August 19, 2025 • 20 mins
Few figures in history are as renowned as Peter the Great, often hailed as the architect of modern Russian civilization. His legacy captures the imagination of many, particularly young people, largely due to his adventurous journey to Holland. There, he immersed himself in the world of shipbuilding, even rolling up his sleeves to work in a local shipyard. The very workshop where Peter honed his skills still stands in Saardam, near Amsterdam, albeit in a state of decay. To protect this historical gem, it has been encased in a larger brick structure, drawing curious visitors from around the globe each year. The captivating story of Peter the Great, underscored by his hands-on approach to learning, offers profound insights and lessons for everyone.
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Chapter fourteen of Peter the Great. This is a LibriVox recording.
All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Peter
the Great by Jacob Abbot, Chapter fourteen, the Empress Catherine
(00:23):
seventeen o nine to seventeen fifteen. It was about the
year sixteen ninety that Peter the Great commenced his reign,
and he died in seventeen twenty five, as will appear
more fully in the sequel of this volume. Thus the
duration of the reign was thirty five years. The wars
between Russia and Sweden occupied principally the early part of
(00:44):
the rain through a period of many years. The Battle
of poltoa by which the Swedish invasion of the Russian
territories was repelled, was fought in seventeen o nine, nearly
twenty years after the Czar ascended the throne. During the
period while the Czar was thus ocktatccupied in his mortal
struggle with the King of Sweden, there appeared upon stage
in connection with him, a lady who afterward became one
(01:07):
of the most celebrated personages of history. This lady was
the Empress Catherine. The character of this lady, the wonderful
and romantic incidents of her life, and the great fame
of her exploits have made her one of the most
celebrated personages of history. We can, however, here only give
a brief account of that portion of her life which
(01:28):
was connected with the history of Peter. Catherine was born
in a little village near the town of Marienburg in Livonia.
Her parents were in very humble circumstances, and they both
died when she was a little child, leaving her in
a very destitute and friendless condition. The parish clerk, who
was the teacher of a little school in which perhaps
(01:49):
she had been a pupil, for she was then four
or five years old, felt compassion for her and took
her home with him to his own house. He was
the more disposed to do this, as Catherine was a
bright child, full of life and activity, and at the
same time amiable and docile in disposition, so that she
was easily governed. After Catherine had been some time at
(02:10):
the house of the clerk, a certain doctor Gluck, who
was the minister of Marienburg, happening to be on a
visit to the clerk, saw her and heard her story.
The minister was very much pleased with the appearance and
manners of the child, and he proposed that the clerk
should give her up to him. This the clerk was
willing to do, as his income was very small, and
the addition even of such a child to his family,
(02:32):
of course, somewhat increased his expenses. Besides, he knew that
it would be much more advantageous for Catherine for the
time being, and also much more conducive to her future
success in life to be brought up in the minister's
family at Marienburg than in his own humble home in
the little village. So Catherine went to live with the
minister here. She soon made herself a great favorite. She
(02:53):
was very intelligent and active, and very ambitious to learn
whatever the minister's wife was willing to teach her. She
also took great interest in making herself useful in every
possible way, and displayed in her household avocations and in
all her other duties a sort of womanly energy which
was quite remarkable. In one of her years, she learned
to knit, to spin, and to sew, and she assisted
(03:15):
the minister's wife very much in these and similar occupations.
She had learned to read in her native tongue at
the clerk school, but now she conceived the idea of
learning the German language. She devoted herself to this task
with great assiduity and success, and as soon as she
had made such progress as to be able to read
in that language, she spent all her leisure time in
perusing the German books which she found in the minister's library.
(03:38):
Years passed away, and Catherine grew up to be a
young woman, and then a certain young man, a subaltern
officer in the Swedish army, for this was at the
time when Livonia was ill possession of the Swedes fell
in love with her. The story was that Catherine one day,
in some way or other, fell into the hands of
two Swedish soldiers, by whom she would probably have been
greatly maltreated, but the officer coming by at that time
(04:01):
rescued her and sent her safe to doctor Gluck. The
officer had lost one of his arms in some battle
and was covered with the scars of other wounds, but
he was a very generous and brave man, and was
highly regarded by all who knew him. When he offered
Catherine his hand, she was strongly induced by her gratitude
to him to accept it. But she said she must
ask the minister's approval of his proposal, for he had
(04:21):
been a father to her, she said, and she would
take no important step without his consent. The minister, after
suitable inquiry, respecting the officer's character and prospects, readily gave
his consent, and so it was settled that Catherine should
be married now. It happened that these occurrences took place
not very long after the war broke out between Sweden
and Russia, and almost immediately after Catherine's marriage. Some writers
(04:45):
say on the very same day of the wedding, and
others on the day following, a Russian army came suddenly
up to Marienburg, took possession of the town, and made
a great many of the inhabitants prisoners. Catherine herself was
among the prisoners thus taken. The story was that in
the confusion and alarm, she hid herself with others in
an oven, and was found by the Russian soldiers there
(05:05):
and carried off as a valuable prize. What became of
the bridegroom is not certainly known. He was doubtless called
suddenly to his post when the alarm was given of
the enemy's approach, and a great many different stories were
told in respect to what afterward befell him. One thing
is certain, and that is that his young bride never
saw him again. Catherine, when she found herself separated from
(05:27):
her husband and shut up a helpless prisoner with a
crowd of other wretched and despairing captives, was overwhelmed with
grief at the sad reverse of fortune that had befallen her.
