The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1894-01-14
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I
Ated at Ropchs. a very lonely. but very
agreeable spot as Catherine herself Informs
us. and on the following day. July H. the
| Empress made a.solemn entry into StfPeters-
burg. -Four days later her husband was found
dead. How he died we know not. At the time
no one doubted that he had been killed, and
there were various hypothesis concerning the
| mode OF assassination. Some have spoken OF
| poisoning by burgundy Peters favorto wine:
others OF stranCling. Alexis Orloinho o'tsnest
been pointed at as tho nsrirer, or even ex-
eeutor OF the decd. According to another YER
sion. not without a show Of authority. It was
| Tieplof who plotted tho crimc. and ut whose
| order Swedish officer In the Russian service
strangled Peter with musket strap The
| question who was tho executioner IL compare
lively unimportant compared with the inquiry
| whether Catherine was the instigntor Of the
| crime. Frederick the Groat declared twenty
| yenrs aiterward that :" the Empress was quite
Ignorant Of this decd. and abe heard Of It
with despair which was not feigned. for she
foresNw the judgment which posterity would
| pass on her" II Is stated In the memoirs OF
| the Princess Dschkot that on the death OF
| Catherine her son Paul discovered in
the pauers OF tho Empress letter OF
Alexis Orion. written Immediately after
the event and referring definitely TO
himself as the author OF the murder. The
Emperor Paul 10 said to have lifted his eyes to
heaven. and to have given thanks to God. But
our author points out that the Princess Dach-
kof. who relates the scene did not witness It.
The great majority Of her European contem-
poraries imputed to Catherine guilty knowl-
edge ofthe crime. and among modern writer's
there lie still some conflict OF opinions and con-
leo .ures II Catherine has been wronged she
was herself TO blame for the cslumny
to q certain extent. because she Sc
Verely prescribed all public discussion
OF the tragic Incident 1t must also
be borne in mind that neither Orion nor
Tieploi nor any ono was prosecuted on &C.
count OF the deed wrought at Ropcha. NJ Wal
isZeuski who IL reluctant to accuse Catherine.
acknowledges that the failure to prosecute
any one for the crime seems to make her at
all events an accessory after the fact. and he
tries to extenuate the effect OF the conclusion
by saying that perhaps human greatness
cannot reach certain heights without these
seizures which bring II down to the Lowell OF
humanity. And Catherine was great"
That Catherine was great. that the little
German girl destined to rule over Russia was
qualified by nature for the task and that she
fulfilled It, so far as this was possible within
the limits OF the time ut her disposal seems |
indeed TO be !ndisputablc. In tho internal
organization OF the empire and in It's flu
ence abroad she effected immense changes
during the thir;y-four years OF her reign. and
size unquestionsbly raised It to a tremendous
height OF grandeur. II che seems to have
left much undone. n, for instance. she did
nothing to remedy or much to palliate The |
stupendous evil OF seridom which It was re-
served for her descendant. Alexander H., 20 |
cure. one must. In fairness, consider how |
brief was her term OF labor compared with |
the inadeduacy Of tho instruments with which
she worked. and the distractions she had TO |
overcome. The utmost that she could hope to |
do was to carry further the plans OF Peter the |
Great. and to leave Russia far advanced upon |
the path into which he had i'm PEELED her. 1t |
was not practicable In two liietimes to arouse |
the Slavonc Colossus from his sleep OF ages |
under his shroud OF snow.
As to the acquisitions OF territory made by |
Russia during tho reign OF Catherine H.. these |
are too we'll known to need recapituation. |
The German historian Sybel. writing In 1880. |
declared that no burning question arises in |
Germany In our day without our finding some |
trace OF the policy OF Catherine ILL.," Thisis |
because the foreign policy OF Catherine was
one OF incessant and resolute expansion In all |
directions About her home policy less Is
known. As matter o! fact. she subjected
even the question Of seridom to long and SYM
pathetic examination. and she did emancipats
nearly a million serfs on the ecclesiastical
estates In 1868. she proposed to the Society
OF Political Economy which she had founded.
an inquiry whether tho laborer mad not right
to the land which he had watered with his
sweat A hundred and twenty replies were
sent in various languages. and the prize was
awarded to Frenchman. but by thirteen
voices against three tho society opposed tho
publication OF the essay. Catherine seems to
have finally persuaded herself that tho prob
lem was for the present insoluble and dan
gerous to approach. But she never ceased to
brood upon It. In l775 writing 10 her Attor-
ney- q eneral. she insisted again on the n eces-
sity OF doing something for the unhappy ssrrs
and Count Bloudof protested to have seen In
her hands in 1884 projected ukase decreeing
that the seris born after the next year should
be free. In the papers OF the Empress found
after her death there was another
project concerning the Amelioration OF
the condition Of the freedmen who
had been smancipated by the seculnriZation
OF the ecclesiastical estates. The numerous
corrections n the original. pennel throughout
in Gatherings handwriting. proved that she
had worked over It a long time.
Asrsgards the adm inistrstion OF justice. Gath
crimes reign was distinguished by several I'M
portant reforms A contemporary French OBJ
server had enthusiastic praise for the organiZa-
ton Of provincial tribunals put in force after
tho peace with Turkey in IVA An incident re-
counted by our author shows that Catherine
did her best to qulcken The march OF Justice.
which. in Russia, was then exceptionally slow.
In 1859 a Moscow tradesman named Popoi.
having been driven by the exasperating in
tricacies OF procedure into crying aloud In
open court that there was no justice in Russia
under the reign OF Catherine H.. the Empress
had the audacIous words erased from the min
utes OF the proceeding. but she. at the same
time. commanded that popofs case should to
settled with the greatest despatch. SO that he
IN ght see that there was Justice done in Rus
STA" II is further to be noted that Catherine
was rssolutely opposed to the use OF torture.
and she boAsted that she had never signed a
death warrant even resorting to a subteriuRs
TO avoid subscribing tho sentences OF the rebels
MroVltch aud Pousatchct In general she sub
stituted tran sportatlon for capital punishment.
md IN III a Las