royal pair, than she used her utmoft influence to reconcile them. She reprefented to her daughter-in-law, that the Czar's love was rather constitutional than delicate, that he would foon be difengaged from a paffion which nothing but the ardour of youth had excited, and that by a gracious behaviour, and obliging connivance, he could not fail of bringing him back to his duty.

Eudoxia could not relifh the prudence of this advice. She, undoubtedly, concluded, that as the fhared the fovereign authority with Peter, he could not think of fo violent a measure as divorce. But, whatever might be her motive, the rejected the counsel of her mother-in-law, looking upon the moderation by which it was dictated, as the effect of perfonal enmity: and, in a private interview with the Emperor, fhe gave way to all the rage of jealoufy, reproached him with his infidelity, in the harfheft terms, and concluded with declaring, that he would no longer partake of his bed.

Had the, from the time of her marriage, made it her object to study the temper of this fevere and impetuous Prince, matters might have ended without violence. For it is certain that he excused and even apologized for the extravagance of her beha viour at this interview, imputing it to the power of her affection and one may venture to fay, that however odious the idea of ties and obligations might appear to him, he would not, in this inftance, have come to extremities, had not the ill-advifed Eudoxia put his favourites upon effecting her ruin to avoid their

own.

In fhort, being informed that Lefort, the great favourite of Peter, endeavoured to foment her quarrel with the Emperor, by pimping for his pleafures, inftead of conniving at this, the loaded him with reproaches, which, however, he affected not to understand. Enraged at this diffimulation, which feemed to cut off every profpect of a reform, the thought he might poffibly fucceed better by humbling the favourite; and the fhewed him that he had every thing to dread from her revenge. This fo far intimidated him, that he inftantly formed a refolution to avail himelf of the firft opportunity to ruin her with the Czar.

To give fuccefs to this dangerous project, he doubled his diligence and activity in adminiftering to the Emperor's paffions, and abetting him in the crime of conjugal infidelity. Peter was the more attached to him as he found him an apologist for his irregularities, and faw that he would fupport any violent meafures to which he might have recourfe, in order to be quit of a troublesome wife.

In vain were the ecclefiaftics applied to on this occafion: in vain were they commanded to find the marriage null and void. Steady in their duty, they told the favourite that there was but

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one act of authority by which the Czar could rescue himself from the yoke of which he complained, and that this must have, at leaft, the appearance of Legality.

Eudoxia faw the ftorm arifing on every quarter, and ready to burft upon her head. She concluded herfelf loft, beyond redemption, when the departure of the Czar, who went to the fiege of Afoph, feemed to give her a little refpite, and delay, which in mifunderstandings of this fort is ufually advantageous. But, alas! it was the moment the enemy waited for.

Peter, on whom, by the death of his brother, the whole nominal, as well as real imperial power had devolved, was inftigated by Lefort to difpatch a courier to Leon Narefkin, his uncle, with orders for him to fhut up the Emprefs Eudoxia in a convent; and to fulfil this his pleasure without delay, being refolved never to quit the camp, or return to Moscow, till these orders were executed.

Thus then the defcended from her throne; and without a murmur at this ftrange procedure, he was conducted to the monaftery of Saltufky, about 30 miles from Mofcow; where, after changing the diadem for the religious veil, fhe found herfelf obliged to take the vows, under the order of St. Bafil; and was left to reflect on the inconftancy of fortune; which, having first made use of her charms to conduct her to a throne, foon after employed her jealousy to bury her in a convent.

Peter was no fooner rid of a wife who was a restraint upon his pleafures, than he gave himself up to the uninterrupted enjoyment of his fair Stabodienne. At this time the Emperor was fo paffionately enamoured of her, that, had he been inclined to take the advantage, he would infallibly have married her. But we cannot tell how to account for this woman's invariable averfion to a diadem. Ann Monfen answered with fo much indifference to the Monarch's preffing folicitations to marry him, that his jealoufy was alarmed. He grew apprehenfive that the complaifance the fhewed him, was paid rather to the fovereign than to the lover; and that fhe accepted his favours without loving his perfon.