She had good reason not only to mourn for the
happiness which she had lost, but also to experience very
anxious and gloomy forebodings in respect to what was before her.
For the main object of the Russians in making prisoners
(05:48):
of the young and beautiful women which they found in
the towns that they conquered, was to send them to
Turkey and to sell them there as slaves. Catherine was, however,
destined to escape this dreadful fate. One of the Russian generals,
and looking over the prisoners, was struck with her appearance
and with a singular expression of grief and despair which
her countenance displayed. He called her to him and asked
(06:10):
her some questions, and he was more impressed by the
intelligence and good sense which her answers evinced than he
had been by the beauty of her countenance. He bid
her quiet her fears, promising that he would himself take
care of her. He immediately ordered some trusty men to
take her to his tent, where there were some women
who would take charge of and protect her. These women
were employed in various domestic occupations in the service of
(06:32):
the General. Catherine began at once to interest herself in
these employments, and to do all in her power to
assist in them, and at length was One of the
writers who gives an account of these transactions, goes on
to say, the General, finding Catherine very proper to manage
his household affairs, gave her a sort of authority and
inspection over these women and over the rest of the domestics,
by whom she soon came to be very much beloved.
(06:54):
By her manner of using them when she instructed them
in their duty. The General said himself that he never
had been so well served as since Catherine had been
with him. It happened one day that Prince Menzakov, who
was the general's commanding officer and patron, saw Catherine, and,
observing something very extraordinary in her air and behavior, asked
the General who she was and in what condition she
(07:16):
served him. The General related to him her story, taking
care at the same time to do justice to the
merit of Catherine. The Prince said that he was himself
very ill served and had occasion for just such a
person about him. The General replied that he was under
too great obligations to his highness the Prince to refuse
him anything that he asked. He immediately called Catherine into
(07:38):
his presence and told her that that was Prince Menzakov,
and that he had occasion for a servant like herself,
and that he was able to be a much better
friend to her than he himself could be, and that
he had too much kindness for her to prevent her
receiving such a piece of honor and good fortune. Catherine
answered only with a profound courtesy, which showed, if not
her consent to the charge proposed, at least conviction, that
(08:00):
it was not then in her power to refuse the
offer that was made to her. In short, Prince Menzakhov
took her with him, or she went to him the
same day. Catherine remained in the service of the Prince
for a year or two, and was then transferred from
the household of the Prince to that of the Czar,
almost precisely in the same way in which he had
been resigned to the Prince by the General. The Czar
(08:21):
saw her one day while he was at dinner with
the Prince, and he was so much pleased with her appearance,
and with the account which the Prince had gave him
of her character and history, that he wished to have
her himself. And however reluctant the Prince may have been
to loose her, he knew very well that there was
no alternative for him but to give his consent. So
Catherine was transferred to the household of the Czar. She
(08:41):
soon acquired a great ascendency over the Czar, and in
process of time she was privately married to him. This
private marriage took place in seventeen o seven. For several
years afterward, the marriage was not publicly acknowledged, but still
Catherine's position was well understood, and her power at court,
as well as her personal influence over her head increased continually.
(09:03):
Catherine sometimes accompanied the Emperor and his military campaigns, and
at one time was the means, it is thought, of
saving him from very imminent danger. It was in the
year seventeen eleven. The Tsar was at that time at
war with the Turks, and he had advanced into the
Turkish territory with a small, but very compact and well
organized army. The Turks sent out a large force to
(09:24):
meet him, and at length, after various marchings and maneuverings,
the Tsar found himself surrounded by a Turkish force three
times as large as his own. The Russians fortified their
camp and the Turks attacked them. The latter attempted for
two or three successive days to force the Russian lines,
but without success, and at length the Grand Vizier, who
was in command of the Turkish troops, finding that he
(09:46):
could not force his enemy to quit their entrenchments, determined
to starve them out, so he invested the place closely
on all sides. The Tsar now gave himself up for lost,
for he had only a very small stock of provisions,
and there seemed no hossible way of escape from the
snare in which she found himself involved. Catherine was with
her husband in the camp at this time, having had
(10:07):
the courage to accompany him in the expedition, notwithstanding its
extremely dangerous character, and the story is that she was
the means of extricating him from his hazardous position by
dexterously bribing the Vizier. The way in which she managed
the affair was this. She arranged it with the Emperor
that he was to propose terms of peace to the Vizier,
by which, on certain conditions, he was to be allowed
(10:28):
to retire with his army. Catherine then secretly made up
a very valuable present for the Vizier, consisting of jewels,
costly decorations, and other such valuables belonging to herself, which,
as was customary in those times, she had brought with
her on the expedition, and also a large sum of money.
