Catherine the Great

NOTES

Catherine’s life divides into two halves almost equal in length. From 1729 to 1762, she was a German princess and a Russian grand duchess; from 1762 until her death in 1796, she was the empress of Russia. The primary source of information about the first half of her life is her own Memoirs, which begin with her earliest recollections and continue to 1758, when she was twenty-nine and under stress at the court of Empress Elizabeth. Naturally, her memoirs display the subjective perspective of any memoir writer; even so, they are invaluable.

Catherine wrote her memoirs in French, and at least four translations have been published in English. The first of these was by Alexander Herzen, a celebrated Russian author and exile in London; this work appeared in 1859. An American, Katharine Anthony, retranslated and edited the memoirs and published them in London and New York in 1927. Catherine’s memoirs in the original French were edited and published by Dominique Maroger in Paris, then translated into English by Moura Budberg, appearing in New York in 1955. Modern Library brought out a new translation by Mark Cruse and Hilde Hoogenboom in 2005 that put Catherine’s reminiscences in correct chronological sequence, which Catherine herself and previous translators never achieved. I have used the first three of these translations. They are identified in the notes as follows: Maroger and Budberg’s version is denoted simply as Memoirs. Herzen’s translation is identified as Herzen. The Anthony translation is denoted by Memoirs (Anthony).

1. SOPHIA’S CHILDHOOD

1 “that idiot”: Haslip

2 “It was told me”: Memoirs, 25–26

3 “He lived to be only twelve”: Ibid., 41

4 “Very early it was noticed”: Anthony, 27

5 “circumcision”: Ibid., 31

6 “every night at dusk”: Memoirs, 30

7 “I am convinced”: Anthony, 27

8 “All my life”: Memoirs, 30

9 “He always brought with him”: Anthony, 27

10 “Music to my ears”: Memoirs, 31

11 “She had a noble soul”: Ibid., 26

12 “the pupil”: Oldenbourg, 8

13 “One cannot always know”: Kaus, 11

14 “A large number of parrots”: Memoirs, 36

15 “I don’t know whether”: Anthony, 13

16 “agreeable and well-bred”: Memoirs, 33

17 “I knew that one day”: Ibid., 34

18 “Madame, you do not know”: Ibid., 49

19 “Galloped until”: Ibid., 38

20 “I was never caught”: Ibid.

21 “I knew nothing about love”: Ibid., 46

22 “My parents will not wish it”: Memoirs (Anthony), 28

23 “He was very good looking”: Memoirs, 46

2. SUMMONED TO RUSSIA

1 “The empress is charmed”: Kaus, 19

2 “At the explicit command”: Ibid., 25

3 “I will no longer conceal”: Ibid., 26

4 “She lacked only wings”: Ibid., 27

5 “Next to the empress”: Ibid., 28

6 “The prince, my husband”: Ibid.

7 “She told me”: Memoirs, 50

3. FREDERICK II AND THE JOURNEY TO RUSSIA

1 “ambition, the opportunity for gain”: Ritter, 7

2 “opera, comedy, poetry, dancing”: Memoirs, 54

3 “the entire company”: Oldenbourg, 21

4 “Accept this gift”: Memoirs, 54

5 “The little princess of Zerbst”: Haslip, 24

6 “My Lord: I beg you”: Oldenbourg, 59

7 “The bedchambers were unheated”: Waliszewski, 23

8 “I had never seen anything”: Memoirs, 54

9 “In these last days”: Anthony, 69

10 “I found ready to wrap us”: Ibid., 71

11 “Here everything goes on”: Ibid.

12 “It is the bride”: Kaus, 42

4. EMPRESS ELIZABETH

1 “loved both his girls”: Rice, 15

2 “My father often repeated”: Bain, Peter III, 13

3 “She is a beauty”: Massie, Peter the Great, 806

4 “I was too young then”: Rice, 48

5 “knew of no other family”: Ibid.

6 “Your Majesty may create me”: Ibid., 61

7 “In public”: Longworth, 162

8 “exceedingly obliging and affable”: Rice, 47

9 “Madame, you must choose”: Ibid., 57

5. THE MAKING OF A GRAND DUKE

1 “I don’t belive there is a princess”: Massie, 806

2 “I am Russian, remember”: Bain, Pupils of Peter the Great, 125

3 “the happiest day of my life”: Oldenbourg, 48

4 “I see that Your Highness”: Bain, Peter III, 11

5 “utterly frivolous”: Ibid., 14

6 “extremely weak”: Ibid., 15

7 “This will be your last”: Oldenbourg, 52

8 “I cannot express”: Bain, Peter III, 13

9 “One promised”: Oldenbourg, 53

10 “as he spoke”: Ibid.

6. MEETING ELIZABETH AND PETER

1 “I could wait no longer”: Kaus, 43

2 “All I have done for you”: Ibid.

3 “It was quite impossible”: Memoirs, 60

4 “one of the most handsome men”: Ibid., 61

5 “We are living like queens”: Kaus, 53

6 “for the first ten days”: Memoirs, 62

7 “because his aunt wished it”: Ibid.

8 “I blushed to hear”: Ibid.

7. PNEUMONIA

1 “the external forms”: Madariaga, Russia in the Age, 6

2 “Search yourself with care”: Anthony, 82

3 “The change of religion”: Ibid., 81

4 “There I lay with a high fever”: Memoirs, 63

5 “the devil would take her”: Oldenbourg, 68

6 “Call Simon Todorsky”: Anthony, 83

7 “the ladies would speak”: Herzen, 28,

8 “my mother’s behavior”: Memoirs, 64

9 “I had become as thin as a skeleton”: Memoirs, 65

10 “My Lord, I make so bold”: Oldenbourg, 68

11 “Our good prince”: Kaus, 58

12 “I have had more trouble”: Ibid., 59

8. INTERCEPTED LETTERS

1 “If the empress would give”: Kaus, 50

2 “frivolous, indolent, running to fat”: Haslip, 34

3 “This horseplay will stop”: Herzen, 29

4 “If your mother has done something wrong”: Memoirs, 66

9. CONVERSION AND BETROTHAL

1 “She slept soundly”: Oldenbourg, 74

2 “I thought she was lovely”: Ibid., 75

3 “The forehead, eyes, neck, throat”: Ibid., 76

4 “I had learned it by heart”: Anthony, 84

5 “Her bearing … through the entire ceremony”: Ibid.

6 “real little monsters, both of them”: Oldenbourg, 77

7 “The ceremony lasted four hours”: Ibid., 78

8 “Our situation is the same”: Ibid. 64 “one was almost suffocated”: Memoirs, 71

9 “My daughter conducts herself”: Oldenbourg, 79

10 “There was not a day”: Memoirs, 72

11 “I know that Your Highness has sent my brother”: Kaus, 65

12 “use my influence”: Memoirs, 72

10. A PILGRIMAGE TO KIEV AND TRANSVESTITE BALLS

1 “pedagogues”: Memoirs, 73

2 “got into ours”: Ibid., 74

3 “We allowed only the most amusing”: Ibid.

