a popular historian, the eldest son of Alexander Russell and Christian Ballantine, was born in the year 1741 at Windydoors, a farm-house in the parish of Stowe and county of Selkirk. At an early age he was sent to school in the neighbouring village of Inverleithen, where he acquired an elementary knowledge of the Greek and Latin languages; and private study afterwards enabled him to supply many of the deficiencies of his early education. In 1756 he was removed to Edinburgh, in order to be instructed in writing and arithmetic; and after having attended to these branches for about ten months, he was bound an apprentice to the bookselling and printing business for the term of five years. While engaged in this occupation he discovered the utmost ardour in literary pursuits; nor was his situation unfavourable to the acquisition of useful and elegant knowledge. After the completion of his apprenticeship he published a select collection of modern poems, which was favourably received.

About the year 1763 he made an unsuccessful attempt to adapt Crebillon's Rhadamisithe et Zenobie to the English stage. In 1764 he retired to the country, and spent the succeeding autumn with Lord Elbank. He had relinquished his original employment, and he now prosecuted with zeal his historical and literary studies.

Having resided with his father till the month of May 1767, he proceeded to London in quest of honour and emolument. But his high hopes were speedily blasted. After having vain waited for advancement, he engaged himself as a corrector of the press in the great office of William Strahan, afterwards printer to his majesty. In the year 1769 he quitted the employment of Strahan, and was engaged as overseer of the printing-office of Brown and Aillard. During the same year he published an Ode to Fortitude. His Sentimental Tales appeared in 1770; and from this time he contributed to the periodical publications many essays in prose as well as verse. In 1772 he published a collection of Fables, Moral and Sentimental; and An Essay on the Character, Manners, and Genius of Women, from the French of M. Thomas. In 1774 he produced an octavo volume under the title of Julia, a Poetical Romance. Of this work, which is founded on the Nouvelle Héloise of Rousseau, neither the plan nor the execution can be commended. Russell is the author of the verses on the death of Hume and on the death of Dr Armstrong, subscribed "W. R," and dated from Gray's Inn, Sept. 10, 1779, which are commonly printed with the poems of that classical writer. His History of America, published in numbers, was completed in the course of the same year. This work was received with some degree of favour; but the splendid merit of Dr Robertson's History precluded all competition. During the same year (1779) he likewise published, in octavo, the first two volumes of The History of Modern Europe, with an Account of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, and a View of the Progress of Society from the Fifth to the Eighteenth Century, in a Series of Letters from a Nobleman to his Son. Their reception was so favourable as to exceed his most sanguine expectations. In the year 1783 he published The Tragic Muse, a poem addressed to Mrs Siddons. The three volumes which completed the History of Modern Europe made their appearance in 1784. His narrative is always free from languor, and his reflections are conveyed in a lively and elegant style. It is, however, to be regretted that he should have adopted the commercial expedient of exhibiting his work as a series of letters from a nobleman to his son; every reader is sufficiently aware that Dr Russell did not belong to the order of nobility; and the frequent recurrence of "my dear Philip" is too apt to remind one of Lord Chesterfield. This work has very often been reprinted, and has still some degree of popularity. Russell closes his History with the peace of Paris in 1763. A continuation, extending to two volumes, was added by the late Dr Coote; and another writer has continued the narrative still farther down.

In the year 1787 he married Isabella Scott, a lady of Eskdale, to whom he had long been attached, and in whom he found a pleasant and intelligent companion. He now entered upon the occupation of a comfortable farm at Knottiholm, in the parish of Canonby and county of Dumfries, where he spent the remainder of his days.

He had now acquired the reputation of a very popular historian; and in 1792 the university of St Andrews conferred upon him the degree of LL.D. During the following year he published at London, in two volumes octavo, The History of Ancient Europe, with a View of the Revolutions in Asia and Africa, in a Series of Letters to a Young Nobleman. This production partakes of the peculiar merits of his modern history; but as the author did not live to complete his design, it never attained to the same popularity. Of these two volumes, the greater proportion relates to the history of Greece. Dr Coote was afterwards induced to supply what he had left deficient.

Dr Russell did not long survive the publication of his last work. A stroke of palsy suddenly terminated his life, on the 25th of December 1793, after he had completed the fifty-second year of his age.

He had engaged in various projects which he did not live to execute. Among these was his History of England from the Beginning of the Reign of George III. to the Conclusion of the American War, a work on which he was engaged at the close of his life. The history of Russia commences shortly after the middle of the ninth century, when a Scandinavian race, known as the Varages or Varangians, established their dominion over several of the less warlike Slavonic and Finnish tribes who inhabited the eastern shores of the Baltic. These seem to have made some progress in the arts of peace, and even at this early period to have carried on a considerable commerce. Harassed by more warlike neighbours, they had called in the assistance of the Varangians; but these unscrupulous allies no sooner rid them of their enemies than they established themselves in their country. Ruric, the leader of the Varangians, built a town near the Volkhof, where Old Ladoga now stands, and made it the seat of his government. This is said to have been about A.D. 862. His two brothers Sinaf and Truvor, who had accompanied him, established themselves,—the former at Bielo Ozero, and the latter at Isborsk, near Pleskof. The rightful owners of the soil, however, were not inclined peacefully to submit to this species of usurpation, and accordingly they took up arms under the leadership of Vadim, a chief who had greatly distinguished himself for his military talents. A fierce engagement took place, in which the Varangians were victorious, Vadim and several of the other chiefs having lost their lives. This success emboldened Ruric to extend his territories and to change the seat of his government from Ladoga to Novgorod, the capital of the Slavi, which was even then a large and opulent city. His brothers Sinaf and Truvor died soon after, and Ruric became sole monarch of the conquered territory, over which he reigned without further molestation for fifteen years. At his death his son Igor was only four years of age, and the government devolved upon his kinsman Oleg. The new ruler did not long remain idle, and one of his first expeditions was against Kief, where two Varangian chiefs, Oskhold and Dir, seem to have established their dominion over the Slavi of that part. To effect his purpose, Oleg had recourse to stratagem; and, taking with him Igor, he descended the Dnieper with a few boats, in which he had concealed a number of armed men. On approaching Kief, he sent a message to the two chiefs, stating that some Varangian merchants, on their way to Greece by order of the Prince of Novgorod, desired to see them as friends and kin-men. Oskhold and Dir accepted the invitation, and, suspecting no harm, went unarmed and unattended. They no sooner reached the place of meeting than they were surrounded by armed men, and Oleg taking Igor in his arms, cried, "You are neither princes nor of the race of princes; but I am a prince, and this is the son of Ruric." No sooner were these words uttered than the soldiers fell upon the two chiefs and slew them. The inhabitants of Kief, thrown into consternation by this bold and treacherous act, made no resistance, but opened the gates of their city to the invader. But his ambitious designs did not end here. He now meditated an attack upon Constantinople, and for that purpose he removed the seat of his government to Kief. At length he embarked on the Dnieper with 80,000 warriors, on board of no fewer than 2000 vessels. After encountering numerous obstacles, and having several times to disembark and carry their vessels for some distance overland, the Russians at length reached the Black Sea, and, coasting along its shores, they soon arrived at the Strait of Constantinople. To prevent their approach to the city, the inhabitants had thrown a chain across the harbour; but the invaders, not deterred by this, are said to have drawn their vessels ashore, and fitting them upon wheels, by means of sails, converted them into carriages, and thus arrived under the walls of the city. The weak Leo, who was then upon the throne, did not offer any resistance, but was content to purchase an ignominious peace, and Oleg returned to Kief laden with wealth. Soon after this Oleg sent deputies to Constantinople with articles of a treaty to be signed by the Greek emperor. From this treaty we learn many important particulars respecting the internal policy of the Russians at the beginning of the tenth century. It shows that they laid great stress upon oaths; that murder was punished by death, and not by fine; that a thief taken in the fact might be killed by the proprietor with impunity, or, if found and brought before the judge, he was obliged to restore the stolen goods, together with three times their value; that wives had a part of the estates of their husbands; that punishment did not extend to the entire confiscation of goods, and hence the widow and orphan did not suffer for a crime of which they were innocent; that citizens might dispose of their effects in favour of friends, without fear of the sovereign seizing on their heritage. Oleg died in 913, after having conducted the government for thirty-three years, leaving Igor in full of Igor, possession of the throne, who, up to this time, does not seem to have had any share in the administration. On the accession of the new sovereign, several of the nations that had been subjugated by Oleg attempted to regain their independence. The Drevilians were the first to revolt; but they were soon quelled, and punished by the imposition of an increased tribute. The Ugliche, who dwelt on the southern side of the Dnieper, contended longer for their liberty, and one of their principal towns withstood a siege for three years; but at length they too were subdued and made tributary. Igor had next to contend with a more formidable enemy in the Petchenegans, a nation hitherto unknown, who, quitting their settlements on the Oural and Volga, established themselves on the Don and the Dnieper. Igor finding himself unable to cope with his new enemies, concluded a treaty of alliance with them. About five years afterwards disputes seem to have arisen between them, and both parties had recourse to arms. It appears that the Russians were finally victorious, and the Petchenegans were for some time disabled from giving farther molestation.

We next hear of Igor in 941 setting out on an expedition against the Greeks with, if we may credit the Russian dition accounts, 10,000 barks, each carrying forty men. The government of the empire, however, was now in different hands from those that had held it during the former invasion. The Greeks were commanded by two able generals, Theophanes and Phocas, the former of whom was over the fleet, the latter over the army. Theophanes attacked them in their ships, and throwing among them the terrible Greek fire, with the effects of which they were totally unacquainted, caused such consternation that many cast themselves into the sea to avoid the flames. Their vessels were dispersed, shattered, or burned, and great numbers of their crews perished. Those that reached the land were immediately attacked by Phocas, so that Igor carried back with him scarcely one-third of his immense army. Though discouraged by this ill success, it did not deter him from making a second attempt, and accordingly, three years afterwards, he set out with a new army, which included many of the Petchenegans whom he had taken into pay. Before he had advanced beyond the Tauric Chersonesus, however, he was met by deputies from the emperor, offering to pay to him the same tribute that his predecessor had received; and Igor, doubtful of the issue of a contest, complied with this offer, and retired with his army. Igor was now far advanced in years, but the insatiable rapacity of his officers impelled him to turn his army against the Drevlians, for the purpose of obtaining from them an increase of their yearly tribute. In this he was at first successful, and was returning home loaded with booty; but, not yet satisfied, he sent home the greater part of his troops with the spoil, and with the remainder marched again into the enemy's country. The Drevlians, now driven to desperation, fell upon him and his followers near the town of Iskorosch, and massacred the whole of them.

Igor's son, Sviatoslav, was very young at the death of his father, and the regency devolved upon Olga the queen-mother. Her first act was to revenge the murder of her husband. The Drevlians were anxious to renew friendship with the Russians, and their chief made offer of his hand to Olga. Pretending to listen to their overtures, the queen received the messengers kindly, but immediately caused them to be put to death. In the meantime, she requested a larger deputation to be sent to her, consisting of the chief men of the state; and these, on their arrival, she treated in the same inhuman manner, taking care, in each case, that no tidings should reach the Drevlians. She then set out, as if on a friendly visit, to conclude the new alliance, and having invited to a great entertainment some hundreds of the principal inhabitants, she caused them all to be assassinated. Not yet satisfied, she now laid waste the country with fire and sword. The town near which Igor had lost his life long withstood her utmost efforts, the inhabitants dreading the horrible fate that awaited them. At length she had recourse to stratagem, and promised them mercy on condition of receiving all the pigeons in the town. To the tails of these she attached lighted matches, and then set them all at liberty. They of course made for their usual haunts, and the houses being all of wood, the town was speedily in a blaze. The wretched inhabitants, endeavouring to escape the flames, were immediately butchered by the Russians.

The only other remarkable event during Olga's regency was her conversion to Christianity. Though Christianity seems to have been introduced into Russia before this time, and full liberty allowed to its professors in their worship, yet it had hitherto made little progress. The people were still pagans, practising the most absurd and cruel superstitions. Olga, however, resolved to embrace the Greek religion, and for that purpose undertook a journey to Constantinople about A.D. 965. Constantine Porphyrogeneta, who was then upon the throne, received the royal convert with the greatest respect,—himself conducting her to the baptismal font, where, in the character of sponsor, he gave her the name of Helen. Her example, however, had little effect upon the Russians, and even her son disregarded all her solicitations to become a Christian. She died about the year 969. It is not known at what time Sviatoslav obtained the reins of government, but it is generally supposed to have been about the time of his mother's departure for Constantinople. His first care was to improve the character and discipline of his army, and to this he devoted himself with the greatest zeal, living in the camp, and sharing in the duties and dangers of the meanest of his followers. His food was of the simplest and coarsest description; and he had no tent, but, wrapt in a bear's skin, usually slept on the bare ground. Nor was he less distinguished for his contempt of danger than for his disregard of the luxuries and conveniences of life. His soldiers emulated his example, and were proud to follow a leader who shared in all their toils and hardships. His army thus became formidable, not so much from its numbers as from the courage and discipline of the soldiers; and having little baggage, they could rapidly move from place to place. His first great expedition was against the Kozars, a people that had come from the shores of the Caspian and the sides of the Caucasus, and had established themselves along the eastern side of the Black Sea. He totally vanquished them, and took their capital by storm. He is even said to have annihilated the nation, at least we find no mention of it after that time. The Greek emperor Nicephorus Phocas, harassed by the Hungarians, assisted by his treacherous allies the Bulgarians, applied for assistance to Sviatoslav, who hastened southward with a large army. He quickly made himself master of all the Bulgarian towns along the Danube, and was so elated with his success, that he resolved to remove the seat of his government from Kief to Pereslavlavatz, now Yamboly, on the banks of that river. He was, however, obliged to defer his intentions and hasten home, having received intelligence that the Petchenegans, taking advantage of his absence, were ravaging his territory, and had laid siege to his capital. Before his arrival, however, the Petchenegans had, by an artifice of the Russian general, been induced to raise the siege. After reducing them to subjection, Sviatoslav resumed his design of establishing himself on the Danube. By this time the Bulgarians had recovered most of their towns, and were prepared to resist his encroachments. At length he succeeded in establishing himself in Bulgaria, but by this time the Emperor Nicephorus had been assassinated, and his murderer, John Zimisces, had ascended the throne. The new emperor saw clearly that the Russians would be a more dangerous neighbour than the Bulgarians, and sent ambassadors to the Russian monarch, desiring him to evacuate Bulgaria, in terms of his treaty. This Sviatoslav refused to do, and prepared to maintain his ground by force. He raised his army by the addition of Bulgarians, Petchenegans, and Hungarians, to the number of 300,000 men. He first made an incursion into Thrace, burning and ravaging in all directions, and laid siege to Adrianople, but was defeated by stratagem by the commandant of that town. This was succeeded by a series of other losses, and his army was further weakened by desertions among the allied troops, until a great part of them were shut up in the city of Pereslavlavatz. The city was taken by assault, but 8000 of the Russians threw themselves into the citadel, which was considered impregnable. The enemy, however, succeeded in setting it on fire; many threw themselves from the summit of the rock, others perished in the flames, and the rest were taken captive. Sviatoslav, who had not been shut up in Pereslavlavatz, now took refuge in Durostole, the strongest of the few towns that now remained to him on the Danube. It was immediately besieged by the enemy; and the Russians, reduced to extremity, made a sally from the town. A desperate battle ensued, in which the Russians were defeated; and Sviatoslav made for Russia with the shattered remains of his army. Contrary to the advice of his most experienced officers, he attempted the navigation of the Dnieper, and was intercepted near the cataracts of that river by his old enemies the Petchenegans. After remaining on the defensive all winter, exposed to famine and disease, he attempted to force his way through the enemy, but was defeated, and himself slain. He was succeeded by his three sons—Yaropolk in Kiev, Vladimir Yaropolk, in Novgorod, and Oleg in the country of the Drevlians. Vladimir A war soon took place between Yaropolk and Oleg, in which the latter was defeated and slain; and Vladimir, dreading a similar fate, abandoned his dominions, which were quietly seized on by the Kievan prince. He did not, however, long enjoy his success; for Vladimir, who had taken refuge among the Varangians, returned with succours which enabled him not only to secure his possessions, but to make war on the Kievan territory. Yaropolk's chief adviser, Blude, was in the interest of his brother, and led him on to his ruin. He was thus prevailed upon to leave his capital, which immediately opened its gates to the enemy; and was afterwards induced to throw himself on the mercy of his brother, by whom he was ordered to be put to death. The commencement of Vladimir's reign was but a continuation of those atrocities by which he had obtained the throne. The traitor Blude was one of the first to suffer. For three days he was treated with the highest distinction, at the end of which time the king said:—"I have now fulfilled my promise; as executor of justice, I condemn you to death;" and caused him to be immediately executed. He displayed like perfidiousness towards the Varangians, who had assisted in placing him upon the throne. They were beginning to feel the effects of his ingratitude, and so they asked permission to go and seek their fortune in Greece. He granted their request, but also privately advised the emperor of their approach; so that they were arrested and secured. He engaged in numerous wars with the neighbouring states,—the Poles, Bulgarians, Petchenegans, and others; and being generally successful, he added very considerably to his territory. He was very devout in his religious duties, and usually sacrificed a number of his prisoners at the shrine of his gods. On one occasion, to show his devotion, he resolved to sacrifice one of his own subjects, and his choice fell upon a young Varangian, whose father had adopted the Christian faith. The unhappy father refused the victim, and the people, enraged at what they considered an insult to their gods, assaulted the house, and slew both father and son, foiled in mutual embrace. Yet this furious pagan and bloody warrior became afterwards equally zealous in the cause of Christianity. The fame of Vladimir's military exploits had rendered him so formidable to the neighbouring nations that each courted his alliance, and strove to unite him by the ties of the same religion with themselves. Determined to act with judgment, Vladimir despatched deputies to inspect the religious tenets and ceremonies of the several nations, and to report. The accounts of the imposing splendour of the Greek worship, and the gorgeous decorations of the priests and churches, attracted his attention, and he resolved to join that church. Being too proud to seek from the Greek emperor a priest to instruct him in the Christian religion and administer baptism, he resolved to obtain one by arms. Assembling his army, he marched to Taurida, and laid siege to Theodosia. After a lengthened siege, he obtained possession of the town, and soon after of the whole of the Crimea. He might now have obtained baptism, but he was also desirous of an alliance with the Greek monarch, and therefore demanded in marriage Anna, sister of Basilus and Constantine, who were then upon the throne. After some deliberation, his request was complied with, on condition that he and his people should become Christians. These conditions being accepted, the Russian monarch was baptized, and took the name of Basilus, receiving the Grecian princess, and carrying with him several popes and archimandrites, together with sacred vessels and church books, images of saints, and consecrated relics. The change effected in his conduct by his conversion to the Christian faith was, if we may credit the Russian accounts, most marked. Formerly delighting in human blood, he could now scarcely be prevailed upon to sanction the death of the greatest criminal; instead of destroying cities and laying waste territories, he now built churches and endowed seminaries of education; and though he is said to have had six wives and 800 concubines, he now became faithful to the imperial princess. He destroyed the idols that he had formerly worshipped, and used every exertion to persuade his subjects to adopt the Christian religion. His last days were embittered by domestic vexations. His wife and one of his favourite sons died long before him; while another of his sons, Yaroslaf, on whom he had bestowed the government of Novgorod, refused to acknowledge him as his liege lord, and applied to the Varangians for assistance against his father. The aged Vladimir, compelled to march against a rebellious son, died of grief upon the road, after a long and glorious reign of thirty-five years. The improvements introduced by this prince were great and permanent. With the Christian religion he imported from Greece the arts which then flourished in that empire; and almost entirely new-modelled the language of his country, by engraving on it the more refined dialect of the Greeks and adopting in a great measure the letters of their alphabet. He extended the boundaries of Russia westward along the shores of the Baltic into Lithuania and Poland; southward along the shores of the Euxine, so as to include the Crimea and great part of the Bulgarian territories; and eastward to the Oka, the Don, and the Volga.

Vladimir had before his death divided his territories among his twelve sons, reserving to himself and his immediate heir the principality of Kief. This was the occasion of almost perpetual warfare among the brothers. Sviatopolk, who had obtained possession of Kief after the death of his father, attempted by stratagem and force to possess himself of some of the neighbouring principalities. Yaroslaf, Prince of Novgorod, took up arms to stop his encroachments, and forced him to flee for refuge and succour to his father-in-law, Boleslaus of Poland. The latter accompanied him back to Russia with an army, and forced Yaroslaf to retreat with precipitation. Sviatopolk now plotted the destruction of his allies, and a massacre ensued in which many of the Poles lost their lives; whereat Boleslaus was so enraged that he plundered Kief and several other towns, and then left his perfidious son-in-law to shift for himself. He next applied for assistance to the Petchenegans, and with an army of these auxiliaries offered battle to Yaroslaf. The contest was long and bloody, but at length terminated in favour of Yaroslaf. Sviatopolk died soon afterwards. By this victory Yaroslaf became possessed of the greater part of his father's dominions. He advanced the Christian religion by causing the Bible to be translated into the Russian language, and circulated. He also established a metropolitan at Kiev, and devoted himself generally to the advancement of his people. He drew up a code of laws for Novgorod, which is still known as the municipal law of Novgorod. He is supposed to have died about 1054, after a reign of thirty-five years. Like his father, he divided his territories among his sons, but exhorted them on his deathbed to live in peace and harmony among themselves. From his death to the beginning of the thirteenth century, the history of Russia comprises little else than a continued series of intestine commotions and petty wars with the neighbouring states. The same system of dismemberment was continued by the succeeding princes, and was attended with the same result. There were during this period not fewer than seventeen independent principalities, though these were at length reduced to seven, viz., those of Kief, Novgorod, Smolensk, Vladimir, Tver, Halitich, and Moskva or Moscow. Of these, Kief and Novgorod long continued to be the most powerful, though they could not always maintain their superiority over the others; and towards the latter end of the period which we have mentioned, the district of Vladimir erected itself into a grand principality, and became at least as powerful as Kief and Novgorod.

---

1 In the supremacy of these three great principalities we may trace the division of European Russia into Great, Little, and White Russia, a distinction which long maintained its ground, and in later times gave to the sovereign of this empire the title of monarch or emperor of all the Russias. Great Russia comprehended the principality of Novgorod, and extended northward to the White Sea, eastward to the River Dvina and the entrance of the Petchora into the Ural Mountains, whilst to the south it bordered on the district of Vladimir as far as the Volga and the mouth of the Medveditsa, and to the west on Lithuania and Prussia, including the tributary... Such a state of anarchy and confusion held out a strong temptation to powerful states in the vicinity. In the neighbourhood of the Sea of Aral, not far from the confines of Vladimir and Kief, the wandering hordes of Monguls, or Mongol Tartars, took up their residence, about the year 1223, under the conduct of Tschchi, son of the famous Tschinghis Khan, chief of the Mogul empire. From the Aral, Tschchi conducted his hordes along the shores of the Caspian Sea, and gradually approached the Dnieper. In his course he attacked and overcame the Tscherkasses, or Circassians, who on his approach had joined with the Polovitzes to resist the terrible enemy. The defeated Polovitzes gave notice to their neighbours the Russians of the approaching storm, and the two united their armies to oppose the common enemy. A furious engagement took place near the small river Kalka, which flows into the Sea of Azoff, and ended in the complete overthrow of the Russians and their allies.

About thirteen years after this defeat another horde of Tartars, headed by Baaty Khan, the grandson of Tschinghis Khan, penetrated into Russia, after having attacked and defeated their neighbours the Bulgarians. The invaders soon spread far and wide the terror of their name. Wherever they came, the whole face of nature was laid waste; towns and villages were destroyed by fire; all the men capable of bearing arms were put to the sword, and the children, women, and old men, carried into captivity.

They advanced unimpeded to the capital of Vladimir, which, left to its fate by the Grand Prince Yury, who, with unpardonable negligence, was celebrating a marriage feast when he ought to have been employed in collecting the means of defence against the enemy. The city, which contained the princess and two of her sons, was left to the protection of a chieftain totally unqualified for its defence, and fell an easy prey into the hands of the Tartars; who, like wild beasts, glutted their appetite for blood amongst the wretched inhabitants. The grand princess, and other ladies of distinction, had taken refuge in the choir of a church; but it was set on fire by the barbarians, and they perished in the flames. Yury, incensed almost to desperation, assembled all his forces, and marched against the enemy. Though his army was greatly inferior in number, he attacked them with the most determined valour; but victory was with the Tartars, and the body of Yury was found amongst the slain. This appears to have been the only vigorous stand made by the Russian princes. The Tartars pushed forward with rapidity, and successively overpowered the principalities of Novgorod and Kief.

They had now established themselves in the Russian territories, and their khan or chief, though he did not himself assume the nominal sovereignty, reigned as paramount lord, and placed on the throne any of the native princes whom he found most obsequious to his will, or who had ingratiated themselves by the magnificence of their presents. Till the middle of the fourteenth century the miseries of a foreign yoke were aggravated by all the calamities of intestine discord and war; whilst the knights of Livonia on one side, and the Poles on the other, lost no opportunity of attacking Russia, took several of its towns, and even some considerable countries.

About the year 1362 Dimitri Ivanovitch received the sovereignty from the Tartar chief, and established the seat of his government at Moscow. This prince possessed considerable ambition, and contrived to inspire the other Russian princes with so much respect for his person and government that they consented to hold their principalities as fiefs under him. This excited the jealousy of Mammut, the Tartar khan, who determined to take measures for maintaining his superiority. He began by demanding an increase of tribute; but when Dimitri demurred to this, the khan not only insisted on his demand, but required the grand prince to appear before him in person. This requisition Dimitri thought proper to refuse, and prepared to support his refusal by force of arms. A combination of favourable circumstances operated strongly in favour of Dimitri. The terror with which the Russians had at first viewed the Tartars had now in a great measure subsided; while the haughty bearing of the latter, with their barbarism and paganism, served to keep alive the hatred with which they had ever been viewed. The clergy, too, did all in their power to foster the spirit of revolt, and promised crowns of glory to all who should fall in battle. Thus the grand duke soon found himself at the head of an army of 200,000 men, with which he marched towards the Don, on the southern bank of which the Tartars were encamped in numbers greatly exceeding his own forces. This, however, did not deter him from crossing the river, and the fight commenced with the greatest fury on both sides. The issue was long doubtful; but victory at length declared for the Russians. The Tartars appear to have been so much humbled by this defeat that for a time they left the Russians to enjoy in peace their recovered liberty. This forbearance, however, was not of long duration. Before the death of Dimitri, returning with increased numbers, they laid siege to Moscow, which, after an obstinate defence, was at length induced to surrender, and Russia once more submitted to her old masters.

Dimitri died in the year 1389, and was succeeded by his son Vasili Dimitrievitch. In the reign of this prince a new incursion of the Tartars took place, under the great Timur or Tamerlane, who, having subdued all the neighbouring Tartar borders, extended his conquests to the Russian territories, took Moscow by assault, and carried off immense plunder.

The grand principality of Vladimir, or, as it may now be called, of Moscow, had at the end of the fourteenth century attained its greatest height, whilst that of Kief had proportionally declined. This latter principality was, at the time of which we are now writing, under the dominion of the Poles, having been seized on in 1320 by Gedemin, Duke of Lithuania.

The later part of the fifteenth century forms a splendid era in the history of Russia. At this time,—viz., from 1462 vitch to 1505,—reigned Ivan Vasilivitch, or, as he is commonly called, John Basilovitch. This able prince, by his invincible spirit and refined policy, became both the conqueror and deliverer of his country, and laid the first foundation of its future grandeur. Observing with indignation the narrow limits of his power at his accession to the throne, he began immediately to resolve within himself upon the means of enlarging his dominions. He demanded and obtained in marriage Maria, sister of Michael, Duke of Twer, whom he soon afterwards deposed, on pretence of revenging the injuries done to his father, and added this duchy to his own territories of Moscow. Maria, by whom he had a son, who died before him, did not live long; and upon her death he tribes on the Baltic, as far as Memel. Its capital was Novgorod. Little Russia extended on the north along the River Ager to White Russia, on the east above the Dorets, across the Oka to the Polovizes and the Petchenegans, whilst to the south it stretched as far as the Tauric Chersonesus or the Crimea, and to the west along the banks of the River Goryn. This was the principality of Kief, and in that city was the seat of government. The principality of Vladimir received the name of White Russia. It extended northward along the Volga to the southern boundary of Great Russia; it bordered on the possessions of the Ugres and the territory of the Mordvines, stretching down the Volga to the mouth of the Oka; and to the south it extended along the Oka to the principality of Riazan and the Bulgarian territory. The metropolis of this division was at first Shuia, and afterwards in succession Rostof, Sundal, and Vladimir, till at length the seat of government was transferred to Moscow. History. married Sophia, daughter of Thomas Palaeologus, who had been driven from Constantinople, and forced to seek shelter at Rome, where the Pope petitioned this princess, in hopes of thus procuring great advantage to the Catholic religion; but his expectations were frustrated, Sophia being obliged to conform to the Greek Church after her arrival in Russia.

This princess, shocked at the servile manner in which her husband was treated by the proud Tartars, stirred him up to resistance. He gradually increased his forces, and at length openly disclaimed all subjection to the Tartars, attacked their territories, and made himself master of Kazan. Here he was solemnly crowned, about the year 1470, with a diadem which is said to be the same that is still used in the coronation of the Russian sovereigns. He afterwards carried his arms against the neighbouring states. Asiatic Bulgaria and great part of Lapland soon submitted to him; and the great Novgorod, a city then so famous that the Russians were accustomed to intimate their idea of its importance by the proverbial expression, "Who can resist God and the great Novgorod?" was reduced by his generals after a seven years' siege, and yielded immense treasure. After he quitted the city, which had been awed by his presence, the discontented, excited at his violent measures, broke out into acts of mutiny, upon which he, in 1485, carried off fifty of the principal families, and distributed them through several of the Russian towns. He afterwards removed some thousands of the most considerable inhabitants, and substituted for them more loyal subjects from other places. By these proceedings the flourishing commerce of this city received a considerable shock, and it suffered still more by the imprisonment of all the German merchants, and the confiscation of their effects, with the abolition of the old municipal franchises. Indeed from this period Novgorod never recovered its former splendour.

After his reduction of this city, Ivan invaded the territories of Livonia and Estonia, in consequence, as we are told, of an affront offered to him by the inhabitants of Revel. Here, however, he met with a stout resistance, and does not seem to have made much progress. Towards the conclusion of his reign the Kazanian Tartars, who, though humbled, had continued to inhabit that district, made a hard struggle to shake off the Russian yoke that had been imposed on them; but Ivan had established his authority too firmly for them to accomplish their purpose during his life. He died in 1505, and was succeeded by his son Vasili Ivanovitch, commonly called Basilus III.

About fourteen years after the death of Ivan, the Tartars of Kazan rebelled against the Russian yoke, and united themselves with their brethren of the Crimea. With their assistance, they assembled a mighty force, entered the Russian dominions, and carried their arms even to the gates of Moscow. The grand prince Vasili finding himself at that time unable to resist the barbarians, purchased an exemption from general pillage by great presents and a promise of renewed allegiance. The Tartars retired, but carried off immense booty, and nearly 300,000 prisoners, the greater part of whom they sent to Theodosia in the Crimea, and sold to the Turks. Vasili, however, was soon enabled to make head against the Tartars, and to recover possession of the city Kazan, and of Pskove, a city which had been built by the Princess Olga, and was the great rival of Novgorod in wealth and commercial importance. Under this prince all the principalities of Russia were once more united, and they have remained ever since under the dominion of one sovereign. He died in 1533, having reigned 28 years.

It was under the son and successor of Vasili, Ivan IV., or, as he is styled by the Russian historians, Ivan Vasilievitch II., that Russia completely emancipated herself from her subjection to the Tartars, and acquired a vast accession of territory, which extended her empire into the N.E. of Asia, and rendered her for the first time superior in extent to any state that had appeared since the Roman empire. He was only three years old when his father died; and during his minority the state became a prey to anarchy and confusion. But when he attained his seventeenth year he was able to assume the reins of government; and he displayed so much prudence and manly fortitude as soon raised him very high in the estimation of his subjects. His first aim was to still the contending factions which surrounded him; and he then resolved to attempt liberating his country from the dominion of the Tartars. In 1551 he marched an army in the depth of winter into the district of Kazan, and laid siege to the capital, which he made himself master of in 1552, by the new, and, to the Tartars, unheard-of method of springing a mine below the walls. By this important conquest the dominion of the Tartars, who had oppressed the Russians for more than three centuries, was completely and permanently overthrown. About two years later Ivan extended his conquests eastward to the shores of the Caspian, and took possession of the territory that lay on the right bank of the Volga, round the city of Astracan, and which was also inhabited by the Tartar hordes. In 1570 the inhabitants of Novgorod being suspected of forming a plot for delivering that city and the surrounding territory into the hands of the King of Poland, felt still more severely the effects of his vengeance. All who had been in any degree implicated in the conspiracy, to the number of 25,000, suffered by the hands of the executioner. The city of Pskove was threatened with a similar proscription; but Ivan, on their voluntary submission, contented himself with the execution of a few monks, and the confiscation of the property of the most opulent inhabitants.

In 1547 Ivan sent a splendid embassy to the Emperor Charles V., requesting a number of German artists, mechanics, and literary men to be sent into Russia. Several hundred volunteers were thus collected; but they were intercepted in their journey through Livonia, and obliged to return home, though some of them escaped and succeeded in reaching Moscow. Ivan endeavoured to revenge himself on the Livonians by invading their country, which was strenuously defended by the Teutonic Knights; and these champions, finding at last that they were unable to maintain their ground, put the territory under the protection of Poland. The Swedes also received a share of the Livonian territories; and this circumstance gave rise to a war between them and the Russians. Ivan invaded Finland; but that country was bravely defended by William of Furstenberg, grand-master of the Livonian Knights, with the assistance of the troops of Gustavus Vasa; and it does not appear that Ivan gained much in this expedition, though we are told that the Livonian grand-master ended his life in a Russian prison. In 1553 some Englishmen, who were at that time on a voyage of discovery, landed on the shores of the White Sea, where soon after was built the port of Arkhangelsk. They were hospitably received by the natives; and intimation of the circumstance being conveyed to Ivan, he sent for the strangers, and was so much pleased with their abilities and deportment that he resolved to give every encouragement to the English commerce. It was in consequence of this accidental communication between the Russians and the English that England first engaged in a trade to Russia, and promoted this new commerce by the establishment of a company of Russian merchants in London.