This present she contrived to send to the Vizier at
the same time with the proposals of peace made by
(10:50):
the Emperor. The Vizier was extremely pleased with the present,
and he at once agreed to the conditions of peace,
and thus the Czar and all his army escaped the
destruction which threatened them. The Vizier was afterward called to
account for having thus let off his enemies so easily
when he had them so completely in his power, But
he defended himself as well as he could by saying
(11:12):
that the terms on which he had made the treaty
were as good as could be obtained in any way,
adding hypocritically that God commands us to pardon our enemies
when they ask us to do so, and humble themselves
before us. In the meantime, years passed away, and the
Emperor and Catherine lived very happily together, though the connection
which subsisted between them, while it was universally known, was
(11:33):
not openly or publicly recognized. In process of time, they
had two or three children, and this, together with the
unassuming but yet faithful and efficient manner in which Catherine
devoted herself to her duties as wife and mother, strengthened
the bond which bound her to the Czar, and at length,
in the year seventeen twelve, Peter determined to place her
before the world in the position to which he had
(11:54):
already privately and unofficially raised her by a new and
public marriage. It was not pretended, however, that the Tsar
was to be married to Catherine, now for the first time,
but the celebration was to be in honor of the
nuptials long before performed Accordingly, in the invitations that were
sent out, the expression used to denote the occasion on
which the company was to be convened was to celebrate
(12:16):
His Majesty's old wedding. The place where the ceremony was
to be performed was Saint Petersburg, for this was now
many years after Saint Petersburg had been built. Very curious
arrangements were made for the performance of this extraordinary ceremony.
The Czar appeared in the dress and character of an
admiral of the fleet, and the other officers of the fleet,
instead of the ministers of state and great nobility, were
(12:39):
made most prominent on the occasion and were appointed to
the most honorable posts. This arrangement was made, partly, no doubt,
for the purpose of doing honor to the navy, which
the Tzar was now forming, and increasing the consideration of
those who were connected with it in the eyes of
the country. As Catherine had no parents living, it was
necessary to appoint persons to act in their stead to
(13:00):
give away the bride. It was to the Vice Admiral
and the Rear Admiral of the Fleet that the honor
of acting in this capacity was assigned. They represented the
bride's father, while Peter's mother, the Empress Dowager, and the
Lady of the Vice Admiral of the fleet represented her mother.
Two of Catherine's own daughters were appointed bridesmaids. Their appointment was, however,
(13:21):
not much more than an honorary one, for the children
were very young, one of them being five and the
other only three years old. They appeared for a little
time pending the ceremony, and then becoming tired, they were
taken away and their places supplied by two young ladies
of the court, nieces of the Czar. The wedding ceremony
itself was performed at seven o'clock in the morning and
(13:41):
a little chapel belonging to Prince Menzakhov and before a
small company, no person being present at that time except
those who had some official part to perform. The great
wedding party had been invited to meet at the Tsar's
palace later in the day. After the ceremony had been
performed in the chapel, the Emperor and Empress went from
the chapel into Menzakov's palace and remained there until the
(14:02):
time arrived to repair to the palace of the Czar.
Then a grand procession was formed and the married pair
were conducted through the streets to their own palace with
great parade. As it was winter, the bridal party were
conveyed in slaves instead of carriages. These sleighs or sledges,
as they were called, were very elegantly decorated and were
drawn by six horses each. The procession was accompanied by
(14:25):
a band of music consisting of trumpets, kettle drums, and
other martial instruments. The entertainment at the palace was very splendid,
and the festivities were concluded in the evening by a ball.
The whole city too was lighted up that night with
bonfires and illuminations. Three years after this public solemnization of
the marriage, the Empress gave birth to a son. Peter
(14:47):
was perfectly overjoyed at this event. It is true that
he had one son already, who was born of his
first wife, who was called the Tsarwitz, and whose character
and melancholy history will be the subject of the next chapter.
But this was the first son among the children of Catherine.