He who is acquainted with the human heart, knows that the tenderness which meets with no return, does not support itself long. Thus Peter, continuing unacquainted with the fentiments of his miftrefs, the violence of his love began evidently to abate; and he foon came to treat her with indifference. His vifits grew lefs and lefs frequent, till at last he abandoned her totally. She appeared, however, to be under no diftrefs. She had amafled money enough to make the fortune of M. Kayferlingen, who, though in the capacity of envoy from Pruffia to the Czar, thought it no difgrace to marry the mistress of the powerful Monarch at whofe court he was entertained. I fhall

only obferve, fays M. D'Eon, that the brother of this lady was beheaded, a little before the death of the Czar, for a fuppofed criminal converfation with the Emprefs Catherine. What now follows is curious; and the Chevalier has certainly fupported, with great propriety, in this particular inftance, the general idea, that Voltaire is really a MAKER OF HISTORY.

Lefort dying, Alexander Menzikoff, who, from being the fon of a paftrycook rofe to the highest honours of the ftate, fucceeded him in every degree of favour with the Czar. Menzikoff, who knew his mafter's foible, thought immediately of confirming his own intereft, by finding him a mistress who fhould fix his roving heart. He caft his eyes on a female prifoner, whom he had in his poffeffion; and whofe extraordinary reputation renders her origin an object of inquiry.

M. de Voltaire makes her the fifter of a Ch. Scavronsky, a gentleman of Lithuania, whom the Czar acknowledged as a brother-in-law; thanks for this intelligence to a Polish Envoy, who, it seems, had pocketed it at a public house! It is cuftomary for all favourites to have, at leaft, an honourable genealogy made out for them. And it is certainly much lefs trouble to take those matters on truft, than to inquire into the proofs that support them: but M. De Voltaire cites, for the authority of what he advances, a MS. of which he is the fole pofleflor: a very easy method, indeed, of giving credit to the voice of flattery! But the hiftorian who makes truth his object, willpay little attention to it.

- Catherine Alexiewna was born at Rughen, a town of Sclavonia, near the lake of Worftheri. She was the daughter of a peafant, the vaffal of Colonel Rofen. Having loft her father and mother when he was five years old, fhe was taken by the clerk of the parish, who had the care of her education. But as his finances would not enable him to keep her long, M. Glack of Marienbourg took her under his protection. He would have married her, but gave her up to the folicitations of a ferjeant of the garrifon, to whom he was married, the very day when General Bauer took the town by ftorm. As her new-married husband was killed in the engagement, he became in one day a wife, a widow, and a prifoner of war. Bauer took her into his fervice, but Menzikoff looking upon her with a more interefted eye, got her into his poffeffion. In this fituation fhe was, when the attracted the notice of the Czar; who, more captivated by the charms of her mind than of her perfon, foon after made her his mistress.

Her countenance was of that kind which ftrikes and pleafes you at once. Her manners were natural and engaging; her wit lively and penetrating; fhe was poffeffed, in short, of every quality that was neceflary to render her mistress of a heart fo

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lofty as that of Peter, who to the end of life preferved the moft inviolable attachment to her.

Such was Catherine, who without being able either to read or write, not only became the wife of the greatest Emperor Ruffia could ever boaft, but continued, after the death of her hufband, abfolute Sovereign of the firft empire in Europe;while Eudoxia, whofe birth and talents rendered her acceffion to a diadem in no refpect extraordinary, deprived of her legal right, and degraded, without any form or process of juftice, languished under the debafing veil, and low employments of a monaftery. . . . Happy, notwithstanding, had her misfortunes terminated even thus! But the afcendant which Catherine daily gained over the Czar, became to her a fource of mifery which could only be exhaufted with her life.

