THE PRINCES.
13
by a few privy-councillors. It had neither arts nor
manufactures, and had suffered from war, famine,
pestilence, and flood. But it was a land highly honored.
The sister of its prince was the Empress Catherine II.
of Russia. That prince himself, though he lived away
from his country, was quite sensible to the glory of his
position, and had a feeling heart for the sufferings of
monarchs, if not of subjects. When he heard that
impious Frenchmen had cut off the head of their king,
Louis XVI., he was borne down with melancholy,
refused food and drink, and died, as he had lived, a
parody, the caricature of a royal martyr.