She had had only daughters before. It was in the
very crisis of the difficulties which the Czar had with
(15:08):
his eldest son, and when he was on the point
of finally abandoning all hope of ever reclaiming him from
his vices and making him a fit inheritor of the crown,
that this child of Catherine's was born. These circumstances, which
will be explained more fully in the next chapter, gave
great political importance to the birth of Catherine's son, and
Peter caused the event to be celebrated with great public rejoicings.
(15:30):
The rejoicings were continued for eight days, and at the
baptism of the babe, two kings, those of Denmark and
of Prussia, acted as godfathers. The name given to the
child was Peter Petrowits. The baptism was celebrated with the
greatest pomp, and it was attended with banquetings and rejoicings
of the most extraordinary character. Among other curious contrivances were
(15:51):
two enormous pies. One served in the room of the gentlemen,
and the other and that of the ladies. For according
to the ancient Russian custom on such occasions, the sexes
were separated at the entertainments, tables being spread for the
ladies and for their gentlemen in different halls. From the
lady's pie, there stepped out when it was opened, a
young dwarf, very small and clothed in a very slight
(16:12):
and very fantastic manner. The dwarf brought out with him
from the pie some wine glasses and a bottle of wine.
Taking these in his hand, he walked around the table, drinking,
to the health of the ladies, who received him wherever
he came with screams of mingled surprise and laughter. It
was the same in the gentleman's apartment, except that the
dwarf which appeared before the company there was a female.
(16:34):
The birth of the Sun formed a new and very
strong bond of attachment between Peter and Catherine, and it
increased very much the influence which he had previously exerted
over him. The influence which he thus exercised was very great,
and it was also in the main very salutary. She
alone could approach the Czar in the fits of irritation
and anger into which he often fell when anything displeased him,
(16:56):
and sometimes when his rage and fury were such that
no one else would have dared to come near, Catherine
knew how to quiet and calm him, and gradually bring
him back again to reason. She had great power over
him too, in respect to the nervous affection, the convulsive
twitchings of the head and face to which she was subject. Indeed,
it was said that the soothing and mysterious influence of
(17:16):
her gentle nursing in allaying these dreadful spasms and relieving
the royal patient from the distress which they occasioned, gave
rise to the first feeling of attachment which he formed
for her, and which led him, in the end to
make her his wave. Catherine often exerted the power which
she acquired over her husband for noble ends. A great
many persons, who from time to time excited the displeasure
(17:38):
of the Czar, were rescued from undeserved death, and sometimes
for suffering still more terrible than death, by her interposition.
In many ways, she softened the asperities of Peter's character,
enlightened the heavy burden of his imperial despotism. Every One
was astonished at the ascendency which she acquired over the
violent and cruel temper of her husband, and equally pleased
(17:59):
with the good youth use which she made of her power.
There was not, however, always perfect peace between Catherine and
her Lord. Catherine was compelled sometimes to endure great trials.
On one occasion, Bitsar took it into his head with
or without cause to feel jealous. The object of his
jealousy was a certain officer of his court, whose name
was Delacroix. Peter had no certain evidence, it would seem
(18:23):
to justify his suspicions, for he said nothing openly on
the subject, But he at once caused the officer to
be beheaded on some other pretext, and order his head
to be set up on a pole in the great
public square in Moscow. He then took Catherine out into
the square and conveyed her to and fro in all
directions across it, in order that she might see the
head in every point of view. Catherine understood perfectly well
(18:45):
what it all meant. But though thunderstruck and overwhelmed with
grief and horror at the terrible spectacle, she succeeded in
maintaining a perfect self control through the whole scene, until
At length she was released and allowed to return to
her apartment when she burst into tears and for a
long time could not be comforted or calmed, with the
exception of an occasional outbreak like this, but T sor
(19:06):
evinced a very strong attachment to his consort, and she
continued to live with him a faithful and devoted wife
for nearly twenty years, from the period of her private marriage,
in fact, to the death of her husband. During all
this time she was continually associated with him, not only
in his personal and private but also in his public
avocations and cares. She accompanied him on his journeys, she
(19:28):
aided him with her counsels in all affairs of state.
He relied a great deal on her judgment in all
questions of policy, whether internal or external, and he took
counsel with her in all matters connected with his negotiations
with foreign states, with the sending and receiving of embassies,
the making of treaties with them, and even when occasion
occurred in determining the question of peace or war. And yet,
(19:52):
notwithstanding the lofty qualities of statesmanship that Captain thus displayed
in the council and aid which she rendered her husband.
The education which she had Resis while at the minister's
in Marienburg, was so imperfect that she never learned to write,
and whenever, either during her husband's life or after his death,
she had occasion to put her signature to letters or
documents of any kind, she did not attend to write
(20:13):
the name herself, but always employed one of her daughters
to do it for her at length. Toward the close
of his reign, Peter, having at that time no son
to whom he could entrust the government of his empire
after he was gone, caused Catherine to be solemnly crowned
as Empress, with a view of making her his successor
on the throne. But before describing this coronation, it is
(20:34):
necessary first to give an account of the circumstances which
led to it, by relating the melancholy history of Alexis,
Peter's oldest son, end of Chapter fourteen.