About twenty years after Astracan had been annexed to Ivan the Russian empire, a new acquisition of territory accrued to it from the conquests of a private adventurer, in the unknown regions of Siberia. A merchant named Stroganoff, who was proprietor of some salt-works on the confines of Siberia, perceiving among the persons who came to him on affairs of trade men who belonged to no nation with which he was acquainted, he questioned them concerning the place whence they came, and once sent a few of his people with them back to their country. These brought with them, at their return, a great quantity of valuable furs, and thus opened to their master a new road to wealth. The attention of the government was thus directed to this country, but the conquest of it was reserved for an adventurer or robber named Timofeyev Yermak. This Yermak, at the head of a gang of Don Kozzacks of not fewer than 6000 men, in fleeing from a band of Russian troops, came accidentally to the dwelling of Stroganof, where, hearing much about Siberia, they resolved to seek there at once their safety and their fortune. After numerous struggles and conflicts with the natives, which greatly reduced their numbers, they at length conquered the capital, and shortly after the whole country. Yermak now presented the fruit of his toilsome and perilous victories to his czar, and thereby obtained a pardon of his former depredations. The less and the greater Kabardey were also added to Russia in the reign of Ivan. This czar, however, not only enlarged the circumference of his empire, but he also attempted to reform his people, to render them more polished, more skilful, and more industrious; but this he found to be a most arduous enterprise. The insuperable impediments which threw themselves in the way of the execution of this grand work were the principal incitements to those frequent acts of cruelty and despotism which have covered his memory with so deep a stain.

Towards the close of Ivan's reign a prodigious army of Tartars entered Russia, with a design to subdue the whole country. But Zerebrinoff, the czar's general, having attacked them in a defile, put them to flight with considerable slaughter. They then retired towards the mouth of the Volga, where they expected a considerable re-inforcement; but being closely pursued by the Russians and the Tartars in alliance with them, they were again defeated, and forced to fly towards Azof, where their army was almost annihilated. In 1571, instigated by the Poles, the Crim Tartars again invaded the country with an army of 70,000 men, which totally defeated the Russians in a battle fought within 18 miles of the city of Moscow. The czar retired with his most valuable effects to a well-fortified cloister; upon which the Tartars entered the city, plundered it, and set fire to several churches. A violent storm which happened at the same time soon spread the flames all over the city, which was entirely reduced to ashes in six hours. The fire likewise communicated itself to a powder magazine, by which upwards of fifty rods of the city wall, with all the buildings near it, were destroyed; and, according to the historians, upwards of 120,000 citizens were burned or buried in the ruins. The castle, however, which was strongly fortified, could not be taken; and the Tartars, hearing that a formidable army was coming against them under the command of Magnus, Duke of Holstein, whom Ivan had made king of Livonia, thought proper to retire. The Livonians, the Poles, and the Swedes, having united in a league against the Russians, gained great advantages over them; and in 1579 Stephen Batory, who was then raised to the throne of Poland, levied an army expressly with a design of invading Russia, and of regaining all that Poland had formerly claimed, which, indeed, was little less than the whole empire. Ivan found his undisciplined multitude unable to cope with the regular forces of his enemies; and it is possible that the number of enemies which now attacked Russia might have overcome the empire entirely, had not the allies grown jealous of each other. The consequence of this was, that in 1582 a peace was concluded; shortly after which the czar, having been worsted in an engagement with the Tartars, died in the year 1584. His eldest son Feodor (or, as he is commonly called, Theodore) Ivanovitch was by no means fitted for the government of an empire so extensive, and a people so rude and turbulent; and to obviate the effects of this incapacity, Ivan had appointed three of his principal nobles as administrators of the empire, whilst to a fourth he committed the charge of his younger son Dmitri or Demetrius. This expedient, however, failed of success, partly from the mutual jealousy of the administrators, and partly from the envy which their exaltation had excited in the other nobles. The weak Feodor had married a sister of Boris Gudonof, a man of great ambition, immense riches, and tolerable abilities. He had long directed his wishes towards the imperial dignity, and began to prepare the way for its attainment by removing Dmitri. This young prince suddenly disappeared; and there is every reason to believe that he was assassinated by the order of Boris. Feodor did not long survive his brother, but died in 1598, not without suspicion of having been poisoned by his brother-in-law.

With Feodor ended the family of Ruric, a dynasty which had enjoyed the supreme power in Russia for more than 700 years. On the death of Feodor, as there was no hereditary successor to the vacant throne, the nobles assembled to elect a new czar; and Boris, having through the interest of the patriarch, procured a majority in his favour, was declared sovereign. Notwithstanding the means that he had used to obtain imperial power, Boris seems to have employed it in advancing the interest of the nation, and in improving the circumstances of his people. He was extremely active in his endeavours to extend the commerce and improve the arts and manufactures of the Russian empire; and for this purpose he invited many foreigners into his dominions. Soon after the commencement of his reign the city of Moscow was desolated by one of the most dreadful famines recorded in history. Parents are said to have eaten their children, and children their parents; and we are told by one writer of the time that he saw a woman bite several pieces out of her child's arm as she was carrying it along. This dreadful calamity lasted three years, notwithstanding all the exertions of Boris to mitigate its severity. During these distresses the power of Boris was threatened by an adventurer who pretended to be the young prince Dmitri, whom he had caused to be assassinated. This adventurer was a monk named Otrepief. He retired from Russia into Poland, where he had the dexterity to ingratiate himself with some of the principal nobles, and at length even the King of Poland was brought over to his party. The Kozzacks of the Don also, who were oppressed by Boris, eagerly embraced the opportunity of declaring in his favour; and although Boris did all in his power to destroy the illusion, by prohibiting all intercourse between his subjects and the Poles, the cause of the pretender rapidly gained ground in Russia. He soon made his appearance on the frontiers with a regiment of Polish troops and a body of Kozzacks, and signalily defeated an army sent by Boris to oppose him. He greatly strengthened his cause by treating his prisoners with the utmost humanity, and strictly enjoining his troops not to molest the inhabitants in passing through the country. This gentle behaviour, when contrasted with the horrible excesses committed by the soldiers of Boris, gained Dmitri more adherents than even the persuasion that he was the lawful sovereign of the country. At length, Boris, unable to resist the torrent of public opinion in favour of his rival, is said to have taken poison, and thus hastened that fate which he foresaw awaited him if he should fall into the hands of his enemies.

The death of Boris took place in the year 1605; and though the principal nobility at Moscow placed his son Feodor on the throne, the party of Dmitri was now so strong that Feodor was deposed and sent to prison with his mother and sister, within six weeks after his accession. The successful monk now made his entry into Moscow with the utmost magnificence. One of his first acts was to remove the son of Boris, whom he caused to be strangled, together with one of his sisters. Though possessed of considerable abilities, he was deficient in prudence; and the partiality that he showed towards the Poles, and the contempt with which he treated the Russian nobility, so exasperated the Russians that discontent and insurrections arose in every quarter of the empire. The people were still further incensed by the clergy, who declaimed against Dmitri as a heretic, and by Schuiskoy, a nobleman who had been condemned to death by the czar, but had afterwards been pardoned. This nobleman put himself at the head of the enraged mob, and led them to attack the palace. They entered it by assault, put to the sword all the Poles whom they found within its walls, and afterwards extended their massacre to such as were discovered in other parts of the city. Dmitri himself, in attempting to escape, was overtaken by his pursuers and thrust through with a spear; and his dead body, being brought back into the city, lay for three days before the palace, exposed to every outrage that malice could invent or rage inflict.

Schuiskoy was now raised to the vacant throne, but his reign was short and uninteresting; and indeed, from this time till the accession of the House of Romanoff in 1613, the affairs of Russia have little to gratify our curiosity. The Russians, dissatisfied with the reigning prince, treated with several of the neighbouring potentates for the disposal of the imperial crown. They offered it to Vladislav or Uladislas, son of Sigismund, King of Poland, on condition that he should adopt the Greek persuasion; but as he rejected this preliminary, they turned their eyes first on a son of Charles IX. of Sweden, and then on a young native Russian, Mikhail Feodorovitch, of the House of Romanoff, a family which was distantly related to their ancient czars, and of which the head was then metropolitan of Rostof; and as such held in great estimation. The influence of the clergy, who exerted themselves for Mikhail both by personal intrigues and by the dissemination of pretended revelations from heaven, silenced the supporters of the other claimants; and, after a long series of confusion and disaster, there ascended the Russian throne a family whose descendants have raised the empire to a state of grandeur and importance unequalled in any former period.

At this period the government of Russia may be considered as a pure aristocracy, since the supreme power rested in the hands of the nobles and the superior clergy. In particular, the boyars, or chief officers of the army, who were also the privy counsellors of the prince, possessed a very considerable share of authority. The election of the late princes Boris, Dmitri, and Schuiskoy had been conducted principally by them, in concert with the inhabitants of Moscow, where was then held the seat of government. The common people, especially those of the inferior towns, though nominally free, had no share in the government or in the election of the chief ruler. The boors, or those peasants who dwelt on the noblemen's estates, were almost completely slaves, and transferable with the land on which they dwelt. An attempt to annul this barbarous vassalage had been made both by Boris and by Schuiskoy, but from the opposition of the nobles it was abandoned.

The laws then in force consisted partly of the municipal laws drawn up for the state of Novgorod by Yaroslaf, and partly of an amended code, called Sudebnik, promulgated by Ivan Vasilivitch II. By this Sudebnik the administration of the laws was made uniform throughout the empire, and particular magistrates were appointed in the several towns and districts, all subject to the czar as their chief. The Sudebnik consisted of ninety-seven articles, all containing civil laws; as the penal statutes are only briefly mentioned in some articles, so as to appear either connected with the civil, or as serving to illustrate them. The criminal laws were contained in a separate code, called Gubnaia Gramota, which is now lost, but is referred to in the civil code. In neither of these codes is there any mention of ecclesiastical affairs; but these were regulated by a set of canons drawn up in 1542, under the inspection of Ivan Vasilivitch, in a grand council held at Moscow. In the civil statutes of the Sudebnik theft was punished in the first instance by restitution; or, if the thief were unable to restore the property stolen, he became the slave of the injured party till by his labour he had made sufficient compensation. Of murder nothing is said, except where the person slain was a lord or master, when the murderer was to be punished with death. There is no mention of torture, except in cases of theft. Notwithstanding that attempts had been made by Ivan I., Ivan Vasilivitch II., and Boris, to cultivate their manners and to improve the state of their arts and manufactures, the Russians were still deplorably behind the rest of Europe in civilization.

At the accession of Mikhail, who was crowned in June An. 1613, the Swedes and Poles were in possession of several Accession parts of the empire; and to dislodge these intruders was the first object of the new czar. He began by negotiating a treaty of peace with Sweden, agreeing to give up Ingria and Karelia, and to evacuate Esthonia and Livonia. A numerous body of Poles next entered Russia, to support the claims of their king's son Vladislav. Mikhail, however, instead of opposing them in the open field, entrapped them by ambuscades, or allured them into districts already desolated, where they suffered so much from cold and hunger that in 1619 they agreed to a cessation of hostilities for fourteen years and a half, on condition that the Russians should cede to Poland the government of Smolensk.

Mikhail now applied himself to arranging the internal economy of his empire, and formed treaties of alliance with the principal commercial states of Europe. He also commenced those improvements of the laws which were more fully executed by his son and successor; but the tide of party ran so high that he could effect only a very imperfect reformation. He died in 1645, and was succeeded by An. 1645. his son Alexei, who being then only fifteen years of age, Accession a nobleman named Morosof was appointed his governor and of Alexei regent of the empire. This man possessed all the ambition Makhailo- of Boris, without his prudence and address; and in attempting vitch to raise himself and his adherents to the highest posts in the state, he incurred the hatred of all ranks of the people. Though, by properly organizing the army, he provided for the defence of the empire against external enemies, he shamefully neglected internal policy, and connived at the most flagrant enormities in the administration of justice. The populace at length rebelled against these abuses, and were only pacified by the execution of one of the most nefarious of the judges, Morosof's life being spared at the earnest entreaty of the czar.

Similar disturbances had broken out at Novgorod and Pscov; but they were happily terminated, chiefly through the exertions of the metropolitan Nicon, a man who, though of low birth, by his reputation for extraordinary piety and holiness, had raised himself to the patriarchal dignity, and was high in favour with Alexei. The pacific conduct of the neighbouring states did not long continue, though, indeed, we may attribute the renewal of hostilities to the ambition of the czar.

The war with Poland was occasioned by Alexei's sup- War with porting the Kozzacks, a military horde, who, after the sub- Sweden and jugation of the Tartars, had put themselves under the guardianship of Poland. As the Polish clergy, however, attempted to impose on them the Catholic faith, they threw off their allegiance, and claimed the patronage of Russia. Alexei gladly received them as his subjects, hoping by their assistance to recover the territories which had been ceded to Poland by his father. The Russians, assisted by the Kozzacks, were so successful in this contest that the King of Sweden became jealous of Alexei's good fortune, and determined to take a very active part in the war, especially as the Lithuanians, who were extremely averse to the Russian dominion, had sought his protection. The war with Sweden commenced in 1656, and lasted for two years, without any important advantage being gained by either party. A truce was concluded in 1658 for three years, and at the termination of this period a solid peace was established. In the meantime, the war with Poland continued, but was at length terminated by an armistice, which was prolonged from time to time during the remainder of Alexei's life.

The authority which Alexei had obtained over the Don Cossacks excited the jealousy of the Sublime Porte, and after a successful attempt on the frontiers of Poland, a Turkish army entered the Ukraine. Alexei endeavoured to form a confederacy against the infidels among the Christian potentates of Europe; but the age of crusading chivalry was over, and the czar was obliged to make head against the Turks with no assistance but that of the King of Poland. The Turkish arms were for some years victorious, especially on the side of Poland; but at length a check was given to their successes by the Polish general Sobieski, who afterwards ascended the throne of that kingdom. Hostilities between the Turks and Russians were not, however, terminated during the reign of Alexei, and the czar left to his successor the prosecution of the war.

The reign of Alexei is most remarkable for the improvements introduced by him into the Russian laws. Before his time the *Emmanoy Ukases*, or personal orders of the sovereign, were almost the only laws of the country. These edicts were as various as the opinions, prejudices, and passions of men; and before the days of Alexei they produced endless contentions. To remedy this evil, he made a selection, from all the edicts of his predecessors, of such as had been current for a hundred years, presuming that these either were founded in natural justice, or during so long a currency had formed the minds of the people to consider them as just. This digest, which he declared to be the common law of Russia, and which is prefaced by a sort of institute, is known by the title of the *Ulostenie* or "Selection." It was long the standard law-book, all edicts prior thereto being declared to be obsolete.

Alexei died in 1676, leaving three sons and six daughters. Two of the sons, Feodor and Ivan, were by a first marriage; the third, Peter, by a second. The two former, particularly Ivan, were of a delicate constitution, and some attempts were made by the relations of Peter to set them aside. These attempts, however, proved unsuccessful; and Feodor became the successor of Alexei.

The reign of this prince was short, and distinguished rather for the happiness which the nation then experienced than for the importance of the transactions which took place. One important service he rendered to his country places his energy and talent in a very favourable light, and that was his causing the destruction of the family registers of the nobility, and thus removing an endless source of contention in the kingdom. The Russian noble placed the highest value upon his ancestry; and to such an extent was this carried that no one would take an office under one with a shorter or less distinguished pedigree than himself. All these registers Feodor ordered to be brought to Moscow, under the pretence of adjusting certain errors that had crept into them, and then caused them to be burned. He continued the war with the Turks for four years after his father's death, and at length brought it to an honourable conclusion by a truce for twenty years, the Turks acknowledging the Russian right of sovereignty over the Kozzacks. Feodor died in 1682, having nominated his half-brother Peter his successor.

The succession of Peter, though appointed by their favourite czar Feodor, was by no means pleasing to the majority of the Russian nobles, and it was particularly opposed by Galitzin, the prime minister of the late czar. This able man had espoused the interest of Sophia, the sister of the Princess Sophia, a young woman of eminent abilities and excellent address. Sophia, upon pretence of asserting the claims of her brother Ivan, who, though of a feeble body and weak intellect, was considered as the lawful heir of the crown, had really formed a design of securing the succession to herself; and with that view, had not only insinuated herself into the confidence and good graces of Galitzin, but had brought over to her interests the Strelitzes, who were the body-guard of the czars, and at this time were about fourteen thousand in number. These licentious soldiers assembled for the purpose, as was pretended, of placing on the throne Prince Ivan, whom they proclaimed czar by acclamation. During three days they roved about the city of Moscow, committing the greatest excesses, and putting to death several of the chief officers of state who were suspected of being hostile to the designs of Sophia. Their employer did not, however, entirely gain her point; for as the new czar entertained a sincere affection for his half-brother Peter, he insisted that this prince should share with him the imperial dignity. This was at length agreed to; and on the 6th of May 1682, Ivan and Peter were solemnly crowned joint emperors of all the Russias, while the Princess Sophia was nominated their copartner in the government.

From the imbecility of Ivan and the youth of Peter, who joint reign was now only ten years of age, the whole power of the government rested with Sophia and her minister Galitzin, Peter I., although till the year 1687 the names of Ivan and Peter only were annexed to the imperial decrees. Scarcely had Sophia established her authority when she was threatened with deposition, from an alarming insurrection of the Strelitzes. This was excited by their commander Prince Kovansko, who had demanded of Sophia that she should marry one of her sisters to his son, but had met with a mortifying refusal. In consequence of this insurrection, which threw the whole city of Moscow into terror and consternation, Sophia and the two young czars took refuge in a monastery about twelve leagues from the capital; and before the Strelitzes could follow them thither, a considerable body of soldiers, principally foreigners, was assembled in their defence. Kovansko was taken prisoner, and instantly beheaded; and though his followers at first threatened dreadful vengeance on his executioners, they soon found themselves obliged to submit. From every regiment was selected the tenth man, who was to suffer as an atonement for the rest; but this cruel punishment was remitted, and only the most guilty among the ringleaders suffered death.

The quelling of these disturbances gave leisure to the friends of Peter to pursue the plans which they had formed for subverting the authority of Sophia; and about this time of Peter a favourable opportunity offered, in consequence of a rupture with Turkey. The Porte was now engaged in a war-ground with Poland and the German empire, and both these latter powers had solicited the assistance of Russia against the common enemy. Sophia and her party were averse to the alliance; but as there were in the council many secret friends of Peter, these had sufficient influence to persuade the majority that a Turkish war would be of advantage to the state. They even prevailed on Galitzin to put himself at the head of the army, and thus removed their principal opponent. It is difficult to conceive how a man, so able in the cabinet as Galitzin, could have suffered his vanity so far to get the better of his good sense, as to accept a military command, for which he certainly had no talents. Assembling an army of nearly three hundred thousand men, he marched towards the confines of Turkey, and there consumed two campaigns in marches and countermarches, and History. lost nearly forty thousand men, partly in unsuccessful skirmishes with the enemy, but chiefly from disease.

While Galitzin was thus trifling away his time in the south, Peter, who already began to give proofs of those great talents which afterwards enabled him to act so conspicuous a part in the theatre of the north, was strengthening his party among the Russian nobles. His ordinary residence was at a village not far from Moscow, and here he had assembled round him a considerable number of young men of rank and influence, whom he called his play-mates. Among these were two foreigners, Lefort a Genevese, and Gordon a Scotchman, who afterwards signalized themselves in his service. These young men had formed a sort of military company, of which Lefort was captain; and the young czar, beginning with the situation of drummer, gradually rose through every subordinate office. Under this appearance of a military game, Peter was secretly establishing himself in the affections of his young companions, and effectually lulled the suspicions of Sophia, till it was too late for her to oppose his machinations.

About the middle of the year 1689, Peter, who had now attained his seventeenth year, determined to make an effort to deprive Sophia of all share in the government, and to secure to himself the undivided sovereignty. On occasion of a solemn religious meeting that was held, Sophia had claimed the principal place, as regent of the empire; but this claim was strenuously opposed by Peter, who, rather than fill a subordinate situation, quitted the place of assembly, and, with his friends and adherents, withdrew to the monastery of the Holy Trinity, which had formerly sheltered him and his companions from the fury of the Strelitzes. This was the signal for an open rupture. Sophia, finding that she could not openly oppose the party of the czar, attempted to procure his assassination; but as her design was discovered, she thought proper to solicit an accommodation. This was agreed to, on condition that she should give up all claims to the regency, and retire to a nunnery. The commander of the Strelitzes, her agent in the assassination of Peter, was beheaded, and the minister Galitzin sent into banishment to Archangel.

Peter now saw himself in undisputed possession of the imperial throne; for though Ivan was still nominally czar, he had voluntarily resigned all share in the administration of affairs, and retired to a life of obscurity. The first object to which the czar directed his attention was the establishment of a regular and well-disciplined military force. He had learned by experience how little dependence was to be placed on the Strelitzes; and these regiments he determined to disband. He commissioned Lefort and Gordon to levy new regiments, which, in their whole constitution, dress, and military exercises, should be formed on the model of other European troops. He next resolved to carry into execution the design which had been formed by his father, of constructing a navy. For this purpose he first took a journey to Archangel, where he employed himself in examining the operations of the shipwrights, and occasionally taking a part in their labours; but as he learned that the art of ship-building was practised in greater perfection in Holland, and some other maritime countries of Europe, he sent thither several young Russians to be initiated into the best methods of constructing ships of war.

The war with Turkey still languished, but Peter was resolved to prosecute it with vigour, hoping to get possession of the town of Azof; and thus open a passage to the Black Sea. He placed Gordon, Lefort, and two of his nobles, at the head of the forces destined for this expedition, and himself attended the army as a private volunteer. The success of the first campaign was but trifling; and Peter learned that his deficiency of artillery and his want of transports prevented him from making an effectual attack on Azof. These difficulties, however, were soon surmounted. He procured a supply of artillery and engineers from the emperor and the Dutch, and found means to provide a number of transports. With these auxiliaries he opened the second campaign, defeated the Turks on the Sea of Azof, and made himself master of the town. Peter was so elated with these successes, that on his return from the seat of war he marched his troops into Moscow in a triumphal procession, in which Lefort as admiral of the transports, and Schein as commander of the land forces, bore the most conspicuous parts, while Peter himself was lost without distinction in the crowd of subaltern officers.

He now resolved to form a fleet in the Black Sea; but as his own revenues were insufficient for this purpose, he issued a ukase, commanding the patriarch and other dignified clergy, the nobility, and the merchants, to contribute a part of their income towards fitting out a certain number of ships. This proclamation was extremely unpopular, and, together with the numerous innovations which Peter was every day introducing, especially his sending the young nobles to visit foreign countries, and his own avowed intention of making the tour of Europe, contributed to raise against him a formidable party. The vigilance and prudence of the czar, however, extricated him from the dangers with which he was threatened, and enabled him to carry into execution his proposed journey.

In returning to his own dominions, Peter passed through Rawa, where Augustus king of Poland then was. The czar had determined, in conjunction with Augustus and the king of Denmark, to take advantage of the youth and inexperience of Charles XII, who had just succeeded to the Swedish throne; and in this interview with Augustus, he made the final arrangements for the part which each was to take in the war. Augustus was to receive Livonia as his part of the spoil, while Frederick king of Denmark had his eye on Holstein, and Peter had formed designs on Ingria, formerly a province of the Russian empire.

In the middle of the year 1700, Charles had left his capital to oppose these united enemies. He soon compelled the king of Denmark to give up his designs on Holstein, Sweden, and sign a treaty of peace; and being thus at liberty to turn his arms against the other members of the confederacy, he resolved first to lead his army against the king of Poland; but on his way he received intelligence that the czar had laid siege to Narva with an army which some authorities calculate at a hundred thousand men. On this he immediately embarked at Carlscrona, though it was then the depth of winter, and the Baltic was scarcely navigable; and soon landed at Pernaw in Livonia with part of his forces, having ordered the rest to Revel. His army did not exceed twenty thousand men, but it was composed of the best soldiers in Europe, while that of the Russians was little better than an undisciplined multitude. Every possible obstruction, however, had been thrown in the way of the Swedes. Thirty thousand Russians were posted in a defile on the road, and this corps was sustained by another body of twenty thousand drawn up some leagues nearer Narva. Peter himself had set out to hasten the march of a reinforcement of forty thousand men, with whom he intended to attack the Swedes in flank and rear; but the celerity and valour of Charles baffled every attempt to oppose him. He set out with four thousand foot and an equal number of cavalry, leaving the rest of the army to follow at their leisure. With this small body he attacked and defeated the Russian armies successively, and pushed his way to Peter's camp, for the attack of which he gave immediate orders. This camp was fortified by lines of circumvallation and contravallation, by redoubts, and by a line of a hundred and fifty brass cannons placed in front; and it was defended by an army of eighty thousand men; yet so violent was the attack of the Swedes, that in three hours the intrenchments were carried, and Charles, with only four thousand men, that composed the wing which he commanded, pursued the flying enemy, amounting to fifty thousand, to the river Narva. Here the bridge broke down with the weight of the fugitives, and the river was filled with their bodies. Great numbers returned in despair to their camp, where they defended themselves for a short time, but were at last obliged to surrender. In this battle, thirty thousand were killed in the intrenchments and the pursuit, or drowned in the river; twenty thousand surrendered at discretion, and were dismissed unarmed, while the rest were totally dispersed. A hundred and fifty pieces of cannon, twenty-eight mortars, a hundred and fifty-one pairs of colours, twenty standards, and all the Russian baggage, fell into the hands of the Swedes; and the Duke de Croy, the Prince of Georgia, and seven other generals, were made prisoners. Charles behaved with the greatest generosity to the conquered. Being informed that the tradesmen of Narva had refused credit to the officers whom he detained prisoners, he sent a thousand ducats to the Duke de Croy, and to every other officer a proportional sum.

Peter was advancing with forty thousand men to surround the Swedes, when he received intelligence of the dreadful defeat at Narva. He was greatly chagrined; but comforting himself with the hopes that the Swedes would in time teach the Russians to beat them, he returned to his own dominions, where he applied himself with the utmost diligence to the raising of another army. He evacuated all the provinces which he had invaded, and for a time abandoned all his great projects, thus leaving Charles at liberty to prosecute the war against Poland.

As Augustus had expected an attack, he endeavoured to draw the czar into a close alliance with him. The two monarchs had an interview at Birzen, where it was agreed that Augustus should lend the czar fifty thousand German soldiers, to be paid by Russia; that the czar should send an equal number of his troops to be trained up to the art of war in Poland; and that he should pay the king three millions of rix-dollars in the space of two years. Of this treaty Charles had notice, and, by means of his minister Count Piper, entirely frustrated the scheme.

After the battle of Narva, Charles became confident and negligent, while the activity of Peter increased with his losses. He supplied his want of artillery by melting down the bells of the churches, and constructed numerous small vessels on the lake of Ladoga to oppose the entrance of the Swedes into his dominions. He took every advantage of Charles's negligence, and engaged in frequent skirmishes, in which, though often beaten, he was sometimes victorious. He contrived to make himself master of the river Neva, and captured Nyenschantz, a fortress at the mouth of that river. Here he laid the foundation of that city which he had long projected, and which was to become the metropolis of his empire. At length, in 1704, he became master of Ingria, and appointed his favourite Prince Menzikoff to be viceroy of that province, with strict orders to make the building of the new city his principal business. Here edifices were already rising in every quarter, and navigation and commerce were increasing in vigour and extent.

In the mean time Augustus king of Poland, though treating with Charles for the surrender of his dominions, was obliged to keep up the appearance of war, which he had neither ability nor inclination to conduct. He had been lately joined by Prince Menzikoff with 30,000 Russians; and this obliged him, contrary to his inclination, to hazard an engagement with Meyerfeldt, who commanded 10,000 men, one half of whom were Swedes. As at this time no disparity of numbers whatever was reckoned an equivalent to the valour of the Swedes, Meyerfeldt did not decline the combat, though the army of the enemy was four times as numerous as his own. Menzikoff, with his own countrymen, defeated the enemy's first line, and was on the point of defeating the second, when Stanislas, with the Poles and Lithuanians, gave way. Meyerfeldt then perceived that the battle was lost; but he fought desperately, that he might avoid the disgrace of a defeat. At last, however, he was oppressed by numbers, and forced to surrender; suffering the Swedes for the first time to be conquered by their enemies. The whole army were taken prisoners excepting Major-general Krassau, who having repeatedly rallied a body of horse formed into a brigade, at last broke through the enemy, and escaped to Posnania. Augustus had scarcely sung Te Deum for this victory, when his plenipotentiary returned from Saxony with the articles of the treaty, by which he was to renounce all claim to the crown of Poland in favour of his rival Stanislas. The king hesitated and scurried, but at last signed them; after which he set out for Saxony, glad at any expense to be freed from such an enemy as the king of Sweden, and from such allies as the Russians.

The czar Peter was no sooner informed of this extraordinary treaty, than he learned also the cruel fate of his plenipotentiary Patkul, a Livonian emigrant, whom Charles claiming as a subject, seized and executed. Peter immediately sent letters to every court in Christendom, complaining of this breach of the law of nations. He entreated the emperor, the queen of Britain, and the states-general, to revenge this insult on humanity. He stigmatized the compliance of Augustus with the opprobrious name of pusillanimity; and exhorted them not to guarantee a treaty so unjust, but to despise the menaces of the Swedish bully. So well, however, was the prowess of the king of Sweden known, that none of the allies thought proper to irritate him, by refusing to guarantee any treaty which he thought proper to accept. At first, Peter thought of revenging Patkul's death by massacring the Swedish prisoners at Moscow; but from this he was deterred, by remembering that Charles had many more Russian prisoners than he himself had of Swedes. In the year 1707, however, he entered Poland at the head of sixty thousand men, and, assembling a diet, solemnly deposed Stanislas, with the same ceremonies which had been used with regard to Augustus. The appearance of a Swedish army under King Stanislas and General Lewenhaupt put a stop to this invasion, and the czar retired into Lithuania, giving out as the cause of his retreat, that the country could not supply him with the provisions and forage necessary for so great an army.

During these transactions Charles had taken up his residence in Saxony, where he gave laws to the court of Vienna, visits Augustus, and in a manner intimidated all Europe. At last, satiated with the glory of having dethroned one king, set up another, and struck all Europe with terror and admiration, he began to evacuate Saxony in pursuit of his great plan, the dethroning the czar Peter, and conquering the vast empire of Russia. While the army was on full march in the neighbourhood of Dresden, he took the extraordinary resolution of visiting King Augustus with no more than five attendants. Although he had no reason to imagine that Augustus either did or could entertain any friendship for him, he was not uneasy at the consequences of thus putting himself entirely in his power. He reached the palace door of Augustus before it was known that he was in the city; and he entered the elector's chamber in his boots before the latter had time to recover from his surprise. He breakfasted with him in a friendly manner, and then expressed a desire of viewing the fortifications. While he was walking round them, a Livonian, who had formerly been condemned in Sweden, and served in the troops of Saxony, thought he could never have a more favourable opportunity of obtaining pardon. He therefore begged of King Augustus to intercede for him, being fully assured that his majesty could not refuse so small a favour to a prince in whose power he then was. Augustus accordingly made the request, but Charles refused History. It in such a manner that he did not think proper to ask it a second time. Having passed some hours in this extraordinary visit, he returned to his army, after having embraced and taken leave of the king he had dethroned.

The armies of Sweden, in Saxony, Poland, and Finland, now exceeded seventy thousand men; while the available force of Russia amounted to about a hundred thousand. Peter, who had his army dispersed in small parties, instantly assembled it on receiving notice of the king of Sweden's march, was making all possible preparations for a vigorous resistance, and was on the point of attacking Stanislas, when the approach of Charles struck his whole army with terror. In the month of January 1708, Charles passed the Niemen, and entered the south gate of Grodno just as Peter was quitting the place by the north gate. Charles at this time had advanced some distance before the army, at the head of six hundred horse.

The Czar having received intelligence of his situation, sent back a detachment of two thousand men to attack him; but these were entirely defeated, and thus Charles became possessed of the whole province of Lithuania. The king pursued his flying enemies in the midst of ice and snow, over mountains, rivers, and morasses, and through obstacles which appeared to be insurmountable. These difficulties, however, he had foreseen, and had prepared to meet them. As he knew that the country could not furnish provisions sufficient for the subsistence of his army, he had provided a large quantity of biscuit, and on this his troops chiefly subsisted, till they came to the banks of the Beresina, in view of Borisow. Here the Czar was posted, and Charles intended to give him battle, after which he could the more easily penetrate into Russia. Peter, however, did not think proper to come to an action, but retreated towards the Dnieper, whither he was pursued by Charles, as soon as he had refreshed his army. The Russians had destroyed the roads and desolated the country, yet the Swedish army advanced with great celerity, and in their march defeated twenty thousand Russians, though intrenched to the very teeth. This victory, from the circumstances in which it was gained, was one of the most glorious that ever Charles had achieved. The memory of it was preserved by a medal struck in Sweden with this inscription: *Sylter, patules, oggeres, hostes, victi.*

When the Russians had repassed the Dnieper, the Czar, finding himself pursued by an enemy with whom he could not cope, resolved to make proposals for an accommodation. Charles made only this arrogant reply, "I will treat with the Czar at Moscow;" a taunt which was received by Peter with the coolness of a hero. "My brother Charles," said he, "affects to play the Alexander, but he shall not find in me a Darius." He still, however, continued his retreat, and Charles pursued so closely that daily skirmishes took place between his advanced guard and the rear of the Russians. In these actions the Swedes had generally the advantage, though their petty victories cost them dear, by contributing to weaken their force in a country where it could not be recruited. The two armies came so close to each other at Smolensk, that an engagement took place between a body of Russians composed of ten thousand cavalry and six thousand Kalmyks, and the Swedish vanguard, composed of only six regiments, but commanded by the king in person. Here the Russians were again defeated; but Charles, having been separated from the main body of his detachment, was exposed to great danger. With one regiment only he fought with such fury as to drive the enemy before him, when they thought themselves sure of making him prisoner.

