The Butler County press. [volume] (Hamilton, Ohio) 1900-1946, 1930-08-29
HISTORY
MYST ERlES
Uaselssd Riddles That SIN Puxzls
A1thedtiss Here sRd Abroad
The Murder of Grand Duke

The Murder of Grand Duke
Peter
G URROUNDED by cloud Of rumor
- and concealed in a haze Of official
secrecy, the murder Of the Grand
Duke Peter, husband Of Catherine
II Of Russia, remains one OF the
many unsolved mysteries connected
with that country, particularly since
1t is coupled with the personality OF
one of the most remarkable figures In
the annals Of royalty-Catherine the
Great.
The story of Catherine II, the Sc
miramis Of the North as her contem-
poraries delighted in calling her, -
revolving not only because 1t Is the
story Of a profligate woman but Its
deepest horror Is to be found In the
extreme corruption of the age and peo-
pie to which the empress belonged.
Peter the Great said Of his country:
"Russia is rotten before she Is ripe"
and to realize the true meaning OF
Implication, one must study in detail
the reigns of Elizabeth and Catherine
III. Never was there such mixture
Of squalor and magnificence as in the
palace Of the former. Filth and splen-
dor alternated throughout the royal
apartments and the vilest food was
eaten from plates Of gold.
The first question concerning Cath
crime, therefore, is whether she cor
rupted Russia or Russia corrupted her
when, as girl Of eighteen, she came
from Germany to marry the Grand
Duke Peter, heir to the Russian
throne. At the time, the Empress
Elizabeth, who ruled Russia as a
usurper and kept the rightful czar in
prison, was morally as corrupt as Cath
crime became In later years and added
drunkenness, gross superstition, cruel
ty and insanity to her other vices.
Yet, at the mere word OF this frenzied
empress, torture or an exile that meant
worse than death, could at any mo-
ment be pronounced as lightly and as
easily against Ae heir to the throne
as against the poorest peasant.
An even more revolving figure was
that of the grand duke himself. "A
half-crazed savage in wig and lace
coat" "a staggering. cursing, brawl-
ing, punch-swilling ruff1an," "a royal
degenerate to whom nothing was
sacred save his own wishes"-these
are some Of the descriptions Of the
man to whom Catherine was given az
wife. Left absolutely alone in such
surroundings and with such husband,
there Is little wonder that Catherine
not only became corrupted but outdid
the corruptions In which she found
herself.
In daily and almost hourly peril
from the insane fancies of the en-
press, Catherine may well have ex-
perienced the deadening effects pro-
duced by the loss of all security and,
with respect to the question as to
whether she might justifably be ac-
cused of the murder of her husband,
1t Is only necessary to refer to the
notes Of Walisnewski, Polish historian
who made a deep study OF the facts
In the case of this strange household.
"Peter remains the same gross, ex-
travagant and insupportable being
that he has always been," says Wallis
newski, "'A strange brute streaksd
with insanity according to st. Beuve's
expression, and he still knows how to
make himself thoroughly odious. Fre-
quently he comes to bed dead drunk
and, between hiccoughs, speaks to his
wife of his favorite topics-his amours
with the duchess of Courland, hunch-
back, or with Freiline Voronstof, who
Is marked with smallpox. If Gather
Inc attempts to go to sleep he pummels
her with his hands and feet to keep
her awake until sleep overcomes him.
He Is almost always drunk and be-
comes more and more mad"
The first step In the downfall Of this
royal brute was his removal from the
throne at the undoubted instigatiOn
Of his wife, a removal which was fol-
lowed by his virtual banishment to his
country nome at Ropcha Where ne
died, officially of "apoplexy" but In
reality as the result Of a direct plot
against his life. The fact that the
murderers dared to act as openly as
they did and that no attempt was
made to prosecute them indicates that
Catherine had shown that the perma-
nent removal Of the grand duke would
not be distasteful to her. The truth
about the affair has, however, never
fully come to light, for Catherine had
no need even to defend herself Her
rule was absolute and she doubtless
destroyed any records which would
tend to implicate her with one Of the
not infrequent murder mysteries Of
the royal families Of Europe.
(1 nv tha Whoaiar HyndtcataN