Chapter fourteen of Peter the Great. This is a LibriVox recording.
All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Peter
the Great by Jacob Abbot, Chapter fourteen, the Empress Catherine
(00:23):
seventeen o nine to seventeen fifteen. It was about the
year sixteen ninety that Peter the Great commenced his reign,
and he died in seventeen twenty five, as will appear
more fully in the sequel of this volume. Thus the
duration of the reign was thirty five years. The wars
between Russia and Sweden occupied principally the early part of
(00:44):
the rain through a period of many years. The Battle
of poltoa by which the Swedish invasion of the Russian
territories was repelled, was fought in seventeen o nine, nearly
twenty years after the Czar ascended the throne. During the
period while the Czar was thus ocktatccupied in his mortal
struggle with the King of Sweden, there appeared upon stage
in connection with him, a lady who afterward became one
(01:07):
of the most celebrated personages of history. This lady was
the Empress Catherine. The character of this lady, the wonderful
and romantic incidents of her life, and the great fame
of her exploits have made her one of the most
celebrated personages of history. We can, however, here only give
a brief account of that portion of her life which
(01:28):
was connected with the history of Peter. Catherine was born
in a little village near the town of Marienburg in Livonia.
Her parents were in very humble circumstances, and they both
died when she was a little child, leaving her in
a very destitute and friendless condition. The parish clerk, who
was the teacher of a little school in which perhaps
(01:49):
she had been a pupil, for she was then four
or five years old, felt compassion for her and took
her home with him to his own house. He was
the more disposed to do this, as Catherine was a
bright child, full of life and activity, and at the
same time amiable and docile in disposition, so that she
was easily governed. After Catherine had been some time at
(02:10):
the house of the clerk, a certain doctor Gluck, who
was the minister of Marienburg, happening to be on a
visit to the clerk, saw her and heard her story.
The minister was very much pleased with the appearance and
manners of the child, and he proposed that the clerk
should give her up to him. This the clerk was
willing to do, as his income was very small, and
the addition even of such a child to his family,
(02:32):
of course, somewhat increased his expenses. Besides, he knew that
it would be much more advantageous for Catherine for the
time being, and also much more conducive to her future
success in life to be brought up in the minister's
family at Marienburg than in his own humble home in
the little village. So Catherine went to live with the
minister here. She soon made herself a great favorite. She
(02:53):
was very intelligent and active, and very ambitious to learn
whatever the minister's wife was willing to teach her. She
also took great interest in making herself useful in every
possible way, and displayed in her household avocations and in
all her other duties a sort of womanly energy which
was quite remarkable. In one of her years, she learned
to knit, to spin, and to sew, and she assisted
(03:15):
the minister's wife very much in these and similar occupations.
She had learned to read in her native tongue at
the clerk school, but now she conceived the idea of
learning the German language. She devoted herself to this task
with great assiduity and success, and as soon as she
had made such progress as to be able to read
in that language, she spent all her leisure time in
perusing the German books which she found in the minister's library.
(03:38):
Years passed away, and Catherine grew up to be a
young woman, and then a certain young man, a subaltern
officer in the Swedish army, for this was at the
time when Livonia was ill possession of the Swedes fell
in love with her. The story was that Catherine one day,
in some way or other, fell into the hands of
two Swedish soldiers, by whom she would probably have been
greatly maltreated, but the officer coming by at that time
(04:01):
rescued her and sent her safe to doctor Gluck. The
officer had lost one of his arms in some battle
and was covered with the scars of other wounds, but
he was a very generous and brave man, and was
highly regarded by all who knew him. When he offered
Catherine his hand, she was strongly induced by her gratitude
to him to accept it. But she said she must
ask the minister's approval of his proposal, for he had
(04:21):
been a father to her, she said, and she would
take no important step without his consent. The minister, after
suitable inquiry, respecting the officer's character and prospects, readily gave
his consent, and so it was settled that Catherine should
be married now. It happened that these occurrences took place
not very long after the war broke out between Sweden
and Russia, and almost immediately after Catherine's marriage. Some writers
(04:45):
say on the very same day of the wedding, and
others on the day following, a Russian army came suddenly
up to Marienburg, took possession of the town, and made
a great many of the inhabitants prisoners. Catherine herself was
among the prisoners thus taken. The story was that in
the confusion and alarm, she hid herself with others in
an oven, and was found by the Russian soldiers there
(05:05):
and carried off as a valuable prize. What became of
the bridegroom is not certainly known. He was doubtless called
suddenly to his post when the alarm was given of
the enemy's approach, and a great many different stories were
told in respect to what afterward befell him. One thing
is certain, and that is that his young bride never
saw him again. Catherine, when she found herself separated from
(05:27):
her husband and shut up a helpless prisoner with a
crowd of other wretched and despairing captives, was overwhelmed with
grief at the sad reverse of fortune that had befallen her.
