Death
Natalia finally delivered a stillborn son, after a long and painful labour, on 15 April 1776. The infant was enormous and although it was impossible for Natalia to safely deliver the child, the court doctors did not perform a Caesarian. Shortly after the delivery, Natalia died. Her husband, Paul, was mad with grief and insisted on keeping her with him. The Chevalier de Corberon questioned the surgeon Moreau during a dinner, and he wrote, "He told me privately that in his opinion, the surgeons and doctors of the court were asses. The Grand Duchess should never have died. In truth, it is very surprising that greater care is not taken in advance with a Grand Duchess. The people are very angry, weeping and bitter. Yesterday and today, people in shops were heard to say, 'The young ladies die; the old babas never die.'" Old babas (old women) was an allusion to Empress Catherine II.
Read more about this topic: Natalia Alexeievna Of Russia
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“for it is not so much to know the self
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—Archie Randolph Ammons (b. 1926)
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“The death of a dear friend, wife, brother, lover, which seemed nothing but privation, somewhat later assumes the aspect of a guide or genius; for it commonly operates revolutions in our way of life, terminates an epoch of infancy or of youth which was waiting to be closed, breaks up a wonted occupation, or a household, or style of living, and allows for the formation of new ones more friendly to the growth of character.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)