“with amazing firmness in life, but Catherine alone deserves the name of legislator.” Prince de Lin, an Australian field marshal, compared her with Henry [I and Louis XMM, and called her “Catherine the Great.” 'Catherine herself is not less highly valued her merits, and sent in letters to Grimm, back in 1781, a list of her dByanY, co-
Gr. Segur.
appointed as her secretary Bezborodka. That's it list;
Provinces established according to the new regulations.. 99 Built in! word of the concluded agreements and agreements..... 30
Memorable decrees on laws or establish decrees that ease the lot of the people...... 1923 Total:.. 492
Such was the glorious monarch to whom I was an ambassador," Segur concluded his description. He was sent to her court by the king's ministers in order to achieve her friendship, to improve relations between Rose and Fransha. These relations were very strained at that time. Fransha looked askance at the Polish partition, and at the annexation of the Crimea, and at Russian policy in the Black Sea, where Catherine dreamed of destroying Turkey and restoring the Greek Empire. France, on the contrary, tried to strengthen Turkey in order to prevent its neighbors from strengthening at its expense; French instructors trained the Turks in military matters, supplied them with weapons and military supplies. Segur had to monitor the progress of affairs in the Black Sea, and not offend the Turks; At the same time, not to irritate Russia too much, so as not to lead to a war with her - France was revolutionary on the eve, its finances were ruined, and it would have been impossible for her to fight. Segur’s position was difficult: the French ministers did not bring him to success;
rock to war. Potemkin himself more than once reproached him for being excessively lenient towards the Turks and called him, in the Turkish manner, Segur: Eeendi. But Segur did not despair; he hoped to overcome all obstacles, and even hoped to achieve great things - he tried to establish trade relations between Rosai and Franschey on the Black Sea, and dreamed of concluding a trade agreement beneficial for Franschey, relegating his trade rivals, the English, to the background. "It is more necessary for both states," said Segur, "that the empress now has ports on the Black Sea. We are in the most favorable position to open sales points for the southern regions of the empire, sending their products along the long, difficult route to the Baltic Sea... Mutual exchange is so necessary for France and Russia that their ports immediately will be filled with merchant ships of both countries, as soon as the obstacles are removed."...
But first, to persuade the Russian ministers to a trade agreement, it was necessary to obtain aulenshu from the empress. This realization had to wait quite a while; when, finally, the audience was appointed, and Segur appeared at the palace, he almost experienced failure. “As usual,” he says in his notes, “I presented the Vice-Chancellor with the speech that I had to pronounce. When I arrived at the palace, in the main room where I was waiting, Count Cobenzel, the Austrian envoy, met me. His lively, animated conversation and the importance of the subjects of this conversation occupied my attention and entertained me completely, so when the MNB announced that the Empress was ready to receive me, I noticed that I had completely forgotten my welcoming speech. In vain I tried to remember her, passing through a series of rooms, when suddenly the door opened and I stood before the Empress...
At first glance, Catherine made a strong impression. “She has a truly regal appearance,” said contemporary Ruliere about her. “The lofty brow, the slightly thrown back head, the proud look and the nobility of her entire posture seemed to elevate her not so tall.” “She had an aquiline nose, a lovely mouth, blue eyes and black eyebrows, an extremely pleasant look and an attractive smile... The beauty and shine of her skin served as an adornment for her, which she preserved for a long time,” is how Segur described her. One can imagine how embarrassed the ambassador must have been, forgetting his speech, when this Semiramis of Severa appeared before him.