writing their encomiums on the great, nor so lavish in strewing flowers on their graves; that they would wait, at least, till their characters have undergone a severe and impartial discussion, and their actions been tried, without any bias of love or hatred, at the bar of criticism. If they stand this test, then let their memory conse crated by the pious and hearty tears, which the loss of a good prince undoubtedly deserves!-Should, however, the manner in which Catharine mounted the throne over the bleeding body of her husband, in which she crushed Poland, threatened the independence of Sweden, and prosecuted the boldest schemes of conquest by shedding streams of human blood, be fairly discussed at this tribunal, can she ever acquire the glory attending real greatness? In the eyes of the friend of humanity, assuredly not. The prince who, not considering that the fame acquired by wisdom and virtue is far less transient than the wreath which the tyrant and furious conqueror weaves for his brows, sacrifices every thing to his lust of aggrandisement, HE views with a melancholy heart and perhaps with contempt. I say, the friend of humanity: for our German politicians deem actions excusable, or even laudable, which the former must detest and abhor.

The author of these few sheets, whom neither the empty honour of making his appearance as an author, nor the thirst of pelf, nor any other sordid or unworthy motive, but the sole love of truth, and a heart that cannot but feel abhorrence at the oppressions of the great, have moved to the publication of them, esteems himself happy in being able to declare that he does not belong to that class of the children of men. Truth is ever sacred to him; which to discern and to proclaim, a man has need of nothing more than common sense and courage.

This same love of truth obliges him to confess that he has nothing new to relate, nor does he intend to deliver a complete history of Catharine; his aim reaching no farther than simply to shew, “in what point of view the philanthropist should consider Catharine, and examine whether he can justly give her the surname of Great?" and therefore he has only brought as evidence the principal transactions that marked her reign.

'Accordingly, deep researches into politics and surprising discoveries it would here be in vain to expect: but what will be found is pure unvarnished truth.'

As we have before us several publications on this subject, it would be needless to make long extracts from this perform ance; notwithstanding that it discovers much good sense and manly sentiment. We shall content ourselves with a specimen or two, to shew that this opinion is not without foundation.

The revolution of 1762 is a feature in this reign too prominent to be passed over without observation :

Peter III. was too irresolute to follow either the sage advice of the good old Munich, or to adopt any rational plan of his own. Go, said Munich, and look Catharine in the face, and order the guards in her presence to obey you as their rightful sovereign and lord :— but no; Peter had not the firmness requisite to venture this step, which

certainly

certainly would have been decisive in his favour. What course did he take? he hastened to the gardens of Oranienbaum, threw himself at the feet of the Empress, covered his face with his hands, and begged, in a flood of tears, that she would spare his life, and let him go to his Holstein dominions. How did Catharine behave on this occasion? Did she hearken to the voice of generosity and humanity? Did she act as a good wife who has it in her power to punish the wrongs which she has suffered, and then is capable of magnanimously forgiving? No!-like a haughty despot, she ordered him to rise, to follow her into her palace, and there made him sign a paper surren dering all authority into her hands. Not content with having made herself, in the literal sense, autocratrix and sovereign, Peter must now feel the whole force of her vengeance, and the malice of her followers: not content with having hurled him from the throne, she east him into an infamous prison appointed for the vilest criminals; and, as if this was not enough, she made him drink to the very dregs the cup of death, presented to him by the hand of wickedness. Besides all this, his carcase is refused admission into the sepulchre of his fathers; in which, however, his ashes now rest, by the side of those of Catharine.

Thus did Catharine of Zerbst ascend the throne, still dripping with the blood of her husband; and thus she completed a bold but truly not a GREAT atchievement!