An. 1708. By the 3d of October 1708, Charles had approached within a hundred leagues of Moscow; but Peter had rendered the roads completely impassable, and had destroyed the villages on every side, so as to cut off every possibility of subsistence to the enemy, while the season was far advanced, and the severity of winter was approaching. In these circumstances, the king, at length sensible that he had committed a perilous mistake, endeavoured to retrieve it by a step which proved yet more calamitous. He resolved, before attacking the Russian capital, to achieve the conquest of the Ukraine, where Mazeppa, a Polish gentleman, was general and chief of the Kozaks. Mazeppa having been affronted by the czar, readily entered into a treaty with Charles, whom he promised to assist with thirty thousand men, great quantities of provisions and ammunition, and with all his treasures, which were falsely stated to be immense. The Swedish army advanced towards the river Disna, where they had to encounter the greatest difficulties; a forest above forty leagues in extent, filled with rocks, mountains, and morasses. To complete their misfortunes, they were led thirty leagues out of the right way; all the artillery was sunk in bogs and marshes; the provision of the soldiers, which consisted of biscuit, was exhausted; and the whole army were spent and emaciated when they arrived at the Disna. Here they expected to have met Mazeppa with his reinforcement; but instead of that, they perceived the opposite banks of the river covered with a hostile army, and the passage itself rendered almost impracticable. Charles, however, was still undaunted; he let his soldiers by ropes down the steep banks; they crossed the river either by swimming, or on rafts hastily put together, drove the Russians from their post, and continued their march. Mazeppa soon after appeared, having with him about six thousand men, the broken remains of the army he had promised. The Russians had got intelligence of his designs, defeated and dispersed his adherents, laid his town in ashes, and taken all the stores collected for the Swedish army. However, he still hoped to be useful by his intelligence in an unknown country; and the Kozaks, out of revenge, crowded daily to the camp with provisions.

Greater misfortunes still awaited the Swedes. When Charles entered the Ukraine, he had sent orders to General Lewenhaupt to meet him with fifteen thousand men, six thousand of whom were Swedes, and a large convoy of provisions. Against this detachment Peter now bent his whole force, and marched against him with an army of sixty-five thousand men. Lewenhaupt had received intelligence that the Russian army consisted of only twenty-four thousand, a force to which he thought six thousand Swedes superior, and therefore disdained to intrench himself. A furious contest ensued, in which the Russians were defeated with the loss of fifteen thousand men. Now, however, affairs began to take another turn. The Swedes, elated with victory, prosecuted their march into the interior; but, from the ignorance or treachery of their guides, they were led into a marshy country, where the roads were made impassable by felled trees and deep ditches. Here they were attacked by the czar with his whole army. Lewenhaupt had sent a detachment to dispute the passage of a body of Russians over a morass; but finding his detachment likely to be overpowered, he marched to support them with all his infantry. Another desperate battle ensued. The Russians were once more thrown into disorder, and were just on the point of being totally defeated, when Peter gave orders to the Kozaks and Kalmyks to fire upon all that fled; "Even kill me," said he, "if I should be so cowardly as to turn my back." The battle was now renewed with great vigour; but notwithstanding the czar's positive orders, and his own example, the day would have been lost, had not General Bauer arrived with a strong reinforcement of fresh Russian troops. The engagement was once more renewed, and continued without intermission till night. The Swedes then took possession of an advantageous post, but were next morning attacked by the History. Russians. Lewen Haupt had formed a sort of rampart with his wagons, but was obliged to set fire to them to prevent their falling into the hands of the Russians, while he retreated under cover of the smoke. The czar's troops, however, arrived in time to save five hundred of these wagons, filled with provisions destined for the distressed Swedes. A strong detachment was sent to pursue Lewen Haupt; but so terrible did he now appear, that the Russian general offered him an honourable capitulation. This was rejected with disdain, and a fresh engagement took place in which the Swedes, now reduced to four thousand, again defeated their enemies, and killed five thousand on the spot. After this Lewen Haupt was allowed to pursue his retreat without molestation, though deprived of all his cannon and provisions.

Prince Menzikoff was indeed detached with a body of forces to harass him on his march; but the Swedes were now so formidable, even in their extremity, that Menzikoff dared not to attack them, so that Lewen Haupt with his four thousand men arrived safe in the camp of Charles, after having destroyed nearly thirty thousand of the Russians.

This may be said to have been the last successful effort of Swedish valour against the troops of Peter. The difficulties which Charles's army had now to undergo exceeded what human nature could support; yet still they hoped by constancy and courage to subdue them. In the severest winter known for a long time, even in Russia, they made long marches, clothed like savages in the skins of wild beasts. All the draught-horses perished; thousands of soldiers dropt down dead through cold and hunger; and by the month of February 1709 the whole army was reduced to eighteen thousand. Amidst numberless difficulties these penetrated to Pultava, a town on the eastern frontier of the Ukraine, where the czar had laid up magazines, of which Charles resolved to obtain possession. Mazepa advised the king to invest the place, in consequence of his having correspondence with some of the inhabitants, by whose means he hoped it would be surrendered. He was, however, deceived. The besieged made an obstinate defence; the Swedes were repulsed in every assault, and eight thousand of them were defeated, and almost entirely cut off, in an engagement with a party of Russians. To complete his misfortunes, Charles received a shot in his heel from a carbine, which shattered the bone. For six hours afterwards, he continued calmly on horseback, giving orders, till he fainted with the loss of blood; after which he was carried into his tent.

For some days the czar, with an army of seventy thousand men, had lain at a small distance, harassing the Swedish camp, and cutting off the convoys of provision; but now intelligence was received that he was advancing as if with a design of attacking the lines. In this situation, Charles, wounded, distressed, and almost surrounded by enemies, is said to have, for the first time, assembled a grand council of war, the result of which was, that it was determined to march out and attack the Russians. Voltaire, however, asserts that the king did not relax one iota of his wonted obstinacy and arbitrary temper; but that, on the 7th of July, he sent for General Renscheld, and told him, without any emotion, to prepare for attacking the enemy next morning.

The 8th of July 1709 is remarkable for the battle which decided the fate of Sweden. Charles, having left eight thousand men in the camp to defend the works and repel the salutes of the besieged, began by break of day to march against his enemies with the rest of the army, consisting of twenty-six thousand men, of whom eighteen thousand were Kozaks. The Russians were drawn up in two lines behind their intrenchments, the horse in front, and the foot in the rear, with chasms to suffer the horse to fall back in case of necessity. General Slippenbach was despatched to attack the cavalry, which he did with such impetuosity that they were broken in an instant. They, however, rallied behind the infantry, and returned to the charge with so much vigour, that the Swedes were disordered in their turn, and Slippenbach was made prisoner. Charles was now carried in his litter to the scene of confusion. His troops, reanimated by the presence of their leader, returned to the charge, and the battle became doubtful, when a blunder of General Creuk, who had been despatched by Charles to take the enemy in flank, and a successful manoeuvre of Prince Menzikoff, decided the fortune of the day in favour of the Russians. Creuk's detachment was defeated, and Menzikoff, who had been sent by Peter with a strong body to post himself between the Swedes and Pultava, so as to cut off the communication of the enemy with their camp, and fall upon their rear, executed his orders with so much success as to intercept a corps de reserve of three thousand men. Charles had ranged his remaining troops in two lines, with the infantry in the centre, and the horse on the two wings. They had already twice rallied, and were now again attacked on all sides with the utmost fury. Charles in his litter, with a drawn sword in one hand, and a pistol in the other, seemed to be everywhere present; but new misfortunes awaited him. A cannon-ball killed both horses in the litter; and scarcely were these replaced by a fresh pair, when a second ball struck the litter in pieces, and overturned the king. The Swedish soldiers, believing him killed, fell back in consternation. The first line was completely broken, and the second fled. Charles, though disabled, did everything in his power to restore order; but the Russians, emboldened by success, pressed so hard on the flying foe, that it was impossible to rally them. Renscheld and several other general officers were taken prisoners, and Charles himself, who had shared the same fate, had not Count Poniatowski, father of the future favourite of Catherine II., with five hundred horse, surrounded the royal person, and with desperate fury cut his way through ten regiments of the Russians. With this small guard the king arrived on the banks of the Dnieper, and was followed by Lewen Haupt with four thousand foot and all the remaining cavalry. The Russians took possession of the Swedish camp, where they found a prodigious sum in specie; while Prince Menzikoff pursued the flying Swedes, and, as they were in want of boats to cross the Dnieper, obliged them to surrender at discretion. Charles escaped with the utmost difficulty, but at length reached Ochakof, on the frontiers of Turkey.

By this decisive victory, Peter remained in quiet possession of his new acquisitions on the Baltic, and was enabled to carry on, without molestation, the improvements which he had projected at the mouth of the Neva. His haughty rival, so long and so justly dreaded, was now completely humbled, and his ally the king of Poland was again established on his throne. During the eight years that had elapsed from the battle of Narva to that of Pultava, the Russian troops had acquired the discipline and steadiness of veterans, and had at length learned to beat their former conquerors. If Peter had decreed triumphal processions for his trifling successes at Azof, it is not surprising that he should commemorate by similar pageants a victory so glorious and so important as that of Pultava. He made his triumphal entry into Moscow for the third time, and the public rejoicings on this occasion far exceeded all that had before been witnessed in the Russian empire.

The vanquished Charles had, in the mean time, found a valuable friend in the monarch in whose territories he had taken refuge, Achmet II., who then filled the Ottoman throne, had beheld with admiration the warlike achievements of the Swedish hero; and, alarmed at the late successes of his rival, determined to afford Charles the most effectual aid. In 1711, the Turkish emperor assembled an immense army, and was preparing to invade the Russian territories, when the czar, having intimation of his design, and expecting powerful support from Cantemir, hospodar of Moldavia, a vassal of the Porte, resolved to anticipate the History. Turks, and to make an incursion into Moldavia. Forgetting his usual prudence and circumspection, Peter crossed the Dnieper, and advanced by rapid marches as far as Yassy or Jassy, the capital of that province, which is situated on the river Pruth; but his temerity had nearly cost him his liberty, if not his life. From this dangerous situation he was extricated by the tact of his consort the Czarina Catherine, who by a liberal bribe succeeded in gaining over the grand vizier to her interests, and thus brought about the treaty of the Pruth.

By this treaty, in which the interests of Charles had been almost abandoned, Peter saw himself delivered from a dangerous enemy, and returned to his capital to prosecute those plans for the internal improvement of his empire which justly entitled him to the appellation of Great. Before we enumerate these improvements, however, we must bring the Swedish war to a conclusion. The death of Charles, in 1718, had left the Swedish government dangerously weakened, by the continual drains of men and money occasioned by his mad enterprises, and little able to carry on a war with a monarch so powerful as Peter. At length, therefore, in 1721, this ruinous contest, which had continued ever since the commencement of the century, was brought to a conclusion by the treaty of Nystadt, by which the Swedes were obliged to cede to Russia, Livonia, Estonia, Ingris, a part of Karelia, the territory of Vyborg, the isle of Oesel, and all the other islands in the Baltic, from Courland to Vyborg; for which concessions they received back Finland, that had been conquered by Peter, together with two millions of dollars, and the liberty of exporting duty free, from Riga, Revel, and Arensburg, corn to the annual amount of fifty thousand roubles. In consequence of this great accession to the Russian empire, Peter received from his senate the title of Emperor and Autocrat of all the Russias, and the ancient title of czar fell into disuse.

The improvements introduced by Peter into the internal policy of the empire must be acknowledged to have been numerous and important. He organized anew the legislative assembly of the state; he greatly ameliorated the administration of justice; he new-modelled the national army; he entirely created the Russian navy; he rendered the ecclesiastical government milder and less intolerant; he zealously patronized the arts and sciences; he erected an observatory at St Petersburg, and by publicly proclaiming the approach of an eclipse, and the precise time at which it was to take place, taught his subjects no longer to consider such a phenomenon as an omen of disaster, or an awful menace of divine judgment. He enlarged the commerce of his empire, and gave every encouragement to trade and manufactures. He formed canals, repaired the roads, instituted regular posts, and laid down regulations for a uniformity of weights and measures. Lastly, he in some measure civilized his subjects, though it is evident that he could not civilize himself.

Various have been the estimates formed of the character of Peter by those who have detailed the events of his reign. It is certain that to him the Russian empire is greatly indebted for the position which she now occupies among the nations of Europe. As a monarch, therefore, he is entitled to our admiration; but as a private individual we must consider him as an object of detestation and abhorrence. His tyranny and his cruelty admit of no excuse; and if we were to suppose, that in sacrificing the heir of his crown he emulated the patriotism of the elder Brutus, we must remember that the same hand which signed the death-warrant of his son, could with pleasure execute the sentence of the law, or rather of his own caprice, and, in the moments of dissipation and revelry, could make the axe of justice an instrument of diabolical vengeance or of cool brutality.

Peter was succeeded by his consort Catherine, in whose favour he had, some years before his death, altered the order of succession. As the character of this princess, and the transactions of her short reign, have been already detailed under her life, we shall here only notice in the most cursory manner the events that took place. From the commencement of her reign, Catherine conducted herself with Catherine I.'s greatest benignity and gentleness, and thus secured the love and veneration of her subjects, which she had acquired during the life of the emperor. She reduced the annual capitulation tax; ordered the numerous gibbets which Peter had erected in various parts of the country to be cut down; and caused the bodies of those who had fallen victims to his tyranny to be decently interred. She recalled the greater part of those whom Peter had exiled to Siberia; paid the troops their arrears; and restored to the Kozaks those privileges and immunities of which they had been deprived during the late reign, while she continued in office most of the servants of Peter, both civil and military. In her reign the boundaries of the empire were extended by the submission of a Georgian prince, and the voluntary homage of the Kubinsklan Tartars. She died on the 17th of May 1727, having reigned about two years. She had settled the crown on Peter the son of the Czarevitch Alexei, who succeeded by the title of Peter II.

Peter was only twelve years of age when he ascended the imperial throne, and his reign was short and uninteresting. He was guided chiefly by Prince Menzikoff, whose daughter Catherine had decreed him to marry. This ambitious man, who, from the mean condition of a pye-boy, had risen to the first offices of the state, and had, during the late reign, principally conducted the administration of the government, was now, however, drawing towards the end of his career. The number of his enemies had greatly increased, and their attempts to work his downfall at last succeeded. A young nobleman of the family of the Dolgoruki, who was one of Peter's chief companions, was excited by his relations, and the other enemies of Menzikoff, to instil into the mind of the young prince feelings hostile to that minister. In this commission he succeeded so well, that Menzikoff and his whole family, not excepting the young empress, were banished to Siberia, and the Dolgorukis took into their hands the management of affairs. These artful counsellors, instead of cultivating the naturally good abilities of Peter, encouraged him to waste his time and exhaust his strength in hunting and other athletic exercises, for which his tender years were by no means calculated. It is supposed that the debility consequent on such fatigue increased the natural danger of the small-pox, with which he was attacked in January 1730, and from which he never recovered.

Notwithstanding the absolute power with which Peter I. and the Empress Catherine had settled by will the title Anne to the throne, the Russian senate and nobility, upon the duchess of Peter II. ventured to set aside the order of succession which those sovereigns had established. The male issue of Peter was now extinct; and the Duke of Holstein, the imposion to Peter's eldest daughter, was by the destination of the late empress entitled to the crown; but the Russians, for political reasons, filled the throne with Anne duchess of Courland, second daughter to Ivan, the eldest brother of Peter, though her eldest sister, the Duchess of Mecklenburg, was still alive. Anne's reign was extremely prosperous; and though she accepted the crown under limitations which some thought derogatory to her dignity, yet she broke them all, asserted the prerogative of her ancestors, and punished the aspiring Dolgoruki family, who had imposed those restrictions, with a view, as it is said, that they themselves might govern. She raised her favourite Biren to the duchy of Courland; and was obliged to give way to many severe executions on his account. Few transactions of any importance took place during the reign of Anne. She followed the example of her great predecessor Peter, by interfering in the affairs of Poland, where she History had sufficient interest to establish on the throne Augustus III. She entered into a treaty with the shah of Persia, by which she agreed to give up all title to the territories that had been seized by Peter I. on the shores of the Caspian, in consideration of certain privileges to be granted to the Russian merchants.

In 1735, a rupture took place between Russia and Turkey, occasioned partly by the mutual jealousies that had subsisted between these powers ever since the treaty on the Pruth, and partly by the depredations of the Tartars of the Crimea, then under the dominion of the Porte. A Russian army entered the Crimea, ravaged part of the country, and killed a considerable number of Tartars; but having ventured too far, without a sufficient supply of provisions, it was obliged to retreat, after sustaining a loss of nearly ten thousand men. This ill success did not discourage the court of St Petersburg; and in the following year another armament was sent into the Ukraine, under the command of Marshal Munnich, while another army under Laszky proceeded against Azof. Both these generals met with considerable success; the Tartars were defeated, and the fort of Azof once more submitted to the Russian arms. A third campaign took place in 1737, and the Russians were now assisted by a body of Austrian troops. Munnich laid siege to Oetchakof, which soon surrendered, while Laszky desolated the Crimea.

No material advantages were, however, gained upon either side; and disputes arose between the Austrian and Russian generals. At length, in 1739, Marshal Munnich, having crossed the Bog at the head of a considerable army, defeated the Turks in a pitched battle near Stavutshan; made himself master of Yassy, the capital of Moldavia; and before the end of the campaign reduced the whole of that province under his subjection. These successes of the Russian arms induced the Porte to propose terms of accommodation; and in the end of 1739 a treaty was concluded, by which Russia again gave up Azof and Moldavia, and, to compensate the loss of above a hundred thousand men, and vast sums of money, gained nothing but permission to build a fortress on the Don.

Upon the death of Anne, which took place in 1740, Ivan, the son of her niece the Princess of Mecklenburg, was, by her will, entitled to the succession; but as he was no more than two years old, Biren was appointed to be administrator of the empire during his minority. This nomination was disagreeable to the emperor's father and mother, and unpopular among the Russians. Count Munnich was employed by the princess to arrest Biren, who was tried and condemned to die, but was sent into exile to Siberia.

The administration of the Princess Anne of Mecklenburg and her husband was upon many accounts disagreeable, not only to the Russians, but to other powers of Europe; and the Princess Elizabeth, daughter of Peter the Great by Catherine, formed such a party, that in one night's time she was proclaimed empress of the Russias, and the Princess of Mecklenburg, her husband, and son, were made prisoners. The fate of this unhappy family was peculiarly severe. All but Ivan were sent into banishment, to an island at the mouth of the Dvina, in the White Sea, where the Princess Anne died in childbirth in the year 1747. Ivan's father survived till 1773, and at last ended his miserable career in prison. The young emperor Ivan was for some time shut up in a monastery at Oranienburg, when, on attempting to escape, he was removed to the castle of Schlusselburg, where he was cruelly put to death.

The chief instrument in rousing the ambition of Elizabeth, and procuring her elevation to the throne, was her physician and favourite Lestocq, who, partly by his insinuating address, and partly by the assistance of French gold, brought over to Elizabeth's interest most of the royal guards. During the short regency of Anne of Mecklenburg, a new war had commenced between Russia and Sweden; and this war was carried on with considerable acrimony and some success by Elizabeth. The Russian forces took possession of Abo, and made themselves masters of nearly all Finland. But at length, in 1743, in consequence of the negotiations that were carrying on regarding the succession to the Swedish crown, a peace was concluded between the two powers, on the condition that Elizabeth should restore the greater part of Finland.

Soon after her accession, Elizabeth determined to nominate her successor to the imperial throne, and had fixed Peter duke her eyes on Charles Peter Ulric, son of the Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, by Anne, daughter of Peter the Great. This prince was accordingly invited into Russia, persuaded to become a member of the Greek church, and proclaimed Duke of Grand Duke of Russia, and heir of the empire. The ceremony of his baptism was performed on the 18th of November 1742, when he received the name of Peter Feodorovitch. He was at this time only fourteen years of age; but before he had attained his sixteenth year, his aunt had destined him a consort in the person of Sophia Augusta Frederica, daughter of Christian Augustus prince of Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg. This princess, on entering the Greek church, took the name of Catherine which she afterwards bore on the throne.

Having thus settled the order of succession, Elizabeth began to take an active part in the politics of Europe. The engagements in death of Charles VI., emperor of Germany, had left his seven daughters, Maria Theresa queen of Hungary, at the mercy of the enterprising king of Prussia, till a formidable party was organized in her behalf. To this confederacy the empress of Russia acceded, and in 1747 sent a considerable body of troops into Germany, to the assistance of the empress-queen. The events of this long and bloody contest have been fully detailed in the article PRESSIA. The more private transactions of the court of St Petersburg, as far as they are connected with the intrigues of her niece Catherine and the follies of the Grand Duke Peter, have also been related in our life of CATHERINE II., or they will be found at greater length in the recently (1859) published Memoirs of Catherine II., said with every appearance of truth to have been written by herself, and extending from her birth in 1729 to 1759. Elizabeth died on the 5th of January 1762, the victim of disease brought on by intemperance.

The grand duke ascended the throne by the name of Peter III. He entered on the government possessed of an enthusiastic admiration of the virtues of the King of Prussia, with whom he immediately made peace. He is said to have aimed at reforms which Peter the Great durst not attempt; and to have even ventured to cut off the beards of his clergy. He was certainly a weak man, who had no opinions of his own, but childishly adopted the sentiments of any person who took the trouble to teach him. His chief amusement was buffoonery; and he would sit for hours looking with pleasure at a merry-andrew singing drunken and vulgar songs. He was a stranger to the country, its inhabitants, and their manners; and suffered himself to be persuaded by those about him that the Russians were fools and beasts unworthy of his attention, except to make them, by means of the Prussian discipline, good fighting machines.

Becoming attached to a lady of the noble family of Vorontzoff, he disgusted his wife, who was then a beautiful duchess, woman in the prime of life, of great natural talents and great acquired accomplishments; whilst the lady whom he preferred to her was but one degree above an idiot. The Princess Dashkoff, the favourite's sister, who was married to a man whose genius was not superior to that of the emperor, being dame d'honneur and lady of the bed-chamber, had of course much of the empress's company. Similarity of situations knit these two illustrious personages in the The princess, being a zealous admirer of the French economists, could make her conversation both amusing and instructive. She retailed all her statistical knowledge; and finding the empress a willing hearer, she spoke of her in every company as a prodigy of knowledge, judgment, and philanthropy. Whilst the emperor, by his buffoonery and attachment to foreign manners, was daily incurring more and more the hatred of his subjects, the popularity of his wife was rapidly increasing; and some persons about the court expressed their regret that so much knowledge of government, such love of humanity, and such ardent wishes for the prosperity of Russia, should only furnish conversations with Catharina Romanovna (the Princess Dashkoff). The empress and her favourite did not let these expressions pass unobserved, but continued their studies in concert; and whilst the former was employed on her famous code of laws for a great empire, the latter always reported progress, till the middling circles of Moscow and St Petersburg began to speak familiarly of the blessings which they might enjoy if these speculations could be realized.

Meanwhile Peter III. was giving fresh cause of discontent. He had recalled from Siberia Count Munnich, who was indeed a sensible, brave, and worthy man; but Munnich, as he was smarting under the effects of Russian despotism, and had grounds of resentment against most of the great families, did not much discourage the emperor's unpopular conduct, trying only to moderate it and give it a system. Peter, however, was impatient. He publicly ridiculed the exercise and evolutions of the Russian troops; and hastily adopting the Prussian discipline, without digesting and fitting it for the constitution of his own forces, he completely ruined himself by disgusting the army.

In the midst of these imprudences, indeed, Peter was sometimes disturbed by the advice of virtuous counsellors. But these remonstrances produced only a temporary gleam of reformation, and he soon relapsed into his accustomed sensuality. What he lost in popularity was gained by the emissaries of Catherine. Four regiments of guards, amounting to eight thousand men, were speedily brought over by the three brothers Orloff, who had contrived to ingratiate themselves with their officers. The people at large were in a state of indifference, out of which they were partially roused by the following means. A little manuscript was handed about, containing principles of legislation for Russia, founded on natural rights, and on the claims of the different classes of people, which, insensibly formed, became so familiar as to appear natural. In that performance was proposed a convention of deputies from all the classes, and from every part of the empire, to converse, but without authority, on the subjects of which it treated, and to inform the senate of the result of their deliberations. It passed for the work of her majesty, and was much admired.

While Catherine was thus high in the public esteem and affection, the emperor took the alarm at her popularity, and in a few days came to the resolution of confining her for life, and then of marrying his favourite. The servants of that lady betrayed her to her sister, who imparted the intelligence to the empress. Catherine saw her danger, and instantly formed her resolution. She must either tamely submit to perpetual imprisonment, and perhaps a cruel and ignominious death, or contrive to hurl her husband from his throne. No other alternative was left her, and the consequence was what was undoubtedly expected. The proper steps were taken. Folly fell before abilities and address, and in three days the revolution was accomplished.

When the emperor saw that all was lost, he attempted to enter Cronstadt from Oranienbaum, a town on the Gulf of Finland, thirty versts, or nearly twenty-six miles, from St Petersburg. The sentinels at the harbour presented their muskets at the barge; and though they were not loaded, and the men had no cartridges, he drew back. Munich received him again, and exhorted him to mount his horse and head his guards, swearing to live and die with him. He said, "No, I see it cannot be done without shedding much of the blood of my brave Holsteiners. I am not worthy of the sacrifice."

Six days had already elapsed since the revolution, and that great event had been apparently terminated without any violence that might leave odious impressions upon the mind of the public. Peter had been removed from Petershof to a pleasant retreat called Ropscha, about thirty miles from St Petersburg; and here he supposed he should be detained but a short time previous to his being sent into Germany. He therefore transmitted a message to Catherine, desiring permission to have for his attendant a favourite negro, and that she would send him a dog, of which he was very fond, together with his violin, a bible, and a few romances; telling her that, disgusted with the wickedness of mankind, he was resolved henceforth to devote himself to a philosophical life. However reasonable these requests, not one of them was granted, and his plans of wisdom were turned into ridicule.

In the meantime the soldiers were amazed at what they had done. They could not conceive by what fascination they had been hurried so far as to dethrone the grandson of Peter the Great, in order to give his crown to a German woman. The majority, without plan or consciousness of what they were doing, had been mechanically led on by the movements of others; and each individual now reflecting on his baseness, after the pleasure of disposing of a crown had vanished, was filled only with remorse. The sailors, who had never been engaged in the insurrection, openly reproached the guards in the tippling-houses with having sold their emperor for beer. One night a band of soldiers attached to the empress took the alarm, from an idle fear, and exclaimed that their mother was in danger, and that she must be awakened, that they might see her. During the next night there was a fresh commotion more serious than the former. So long as the life of the emperor left a pretext for inquietude, it was thought that no tranquillity was to be expected.

On the sixth day of the emperor's imprisonment at Ropscha, Alexei Orloff, accompanied by an officer named Teploff, came to him with the news of his speedy deliverance, and asked permission to dine with him. According to the custom of that country, wine glasses and brandy were brought previous to dinner; and while the officer amused the czar with some trifling discourse, his chief filled the glasses, and poured a poisonous mixture into that which he intended for the prince. The czar, without any distrust, swallowed the potion, on which he immediately experienced the most severe pains; and on his being offered a second glass, on pretence of its giving him relief, he refused it, with reproaches against him that offered it. He called aloud for milk, but the two monsters offered him poison again, and pressed him to take it. A French valet-de-chambre, greatly attached to him, now ran in. Peter threw himself into his arms, saying in a faint tone of voice, "It was not enough, then, to prevent me from reigning in Sweden, and to deprive me of the crown of Russia. I must also be put to death."

The valet-de-chambre presumed to intercede for his master; but the two miscreants forced this dangerous witness out of the room, and continued their ill treatment of the czar. In the midst of this tumult the younger of the Princes Baratinsky came in, and joined the two former. Orloff, who had already thrown down the emperor, was pressing upon his breast with both his knees, and firmly gripping his throat with his hand. The unhappy monarch now struggling with that strength which arises from despair, the two other assassins threw a napkin round his neck, and put an end to his life by suffocation. It is not known with certainty what share the empress had in this event; but it is affirmed that on the very day on which it happened, while the empress was beginning her dinner with much gaiety, an officer, supposed to be one of the assassins, precipitately entered the apartment with his hair dishevelled, his face covered with sweat and dust, his clothes torn, and his countenance agitated with horror and dismay. On entering, his eyes, sparkling and confused, met those of the empress. She arose in silence, and went into a closet, whither he followed her. A few moments afterwards she sent for Count Panin, the former governor of Peter, who was already appointed her minister, and, informing him that the emperor was dead, consulted him on the manner of announcing his death to the public. Panin advised her to let one night pass over, and to spread the news next day, as if they had received it during the night. This counsel being approved, the empress returned with the same countenance, and continued her dinner with the same gaiety. On the day following, when it was published that Peter had died of an hemorrhoidal colic, she appeared bathed in tears, and proclaimed her grief by an edict.

The corpse was brought to St Petersburg, there to be exposed. The face was black, and the neck excoriated. Notwithstanding these horrible marks, in order to assuage the commotions, which began to excite apprehension, and to prevent impostors from hereafter disturbing the empire, it was left three days exposed to all the people, with only the ornaments of a Holstein officer. The soldiers, disbanded and disarmed, mingled with the crowd, and as they beheld their sovereign, their countenances indicated a mixture of compassion, contempt, and shame. They were soon afterwards embarked for their country; but, as the sequel of their cruel destiny, almost all of these unfortunate men perished in a storm. Some of them had saved themselves on the rocks adjacent to the coast; but they again fell a prey to the waves, while the commandant of Cronstadt despatched a messenger to St Petersburg to know whether he might be permitted to assist them. Thus fell the unhappy Peter III. In 1762, in the thirty-fourth year of his age, after having enjoyed the imperial dignity only six months.

On her accession, Catherine behaved with great magnanimity and forbearance towards those who had opposed her elevation, or were the declared friends of the deceased emperor. She gave to Prince George, in exchange for his title of Duke of Courland, conferred on him by Peter, the government of Holstein. She reinstated Biren in his dukedom of Courland, received into favour Marshal Munnich, who had readily transferred his fidelity from the dead to the living, and even pardoned her rival the Countess Vorontzoff, and permitted her to retain the tokens of her lover's munificence. She permitted Gudovitch, who was high in the confidence of Peter, and had incurred her particular displeasure, to retire to his native country. Perhaps the most unexpected part of her conduct towards the friends of Peter, was her adhering to the treaty of peace which that monarch had concluded with the king of Prussia six months before. The death of his inveterate enemy Elizabeth had relieved Frederick from a load of solicitude, and had extricated him from his dangerous situation. He now, as he thought, saw himself again involved in a war with the same formidable power; but, to his great joy, he found that Catherine, from motives of policy, declined entering on a war at the commencement of her reign.

In one particular the empress showed her jealousy and her fears. She increased the vigilance with which the young prince Ivan was confined in the castle of Schlusselburg, from which Peter III. had expressed a resolution to release him. Not long after her accession, this unfortunate prince was assassinated, though whether this event was to be imputed to the empress or her counsellors, cannot be positively determined. But a manifesto published by the court of St Petersburg, and supposed to have been written by the empress herself, admitted that the prince was put to death by the officers of his guard, alleging that this was necessary, in consequence of an attempt to carry him off.

Were we to offer a detailed account of the principal transactions that took place during the long reign of Catherine, we should far exceed the limits within which this article must be confined, and should at the same time repeat much of what has already been given under other heads. As the events that distinguished the life of Catherine II., however, are too important to be wholly omitted, we shall present our readers with the following chronological sketch of them, referring for a more particular account to Tooke's Life of Catherine II., and to the articles CATHERINE II., BRITAIN, FRANCE, POLAND, PRUSSIA, SWEDEN, and TURKEY, in this work.

The year 1766 presented at St Petersburg the grandest spectacle that perhaps was ever seen in Europe. An entertainment, which the empress chose to name a carnival, the principal nobility appeared in the most sumptuous dresses, sparkling with diamonds, and mounted on horses richly caparisoned, in a magnificent theatre erected for that purpose. Here all that has been read of the ancient jousts and tournaments was realized and exceeded in the presence of thousands of spectators, who seemed to vie with each other in the brilliancy of their appearance.

In 1768, the empress composed instructions for a new code of laws for her dominions; and the same year she submitted to the danger of inoculation, in order that her subjects, to whom the practice was unknown, might be benefited by her example.

In the same year a war broke out with the Ottoman War with Porte. The various events of this long and important conflict, which continued for seven years, must here be only briefly enumerated, as they will hereafter be more particularly noticed under the article TURKEY. In this war our countryman Greig, then an admiral in the Russian service, highly distinguished himself by his conduct in a naval engagement with the Turks, in the harbour of Tschesme, in the Archipelago, in which the Turkish fleet was entirely defeated, and their magazines destroyed. This took place on the 4th of November 1772.

In the beginning of the year 1769, the khan of the Crimea made an attack on the territory of Bachmut, on the Dnieper Bog, where he was several times bravely repulsed, and concluded with his army of Tartars and Turks, by Major-General Romanus and Prince Prosoforiskoi. At the same time were fought the battles of Zekanofca and Soroca on the Dnieper, when the large magazines of the enemy were burned. In February the Polish Kozaks in the voivodship of Bracław put themselves under the Russian sceptre. In the same month the Nisovian Saparogian Kozaks gained a battle in the deserts of Krim. In March the Polish rebels were subdued, and their town taken, by Major-General Ismailoff. On the 24th of April the fort of Taganrog, on the Sea of Azof, was taken. On the 15th the Russian army, under the general-in-chief Prince Galitzin, crossed the Dnieper. On the 19th a victory was gained by Prince Galitzin near Chotzim. On the 21st the Turks were defeated not far from Chotzim by Lieutenant-General Count Solitkof. The 29th, an action was fought between the Russian Kalmyks and the Kuban Tartars, to the disadvantage of the latter. June the 8th, the Turks were defeated at the mouth of the Dnieper, near Otkachof. An action took place on the Dnieper on the 19th, when the troops of Prince Prosoforiskoi forced the Turks to repass the river in great disorder. Chotzim was taken on the 19th of September. Yassy, in Moldavia, was taken on the 27th of September. Bukarescht, in Wallachia, was taken, and the hospodar made prisoner, in November 1770. A victory was gained History. by the Russians under Generals Podhorilshany and Potemkin, near Fokshany. The town of Shusha was taken by Lieutenant-General Von Stoffeln, February 4. A Russian fleet appeared in the port of Mains, in the Morea, on the 17th February. Mistra, the Lacedemon of the ancients, and several other towns of the Morea, were taken in February. Arcadium in Greece surrendered, and a multitude of Turks were made prisoners, in the same month. The Turks and Tartars were driven from their intrenchments near the Pruth, by Count Romantsof, Prince Repnin, and General Bauer, 11th-16th June. Prince Prosorotskoi gained several advantages near Otchakof, June 18. The Russian fleet, under Count Alexei Orlov, gained a complete victory over the Turks near Tacheusin, 24th June; the consequence of this victory was the destruction of the whole Turkish fleet near Tacheusin, where it was burned by Admiral Greig on the 26th of June. A battle was fought on the Kagal, in which Count Romantsof defeated the Turkish army, consisting of a hundred and fifty thousand men, and took their camp, and all the artillery, July 21. The fortress Bender was taken July 22. The town of Ismail was taken by Prince Repnin, July 26; Kilia by Prince Repnin, August 21; and Akjerman in October. Brailof was taken on the 10th of November 1771; the town of Kaffa June 29; and numberless other victories were obtained by sea and land, till peace was concluded on the 13th January 1775. By this the Crimea was declared independent of the Porte, and all the vast tract of country between the Bog and Dnieper was ceded to Russia, besides the Kuban and the isle of Taman, with free navigation in all the Turkish seas, including the passage of the Dardanelles; privileges granted to the most favoured nations, and stipulations in behalf of the inhabitants of Moldavia and Wallachia.