4 “While we were enjoying ourselves”: Ibid.

5 “Knowing how easily excited”: Ibid., 75

6 “When my mother was in a temper”: Ibid.

7 “In truth, at that time”: Ibid.

8 “Never in my whole life”: Ibid., 76

9 “I was afraid of not being liked”: Ibid., 77

10 “My respect for the empress”: Ibid.

11 “I must say”: Ibid., 78

12 “The very tall Monsieur Sievers”: Ibid.

13 “washed her hands”: Ibid., 79

11. SMALLPOX

1 “uncontrollable in his whims”: Ibid., 82

2 “he confided his childish pranks”: Ibid.

3 “and was on such bad terms”: Ibid., 84

4 “was very much to my liking”: Ibid.

5 “she ordered me to go”: Ibid., 91

6 “Your Highness, my very dear niece”: Troyat, 39

7 “He was a man of great intelligence”: Memoirs, 85

8 “I read his remarks again”: Ibid., 86

9 “What a pity”: Ibid., 86, footnote

10 “semi-darkness”: Ibid.

11 “almost with terror”: Ibid.

12 “he came up to me”: Kaus, 79

12. MARRIAGE

1 “About as discreet as a cannon ball”: Memoirs, 88

2 “All the attention”: Ibid., 92

3 “We spent our time walking”: Ibid. 93

4 “As my wedding day came nearer”: Ibid., 97

5 “severely scolded”: Ibid.

6 “We had a long, friendly talk”: Ibid., 97

7 “Her silver brocade wedding gown”: Oldenbourg, 95

8 “The procession infinitely surpasses”: Kaus, 85

9 “horribly heavy”: Memoirs, 98

10 “I begged the Princess of Hesse”: Ibid., 99

11 “I remained alone”: Ibid.

12 “How it would amuse my servants”: Ibid.

13 “And matters remained in this state”: Kaus, 86

14 “There was not a single man” Memoirs, 100

15 “The following day”: Ibid.

16 “My dear husband”: Ibid., 100

17 “I would have been ready”: Ibid., 101

18 “was the gayest marriage”: Kaus, 85

13. JOHANNA GOES HOME

1 “Since my marriage”: Memoirs, 101

2 “At that time I would have given much”: Ibid., 102

3 “Our farewell was very loving”: Kaus, 89

4 “When the princess took leave”: Ibid.

5 “not to make me any sadder”: Anthony, 102

6 “I consider it necessary”: Kaus, 90

14. THE ZHUKOVA AFFAIR

1 “From that moment on”: Herzen, 46

2 “I thought I would faint”: Memoirs, 10

3 “feared that I had grown”: Ibid.

4 “My mother did not know Russian”: Ibid., 104

5 “Through my servants”: Ibid., 105

6 “It is difficult to find an explanation”: Ibid.

7 “As for the previous dress”: Ibid., 149

15. PEEPHOLES

1 “on the empress’s behalf”: Ibid., 106

2 “It seemed strange to us”: Ibid.,

3 “satisfied and pleased with me”: Ibid., 107

4 “I fear he may fall in love”: Ibid., 104

5 “At last my wish is fulfilled”: Kaus, 84

6 “this might serve his purposes”: Memoirs, 112

7 “He did not tell us what it was”: Ibid., 109

8 “a disrespectful little boy”: Ibid., 110

9 “let fly at him”: Ibid.

10 “We were dumfounded”: Ibid.

11 “She was like a Fury”: Ibid., 111

12 “One must admit”: Ibid

13 “We beg your pardon, Mama”: Ibid.

14 “had a great liking for the bottle”: Ibid., 112

15 “Your Highness should bear in mind”: Ibid., 116

16 “You talk and think of nothing”: Ibid.

17 “I cannot speak to you like this”: Ibid., 117

18 “The grand duke is asking for you”: Ibid.

19 “No, my father”: Ibid., 123

16. A WATCHDOG

1 “Her Highness has been selected”: Oldenbourg, 110

2 “In the two years I had been in Russia”: Memoirs, 113

3 “Now, as I was married”: Herzen, 66

4 “I know quite well”: Memoirs, 114

5 “I could not save myself by flight”: Ibid.

6 “such talk would displease the empress”: Ibid., 119

7 “In those days”: Ibid., 123

8 “Never did two minds resemble each other less”: Ibid., 129

17. “HE WAS NOT A KING”

1 “your father was not a king”: Ibid., 130

2 “Apparently, my words carried conviction”: Ibid.

3 “This was a dreadful blow for us”: Ibid., 127

4 “Within a few days”: Ibid., 128

5 “a gentle, reasonable man”: Ibid.

6 “The grand duke and I”: Ibid., 133

7 “In his distress, the grand duke”: Ibid., 128

8 “There were moments”: Ibid., 129

18. IN THE BEDROOM

1 “It seems to me that I was good for something else”: Kaus, 101

2 “The least rabbi of Petersburg”: Kaus, 94

19. A HOUSE COLLAPSES

1 “Get up and get out”: Memoirs, 141

2 “like the waves of the sea”: Ibid., 142

3 “Immediately afterward”: Herzen, 89

4 “That, as to my stupidity”: Memoirs, 136

5 “To show how useless this kind of order is”: Herzen, 84

6 “often slipped me useful … information”: Ibid.

7 “This is from your mother”: Memoirs, 144

20. SUMMER PLEASURES

1 “a large, stupid, clumsy girl”: Memoirs (Anthony), 132

2 “I had the greatest freedom imaginable”: Ibid., 147

3 “dominant passion”: Herzen, 78

4 “On a woman’s saddle”: Ibid., 131

5 “To tell the truth”: Memoirs, 183

6 “She was tall”: Ibid., 181

7 “We bit our lips”: Ibid., 182

21. DISMISSALS AT COURT

1 “She was a living archive”: Memoirs, 164

2 “Do not come near me!”: Ibid., 150

3 “Last night, Count Lestocq and his wife”: Ibid.

4 “The empress did not have the courage”: Ibid., 151

5 “This son of a bitch”: Ibid., 140

6 “Do you remember the time”: Ibid., 141

7 “This is the effect”: Ibid.

8 “So, in order not to spoil his pleasure”: Ibid., 133

9 “only two occupations”: Ibid., 154

10 “From seven in the morning”: Ibid.

11 “One day, hear a poor dog cry”: Ibid., 159

22. MOSCOW AND THE COUNTRY

1 “Countess Shuvalova told the empress”: Memoirs, 156

2 “I know that. We will not speak of it”: Ibid., 157

3 “It was the worst I have ever had”: Ibid., 160

4 “She was mortally afraid of mice”: Ibid., 163

5 “I rode constantly all day”: Ibid., 161

6 “himself no enemy of wine”: Ibid., 163

7 “He did not know what he was saying”: Ibid.

