The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1915-06-22
FAMOUS WOMEN IN
MODERN HISTORY
by MARY billiard HINTON)
L. CATHERINE THE GREAT. CZ 4
TIA OF RUSSIA

just at his period when all eyes
are conferred on the leading powers
of Europe. involved in the titantic |
struggle in which the existence Of
each Is hanging in the balance. ma
turatiy interest is aroused in the his
tory of all. AS one chances
through the centuries one fact is pro-
and that Is. in i've af the
warning nations the power. the wealth
aye the very existence events due
TO the brain. heart and hand of some
one particular woman. the elimination
of whom would have altered not only
the history Of each ountr concerned.
but the chronicles of the earth ever
since. In some instances these won
dertul women attempted and obtained
what no man Ventured to undertake
at the crucial moment. Think what
France owes to Joan of Arc. England
to Elizabeth, Russia to Catherine the
Great. Austria to Maria Theresa. and
Germany to Louise of Prussia. Then
what a debt of gratitude all succeed
ing generations must carry to ISABELLA
of CASTLE.
Some of these women were sanity
and were born for q special mission
it seems. If these great souls can
hto" Iid IL =, II III biiFtl
former possessions. the longing TO
nee gain resume the control of the
affairs of field and state must not be
absent. Just what is raging on the
seas and plains of Europe is the real
iZatiOn of the last ambition Catherine
the Great longed to bring to pass.
h pS brief sketches of the tragic
5 lives and abiding works of these max
ers of history may not be inappro-
pirate at this time. History, an
cient. medieval and modern, contains
no more complex character than tina
of Catherine H., CZaritza of Russia
a great but not a good woman, though
she possessed many of the traits o
goodness. Every inch an empress il
! her bearing. without haughtiness
1 making all who came in her presence
feel Immediately at ease: a lover O
a art and literature, DESTROYS to inStruc
and improve others; possessing a trul.
great intellect and an excellent dis
g position, which rendered her believe,
e and popular throughout her domin
ions; at the same time her standara
of morality rivalled that of the mos
degraded rulers of Rome when tina
/ ancient empire had reached the low
e est depths of it's decadence. For he
beloved Russia she planned improve
mentS innumerable-SchemeS educa
tional, the building of cities. highway
and waterWayS-but seized the me
and money necessary for their fulfil
le ment and Waged a continual warfare
II always with success and ever wit
y the view of increasing the DOundarie
t. of her already vast empire, by whic
d militancy she won the title, THE Sem
y iramis Of the North" She prepared
D. code of laws that was all that cOul
be desired and then punished severel
/ the deputies who took her seriOusl
10 by laboring to enforce it. Althoug
81 she herself possessed an cQuabie ten
lie per she allowed the most atrociol
IL crimes of her favorites to pass will
e out rebuke, netting them the exam
pie, as the world believes, of commi
II, ting dark deeds by the cOld-bloode
o. murder Of her own husband. HI
Va devotion to her grandchildren, Ale
~ ander (who crushed Napoleon) an
Constantine, eldest children Of HI
Is child Grand Duke Paul, was SINGER,
VI Of their lessons and wrote storie
DO moral tales and allegorieS for the
Il amusement and instruction.
Such was the dual character of tn
really extraordinary IN who
reign brought such glory to Russ
that the title of 1.-The Great has be-
IS bestowed upon her.
In 1744, at the age of sixteen, the
came to Russia Sophia Augusta Ere
erica, daughter of a Prince of Anhal
Oh Zerbst. the a%ffianced bride of Il
Grand Duke Peter, heir and nephe
s;- Of the reigning Empress EliZabet
,as According to the custom of that cOu
~a airy fraulein was admitted into Il
Greek Church and assumed the nan
tay -. 80 ssassor ~ . moar conta
tious disposition, a feeble mind al
1oo ungainly person. made more hideo
y by smallpox scars. while his habI
ne were d~issipated. An utterly wOrthle
OF man it was no marvel that he prov
incapable of ruling en- empire. Aft
his accession to the throne NJ. Brt
nts tuail the French minister. wrot
OV- .sJvha life of the omDeror is mf
shameful. He passes his nights smo
zen ing and drinking beer, and does T
lke relax these two exercises until ) or
DOT o'clock in the morning. and is neal
the always dead trunk"