She had good reason not only to mourn for the
happiness which she had lost, but also to experience very
anxious and gloomy forebodings in respect to what was before her.
For the main object of the Russians in making prisoners
(05:48):
of the young and beautiful women which they found in
the towns that they conquered, was to send them to
Turkey and to sell them there as slaves. Catherine was, however,
destined to escape this dreadful fate. One of the Russian generals,
and looking over the prisoners, was struck with her appearance
and with a singular expression of grief and despair which
her countenance displayed. He called her to him and asked
(06:10):
her some questions, and he was more impressed by the
intelligence and good sense which her answers evinced than he
had been by the beauty of her countenance. He bid
her quiet her fears, promising that he would himself take
care of her. He immediately ordered some trusty men to
take her to his tent, where there were some women
who would take charge of and protect her. These women
were employed in various domestic occupations in the service of
(06:32):
the General. Catherine began at once to interest herself in
these employments, and to do all in her power to
assist in them, and at length was One of the
writers who gives an account of these transactions, goes on
to say, the General, finding Catherine very proper to manage
his household affairs, gave her a sort of authority and
inspection over these women and over the rest of the domestics,
by whom she soon came to be very much beloved.
(06:54):
By her manner of using them when she instructed them
in their duty. The General said himself that he never
had been so well served as since Catherine had been
with him. It happened one day that Prince Menzakov, who
was the general's commanding officer and patron, saw Catherine, and,
observing something very extraordinary in her air and behavior, asked
the General who she was and in what condition she
(07:16):
served him. The General related to him her story, taking
care at the same time to do justice to the
merit of Catherine. The Prince said that he was himself
very ill served and had occasion for just such a
person about him. The General replied that he was under
too great obligations to his highness the Prince to refuse
him anything that he asked. He immediately called Catherine into
(07:38):
his presence and told her that that was Prince Menzakov,
and that he had occasion for a servant like herself,
and that he was able to be a much better
friend to her than he himself could be, and that
he had too much kindness for her to prevent her
receiving such a piece of honor and good fortune. Catherine
answered only with a profound courtesy, which showed, if not
her consent to the charge proposed, at least conviction, that
(08:00):
it was not then in her power to refuse the
offer that was made to her. In short, Prince Menzakhov
took her with him, or she went to him the
same day. Catherine remained in the service of the Prince
for a year or two, and was then transferred from
the household of the Prince to that of the Czar,
almost precisely in the same way in which he had
been resigned to the Prince by the General. The Czar
(08:21):
saw her one day while he was at dinner with
the Prince, and he was so much pleased with her appearance,
and with the account which the Prince had gave him
of her character and history, that he wished to have
her himself. And however reluctant the Prince may have been
to loose her, he knew very well that there was
no alternative for him but to give his consent. So
Catherine was transferred to the household of the Czar. She
(08:41):
soon acquired a great ascendency over the Czar, and in
process of time she was privately married to him. This
private marriage took place in seventeen o seven. For several
years afterward, the marriage was not publicly acknowledged, but still
Catherine's position was well understood, and her power at court,
as well as her personal influence over her head increased continually.
(09:03):
Catherine sometimes accompanied the Emperor and his military campaigns, and
at one time was the means, it is thought, of
saving him from very imminent danger. It was in the
year seventeen eleven. The Tsar was at that time at
war with the Turks, and he had advanced into the
Turkish territory with a small, but very compact and well
organized army. The Turks sent out a large force to
(09:24):
meet him, and at length, after various marchings and maneuverings,
the Tsar found himself surrounded by a Turkish force three
times as large as his own. The Russians fortified their
camp and the Turks attacked them. The latter attempted for
two or three successive days to force the Russian lines,
but without success, and at length the Grand Vizier, who
was in command of the Turkish troops, finding that he
(09:46):
could not force his enemy to quit their entrenchments, determined
to starve them out, so he invested the place closely
on all sides. The Tsar now gave himself up for lost,
for he had only a very small stock of provisions,
and there seemed no hossible way of escape from the
snare in which she found himself involved. Catherine was with
her husband in the camp at this time, having had
(10:07):
the courage to accompany him in the expedition, notwithstanding its
extremely dangerous character, and the story is that she was
the means of extricating him from his hazardous position by
dexterously bribing the Vizier. The way in which she managed
the affair was this. She arranged it with the Emperor
that he was to propose terms of peace to the Vizier,
by which, on certain conditions, he was to be allowed
(10:28):
to retire with his army. Catherine then secretly made up
a very valuable present for the Vizier, consisting of jewels,
costly decorations, and other such valuables belonging to herself, which,
as was customary in those times, she had brought with
her on the expedition, and also a large sum of money.