In 1779, the empress intending to divide the empire into viceroyalties, began in January with the viceroyalty of Orlof. March 21st, a new treaty was signed at Constantinople between Russia and the Porte. May 15th, the treaty of peace between the belligerent powers in Germany and the French king was signed under the mediation of her majesty. In October, a ship built at Taganrog, named the Prince Constantine, sailed to Smyrna with Russian commodities. December 3d, the viceroyalty of Vorontsev was instituted; and the 27th, Count Romantsof Zadunaiski opened the viceroyalty of Kursk with great solemnity.

In 1780, February 26th, appeared the memorable declaration of her imperial majesty, relating to the safety of navigation and commerce of the neutral powers. In 1781, March 1st, the empress became mediatrix between England and Holland; April 5th, instituted the first public school in St Petersburg.

In 1782, by a command of her majesty, dated January the 18th, a Roman Catholic archbishop was installed in the city of Mobileh, with authority over all the Catholic churches and convents in the Russian empire. August 7th, the famous equestrian statue of Peter the Great, being finished, was uncovered to the public in presence of the empress, on which occasion she published a proclamation containing pardons for several criminals. November 22d, the order of St Vladimir was instituted. The 27th, the empress published a new tariff.

In 1783, May 7th, the empress instituted a seminary for the education of young persons of quality at Kursk. June 21st, a treaty of commerce was concluded with the Ottoman Porte. July, the institution of the other viceroyalties of the empire followed in succession. On July 21st, the empress published a manifesto by her commander-in-chief Prince Potemkin, in the Krim, in regard to the taking possession of that peninsula, the Kuban, and the island of Taman. The 24th, a treaty was concluded with Heraclius II, czar of Kartalinia and Kachetti, by which he submitted himself, his heirs and successors for ever, with his territories and dominions, to the sceptre of her majesty, her heirs and successors. On the 29th, accounts were received from the camp of Prince Potemkin, at Karas-Basar, that the clergy, the beys, and other persons of distinction, with the towns of Karas-Basar, Bachtashiserai, Achmetchet, Kaffa, Kosloff, with the districts of Turkanskoikut and Neubasar, and that of Perekop, in the peninsula of the Krim, together with the hordes of Edissanck and Dshambolukse, the sultan Ali Giray, and his vassals, with all the Budshaks and Bashkirs there, and all the tribes dwelling beyond the river Kuban, the sultan Boatar Giray and his vassals, took the oath of allegiance to her imperial majesty, and with willing hearts submitted for ever to her glorious sway. On the 30th the hospodar of Wallachia was deposed, and Dracu Satzo set up in his place. September 22d, her majesty raised Gabriel, archbishop of Novgorod and St Petersburg, to the dignity of metropolitan. October 21st, in the great hall of the Academy of Sciences, the new institution of the Imperial Russian Academy was opened, after a most solemn consecration by the metropolitan Gabriel, and others of the clergy, under the presidency of the Princess Dashkoff. November 7th, the empress became mediatrix for accommodating the differences between the king of Prussia and the city of Danzig. The school for surgery was opened at St Petersburg on the 18th. December 13th, a school commission was instituted for superintending all the public schools. On the 28th, an act was concluded with the Ottoman Porte, by which the possession and sovereignty of the Krim, the Kuban, and Taman, were solemnly made over to the empress.

1784. January 1st, the senate, in a speech by Field-Marshal Count Razomofski, performed the ceremony, repeated Georgia annually, of most humbly thanking her majesty for the benedictions which she had graciously bestowed on the whole the Russian empire in the preceding year. October 14th, the Lesziers, having crossed the river Alasan, and invaded the dominions of Georgia, were repulsed with great loss by a detachment of Russian troops. December 29th, Katolikos Maksim, the serdar and court-marshal Prince Zeretelli, and the chief justice Kunichebe, ambassadors from David, czar of Inseretia, were admitted to a public audience of her majesty, at which they submitted, in the name of the czar, him and his subjects to the will and powerful protection of her imperial majesty, as the rightful head of all the sons of the orthodox eastern church, and sovereign ruler and defender of the Georgian nations.

1785. The 12th of January, Maurocordato, hospodar of Wallachia, was deposed, and Alexander Maurocordato, his uncle, restored to that dignity. The 21st, the empress visited the principal national school, and passed a long time examining the classes, and the proficiency of the youth in that seminary; on which occasion a marble tablet was fixed in the wall of the fourth class, with this inscription, in gold letters: Thou visitest the vineyard which thine own hand hath planted. April 21st, the privileges of the nobility were confirmed, and on the same day the burglers of towns constituted into bodies corporate, by a particular manifesto. The public school in Vorontsev was opened. July 14th, a manifesto was issued, granting full liberty of religion and commerce to all foreigners settling in the regions of Mount Caucasus, under the Russian government. September 16th, the public school at Nishni Novgorod was opened. October 12th, the Jesuits in White Russia, in a general assembly, elected a vicar-general of their order. November 1st, a treaty of commerce was concluded with the emperor of Germany. The 24th, the Russian consul in Alexandria made his public entry on horseback, an honour never before granted to any power; erected the imperial standard on his house, with discharge of cannon, &c. December 28th, a Russian mercantile frigate, fully freighted, arrived at Leghorn from Constantinople. 1786. The 29th of January, the empress confirmed the plan of a navigation school. February 12th, by a decree, the usual slavish subscriptions to petitions were to be discontinued; and, instead of them, only the words humble and faithful subject, and in certain cases only subject, were ordained to be used. March 24th, the empress granted the university of Moscow a hundred and twenty-five thousand roubles, and all the materials of the palace Kremlin, for increasing its buildings. The 25th, a decree was passed for making and repairing the roads throughout the whole empire at the sole expense of the crown, and four millions of roubles were immediately allotted for the road between St Petersburg and Moscow. April 10th, a new war establishment for the army was signed; 23rd, the hospodar of Wallachia was deposed, and Mavrović set up in his place. June 28th, the empress instituted a loan bank at St Petersburg; to the fund whereof she allotted twenty-two millions to be advanced to the nobility, and eleven millions to the burghers of the town, on very advantageous terms. August 5th, there were published rules to be observed in the public schools. October 4th, a large Russian ship, with Russian productions, from St Petersburg, arrived at Cadiz. November 24th, the empress erected public schools at Tambov. December 14th, Prince Ypsilanti was appointed hospodar of Moldavia, in the room of the deposed Manuocrado. December 31st, a treaty of commerce and navigation was concluded between Russia and France.

1787. March, public schools were endowed and opened at Rostov, Uglič, Molaga, and Romanoč, in the viceroyalty of Yaroslavl; also at Usting and Arasovitz, in the viceroyalty of Vologda. April 21st, a manifesto was issued for promoting peace and concord among the burghers of the empire. The 25th, took place the concerted interview between the empress and the king of Poland, near the Polish town of Konief. The treaty of commerce with England being expired, the British factory were informed that they must henceforward pay the duties on imports in silver money, like the other nations who had no commercial treaty. May 7th, the empress hearing that the emperor of Germany was at Cherson, proceeded thither, and met him there on the 12th. June 28th, the twenty-fifth anniversary of her reign, she displayed various marks of her bounty. The debtors to the crown were forgiven, prisoners released, imposts taken off, soldiers rewarded, &c. The 12th July, the new-built school at Riga, called a Lyceum, was solemnly dedicated. August 5th, Bulgakoff, the Russian ambassador at the Ottoman Porte, was imprisoned in the Seven Towers, contrary to the law of nations, which the empress regarded as a public declaration of war. 21st, The Turkish fleet at Ochakov attacked the Russian frigate Skorun and the sloop Bittingi, but was repulsed and put to flight by the bravery of the latter. Many signal advantages were gained over the Turks; several public schools founded in various parts of the empire between this and August following, during which time the war broke out with Sweden.

1788. August 12th, in the expedition beyond the Kuban, the Russian troops entirely routed a company of four thousand Arutayans and Alcasains; eight hundred of the enemy were slain, and five villages destroyed. 15th, The surrender of the Turkish fortress of Dubitsa took place. 18th, The Turks made a violent sortie from Ochakov, but were repulsed by the Russian yagers, and, after a battle of four hours, were driven back with the loss of five hundred men. 23rd, A fierce battle was fought between the Russian troops and Sacubianians, in which the latter lost a thousand men. The Russian fleet kept the Swedish blockaded up in Sveaborg ever since the battle of July 6th. The Swedish army left the Russian territory in Finland. September 18th, The town and fortress of Chotzim surrendered to the Russians, with the garrison of two thousand men, a hundred and fifty-three cannon fourteen mortars, and much ammunition. 19th-29th, A small Russian squadron from the fleet at Sevastopol, cruising along the coast of Anatolia, destroyed many of the enemy's vessels, prevented the transporting of the Turkish troops, and returned with great booty. 20th, Us-sener Shamanchin, chief of the Bashduchovians, was, on his petition, admitted a subject of Russia. 26th, A numerous host of Kubanians and Turks were beaten on the river Ubín, with the loss of fifteen hundred men. November 7th, Prince Potemkin, at the head of his Kozaks, took the island Berecan, with many prisoners and much ammunition. December 6th, the town and fortress of Orchakov were taken by Prince Potemkin Tavritsheskoï; nine thousand five hundred and ten of the enemy were killed, four thousand taken prisoners, a hundred and eighty standards, three hundred and ten cannons and mortars. All the inhabitants were taken prisoners, amounting to twenty-five thousand; the Russians lost nine hundred and fifty-six killed and eighteen hundred and twenty-four wounded. December 19th, General Kamenskoy gained considerable advantages over the Turks near Ganguir.

1789. April 16th, Colonel Rimskoy Korsakoff was surrounded by the Turks, who were beaten, with great slaughter, by Lieutenant-General Von Derfelden. 17th-28th, Some Russian cruisers from Sevastopol effected a landing on the Cape Karakaran, burnt six mosques, and carried off great Swedes' booty. 20th, General Derfelden drove the Turks from Galatch, gained a complete victory, killed two thousand, took fifteen hundred prisoners, with the seraskier Ibrahim Pasha, and the whole camp. Several skirmishes took place between the Russians and Swedes in Finland, always to the advantage of the former. May 31st, another victory was gained over the Swedes. June 5th, Suklof was taken from the Swedes, and Fort St Michael on the 8th. July 15th, Admiral Tehitchagoff engaged the Swedish fleet under the command of the Duke of Sudermania; but no ship was lost on either side. 21st, A battle was fought at Fokshany, to the great loss of the Turks, and Fokshany was taken. August 18th, the Russian galley fleet fought the Swedish under Count Ehrenreich, the former took a frigate and five other ships, and two thousand prisoners. August 21st, another sea-fight took place, and Prince Nassau Siegen made good his landing of the Russian troops in sight of the king of Sweden at the head of his army. September 7th, Prince Repnin attacked the seraskier Hassan Pashin near the river Seltska, and took his whole camp. 11th, Count Suwaroff and prince of Saxe-Cobourg engaged near the river Kymnik the grand Turkish army of nearly a hundred thousand men, and gained a complete victory; from which Count Suwaroff received the surname Kymnikskoi. 14th, The Russian troops under General Ribas took the Turkish citadel Chodshabey, in the sight of the whole of the enemy's fleet. 30th, The fortress Palanka being taken, the town of Belgorod or Akjerman surrendered to Prince Potemkin Tavritsheskoï. November 4th, the town and castle of Bender submitted at discretion to the same commander.

1790. April 24, General Numann gained a victory over the Swedes near Memel. May 2, a sea-fight took place off Revel, in which the Russians captured the Prince Charles of sixty-four guns from the Swedes; and in this engagement those two gallant English officers Captains Trevennian and Denison were killed. 23d, The fleet under Vice-Admiral Kruse engaged the Swedish fleet near the island Siskar in the Gulf of Finland, without any advantage being gained on either side, though they fought the whole day. 24th, An action was fought at Savatsipala, when the Swedes were forced to fly. June 6th, the Swedes were defeated by Major Buxhovden, on the island Ursanari. June 22, the whole Swedish fleet, commanded by the Duke of Sudermania, was entirely defeated by Admiral Tehitchagoff and the Prince of Nassau Siegen; on this occasion five thousand prisoners were taken, amongst whom were the centre admiral and two hundred officers. 28th, General Denisoff defeated History. the Swedes near Davidoff. July 9th, Admiral Ushakov obtained a victory over the Turkish fleet commanded by the capudan pasha, at the mouth of the Straits of Yenikali. August 3d, peace was concluded with Sweden, without the mediation of any other power. August 28th, 29th, an engagement took place on the Euxine, not far from Chodzhabey, between the Russian admiral Ushakov and the capudan pasha, when the principal Turkish ship, of eighty guns, was burnt, one of seventy guns and three others taken; the admiral Said Bey being made prisoner, and another ship sunk; the rest made off. September 30th, a great victory was obtained over the Turks by General German, with much slaughter, and the seraskier Batal Bey, and the whole camp, were taken. October 18th, Kilia surrendered to Major Ribas. November 6th, 7th, the fortress Culta and the Turkish flotilla were taken. December 11th, the important fortress of Ismail, after a storming for seven hours without intermission, surrendered to Count Suworow, with the garrison of forty-two thousand men; thirty thousand eight hundred and sixteen were slain on the spot, two thousand died of their wounds, nine thousand were taken prisoners, with two hundred and sixty-five pieces of cannon, an incredible store of ammunition, &c. The Russians lost only eighteen hundred and fifteen killed, and two thousand four hundred and fifty wounded.

March 25th-31st, the campaign opened by the Turkish troops under Prince Potemkin, not far from Brailof, when repeatedly the Turks were defeated in several battles, in which they lost upwards of four thousand men. June 5th, the troops under General Golenishchev Kutuzov, near Tulstha, drove the Turks beyond the Danube, and at Babada entirely routed a body of fifteen thousand men, of whom fifteen hundred were left dead upon the field. 22d, the fortress Anapinas was taken by storm, when the whole garrison, consisting of twenty-five thousand men, were put to the sword, excepting one thousand who were taken prisoners. 28th, the troops under Prince Repnin attacked the Turkish army, consisting of nearly eighty thousand men, commanded by the grand vizir Yusuf Pasha, eight pashas, two Tartar sultans, and two boys of Anatolia; and after a bloody battle of six hours, entirely routed them; five thousand Turks were killed in their flight. June 28th, Sudskuk Kale was taken. July 31st, Admiral Ushakov beat the Turkish fleet on the coasts of Rumelia. Prince Repnin and Yusuf Pasha signed the preliminaries of peace between the Russian empire and the Ottoman Porte, by which the Dniester was made the boundary of the two empires, with the cession of the countries lying between the Bog and Dniester to Russia. August 15th, 16th, at Pillatz, near Dresden, a congress was held by the emperor of Germany, the king of Prussia, the elector of Saxony, the Count d'Artois, &c., &c. One of the most important events in this year was the death of Prince Potemkin, at Yassy in Moldavia, on the 15th October.

Early in this year Bulgakoff, the Russian minister at Warsaw, declared war against Poland; and the Polish patriots raised an army in which Thaddaeus Kosciuszko soon bore a conspicuous part.

In 1788, the diet of Poland had abrogated the constitution which the empress of Russia had, in 1775, compelled that nation to adopt, and had formed an alliance with the king of Prussia, by way of defence against the further encroachments of the Russian despot. Three years after, viz. on the 3d of May 1791, the new constitution, which was intended further to destroy the ambitious hopes of Catherine, was decreed at Warsaw. (See POLAND.) These were affronts which the Russian empress could not forgive, and in one of the conciliabulae, in which the ministers of state, and the favourite for the time being, sat to regulate the affairs of the north of Europe, and to determine the fate of the surrounding nations, the annihilation of the Polish monarchy was resolved on.

The declaration of war above mentioned was denounced by Bulgakoff at an assembly of the diet. That body received the declaration with a majestic calmness, and resolved to take measures for the defence of the nation. The generous enthusiasm of liberty soon spread throughout the state, and even the king pretended to share in the general indignation. An army was hastily collected, and the command of it bestowed on Prince Joseph Poniatowsky, a general whose inexperience and frivolous pursuits were but ill adapted to so important a charge.

In the mean time several Russian armies were preparing to overwhelm the small and disunited forces of the Poles. A body of eighty thousand Russians extended itself along the Bog, another of ten thousand was collected in the environs of Kief, and a third of thirty thousand penetrated into Lithuania. While these armies were carrying murder and desolation throughout the Polish territories, Catherine was employing all her arts to induce the neighbouring powers to join in the partition of Poland; and in this she was but too successful. A treaty was accordingly concluded between the empress and the king of Prussia, by which each appropriated to itself a share of the remains of Poland. Stanislas Augustus, the powerless head of that state, was prevailed on to make a public declaration that there was a necessity for yielding to the superiority of the Russian arms.

On the 9th of April the Polish confederation of the partisans of Russia assembled at Grodno; and on this occasion the Russian general placed himself under the canopy of that throne which he was about to declare for ever vacant, and the Russian minister Sievers produced a manifesto, declaring the intention of his mistress to incorporate with her domains all the Polish territory which her arms had conquered.

The Russian soldiers dispersed throughout the provinces committed depredations and ravages of which history furnishes but few examples. Warsaw became especially the theatre of their excesses. Their general, Igelstrom, who governed in that city, connived at the disorders of the soldiers, and made the wretched inhabitants feel the whole weight of his arrogance and barbarity. The patriots of Poland had been obliged to disperse, their property was confiscated, and their families reduced to servitude. Goaded by so many calamities, they once more took the resolution to free their country from the oppression of the Russians, or perish in the attempt. Some of them assembled, and sent an invitation to Kosciuszko, to come and lead them on against the invaders of their freedom.

Kosciuszko had retired to Leipzig, with a few other Poles, all eminent for patriotism and military ardour. These hesitated not a moment in giving their approbation to the resolution adopted by their indignant countrymen; but they were sensible that, in order to succeed, they must begin by emancipating the peasants from the state of servitude under which they then groaned. Kosciuszko and Zagronchek repaired with all expedition to the frontiers of Poland, and the latter proceeded to Warsaw, where he held conferences with the chief of the conspirators, and particularly with several officers, who declared their detestation of the Russian yoke. All appeared ripe for a general insurrection; and the Russian commanders, whose suspicions had been excited by the appearance of Kosciuszko on the frontiers, obliged that leader and his confederates to postpone for a time the execution of their plan. In order to deceive the Russians, Kosciuszko retired into Italy, and Zagronchek repaired to Dresden, whither Ignatius Potoski and Kolontay had gone before him. On a sudden, however, Zagronchek appeared again at Warsaw, but was impeached by the king to General Igelstrom, and, in a conference with the general, was ordered to quit the Polish territory. He must now have abandoned his enterprise altogether, or immediately proceed to open insurrection. He chose the latter. 1794. Kosciuszko was recalled from Italy, and arrived at Cracow, where the Poles received him as their deliverer. Here he was joined by some other officers, and took the command of his little army, consisting of about three thousand infantry and twelve hundred cavalry. On the 24th of March was published the manifesto of the patriots, in which they declared the motives for their insurrection, and called on their countrymen to unite in the glorious attempt to free the republic from a foreign yoke. Kosciuszko was soon joined by three hundred peasants armed with scythes, and some other small reinforcements gradually came in. A body of seven thousand Russians had collected to oppose the movements of this little army, and a battle took place, in which the patriots were successful.

While the insurrection had thus auspiciously commenced on the frontiers, the confederates of the capital were nearly crushed by the exertions of the Russian general. Hearing at Warsaw of the success of Kosciuszko, Igelstrom caused all those whom he suspected of having any concern in the insurrection to be arrested; but these measures served only to irritate the conspirators. On the 18th of April they openly avowed their confederacy with the patriots of the frontiers, and proceeded in great numbers to attack the Russian garrison. Two thousand Russians were put to the sword, and the general, being besieged in his house, proposed a capitulation; but, profiting by the delay that had been granted him, he escaped to the Prussian camp, which lay at a little distance from Warsaw.

Wilna, the capital of Lithuania, followed the example of Warsaw; but the triumph of the insurgents was there less terrible, as Colonel Yasinsky, who headed the patriots, conducted himself with so much skill, that he made all the Russians prisoners without bloodshed. The inhabitants of the cantons of Chełm and Lublin also declared themselves in a state of insurrection, and three Polish regiments who were employed in the service of Russia espoused the cause of their country. Some of the principal partisans of Russia were arrested, and sentenced to be hanged.

Kosciuszko exerted himself to the utmost to augment his army. He procured recruits among the peasants, and to inspire them with the more emulation, he adopted their dress, ate with them, and distributed rewards among such as appeared most to merit encouragement. All his attempts to inspire the lower orders of the Poles with the ardour of patriotism were, however, unavailing. A mutual distrust prevailed between the nobles and the peasants, and this was fomented by the arts of Stanislas and the other partisans of Russia.

The empress had sent into Poland two of her best generals, Suworoff and Fersen. For some time Kosciuszko succeeded in preventing the junction of these commanders, and several engagements took place between the Russians and patriots, in which the former were generally successful. At length, on the 4th of October, the fate of Poland was decided by a sanguinary conflict between Kosciuszko and Fersen, at Maciejowitch, a small town of Little Poland, about sixty miles from Warsaw. The talents and desperation of Kosciuszko could not prevent the allies from yielding to superior numbers. Almost the whole of his army was either cut in pieces or compelled to surrender at discretion, and the hero himself, covered with wounds, fell senseless on the field of battle, and was made prisoner.

The small number that escaped fled to Warsaw, and shut themselves up in the suburb of Praga. Hither they were pursued by Suworoff, who immediately laid siege to the suburb, and prepared to carry it by storm. On the 24th of November he gave the assault, and having made himself master of the place, put to the sword both the soldiers and the peaceable inhabitants, without distinction of age or sex. It is computed that twenty thousand persons fell victims to the savage ferocity of the Russian general; and, covered with the blood of the slaughtered inhabitants, the barbarian entered Warsaw in triumph.

Thus terminated the feeble resistance of the Polish patriots. The partition of the remaining provinces was soon effected, and Stanislas Augustus, who had long enjoyed merely the appearance of royalty, and had degraded himself by becoming the instrument of Russian usurpation, retired to Grodno, there to pass the remainder of his days, on a pension granted him by the empress.

1795. On the 18th of February, a treaty of defensive alliance between the empress of Russia and his Britannic majesty was signed at St Petersburg. The ostensible object of this treaty was to maintain the general tranquillity of Europe, and more especially of the north; and by it Russia agreed to furnish Great Britain with ten thousand infantry and two thousand horse in case of invasion; while Great Britain was, under similar circumstances, to send her imperial majesty a squadron consisting of two ships of seventy-four guns, six of sixty, and four of fifty, with a complement of four thousand five hundred and sixty men. On the 18th of March was signed the act by which the duchy of Courland, together with the circle of Pilton, all of which had lately belonged to the Duke of Courland, but had long retained only the shadow of independence, submitted themselves to the Russian dominion.

In this year there took place between the courts of St Petersburg and Stockholm a dispute which threatened to terminate in a war. Gustavus III. had been assassinated by Ankerstroom at a masquerade, on the 15th of March 1791; and the young king Gustavus Adolphus being still a minor, the Duke of Sudermania, his uncle, had been appointed regent of the kingdom. The regent had determined to effect a marriage between his nephew and a princess of the house of Mecklenburg; but Catherine publicly declared that the late king had betrothed his son to one of her grand-daughters. The misunderstanding hence originating was increased by the rude and indecorous behaviour of the Baron von Budberg, the Russian minister at Stockholm; and matters seemed tending to an open rupture, when, in the year 1796, a French emigrant named Christin effected a reconciliation, and General Budberg, the baron's uncle, was sent as ambassador to Stockholm from the Russian court. In consequence of this reconciliation, the young king, attended by the regent and a numerous train of Swedish courtiers, set out on a visit to St Petersburg, where they arrived on the 24th of August, and an interview took place between the empress and her royal visitors, for the purpose of finally adjusting the projected matrimonial alliance. Gustavus Adolphus was much pleased with the appearance of the Grand Duchess Alexandra; but informed the empress, that by the fundamental laws of Sweden he could not sign the marriage-contract before the princess had abjured the Greek religion; and as neither the solicitations nor the flatteries of Catherine could prevail on the young monarch to depart from the received custom of his country, the negotiation ended, and the next day Gustavus and his retinue quitted St Petersburg.

The last transaction of importance in the reign of Catherine was her invasion of the Persian territories, undertaken for the purpose of acquiring certain possessions on the shores of the Caspian. A Russian army entered Daghestan, and made itself master of Derbent, but was afterwards defeated by the Persians under Aga Mahmoud. The death of the empress took place, as we have elsewhere stated, on the 9th of November of this year; and the Grand Duke Paul Petrovitch ascended the throne under the title of Paul I.

Paul Petrovitch had attained his forty-second year before the death of his mother placed him on the imperial throne; but for many years before her death he had lived in a state of comparative obscurity and retirement, and had apparently been considered by the empress as incapable of taking any active part in the administration of affairs. It is well known that Catherine never admitted him to any participation of power, and kept him in a state of the most abject and mortifying separation from court, and in almost total ignorance of the affairs of the empire. Although by his birth he was generalissimo of the armies, president of the admiralty, and grand admiral of the Baltic, he was never permitted to head even a regiment, and was interdicted from visiting the fleet at Cronstadt. From these circumstances, it is evident that the empress either had conceived some jealousy of her son, or saw in him some mental imbecility, which appeared to her to disqualify him for the arduous concerns of government. There is little doubt, from the circumstances which distinguished his short reign, that Catherine had been chiefly influenced in her treatment of the grand duke by the latter consideration. There were certainly times at which Paul displayed evident marks of insanity, though he occasionally gave proofs of a generous and tender disposition, and even of intellectual vigour.

It is generally believed that, a short time before her death, Catherine committed to Plato Zuboff, her last favourite, a declaration of her will, addressed to the senate, desiring that Paul should be passed over in the succession, and that on her death the Grand Duke Alexander should ascend the vacant throne. As soon as Zuboff was made acquainted with the sudden death of the empress, he flew to Pavlovsk, about twenty-three miles from St Petersburg, where Paul occasionally resided; but meeting the grand duke on the road, he, after a short explanation, delivered up the important document. Paul, charmed with his zeal and loyalty, rewarded the favourite, by permitting him to retain the wealth and honours which had been heaped on him by his mistress, while a general and rapid dispersion soon took place among the other adherents of the late sovereign. On the day following the death of his mother, Paul made his public entry into St Petersburg, amidst the acclamations of all ranks of people.

One of the first measures adopted by the new emperor excited considerable surprise, and divided the opinions of the public with respect to the motives by which it had been suggested; some attributing it to his respect for the memory of his late father, and others to a culpable reflection on that of his mother. He ordered the corpse of Peter III., to be removed from the sepulchre in which it had been deposited in the church of St Alexander Nevsky, solemnly crowned it, and caused it to lie in state for three weeks, while it was watched day and night by the only two remaining conspirators who had assisted at his assassination. After this dreadful mark of his justice on the murderers of his father, surely more terrible to the guilty mind than death itself, he consigned the ashes to the sepulchre of Catherine II. in the cathedral of St Peter and St Paul, obliging the assassins to walk in the procession as chief mourners.

Few political events of any importance marked the reign of Paul previously to the year 1798, when, in consequence of a treaty between him and the emperor of Germany, a Russian army of forty-five thousand men, under Field-Marshal Suwarrow, joined the imperialists in the Austrian territories in Italy. The progress of Suwarrow, his successes over Moreau, and his final recall by his master, have already been related in the article FRANCE.

In 1799, Paul entered into a treaty of offensive and defensive alliance with his Britannic majesty. This treaty was signed at St Petersburg on the 22d of June, having been preceded by a provisional treaty between the same powers at the end of the year 1798. By the latter, which was fortified by a relative treaty with Austria, it had been stipulated that Paul should assist the king of Prussia, if the latter could be persuaded to join his arms to the allied powers against France, with forty-five thousand men, and that the king of Great Britain should pay to Russia a subsidy of L.75,000 sterling per month; and in case the king of Prussia should refuse to join the coalition, the same number of troops, in consideration of the same subsidy, should be employed, as occasion might require, to assist the common cause. By the new treaty, the emperor of Russia, instead of the forty-five thousand troops, engaged to furnish seventeen thousand five hundred and ninety-three, with the necessary artillery, to be employed in an expedition against Holland; and six ships, five frigates, and two transports, for the purpose of transporting part of the invading army from Britain to the continent. In consideration of these succours, the court of London engaged to advance to Russia a subsidy of L.44,000 sterling per month; to pay the sum of L.88,929, 10s. sterling for the expenses of equipping the fleet; and after the period of three months had elapsed from such equipment, to pay a further subsidy of L.19,642, 10s. sterling per month, as long as the fleet should remain under the command of his Britannic majesty.

In consequence of this treaty, a Russian fleet joined that of Britain in Yarmouth Roads, and took part in the unfortunate expedition to the coast of Holland, which was undertaken in the summer of 1799. The military fame of Russia was more augmented by the share which its army under Suwarrow took in the campaign of Italy during the same year, although the victories which won for the veteran his name of Italinski were far more than overbalanced by the misfortunes which ensued in Switzerland under the emperor's favourite Korsakov. But in December 1800, Paul, after having laid an embargo on the British shipping which lay in his ports, openly abandoned his relations with our country, and proclaimed, in confederacy with Sweden and Denmark, to whom Prussia afterwards added herself, the great Northern Coalition with France against Great Britain.

In the beginning of the year 1801, all Europe was astonished or amused by a paragraph which appeared in the Hamburg Gazette of the 16th of January. It was dated from Petersburg, the 30th December 1800, and is as follows:

"We learn from Petersburg, that the emperor of Russia, finding that the powers of Europe cannot agree among themselves, and being desirous to put an end to a war which has desolated it for eleven years past, intends to point out a spot to which he will invite all the other sovereigns, to repair and fight in single combat; bringing with them, as seconds and squires, their most enlightened ministers and their most able generals, such as Messrs Thugot, Pitt, and Bernstorff; and that the emperor himself proposes being attended by Generals Count de Pahlen and Khutsoff. We know not if this report be worthy of credit; however, the thing appears not destitute of some foundation, and bears strong marks of what he has been often taxed with."

This paragraph was immediately copied or translated into all the public papers, and it was strongly affirmed by many that it was the composition of Paul himself. This has since been confirmed by the poet Kotzebue, who was employed by the emperor of Russia to translate the original into German, for the express purpose of its being inserted in the Hamburg Gazette.

---

1 This paragraph is such a curious morceau of witty insanity, that we shall here give the original French, as written by Paul himself, and published by Kotzebue in his account of his exile into Siberia. "On apprend de Petersbourg, que l'Empereur de Russie, voyant que les puissances de l'Europe se brouillent à nouveau et que la guerre est de nouveau déclarée, désire inviter tous les autres Souverains, de se rendre et y combattre sur le champ clos, ayant avec eux pour écrivains juges de camp et héros des armes leurs ministres les plus éclairés et les généraux les plus habiles, tels que MM. Thugot, Pitt, Bernstorff; lui-même se proposant de prendre avec lui les généraux C. de Pahlen et Khutsoff. On ne sait si on doit y ajouter ou non; toutefois, la chose ne paraît pas destituée de fondement, en portant l'empreinte de ce dont il a souvent été taxé." This was not the only mark of mental derangement displayed by the unhappy monarch. The army, which formed his favourite employment, was tormented by incessant caprices affecting its discipline; and the press, the native Russians, and the resident foreigners, suffered tyrannical and unaccountable restrictions. His favours and his displeasure were alternately experienced by some of his most distinguished courtiers and adherents. Stanislas, the deposed king of Poland, partook by turns of his beneficence and his severity; and at length, on the death of that monarch, Paul assisted at his funeral, commanded in person the guards that attended on the ceremony, and uncovering himself with the utmost emotion, saluted the coffin as it passed. To the memory of the aged Suworoff, who is said to have fallen a broken-hearted victim to the distraction of his imperial master, he raised a colossal statue of bronze; and on the days when he reviewed his troops in the square where the figure had been erected, he used to command them to march by in open order, and face the monument. Notwithstanding the important service that had been rendered him by Zuboff, the emperor soon became disgusted with him; spoke of him to his friends with great asperity; at length denounced him as a delator to the imperial treasury of half a million of roubles; and, convinced of the justice of the allegation, proceeded to sequestrate the vast estates which belonged to him and his two brothers. Driven to desperation by such conduct, the second brother of the favourite one day walked up boldly to the emperor upon the parade, and with manly eloquence represented the injustice of his measures. Paul received him without anger, heard him without interruption, and restored the property; but soon afterwards he ordered Plato Zuboff to reside on his estate, though he again restored him to favour.

It is not surprising that these instances of folly and caprice should alarm and disgust many of the nobles. In particular, Count Pahlen, the governor of St Petersburg, with some other men of rank, entered into a confederacy with Zuboff and his brothers for removing the emperor. In their conferences, which were managed with great prudence and discretion, it was resolved that Paul should die, and that the day of the festival called Maslenitsa, the 11th of March O.S. 1801, should be the day for executing the awful deed. At the time of this plot, the emperor and his family resided in the new palace of St Michael, an enormous quadrangular pile standing at the bottom of the summer gardens. Paul being anxious to inhabit this palace soon after he was crowned, the masons, carpenters, and various artificers, toiled with incredible labour, by day and by torch-light, under the sultry sun of the summer, and in all the severity of a polar winter; and in three years this enormous and magnificent fabric was completed. The whole is moated round; and when the stranger surveys its bastions of granite, and numerous draw-bridges, he is naturally led to conclude that it was intended for the last asylum of a prince at war with his subjects. Those who have seen its massive walls, and the capaciousness and variety of its chambers, will easily admit that an act of violence might be committed in one room, and not be heard by those who occupy the adjoining one; and that a massacre might be perpetrated at one end, and not known at the other. Paul took possession of this palace as a place of strength, and beheld it with rapture, because his imperial mother had never even seen it. While his family were here, by every act of tenderness endeavouring to soothe the terrible perturbation of his mind, there were not wanting those who exerted every stratagem to inflame and increase it. These people were constantly insinuating that every hand was armed against him. With this impression, which added fuel to his burning brain, he ordered a secret staircase to be constructed, which, leading from his own chamber, passed under a false stove in the anti-room, and led by a small door to the terrace.

