Her beauty, as well as her rank and large dowry, occafi-
i oned feveral offers, none of which, however, took place, and
ihe died fingle. During the life of her father Peter I. a negotiation
had commenced for her marriage with Louis XV. but
although notferioufly adopted by the court of France, it was
never relinquilhed until the daughter of Staniflaus, titular
king of Poland, was publickly affianced to the young monarch.
By the will of Catharine, Elizabeth was betrothed to
Charles Auguftus, bifhop of Lubeck, duke of Slefwick and
Holftein, and brother to the late king of Sweden, but he died
before the completion of the ceremony. In the reign of
Peter II. ihe was demanded by Charles Margrave of Anfpach ;
in j 74 1 by the Perfian tyrant Kouli Khan; and at the time
of the revolution the regent Anne endeavoured to force her
to efpoufe prince Louis of Brunfwick, for whom ihe entertained
a fettled averfion *. From the period of her acceflion
ihe renounced all thoughts of the connubial ftate, and
adopted her nephew Peter. Her diilike to marriage, however,
certainly did not proceed from any difinclination to
man ; for ihe would freely and frequently own to her confidents
that ihe was never happy but when ihe was in love t,
i f we may dignify by that name a capricious paffion ever
changing its objeCt. The fame charaéteriftick warmth of
temper hurried her no lefs to the extremes of devotion : ihe
“ have heard her talk in fuch a (train o f * See Manilein's Memoirs, p . 25; 285.
“ good fenfe and iteady reafoning, that I ' 309.
1 am perfuaded the other behaviour is a + “ Elle étoit voluptiieufe à l ’excès, née
“ fe in t ; but ihe feems eafy : I fay feems,
“ for who knows the heart ? In iliort, ihe
“ is an amiable creature; and though I
“ think the throne very worthily filled, yet
“ I cannot help wiihing ihe were to be the
“ fucceflor at leait.” Letters from Ruffia, See. p. 170,
p. 73 and 76.
de fang voluptueux, & elle diibit fouvent à
fes confidentes,, qu’elle n’étoit contente
que tant qu'elle étoit amoureufe j mais
elle étoit avec cela fort in’conflante &
changeoit fouvent de favoris.” Ebauche,
was
was fcrupuloufly exaét in her annual confeflions of the pHAPwanderings
of her heart, in expreffing the utmoft contrition, < »'■ ■>
and in punctually adhering both in publick and private to the
minuteft ceremonies and ordinances of the church.
With refpect to her difpofition and turn of mind, ihe is
generally ftyled the humane Elizabeth, as ihe made a vow
upon her acceflion to inflict no capital punifhments* during
-her -reign ; and is reported to have fhed tears upon the news
o f every victory gained by her troops, from the reflection
that it could not have been obtained without great bloodlhed.
But although no criminal was formally executed in publick, yet
the ftate priions were filled with wretched fufferers, many of
Whom, •ùnheâfd a f and unknown, perifhed in the damp and
unwholefomedungeons : the ftate inquifition, or fecret committee,
appointed to judge perfons fufpected of high treafon,
had conftânt occupation during her reign; many upon the
iligbteft furmizes were tortured in fecret ; many underwent
thé knoot and expired under the infliction. But the transaction
which reflects the higheft difgrace upon her reign,
was the publick punifhment of two ladies of fafhion ; the
counteffes Beftuchef and Lapookin : each received fifty
ftrokes o f the knoot in the open fquare of Peteriburgh,
their tongues were cut out, and they were baniihed into
Siberia. One of thefe ladies, Madame Lapookin, efteemed the
handfomeft woman in Ruffia, was accufed of carrying on a
fecret correfpondence with the French embaflador ; but her
real crime was her having commented too freely on the
emprefles amours. Even the mere relation of fuch an affecting
fcene, as that of a woman of great beauty and high
rank publickly expofed and fcourged by the common executioner,
muft excite the ftrongeft emotions of horror, and
* See Remarks on he r celebrated edi£t, which abolrihed capital pimiihments, in the
-chapter on the Penal Laws o f Ruffia in the next volume.
V ol. I. X x x forbid