8 “He was very cheerful”: Ibid., 161

9 “She sat by my bed”: Ibid., 164

23. CHOGLOKOV MAKES AN ENEMY

1 “one would have thought”: Herzen, 101

2 “Choglokov is a conceited fool with a swollen head”: Memoirs, 165

3 “As he could never keep”: Ibid., 167

4 “I have never in my life felt anything like the pain”: Ibid., 170

24. A BATH BEFORE EASTER AND A COACHMAN’S WHIP

1 “beautiful eyes”: Memoirs, 173

2 “her wit made one forget”: Herzen, 118

3 “seeing myself slighted”: Ibid., 120

4 “everyone was shocked and disgusted”: Ibid.

5 “I would like to see what she can do”: Memoirs, 174

6 “both took leave of their senses”: Ibid.

7 “My God!, what happened?”: Ibid., 177

8 “Wipe your cheek”: Ibid.

9 “You see how these women treat us”: Ibid.

25. OYSTERS AND AN ACTOR

1 “an extraordinary passion”: Memoirs, 148

2 “I listened to talk”: Herzen, 126

3 “If this man or someone like him”: Ibid., 124

4 “As ambassador, I have no instructions”: Memoirs, 192

26. READING, DANCING, AND A BETRAYAL

1 “of a dullness that I have never seen equaled”: Herzen, 148

2 “He was blond and foppish”: Ibid., 132

3 “Good God, what modesty!”: Memoirs, 190

4 “I was very glad to see him”: Ibid., 189

5 “And so, things went no further”: Herzen, 149

6 “The truth”: Memoirs, 181

7 “How is this, Madame Choglokova?”: Herzen, 151

27. SALTYKOV

1 “He was a born clown”: Memoirs, 194

2 “a fool in every sense”: Herzen, 132

3 “As these people”: Memoirs, 199

4 “And your wife”: Ibid., 200

5 “All that glitters”: Ibid.

6 “He was twenty-six years old”: Ibid.

7 “handsome as the dawn”: Ibid. 153 “How do you know”: Ibid., 201

8 “his favorite subject”: Herzen, 155

9 “I had to admit”: Memoirs, 201

10 “Yes, yes, but go away”: Ibid.

11 “He already believed himself”: Ibid., 202

12 “Sergei Saltykov and my wife”: Ibid.

13 “without something happening first”: Herzen, 158

14 “I must speak to you”: Memoirs, 208

15 “Madame Choglokova began”: Ibid.

16 “You will see”: Ibid.

17 “As soon as I had seen”: Ibid., 207

18 “a few words that would allow him”: Ibid.

19 “I know that you can see through them”: Ibid.

20 “He gave him”: Ibid., 208

21 “I must have been pregnant”: Herzen, 168

22 “When this happened”: Ibid., 169

23 “No one had ever seen”: Alexander, 45

24 “There was no furniture”: Herzen, 173

25 “He was dying just at a time”: Memoirs, 220

26 “I am certain that my husband”: Herzen, 184

28. THE BIRTH OF THE HEIR

1 “a pillar of salt”: Memoirs, 248

2 “Countess Shuvalova’s petticoats”: Herzen, 174

3 “a depression”: Memoirs, 223

4 “my troubles followed me”: Ibid.

5 “isolated, with no company”: Herzen, 187

6 “I had not the strength to crawl”: Ibid., 189

7 “through excess of care”: Ibid., 192

8 “I did not have a kopeck”: Memoirs, 228

9 “whatever came from the empress”: Ibid.

10 “This meant that I was”: Ibid., 229

11 “I thought him beautiful”: Ibid.

12 “until I felt strong enough”: Ibid.

13 “a singular revolution in my brain”: Herzen, 196

14 “ought to be the Breviary”: Durant, 10:435

15 “all day and part of the night”: Memoirs, 230

16 “constantly smoked”: Ibid.

17 “I underwent agonies”: Herzen, 197

18 “I saw as clear as day”: Memoirs, 231

19 “He knew how to conceal his faults”: Ibid., 200

20 “Has he not committed”: Alexander, 63

29. RETALIATION

1 “I had a superb dress made”: Memoirs, 232

2 “I treated them with profound contempt”: Herzen, 198

3 “One day, His Imperial Highness”: Memoirs, 233

4 “he could have saved himself”: Herzen, 201

5 “he got nothing”: Memoirs, 234

6 “shuddered to think”: Herzen, 203

7 “Those accursed Germans”: Memoirs, 235

8 “a freakish prank”: Ibid., 236

9 “We have become the servants”: Ibid.

10 “as far away as I could”: Ibid

30. THE ENGLISH AMBASSADOR

1 “It was not difficult to talk”: Memoirs, 239

2 “a stumbling block”: Ibid.

3 “nowhere are people quicker”: Ibid., 240

4 “The empress’s health”: Kaus, 138

5 “A man at my age”: Cronin, 105

6 “I have some hesitation”: Troyat, 87

7 “Whatever may be further given”: Kaus, 143

31. A DIPLOMATIC EARTHQUAKE

1 “I have heard with pleasure”: Kaus, 144–45

32. PONIATOWSKI

1 “An excellent education”: Haslip, 71

2 “A severe education”: Poniatowski, 157

3 “She was twenty-five”: Madariaga, Russia in the Age, 48

4 “I cannot deny myself the pleasure”: Oldenbourg, 178

33. A DEAD RAT

1 “You ought to go and see her”: Memoirs, 242

2 “The evening passed”: Ibid., 243

3 “Sometimes at the theater”: Ibid., 244,

4 “like a servant girl”: Haslip, 76

5 “Tell me how much you know”: Memoirs, 252

6 “there is no worse traitor”: Ibid., 249

7 “in the present critical and delicate”: Haslip, 82

8 “I pressed her strongly”: Anthony, 137

34. CATHERINE CHALLENGES BROCKDORFF

1 “They tell me he is suspected”: Memoirs, 254

2 “If such things are done: Ibid., 249

3 “Come to my apartment”: Ibid., 255.

4 “Speak to the grand duchess”: Ibid.

5 “Baba Ptitsa”: Ibid., 256

6 “He took money from everyone”: Ibid.

7 “Look at this devil of a fellow”: Ibid., 257

8 “The great problem lay in the fact”: Ibid., 258

9 “Well, you began very young”: Ibid., 259

10 “You seem to be well-informed”: Ibid., 264

11 “The weather was superb”: Ibid., 276

12 “The Grand Duchess is kindness”: Ibid., 277

13 “please the empress”: Kaus, 147

14 “The grand duke is as completely a Prussian”: Ibid., 148

15 “I love you as my father”: Cronin, 110

35. APRAKSIN’S RETREAT

1 “a very corpulent man”: Cronin, 109

2 “If the empress should die”:Haslip, 89

3 “And there now remains”: Kaus, 171

36. CATHERINE’S DAUGHTER

1 “I have no idea”: Memoirs, 280

2 “You fool! Go back”: Ibid.

3 “Go to the devil!”: Ibid.

4 “It is said that the public celebrations”: Ibid., 283

5 “only just awakened”: Ibid., 284

6 “You should not die of hunger”: Ibid.