The mere displacement of Peter might, without injustice, have been approved: but that severity by which he was treated like an infamous malefactor, and that cruelty which plunged the dagger into his breast, call aloud for the hatred and abomination of the philan thropist, however it may be palliated by the politician :-but Catba rine stands now before a Judge, in comparison of whom, in her best estate, she was but dust; before the Judge of her husband, of herself, and of all mankind, who weighs in the impartial balance of justice the actions of the monarch as well as those of the beggar, and pronounces on them by the impartial dictates of wisdom.'

The author then proceeds to state the motives to the first Turkish war, censures the unwarrantable interference in the affairs of Poland, and justly condemns the iniquitous dismemberment of that republic. In the discussion of the circumstances that led to the contest with Sweden, and indeed throughout the whole of this respectable publication, the writer shews a competent knowlege of Russian politics, and pronounces on the acts of Catharine with discernment and impartiality, though in animated and glowing language.

The concluding part is worth translating:

Far be it from me to wish to deprive her [the Empress] of all merit. She originally possessed a heart not unsusceptible of humané and gentle feelings, and a mind which easily diffused itself over important objects: but the thirst of fame corrupted the emotions of the former, while treacherous counsellors and favourites seduced the latter from truly worthy pursuits. The instructions which she drew up, with her own hand, for a code of laws, are a lasting testimony

that

that she had sound notions of the real office of a legislator; they testify that she wanted no inclination, not only to gain the palm of the conqueror, but to win the affection and gratitude of all mankind: but the spirit of intrigue and court-cabal thwarted her worthiest inteations, prevented the adoption of better laws, and, by the kindling of violent passions, weakened and diminished the sentiment of the pure and sweeter joy of being the benefactress of the human race. Who knows not the alternate unlimited rulers of Catharine's heart, Orloff, Potemkin, Lanskoi, Zuboff? they who contributed so much to the rivetting of Russia's chains, because their successes sprang from the grave of freedom!

That Catharine, by her avidity for fame, which by temporary gratifications only became more vehement, happily executed the grandest projects for rendering her government even formidable at home, and gave to it a dazzling lustre, actually deceived all those who take whatever glitters for gold, and captivated their admiration. of her apparent greatness, needs not here to be mentioned. Neither is her merit in these respects to be depreciated. What essential improvements did she not make in the military department, at present the most formidable of all the armies of Europe! What means did she not employ for increasing the population of her empire, and by numerous colonies of foreigners to add to the number of its useful inhabitants! How much did she conduce to the embellishment of Petersburg! What a grand monument did she erect in the statue of Peter the Great! How much is science indebted to her for the encouragement and support of important undertakings, by the esteem and rewards which she bestowed on men of talents, by the foundation of an economical society, and by her own literary works!

These and many other good and beneficial institutions, as that of a seminary of education for 200 noble young ladies, others for the training of boys in naval and military knowlege, the advancing of considerable sums for useful purposes, &c.-these certainly call for the acknowlegements of mankind, even though the sources of all these undertakings were not the most generous and pure; though the consequences were only for individual and not for the general benefit; and though the good which arose from them was scarcely perceptible in comparison with the evils that remained to be remedied!

To recount with impartiality all the acts of Catharine, to weigh them properly against each other, and thence to draw the true results, should be referred to the approaching century. To recapitulate the more prominent features which we have discovered in her character, and to add a few more to the number, shall form the conclusion of the present attempt.

She was principally governed by the thirst of fame; and most of the actions of her life proceeded from that cause. Thence the magnificent Asiatie luxury of her court; thence her various and bloody wars; thence the milder glory of a patroness of the arts and sciences; and thence, lastly, the great share which she took in the affairs of government: though, in respect to the latter, she was far inferior to a Frederic and a Joseph; for the toilette, the table, and amusements, always consumed the greater part of the day.

A second

A second passion which Catharine bore in her breast was-love. How much she yielded to its gratification is but too well known; and an author of a secret history of her reign will here find a rich store of materials for his Chronique scandaleuse. Potemkin and Orloff drank deep with the monarch of the sparkling cup of voluptuousness. Yet over these licentious scenes would the humane narrator throw an impervious veil, if the favourites and minions of the Empress had not had a decided influence over her heart, and by her heart over her subjects. That Catharine thus also deeply injured her real fame needs not here to be proved: for none but vulgar souls submit to be thus governed by others!'