It was the custom of the emperor to sleep in an apartment next to the empress's, upon a sofa, in his regimentals and boots, whilst the grand duke and duchess, and the rest of the imperial family, were lodged at various distances, in apartments below the story which he occupied. On the 10th March, the day preceding the fatal night, whether Paul's apprehension, or anonymous information, suggested the idea, is not known; but conceiving that a storm was ready to burst upon him, he sent for Count Pahlen: "I am informed," said the emperor, "that there is a conspiracy on foot against me; do you think it necessary to take any precaution?" The count, without betraying the least emotion, replied, "Sire, do not suffer such apprehensions to haunt your mind; if there were any combinations forming against your majesty's person, I am sure I should be acquainted with it." "Then I am satisfied," said the emperor; and the governor withdrew. Before Paul retired to rest, he, beyond his usual custom, expressed the most tender solicitude for the empress and his children, kissed them with all the warmth of farewell fondness, and remained with them for a considerable time. He afterwards visited the sentinels at their different posts, and then retired to his chamber. Soon after the emperor had retired, the guard that was always placed at his chamber door was, on some pretext, changed by the officers who had the command for the night, and who were engaged in the conspiracy. One man only remained. This was a hussar whom the emperor had honoured with particular marks of attention, and who always slept at night in the antechamber, at his sovereign's bed-room door. This faithful soldier it was found impossible to remove, except by force, which at that time the conspirators did not think proper to employ. Silence now reigned throughout the palace, disturbed only by the pacing of the sentinels, or by the distant murmurs of the Neva; and only a few straggling lights were to be seen, irregularly gleaming through the windows of the palace. In the dead of the night, Zuboff and his friends, amounting to eight or nine persons, passed the draw-bridge, ascended the staircase that led to the emperor's apartments, and met with no opposition till they reached the antechamber, where the faithful hussar, awakened by the noise, challenged them, and presented his fuses. Though they must have admired the brave fidelity of the guard, neither time nor circumstances would admit of an act of generosity which might have endangered their whole plan of operations. Zuboff therefore drew his sabre, and cut the poor fellow down. In the mean time, Paul, roused by the unusual bustle, sprang from his couch. At this moment the whole party rushed into his chamber. The unhappy sovereign, anticipating their design, at first endeavoured to intrench himself behind the chairs and tables; but soon recovering some share of his natural courage, he assumed a high tone, told them they were his prisoners, and required them to surrender. Finding that they fixed their eyes steadily and fiercely upon him, and continued to advance, he implored them to spare his life, declared his willingness instantly to relinquish the sceptre, and to accept of any terms which they might dictate. He even offered to make them princes, and to confer on them orders and estates. Regardless alike of his threats and promises, they now began to press on him, when he made a convulsive effort to reach the window, but failed in the attempt; and, indeed, had he succeeded in his endeavour to escape that way, the height from the window to the ground was so great, that the expedient would probably have only put a more speedy period to his existence. As the conspirators drew him back, he grasped a chair, with which he knocked down one of the assailants, and a desperate conflict now took place. So great was the noise, that notwithstanding the massive walls and double folding doors that divided Paul's apartments from those of the empress; she was disturbed, and began to call for help, when a voice whispered in her ear, commanding her to remain quiet, and threatening that if she uttered another word she should instantly be put to death.

Paul was now making his last struggle, when one of the party struck him on the temple with his fist, and laid him prostrate on the floor. Recovering from the blow, the unhappy monarch again implored his life. At this moment the heart of one of the conspirators relented, and he was observed to hesitate and tremble, when a young Hanoverian who was present exclaimed, we have passed the Rubicon; if we spare his life, we shall, before the setting of to-morrow's sun, become his victims; on saying which he took off his sash, turned it twice round the naked neck of the emperor, and giving one end to Zuboff, he himself drew the other, till the object of their attack expired.

The Emperor Alexander, Paul's eldest son, was in his twenty-fourth year when he ascended the throne, and from his amiable disposition had acquired the love and respect of all his subjects. The first measure which he adopted, his proclamation, and his first imperial orders, all tended to encourage and confirm the confidence with which the people beheld him ascend the throne of his forefathers. He solemnly promised to tread in the steps of Catherine II.; he allowed every one to dress according to his own fancy; he exonerated the inhabitants of the capital from the trouble and duty of alighting from their carriages on the approach of the imperial family; he dismissed the court advocate, who was universally and justly detested; he suppressed the secret inquisition, that had become the scourge of the country; he restored to the senate its former authority, set at liberty the state prisoners, and recalled from Siberia several of the exiles. He even extended his mercy to the assassins of the late emperor. Zuboff was ordered not to approach the imperial residence, and the governor of the city was transferred to Riga.

It is not easy to explain the motives that induced Alexander to forego that vengeance which justice seemed to demand on the heads of his father's assassins. It has been attributed by one of his panegyrists to a forlorn and melancholy conviction that the murderers had been prompted to commit the bloody deed solely by a regard for the salvation of the empire. This conviction might have induced the young monarch to diminish the weight of the punishment which piety and justice called on him to inflict, but can scarcely account for his total forbearance.

Alexander, on his accession to the throne, appeared disposed to cultivate the friendship of the neighbouring states, and especially that of Great Britain. His late father, among other projects, had procured himself to be elected grand-master of the knights of Malta, and had laid claim to the sovereignty of that island. This claim, which had nearly produced a rupture between the courts of London and St Petersburg, Alexander consented to abandon, though he expressed a wish to be elected grand-master of the order, by the free suffrages of the knights. A confederacy, as we have seen, had been formed among the northern powers of Europe, with a view to oppose the British claim to the sovereignty of the seas; but by the spirited interference of the British court, especially with the cabinet of St Petersburg, the good understanding between Britain and the northern states was re-established, and the embargo which had been laid on British vessels in the Russian ports was taken off. Alexander, however, earnestly desired to maintain peaceful relations with France; and expressed this wish, both in public manifestos, and in private communications addressed to the First Consul.

Early in the same year there was signed at St Petersburg a treaty of amity, commerce, and navigation, between Russia and Sweden, to continue for twelve years, by which Sweden was allowed to import into Russia, alum, salt herrings, and salt, on the payment of one half of the duties then exacted, and into Russian Finland the produce of Swedish Finland duty free; while the importation of Russia into Sweden, of hemp, linen, and tallow, was allowed at one half of the existing duties, and of linseed at two thirds. The most remarkable part of this treaty was the recognition, by the court of St Petersburg, of the northern confederacy, which the amicable adjustment with Britain appeared to have done away. The commerce of Russia had now recovered its former splendour. The exports from the city of Riga alone, for the year ending July 1801, amounted to L1,043,806, and of these exports England alone imported to the value of L386,983.

On the 25th of March 1802 was signed at Amiens the definitive treaty of peace between the belligerent powers of Russia and Europe, by one material article of which the islands of Malta, Gozo, and Comino, were to be restored to the knights of St John of Jerusalem, under the protection and guarantee of the sovereigns of France, Great Britain, Austria, Spain, Russia, and Prussia; and his Sicilian majesty was invited to furnish two thousand men, natives of his states, to serve in garrisons at the different fortresses of the said islands, for one year after their restitution to the knights, or until they should be replaced by a force deemed sufficient by the guaranteeing powers. Some time after the conclusion of this treaty, disputes arose among the contracting powers relative to the sovereignty of Malta, which the emperor of Russia insisted should be yielded to Naples, otherwise he would not undertake to guarantee the order, and would separate from it the privileges of Russia. The result of these disputes is well known, as they afforded a reason for renewing the bloody contest which so long desolated Europe.

During the short interval of peace, the emperor of Russia made several prudent regulations in the internal administration of his empire. On the 12th of September 1801, a manifesto had been published, proclaiming the union of Georgia, or Russian Grusinia, with the empire; and on the 1st of April 1802, Alexander sent a deputation to establish the new government at Tiflis, the capital of the province. On the 25th of May the emperor wrote a letter to the chamberlain Wittostoff, president of the commission for ameliorating the condition of the poor of St Petersburg, in which he recommended to the commission to follow the example of a similar establishment at Hamburg, in selecting proper objects for their charitable bequests, preferring the humble and industrious pauper to the idle and sturdy beggar. He also offered considerable premiums to persons who should introduce any new or advantageous mode of agriculture, or who should bring to perfection any old invention, open any new branch of commerce, establish any new manufacture, or contrive any machine or process that might be useful in the arts.

Early in the year 1803, the emperor fitted out, at his own expense, two vessels for a voyage of discovery round the world, under the command of Captain Krusenstern. These ships were provided with every necessary for accomplishing the object of the voyage; and several men of eminence for science and literature, among whom was Churchman the American astronomer, volunteered their services on this occasion.

In the beginning of 1804 the emperor established a university at Kharkov, in Lithuania, for the cultivation and diffusion of the arts and sciences in that part of the Russian empire; and Mr Fletcher Campbell, a Scotch gentleman, was employed to procure masters for this new institution. Some time after, the emperor ordered that meteorological observations should be regularly made at all the universities and public schools, and the results published. It appears that at the end of this year the sums allotted by the Russian government for defraying the expenses of these institutions amounted to L331,337, besides a gift of nearly L9250 towards erecting the new university. About this time an imperial ukase was published, granting to the Jews a complete emancipation from the shackles under which that devoted people had long groaned, and allowing them the privileges of educating their children in any of the schools and universities of the empire, or establishing schools at their own expense.

For some time the genius of discord, which had again actuated the minds of the European sovereigns, failed to extend her baleful influence over the Russian empire; but it was scarcely possible that the emperor should long remain an impartial spectator of the renewed disputes between his more powerful neighbours. An important change had, in the latter end of 1802, taken place in the ministry of the empire; and Count Woronzoff, brother of the late ambassador at London, had been appointed great chancellor-in-chief of the department of foreign affairs, with Prince Adam Czartoryski for his assistant. How far this change in the councils of the empire influenced the political measures of the court of St. Petersburg, it is not easy to determine; but in the latter end of 1803, Alexander appeared to view with a jealous eye the presumption and violence exercised by France among the German states, and the encroachments which she appeared desirous of making on the freedom of the Baltic. Alexander had offered his mediation between Great Britain and France, but without effect; and both these parties strove to bring over the Russian emperor to their alliance. France seems to have held out to the ambition of Alexander the bait of a partition of the Turkish territories, the dismemberment of which had long been a favourite object with his predecessors. At length, however, the court of London prevailed, and the Russian ambassador, by his master's orders, took leave of the First Consul of the French republic, though without demonstrating any intentions of immediate hostility. A new levy of a hundred thousand men was immediately ordered, to recruit the Russian army; and, to prevent any jealousy on the side of Turkey, assurances were given to the Sublime Porte of the amicable intentions of Russia towards that power.

On the 11th of April 1805 a treaty of concert was concluded between Great Britain and Russia, in which the two governments agreed to adopt the most efficacious means for forming a general league of the states of Europe, to be directed against the power of France. From the terms of the treaty, its objects appear to have been, first, the evacuation of the country of Hanover and the north of Germany; secondly, the establishment of the independence of the republics of Holland and Switzerland; thirdly, the re-establishment of the king of Sardinia in Piedmont; fourthly, the future security of the kingdom of Naples, and the complete evacuation of Italy, the island of Elba included, by the French forces; fifthly, the establishment of an order of things in Europe, which might effectually guarantee the security and independence of the different states, and present a solid barrier against future usurpation.

For the prosecution of the great objects of this treaty, it was proposed by the first article that an army of five hundred thousand men should be levied; but in a subsequent separate article, the contracting parties, after observing that it was more desirable than easy to assemble so large a force, agreed that the treaty should be carried into execution as soon as it should be possible to oppose to France an active force of four hundred thousand men. It was understood and stipulated that these troops should be provided by the powers of the continent who should become parties to the league, and subsidies should be granted by Great Britain in the proportion of L1,250,000 sterling for every hundred thousand men, besides a considerable additional sum for the necessary expense occasioned in bringing them into the field.

About this time the occupation of Genoa by the French, on the pretence that that republic was too feeble to support itself against the attacks of Great Britain, was communicated to the different courts of Europe, and excited in every quarter the highest indignation. The Emperor Alexander, in particular, was incensed at this new outrage. Such an open violation of those principles which were justly regarded as essential to the general safety, committed not only during the peace of the continent, but when passports had been delivered to his ambassador, in order that a negotiation might be commenced for the purpose of providing for the permanent security and repose of Europe, he considered as an indecent insult to his person and crown. He issued immediate orders for the recall of M. Novosiltzoff; and the messenger despatched upon this occasion was commanded to repair with the utmost diligence to Berlin. M. Novosiltzoff had not yet left that city; he immediately therefore returned his passports to the Prussian minister of state, Baron de Hardenberg, and at the same time delivered, by order of his court, a spirited memorial explanatory of the object of his mission, and of the circumstances which had led to its termination.

The recall of the Russian envoy appeared to be the signal of hostilities on the part of Russia and Austria against France. These hostilities may be said to have commenced and terminated in the autumn of this year. The military operations that distinguished this short but bloody conflict, the rapid successes of the French, the capitulation of Ulm on the 17th of October, the occupation of Vienna by the French on the 12th of the same month, and the sanguinary battle of Austerlitz on the 27th of November, have already noticed under the head of France. The consequences of these disastrous events were, first a cessation of hostilities, and at length a treaty of firm alliance between France and Russia. (See France.)

But before Alexander finally stooped to the imperial eagles of Napoleon, he was determined to make one more effort to preserve his independence. The Russian envoy at Paris, D'Oubril, had hastily concluded a preliminary treaty of peace between his master and the emperor of the French, which he signed at Paris on the 8th of July 1806, and instantly set out for St Petersburg to procure the ratification of his master. When the terms of this convention were laid before the privy council by Alexander, they appeared so derogatory to the interests of Russia, that the emperor refused them his sanction, and declared that the counsellor of state, D'Oubril, when he signed the convention, had not only departed from the instructions he had received, but had acted directly contrary to the sense and intention of the commission with which he had been intrusted. His imperial majesty, however, signified his willingness to renew the negotiations for peace, but only on such terms as were consistent with the dignity of his crown and the interests of his empire.

In the mean time the king of Prussia began, when it was too late, to see the folly and imprudence of the neutrality with which he had so long maintained, and be at length prepared to oppose his now feeble efforts to the growing power of France. He brought together in the summer of this year an army of at least two hundred thousand men, near Weimar and Jena, while the French myriads assembled in Franconia and on the frontiers of Saxony. Previously to the commencement of hostilities, his Prussian majesty issued a spirited manifesto, in which he explained his motives for abandoning his plan of neutrality, and appealed to Europe for the justice of his cause. He entered into an alliance with the Emperor Alexander, and with the king of Sweden; and it was expected that these united forces would at length hurl the tyrant of Europe from his throne, or at least compel him to listen to equitable terms of pacification. These expectations were, however, miserably disappointed. The same extraordinary success was still to attend the arms of France, and the north of Europe was again condemned to submit in silence to her yoke.

On the 13th of October 1806, the Prussians received a dreadful check at the battle of Jena; and on the 27th of the same month Napoleon entered Berlin. While the French were thus successful, the troops of the Emperor Alexander occupied Prussian Poland, and took up their residence at Warsaw; but they were soon attacked by the French under Murat, who on the 25th entered Warsaw with his cavalry, on which the Russians retreated across the Vistula, burning the bridge over which they had passed. On the 26th of December, a dreadful engagement took place between the Russians commanded by General Bennington, and the French under Generals Murat, Davout, and Lannes. The scene of action was at Ostrolenka, about sixty miles from Warsaw, and the fighting continued for three days. The loss was immense on both sides, though the advantage appears to have been on the side of the French. According to French accounts, the Russian army lost twelve thousand men in killed and wounded, together with eighty pieces of cannon, and all its ammunition wagons; while the Russian account states the loss of the French at five thousand men.

In the beginning of February 1807, the Russians obtained a partial advantage in the battle of Eylau. According to the account of this battle, given by General de Budberg in a despatch to the Marquis of Douglas, the British ambassador at St Petersburg, the Russian general Bennington, after having fallen back for the purpose of choosing a position which he judged well adapted for manoeuvring the troops under his command, drew up his army at Prussian Eylau. During four days successively his rear-guard had to withstand several vigorous assaults; and on the 7th of February, at three o'clock in the afternoon, the battle became general throughout the whole line of the main army. The contest was destructive, and night came on before it could be decided. Early on the following morning the French renewed the attack, and the action was contested with obstinacy on both sides; but towards the evening of that day the assailants were repulsed, and the Russian general remained master of the field. In this action Napoleon commanded in person, having under him Augereau, Davout, Soult, Ney, and Bessières at the head of the imperial guards. The loss of the Russians in that engagement was by themselves stated at above six thousand men, while they estimated that of the French, probably unfairly, at nearly double that number.

This was the last important stand made by the Russian army. In May, Dantzig, defended by eighteen thousand Russians and Prussians, surrendered to the French. Several actions succeeded at Spanden, at Lamitzen, at Guttstadt, and at Heilsberg, in all of which the French had the advantage, till at length, on the 14th of June, the Russians appeared in considerable force upon the bridge of Friedland, whither the French army under Napoleon was advancing. At three in the morning the report of cannon was first heard, and at this time Marshals Lannes and Mortier were engaged with the Russians. After various manoeuvres, the Russian troops received a check, and fled off towards Königsberg. In the afternoon the French army drew up in order of battle, having Marshal Ney on the right, Lannes in the centre, and Mortier on the left, while Victor commanded a corps de reserve, consisting of the guards. At half-past five the attack began on the side of Marshal Ney; and notwithstanding the different movements of the Russians to effect a diversion, the French soon carried all before them. The loss of the Russians, according to the usual exaggerations of the French bulletins, was estimated at from ten thousand to fifteen thousand men, and twenty-five of their generals were said to have been killed, wounded, or taken. In consequence of this victory the French became masters of all the country round Königsberg, and Marshal Soult entered that city in triumph. Thus concluded the campaign in Germany, in which the Russians sustained a loss of at least thirty thousand of their choicest troops.

While these military operations were going forward on War de the continent of Europe, the emissaries of France were busily employed at Constantinople in exciting the divan to declare against their ancient enemies. They at length succeeded; for on the 30th of December 1806 war with Russia was proclaimed, and twenty-eight regiments of janissaries assembled under the command of the grand vizir. But the disturbances which broke out in the latter end of May 1807 prevented any operations of importance from taking place; and the pacification which was soon concluded between Russia and France, though it did not entirely put a stop to the war between the former power and Turkey, in some measure diminished their hostile preparations.

The defeats which the allied armies had sustained in Treaty of Prussia and Poland rendered peace, on almost any terms, Tilsit, a desirable object; and Alexander found himself constrained to meet, at least with the appearance of friendship, the conqueror of his armies. Propositions for an armistice had been made by the Prussian general to Murat near Tilsit, and after the battle of Friedland the Russian prince Lachapelle had a conference, on similar views, with the prince of Neufchatel, soon after which an armistice was concluded between the French and Russians. On the 25th of June an amicable meeting took place on the river Niemen, between the emperors of France and Russia, and adjoining apartments were fitted up for the reception of both courts in the town of Tilsit. This politic friendship was soon after cemented by the treaty of Tilsit, concluded between the emperor of the French on the one part, and the emperor of Russia and the king of Prussia (whom it deprived of a fourth of his dominions) on the other, on the 7th and 12th of July in this year. Thenceforth, until Napoleon's star began to wane, Alexander was his firm partisan; and his faithlessness towards his former allies gave them no temptation to repose further confidence in him.

The conclusion of the treaty of Tilsit was notified to the court of London on the 1st of August; and at the same with Britain a proposal was made from his imperial majesty for mediating a peace between France and Britain. This mediation, however, was declined on the part of Great Britain, until his Britannic majesty should be made acquainted with the stipulations of the treaty of Tilsit, and should find them such as might afford him a just hope of the attainment of a secure and honourable peace. This declining of the mediation of Russia was no doubt expected by the court of St Petersburg; but it served as a pretext for binding more closely the alliance between that power and France, by breaking off her connection with Great Britain. Accordingly, in October, Lord Granville Leveson Gower, who had succeeded the Marquis of Douglas as British envoy, received a note from the government, intimating that, as a British ambassador, he could no longer be received at the court of St Petersburg, which he therefore soon after quitted. An embargo was laid on all British vessels in the ports of Russia, and it was peremptorily required by Napoleon and Alexander that Sweden should abandon her alliance with Great Britain.

An additional ground of complaint against the British court was furnished by the attack on Copenhagen, and the seizure of the Danish fleet, in the beginning of September; and though Lord Gower had attempted to justify these measures on the plea of anticipating the French in the same transaction, the emperor of Russia expressed, in the warmest terms, his indignation at what he called an unjust attack on a neutral power. A considerable Russian fleet joined the French; but the combined squadrons were compelled to seek for shelter in the Tagus, where they remain- ed blocked up by the British, till they were surrendered by the convention of Cintra; and another fleet of fifteen sail of the line that proceeded up the Mediterranean, and advanced as far as Trieste, shared a similar fate.

On the 26th of October the emperor of Russia published a declaration, notifying to the powers of Europe that he had broken off all communication between his empire and Great Britain, until the conclusion of a peace between this power and France. In a counter-declaration, published at London on the 10th of December, his Britannic majesty repels the accusations of Russia, while he regrets the interruption of the friendly intercourse between that power and Britain. His majesty justifies his own conduct, and declares, that when the opportunity for peace between Great Britain and Russia shall arrive, he will embrace it with eagerness; satisfied if Russia shall manifest a disposition to return to her ancient feeling of friendship towards Great Britain, to a just consideration of her own true interests, and to a sense of her own dignity as an independent nation.

In October 1808, a meeting took place at Erfurt between the emperors of France and Russia, and a letter was drawn up under their signature, addressed to his Britannic majesty. The object of this letter was, to induce the king of Great Britain to enter into negotiations for a general peace, and with that view it was despatched by Count Romanoff, the Russian minister at Erfurt, to Mr Canning, the British secretary of state for foreign affairs. It was answered by an official note, requiring the emperors, as an indispensable condition of any treaty with Britain, to receive Sweden as a party, to protect the interests of Portugal and of the ex-king of Naples, and to extend the benefits of the projected arrangements to Ferdinand VII. of Spain. These requisitions were evidently quite inconsistent with Napoleon's views; the emperors refused to accede to them; and all hope of accommodation was in the mean time at an end.

The demand of concurrence in the views of France and Russia made on Sweden was formally repeated in a declaration of the Emperor Alexander, published at St Petersburg on the 10th of February in this year. In this declaration his imperial majesty intimated to the king of Sweden that he was making preparations to invade his territories; but that he was ready to change the measures he was about to take, to measures of precaution only, if Sweden would, without delay, join Russia and Denmark in shutting the Baltic against Great Britain, until the conclusion of a maritime peace. He professed that nothing could be more painful to him, than to see a rupture take place between Sweden and Russia; but that his Swedish majesty had it still in his power to avoid this event, by resolving without delay to adopt that course which could alone preserve strict union and perfect harmony between the two states.

The king of Sweden, however, determined to abide by the measures which he had for some time pursued, and to adhere to the terms of the convention which had just been concluded between him and the king of Great Britain. In consequence of this determination, a Russian army entered Finland in the beginning of March, under the command of General Buxhovden, and advanced against Helsingfors, which was occupied by a single battalion of a Swedish regiment. This small force retired into the fortress of Swaborg, where they maintained themselves with great bravery till the 17th of April, when they were obliged to capitulate. The loss of this fortress, though inconsiderable in itself, so highly enraged the king of Sweden, that he dismissed the naval and military commanders who had been concerned in the capitulation.

On the 27th of April, some slight advantage was gained over the Russians near Rivalax, by the Swedish army under General Count Klinspor; but this was only a partial gleam of success. The Russians soon overran almost all Finland, took possession of Wasa, Old and New Carleby, and reduced under subjection the whole province of which Wasa is the capital. The army of Field-Marshal Klinspor, which originally consisted of sixteen thousand regulars, and many boors, was, by the end of the campaign, reduced to little more than nine thousand men.

The king of Sweden sent some reinforcements to his army in Finland; but the forces which should have supported Klinspor were foolishly employed in a fruitless attempt to conquer Norway; and in 1809 the Swedes were compelled to cede Finland to Russia.

Russia continued to appear in the unworthy character of Napoleon's ally; and when Austria made an effort in 1809 to recover her losses, a Russian army advanced to co-operate with the French. The diversion which this produced was one cause of the final success of Napoleon, whose situation after the battle of Aspern was extremely critical. When Austria was at last compelled to accept of peace on humiliating terms, Russia received as the reward of her services the district of Tarnopol in Galicia, with a population of four hundred thousand souls. This district was restored to Austria in 1815.

In 1811, hostilities commenced between Russia and the Porte. It is of little consequence to inquire into the causes of this rupture; a powerful and ambitious government in the neighbourhood of a weak one never wants pretexts for war. The result might have been serious, if not fatal to the Porte, had not the prospect of a more arduous struggle induced Russia to suspend her efforts in that quarter, and conclude a peace on condition of receiving a part of Moldavia and Bessarabia.

The great contest was now approaching which was to try the resources of Russia, and ultimately to raise her to unexampled greatness. The seizure by France of the territories of the Prince of Oldenburg, who was the emperor of Russia's brother-in-law, on the one hand, and the admission of British produce into the Russian harbours on the other, furnished the ostensible grounds of the quarrel. After some fruitless negotiations, Napoleon dismissed the Russian ambassador, and left Paris to join the army on the 9th of May 1812. The events of this disastrous expedition into Russia have been minutely related in the article FRANCE; and the reader does not require to be reminded of those lamentable sufferings of the French army, which were its principal result. The spirited resistance of Russia now roused Prussia and Austria; and early in 1813 a league was formed between these powers, to which Bavaria and other small states acceded. The battle of Leipzig, fought on the 18th of October, led to the final overthrow of the French domination. In all the transactions which followed, Russia bore a leading part. At the congress of Vienna in 1814, the duchy of Warsaw, consisting of part of the original conquests of Austria and Prussia in Poland, was assigned to Russia, which thus ultimately obtained about four fifths of the territory and three fourths of the population of that ancient kingdom.

In passing to the new system of foreign policy which has prevailed in Russia, as well as in the rest of Europe, since the year 1815, we must pause for a moment to remark the territorial acquisitions of territory which the empire had made during the half-century which preceded that epoch. The reign of Catherine II. had, as we have seen, been by far the most fertile in foreign acquisitions. Her conquests included the Crimea, which was an incorporated portion of Russia since 1783; Georgia, gained in 1785, though, as we have observed, not formally annexed till 1801; Bessarabia, with a part of Moldavia, and other Turkish possessions, finally secured to Russia by the treaty of Bukarescht in 1812; Courland, acquired in 1795; and the extensive spoils of Poland in 1793 and 1794. Paul's reign made no permanent addition of import- ance, except some districts within the Persian frontier. Alexander's gave to Russia in the first years of the present century several of the tribes of the Caucasus; Finland in 1809; Daghestan and other large territories ceded by Persia in 1813; and in 1814, Napoleon's grand duchy of Warsaw, which was erected into a kingdom of Poland. The total population of these new Russian provinces cannot at the very least be estimated under fifteen millions, and probably exceeds that number.

During the ten years of Alexander's reign which succeeded the peace, and ended with his death in 1825, he acquired no new territory as a substantive addition to his dominions, but occupied himself assiduously in that indirect augmentation of Russian influence on the states around the frontier, which had before his time formed, and has since continued to form, the first step in all the schemes of conquest projected by his ambitious nation. The objects of Alexander's foreign policy after 1815 were chiefly three; the suppression of constitutional, or, as they were called by preference, revolutionary movements, in the central and southern states of Europe; the weakening of Turkey, and the gradual reduction of that power into a state of dependence on the cabinet of St Petersburg, so as to pave the way for the Russians towards the sovereignty of the Levant; and the extension of the Russian influence in Persia and those adjacent states, which must form the stepping-stones by which the Muscovites will strive to pass, if they shall ever make the attempt, to the throne of British India. For the attainment of the first of these great ends, there was formed, under the guidance and by the suggestion of Alexander, that league of princes which has been named the Holy Alliance; a confederacy whose bitter fruits have been tasted in full measure by Italy and Spain, but whose conception is in one view an encouraging tribute to the growing enlightenment of the world, since it is the earliest instance in which despots, conspiring against truth and freedom, have condescended to speak the language of Christianity and peace. In reference to Turkey, the policy of Alexander aimed at gradually detaching the Porte from its friendly relations with Great Britain and other European powers, and insidiously advancing towards a position in which the sultan should find himself powerless against his neighbours and his own subjects, until Russia should stretch forth her protecting hand; but a check was administered to this train of diplomacy, and a peculiar relation introduced between the courts of Constantinople and St Petersburg, by the insurrection of Greece in 1821. To the founder and head of the Holy Alliance the Greeks must have appeared to be mere rebels, whom it was his duty as a neighbouring sovereign to assist in punishing; while to the watchful power which desired by every available means to weaken and circumscribe the power of Turkey, such an opportunity as the Greek revolution was unusually tempting, and indeed the sultan's ministers openly alleged that the disturbances had been fomented by Russian agents. The result of the rising in Greece has been related in our article on that country; and the other misunderstandings between Russia and Turkey, the principal of which related to the appointment of the hospodars in Wallachia and Moldavia, were not sufficient to disturb the diplomatic system which was resumed after the Greek question had been settled by the interposition of the other great European powers. The designs of the emperor on the side of India chiefly exhibited themselves in intrigues among the northern neighbours of our possessions in that country; and the system scarcely came to light till after Alexander's death.

In the internal government of the empire, Alexander introduced many salutary changes, especially in the early part of his reign; but here, not less than in his foreign policy, the last ten years of his life exhibited a marked contrast to its earlier portion. The transition in his mind from a love of liberal institutions to a distrust of every thing that seemed to threaten the stability of thrones, began almost with his alliance with Napoleon, but reached full maturity after that extraordinary man's fall. In the first year of his reign he abolished the literary censorship, and afterwards restored it with less absurd but not less severe rules than those of his father. He at one time patronized both the education of the young and the general dissemination of religious knowledge; but after the peace the missionary societies were suppressed, and very harsh measures adopted against the universities. In several particulars a better spirit prevailed. That tolerant disposition towards the various sects of Christianity, of which we have remarked more than one instance in passing, had already become systematic, and was never departed from. The emancipation of the peasants from their state of serfdom was long a favourite object with the emperor, who was able to attain it in Courland, Livonia, and one or two other provinces, and used openly to lament that private interests and prejudices had baffled his good intentions elsewhere. Another plan of his, which was connected with the scheme just mentioned, was that of the military colonies, of which Dr Lyall has published an interesting account. The advantages which this system promised to confer were these: the diminution of the expenses of the army in times of peace, and the easy training of a large agricultural population to the trade of war. For these purposes villages were built on the crown-estates along the western frontier of the empire, and in these, soon after the peace, formidable detachments of soldiers were settled with their families, and mixed among the boors who, belonging to the crown, had previously been the sole or the principal inhabitants of the districts. The whole male population of these new settlements was to occupy itself alternately in rural labour and military exercises; and while the troops who had already seen service were always in a position to take the field again, the boors were gradually to qualify themselves for acting as a corps de reserve, and for filling up vacancies. The plan excited considerable opposition; and although the obstacles were finally to appearance vanquished, and the colonies speedily mustered four hundred thousand fighting men, yet new difficulties arose after his death, and his successor at length abandoned the idea of extending the principle, or of making it permanent.

During the last few years of Alexander's life he appears to have been completely miserable. To family misfortunes, religious despondency, and disappointment in political schemes, was added the continual terror of conspiracies in the heart of the empire, which were said to have ramifications everywhere, and to aim at nothing less than a total revolution, and the assassination of the whole royal family. Those constant travels through the several Russian provinces in which Alexander was engaged for two or three years before his death, have been mainly attributed by some writers to his dread of poison or the dagger. In the course of one of these journeys he died at Taganrog, on the Sea of Azof, on the 1st day of December 1825.

Alexander's brother, the Grand Duke Constantine, whose conduct as governor of Poland has been described in our article on the history of that country, was immediately proclaimed emperor at St Petersburg; and whatever may have been the feelings of the Russians themselves, foreigners who were acquainted with the new sovereign by his general reputation, looked on his accession with pity for his subjects and alarm for the peace of Europe. But the danger had been foreseen and averted by Alexander and the rest of the family. Constantine had been induced to resign his claims to the crown by a formal deed executed in 1822. The senate, on opening the will of Alexander, found it to contain a nomination of his second brother, the Grand Duke Nicholas, as his successor in the empire. The act of resig- nation was at the same time discovered, and in a few days there arrived from Warsaw a communication from Constantine, in which he acknowledged the existence and validity of the deed, and anew waived his right of succession.

Nicholas I. Accordingly Nicholas I. ascended the throne, announcing the event by a proclamation of the 23rd of December 1825. The disturbance of the natural order of succession was seized by the discontented as a favourable pretext for insurrection; and the reign of the new emperor was opened by a military mutiny in St Petersburg, which, after having been suppressed with bloodshed, was followed by several executions, and many imprisonments and banishments to Siberia. Nicholas and his spouse, the princess-royal of Prussia, were crowned at Moscow in 1826, and at Warsaw in 1829. Scarcely had Nicholas ascended the throne when war was declared against Persia. It originated in a dispute respecting the boundaries between the two countries, and was continued till 1828, when the Persians were obliged to sue for peace. This was only granted them on condition of their yielding up the provinces of Erivan and Nakhshivan, and paying about L1,300,000 sterling to account of the war. The peace of Turkmanchay was concluded in February 1828, and in May of the same year the war with Turkey broke out. In that month a Russian force of about 150,000 men, under the command of General Wittgenstein, crossed the Pruth at three different points, took possession of Jassy, Bucharest, and Galatz, and in a few weeks occupied the whole of the left bank of the Danube. It was resolved to cross the river at Braila; and in order to accomplish this, the army was formed into two divisions, one of which invested the town, while the other successfully crossed the river and continued its march southward. In the meantime, the siege of Braila continued, and after a series of sanguinary assaults the garrison capitulated. The besieging force then crossed the Danube, and in a short time all the Dobroudcha was in the possession of the Russians. An attempt upon Shumla failed, though in the first instance directed by the czar in person. They were more successful, however, with Varna, which surrendered on 10th October, after a vigorous defence of more than two months. The utmost efforts were now made to reduce Silistria; but from the advanced state of the season, and the difficulties of the attempt, nothing of importance could be effected; and the Russians retired beyond the Danube to winter in Wallachia. Notwithstanding the success of this campaign, it had been attended with a great loss of life to the Russians. A number had fallen by the hand of the Turks, but many more fell by disease; so that of the number that crossed the Danube not more than one-half remained.