This present she contrived to send to the Vizier at
the same time with the proposals of peace made by
(10:50):
the Emperor. The Vizier was extremely pleased with the present,
and he at once agreed to the conditions of peace,
and thus the Czar and all his army escaped the
destruction which threatened them. The Vizier was afterward called to
account for having thus let off his enemies so easily
when he had them so completely in his power, But
he defended himself as well as he could by saying
(11:12):
that the terms on which he had made the treaty
were as good as could be obtained in any way,
adding hypocritically that God commands us to pardon our enemies
when they ask us to do so, and humble themselves
before us. In the meantime, years passed away, and the
Emperor and Catherine lived very happily together, though the connection
which subsisted between them, while it was universally known, was
(11:33):
not openly or publicly recognized. In process of time, they
had two or three children, and this, together with the
unassuming but yet faithful and efficient manner in which Catherine
devoted herself to her duties as wife and mother, strengthened
the bond which bound her to the Czar, and at length,
in the year seventeen twelve, Peter determined to place her
before the world in the position to which he had
(11:54):
already privately and unofficially raised her by a new and
public marriage. It was not pretended, however, that the Tsar
was to be married to Catherine, now for the first time,
but the celebration was to be in honor of the
nuptials long before performed Accordingly, in the invitations that were
sent out, the expression used to denote the occasion on
which the company was to be convened was to celebrate
(12:16):
His Majesty's old wedding. The place where the ceremony was
to be performed was Saint Petersburg, for this was now
many years after Saint Petersburg had been built. Very curious
arrangements were made for the performance of this extraordinary ceremony.
The Czar appeared in the dress and character of an
admiral of the fleet, and the other officers of the fleet,
instead of the ministers of state and great nobility, were
(12:39):
made most prominent on the occasion and were appointed to
the most honorable posts. This arrangement was made, partly, no doubt,
for the purpose of doing honor to the navy, which
the Tzar was now forming, and increasing the consideration of
those who were connected with it in the eyes of
the country. As Catherine had no parents living, it was
necessary to appoint persons to act in their stead to
(13:00):
give away the bride. It was to the Vice Admiral
and the Rear Admiral of the Fleet that the honor
of acting in this capacity was assigned. They represented the
bride's father, while Peter's mother, the Empress Dowager, and the
Lady of the Vice Admiral of the fleet represented her mother.
Two of Catherine's own daughters were appointed bridesmaids. Their appointment was, however,
(13:21):
not much more than an honorary one, for the children
were very young, one of them being five and the
other only three years old. They appeared for a little
time pending the ceremony, and then becoming tired, they were
taken away and their places supplied by two young ladies
of the court, nieces of the Czar. The wedding ceremony
itself was performed at seven o'clock in the morning and
(13:41):
a little chapel belonging to Prince Menzakhov and before a
small company, no person being present at that time except
those who had some official part to perform. The great
wedding party had been invited to meet at the Tsar's
palace later in the day. After the ceremony had been
performed in the chapel, the Emperor and Empress went from
the chapel into Menzakov's palace and remained there until the
(14:02):
time arrived to repair to the palace of the Czar.
Then a grand procession was formed and the married pair
were conducted through the streets to their own palace with
great parade. As it was winter, the bridal party were
conveyed in slaves instead of carriages. These sleighs or sledges,
as they were called, were very elegantly decorated and were
drawn by six horses each. The procession was accompanied by
(14:25):
a band of music consisting of trumpets, kettle drums, and
other martial instruments. The entertainment at the palace was very splendid,
and the festivities were concluded in the evening by a ball.
The whole city too was lighted up that night with
bonfires and illuminations. Three years after this public solemnization of
the marriage, the Empress gave birth to a son. Peter
(14:47):
was perfectly overjoyed at this event. It is true that
he had one son already, who was born of his
first wife, who was called the Tsarwitz, and whose character
and melancholy history will be the subject of the next chapter.
But this was the first son among the children of Catherine.
She had had only daughters before. It was in the
very crisis of the difficulties which the Czar had with
(15:08):
his eldest son, and when he was on the point
of finally abandoning all hope of ever reclaiming him from
his vices and making him a fit inheritor of the crown,
that this child of Catherine's was born. These circumstances, which
will be explained more fully in the next chapter, gave
great political importance to the birth of Catherine's son, and
Peter caused the event to be celebrated with great public rejoicings.
