igious tolerance, justice tempered with mercy (Gooch 91), education for women, civil rights determined within the bounds of class and estate, and the classical style in art and architecture. A women quite out of the ordinary, Catherine possessed "high intelligence, a natural ability to administer and govern, a remarkable practical sense, energy to spare, and an iron will" (Riasanovsky 256). Along with her determination went courage and optimism, self-control, skill in discussion and propaganda, and a clever handling of men and circumstances to best serve her ends. Yet, together with her virtues, Catherine had certain weaknesses: her determination easily became ruthlessness, just as her ambition became vanity (Gooch 96). "Even Catherine II's admirers sometimes noticed that she lacked something, call it charity, mercy, or human sympathy" (Riasanovsky 256). Indisputably, however, for the first time since Peter the Great, Russia had acquired a sovereign who worked day and night, paying personal attention to all kinds o
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