Meanwhile, in Asia operations had been carried on with equal vigour, and with even a greater measure of success, under General Paskievitch. His force consisted of about 21,000 infantry and 5500 cavalry. In the brief space of a week he invested and took Kars, one of the strongest and most formidable fortresses in Asia, obtaining thereby a large store of ammunition, a number of cannon, and 7000 prisoners. This was on the 15th of July; and Poti, a fortress on the east coast of the Black Sea, surrendered on the 26th. The general now resolved to attack the town and fortress of Akhalzik, a place strongly fortified both by nature and art, and defended by a garrison of 10,000 men. A battle was fought under the walls of the town on 4th September, when the Turkish army, though greatly inferior in numbers, fought with great bravery, but was defeated with much slaughter. The Russians now prosecuted the siege with vigour, and a breach was at length effected in the walls. The assault was made on the 7th of September, but such was the desperate valour of the Turks, that not till the city was reduced to a heap of ashes, and a great number of its defenders destroyed, could the survivors be brought to capitulate. The surrender of Akhalzik was followed by that of other important fortresses in Asia before the close of the campaign of 1828.

Both sides now made vigorous exertions for the renewal of hostilities in the following spring. Troops were summoned from various parts of the Turkish empire, and the garrison of Shumla was augmented from 10,000 to 40,000. The Russian force was strengthened by an addition of 70,000, and the command entrusted to Count Diebitsch, an officer of high military attainments, General Wittgenstein having retired from active service. On the 10th of May 1829 the Russians again crossed the Danube, and immediately besieged Silistria, while General Kouprjanoff was stationed with a force at Pravadi, a fortress on the east of Shumla, and important as lying in the line of communication between Silistria and Varna. Redschid Pasha, who had been appointed commander-in-chief, perceiving the position of the invading army, formed the design of attacking Pravadi and Varna, which would also have the effect of drawing off the troops from Silistria. He accordingly set out from Shumla at the head of 36,000 men, leaving only a small garrison behind him under Ibrahim Pasha, and advanced rapidly on Pravadi. General Diebitsch, however, on being informed of his design, instead of advancing to meet him at Pravadi resolved to cut off his communication with Shumla; and accordingly, leaving one of his generals to continue the siege, he hastened southward at the head of 20,000 men to put his design in execution, and sent word to General Roth at Varna to cooperate with him. He took up a favourable position near Koullevscha, a village between Pravadi and Shumla, scarcely 3 miles from the latter. His army was posted on the hills on each side of the road through which the Turkish army had to pass on their return to Shumla, and so concealed that only a very small portion of them were visible. Redschid, not knowing that Diebitsch had quitted Silistria, and believing that his opponents were only a portion of the army at Varna, did not hesitate to force his passage, sending a body of cavalry to disperse the enemy. He soon found out his mistake, for the Russian army rushing down upon them in a body, instantly put them to flight. Every attempt to bring them to a stand proved abortive, and Redschid himself escaped with difficulty. The artillery and baggage fell into the hands of the enemy; but the loss of men to the Turks was by no means so great as might have been expected, the killed, wounded, and prisoners amounting only to about 6500. Had Count Diebitsch immediately on this victory attacked Shumla, he would in all probability have taken it; but instead of this, he contented himself with some minor operations, till the grand vizier, with the scattered remains of his army, had thrown himself into the town. After the battle of Koullevscha, the siege of Silistria was carried on with redoubled vigour; and on the 30th of June the fortress surrendered, when the whole garrison, amounting to about 8000 men, were made prisoners of war. The fall of Silistria now determined the Russian general to cross the Balkan. Leaving, therefore, a body of troops before Shumla, he set out for Aidos on the 17th of July. The town of Sizeboli, on the other side of the Balkans, having one of the best and safest harbours on the western shores of the Black Sea, had been already seized by a naval coup de main to form a depot where the troops might refresh themselves for a short time after their arduous undertaking. The Russians crossed the Balkans without opposition, the Turks everywhere fleeing before them. Towards the end of July, when General Rudiger, with his division, was advancing on Aidos, a body of 10,000 or 12,000 men were sent out to attack him, but as soon as their skirmishers were beaten back, the Turks fled in precipitation, passing through the town, which they left to the enemy without firing a shot. Here the Russians obtained After this it is not to be wondered at that the Russians soon found themselves within sight of Adrianople. During their progress they had scarcely met with an appearance of opposition, whereas had only a feeble stand been made at some of the Balkan passes, or even afterwards, it would have been impossible for the Russians to have advanced. Yea, even had they been harassed by small parties of the enemy during their march, they could not have ventured to Adrianople. As it was, they were now unable to attempt any active operations. Their force, originally small, was now weakened by sickness and fatigue, while hundreds of them were dying daily. Diebitsch, however, carefully concealed his real condition from the Turks, and by acting on their fear and ignorance he was able to obtain terms of peace as a conqueror.

In the meantime, General Paskievitch was following up his brilliant successes in the Asiatic portion of the sultan's dominions. One of the first operations of the Turkish army was an attempt to recover the fortress of Akhalzik, which, notwithstanding the valour displayed by the sultan's forces, was in vain. General Paskievitch anticipated every movement, and defeated every attack. On the 1st of July, anticipating the junction of the scraklier of Erzeroon with Hapki Pasha in the valley of Zevine, he marched first against the former, whom he put to flight, and on the next day defeated the latter, whom he made prisoner. In these two actions the Russians took about 1500 prisoners, with a large quantity of artillery, ammunition, and provisions. Paskievitch now pushed on with all possible rapidity to Erzeroon; and on the 5th of July took the strong fortress of Hassan Kale, the key of that capital. After a feeble resistance, Erzeroon surrendered on the 9th of July, and in it was found 150 cannon, and large magazines of ammunition and provisions. The scraklier himself and four of his pashas were made prisoners. The Russian commander next directed his movements towards Trebizond, and on the 19th of July took Balbout, a fortified town on the road to Trebizond. The pasha of Trebizond having collected a body of troops, set out to attack the Russians; and General Bursow, who commanded in Balbout, marched out to meet him, and attacked him on the 30th July near the village of Chart. The Russians being greatly inferior in numbers, were repulsed with the loss of their commander. On learning of this reverse, Count Paskievitch brought up the main body of his army and attacked the Turkish camp on the 8th of August. A series of severe engagements took place on that and the following day, which terminated in the Russians carrying the entrenched camp of the enemy, who fell back in confusion upon Trebizond. It was at this stage of his victorious course that Paskievitch received intelligence that the war was at an end.

The celebrated treaty of Adrianople, which concluded the war of 1828-9, was signed 14th September 1829, and contained sixteen distinct articles, the substance of which was as follows:—The principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia, and all the conquered places in Bulgaria and Roumelia were to be restored to the Porte, with the exception of the islands at the mouth of the Danube, which were to remain in possession of Russia, the Pruth continuing to form the boundary of the two empires, from the point where that river touches the territory of Moldavia to its mouth in the Danube, and thence the boundary-line was to be the Danube and its southernmost mouth, St George. In Asia the boundary between the two countries was to be the line which, following the present boundary of the province of Gurriel from the Black Sea, ascends to that of Imeritia, and thence in the most direct line to the point where the frontiers of the pashalics of Akhalzik and of Kars unite with those of Georgia, Russia thus acquiring that portion of the coast of the Black Sea lying between the mouth of the Kuban and the port of St Nicholas inclusively, comprising a considerable extent of country, and the forts of Anapa, Akhalzik, and others. The principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia were to enjoy the free exercise of their worship, perfect security, an independent national government, and full liberty of commerce; and the conditions of previous treaties were to be implemented regarding Servia. Russian subjects should enjoy throughout Turkey, as well by land as by sea, the full and entire freedom of trade guaranteed to them by previous treaties; and were to be under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Russian ministers and consuls. Russian ships were not to be subjected to any search by the Turks either at sea or in port. The trade and navigation of the Black Sea were to be impeded in no manner, and the passage of the Strait of Constantinople and of the Dardanelles was declared to be entirely free and open to all Russian vessels, and to all vessels trading with Russia belonging to powers at peace with the Porte. An indemnity of L750,000 was to be paid to the Russian government for losses incurred at various times by Russian merchants and others. The Russian government was also to receive a sum of money, the amount of which was to be afterwards fixed, as indemnification for the expenses of the war. Russia was not to evacuate the territories of which she had taken possession till the articles relative to the European and Asiatic boundaries, and the privileges of Wallachia, Moldavia, and Servia, "could be considered as fulfilled," and until the complete evacuation of the territories occupied by the Russian troops; the administration and the order of things established under the influence of the court of Russia was to be maintained, and the Porte was bound not to interfere with them in any manner. To this treaty two separate acts were annexed, explanatory of some of its most important conditions, which bore much harder upon Turkey, and betrayed a much more grasping and insidious disposition on the part of Russia than the treaty itself. One of these related to the amount of the indemnification to be paid to Russia, and which was now fixed at the exorbitant sum of L5,000,000 sterling, to be paid in ten equal annual instalments of half-a-million each. The smaller sum of L750,000 was to be paid in four separate instalments: the sum of L50,000 upon the ratification of the treaty, L200,000 within six months, L250,000 in the six months following, and the last instalment of L250,000 in the next six months. Within the space of one month after payment of the first instalment the Russians were to evacuate Adrianople; within a month after the second payment they were to retreat across the Balkans; on the third payment they were to cross the Danube, but they were to retain possession of Moldavia, Wallachia, and Siliestria, till the balance of this, as well as the whole of the other sum of L5,000,000 were paid. Thus the possession of the Principalities was secured to her for at least ten years, and the treaty had already provided that while she remained in possession the order of things established by her could not be interfered with. By the other supplementary article alterations of great importance, and permanent in their nature, were introduced into the administration of the Principalities themselves. The hospodars were to be elected for life instead of for seven years as previously. They were to govern within their respective principalities as they and their divans might think proper, without being interfered with in any manner by the Porte or any of its officers. The Turkish government relinquished all claim to those contributions in kind which it had hitherto received from the Principalities; and as an indemnification for this sacrifice, it was to be allowed an annual sum of money, the amount of which was to be afterwards determined, but which, as well as the regular tribute, was not to commence until two years after the total evacuation of the Principalities by the Russian troops. Further, the Porte was to surrender everything on the left bank of the Danube to the Principalities,—cities, fortresses, and lands; not a single Mussulman being allowed to reside there, and such as already possessed soil there were required to dispose of it within the space of eighteen months. The manifest object of these articles was to weaken the power of the Porte over these principalities, and to pave the way for their annexation to Russia.

Nicholas was crowned at Warsaw on the 24th of May 1829; and on the 29th of November 1830 the Polish insurrection broke out, an account of which has already been given. (See Poland.) The Poles stood united and alone, and displayed bravery worthy of any age or country. General Diebitsch perished in the struggle, the victim of disease, chagrin, and fatigue, and was succeeded in the command by Paskievitch. The war was brought to an end by the celebrated battle of Warsaw, fought on the 5th, 6th, and 7th of September 1831. The Poles submitted; and fearful was the vengeance taken by Nicholas upon his prostrate foe. Every species of punishment was inflicted upon the vanquished, and neither property nor the ties of family were respected. Siberia, the Caucasus, and the army were the lot of multitudes of these unhappy beings, and every attempt was made to destroy every sentiment or vestige of nationality. The Russian division of governments was substituted for the Polish division of palatinates, the Russian weights and measures for those of Poland, and the old Julian calendar for the modern one. It was further attempted to banish the Polish language out of the country by commanding the use of the Russian language in the schools, and forbidding the youth to speak in their own native tongue, suppressing its use in the different administrations, and dismissing those functionaries who were unacquainted with Russian.

The territory ceded to Russia by the treaty of Adrianople included the Caucasus, a mountainous region inhabited by several independent races who owed no allegiance to the sultan, and who therefore refused to acknowledge the supremacy of Russia. Nicholas at first endeavoured to gain over the chiefs of the various tribes by means of military appointments, decorations, and pensions; but these being ineffectual, he at length had recourse to arms. The two tribes who have come most prominently forward in this struggle are the Lesghians and the Circassians; and though the contest has been going on with little intermission for nearly thirty years, at an enormous expense of men and money, the Russians have yet been able to effect little of permanent advantage. (See Caucasus, and Circassia.)

The revolt of the Pasha of Egypt, and the series of successes that attended the advance of his son Ibrahim Pasha, rendered it necessary for the sultan to apply for aid to his old enemy the czar. This was readily granted; and on peace being established, the treaty of Unkjar-Skelessi was entered into between the sultan and the Emperor of Russia. This treaty, which was signed at Constantinople on the 8th of July 1833, purposed to be a defensive alliance between the two contracting powers; but its real import was expressed in a separate and secret article, which provided that, as the Emperor of Russia was willing to spare his ally the expense and inconvenience of affording him military aid, "the Sublime Ottoman Porte, in place of the aid which it is bound to furnish in case of need, according to the principle of reciprocity of the patent treaty, shall confine its action in favour of the imperial court of Russia to closing the Strait of the Dardanelles; that is to say, to not allowing any foreign vessels of war to enter therein under any pretext whatsoever." In 1834 another treaty was entered into between these two powers, by which the sultan ceded to the czar an extensive district in Asia, in consideration of which the czar relinquished his right to three-fourths of what remained to be paid of the indemnities fixed by the treaty of Adrianople, and agreed to leave the Principalities as soon as hospodars shall be chosen, the Sublime Porte formally recognising the regulations made, while the Russian troops occupied these provinces, by the principal inhabitants for their internal administration. In addition to these stipulations, the free passage of the Dardanelles was permitted to Russian ships. Silistra, however, still remained in the hands of Russia; and it was not till 1836, when it was agreed that it should be given up upon payment of one-half of the balance still remaining due to the czar, that the Turks obtained possession of this important fortress.

The peace between the Sultan and the Pasha of Egypt was not of long duration, and the war broke out afresh in 1839. (See Turkey.) At length England and France interfered in behalf of the Sultan; and on the 27th of July 1839 a note was signed, by which the Ottoman empire was placed under the common safeguard of the five great European powers,—England, France, Prussia, Russia, and Austria, instead of exclusively under the protectorate of Russia. This was followed by a convention, signed at London on the 15th of July 1840, for "maintaining the integrity and independence of the Ottoman empire, as a security for the peace of Europe." The allies bound themselves to unite their efforts in order to bring about peace; and the Sultan, on his part, declared it to be his firm resolution to adhere to the ancient rule of the Ottoman empire, which prohibited ships of war of foreign powers from entering the Straits of the Dardanelles and the Bosporus,—thus virtually setting aside the treaty of Unkjar-Skelessi.

In 1840 an expedition was fitted out against Khiva; but 1840-50, after encountering numerous obstacles and suffering many disasters, it was obliged to return without being able to get beyond the Russian frontier. In the beginning of June 1844 the emperor spent eight days in England. In February 1846 an insurrection broke out in Cracow, which had been established as an independent state under the protection of Russia, Prussia, and Austria by the treaty of Vienna in 1815. The town was immediately seized upon by the allied troops, and by agreement between the three powers it was annexed to Austria; and thus this last remnant of independent Poland was abolished. Soon after, the Russian portion of Poland was entirely incorporated with the empire, and made a Russian province. During the time of the revolution in Germany in 1848 Russia stood quite aloof, and the emperor contented himself with strengthening his army at all points, and watching, without taking part in the events that filled all Europe with astonishment. In 1849, however, she readily responded to the call of Austria for aid against the Hungarians, and sent a powerful army into the country. This turned the scale in favour of Austria, whose forces had previously been several times beaten and driven out of the country. (See Hungary.) After the fall of Hungary a number of the civil and military leaders, and others, took refuge in Turkey. Russia and Austria demanded the expulsion of the refugees, but this was peremptorily refused by the sultan. The Emperor of Russia attempted to threaten him into compliance, and even suspended all diplomatic intercourse between the two countries; but the appearance of a British fleet in the Dardanelles induced him to lower his tone, and he contented himself with requiring that they should be removed to a distant part of the empire.

Before entering upon the last important event in the reign of Nicholas, it may be necessary to glance shortly at Nicholas the general character of his policy. In this respect he has followed the course pursued by his brother since the peace of 1815, but with an additional degree of force and boldness, which may be attributable partly to the natural progress of the political tactics which were common to both, and partly to the more energetic will, and greater attachment to mil- History principles and forms, which distinguished the younger brother. Nicholas was in moral endowments far behind his predecessor. In his political principles he was strictly despotic, and when necessary carried these out with unmitigated cruelty. His favourite pursuits were those connected with the military sciences and military operations; but he had also a taste for the fine arts and for music. He was upwards of six feet in height, muscular, and well-proportioned, and was admitted to be one of the handsomest men in his empire. His features, however, were stern and severe; and his manner was cold, inanimate, and without grace. In his personal habits he was simple, abstemious, and of indefatigable industry. In foreign policy his great object was the extension of the Russian empire by unscrupulous diplomacy, and when that failed, by war. If we look at the three questions which were described above as forming the main business of Alexander in his foreign policy, we find the position of Russia regarding them to have remained, with slight alterations, the same. The anti-constitutional views of the Holy Alliance were necessarily modified, but not abandoned. Turkey had been reduced to a state of servile and helpless dependence till the other powers of Europe stepped in for its defence. In the direction of Persia, and undoubtedly not without an eye towards India, Russia was likewise rapidly extending her dominion. The domestic government of Nicholas had little to distinguish it from that of his brother. Education was to some extent more favoured than it had recently been by Alexander; the Catholic and Lutheran churches continued to receive the support of the government, which also lent its aid to missions to the Calmucks and other nomadic hordes; trade and manufactures had been furthered by regulations devised with much liberality; and the laws since 1826 had received a tolerably complete revision and concentration.

Russia had been looking for an occasion of quarrel with Turkey long before the outbreak of the late war, and there can be little doubt that a chief object of his imperial majesty's visit to England in 1844 was to come to some arrangement with the British government as to the Turkish empire. On that occasion he had several conversations with the Duke of Wellington and the Earl of Aberdeen, who was then foreign secretary, relative to the state of Turkey; and on his return to Russia his views on that subject were embodied in a memorandum, drawn up by his chancellor Count Nesselrode, and forwarded to the British government. This document, read in the light which subsequent events have thrown upon it, shows clearly that even at that time the czar had been looking forward to a war with Turkey at no distant period, and was endeavouring to obtain the countenance, or at least to lull the suspicions, of England in such a case. It states that it was for the interest of both that they should unite in maintaining the integrity of the Turkish empire; but that the Porte had a constant tendency to free itself from the engagements imposed upon it by treaties concluded with other powers, and that it reckoned upon the mutual jealousies of the cabinets to enable it to do so with impunity. It was essential not to confirm the Porte in this delusion, but to exhort it to act rightly towards the cabinet demanding its just rights; and the Porte, on perceiving that it was not supported by the other cabinets, would give way, and consent to an amicable arrangement of the differences. Another difficulty existed in reconciling the respect due to the sovereign authority of the sultan, founded on the Mussulman law, with the forbearance required by the interests of the Christian population of the empire; and it was necessary ever to impress upon the Porte that it could only reckon upon the support of the great powers while it treated its Christian subjects with mildness and toleration. It was by all the great powers pursuing this line of policy that they would be most likely to preserve the existence of Turkey; but at the same time that empire contains within itself so many elements of dissolution, that unforeseen circumstances may hasten its fall without it being in the power of friendly cabinets to prevent it, and the danger which may result from such a catastrophe will be much diminished if, in the event of its occurring, Russia and England shall have come to an understanding as to the course to be taken by them in common. That understanding would also have the full assent of Austria, as between her and Russia there exists already an entire conformity of principles in regard to the affairs of Turkey. It concludes as follows:—“The object for which Russia and England will have to come to an understanding may be expressed in the following manner: (1.) To seek to maintain the existence of the Ottoman empire in its present state so long as that political combination shall be possible. (2.) If we foresee that it must crumble to pieces, to enter into previous concert as to everything relating to the establishment of a new order of things intended to replace that which now exists, and in conjunction with each other to see that the change which may have occurred in the internal situation of that empire shall not injuriously affect either the security of their own state, and the rights which the treaties assure to them respectively, or the maintenance of the balance of power in Europe. For the purpose thus stated the policy of Russia and Austria, as we have already said, is closely united by the principle of perfect identity. If England, as the principal maritime power, acts in concert with them, it is to be supposed that France will find herself obliged to act in conformity with the course agreed upon between St Petersburg, London, and Vienna. Conflict between the great powers being thus obviated, it is to be hoped that the peace of Europe will be maintained even in the midst of such serious circumstances. It is to secure this object of common interest, if the case occurs, that, as the emperor agreed with her Britannic Majesty's ministers during his residence in England, the previous understanding which Russia and England shall establish between themselves must be directed.” In the early part of 1853 his imperial majesty had several interviews with the British ambassador at his court, which plainly show his intentions with regard to Turkey, and that he thought the time of her dissolution had arrived. “Turkey,” he said, “has by degrees fallen into such a state of decrepitude, that, as I told you the other night, eager as we all are for the prolonged existence of the man (and that I am as desirous as you can be for the continuance of his life I beg you to believe), he may suddenly die upon our hands; we cannot resuscitate what is dead; if the Turkish empire falls, it falls to rise no more. And I put it to you, therefore, whether it is not better to be provided beforehand for a contingency than to incur the chaos, confusion, and the certainty of a European war, all of which must attend the catastrophe, if it should occur unexpectedly, and before some ulterior system has been sketched? This is the point to which I am desirous that you should call the attention of your government.” “If your government has been led to believe that Turkey retains any elements of existence, your government must have received incorrect information. I repeat to you that the sick man is dying, and we can never allow such an event to take us by surprise.” “I am not so eager about what shall be done when the sick man dies as I am to determine with England what shall not be done upon that event taking place.” When requested to explain his own ideas upon this negative policy, he for some time declined doing so; but at length said, “Well, there are several things which I never will tolerate: I will begin by ourselves. I will not tolerate the permanent occupation of Constantinople by the Russians. Having said this, I will say that it never shall be held by the English or French, or any other great nation. Again, I never will permit an attempt at the re-construction of a Byzantine empire, or such an extension of Greece as would render her a powerful state; still less will I permit the breaking up of Turkey into little republics, asylums for the Kossuths, and Mazzinis, and other revolutionists of Europe. Rather than submit to any of these arrangements I would go to war; and as long as I have a man and a musket left, would carry it on." The emperor went on to say that, in the event of a dissolution of the Ottoman empire, he thought it might be less difficult to arrive at a satisfactory territorial arrangement than was commonly believed. "The Principalities are," he said, "in fact an independent state under my protection; this might so continue. Servia might receive the same form of government. So again with Bulgaria. There seems to be no reason why this province should not form an independent state. As to Egypt, I quite understand the importance to England of that territory. I can then only say that if, in the event of a distribution of the Ottoman succession upon the fall of the empire, you should take possession of Egypt, I shall have no objection to offer. I would say the same thing of Candia; that island might suit you, and I do not know why it should not become an English possession."

At this time a dispute was going on between the Greek and Latin churches relative to the guardianship of the holy places in Palestine, and Russia warmly espoused the cause of the former. At length, however, this question was brought to an apparent settlement, chiefly through the unremitting efforts of Lord Stratford de Redcliffe, her British Majesty's ambassador at Constantinople. But while the Russian government was holding out that the mission of Menschikoff to Constantinople was exclusively for the purpose of effecting a settlement of the dispute regarding the holy places, that minister was pressing upon the Porte other demands of a far more serious and important character, which, if complied with, would have had the effect of virtually admitting the sovereignty of the emperor over the Greek Church in Turkey. This the sultan refused to do; and Prince Menschikoff quitted Constantinople on the 21st of May 1853, declaring that the refusal of his demands would impose upon his government the necessity of seeking a guarantee by its own power. On the 28th of the same month an official note was transmitted by the Turkish government to the different embassies of the foreign powers, in which it said: "The Porte announces that the question of the holy places has terminated in a manner satisfactory to all parties; nevertheless the Prince Menschikoff, not satisfied with that, has demanded of the Porte a treaty to guarantee the rights and privileges of all kinds accorded by the sultan to his Greek subjects. However great may be the desire of the Porte to cherish and preserve more and more the most amicable relations with Russia, she can never engage herself by such a guarantee towards a foreign government, either concluding with it a treaty, or signing a simple official note, without compromising gravely her independence, and the most fundamental rights of the sultan over his own subjects."

The emperor based his claim to interpose himself as protector of the Greek Church in Turkey on the treaty of Kainardji, concluded in 1774; but the only parts of that treaty bearing upon the Christian religion are contained in the 7th and 14th articles, and they do not afford the smallest countenance to the claim of the emperor to interfere in behalf of the religious privileges of the Christians throughout the Ottoman empire. In the 7th article of the treaty "the Sublime Porte promises to protect constantly the Christian religion and its churches; and also it allows the ministers of the imperial court of Russia to make on all occasions representations as well in favour of the new church at Constantinople, of which mention will be made in the 14th article, as in favour of those who officiate therein." And by article 14th "it is permitted to the high court of Russia, in addition to the chapel built in the house of the minister, to construct in the Galata quarter, in the street called Bey Ogla, a public church of the Greek rite, which shall be always under the protection of the minister of that empire, and shielded from all obstruction and all damage." It will be observed that here the Porte does not promise to allow Russia to interfere for the protection of the Christian religion and its churches, but to afford that protection itself; and the only right of protection accorded to Russia is limited to a chapel and a church at Constantinople. In a note of 31st May Count Nesselrode intimated to Reschid Pasha that in a few weeks the Russian forces would receive orders to cross the frontier and occupy the Principalities, not to wage war, but until the Ottoman government should give to Russia the moral securities she had in vain demanded. No time was lost in putting this threat into execution; and on the 2d and 3d of July two divisions of Russian troops, amounting to 80,000 men, under the command of Prince Gortschakoff, crossed the Pruth, one at Skoialiani and the other at Leovd. The news of this proceeding caused great excitement at Constantinople; and a formal protest against the invasion of the Moldo-Wallachian provinces was drawn up by the Ottoman Porte, and issued on the 14th of July. Its tone was conciliatory, but at the same time firm; and it stated that the Sublime Porte "is still disposed, if an arrangement of a nature to satisfy Russia can be arrived at without prejudice to the sacred rights of the sultan, to send an ambassador extraordinary to St Petersburg to seek in concert with the Russian cabinet the means of arriving at that end." On the 1st of June a despatch was forwarded by her Majesty's government to Lord Stratford de Redcliffe, authorizing him in certain specific contingencies to send for the fleet; and instructions were also sent to Admiral Dundas to proceed to the neighbourhood of the Dardanelles, and there to place himself in communication with her Majesty's ambassador. Similar orders were about the same time issued by the French government to their fleet, and they both anchored in Besika Bay about the middle of June. Soon after, a conference of the representatives of the four great powers was held at Vienna, and by the end of July a Note, originally drawn up by the French government, and sanctioned, with some modifications, by those of Britain and Austria, was finally adopted by the conference, and submitted for acceptance to Russia and Turkey. It was immediately acceded to by the former, but the latter declined doing so until some alterations were made in the wording of the Note, which might be misconstrued. At first the conduct of the Porte was disapproved by the four powers, but they afterwards admitted that the objections were well-founded. The czar, however, refused to receive the Note as altered, and would only accept of it in its original form. That the objections of the Porte were valid, was evinced by the fact, that the interpretation which in subsequent communications Russia insisted on putting upon it was just that which was not intended.

On the 5th of October the Porte issued a formal declaration of war, and on receiving intimation thereof, Omar Pasha, the Turkish general, who was then at Shumla, despatched a letter to Prince Gortschakoff, the Russian commander-in-chief in the Principalities, offering him fifteen days to evacuate that territory before commencing hostilities. To

---

1 According to a census taken in 1844, the total population of European Turkey was 15,500,000, of which only 4,550,000 were Muslims, while 10,000,000 were members of the Greek Church, 640,000 Roman Catholics, and 70,000 Jews. In Asia Minor the proportions were of course very different. The total population there in that year subject to the Porte was 16,050,000, of whom 12,650,000 were Mussulmans, 3,000,000 Greek Church, and 200,000 Roman Catholics. History, this the Russian general replied, that he "had no orders to commence hostilities, nor to conclude peace, nor to evacuate the Principalities." On the 14th of October the combined fleets of England and France, which had been for some time lying at Besika Bay, entered the Straits of the Dardanelles at the request of the sultan; and on the 1st of November the czar issued his manifesto of war.

In the beginning of November the Turks crossed the Danube at four places. The first passage was effected at Widdin, a place far up near the frontier of Servia, from which they pushed on to Kalafat, and occupied it with a force of 12,000 men. Lower down the river at Rustchuk a body of 2000 or 3000 men crossed, and entrenched themselves at Giurgevo. At Turtukai, still lower down, a large Turkish force crossed over to Olenizta, where they established themselves, although they were vigorously attacked by the Russians. On the 2d and 3d of November the attacks of the Russians were repulsed with loss. On the 4th they mustered to the amount of 30,000 strong, and attacked the Turks, who numbered only about 18,000. A desperate engagement ensued, in which the Russians were defeated with a loss of about 1000 killed and twice that number wounded. Several spirited engagements subsequently took place at Kalafat and its neighbourhood, and notwithstanding all the efforts of the Russians, the Turks effectually made good their position there. Towards the end of November Omar Pasha, not deeming it prudent to expose his troops to attack during the winter, withdrew across the Danube, only retaining possession of the works at Kalafat, on the left bank of the river.

An event now happened that filled Europe with horror, and gave a new character to the war. This was the unprovoked attack on, and the total destruction of, the Turkish fleet in the harbour of Sinope. On the 30th November the Turkish fleet, consisting of 7 frigates, 3 corvettes, and 2 smaller vessels, were lying at anchor in that harbour, when a Russian squadron, composed of 6 sail of the line, 3 of which were three-deckers, 2 sailing frigates, and 3 steamers, entered the bay, the frigates and steamers remaining outside the heavy ships. The action immediately commenced, and though the Turks fought with the courage of desperation, in the short space of two or three hours the whole of their vessels were burned or sunk, except one small steamer which got out and made for sea during the heat of the conflict. About 5000 of the Turks were killed, and only a very few escaped by swimming to land. The czar having, as we have seen, announced his determination to act only on the defensive, and to repel the advance of the Turks into the Principalities, this blow was totally unexpected on the part of the allies, whose representatives at Vienna were still exerting themselves to bring about a peace, and had just prepared a protocol, which the Ottoman Porte had agreed to receive as a basis of negotiation, when the news of this disaster reached them. The English and French fleets, too, instead of taking possession of the Black Sea for the protection of the Turks, were lying in the Bosphorus, while the Russians were actively using that sea for the conveyance of troops, arms, and ammunition to their various military posts. When the news reached St Petersburg the czar ordered a solemn "Te Deum" in the churches, and published an exulting manifesto. The English and French, who may be said to have hitherto acted only as spectators of the war, now saw that it was necessary to have recourse to more active measures. The combined fleet was immediately ordered into the Black Sea, and though negotiations were carried on for some time after, it could not be with any sanguine hope of a peaceful termination to the war.

On the 4th of February 1854 Baron Brunow, the Russian representative at St James's, formally announced the suspension of diplomatic relations between the two countries, and in a few days afterwards he closed his embassy, and quitted London. On the 7th Lord Clarendon wrote to Sir G. Seymour at St Petersburg, directing him to withdraw from that capital with every member of the embassy; and about the same time similar instructions were forwarded by the French government to their charge d'affaires there, M. de Castellbajac. On the 12th of March a treaty or convention between England, France, and the Porte was signed, regulating the terms on which the two former were to assist the latter. Previous to this, however, on the 28th February, the first detachment of troops left for the East, and landed at Malta, where they remained till the 31st of March. On the 27th and 28th March the French and English respectively declared war. A portion of the French army sailed from Marseilles on the 19th of March, and on the 30th arrived at Gallipoli, a seaport of European Turkey, near the place where the Dardanelles expand into the Sea of Marmora; and on the 5th of April they were joined by the English detachment from Malta. Powerful works were constructed here, extending from the Gulf of Saro to the Sea of Marmora, so that, in case of necessity, the allied armies might have a safe place of retreat. Afterwards the allied forces were removed to the neighbourhood of Constantinople, the English occupying Scutari, Lord Raglan, who was appointed commander-in-chief of the English troops, arrived at Constantinople on the 29th of April, and Marshal St Arnaud, the French commander-in-chief, on the 8th of May.

The campaign on the Danube opened on 6th January Operations with a vigorous engagement between the Turks and Russians in the neighbourhood of Citate, a village where the Danube, Russians had established themselves. The Turks were victorious, and completely dislodged the enemy from the village. Attempts were made the next day, and for several succeeding days, with fresh troops, to re-take the place, but without success. A Russian report states that, in January 1854, 35,000 Russian soldiers had already perished in the Principalities. Besides those slain in battle, many had died from disease, want, and fatigue. For about a month after the battle of Citate both armies on the Danube were chiefly occupied in making preparations for fighting. About the 13th of February the Russians collected in considerable force against Giurgevo, and attacked it, so far successfully that the Turks, after an obstinate resistance of two or three days, evacuated the place, and retreated in perfect order across the Danube to Rustchuk. On the 23d of March the Russians, having been considerably re-inforced, crossed the Danube at three points, Ismael, Galatz, and Matchin, and entered the Dobrudcha with artillery and a siege-train, for the purpose of storming Silistria and attacking Omar Pasha at Shumla before the allied armies could come to his assistance. Silistria was invested on the 17th of May, and gallantly resisted for six weeks every effort of the enemy to take it. Among the besieged were two British officers, Captain Butler and Lieutenant Nasmith, who greatly contributed to the success of the defence. The latter of these, in a letter to the Times, dated June 29, says,—“The Turkish army may well talk with pride. Their opponents had an army on the right bank of the Danube, which at one time amounted to 60,000 men. They had sixty guns in position, and threw upwards of 50,000 shot and shell, besides an incalculable quantity of small-arm ammunition. They constructed more than 3 miles of approaches and sprang six mines; yet during forty days not one inch of ground was gained, and they abandoned the siege, leaving the petty field-work against which their principal efforts had been directed a shapeless mass, from the effects of their mines and batteries, but still in possession of its original defenders.”

The bombardment of Odessa took place on the 22d of Black Sea. April, that town having fired upon an English flag of truce. The firing lasted for about ten hours, and did not cease till most of the batteries had been destroyed or silenced. The attack, however, was strictly confined to the forts, batteries, and military store-houses. On the 12th of May the Tiger, an English steam-frigate, ran aground near Odessa, and being attacked by artillery from the town, she surrendered after a short fight, her guns having been thrown overboard to lighten her. The crew were made prisoners and taken to Odessa, where they were well treated. About the same time a squadron dislodged the Russians from their stronghold of Redout Kaleh, on the coast of Circassia.

