this direction only In two cases, both Of .
them distinct aggravation Of the existing
regime" Again she made most profound stir ,
the subject OF education and she really did begin I
the schooling of Russian women: bu, NJ. Wallis /
zewsk deliberately concludes that the later edu- /
'ational system Of Russia was due not 10 her but /
10 a man whom she Imprisoned. Novikof he main .
aims was the true founder OF Russian education.
She opposed torture In courts OF justice. and yet
he practice was continued She pretended love
'or art and letters but she neglected all the men
IF genius in Russia. Doubtless she was too much
absorbed In her dramas. after the manner OF Vol
aire. and In her essays for various journals. All
Ter artistic IDEAS reduced themselves In the last |