7 “the grand duke’s musicians”: Ibid., 285

8 “except for Alexander Shuvalov”: Ibid.

37. THE FALL OF BESTUZHEV

1 “Count, I have just received a message”: Memoirs, 286

2 “Thank God, we are going to arrest”: Ibid., 287

3 “a loyal, honest man”: Ibid.

4 “With a dagger in my heart”: Ibid., 288

5 “What do all these wonderful things mean?”: Ibid.

6 “attempting to sow discord”: Ibid., 292

7 “You are a witness to the fact”: Ibid., 294

38. A GAMBLE

1 “in a fearful passion”: Memoirs, 297

2 “What will you say to her?”: Ibid.

3 “Today, my damned nephew”: Ibid., 299

4 “I felt myself possessed”: Ibid

5 “My natural pride”: Ibid., 300

6 “I have just said”: Ibid., 301

7 “We are all afraid”: Ibid., 302

39. CONFRONTATION

1 “Why do you wish me”: Memoirs, 305

2 “My children are in your hands”: Ibid.

3 “Your Imperial Majesty will tell them”: Ibid.

4 “God is my witness”: Ibid.

5 “You are dreadfully haughty”: Ibid., 306

6 “She is dreadfully spiteful”: Ibid.

7 “You meddle in many things”: Herzen, 288

8 “And why did you write”: Ibid., 289

9 “The grand duke showed much bitterness”: Ibid.

10 “I have many more things to say”: Ibid., 290

11 “He told me that the empress had spoken”: Ibid., 291

12 “I expect you to answer truthfully”: Ibid., 296

40. A MÉNAGE À QUATRE

1 The quotations appearing in this chapter are taken from Poniatowski’s Memoires, translated by R. Massie

41. PANIN, ORLOV, AND ELIZABETH’S DEATH

1 “Let the boy remain”: Kaus, 176

2 “I had rather be the mother”: Ibid., 177

3 “the terror which the enemy”: Duffy, Frederick, 171

4 “If I were emperor”: Alexander, 55

5 “I must make room here”: Kaus, 183

6 “the head of an angel”: Ibid.

7 “a man of pleasure”: Dashkova, 1:3

8 “We spoke French fluently”: Ibid., 4

9 “I may venture to assert”: Ibid., 13

10 “She captured my heart”: Ibid., 29

11 “My child, you would do well”: Ibid., 27

12 “You are a mere child”: Ibid., 29

13 “gained me a high degree of notoriety”: Ibid., 30

14 “I saw how little”: Ibid., 31

15 “He must be mad”: Oldenbourg, 230

16 “Of an army of forty-eight thousand”: Asprey, 520

17 “What is wrong with me”: Duffy, Frederick, 192

18 “I intend to continue the war”: Oldenbourg, 222

19 The account of Dashkova’s nocturnal visit and conversation with Catherine is from Dashkova, 1:32–35

20 “Her Imperial Majesty, Elizabeth Petrovna”: Haslip, 108

42. THE BRIEF REIGN OF PETER 111

1 “I did not think”: Bain, Peter III, 40

2 “If, my little friend, you will take my advice”: Dashkova, 1:38

3 “The moderation and clemency”; Bain, Peter III, 49

4 “I can find nobody here”: Ibid.

5 “the chief instrument of the Prussian party”: Ibid., 56

6 “at a dinner”: Ibid.

7 “resolved to get free”: Ibid., 57

8 “We must make peace”: Ibid., 63

9 “honor of all the valiant officers”: Ibid., 74

10 “nothing was omitted”: Ibid.

11 “out of compassion”: Ibid., 77

12 “the maintenance of solemn engagements”: Ibid., 79

13 “Frankly, I distrust these Russians”: Ibid., 116

14 “If the Russians had wanted”: Ibid., 117

43. “DURA!”

1 “It does not appear”: Bain, Peter III, 123

2 “The empress is abandoned”: Ibid., 130

3 “pot-house wench”: Ibid., 126

4 “broad, puffy, pock-marked face”: Ibid.

5 “Dura!”: Madariaga, Russia in the Age, 27

6 “It was then that I began to listen”: Bain, Peter III, 192

7 “Your Majesty can have your revenge”: Ibid., 134

8 “You already know too much”: Kaus, 214

9 “Matushka, Little Mother, wake up!”: Anthony, 165

10 “Matushka, forgive us”: Madariaga, Russia in the Age, 29

11 “Heaven be praised!”: Dashkova, 1:81

12 “like a fifteen-year-old boy”: Ibid., 1:98

13 “I go now with the army”: Alexander, 9

14 “Didn’t I always tell you”: Bain, Peter III, 154

15 “We no longer have an emperor!”: Ibid., 160

16 “I accept the offer”: Ibid., 161

17 “I, Peter, of my own free will”: Kaus, 233

18 “like a child being sent to bed”: Ibid.

44. “WE OURSELVES KNOW NOT WHAT WE DID”

1 “the greatest misfortune of my life”: Madariaga, Russia in the Age, 31

2 “By what right”: Dashkova, 1:89

3 “I realized with unspeakable pain”: Ibid., 1:90

4 “I beg Your Majesty”: Peter’s letters from Ropsha to Catherine, Anthony, 176–77

5 “Matushka, Little Mother”: Madariaga, Russia in the Age, 32,

6 “His face wore an expression”: Oldenbourg, 252

7 “We ourselves know not what we did”: Kaus, 244

8 “My horror at this death”: Dashkova, 1:107

9 “On the seventh day of our reign”: Kaus, 246

10 “might spare her health”: Troyat, 139

11 “Peter III had lost the few wits”: Bain, Peter III, 191

12 “it teaches us to be sober”: Cronin, 156

13 “The empress was quite ignorant of this crime”: Haslip, 133

14 “What do they say in Paris”: Anthony, 180

45. CORONATION

1 “The least soldier of the guards”: Alexander, 67

2 “You only did your duty”: Cronin, 172

3 “I implore Your Majesty”: Dashkova, 1:97

4 “the Princess Dashkova played only a minor part”: Haslip, 144,

5 The exchange between Catherine and Betskoy is from Dashkova, 1:101–2, and Kaus, 240

6 “a woman of middle height”: Scott Thomson, 85–86

7 “the Lord has placed the crown”: Grey, 119

8 “I cannot go out”: Ibid.

46. THE GOVERNMENT AND THE CHURCH

1 “In the Treasury”: Waliszewski, 313

2 “an ignominious peace”: Kaus, 239

3 “no suitable costume”: Ibid.

4 “Concerning the peace”: Ibid.

5 “such a vast and limitless empire”: Haslip, 137

6 “Full reports will be brought to me”: Ibid.,

7 “Belonging herself to the nation”: Ibid.

