Clause 9. The Sovereign is absolute; for there is no other authority but that which centers in his single Person that can act with a Vigor proportionate to the Extent of such a vast Dominion.
Clause 10. The Extent of the Dominion requires an absolute Power to be vested in that Person who rules over it. It is expedient so to be that the quick Dispatch of Affairs, sent from distant Parts, might make ample Amends for the Delay occasioned by the great
Distance of the Places.
Clause 11. Every other Form of Government whatsoever would not only have been prejudicial to Russia, but would even have proved its entire Ruin....
Clause 13. What is the true End of Monarchy? Not to deprive People of their natural Liberty; but to correct their Actions, in order to
attain the supreme Good.
Clause 14. The Form of Government, therefore, which best attains this End, and at the same Time sets less Bounds than others to natural Liberty, is that which coincides with the Views and Purposes of rational Creatures, and answers the End, upon which we ought to fix a steadfast Eye in the Regulations of civil Polity.
Source: Catherine the Great, Tsar of Russia, Instructions to the Legislative Commission, 1767
1. Which clause best supports the claim that Catherine was influenced by the ideas of the Enlightenment?
(1) clause 9 stating that the sovereign is absolute and can "act with... Vigor"
(2) clause 10 arguing that the "Extent of the Dominion requires an absolute Power"
(3) clause 11 criticizing other forms of government that would have "proved its [Russia's] entire Ruin"
(4) clause 14mentioning the "natural Liberty" of "rational Creatures"