Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Memoirs Of Her Late Imperial Majesty, Catharine Ii.
MEMOIRS OF HER LATE IMPERIAL MAJESTY , CATHARINE II .
EMPRESS AND AUrOCRATEIX OF ALL THE RUSSIAS , & C ^ CONCLUDED FROM OUK LAST . J A MONG the best of the regulations made by Pe'er I . must be - ^ -k- mentioned , the endowment of some free towns with certain '
privileges , which were afterwards augmented bv Elizabeth . But these privileges were confined to Petersburgh , Moscow , Astracan , Tver , and a few other great provincial towns ; and all the inhabitants , merchants not excepted , were liable to the poll tax , and to be draughted for , the army and navy . Catharine the II . however , exempted the body of merchants from these two odious instances of servitude ; and sensible that Commerce and Industry are the chief springs of national
wealth increased the number and immunities of the free towns , and permitted every man to enrol himself into the class of merchants or burghers , who form the third order of the inhabitants of the empire . The abolition of torture is a strong instance of the wisdom and "humanity of Catharine II . In 1762 , Catharine , soon after her accession ' took awaythe power . of inflicting torture from the Vayvodes
, , or inferior justices , by whom it had been shamefully abused . In 176 7 , a secret order was issued to the judges in the several provinces to abolish the use of it , and . it has since been formally and publicly annulled . The abolition of this horrid species of judicature ,
throughout the vast dominions of the Russian empire , forms a memorable a ? ra in the annals of humanity . As the patroness of the arts , Catharine has ever been conspicuous . The protection afforded to the institutions for the promotion of them founded i : y her predecessors , and the pensions bestowed on men of genius , will ever render her name dear to science and learning . The equestrian statue erected by her to the memory of Peter I . and many
of the public buildings in Petersburgh , are monuments , of her fine taste . And it is to her unparalleled munificence that we are indebted for the , labours of Professors Pallas and Matthzeus , and a number of other scientific and learned men . ~ It now only remains to consider Catharine as a conqueror ; and the accessions to the Russian empire by right of conquest , during her
reign , are vast indeed . By tiie conquest of the Crimea and the country of Ockzakof , she has secured such a power in the black sea as leaves Constantinople dependent , even as to its very existence , on th will of the sovereign of the Russias , and must , in the event , effect the total overthrow of the Ottoman empire . By the completion of the conquest of the remote parts of Siberia and the shores of the
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Memoirs Of Her Late Imperial Majesty, Catharine Ii.
MEMOIRS OF HER LATE IMPERIAL MAJESTY , CATHARINE II .
EMPRESS AND AUrOCRATEIX OF ALL THE RUSSIAS , & C ^ CONCLUDED FROM OUK LAST . J A MONG the best of the regulations made by Pe'er I . must be - ^ -k- mentioned , the endowment of some free towns with certain '
privileges , which were afterwards augmented bv Elizabeth . But these privileges were confined to Petersburgh , Moscow , Astracan , Tver , and a few other great provincial towns ; and all the inhabitants , merchants not excepted , were liable to the poll tax , and to be draughted for , the army and navy . Catharine the II . however , exempted the body of merchants from these two odious instances of servitude ; and sensible that Commerce and Industry are the chief springs of national
wealth increased the number and immunities of the free towns , and permitted every man to enrol himself into the class of merchants or burghers , who form the third order of the inhabitants of the empire . The abolition of torture is a strong instance of the wisdom and "humanity of Catharine II . In 1762 , Catharine , soon after her accession ' took awaythe power . of inflicting torture from the Vayvodes
, , or inferior justices , by whom it had been shamefully abused . In 176 7 , a secret order was issued to the judges in the several provinces to abolish the use of it , and . it has since been formally and publicly annulled . The abolition of this horrid species of judicature ,
throughout the vast dominions of the Russian empire , forms a memorable a ? ra in the annals of humanity . As the patroness of the arts , Catharine has ever been conspicuous . The protection afforded to the institutions for the promotion of them founded i : y her predecessors , and the pensions bestowed on men of genius , will ever render her name dear to science and learning . The equestrian statue erected by her to the memory of Peter I . and many
of the public buildings in Petersburgh , are monuments , of her fine taste . And it is to her unparalleled munificence that we are indebted for the , labours of Professors Pallas and Matthzeus , and a number of other scientific and learned men . ~ It now only remains to consider Catharine as a conqueror ; and the accessions to the Russian empire by right of conquest , during her
reign , are vast indeed . By tiie conquest of the Crimea and the country of Ockzakof , she has secured such a power in the black sea as leaves Constantinople dependent , even as to its very existence , on th will of the sovereign of the Russias , and must , in the event , effect the total overthrow of the Ottoman empire . By the completion of the conquest of the remote parts of Siberia and the shores of the