By the middle of May the French and English armies were in sufficient force and organization to take the field; and on the 19th of that month a council of war was held at Varna, at which Lord Raglan, Marshal St Arnaud, and Omar Pasha were present. It was then decided to bring up all the disposable forces to Varna; and accordingly, on the 29th of May the greater portion of the French and English troops disembarked at that place.

The raising of the siege of Silistra, and the retreat of the Russians, were the signal for the general advance of the Turkish army. They re-crossed the Danube in the beginning of July; and on the 5th of that month an action was fought at Giurgevo, very creditable to the Turkish arms. At night the Russians abandoned their camp, leaving an immense quantity of stores, and retreated to Bucharest. They soon afterwards quitted the latter city, and retired beyond the Sereth. Towards the end of August the Austrian troops took possession of the Principalities, in terms of a convention concluded between the Emperor of Austria and the Porte. During this time the fleet in the Black Sea was doing good service by destroying the Russian batteries at the Salina mouth of the Danube.

Meanwhile the allied fleets were cruising about in the Baltic. The English fleet, under the command of Sir Charles Napier, had left Spithead on the 11th of March. It at first comprised 8 screw line-of-battle ships, 4 screw frigates, and 4 paddle-steamers, and was subsequently augmented by others, till it amounted to 42 vessels, with 22,000 guns, 16,000 horse-power, and 22,000 sailors and marines. About the middle of April a French squadron of 23 vessels carrying in all 1250 guns, sailed from Brest under the command of Vice-Admiral Parseval-Deschenes. A detachment of the English fleet under Admiral Plunkett, cruising in the Gulf of Bothnia during May and the early part of June, took and destroyed 46 merchant vessels, with from 40,000 to 50,000 barrels of pitch and tar, and an immense quantity of naval stores. The only proceeding that was attended by loss of life was an attempt upon Gamle Karleby, a small seaport-town of Finland. The vessels Odin and Vulture were despatched to that place to take possession of any vessels or naval stores that might be found there, but the water off the port was so shallow that they were obliged to anchor 5 miles from the town. Four boats were therefore manned, and sent in to destroy the stores. Hoisting a flag of truce, they first demanded the surrender of the place; and this having been refused, the flag was hauled down, and the Odin's cutter was proceeding to reconnoitre when it was fired upon from an ambuscade, and eleven of its men killed and wounded. The firing was kept up with vigour on both sides, and the Vulture's paddle-box boat became so unmanageable, and her crew were so much cut up, that she drifted on shore, and became the prize of the enemy, who made prisoners of all that remained alive. Our loss amounted to fifty-four officers and men, killed, wounded, and missing. In the month of May the Hecla and Arrogant proceeded by night from Hango roads up 7 miles of a narrow river to Eksaas, destroyed a powerful battery which opened fire upon them, put to flight a large troop of horse artillery and a large body of infantry, and cut out a large merchantman laden with a valuable cargo, returning in safety with the prize. A day or two after this the large fort of Gustavus Vasa in Hango Roads was shelled, and great loss inflicted upon the Russians. About the end of June the allied fleet, amounting to 51 sail, proceeded to reconnoitre Cronstadt, anchoring about 8 miles from that fortress, and sending forward six steam-vessels to take soundings, and to make a closer inspection, with orders to keep out of cannon range. The two main divisions of the allied fleets subsequently proceeded to the Bay of Ledusund, to the south of the Aland Islands, in the Gulf of Bothnia. On the 15th of July 10,000 French troops were embarked at Boulogne on board of English vessels for the Baltic. These were disembarked in the morning of the 8th of August in the vicinity of Bomarsund, a strong fortress on one of the Aland Islands. The chief fortress was a structure of granite about 40 feet in height, and mounting about 80 cannon. The land rose above this fort, and on the crests of the low hills were two granite towers, each surrounded by a broad ditch. There was also an earthen battery of 5 pieces of artillery. About 1200 marines of both nations were also landed on the north of the island, and commenced erecting a battery. On the 13th the French commenced the bombardment of the western tower, which was captured by them on the following morning. On the 15th two batteries, manned by English seamen and marines, began to play upon the eastern tower, and a complete breach having been made, and all the guns silenced, a white flag was hoisted in the evening, and the place surrendered. On the same day the bombardment of the principal fort commenced both on land and from the sea, five vessels firing shot and shell at the front of the battery from a long range. Next day the attack was renewed; but at noon a white flag was hoisted from the walls, and the garrison surrendered unconditionally. There were taken 112 mounted and 79 unmounted guns, 3 mortars and 7 field-pieces, and also 2235 prisoners. Our loss was 1 officer and 1 private killed, and 7 wounded; the French loss was somewhat greater. The fortifications were subsequently reduced to a mass of ruins. After this the allied fleets effected nothing of importance in the Baltic. The French fleet returned early in the autumn, and the English fleet returned by single vessels as the winter drew on, some remaining in the Baltic till the ice began to form, and reaching England late in November. Of the French land forces about 800 perished by cholera, besides those who had fallen in action.

The months of July and August were very calamitous for the allied armies at Varna and the neighbourhood, as well as for the fleet at Balchik Bay. The mortality was fearful, and the men were reduced to great destitution; praying to be led against the enemy at whatever risk rather than to die the inglorious death that was so fast decimating their ranks. On the 26th of August a council of war was held at Varna by all the English and French generals; and on the 3d of September the final order for the embarkation of the British troops from Varna was issued. Their destination was the Crimea, and they were to disembark at some place not far from Sebastopol. The order of battle was formed before the landing. The troops were to enter the boats in the order in which they stood in the ranks. The boats were to form in line abreast, and to pull into the shore stoutly, steadily, and in perfect silence. On landing, they were to form in continuous columns. Three days' provisions were to be carried by each individual, both officers and men. The troops were thus ready to encounter the enemy had he met them on landing, and it is clear that such an encounter was expected. On the afternoon of the 13th of September the fleets anchored in Eupatoria Bay, and the town was summoned to surrender, which it at once did, being without the means of defence. They left early next morning, and, keeping near the shore, anchored about 12 miles below Eupatoria, where they com- menced to disembark; and before night they had landed without opposition 20,000 British troops, with 36 guns, and a large number of horses, and about an equal number of French. In the afternoon it rained, and a swell arose along the coast, which continued to increase. At night the rain came down in torrents, and the troops on the beach were drenched, being houseless and tentless. The swell next day impeded the landing of the guns and cavalry, and occasioned some loss in horses and boats; but during that and the following day the disembarkation was completed. As yet no enemy, except a few isolated bands of Kozzacks, had been seen; but the steamers sent to reconnoitre the coast reported that the Russians had formed a strong camp on the heights to the south of the River Alma. The troops commenced their march in the morning of the 19th, and halted for the night on the left bank of a small stream called the Bulganac. On that day there was a skirmish between our light cavalry and a party of Russian dragoons.

At daybreak the following morning the Agamemnon, with the inshore squadrons, moved along the coast, and took up a position off the Alma. A column of French infantry, preceded by skirmishers, now descended from the heights about the Bulganac, and boldly advanced by the seaside. It was soon followed, more inland, by the main body of the French army. When within a mile of the Alma the French halted. They were then joined by the English, who formed into line with their allies. Both armies then moved forward, and again they halted. Before them, on the lofty cliffs and precipitous slopes on the other side of the Alma, were the enemy. Their position was well chosen, and seemed to defy attack. Running closely along the left bank of the Alma for about 2 miles from the sea, is a bold and almost precipitous range of heights of from 350 to 400 feet in height. It then makes a long sweep, forming a great amphitheatre about 2 miles in width at its mouth. Across this great opening, running parallel to the river, and at distances of from 600 to 800 yards from it, is a low ridge of heights varying from 60 to 150 feet. Across a part of the slope was a trench deep enough to protect the Russian marksmen, and to impede the progress of the assailants. On the right, and a little retired, was a powerful covered battery armed with heavy guns, which flanked the whole of the right of the position; whilst artillery were stationed on almost every eminence commanding the open ground over which our troops must advance. On the slopes of these hills, which formed a sort of table-land, were placed dense masses of the enemy's infantry, whilst on the heights above was his great reserve; the whole amounting, it is supposed, to between 45,000 and 50,000 men. The banks of the river were extremely rugged, and for the most part steep, and the willows along it were cut down to prevent them from affording shelter to the attacking party. The attack was commenced by the French division of troops under General Bosquet, which was nearest the shore. He first detached a regiment of Zouaves and a body of sharpshooters, who crossed the river near its mouth without being perceived by the enemy. Presently they were seen "swarming like ants," with extraordinary agility, up the almost perpendicular face of the cliff, and they soon reached the summit. On reaching the plateau they immediately formed into line under a deadly fire of musketry and artillery. General Bosquet now brought up the remainder of his division; and at the same time the main body of the French army, under Prince Napoleon and General Canrobert, advanced through the village of Alma-tomak, and, fording the river, gained a pathway which led up to the plateau. It was only with the greatest difficulty that the French artillery could be dragged up these rough passes; but at length one battery gained the heights, and was rapidly carried to the assistance of the Zouaves. The Zouaves and the few troops that had joined them held their ground with admirable courage and steadiness until other French corps came up. Some regiments of the line were foiled in an attempt to force the Russian position to the left of the Zouaves; but the most deadly contest took place near a tumulus on which stood an unfinished tower. Here the main body of the enemy was collected, and to dislodge them the Zouaves, with some regiments of the line, charged with the bayonet. The Russians made a most determined stand, but after sustaining repeated and impetuous charges, they fell back apparently in good order. Seeing his left about to be turned, Prince Menschikoff now sent a considerable mass of infantry and artillery to its support. Up to this time the English had remained inactive, the arrangement being, that they were to wait until the French should have gained the heights and have turned the Russian left. But Marshal St Arnaud, seeing that fresh columns of infantry and more batteries of heavy artillery were being brought up against him, sent to request Lord Raglan to advance without further delay. The command was accordingly given to advance, and as they approached the bank of the river the Russian batteries on the slopes opened up a deadly fire. At the same time sharpshooters behind walls or in the vineyards harassed our troops, but these were soon driven over the river by our rifles. The Russians had set fire to the village of Buriuk, lying between our troops and the river, but as soon as the artillery got beyond the smoke they began to play upon the enemy, and inflicted considerable damage. Partly under cover of this fire, Lord Raglan, at the head of his staff, plunged into the ford, and, amidst a thick shower of shot and shell, gained the opposite bank, close to the left of our allies. In consequence of the burning of the village two regiments of Brigadier-General Adams's brigade, being part of Sir De Lacy Evans's division, had to pass the river at a deep and difficult ford to the right, under a sharp fire; while his first brigade, under Major-General Pennéfather, and the remaining regiment of Brigadier Adams, crossed to the left of the configuration, opposed by the enemy's artillery from the heights above. In the meantime, the light division, under Sir George Brown, which was to be the first to attack, effected the passage of the Alma in their immediate front. The banks of the river, from their rugged and broken nature, were serious obstacles to their advance; while the vineyards through which they had to pass, and the trees which had been felled, created additional impediments, and rendered every attempt to form under a galling fire almost an impossibility. Nevertheless, Sir George nobly persevered. The first brigade, under Major-General Codrington, composed of the 7th, 23rd, and 33rd regiments, rushed up the slope in teeth of the heavy guns placed in the earthwork, and with a courage that has never been surpassed, in spite of ball and grape-shot, drove the enemy before them even to the cannon's mouth. Some of our men even leaped into the redoubt; but these were soon driven out by the awful fire of the Russian infantry. "Sir George Brown," says an eyewitness (the Times' correspondent), "conspicuous on a grey horse, rode in front of his light division, urging them with voice and gesture. Gallant fellows! they were worthy of such a gallant chief." The 7th, diminished by one-half, fell back to re-form their columns, lost for the time; the 23rd, with eight officers dead and four wounded, were still rushing to the front, aided by the 19th, 33rd, 77th, and 88th. Down went Sir George in a cloud of dust in front of the battery. He was soon up, and shouted "23rd, I'm all right; be sure I'll remember this day," and led them on again; but in the shock produced by the fall of their chief the gallant regiment suffered terribly while paralysed for a moment. Meanwhile, the Guards on the right of the light division, and the brigade of Highlanders, were storming the heights on the left. Their line was almost as regular as though they were in Hyde Park. Suddenly a tornado of round and grape rushed through from the terrible battery, and a roar of musketry from behind, thinned their front ranks by dozens. It was evident that we were just able to contend against the Russians, favoured as they were by a great position. At this very time an immense mass of Russian infantry were seen moving down towards the battery. They halted. It was the crisis of the day. Sharp, angular, and solid, they looked as if they were cut out of the solid rock. It was beyond all doubt that, if our infantry, harassed and thinned as they were, got into the battery, they would have to encounter again a formidable fire, which they were but ill calculated to bear.

Lord Raglan saw the difficulties of the situation. He asked if it would be possible to get a couple of guns to bear upon these masses. The reply was 'Yes,' and an artillery officer, whose name I do not know, brought up two guns to fire on the Russian squares. The first shot missed, but the next, and the next, and the next cut through the ranks so cleanly and so keenly, that a clear line could be seen for a moment through the square. After a few rounds the columns of the square became broken, wavering to and fro, broke, and fled over the brow of the hill, leaving behind them six or seven distinct lines of dead lying as close as possible to each other, marking the passage of the fatal messengers. This act relieved our infantry of a deadly incubus, and they continued their magnificent and fearful progress up the hill. The duke encouraged his men by voice and example, and proved himself worthy of his proud command and of the royal race from which he comes.

'Highlanders,' said Sir C. Campbell, ere they came to the charge, 'I am going to ask a favour of you; it is that you will act so as to justify me in asking permission of the Queen for you to wear a bonnet! Don't pull a trigger till you're within a yard of the Russians.' They charged, and well they obeyed their chieftain's wish: Sir Colin had his horse shot under him; but his men took the battery at a bound. The Russians rushed out, and left multitudes of dead behind them. The Guards had stormed the right of the battery ere the Highlanders got into the left, and it is said the Scots Fusilier Guards were the first to enter. The second and light division crowned the heights. The French now turned the guns on the hill against the flying masses, which the cavalry in vain tried to cover. A few faint struggles from the scattered infantry, a few rounds of cannon and musketry, and the enemy fled to the south-east, leaving 3 generals, drums, 3 guns, 700 prisoners, and 4000 wounded behind them. The battle of the Alma was won. It was won with a loss of nearly 3000 killed and wounded on our side. The Russians' retreat was covered by their cavalry; but if we had had an adequate force we could have captured many guns and multitudes of prisoners. The total loss of the allies was 619 killed and 2860 wounded, of which the British counted 362 killed and 1640 wounded. The loss of the Russians is stated at somewhat less than 8000 men, besides nearly 900 prisoners. The allies had in the field about 50,000 men, but of this number some 20,000 were not engaged. The entire force of the Russians amounted to about 40,000 men.

For the next two days the allies were busy in burying the dead and taking care of the wounded, and on the 23rd they commenced their march towards Sevastopol. Learning that the enemy occupied a formidable position on the left bank of the Belbek, and that this river could not readily be rendered a means of communication with the fleet, and calculating that the chief preparations for defence would be made on the north side of the town, the commanders altered their original intention of making their attack on that side; and after their first night's bivouac they made a flank movement, and striking across a woody country, through which they had to steer their way by the compass, they reached an open road leading from Baktchisarai to Balaklava. At a place called Mackenzie's Farm our advanced guard encountered a part of the Russian army, which fled in consternation at the unexpected meeting. On the 26th we obtained possession of Balaklava without opposition. The harbour is commodious and secure, but the entrance is narrow and somewhat difficult of access. The next day the allied armies took up their positions in the valley to the north of Balaklava and on the bleak heights above Sevastopol. The allies now suffered a severe loss in the departure and death of Marshal St Arnaud. He had left France in bad health, and finding himself quite overcome by acute and severe illness, he resigned his command to General Canrobert, and died on the 29th, on his way down to Constantinople.

The position taken up by the English before Sevastopol was to the right of the French, at a distance of 6 miles from their ships; while the French, on the left, rested on Cape Chersonese, and were within 3 miles of their ships. The ground in front of the French being soft, permitted the usual process of sapping and trenching to be carried on quickly, while the ground in front of the English was hard and rocky, and moreover broken by so many chasms or ravines that regular approaches were almost impracticable. The attack both by sea and land was opened on the 17th of October. Seven large Russian ships had been sunk at the mouth of the harbour, so that our ships could only fire at long range, and so produced very little effect. During this time the Russians had been exerting every effort to strengthen their position. A round stone tower at their extreme left was rapidly surrounded by strong thick earthworks, upon which none but our heaviest artillery could make an impression; while the tower itself, originally white, was painted of the colour of the earth, so as to be a less conspicuous object to our mark. This round tower was by a line of earthworks connected with a formidable redoubt on the right known as the "Redan." Between the Redan and the arsenal at the head of Dockyard Creek were the "Barrack" batteries, and to the west of the Creek, facing the French line, was the Flagstaff Battery, united by a wall and strong defences to the Quarantine Fort and the sea. The average distance of the English batteries from the Russian lines was about 1500 yards. The French works, from the causes already mentioned, were considerably nearer than the English, but they had not so many guns in position. The attack opened early in the morning of the 17th, but the result proved that the French batteries were not strong enough, neither were their magazines well placed. About two hours after the commencement of the bombardment a French powder magazine blew up, doing considerable damage; and at 1:30 P.M. a more destructive explosion took place in their lines, rendering it necessary for their artillery to suspend its fire during the rest of the day. Between 2 and 3 P.M. a terrific explosion took place in the Redan Battery, which it was thought would have rendered this work untenable; but the Russians, with unflinching bravery, continued at their guns, and kept up the fire until nightfall, when both sides ceased. The Round Tower, being of stone, was soon knocked to pieces by our heavy guns, and completely silenced, while the Redan, which was of earth, was not materially injured. The loss of the English was 41 killed and 266 wounded; of the French, 30 killed and 164 wounded; while the Russians acknowledge to a loss of 500 in killed and wounded. The siege was proceeding steadily, when, early in the morning of the 25th, the Russians made an attack upon the position in front of Balaklava. A low range of heights that runs Battle of across the plain, at the bottom of which the town stands, Balaklava, was protected by four small redoubts hastily constructed. Three of these had guns in them; and on a higher hill in front of the village of Camera, in advance of our right flank, was established a work of somewhat more importance. These redoubts were garrisoned by Turkish troops. The 93d Highlanders was the only British regiment in the plain, with the exception of a part of a battalion of detachments composed of weakly men, and a battery of artillery belonging to the third division; and on the heights behind our right were placed the marines. At daybreak in the morning of the 25th the enemy were seen in great force advancing up the valley of the Tchernaya. This was indeed a new army, under the command of General Liprandi, which had just arrived from the Danubian Principalities, Austria having taken upon herself the occupation of the Principalities, and thus set free both the Russian and Turkish armies. Redoubt No. 1 was carried after a feeble resistance by the Turks, and Nos. 2 and 3 were evacuated without an attempt at defence. When the news reached Balaklava, Sir Colin Campbell, who commanded there, sent the 93d Highlanders, under Lieutenant-Colonel Ainslie, to draw up in line in front of the road leading to the town. Lord Raglan also, as soon as he was apprised of this movement of the enemy, withdrew from before Sevastopol the 1st and 4th divisions, and brought them down into the plain. After the three redoubts had been carried, the Russian cavalry at once advanced, supported by artillery and dividing into two bodies, the smaller of which charged down the slope upon the 93d, whose vigorous and steady fire instantly carried death into their ranks and threw them back in disorder. The other and larger mass turned to the right to attack our heavy cavalry, advancing straight towards the camp of the Scots Greys and the Enniskillen Dragoons, whose united number did not amount to 400 men. Their first line was at least double the length of ours, and it was three times as deep; while behind them was a similar line equally strong and compact. Though the ground was very unfavourable, it presented no check to our men, who charged into the Russian column with the utmost fury. As lightning flashes through a cloud, the Greys and Enniskilleners pierced through the dark masses of the Russians. The shock was but for a moment. There was a clash of steel and a light play of sword-blades in the air, and then the Greys and the red coats disappear in the midst of the shaken and quivering columns. In another moment we see them emerging and clashing on with diminished numbers and in broken order against the second line, which is advancing against them as fast as it can to retrieve the fortune of the charge. It was a terrible moment. With unabated fire the noble hearts dashed at their enemy. It was a fight of heroes. The first line of the Russians which had been smashed utterly by our charge, and had fled off at one flank and towards the centre, were coming back to swallow up our handful of men. By sheer steel and sheer courage Enniskilleners and Scot were winning their desperate way right through the enemy's squadrons, and already grey horses and red coats had appeared right at the rear of the second mass, when, with irresistible force, like one bolt from a bow, the 1st royalists, the 4th dragoon guards, and the 5th dragoon guards rushed at the remnants of the first line of the enemy, and went through it as though it were made of pasteboard, and, dashing on the second body of Russians, as they were still disordered by the terrible assault of the Greys and their companions, put them to utter rout." (Times' correspondent.) As the enemy withdrew from the ground which they had momentarily occupied, and seemed to be removing the captured guns, the Earl of Lucan was desired to advance and try to prevent them from effecting their object. From some misconception of the instructions, the lieutenant-general considered that he was bound to attack at all hazards; and he accordingly ordered Major-General the Earl of Cardigan to move forward with the light brigade. By this time the Russians had re-formed their own ground, with artillery in front and upon their flanks. According to the graphic account of the Times' correspondent—"They advanced in two lines, quickening their pace as they closed towards the enemy. A more fearful spectacle was never witnessed than by those who, without the power of aid, beheld their heroic countrymen rush to the arms of death. At the distance of 1200 yards the whole line of the enemy belched forth from thirty iron mouths a flood of smoke and flame, through which hissed the deadly balls. Their flight was marked by instant gaps in our ranks, by dead men and horses, by steeds flying wounded or riderless across the plain. The first line is broken; it is joined by the second; they never halt or check their speed one instant; with diminished ranks thinned by those thirty guns which the Russians had laid with the most deadly accuracy, with a halo of flashing steel above their heads, and with a cheer which was many a noble fellow's death-cry, they flew into the smoke of the batteries, but ere they were lost from view the plain was strewed with their bodies and with the carcasses of horses. They were exposed to an oblique fire from the batteries on the hills on both sides, as well as to a direct fire of musketry. Through the clouds of smoke we could see their sabres flashing as they rode up to the guns, and dashed between them, cutting down the gunners as they stood. We saw them riding through the guns, as I have said; to our delight we saw them returning, after breaking through a column of Russian infantry, and scattering them like chaff, when the flank fire of the battery on the hill swept them down, scattered and broken as they were. Wounded men and dismounted troopers flying towards us told the sad tale: demi-gods could not have done what we had failed to do. At the very moment when they were about to retreat an enormous mass of lancers was hurled on their flank. Colonel Shewell of the 8th hussars saw the danger, and rode his few men straight at them, cutting his way through with fearful loss. The other regiments turned and engaged in a desperate encounter. With courage too great almost for credence, they were breaking their way through the columns which enveloped them, when there took place an act of atrocity without parallel in the modern warfare of civilized nations. The Russian gunners, when the storm of cavalry had passed, returned to their guns. They saw their own cavalry mingled with the troops who had just ridden over them, and to the eternal disgrace of the Russian name, the miscreants poured a murderous volley of grape and canister on the mass of struggling men and horses, mingling friend and foe in one common ruin. It was as much as our heavy cavalry brigade could do to cover the retreat of the miserable remnants of that band of heroes as they returned to the place they had so lately quitted in all the pride of life." The brigade numbered only 607 men, and of these only 198 returned. The enemy made no further movement in advance; and at the close of the day the brigade of Guards of the first division and the fourth division returned to their original encampment.

The next morning several columns of infantry, accompanied by artillery, were seen issuing out of Sevastopol, to the number of 6000 or 7000, it was thought, on their way to join Liprandi's corps. Turning to the right, however, they ascended the hills, and suddenly appeared on a crest which commanded the second division under Sir De Lacy Evans. These withstood the attack with great bravery, and having at length received assistance, succeeded in putting the enemy to flight with the loss of about 600 killed and wounded, and 80 prisoners. Our loss was only about 80 killed and wounded. During all this time the siege was steadily progressing, but large re-inforcements were joining the Russian camp to the north of Sevastopol, while supplies and other re-inforcements were poured into the town itself.

On the 5th of November the Russian army, augmented by re-inforcements from the north, and animated by the presence of the Grand Dukes Michael and Nicholas, attacked our position overlooking the ruins of Inkermann. Shortly before daylight strong columns of the Russians came upon the advanced pickets covering the right of the English position. These defended the ground foot by foot with the utmost gallantry, until the 2d division, with its field guns, was got into position. The morning was extremely dark and drizzly; but it soon became apparent that the enemy had advanced numerous batteries of large calibre to the high grounds to the left and front of the 2d division, while powerful columns of infantry attacked with great vigour the brigade of guards. Additional batteries of heavy artillery were also placed on the slopes whence they could best tell upon us, until the guns in the field actually amounted to 90 pieces, independently of the ships' guns and the guns of Sevastopol, which were also playing upon our men. Protected by a tremendous fire of shot, shell, and grape, the Russian columns advanced in great force, requiring every effort on our part to resist them. Two battalions of French infantry now joined our right, and contributed materially to our success. About the same time a determined assault was made on our extreme left, and for a moment the Russians possessed themselves of four of our guns, but these were speedily re-captured. In the opposite direction the brigade of Guards was engaged in a severe conflict. The enemy advanced in two heavy bodies under cover of a thick brushwood, and assaulted with great determination a small unarmed redoubt. The combat here was most arduous, and the brigade, after displaying the utmost bravery and gallantry, was obliged to retire. Again and again they advanced to the charge, and again and again were driven back.

At length a body of French troops came to their assistance, and occupied the redoubt, while the Guards speedily re-formed in rear of the right flank of the 2d division. Subsequently to this the battle continued with unabated vigour, and with no positive result, till towards the afternoon, when symptoms of giving way first became apparent; and shortly after, although the fire did not cease, the retreat became general. Thus for more than six hours 8000 English and 6000 French sustained a hand-to-hand fight against 50,000 Russians. "The battle of Inkermann," says the Times' correspondent, "admits of no description. It was a series of dreadful deeds of daring, of sanguinary hand-to-hand fights, of despairing rallies, of desperate assaults,—in glens and valleys, in bushwood glades and remote dells, hidden from all human eyes, and from which the conquerors, Russian or British, issued only to engage fresh foes, till our old supremacy, so rudely assailed, was triumphantly asserted, and the battalions of the czar gave way before our steady courage and the chivalrous fire of France." The loss of the enemy is estimated at about 9000; our loss was 632 killed, 1878 wounded, and 63 missing; total 2573; and that of the French was 1726 in killed and wounded.

On the 14th of November a terrible hurricane occurred on the Black Sea, and did great damage both on sea and shore. The tempest commenced at Balaklava about seven o'clock in the morning, and in less than two hours eleven transports had been wrecked, and six more dismantled and rendered unfit for service. The steamship Prince, a magnificent vessel of 2700 tons, which had arrived only a few days before, and had a valuable cargo of stores and necessaries for the war, was driven on the rocks with such force that hardly a piece of her was left. Of a crew of 150 men only six were saved. The French vessels suffered equally with ours. The pecuniary loss of the English alone was estimated at about a million sterling; while that of the French could not have been less. The total loss of men was estimated at about 1000, besides about 400 or 500 more who were taken prisoners and carried into Sevastopol.

On land the tents of our soldiers were torn up and blown about in all directions. Snow also fell in abundance; and before the tempest had ceased, which was not till the afternoon of the 16th, the inland hills and ridges were deeply covered by it. After Inkermann the Russians did not for a long time make any grand attack upon the allies. The latter also contented themselves with remaining on the defensive till the arrival of re-enforcements should enable them to take more active measures. They too were besieged as well as being besiegers, having on their flank a force far superior to their own, and in front an irregular fortress of great strength, and an arsenal with almost unlimited resources. Re-enforcements and supplies were also constantly pouring into the place, which, from our limited forces, it was impossible to check. The allies were now suffering severely from disease and the want of necessaries, which became more felt as the winter set in. These pressed less heavily on the French than on us, their medical and commissariat departments being much better managed than ours. Indeed, the shameful neglect, carelessness, and ignorance that were manifested in the commissariat department of our army are scarcely credible. Thousands of our brave countrymen fell victims to this deplorable state of things. Many of them had to lie on the cold, damp earth under the wide canopy of heaven, thus frequently contracting diseases which there were no medicines to cure or comforts to allay; what food they obtained (and they were frequently on short rations) had often to be consumed in an unprepared state; 1500 sick and wounded after the battle of Alma were sent to Scutari, many of whom had not had their wounds dressed, though five or six days had elapsed on the passage. Not the least culpable part of the business was, that abundant supplies had been provided by the government, most of which were lying at Balaklava, but from a blind adherence to form could not be removed, or were stowed away where they could not be reached or could not be found. It is well known that articles sent out for the army in the Crimea were brought back in the same vessels, and articles intended for the sick at Scutari were carried to Balaklava. The road, too, between the camp and Balaklava soon became such a wilderness of mud as to be almost impassable. According to the Report of the committee of the House of Commons, "from the middle of November this army was, during a period of many weeks, reduced to a condition which it is melancholy to contemplate, but which was endured both by officers and men with a fortitude and heroism unsurpassed in the annals of war. They were exposed under single canvas to all the sufferings and inconveniences of cold, rain, mud, and snow, on high ground and in the depth of winter. They suffered from overwork, want of clothing, insufficient supplies for the healthy, and imperfect accommodation for the sick." When the news of this state of matters reached England it naturally excited the greatest indignation and sympathy. In the beginning of October the Times originated a subscription for the sick and wounded, and in less than a fortnight £1,15,000 were collected, which a special commissioner was sent out to administer. A few days later the "Patriotic Fund" was set on foot, and before the end of the year the subscriptions had reached half a million and soon afterwards they amounted to about a million and a quarter. The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts also sent out to the hospitals and the camp, with the concurrence and partly at the expense of the government, twenty-four additional chaplains. About the same time Miss Florence Nightingale, a lady singularly adapted for the work, set out with thirty-seven nurses to attend the sick in the hospital.

---

1 At the beginning of February 1855 the grand total of our army in the East was 44,948, of whom 6773 were in the camp hospital, and 12,344 in that of Scutari, making a total of 18,117 sick. During the last three months of the year 1854, 9000 English re-inforcements were landed in the Crimea, but these being chiefly raw recruits, many of them, by the hardships which they had to endure, were soon rendered unfit for duty. Meanwhile the Russians, under the direction of General Todleben, were incessantly employed in improving their position, by strengthening their old fortifications and by the addition of new works. They scarped the ground in front of all their batteries; constructed a strong abattis in front of all their lines; threw up earthworks and mounted guns on every available point; and made sunken batteries before their redoubts, the Redan and Malakoff, as well as along the scarps of the slopes.

In the beginning of the year an insurrection broke out among the Greek subjects of the sultan, at the instigation of Russia, and aided and abetted by the Greek nation. A series of early successes emboldened the insurgents, and the movement was rapidly gaining ground. Ineffectual remonstrances with King Otho led to an open rupture between Turkey and Greece, and on the 28th of March the Greek ambassador quitted Constantinople. Turkish troops were now poured into the disaffected districts, and their arms were generally successful; but still the rebels held out, encouraged by the free Greeks, and confidently relying on the speedy advance of the Russians to their assistance. On the 18th May the allies declared the whole of Greece to be in a state of blockade, and about the same time a body of French and English troops were landed at the Piraeus. These energetic measures speedily brought King Otho to submit to the terms imposed upon him, and to engage to maintain a strict neutrality towards Turkey. Many of the insurgents now submitted, and one or two successes over the remainder speedily put an end to the insurrection. Early in summer a small squadron, consisting of the Miranda and Brisk, screw steamers of 15 and 16 guns respectively, and the Eurydice, a sailing-vessel of 26 guns, were despatched to the White Sea to blockade Archangel. Leaving the Eurydice at the mouth of the Dwina, the bar at which they were unable to cross, to maintain the blockade, the other vessels attacked and destroyed several places in that quarter. Kola, the capital of Russian Lapland, they took and destroyed, as also the town of Novitska. They also landed and destroyed all the public buildings and government stores at Shayley Island. An attack on the town of Solovetsko, however, was unsuccessful, and they retired after twelve hours' firing. The squadron thereafter returned to England.

In the Pacific a fleet of the allies suffered a severe check before the town of Petropaulowski. It consisted of 3 French and 3 English ships of war, carrying in all 194 guns; and was on the outlook for two Russian war frigates that had caused some alarm in these seas. This town is the principal seaport of Kamchatka, and was strongly fortified both by nature and art. The firing of the ships commenced on the 28th of August, and was kept up for some days, and a partial landing did some damage, but a subsequent attempt to storm the town was unsuccessful. Our loss was 30 men killed and 156 wounded, while the French loss was about as great. The English admiral Price fell by a pistol-shot from his own hand on the first day of the attack, and survived only a few hours.

The war in Asia was maintained by Turkish troops, but with them were a considerable number of European officers to aid and counsel them. Chief among these was M. Guyon, an English gentleman, who had been an officer in the Austrian service, but having married a Hungarian lady of noble birth and large fortune, he left the army, and subsequently took part in the Hungarian war of 1848-49, in which he greatly distinguished himself. On the termination of that struggle he was of those that took refuge in Turkey. He accepted the offer made by the Turkish government to enter that service, and was sent to Damascus to organize and instruct the army. The ability and skill of Guyon, however, was almost entirely neutralized by the wrongheadedness and incompetency of the commander-in-chief, Zarif Pacha, who would rarely follow his counsel, while his refusal to embrace the Mohammedan faith incapacitated him from having any direct authority over the soldiery. In July a body of 8000 Turks, under Selim Pacha, were totally defeated at Bayazid by a detachment of General Bebutoff's army. When news of this reached the Turkish army, which was lying 40,000 strong in a position of considerable strength a few miles in advance of Kars, Guyon advised an immediate attack on the main body of Bebutoff's army before it could be joined by the other portion or receive further assistance. Instead of this, however, several days were allowed to elapse before the attack was made, and by that time the Russian army was increased from 12,000 to 20,000 men, and was prepared to receive them. The 6th of August was the day of attack, but before the battle was well begun many of the Turks were fleeing, and the others were speedily put to flight. The loss of the Turks was 1200 killed, 1800 wounded, and 2018 prisoners. Had the Russian general marched directly upon Kars it is believed that he would have taken it without striking a blow; as it was, the defeated Turks got time to recover from their consternation and to gather strength; so that, as will be subsequently noticed, they made a most heroic defence. On 20th August Schamyl appeared suddenly before Tiflis, and did considerable damage, carrying off a large booty and a number of prisoners. This compelled the Russian general Bebutoff to send a portion of his troops to defend that place.