8 “I cannot say that you are lacking”: Madariaga, Russia in the Age, 44

9 “the eye of the sovereign”: Ibid., 40

10 “In the Senate”: Ibid., 44–45

11 “You must know”: Ibid., 58

12 “sat like dumb dogs without barking”: Ibid., 116

13 “stretch out their hands”: Kaus, 254

14 “Our present sovereign”: Madariaga, Russia in the Age, 116

15 “Stop his mouth!”: Ibid. 301 Andrew the Liar: Ibid., 117

16 “You are the successors”: Kaus, 255

47. SERFDOM

1 “For sale, a barber”: Oldenbourg, 285

2 “Anyone wishing to buy”: Waliszewski, 304

3 “For sale: domestics and skilled craftsmen”: Grey, 122

4 “If we do not agree”: Ibid., 164

5 “There! You have the people free!”: Cronin, 262

6 “What has disgusted me”: Grey, 122

7 “I punished him”: Smith, Pearl, 105

8 “This is one of my fiddlers”: Ibid. 312 “a miracle of color”: Ibid., 70

9 “I had the most tender”: Ibid., 71

48. “MADAME ORLOV COULD NEVER BE EMPRESS OF RUSSIA”

1 “The men who surround me”: Haslip, 143

2 “Perhaps you are right”: Alexander, 74

3 “Tell Her Imperial Majesty”: Kaus, 271

4 “everyone should go about his own business”: Ibid., 273

5 “If the empress wants me to lay my head”: Haslip, 149

6 “It is my earnest desire”: Dashkova, 1:128

7 “There would never”: Smith, Love and Conquest, 9

8 “You will not be surprised”: Haslip, 178

49. THE DEATH OF IVAN VI

1 “Take care!”: Kaus, 277

2 “If the prisoner is insubordinate”: Ibid.

3 “The prisoner is somewhat quieter”: Ibid.

4 “painful and almost unintelligible stammering”: Ibid., 278

5 “The prisoner shall not be allowed”: Ibid., 280

6 “Release us”: Ibid.

7 “Compliance with your request”: Ibid.

8 “Make your own career, young man”: Ibid., 282

9 “Not long had Peter III possessed”: Madariaga, Russia in the Age, 35

10 “If the others agree”: Kaus, 285

11 “Where is the emperor?”: Alexander, 91

12 “See, my brothers”: Kaus, 285

13 “The ways of God are wonderful”: Madariaga, Russia in the Age, 36

14 “she left here with an air”: Waliszewski, 264

15 “As regards the insult”: Kaus, 287

16 “loyally performing their duty”: Ibid., 288

17 “The manifesto she has issued”: Troyat, 167

18 “It seems to me that if I were on the throne”: Ibid.

19 “I am tempted to say to you”: Ibid.

50. CATHERINE AND THE ENLIGHTENMENT

1 “Whatever style I possess”: Haslip, 157

2 “The victorious nation never profits”: Durant, 10:151

3 “Oh, mighty God, I believe”: Ibid., 9:750

4 “Tell them I am very sick”: Ibid., 10:133

5 “the highest and coldest garret”: Ibid.

6 “hanged, drowned, broken on the wheel”: Ibid., 9:731

7 “It took two hours”: Ibid., 9:733

8 “I shall be coming to Paris”: Ibid., 10:392

9 “For my part, I am consoled”: Ibid., 10:139

10 “He governed the whole civilized world”: Ibid., 9:784

11 “Since Voltaire died”: Anthony, 229

12 “these are family matters”: Gorbatov, 70

13 “I believe we must moderate”: Ibid.

14 “Semiramis of the North”: Durant, 9:448

15 “try to persuade the octogenarian”: Madariaga, Russia in the Age, 336

16 “in certain ways … a hundred”: Gorbatov, 177

17 “You and M. Diderot”: Durant, 9:719

18 “Go on, brave Diderot”: Ibid.

19 “It would be cruel”: Gooch, 60

20 “I prostrate myself”: Troyat, 177

21 “we are three who would build you altars”: Ibid., 178

22 “Thirty years of labor”: Ibid.

23 “I never thought”: Gorbatov, 156

24 “That door will be opened to you”: Oliva, 119

25 “my good lady”: Troyat, 207

26 “an extraordinary man”: Durant, 9:448

27 “I have listened”: Troyat, 207

28 “Now you sit beside Caesar”: Ibid., 209

29 “Madame, I am positively in disgrace”: Reddaway, 198

30 “Live, Monsieur”: Ibid., 199

31 “returned to her in chains”: Ibid., 200

51. THE NAKAZ

1 “one of the most remarkable political treatises”: Madariaga, Russia in the Age, 151

2 “Russia is a European state”: Ibid., 153

3 “it is much better to prevent than to punish crimes”: Reddaway, 225

4 “productive of nothing”: Ibid., 288

5 “The use of torture is contrary”: Ibid., 231

6 “without any sensible inconveniences”: Ibid., 232

7 “What right can give anyone authority”: Ibid., 244

8 “All punishments by which the human body”: Ibid., 227

9 “Some judges should be of the same rank”: Ibid., 232

10 “a civil society requires a certain established order”: Ibid., 256

11 “Why should they bother to be clean”: Haslip, 162

12 “These are axioms which will bring down walls”: Madariaga, Russia in the Age, 158

13 “I let them erase what they pleased”: Ibid.

14 “Since the Law of Nature”: Reddaway, 256

15 “I have decked myself out in peacock’s feathers”: Grey, 147

16 “I have robbed Montesquieu”: Troyat, 179

17 “would have been capable”: Troyat, 182

18 “the finest monument of the age”: Gooch, 67

19 “A masculine, nervous performance”: Troyat, 182

20 “I must warn Your Majesty”: Madariaga, Russia in the Age, 151

52. “ALL FREE ESTATES OF THE REALM”

1 “By this institution, we give to our people”: Alexander, 102

2 “you will receive a letter”: Ibid., 103

3 “There can be nothing more pleasant”: Ibid., 108

4 “These laws, about which so much has been said”: Ibid., 109

5 “There are so many objects”: Ibid.

6 “Here, the people along the Volga”: Ibid., 110

7 “The town rose high on a hill”: Kerensky, 3

8 “to glorify yourselves and your country”: Alexander, 112

9 “I brought them together to study laws”: Troyat, 181

10 “Have they really already lost”: Alexander, 115

11 “The peasant has his feelings”: Madariaga, Russia in the Age, 176

12 “The majority of votes”: Ibid., 159

13 “And have their throats cut from time to time”: Ibid., 160

14 “cannot have in present circumstances”: Ibid.

15 “A general emancipation”: Alexander, 116

16 “What had I not to suffer”: Anthony, 215

17 “The idea that the principal purpose”: Madariaga, Catherine, 34

53. “THE KING WE HAVE MADE”

1 “I am sending Count Keyserling”: Kaus, 262

2 “fortunate anarchy”: Alexander, 123

3 “There is a vast difference between melons”: Kaus, 264

4 “to resort, if need be, to force of arms”: Ibid., 265

5 “without the slightest mercy”: Alexander, 126 367 “Do not laugh at me”: Kaus, 263

6 “I beg you most urgently not to come here”: Coughlan, 228

7 “a thousand inconveniences”: Ibid.