This little work is written with sagacity, taste, and judgment; and it displays that impartiality which the author in his preface leads his readers to expect.

ART. XVIII. Abriss des Lebens und der Regierung, &c. i. e. Sketch of the Life and Reign of the Empress Catharine II. of Russia. 8vo. pp. 303. Berlin. 1797.

H1

ISTORY and curiosity will long be employed on the subject of this extraordinary sovereign; much will be said respecting her, many anecdotes of her will be collected, and a variety of judgments will be passed on her character. Her history is not confined to Russia; other nations were involved in it; and posterity will feel the mighty influence which she had for fourand-thirty years on the atlairs of Europe.

This work is a hasty though by no means a contemptible performance. The author hurries us rapidly along the stream of events, but not without making some judicious reflections by the way; and his book is rather to be considered as a general survey of the more striking and authentic passages of the reign of Catharine, than a particular detail of motives and conduct. It was an object with him to get his book ready for the Easter fair at Leipsig; and therefore all that can reasonably be expected of him is, that he should put his facts together as carefully as the time would allow, and omit nothing that was worthy of notice. However, he has done more than this; he has taken pains in the investigation of some facts of which he is the first communicator.

It is written in a disposition extremely favourable to the late Empress. We perceive nothing set down in malice, (far, very far, indeed, from that,) but many things extenuated, and more suppressed. Even the revolution of 1762 is not otherwise mentioned than thus: Peter signed a voluntary abdication of the crown, died in a week afterward, and Catharine mounted the throne at the entreaty of her subjects.'

As

As far as could be done without overloading the work, little sketches of the state of Russia are interwoven with the history of the Empress. This is certainly judicious; because no true judgment can be passed on a prince, nor can many of his actions, and the measures and steps which he pursued, be properly understood, without some knowlege of the country over which he ruled, of the nation itself, and in some degree of its constitution of government. What nobody would think of requiring from the biographer of a German, French, or English prince, may be justly demanded when Russia is the scene of action. From the various accounts which we peruse of this Empress, it is impossible to forbear to exclaim, What a wonderful woman!-but, on certain occasions, we are made to shudder; and the only consolation which we can call into our minds is, who can tell whether all that happened was done by her orders? In all the historical pictures of her, her public life is uniformly great and illustrious: but on her private cha racter the austere philosopher or the good Christian would judge otherwise, if in this sublunary sphere he could place himself at a point of view, whence he might accurately ascer tain the impulses of the will; so as to decide, by an impartial balance, what the circumstances in which a sovereign is placed may justify or not. Frequently, while perusing these pieces of biography, we involuntarily thought of the words which she herself delivered on another occasion: "This I by no means say with the view, in the smallest degree, of diminishing the infinite space that lies between vice and virtue. God forbid ! I only wished to make it comprehensible that every political is not a moral vice, nor every moral a political vice."

ART. XIX. Vie de Catharine II. Imperatrice de Russie, &c. i. e. The Life of Catharine II. Empress of Russia; with the Portraits of that Sovereign, of Peter III., of Prince Orloff, of Poniatofsky King of Poland, of Paul Petrovitch the present Emperor, and of Prince Potemkin. 2 Vols. 8vo. Paris. Imported by De Boffe, London.

THE

HE first intention of the author of this work was to have given it, as we are informed, in the mode of an epistolary correspondence; and between whom? Not a less personage, on the one part, than William Pitt, Chancellor of the Exchequer of Great Britain; and on the other, a person perhaps not less famous in his way, though we have not the honour of having heard of him before, Tom Drawer, feigned to be a

* Instrustions for the framing of a New Code of Laws, cap. vi. sect. 56.

secret