CHAPTER XXVI.
REIGN OF CATHARINE II.
From 1774 to 1781.
Peace with Turkey .-- Court of Catharine II .-- Her Personal Appearance and Habits .-- Conspiracy and Rebellion .-- Defeat of the Rebels .-- Magnanimity of Catharine II .-- Ambition of the Empress .-- Court Favorite .-- Division of Russia into Provinces .-- internal Improvements .-- New Partition of Poland .-- Death of the Wife of Paul .-- Second Marriage of the Grand Duke .-- Splendor of the Russian Court .-- Russia and Austria Secretly Combine to Drive the Turks out of Europe .-- The Emperor Joseph II..