8 “in the hands of the brothers Orlov”: Ibid., 229

9 “I beg of you to listen to me”: Kaus, 263

10 “the new king we have made”: Ibid., 266

54. THE FIRST PARTITION OF POLAND AND THE FIRST TURKISH WAR

1 “a real thunderbolt for the country and for me”: Coughlan, 233

2 “to prevent a quarter of their nation”: Gooch, 64

3 “what does one have to endure”: Alexander, 129

4 “at the risk of repeating myself”: Haslip, 182

5 “I cannot keep writing to you”: Ibid.

6 “in Poland one only has to stoop”: Anthony, 203

55. DOCTORS, SMALLPOX, AND PLAGUE

1 “If you go to a village”: Cronin, 167

2 “the same attention to cleanliness”: Madariaga, Russia in the Age, 560

3 “I am quite sick”: Alexander, 144

4 “It has been four years”: Ibid., 143

5 “You couldn’t cure a flea bite”: Cronin, 169

6 “Well done, ma’am!”: Ibid., 169

7 “You know I am a child”: Alexander, 145

8 “uncommon merit, beautiful, and immensely rich”: Ibid.

9 “I am very upset”: Ibid.

10 “Having this hour learned”: Ibid.

11 “of all that I ever saw of her sex”: Cronin, 168

12 “a secret everybody knows”: Alexander, 146

13 “except for some slight uneasiness”: Ibid., 147

14 “My objective was”: Ibid.

15 “our argumentative charlatans”: Ibid., 148

16 “fine and zealous”: Reddaway, 135

17 “The famous Eighteenth Century”: Ibid.

18 “We have spent a month in circumstances”: Alexander, 158

56. THE RETURN OF “PETER THE THIRD”

1 “freedom of the rivers”: Madariaga, Russia in the Age, 243

2 “I give eternal freedom”: Oldenbourg, 299

3 “If God permits me to reach St. Petersburg”: Kaus, 296

4 “this godless turmoil”: Alexander, 170

5 “The great sovereign”: Madariaga, Russia in the Age, 270

6 “Whomever you represent”: Kaus, 298

7 “a common highway robber”: Oldenbourg, 301

8 “exploits of a brigand”: Troyat, 213

9 “Marquis de Pugachev”: Alexander, 177

10 “this new husband who has turned up”: Haslip, 211

11 “for more than six weeks I have been obliged”: Grey, 162

12 “this motley crowd”: Alexander, 171

13 “What need is there to flog”: Madariaga, Russia in the Age, 249

14 “Orenburg has already been besieged”: Alexander, 171

15 “Leave the peasants”: Madariaga, Russia in the Age, 248

16 “the suspicion of foreigners”: Alexander, 174

17 “inhabited by all the good-for-nothings”: Ibid.

18 “Since you like hangings so much”: Ibid.

57. THE LAST DAYS OF THE “MARQUIS DE PUGACHEV”

1 “If God gives me power over the state”: Madariaga, Russia in the Age, 271

2 “Why does he call himself Tsar Peter?”: Cronin, 180

3 “Extremely shaken”: Alexander, 176

4 “the insolent windbag”: Ibid.

5 “You see, my friend, that Count Panin”: Madariaga, Russia in the Age, 264

6 “bad news travels faster than good”: Alexander, 177

7 “How dare you raise your hands”: Madariaga, Russia in the Age, 255

8 “infernal monster”: Oldenbourg, 302

9 “Sir, are you master or servant?”: Alexander, 178

10 “refrain from all questioning under torture”: Madariaga, Russia in the Age, 267

11 “Pugachev has lived like a scoundrel:” Oldenbourg, 304

12 “Please help to inspire everyone”: Alexander, 179

13 “they wanted to break Pugachev on the wheel”: Ibid.

14 “all that has passed to eternal oblivion”: Ibid., 180

58. VASILCHIKOV

1 “He must appear”: Kaus, 311

2 “good looking, amiable, and a complete nonentity”: Haslip, 198

3 “He is capable of killing me”: Oldenbourg, 310

4 “a kind of male cocotte”: Kaus, 313

5 “he must send Vasilchikov away”: Smith, Love and Conquest, 21

6 “It was a random choice”: Kaus, 311

59. CATHERINE AND POTEMKIN: PASSION

1 “If I become a general”: Soloveytchik, 43

2 “Sir Lieutenant General and Chevalier”: Smith, Love and Conquest, 8

3 “Any news at court?”: Soloveytchik, 67

4 “I do not understand what has reduced him”: Ibid., 68

5 “the state and yourself, Madam”: Ibid., 69

6 “he had conducted himself indiscreetly”: Smith, Love and Conquest, 9

7 “After a year spent in great sorrow”: Ibid., 9–10

8 “I remain unmotivated by envy”: Ibid., 18

9 “Sir Lieutenant General”: Ibid., 20

10 “Mr. Vasilchikov, the favorite”: Soloveytchik, 73

11 “The thing to do now, my sweet”: Ibid., 75

12 “I’m not surprised”: Smith, Love and Conquest, 19

13 “I don’t understand what kept you”: Ibid., 17

14 “I only ask you not to do one thing”: Ibid., 19

15 “I have parted from a certain excellent”: Soloveytchik, 78

16 “No, Grishenka”: Smith, Love and Conquest, 24

17 “There is no reason to be angry”: Ibid., 27

18 “Oh, my darling, you should be ashamed”: Ibid., 35

19 “Allow me, my precious dear”: Smith, Ibid., 78

20 “Does it appear, sir”: Soloveytchik, 101

21 “certain sacred and inalienable rights”: Montefiore, 139

22 “I kiss you and embrace you … dear husband”: Smith, Love and Conquest, 38

23 “pray come and cuddle with me”: Ibid., 40

60. POTEMKIN ASCENDING

1 “There has been no instance”: Soloveytchik, 107

2 “Do you remember how”: Ibid., 110

3 “I have noticed that your mother”: Smith, Love and Conquest, 61

4 “On Sunday, I happened to be seated”: Soloveytchik, 112

5 “As long as my bed remains”: Ibid., 119

6 “If there are no mistakes”: Smith, Love and Conquest, 50

7 “This is really too much!”: Soloveytchik, 131

8 “It is a hundred years”: Smith, Love and Conquest, 55

9 “The rebellion in a great part”: Soloveytchik, 143

61. CATHERINE AND POTEMKIN: SEPARATION

1 “My dear friend, I don’t know why”: Smith, Love and Conquest, 51

2 “Your long letter and stories”: Ibid., 57

3 “You were in a mood to quarrel”: Ibid., 67

4 “Precious darling”: Ibid.

5 “I wrote you a letter”: Ibid., 75

6 “Do me this one favor”: Ibid., 77

7 “Such rage ought to be expected”: Ibid., 80

8 “My Lord and Dear Husband!”: Ibid., 77

9 “Should you not find pleasure”: Ibid., 81

10 “May God forgive you”: Ibid., 82

11 “Your Most Gracious Majesty”: Ibid., 83

12 “I read your letter”: Ibid., 84

13 “To present this comedy to society”: Ibid., 85

14 “Matushka, here is the result”: Ibid.