In the beginning of 1855 the allies received an accession of strength in the King of Sardinia. On the 26th of January Victor Emmanuel II. acceded to the convention concluded between Great Britain and France, and agreed to furnish and keep up for the war a body of 15,000 men, consisting of infantry, cavalry, and artillery; France and England guaranteeing the integrity of his dominions during the period of the war. England also undertook to furnish gratuitously the means of transport to the Sardinian troops, and also to recommend to Parliament to advance in loan to the King of Sardinia L1,000,000 sterling, the interest to be at the rate of 4 per cent., of which 1 per cent. was to form a sinking-fund.

At daybreak on the 17th of February a strong body of the Russians made an attack upon Eupatoria, which was defended by Omer Pacha at the head of a Turkish body of troops, and a French detachment. After a cannonade of some duration, the Russians advanced to the assault. Three times they attempted to carry the town, but were as often beaten back, and were at length obliged to retire with considerable loss. Their great superiority in cavalry and artillery prevented the garrison from molesting them on their retreat. The Turks behaved admirably on this occasion, and made a most gallant defence.

On the afternoon of the 2d of March all Europe was startled by the intelligence that the Emperor of Russia was dead. He was attacked by influenza on the 14th of February, but persisted in going out as usual, and on the 22d held a review of a corps of infantry of the Guards. After this he became much worse, but continued working as usual in his cabinet. On the 1st of March, however, soon after hearing of the unsuccessful attack upon Eupatoria, he became slightly delirious, and expired about noon of the 2d. He was succeeded on the throne by his eldest son Alexander II.

On the 16th of March a conference of plenipotentiaries (Conference of the five states (England, France, Austria, Russia, and of Vienna, Turkey) was opened at Vienna, with the view of coming to some arrangement regarding the points in dispute, based upon certain preliminaries that had been previously communicated by the allies to the Russian government and accepted by it. These preliminaries consisted of four articles, the substance of which was as follows:—1st, To abolish the exclusive protectorate exercised by Russia over Moldavia, Wallachia, and Servia, and henceforward to place the privileges accorded by the sultan to these principalities under the collective guarantee of the five powers; 2nd, To give all the development possible to the free navigation of the Danube, for which purpose it would be necessary to place it under the control of a syndicate authority, invested with powers necessary to destroy the obstructions existing at the mouth of that river; and it would also be desirable that the course of the Lower Danube, from the point where it becomes common to the two bordering states, should be withdrawn from territorial jurisdiction; 3rd, To revise the treaty of July 13, 1841, with the object of connecting the existence of the Ottoman empire more completely with the European equilibrium, and to put an end to the preponderance of Russia in the Black Sea; 4th, Russia to renounce any official protectorate of the Christian subjects of the sultan, the allies affording their mutual co-operation in obtaining from the Ottoman government the confirmation and the observance of the religious privileges of the different Christian communities, without distinction of sect. The conference, after sitting for about six weeks, dissolved, having been unable to come to any satisfactory arrangement on the third point. Afterwards Count Buol-Schauenstein, the Austrian plenipotentiary, summoned the members to meet again on the 4th of June to consider a proposition which it was believed might lead to an amicable settlement of the point in dispute. This was, instead of a mere one-sided limitation of the power of Russia in the Black Sea, to have an equality of the naval forces which each of the two coast powers should keep up in the Black Sea, and which should not exceed the actual number of Russian ships in that sea. This arrangement was to be entered into by the two powers between themselves, but was, nevertheless, to form an integral part of the general treaty. The French and English plenipotentiaries, M. Drouyn de Lhuys and Lord John Russell, had both left Vienna, but they had expressed themselves favourable to this arrangement. The proposal, however, did not meet with the favourable consideration of their governments, which saw no likelihood of a satisfactory peace being arrived at in that way. M. Drouyn de Lhuys accordingly resigned or was deprived of his office; and the conduct of Lord John Russell having given rise to a vote of censure being moved, that minister resigned his seat in the cabinet on the 16th of July.

During this time the war continued to be actively prosecuted. In front of the Malakoff, and between it and the trenches of the allies, was a slight elevation, the possession of which was of great importance to either party. This the besieged succeeded in taking possession of on the night of the 9th of March unknown to the allies, who were next morning disagreeably surprised to see it occupied by works which were hourly gaining strength. This was afterwards known to the allies as the Mamelon. On the second night after its occupation a vigorous attempt was made by the French to dislodge the enemy but without success. The Russians lost no time in sinking a number of pits before and on each side of their new acquisition, to serve as cover for riflemen, who became a source of great annoyance to the French. On the night of the 17th March the French made another attempt to possess the Mamelon. They succeeded in carrying the first and part of the second line of pits, but the heavy fire of the Russian musketry forced them to retire. On the night of the 22d March,—a dark and windy night,—a large body of the Russians issued silently from the Mamelon, and reached the advanced parallel of the French unobserved. After a short but severe struggle, the French were obliged to fall back upon their reserves. The Russians then marched rapidly along the parallel to attack the English trenches. Here they were met by detachments of the 97th and 77th regiments, which gallantly stood their ground, and drove back the Russians at the point of the bayonet. At the same time, the French, having rallied, fell upon them, and pursued them so far that they were enabled to level and destroy a number of the rifle-pits along their front. It was on this occasion that Captain Hedley Vicars, who led on the 97th, lost his life. Our loss amounted to 182 killed and 373 wounded, besides 56 missing.

Early in April the railway between the camp and Balaklava was completed, and was of immense service to our army; and a month later London was in telegraphic communication with the seat of war. At daybreak on the Second morning of the 9th of April the second bombardment of Sevastopol commenced, and was continued for several days, but without any decisive result. In the beginning of May the Sardinian troops began to arrive at Balaklava, and considerably strengthened the hands of the allies. About the middle of this month a change took place in the commandship of the French army, and General Canrobert was succeeded by General Pelissier, an officer who had greatly distinguished himself in the Algerine wars. General Canrobert, with true soldier spirit, requested to be still permitted to take part in the war, and obtained the command of a division. On the night of the 2d of May the French had taken by storm the Russian counter-approaches in front of the central bastion, and the enemy then, to impede their progress and take their attacks in flank, began to construct new lines of counter-approach on the Quarantine side, connecting by a gabionmade their ambuscades at the extremity of the bay with those at the cemetery, and forming a continuous covered way between this work and the right lunette of the central bastion. This would have enabled them to make powerful sorties by assembling large bodies of men behind these defences. The French general therefore determined to carry these works; and accordingly, an assault was arranged to take place on the night of the 22d of May. Two simultaneous attacks were organized,—one on the ambuscades at the bottom of the bay, the other on the ambuscades of the cemetery, by the south-east angle of that inclosure. The Russians seemed quite prepared for the attack, and were awaiting it in great force. It is thus described by the correspondent of the Morning Chronicle:—"From every point of the Russian batteries commanding the trench a fire of artillery was poured upon them with such density and effect that whole companies were swept away before it. Still they held their ground, though under the fire of the batteries they fell by scores. Strong parties of the enemy occupied the covering trenches, and from their position were enabled to enflade the advanced trench with a murderous fire of infantry. It was a mere slaughter of the French. Twice driven to desperation by the cross fire from the trenches, they sallied out and attempted to carry them at the point of the bayonet; but these mere ebullitions of valour were of no avail against the strong works and well-organized resistance of the enemy. In both cases the French were driven back with loss, and retired to the cross-trench, where they still continued to melt away under the devastating fire of artillery and musketry. It was close on dawn when a message was sent to the French general informing him that nearly half the column had fallen in the attempt to hold the place; that it was a mere useless waste of life; as by daylight it would be utterly untenable. The answer was returned that they were to gather their dead and wounded, and retire. This they accordingly did at about four in the morning, after having maintained the sanguinary and unequal contest for more than six hours." Next night "the plan was better arranged under the immediate care of General Pelissier..." himself, who informed the troops that if they failed then they must attack again at daybreak, and continue to attack until the trench was in their possession. Three columns—each 3000 strong—were chosen for the assault, and started just as dusk was commencing,—two slightly in advance, for the capture of the covering trenches on each side and the centre column for the trench itself. In spite of all the vigilance of the enemy, the right and left columns closed with the covering trenches before they were discovered, and instantly attacked them. For a moment the Russians seemed bent on an obstinate resistance, but the attack at such an early hour of the evening (a little after eight) evidently took them by surprise, and after a short struggle, both trenches were captured; the enemy flying in all directions.

On the 22d of May an expedition, comprising 3800 English, under Sir George Brown, 7500 French, under General d'Autemarre, and about 5000 Turks, was despatched for Kerch and the Straits of Yenikale, whence large supplies were constantly pouring into Sebastopol. As soon as they made their appearance before Kerch the enemy fled, blowing up their fortifications and destroying immense stores of provisions. Anapa was also abandoned; and large stores of provisions were destroyed at Gonitchi, Berdiansk, Arabat, and Taganrog on the Don. It is calculated that the stores destroyed at Kerch and in the Sea of Azoff amounted to nearly four months rations for 100,000 men, the loss of which must have caused serious embarrassment to the Russian army in the Crimea. The object of the expedition being thus fully accomplished, the troops were re-embarked about the 12th of June, with the exception of those left in garrison at Yenikale and Pavlovskaya, the latter commanding the entrance to the strait at a point where it is narrowed by a sandbank to about 1½ miles across.

The third bombardment of Sebastopol commenced in the afternoon of the 6th June, and next evening simultaneous attacks were made by the French upon the Mamelon and White Works (Ouvrages Blanches), and by the English on the Quarries. These were in each case successful. The French had to traverse a considerable extent of open space, exposed to a terrible fire of artillery and musketry, but this did not for a moment check the impetuosity of their attack. Within the redoubts a determined struggle took place, and continued for an hour before the Russians were driven out of the works. The French pursued them as far as the Malakoff, and even made an attempt to storm that work, but this not having been previously calculated upon, their force was insufficient for that purpose, and they had to retire under a terrific fire from the enemy. In this affair they took 62 guns and 400 prisoners, of whom 14 were officers. The English were equally successful in their attack upon the Quarries, which they carried in the most determined and gallant manner, and kept their ground in spite of repeated attacks by the Russians to dispossess them. The possession of these works materially strengthened the position of the allies; and it was resolved to follow up the success by an attack on the Malakoff and Redan.

Accordingly, during the whole of the 17th a vigorous fire was kept up by the allies upon the town, and it was arranged to make the assault after a two hours' fire the following morning. At the suggestion of Pelissier, however, this part of the arrangement was departed from, and the attack was to commence at three o'clock in the morning at a signal from the French general. Unfortunately, General Mayran, who had the command of one of the divisions of the French army, mistook a blazing fuse for the rocket-signal that had been agreed upon as the notice for a general advance, and immediately gave the order for attack. They were immediately assailed by an overwhelming shower of ball and grape, not only from the works, but also from the enemy's steamers in the harbour. Advance was impossible but not one step did they retreat; while the other divisions rushed forward to support this premature movement. They reached and scaled with impetuous gallantry the entrenchment which connected the Karabalaia ravine with the Malakoff, and succeeded in penetrating the encircling itself. But in the meantime the English attack on the Redan had failed, and the French, deprived of their simultaneous support, and exposed to a crushing fire of artillery from the Redan and other works, were compelled to give way. The retreat commenced about half-past eight o'clock, and was carried out with order and coolness, without any attempt at pursuit on the part of the enemy. In their attack upon the Redan, the English, as soon as they showed themselves beyond the trenches, were assailed by a most murderous fire of grape and musketry. "Those in advance," says Lord Raglan in his despatch, "were either killed or wounded, and the remainder found it impossible to proceed. I never before witnessed such a continued and heavy fire of grape, combined with musketry, from the enemy's works, which appeared to be fully manned."

Another part of the English attack, however, was crowned with success, though fruitless. General Eyre was despatched, at the head of a body of 2000 men, for the purpose of making a demonstration at the head of Dockyard Creek, and withdrawing the attention of the enemy from the real object of assault. He found the enemy strongly posted between a cemetery on their left and a mound or hillock on their right, and protected by stone walls in front. This position, however, was gallantly carried under a heavy fire. Our troops held their ground until the evening, and then retired unmolested. Our loss amounted to 165 killed, 1126 wounded, and 152 missing; and the French to 1598 killed or missing, and 1740 wounded. The Russians, according to their own account, lost during the two days 787 killed, and 4029 wounded. While the assault was going on several of the vessels of the allies opened fire upon the town and its sea defences, but with little effect. The English army now sustained a severe loss in the death of its commander, Lord Raglan, in the sixty-seventh year of his age. His strength and energies had been taxed to the utmost during the whole of the Crimean war, and the failure of the attack on the 18th is believed to have preyed upon his spirit, vexed as it no doubt must have been by the previous unfavourable comments upon his conduct at home. He had been unwell for some days, but before the evening of the 28th no danger was apprehended by his medical attendants. Alarming symptoms, however, then showed themselves; he became unconscious, and sank rapidly until he expired, in the course of a few hours. He was succeeded in the command by General Simpson. On the 16th of August the Russians made another desperate effort to raise the siege. This was by the covering army under the command of General Liprandi, which had remained inactive since the battle of Inkermann, but had recently been largely augmented by re-inforcements. For some days rumours of a premeditated attack on the part of the Russians had been current, and at daybreak on the morning of the 16th they advanced against our lines on the Tcheremaya, where the French and Sardinians were posted, to whom belongs the entire glory of the victory, though they received some assistance from an English battery. A paper found in the pocket of one of the Russian generals, Read, who was killed, showed the nature and magnitude of the attack. "Had they succeeded," says General Simpson in his despatch, "Balaklava was to have been attacked by one portion of their army, while the heights on which we now are were to have been stormed by the other; at the same time, a vigorous sortie was to have been made from the town on the French works on our extreme left, from the Quarantine, and another on the works on our extreme right on Mount Sapoune. The action is most glorious to the arms..." of the French and Sardinian troops. To meet the force of the Russians the former had but 12,000 infantry and 4 batteries of artillery engaged; the latter had 10,000 men in position, 4500 actually engaged, and 24 pieces of cannon. The Russian force consisted of from 50,000 to 60,000 men, with 160 pieces of artillery, and cavalry to the amount of 6000. This disparity of numbers will readily explain the difficulty that would have been experienced had an attempt been made to follow up the advantage by a pursuit. The Russian retreat, moreover, was protected by the fire from the heavy guns in position on the Mackenzie heights. The loss sustained by the Russians is estimated at between 5000 and 6000 men, including 600 prisoners; while on the part of the allies it does not amount to more than 1000 men.

The French lines of approach had now been advanced so near the Malakoff, and the loss of life was daily increasing to such an extent, as to render it necessary either to take the work or retire to a greater distance. Accordingly on the 6th of September a terrific cannonade was opened and kept up till noon of the 8th, the time of the attack. "This infernal fire," says Prince Gortschakoff, "principally directed against the embrasures, proved that the enemy was endeavouring to dismount our guns, to demolish our ramparts, and to prepare for taking the city by storm. It was no longer possible to repair the damage done to our works, and our efforts were limited to covering the powder magazines and the blindages with earth. The parapets crumbled down and filled up the ravines; it was necessary to continue clearing the embrasures, and the number of artillerymen killed was so great that it was with difficulty we could bring up others to take their place. Our loss at this period of the siege was extraordinary: from the 5th to the 8th of September there were placed hors de combat superior officers 4, subalterns 47, and 3917 soldiers, without reckoning the artillerymen who perished at their guns." At noon precisely the French rushed upon the Malakoff; and by this time almost all the Russian guns that bore upon the attack had been silenced. They crossed the ditches with surprising agility, and climbing on the parapets attacked the enemy to the cry of "Vive l'Empereur." At the fort of Malakoff, the slopes on the inside being very high, they stopped for a moment in order to form, and then mounted on the parapet and leaped into the work. The contest, which had commenced by musket-shot, was continued with the bayonet, with the butt-ends, and stones; and in a quarter of an hour the French flag was floating on the conquered redoubt. This was the signal for our troops to attack the Redan. The assaulting column consisted of only 1000 men, preceded by a covering party of 200, and a ladder party of 320 men. They had 220 yards of ground to cross under a very heavy fire of grape, and this space was soon covered with slain. Nevertheless, this did not impede their progress; and as they came nearer the salient the enemy's fire became less fatal. They crossed the abattis without difficulty, and made straight for the salient and projecting angle of the Redan. The ditch here was about 15 feet deep, but the men, led by their officers, leaped into it, and scrambled up the other side, whence they scaled the parapet almost without opposition. The few Russians who were in front ran back and got behind their traverses and breastworks, and opened fire upon them. On reaching the parapet, our men unfortunately began loading and file-firing, instead of following their officers and attacking the breastworks. The Russians now flocked to the traverses, whence they kept up a heavy fire on the men getting over the parapet or through the embrasures; and thus so many were killed and wounded that no sufficient force was left of the first arrivals to make a rush across the open space which lay between the salient and the traverses. For nearly two hours did our troops maintain this unequal contest before they abandoned the Redan and gave up the attempt. French attacks had also been directed against the Little Redan on the right and the central bastion on the left, but these were also unsuccessful. In both cases our allies succeeded in penetrating within the works, but they found themselves exposed to such a murderous fire from all sides that they were obliged to give way. The struggle for the possession of the Malakoff was long and deadly, and again and again did the Russians attempt to retake it during the day, but without success. Our loss on that day amounted to 385 killed, 1886 wounded, and 176 missing; the French loss to 1489 killed, 4259 wounded, and 1400 missing. The Russians, according to their own account, lost 2084 killed, 7243 wounded, and 1763 missing. The possession of the Malakoff rendered the south side of the town quite untenable; so that the enemy, finding every effort to retake it unavailing, began in the evening to evacuate the town. During the night they exploded their magazines, blew up their fortifications, and set fire to the town. The ships, frigates, and other sailing-vessels were all sunk, with the exception of the steamers. Next morning the allies found the town deserted and in ruins. The walls of the houses attested the force and effect of the terrible bombardment, hardly a building remaining intact from shot or shell. The number of cannon and the quantity of the materials of war obtained was immense. The French took possession of the eastern and the English of the western part of the town.

On the 29th September a body of French cavalry put to flight a strong body of Russian horse at Kouchegh, 5 leagues N.E. of Eupatoria. The Russians lost about 50 killed and 169 prisoners, besides 6 pieces of cannon; whereas the loss of the French was only 6 killed and 28 wounded.

On the 17th of October Kinburn surrendered to the allied fleet, after a short bombardment. This fortress is situated on a low promontory at the entrance of a gulf into which flow the Bong and the Dnieper. On the opposite side of the gulf, and about 24 miles distant, is Oczakoff, which the Russians blew up and evacuated on our getting possession of Kinburn. The possession of these forts was of the utmost importance to the allies, as they thus commanded the sea-approach to Kherson on the Dnieper, and Nicolaieff, the naval arsenal of the Black Sea, on the Bong. The English troops soon after embarked for the Crimea, leaving a French force to garrison the forts. Soon after, a detachment of vessels from the allied fleet lying at Kertch took and destroyed the Russian establishments at Taman and Fanagora.

On the 10th of November General Simpson resigned the command of the English army, and was succeeded by General Sir William Codrington. On the 15th of the same month a terrible explosion of 100,000 lb. of powder took place in the French siege-train, destroying an immense quantity of stores, and killing 21 and wounding 116 of the English and a still greater number of the French. On the 12th of this month the Emperor of Russia reviewed his troops in the Crimea; and soon after an imperial edict was published, announcing a new Russian loan of 50 millions of silver roubles.

This year the allied fleet in the Baltic was as barren of great results as last year. Rear-Admiral Dundas first commanded the English fleet, and Rear-Admiral Poniat had the command of the French. Eleven sail of the line and five paddle-steamers left the Downs on the 9th of April, and arrived at Kiel on the 19th. They were gradually re-inforced by others; and in the month of July there were in the Baltic 85 English vessels of war, mounting 2098 guns, and 16 French vessels of war, with 408 guns. In the combined fleet there were 23 line-of-battle ships, with 1853 guns; 31 frigates and corvettes, with 554 guns; 29 smaller steamers and gunboats, with 78 guns; and 18 mortar-boats and other craft, with 21 guns. The utmost Indignation was excited in England by the news of a boat, landing some prisoners under a flag of truce, having been attacked, and its crew either killed or taken prisoners. The facts were these:—On the 5th of June H.M.S. Cossack, when off Hango Point, despatched a cutter with a flag of truce to land some prisoners taken on board of some merchant vessels. After landing the prisoners, the officer in command, with several of the boat's crew, proceeded to communicate with the officer of the station, carrying the flag of truce along with them. They had not proceeded more than 50 yards from the boat when they were suddenly fired upon by Russian soldiers in ambush, and at the same time those in the boat were also attacked. Of the crew of eleven, six were killed and four badly wounded. The survivors were carried to Eckernföhr (except one of the wounded, who made his escape in the boat), where they were treated with great kindness; but no satisfaction was obtained for this inhuman outrage.

The allied fleet, consisting of forty vessels, lay for more than three weeks off the north side of Cronstadt without attempting any hostile movement, and afterwards Admiral Baynes was left in command of a strong squadron there. One division of this squadron advanced along the north side of the island of Cronstadt, until it cast anchor within 5 miles of the town and shipping, and in view of the spires of St Petersburg. This part of the channel was found to be thickly studded with "infernal machines," which were taken up in large numbers by the boats. The only operation of importance effected this year by the allied fleet in the Baltic was the destruction of Sweaborg, which protects the great naval station of Helsingfors. The allied fleet arrived off Sweaborg on the 6th of August, and the two following days were spent in making preparations for the attack. The French had established a siege battery of four mortars on the small island of Abraham, within 2500 yards of the forts. They opened fire on the morning of the 9th, and in less than three hours the shells were observed to cause considerable damage in the fortress. Numerous fires broke out on several points at the same time, and the flames were soon seen to rise above the dome of the church situated in the northern part of the island of Est-Swarte. A monster explosion soon after took place, and was followed by three others in the course of half-an-hour. The bombardment was kept up till the morning of the 11th, and during that time Sweaborg presented the appearance of a vast fiery furnace. Storehouses, magazines, barracks, government establishments, and a great quantity of military stores were all destroyed. The loss on the side of the allies was confined to one English sailor killed and a few slightly wounded. Nothing further of any moment was attempted by the allied fleet; and on the approach of winter the main body returned home, leaving a flying squadron to continue the blockade until the ice rendered the sea impassable by vessels.

We now turn to the seat of war in Asia. We left the Turkish army at Kars in the end of last year, and it was not till the 16th of June that the Russians made their first attack on that town. The Russian army was now nearly 40,000 strong, including 10,000 cavalry, and was under the command of General Mouraviéff. The cavalry drove in the Bashli-Bazooks, who were posted in the plain to the south-east of the city, but were checked and thrown into disorder by a well-directed fire from the batteries of the Koradagh and Hafiz Pasha. They subsequently brought up their artillery and cannonaded the earthworks of those defences for some time without effect, and then retired. They, however, invested the fortress and works so as to cut off all supplies.

In the end of July Lieutenant-Colonel Williams was sent out by the English government to act as her Majesty's commissioner at the head-quarters of the Turkish army in Asia, and reached Kars about the middle of September. No attempt was made by the Russians to carry the place by assault until the morrow of the 29th of September. At daybreak on that day they advanced in three columns, supported by twenty-four guns, and attacked three different parts of the defences. The garrison received them, as soon as they came within range, by a crushing fire of artillery from all sides, but the Russians rushed up the hill against the redoubts and breastworks in the face of a deadly fire of musketry. After a long and desperate struggle, the left division was completely broken, and fled in disorder down the hill, leaving 850 men dead on the field, besides those carried off by their companions. The central column attacked the redoubts of Tahmash and Yulchek, and here a sanguinary contest was maintained for several hours, the enemy being repulsed in all his attempts to enter the closed redoubts, which mutually flanked each other with their artillery and musketry, and made terrible havoc among the enemy. After a severe struggle, the right column turned the left flank of the entrenched wing of the Tahmash defences, and penetrated to the rear of the Turkish position. They were here met by several bodies of re-inforcements which immediately fired upon them, and then charged them with the bayonet. At the same moment the Turkish troops made a sortie from the Tahmash redoubts and attacked the wavering column of the Russians, which broke and fled down the heights, under a murderous fire of artillery. Meanwhile the Russians had captured, by overwhelming numbers, that portion of the defences called the English tabias or redoubts; but battalions of infantry were sent up, which gallantly attacked and drove them out at the point of the bayonet. The Russians now hastily retreated along the whole line, and suffered severely from the batteries, which kept up an incessant fire upon their crowded columns. General Williams, in his account of the battle says,—“During this combat, which lasted nearly seven hours, the Turkish infantry, as well as artillery, fought with the most determined courage; and when it is recollected that they had worked on their entrenchments, and guarded them by night throughout a period extending to nearly four months, I think your lordship will admit that they have proved themselves worthy of the admiration of Europe, and established an undoubted claim to be placed among the most distinguished of its troops. With regard to the enemy, as long as there was a chance of success, he persevered with undaunted courage, and the Russian officers displayed the greatest gallantry. Their loss was immense; they left on the field more than 5000 dead, which it took the Turkish infantry four days to bury. Their wounded and prisoners in our possession amount to 160, while those who were carried off are said to be upwards of 7000.” The Turkish army lost 362 dead and 681 wounded, and the towns-people, who also fought with bravery, lost 101 men.

Notwithstanding this bloody repulse the Russians continued their blockade of the town, and at length the garrison was reduced to the greatest distress. After the most dire sufferings, and seeing no appearance of relief, they at length agreed to surrender. The conditions agreed to were highly honourable to the besieged, and the whole conduct of General Mouraviéff was honourable and courteous towards his unfortunate foes.

Before the close of the year 1855 Russia had given indications that she was desirous for peace; and Austria, doubtless feeling that she could not much longer remain, as she had hitherto done, an almost passive spectator of the war, strained every nerve to bring the opposing powers to terms. Accordingly, in the month of December Count Esterhazy was sent by the court of Vienna to St Petersburg with certain proposals for peace which would be consented to by the allies. These proposals were acceded to by Russia, and a meeting of representatives took place at Vienna on the 1st of February. It was then agreed that plenipotentiaries from each of the six states should assemble at Paris on the 26th of February. Prussia was also invited to send representatives to the conference. The conference opened on that day, and their first business was to declare an armistice, which was to cease, if not renewed, on the 31st of March next. The conference lasted until the 30th of March, on which day the treaty of peace was definitely signed, but the ratifications were not exchanged until the 27th of April following. The substance of the treaty of peace was:—That the territories conquered or occupied by the respective belligerent powers be evacuated and restored; that prisoners of war be immediately delivered up on either side, and full and entire amnesty granted to those subjects of either party that may have been compromised by connection with the enemy. Each and all of the other states engage to respect and maintain the independence and territorial integrity of the Ottoman empire, and declare the Sublime Porte admitted to participate in the advantages of the public law and system of Europe. In the event of a misunderstanding between the Sublime Porte and one or more of the other contracting powers, each engages to submit the cause of quarrel to the others before having recourse to arms. The sultan records his generous intentions towards the Christian population of his empire; and intimates his having issued a firman with the view to ameliorate the condition of his subjects, without respect to sect or race,—it being, however, clearly understood that none of the other powers shall have right to interfere in the relations of his majesty with his subjects, nor in the internal administration of his empire. The convention of 1841, which maintained the right of the sultan to close the Straits of the Dardanelles and the Bosphorus to all foreign ships of war is confirmed, reserving always to the sultan the right to grant firmans of passage for light vessels under flag of war employed in the service of the missions of foreign powers; or stationed, according to treaty, at the mouths of the Danube (in number not exceeding two for each power) to secure the execution of the regulations relative to the liberty of that river. The waters and ports of the Black Sea are thrown open to the mercantile marine of every nation, the two bordering powers engaging not to establish or maintain any military-maritime arsenal upon the coast. These two powers further mutually engage each not to have in that sea more ships of war than six steam-vessels of 50 metres (164 feet) in length at the line of floatation, of a tonnage of 800 tons at the maximum, and four light steam or sailing vessels of a tonnage which shall not exceed 200 tons each. The navigation of the Danube shall be free to the flags of all nations, in accordance with the principles established by the act of the congress of Vienna to regulate the navigation of rivers which separate or traverse different states; and to carry out these views a commission shall be named composed of a delegate for each of the seven contracting states, who shall also cause to be executed the works necessary to clear the mouths of the Danube, and put and maintain them in the best possible state for navigation; to cover the expenses of which fixed duties of a suitable rate shall be levied, but no duty or charge shall be leviable founded solely upon the fact of the navigation of the river. A permanent commission, composed of a delegate for each of Austria, Bavaria, Turkey, and Wurtemberg, and commissioners from the three Danubian principalities, subject to the approval of the Porte, shall prepare regulations of navigation and river police, remove all impediments to the navigation of the river, and on the termination of the European commission (within two years) shall assume their powers, and duties. To insure the due execution of these regulations each of the contracting powers shall have right to station at all times two light vessels at the mouths of the Danube. In order the more fully to secure the free navigation of the Danube, and in consideration of the possessions restored to him, the Emperor of Russia consents to the rectification of his frontier in Bessarabia; the new frontier-line to be from the Black Sea, 1 kilometre east of the Lake Bourna Sola, northward to the Akerman road, then along that road and the Wall of Trajan, passing south of Bolgrad to the River Yalpuck, extending along that river to the height of Sarat-sika, and terminating at Katamori on the Pruth, above which the old frontier should undergo no modification; the territory thus ceded to be annexed to the principality of Moldavia, under the suzerainty of the Sublime Porte. The principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia to continue under the suzerainty of the Porte, which engages to preserve to them an independent and national administration, as well as full liberty of worship, legislation, commerce, and navigation. The laws and statutes at present in force to be revised by a special commission, to meet at Bucharest without delay; and the sultan to convolve immediately in each of the two provinces a divan ad hoc, representing most closely all classes of society, to express the wishes of the people in regard to the organization of the Principalities. The report of the commission having regard to the opinions expressed by the two divans, shall be submitted to a convention to meet at Paris, and in conformity with the stipulations of that convention, a hatti-sherif shall constitute definitively the organization of those provinces. No exclusive protection shall, however, be exercised over them by any of the other contracting powers, nor shall there be any separate right of interference in their international affairs. If the internal tranquillity of the Principalities shall be menaced or compromised, the Sublime Porte shall come to an understanding with the other contracting powers regarding the steps to be taken to restore peace, and no armed intervention shall take place without their sanction. The principality of Servia to continue to hold of the Sublime Porte, in conformity with the imperial hattis, which fix and determine its rights and immunities, under the collective guarantee of the contracting powers. A commission, consisting of two Russian, two Turkish, one French, and one English commissioner, to be appointed to settle the boundary between Russia and Turkey in Asia, as before the war. The Emperor of Russia further engaged to France and England that the Aland Islands should not be fortified, or any military or naval establishment maintained or created there.

Several disputes subsequently arose regarding the interpretation of certain parts of this treaty, all of which, however, were at length satisfactorily arranged. One of these was regarding the Isle of Serpents at the mouth of the Danube; another was regarding the possession of Bolgrad, and the frontier of Russia towards the Danube. On the maps before the conference, furnished by the French government, the town of Bolgrad was placed at some distance from the Lake of Yalpuck, and the Russians strongly insisted on the possession of this town, in order to have a capital for the Bulgarian colonies, that still remained in their possession. It was subsequently found, however, that Bolgrad stood at the northern extremity of the lake, and to allow it to remain in the hands of Russia was directly contrary to the spirit of that part of the treaty which was to remove Russia from all direct communication with the Danube and Lower Pruth. Accordingly, Bolgrad was assigned to Moldavia; and to meet the desire of Russia to have a capital for her Bulgarian colonies, the town of Komrat, on the right bank of the Yalpuck, was given to her, the boundary-line from the point where the Kirsau falls into the Yalpuck proceeding up the former stream instead of up the latter. The Isle of Serpents, it was agreed, should belong to Turkey, and it was also agreed that the islands Statistics, included between the different branches of the Danube at its mouth, and forming the delta of that river, should, instead of being annexed to Moldavia, be replaced under the immediate sovereignty of the Sevastopol Porte, of which they formerly held. A treaty in these terms was signed at Paris on 19th June 1857 by representatives of the several powers.

The final evacuation of the Crimea took place on the 12th of July, on which day Sevastopol and Balaklava were formally given up to the Russians. The coronation of the emperor took place at Moscow on the 7th of September, under circumstances of extraordinary splendour, and was attended by special representatives from all the powers with which Russia had been recently at war. The new monarch has already done much to ameliorate the condition of his subjects, by the adoption of many liberal and enlightened measures favouring the spread of education, encouraging commerce and manufactures, alleviating the burdens of taxation, &c., as will be found noticed in the different sections of the subsequent portion of this article.

List of the Dukes, Czars, and Emperors of Russia, with the Date of their Accession.

| I. Dukes of Kiev | II. Grand Dukes of Vladimir | |------------------|---------------------------| | Yuri | Andrew I. | | Igor | Michael II. | | Sviatoslav | Vsevolod III. | | Yaropolk I. | Yury, Igor, or George II. | | Vladimir I., the Great | Yaroslav II. | | Yaroslav I. | Saint Alexander Nevsky | | Isiaslav I. | | | Vsevolod I. | | | Sviatoslav | Vasilii or Basil I. | | Yaropolk II. | Daniel I. | | Yaropolk III. | | | Vsevolod II. | | | Isiaslav II. | | | Rostislav | | | Isiaslav III. | | | Yury, Igor, or George I. | Ivan or John II. |

| III. Grand Dukes of Moscow | IV. Czars of Muscovy | |----------------------------|---------------------| | Ivan or John II. | Peter I., the Great, alone. | | | Catherine I. | | | Ivan or John IV. | | | Feodor or Theodore I. | | | Boris Godunov | | | Feodor or Theodore II. | | | Ivan IV. (not well) | | | Dmitri (grandson of Ivan IV.) | | | Schulskoy or Basil VI. | | | Vladislaf (elected, but refused the crown). | | | Mikhail or Michael (Romanoff) |

| V. Emperors of Russia | |----------------------| | Peter I., the Great, alone. | | Catherine I. | | Peter II. | | Anne | | Ivan VI. | | Elizabeth | | Peter III. | | Catherine II. | | Paul | | Alexander I. | | Nicholas | | Alexander II., the present emperor |

Geography and Statistics.