Voltaire and Diderot.

The friends and the foes of Catharine are alike lavish in their
encomiums upon her attempts to elevate Russia in prosperity and in
national greatness. Under her guidance an assembly was convened to
frame a code of laws, based on justice, and which should be supreme
throughout all Russia. The assembly prosecuted its work with great
energy, and, ere its dissolution, passed a resolution decreeing to the
empress the titles of "Great, Wise, Prudent, and Mother of the
Country."

To this decree Catharine modestly replied, "If I have rendered myself
worthy of the first title, it belongs to posterity to confer it upon
me. Wisdom and prudence are the gifts of Heaven, for which I daily
give thanks, without presuming to derive any merit from them myself.
The title of _Mother of the Country_ is, in my eyes, the most dear of
all,--the only one I can accept, and which I regard as the most benign
and glorious recompense for my labors and solicitudes in behalf of a
people whom I love."

The code of laws thus framed is a noble monument to the genius and
humanity of Catharine II. The principles of enlightened philanthropy
pervades the code, which recognizes the immutable principles of right,
and which seems designed to undermine the very foundations of
despotism. In the instructions which Catharine drew up for the
guidance of the assembly, she wrote,

"Laws should be framed with the sole object of conducting mankind to
the greatest happiness. It is our duty to mitigate the lot of those
who live in a state of dependence. The liberty and security of the
citizens ought to be the grand and precious object of all laws; they
should all tend to render life, honor and property as stable and
secure as the constitution of the government itself. It is
incomparably better to prevent crimes than to punish them. The use of
torture is contrary to sound reason. Humanity cries out against this
practice, and insists on its being abolished."

The condition of the peasantry, heavily taxed by the nobles, excited
her deepest commiseration. She wished their entire enfranchisement,
but was fully conscious that she was not strong enough to undertake so
sweeping a measure of reform. She insisted, however, "that laws should
be prescribed to the nobility, obliging them to act more circumspectly
in the manner of levying their dues, and to protect the peasant, so
that his condition might be improved and that he might be enabled to
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