15 “Your foolish acts remain the same”: Ibid., 68

16 “Listening to you talk sometimes”: Ibid., 74

17 “God knows I don’t intend”: Ibid., 87

18 “Your Most Gracious Majesty”: Ibid.

19 “You know, Madam, I am your slave”: Soloveytchik, 195

62. NEW RELATIONSHIPS

1 “My husband has written me”: Smith, Love and Conquest, 76

2 “You ask for Zavadovsky’s removal”: Ibid., 85

3 “Varinka, I love you”: Soloveytchik, 167

4 “Listen, my dearest, Varinka is very sick”: Smith, Love and Conquest, 96

5 “What’s the use of all this?”: Soloveytchik, 170

6 “Would it not be charming”: Anthony, 315

63. FAVORITES

1 “with the greatest dignity”: Coughlan, 294

2 “Last night I was in love with him”: Haslip, 257

3 “Pyrrhus, king of Epirus”: Kaus, 326,

4 “Big books at the bottom”: Cronin, 256

5 “changed his original common name”: Haslip, 261

6 “kind, gay, honest”: Madariaga, Russia in the Age, 354

7 “compared to the others, he was an angel”: Haslip, 288

8 “they helped, but I could not endure”: Alexander, 217

9 “I am plunged into the most profound grief”: Ibid., 216

10 “From Catherine to my dearest friend”: Haslip, 290

11 “I am once more inwardly calm”: Ibid., 292

12 “You cur, you monkey”: Ibid., 299

13 “Either he or I must go!”: Ibid.

14 “They slept until nine o’clock”: Alexander, 218

15 “We are as clever”: Coughlan, 295

16 “Sasha is beyond price”: Haslip, 305

17 “stifling”: Ibid., 306

18 “It is your duty to remain”: Ibid., 330

19 “cold and preoccupied”: Alexander, 219

20 “a girl most ordinary”: Ibid., 220

21 “God grant them happiness”: Gooch, 51

22 “I have never been”: Alexander, 222

23 “constantly tortures my soul”: Ibid.

64. CATHERINE, PAUL, AND NATALIA

1 “We have never had a jollier time”: Gooch, 26

2 “I return to town on Tuesday”: Ibid.

3 “Everything is done to excess”: Alexander, 227

4 “The grand duke”: Smith, Love and Conquest, 58

5 “Her friends are, with reason”: Alexander, 228

6 “Never in my life”: Ibid.

7 “For three days”: Haslip, 239

8 “perfectly formed boy”: Alexander, 229

9 I have wasted no time”: Troyat, 232

10 “since it has been proven”: Ibid., 231

65. PAUL, MARIA, AND THE SUCCESSION

1 “I hope that in time”: Ibid., 231

2 “Nothing can exceed”: Gooch, 29

3 “The grand duke is exceedingly amiable”: Ibid.

4 “my daughter.… Be assured”: Alexander, 232

5 “We shall have her here”: Anthony, 277

6 “My son has returned”: Alexander, 233.

7 “I swear to love and adore you”: Troyat, 234

8 “This dear husband is an angel”: Gooch, 30

9 “Wherever she goes”: Ibid.

10 “had been given a map of Europe”: Haslip, 285

11 “whether his Polish majesty”: Ibid., 286

12 “prefers stewed fruit”: Ibid.

13 “an ardent and impetuous man”: Waliszewski, 403

14 “The grand duke is greatly undervalued”: Gooch, 30

15 “When they admitted me”: Ibid., 32

16 “He combined plenty of intelligence”: Ibid., 33

17 “You tax me with my hypochondria”: Anthony, 287

18 “Permit me to write you often”: Ibid.

19 “One cannot see everything”: Troyat, 323

20 “I told you that your request”: Gooch, 27

21 “I shall be separated”: Gooch, 34

22 “There is no one”: Anthony, 288

23 “I see into what hands”: Gooch, 35

24 “I hope not in the time of M. Alexander”: Ibid., 36

66. POTEMKIN: BUILDER AND DIPLOMAT

1 “Is that a soldier’s business?”: Soloveytchik, 177

2 “such a mixture of wit”: Ibid., 221

3 “She had the strongest desire to help us”: Ibid., 201

4 “You have chosen an unlucky moment”: Ibid., 212

5 “The interest I take in everything”: Ibid., 216

6 “Flatter her as much as you can”: Ibid., 225

7 “You can demand of us”: Ibid.

8 The dialogue between Potemkin and Harris regarding an Anglo-Russian alliance is drawn from Soloveytchik, 227–45

9 “La mariée est trop belle”: Ibid., 234

10 “The acquisition of the Crimea”: Soloveytchik, 180

67. CRIMEAN JOURNEY AND “POTEMKIN VILLAGES”

1 “Everything was done to deter me”: Haslip, 308

2 “Your children belong to you”: Troyat, 271

3 “Your latest proposal”: Rounding, 424

4 “heavy baggage”: Madariaga, Russia in the Age, 569

5 “It was a time”: Haslip, 307

6 “One day when I was sitting”: Rounding, 429

7 “Here, the greenery in the meadows”: Smith, Love and Conquest, 176

8 “Avoid the prince”: Haslip, 310

9 “the greatest genius of her age”: Ibid., 303

10 “the pleasantest company”: Ibid., 304

11 “It is odd”: Smith, Love and Conquest, 175

12 “Gentlemen, the king of Poland”: Montefiore, 365

13 “It was thirty years”: Ibid., 366

14 “They spoke little”: Haslip, 314

15 “our guest’s desire that I remain here”: Smith, Love and Conquest, 178

16 “The king bores me”: Haslip, 315

17 “The new favorite is good-looking”: Ibid., 317

18 “I performed a great deed”: Cronin, 130

19 “What a peculiar land”: Montefiore, 371

20 “the most beautiful port I have ever seen”: Ibid., 374

21 “I love you and your service”: Smith, Love and Conquest, 180

22 “How I appreciate the feelings”: Ibid., 182

23 “Between you and me, my friend”: Ibid.

68. THE SECOND TURKISH WAR AND THE DEATH OF POTEMKIN

1 “You are impatient”: Madariaga, Russia in the Age, 398

2 “Children, I forbid you”: Soloveytchik, 301

3 “I will try to get it cheaply”: Ibid., 308

4 “You cannot capture a fortress”: Ibid.

5 “My dear friend, you alone mean more to me”: Ibid.

6 “May the Prince Gregory Alexandrovich”: Ibid., 309

7 “Hurry up, my dear friend”: Ibid.