(15:30):
The rejoicings were continued for eight days, and at the
baptism of the babe, two kings, those of Denmark and
of Prussia, acted as godfathers. The name given to the
child was Peter Petrowits. The baptism was celebrated with the
greatest pomp, and it was attended with banquetings and rejoicings
of the most extraordinary character. Among other curious contrivances were
(15:51):
two enormous pies. One served in the room of the gentlemen,
and the other and that of the ladies. For according
to the ancient Russian custom on such occasions, the sexes
were separated at the entertainments, tables being spread for the
ladies and for their gentlemen in different halls. From the
lady's pie, there stepped out when it was opened, a
young dwarf, very small and clothed in a very slight
(16:12):
and very fantastic manner. The dwarf brought out with him
from the pie some wine glasses and a bottle of wine.
Taking these in his hand, he walked around the table, drinking,
to the health of the ladies, who received him wherever
he came with screams of mingled surprise and laughter. It
was the same in the gentleman's apartment, except that the
dwarf which appeared before the company there was a female.
(16:34):
The birth of the Sun formed a new and very
strong bond of attachment between Peter and Catherine, and it
increased very much the influence which he had previously exerted
over him. The influence which he thus exercised was very great,
and it was also in the main very salutary. She
alone could approach the Czar in the fits of irritation
and anger into which he often fell when anything displeased him,
(16:56):
and sometimes when his rage and fury were such that
no one else would have dared to come near, Catherine
knew how to quiet and calm him, and gradually bring
him back again to reason. She had great power over
him too, in respect to the nervous affection, the convulsive
twitchings of the head and face to which she was subject. Indeed,
it was said that the soothing and mysterious influence of
(17:16):
her gentle nursing in allaying these dreadful spasms and relieving
the royal patient from the distress which they occasioned, gave
rise to the first feeling of attachment which he formed
for her, and which led him, in the end to
make her his wave. Catherine often exerted the power which
she acquired over her husband for noble ends. A great
many persons, who from time to time excited the displeasure
(17:38):
of the Czar, were rescued from undeserved death, and sometimes
for suffering still more terrible than death, by her interposition.
In many ways, she softened the asperities of Peter's character,
enlightened the heavy burden of his imperial despotism. Every One
was astonished at the ascendency which she acquired over the
violent and cruel temper of her husband, and equally pleased
(17:59):
with the good youth use which she made of her power.
There was not, however, always perfect peace between Catherine and
her Lord. Catherine was compelled sometimes to endure great trials.
On one occasion, Bitsar took it into his head with
or without cause to feel jealous. The object of his
jealousy was a certain officer of his court, whose name
was Delacroix. Peter had no certain evidence, it would seem
(18:23):
to justify his suspicions, for he said nothing openly on
the subject, But he at once caused the officer to
be beheaded on some other pretext, and order his head
to be set up on a pole in the great
public square in Moscow. He then took Catherine out into
the square and conveyed her to and fro in all
directions across it, in order that she might see the
head in every point of view. Catherine understood perfectly well
(18:45):
what it all meant. But though thunderstruck and overwhelmed with
grief and horror at the terrible spectacle, she succeeded in
maintaining a perfect self control through the whole scene, until
At length she was released and allowed to return to
her apartment when she burst into tears and for a
long time could not be comforted or calmed, with the
exception of an occasional outbreak like this, but T sor
(19:06):
evinced a very strong attachment to his consort, and she
continued to live with him a faithful and devoted wife
for nearly twenty years, from the period of her private marriage,
in fact, to the death of her husband. During all
this time she was continually associated with him, not only
in his personal and private but also in his public
avocations and cares. She accompanied him on his journeys, she
(19:28):
aided him with her counsels in all affairs of state.
He relied a great deal on her judgment in all
questions of policy, whether internal or external, and he took
counsel with her in all matters connected with his negotiations
with foreign states, with the sending and receiving of embassies,
the making of treaties with them, and even when occasion
occurred in determining the question of peace or war. And yet,
(19:52):
notwithstanding the lofty qualities of statesmanship that Captain thus displayed
in the council and aid which she rendered her husband.
The education which she had Resis while at the minister's
in Marienburg, was so imperfect that she never learned to write,
and whenever, either during her husband's life or after his death,
she had occasion to put her signature to letters or
documents of any kind, she did not attend to write
(20:13):
the name herself, but always employed one of her daughters
to do it for her at length. Toward the close
of his reign, Peter, having at that time no son
to whom he could entrust the government of his empire
after he was gone, caused Catherine to be solemnly crowned
as Empress, with a view of making her his successor
on the throne. But before describing this coronation, it is
(20:34):
necessary first to give an account of the circumstances which
led to it, by relating the melancholy history of Alexis,
Peter's oldest son, end of Chapter fourteen.
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