The favourite miftrefs, in fhort, willing to leave no obftacle in her way to the throne, abjured the Lutheran perfuafion, and embraced the religion of the Greek church, the only circumftance wanting to effect her marriage with the Czar. She was privately married to him in 1707, but in 1713 the marriage was publickly celebrated, with very high folemnity; and this was done principally in favour of two daughters he had by the Czar; the elder of which was married to the Duke of Holftein, and the other was the late Empress Elizabeth.

The ambition of Catherine increafed with her new dignity, and finding that the ruled in the heart of Peter, with a fway no lefs defpotic than that which he exercifed in his dominions, fhe thought it fuperfluous to fet bounds to her defires. From thence fhe conceived a defign of excluding from the royal fucceffion, Alexis Petrowitz, fon of the unfortunate Eudoxia, whom his father had married, the preceding year, to Charlotte Chriftina. Sophia of Wolfenbuttle, fifter-in law to Charles VI, Emperor of Germany; though this marriage appeared contrary to the cuftomary regulations of the royal marriages of Rufia. The object of Catherine's defign was to introduce her own children to the imperial fucceffion.

Refolved to ruin this ill-fated Prince with his father, fhe fought, in concert with the favourite Menzikoff, every poffible means of rendering him obnoxious to the Emperor. It was conftantly infinuated to Peter, that the manners and disposition of the Czarowitz were by no means adapted to support the glory

A very different, and, in our opinion, a mnch more probable account of Catherine's education, is to be met with in a mifcellaneous collection printed at Hamburgh, under the title of Bienen-flock, or, the Bee hive: but, as our Readers may not have an opportunity of confulting this collection, they will find what relates to Catherine, in a very entertaining work, publifhed by Elmfley, entitled, Fables, Lettres, et Variétés Hifloriques.

of

of his empire: that he fecretly condemned the great actions which had rendered his father the admiration of the universe; and that he favoured the ancient barbarous police, the abolition of which formed the glorious epocha of his reign. Thefe circumstances were continually fuggefted to the Czar, who was finally told, that if his fon fhould ever afcend the throne, he would restore to Sweden all his father's conquefts, re-establish the Patriarchal fyftem, give back to the clergy thofe privileges of which they had made fo bad a ufe, re-inveft the monafteries with their revenues, renew the ufe of the long habit, and, in one word, reftore every ancient Ruffian cuftom which it had coft his father fo much labour to abolish.

These representations affected the Czar very fenfibly. His ambition had been moft emphatically flattered by his fuccefs in the extraordinary changes and revolutions he had effected. On the permanency of thole revolutions he depended for immortal glory; and the leaft fhadow of their abolition was to him infupportable.

This was more than fufficient to rivet his averfion to the Prince, whofe indolence, bigotry, and a certain fullenness of afpect, had always been difagreeable to him.

Alexis, it must be owned, had many faults, of which his enemies might avail themfelves. He had, moreover, loft what little popularity he might once poffefs, by the death of his wife, which was generally imputed to her chagrin at his debaucheries; and by his perfeverance in the fame conduct, implicitly giving himself up to his pallion for a Finland girl, whofe name was Euphrofyne.

Upon the ftrength of thefe united circumftances, Peter came to the refolution of fhutting up his fon in a monaftery, and of forcing him to bind himself by the most folemn vows to yield up his right of fucceffion to the throne, in favour of his children by the second marriage.

These measures he communicated to fuch of the council, the clergy, and the fenate, as he knew to be moft devoted to him; and, abfolute as he was, he met with no contradiction. The more difcerning faw, in this inftance, the afcendency of the wife and the favourite, and they knew too well their power to interfere with their views. With the difpofition of Peter too, they were fufficiently acquainted. They knew that his intentions could not be oppofed but at the hazard of life. His will was habitually become a law, and, however the Ruffians might, in their own breafts, condemn thefe arbitrary and unjuft procedings, the mafter only spoke to be applauded, and communicated his fentiments to be approved.

Peter himself made known his refolutions to his fon, who expreffed more grief than furprize on the occafion. He had fix

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