8 “If Izmail resists”: Montefiore, 450

9 “this insane note … Sir John Falstaff”: Alexander, 270

10 “breastplate”: Haslip, 346

11 “We have pulled one paw out”: Madariaga, Russia in the Age, 414

12 “I here behold a Commander in Chief”: Ibid., 314

13 “Has your ship struck”: Morison, 230

14 “Paul Jones has just arrived: Ibid., 364

15 “I was entirely captivated”: Ibid.

16 “It is to you alone”: Montefiore, 400

17 “Our victory is complete”: Ibid.

18 “I hope to be subjected”: Morison, 382

19 “nobody wished to serve:: Ibid., 384

20 “She then indulged”: Ibid., 387

21 “The charge against me is an unworthy”: Ibid., 388

22 “The accusation against me is false”: Ibid. 513 “Paul Jones is no more guilty than I”: Montefiore, 421

23 “I must pull out the tooth”: Soloveytchik, 326

24 “When one looks at the Prince-Marshal Potemkin”: Ibid., 327

25 “The child sends his greetings”: Ibid., 335

26 “I could not remove him from my path”: Montefiore, 478

27 “Please send me a Chinese dressing gown”: Ibid., 338

28 “the first pianist and one of the best composers”: Montefiore, 482

29 “Take that which”: Smith, Love and Conquest, 389

30 “I’m not going to recover”: Soloveytchik, 340

31 “Tell me frankly”: Ibid.

32 “Good hands”: Ibid., 341

33 “Matushka, oh how sick I am!”: Smith, Love and Conquest, 390

34 “I have no more strength”: Ibid., 390

35 “This will be enough”: Soloveytchik, 342

36 “the prince is no longer on this earth”: Ibid., 343

37 “Now I have no one left”: Ibid.

69. ART, ARCHITECTURE, AND THE BRONZE HORSEMAN

1 “The Walpole paintings are no longer to be had”: Descargues, 42

2 “The Comte de Baudoin leaves it”: Ibid., 44

3 “The world is a strange place”: Ibid.

4 “We are prodigiously delighted”: Ibid.

5 “I am a glutton”: Waliszewski, 344

6 “You should know our mania”: Madariaga, Russia in the Age, 532

7 “Now I love to distraction”: Waliszewski, 390

8 The Captain’s Daughter appears in Yarmolinski, ed., 599–727

9 “My posterity is Your Majesty”: Waliszewski, 341 529 “What a charming picture”: Descargues, 26

10 “My paintings are beautiful”: Ibid., 29

11 “They have not made, as I have”: Rounding, 221

12 “There is an old song”: Ibid., 222

13 “I hear only praise”: Ibid.

14 “in general, everyone is very happy”: Ibid.

15 “You will choose honest and reasonable people”: Waliszewski, 350

16 The lines from Pushkin’s “The Bronze Horseman” are cited in Yarmolinski, ed., 106–107

70. “THEY ARE CAPABLE OF HANGING THEIR KING FROM A LAMPPOST!”

1 “to God and the country never to be separated”: Schama, 359

2 “Go tell those who have sent you”: Schama, 363

3 “null, illegal, and unconstitutional”: Winik, 124

4 “I fear that the greatest obstacle”: Gooch, 103

5 “French, Russians, Danes”: Madariaga, Catherine, 189

6 “I cannot believe in the superior talents”: Gooch, 99

7 “They are capable of hanging their king”: Madariaga, Russia in the Age, 421

8 “Above all, I hope”: Gooch, 99

9 “I am sad to see you go”: Haslip, 341

10 “I am afraid so, Madame”: Ibid.

11 “the Hydra with twelve hundred heads”: Waliszewski, 351

12 “only people who set in motion a machine”: Gooch, 100

13 “Tell a thousand people to draft a letter”: Cronin, 269

14 “the cause of the king of France”: This summary of Catherine’s memorandum is based on Lariviere, 101 ff.

15 “an exemplary and unforgettable act”: Schama, 612

16 “a scum of criminals vomited”: Loomis, 75

17 “I don’t give a damn about the prisoners”: Schama, 633

18 “to protect the republic”: Thompson, 258–9

19 “the foulest and most atrocious act”: Schama, 687

20 “The revolution has no need”: Loomis, 335

21 “Madame, we must go now”: Ibid., 333

22 “The mechanism falls like thunder”: Schama, 621

23 “immediately after the decapitation”: www.guillotine.dk/Pages/30sek/html.

71. DISSENT IN RUSSIA, FINAL PARTITION OF POLAND

1 “Likely to corrupt morals”: Madariaga, Russia in the Age, 546

2 “beastly purpose”: Radishchev, 96

3 “breaks the head”: Ibid., 97

4 “Do you know, dear fellow citizens”: Ibid., 153

5 “has learning enough”: Ibid., 239

6 “hence the suspicion falls on M. Radishchev”: Ibid., 241

7 “the purpose of this book is clear”: Ibid., 239

8 “a rabble-rouser, worse than Pugachev”: Ibid., 11

9 “I’ve read the book you sent me”: Montefiore, 440

10 “Now I am my own master”: Radishchev, 19

11 “will oppose us with only”: Madariaga, Russia in the Age, 430

12 “exterminate that nest of Jacobins”: Haslip, 353

13 “I am breaking my head”: Madariaga, Russia in the Age, 428

14 “Apparently you ignore”: Ibid., “435

15 “soldiers of Her Imperial Majesty”: Haslip, 356

16 “Does the Diet authorize”: Madariaga, Russia in the Age, 439

17 “Silence means consent”: Ibid. 557 “a Russian province”: Ibid., 440

18 “the whole of Praga”: Ibid., 446

72. TWILIGHT

1 “You probably don’t need this contrivance”: Cronin, 289

2 “are you not ashamed of yourself?”: Waliszewski, 376

3 “let me march against the French!”: Kaus, 376

4 “Madame, you must be gay”: Ibid., 367

5 “Twenty years ago”: Waliszewski, 391

6 “I have said it to you before”: Ibid., 412

7 “It is astonishing”: Troyat, 236

8 “If you only knew what wonders”: Kaus, 306

9 “I am making a delicious child”: Troyat, 236

10 “He loves me instinctively”: Oldenbourg, 331

11 “It is sewn together”: Waliszewski, 413

12 “There is in my country”: Troyat, 323

13 “I didn’t know what would become of me”: Cronin, 295

14 “the grand duchess will never be troubled”: Madariaga, Russia in the Age, 576

15 “With the church’s blessing?”: Cronin, 296

16 “King Gustavus is not well”: Ibid., 297

17 “What I have written”: Madariaga, Russia in the Age, 576

18 “The fact is that the king pretended”: Memoirs (Anthony), 321

73. THE DEATH OF CATHERINE THE GREAT

1 “The grand duke got out of his sleigh”: Cronin, 299

2 “Gentlemen, the Empress Catherine is dead”: Ibid., 300

3 “The subject was the unlimited power”: Madariaga, Russia in the Age, 580

4 “Before I became what I am today”: Haslip, 361

5 “HERE LIES CATHERINE”: Anthony, 325

6 “my name is Catherine II”: Alexander, 265

7 “Day before yesterday”: Haslip, 361