New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1912-04-12

ought not to wear the air Of an his
torian with a serious purpose
Oddly enough, Mr.. Gribbles choice for
q heroine of one Of the most scandalous
potentates in history has not resulted IN
the communication to his pages Of that
"piouancv" which the makers OF such
hooks customarily derive from flaming
indiscretions in high places. Never was
there a duller tale than that of Gather
ines relations with an endless success
sion of favorites. Some OF the latter
had character, Of a sort, but one sue
eeeded another so rapidly and the COM
pany as q whole is so large that the
broad impression one receives Is or
ouite unromantic routine, with not
shark Of anything even family gallant
or adventurous to illuminate the prevail
ing gloom Of dirty self-interest. This IS
the epithet TO apply to GATHERINGS pri-
vate life. IT was merely squalid ana
stupid Not so. however, the background
against which It was lived. That con-
tanned elements making the whole pict-
ure lurid and sometimes thrilling. MI
Gribble's book. which is WEAKNESS itself
In its dogged enumeration Of vain
women's sickly sentimentalities, is really
interesting whenever It gives US glinpses
Of Russian society in the eighteenth cen
tlry. That society was beginning TO
feel the pressure Of Western civiliza-
ton. but it was only specifically Eu-
ropeanized, remaining in it's essence bar
barrie. Mr.. Gribble, whe is hardly TO be
read for political history. still contrives
TO give a pretty good characterization OF
conditions in the time Of Catherine IA
the following PASSAGE
The Russian Succession, in the first half
Of the eighteenth century, may be sdlu -
have depended upon rules when were III LII
formly broken. The rule was tndt tISS
reigning sovereign nominated memDer OF
his family 10 succeed him; the machinery
Tor breaking the rule was Palace ReNoiuS5
ton. a usurper male or female corr IPtSu
the Imperial Guard, marcheu on the 10 la,r
preferably at the dead or mGnt-inur5
dered or arrested the Tsar Tor ResenJ' anu
proceeded 10 rule in his place. SuCn az
OF violence were almost as frequent a.
general elections in England at the preseliI
time and were regarded as natural incl
Dents in the rough and tumble OF la p,,a
quarrels The silent millions Of the Rus
sian people had no concern win lhtIu' Jul
acqWesced alphabetically IN the Tesu''9'
Mr. Gribbles book is i'll named II
was no comedy in which Catherine as
sumed role when, as little princess
OF Anhalt-Zerbst. she married the Cram
Duke Peter, but a roaring melodrama.
X was by just such methods as those IN
uicated in the foregoing quotation thaI
she got rid Of her husband when the
psychological moment came for her 10
make The throne her own, and a second
murder that Of the long imprisoned and
HnDecHe Ivan VI. had 20 be arranged be-
ioIe she could feel comfortably seated
eighteenth century Russia was a land
OF perpetual nightmare In the imperial
palace the master Of the state is forever
drinking and gambling Peter III is a
hopeless boor. His wife has brains, and
Yhen' having swept him from her path,
she undertakes to use them for the ben
eht OF her people she makes some little
progress But she does nothing to stop
.ie corruption everywhere rampant. and.
LOT herself filings decency out Of the
WINDOW. She spent millions Of rubles
oh her fayorites, and gave them a scope
III administration Of which they avaied
themselves TO such purpose that half of
ner good Intentions toward the masses
we're inYalidated. Some Of her lovers, ii
true were too unintelligent TO do
much harm. There was Korsakof. who
bought books for his library according
% Size large books for the lower
khelyes and small books for the upper
ohes But others, like the crafty Greg
ory orion and the brutal Potcmkin, cut
eFi swaths through the land so long as
heir power lasted.
II Is a world turned upside down that
We contemplate in these pages, world
:" monstrous tyranny, of crime flourish